Tang Yin said: "Meng Zai, have you ever said these words to anyone else?"
Jiang Lun smiled and said: "I don't need to tell you, but anyone who knows...many people in the palace are secretly talking about this topic..."
Tang Yin almost wanted to slap himself on the forehead!
Jiang Lun is known as a loudmouth in the palace. When he learns the news, he will not hide it, especially when he is drunk, and he will not spread it to everyone in the palace?
But then he realized a problem. An ordinary person in the palace could think that the real dragon might be in Prince Xing's palace from the news of the emperor's illness. Then wouldn't the senior officials of the palace have this awareness?
"Does His Highness King Xing know about this?"
Tang Yin asked.
Jiang Lun shook his head: "I guess... no one would say such a thing to him."
Tang Yin said: "Then who is teaching His Highness recently? Who is responsible for the daily homework..."
It was now difficult for Tang Yin to contact Zhu Si. Even if Yuan Zonggao did not explicitly say that he was driving Tang Yin away, he actually treated Tang Yin as a marginalized figure.
Tang Yin would be watched when entering and leaving the palace, and he was not allowed to approach the inner courtyard of the palace. Now it was impossible for Zhu Si to come out to attend classes like he did when he was still the heir apparent.
"Yuan Changshi taught in person." Jiang Lun said.
Tang Yin took a long breath.
I thought to myself, Yuan Zonggao is really an old fox. Now that the prince has inherited the throne, or because he knew that he had some alienation from the prince before, he wanted to connect with Prince Xing and make up for the rift by giving lessons in person, so he treated me as a worn-out shoe.
Then abandon it.
"Prince Xing should know about this, so that he can be mentally prepared." Tang Yin wanted Jiang Lun to find an opportunity to tell Zhu Si about the situation. After all, Zhu Hao had backup plans.
Jiang Lun asked puzzledly: "Your Majesty is just in bad health now, so we rashly conclude that the court is about to change... is it too early to say so?"
Tang Yin said: "Remember what Zhu Hao said? He said that a real dragon will appear in the palace in the next two years. Do you believe it or not?"
"letter!"
Jiang Lun decisively shut up and made no further objections.
Even Tang Yin didn't expect that mentioning Zhu Hao in front of Jiang Lun would be so easy.
As expected, Jiang Lunpianpidian left, probably trying to find a way to inform his nephew about the emperor's illness.
…
…
Zhu Houzhao returned to the capital.
Even after he moved into the Leopard Room, he was still not in the palace, which made it difficult for civil servants to see him. All government orders were issued through the so-called Emperor Zhu Pi, but in fact everyone knew that this was the intention of the people around the emperor. Even the cabinet had no control over the government.
Power is gradually losing control.
After Jiang Bin returned to the capital, he stepped up the suppression of Dongchang, Jinyiwei and the old forces in the civil service system. Especially his former rival Qian Ning, who was almost killed, and many people in Qian Ning's faction disappeared inexplicably.
, I don’t know whether he is alive or dead, I guess he was secretly eliminated by Jiang Bin.
"People in the capital are panicking..."
Su Xigui still stayed in the capital to watch the wind.
Now when he gets up early every morning, no matter whether he has something to do or not, he will go to Zhu Hao as soon as possible.
Before and after the New Year, he stayed with Zhu Hao because he really couldn't understand the current chaos in the DPRK and China, and he had to have Zhu Hao by his side to make suggestions.
Although Zhu Hao just kept silent most of the time, Su Xigui still liked to annoy Zhu Hao, as if with Zhu Hao by his side, he could feel at ease and be able to deal with it at any time if something happened.
Zhu Hao asked: "How do people in the DPRK evaluate this matter now?"
"well!"
Su Xigui let out a long sigh, "This year has passed. As usual, we go to celebrate the New Year on the first day of the Lunar New Year, but His Majesty is not in the palace. Should we ask the ministers to go to the Leopard Room to congratulate the New Year? Many of the ministers are at home now, and they are worried about being involved in Prince Ning's case. Or maybe Jiang Bin is implicated in purging his political enemies. Who knows who Ping Lupp will deal with next?
"In addition, there are rumors that the palace examination will be held on March 15th. It seems that the young master is close to becoming a Jinshi..."
Zhu Hao smiled calmly.
Historically, after Zhu Houzhao returned to Beijing, he participated in farming and vomited blood in front of everyone on the day of the Tiantian Ceremony. From then on, his condition became serious and he died.
Yang Tinghe and other civil officials also began to discuss the issue of who should succeed him on the day of farming, and after Zhu Houzhao's death, he made a prompt decision to let Zhu Si succeed him.
Zhu Hao shook his head and said, "The imperial examination will probably be postponed again."
"Oh? What do you mean? Does the young master think that His Majesty won't be able to survive until then?"
Su Xigui's questions were very direct.
Recently, he has been looking for Zhu Hao. In fact, there is something that he cannot explain clearly but he is eagerly looking forward to in his heart, that is, when will the emperor die.
Perhaps only Zhu Hao can tell him the answer. Su Xigui now admires Zhu Hao very much and almost regards Zhu Hao as the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang.
Zhu Hao said: "As I expected, His Majesty will show up at the Tian Ceremony in the first month of the year. As long as his condition improves slightly, he will continue to act mischievously and make the condition relapse. It is difficult for a person to recover from severe illness, and it takes a long time to recover. Come here, but do you think that with His Majesty’s character, he is the kind of person who can calm down and recuperate?”
"This... that's what I said, but how can the young master predict that the palace examination will not be held as scheduled?" Su Xigui was looking forward to Zhu Hao saying something, and Zhu Houzhao would be done with it soon.
"Just wait, don't talk too much, it should be soon!"
Zhu Hao was also waiting quietly for everything to develop as history did. Zhu Houzhao died amidst constant tossing. According to the Ming Dynasty's succession rules, Zhu Si ascended the throne as scheduled. He believed that Yang Tinghe would not do anything that would undermine the majesty of the imperial court on issues of righteousness.
…
…
Everything went as Zhu Hao expected.
At that time, the ceremony for registering Tian was set on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month.
Every spring, the emperor would preside over a sacrificial ceremony for spring plowing. This is a tradition of the Ming Dynasty. Last year it was not held because the emperor was on a southern tour. This time, there were rumors in the court that the emperor was terminally ill. The emperor seemed to want to prove his power in this way. The body is fine.
In previous years, new scholars, especially those who passed the first-class, top-three and shujishi selections and entered the Hanlin Academy, will be invited to participate together.
However, because the imperial examination has not yet been held, Zhu Hao is not yet a Jinshi in the strict sense, so naturally he will not be invited.
Most of the princes, nobles and civil and military officials in the court were invited to go. This was the first opportunity for them to face the emperor after he returned to Beijing. Even though the sacrificial ceremony was in progress, they were unable to have close contact with or speak to the emperor, but they could see it from a distance. By looking at the emperor's condition, you can probably know how sick he is.
Yang Tinghe went with him that day.
Jiang Mian, who had just returned to Beijing, accompanied him, while Liang Chu stayed behind in the cabinet.
"I don't know how sick your majesty is. If he is bowing in an ominous manner, he should not be allowed to attend such a ceremony... It is still very cold in the capital in spring..."
Jiang Mian said as he walked with Yang Tinghe.
Plowing and borrowing were a major item of sacrifice in the Ming Dynasty and were performed around the Temple of Heaven in the southern suburbs.
Before the construction of the outer city during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, this area was already part of the suburbs of Beijing. However, there were many houses in this area, and most of the builders had official status. After the construction was completed, they were sold to ordinary people.
The weather was pretty good that day. Although there were clouds covering the area, the sun still shone through the gaps between the clouds from time to time.
Zhu Hao and Su Xigui drank tea together as usual, but Su Xigui brought some "good things" to Zhu Hao in different ways every day, inviting Zhu Hao to appreciate them, and even sometimes sent antiques, calligraphy and paintings to Zhu Hao, as a gift to each other. I like it, but Zhu Hao only appreciates it and rarely accepts it.
The gift that Su Xigui brought that day was a long-famous actress who had just been bought from Jiangnan. She was eighteen years old. She was already an "elderly young woman" on the stage, but to Zhu Hao, she was just a young woman.
Su Xigui originally intended to ask Zhu Hao to "raise some points", but when he arrived, he just hid behind the curtain and watched the female actor on the stage opposite, performing in costume, humming and singing without knowing what she was singing. It's probably a Jiangnan tune, in short it's the kind that Zhu Hao doesn't like.
"As the young master expected, His Majesty really went out of the city to participate in the plowing ceremony on the outskirts of the city. It is said that he went on horseback..."
Su Xigui admired Zhu Hao's insight, but he was not sure about Zhu Houzhao's physical condition.
Zhu Hao said: "Then let me guess again, go out vertically and come back horizontally."
"ah?"
Su Xigui was extremely shocked, his eyes widened and he said, "He died today? Ah, no, no, what the young master means is... he couldn't stand the hard work of farming and fell ill on the spot, right?"
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "Maybe so, how dare we make such fallacy?"
"this……"
Su Xigui was ashamed.
Saying that the emperor went out standing up and came back sideways is not called a "fallacy"? You really dare to make a mistake!
But...I like it.
"If that's the case, how long can it last?"
Su Xigui still wanted an accurate answer.
Zhu Hao pointed to the sky.
Su Xigui sighed: "Does this mean everything is God's will? Manpower can't change it? It would be great if that were the case... I hope everything goes well, Anlu... haha, then the world will be at peace... I'm afraid the tail won't fall off." "
What he was worried about was that even if Zhu Si really became the emperor, he would not be able to deal with the group of treacherous sycophants in power around the emperor. Who can guarantee that Zhu Si would not become a puppet after he ascended the throne?
Zhu Hao smiled and asked, "Will you?"
"With the little master helping me with suggestions, it shouldn't be a problem."
Su Xigui's face was full of compliments.
Zhu Hao shook his head: "Without my advice, who in the court doesn't want those traitors to end soon? If it weren't for His Majesty's support, they would have been captured and imprisoned by the civil servants... Even the nobles in the palace would not tolerate them causing chaos in the country. .”
Historically, after Zhu Houzhao's death, it was really not Zhu Si's own doing to deal with Jiang Bin and others.
The civilian clique launched a "coup" and issued a posthumous edict in the name of Zhu Houzhao, "Stop the mighty regiment to practice camp, the battalions will return to the regiment camp, and the border troops will all disperse and return to the town." This completely emptied the military power in Jiang Bin's hands, and then Jiang Bin Feeling that a disaster was imminent, he fled westward in a hurry, preparing to reorganize his troops on his own territory in Xuanfu. However, as soon as he left Bei'anmen, he was detained, his house was ransacked, and he was imprisoned...
Although he did not die until June, Zhu Si personally issued the order, but by this time his influence in the court had been basically eliminated, and the main ones who took action were Yang Tinghe and others.
While we were talking here, the humming sound from downstairs continued.
Here, Su Xigui's disciple hurried over and said anxiously: "Master, something big has happened. It is said that His Majesty suddenly vomited blood while performing sacrifices in the southern suburbs. Ji Tianli stopped and said nothing, and His Majesty was also driven back to the city by Luan Chai!"
Su Xigui was extremely shocked when he heard this, but there was a smile on his lips, and the eyes he looked at Zhu Hao had a profound meaning.