Chapter 37: The battle between emperor and empress
Jing Xian thirty-four years.
Zhongzhou, Yanjing City, Imperial Palace.
In Kunning Palace, before dusk has come, the lights are already brightly lit.
Empress Dowager Yiren, served by the chief eunuch Ma Yufeng, propped up half of her body with pillows, drank a bowl of Laoshan Ginseng soup, and after feeling slightly better, she asked: "How is the emperor?"
Three months ago, the 72-year-old Empress Dowager Yiren felt a little heavy after watching the play. She went back to her palace to rest for a night, but she didn't feel better. She called the imperial doctor and said that she had suffered some cold and she would be fine after a few days' rest. Yu.
Unexpectedly, from that day on, Empress Dowager Yiren became increasingly sleepy. All the doctors in the palace searched through the medical books and exhausted all the ancient prescriptions, but no improvement was seen.
Especially these days, the old lady who has been suffering for several months can no longer get out of bed.
Perhaps Queen Mother Yiren also realized that her time had come. As long as she had some energy, Queen Mother Yiren would ask about the emperor's situation.
Ma Yufeng bent down and said softly: "Back to Lafayette, the emperor is very nice. I got an extra bowl for lunch..."
Before Ma Yufeng could finish speaking, Queen Mother Yiren burst into tears: "He wishes I would die early!"
Ma Yufeng said nothing, only looked at the most powerful woman in the world with loving eyes.
Ma Yufeng was purified as a eunuch at the age of seven. He entered the palace at the age of eight and has been serving the Queen Mother Yiren. He saw with his own eyes that the most powerful woman in the world transformed from a graceful and graceful girl into a budding, blooming and stunningly beautiful girl like a flower.
Now, this prohibitive flower of power has finally come to wither.
Queen Mother Yiren entered the palace at the age of seventeen, and was promoted to the imperial concubine Yi at the age of twenty-two. Wenzong died at the age of twenty-six. Queen Mother Yiren assisted Mu Zong, who was only five years old, to ascend the throne and listen to politics behind the curtain. At the age of forty, the playful Mu Zong fell ill and died. Since Mu Zong had no heirs, Queen Mother Yiren made Mu Zong's nephew Tuoba Ming the emperor, who is now the current Emperor Jingxian.
Emperor Jingxian was only four years old when he ascended the throne and was brought up by Queen Mother Yiren. When Emperor Jingxian took office at the age of eighteen, he launched a coup because he was dissatisfied with the Queen Mother Yiren for still controlling the government after he took office.
After the defeat, Emperor Jingxian was imprisoned in "Nantai" by Queen Mother Yiren.
Nantai was built in the previous dynasty. After Daqing seized power, the emperor of Daqing expanded it twice. It served as a place for emperors, queens, and concubines to listen to politics, escape from the summer, and live. Because it is surrounded by water on all sides and lined with pavilions and pavilions, it looks like a fairy island in the sea, so it is also named Yingtai.
"Whoosh!"
A bamboo arrow hit the bullseye accurately.
This is a very interesting archery target. There is a turtle painted on the bullseye, and the three words "Zhang Chenglie" are written on the back of the turtle. The words are as red as blood.
Bent the bow and shoot the turtle, this is a game that Jing Xian must play every day during the twenty years he was imprisoned in Nantai.
Because Emperor Jingxian always had to remember: everything he receives today is all thanks to this person. If one day he regains power in Daqing, the first thing he will do is kill this person.
Twenty years ago, the 18-year-old Emperor Jingxian officially took over the throne. He was hesitant and full of ambitions. He adopted the suggestions of famous scholars Pang Shide and Qi Zheng, criticized the current shortcomings, and implemented the New Deal.
Due to the unprecedented intensity of the New Deal, which touched the interests of the old-school elites, these people came to the Queen Mother Yiren one after another to stir up trouble. Suddenly, the court was in turmoil, and there were even rumors in the palace that the Queen Mother Yiren wanted to abolish the emperor's personal rule.
The rumors naturally reached the ears of Emperor Jing Xian, and the 18-year-old boy suddenly panicked, because the Empress Dowager Yi Ren had placed a strict curse on Jing Xian before she returned to power. All information about second-rank officials and above must be submitted to Yi Ren. The Queen Mother approves.
Not only that, in order to ensure her safety and status in the capital, Empress Dowager Yiren appointed her close confidant Dugu Rongxin as the governor of Zhongzhou and the minister of Beifu. She was also awarded a bachelor of Wenyuange to command the three armies of Beifu, firmly holding the military power in his hands. Palm.
In other words, although Emperor Jingxian has taken charge of the government, the real military and political power is still in the hands of the Queen Mother Yiren. He is a genuine puppet emperor.
Emperor Jingxian secretly summoned Pang Shide, Qi Zheng, Qin Fusheng and other new government officials to discuss, and decided to take advantage of the Queen Mother Yi Ren before she could launch a mutiny, and put the Queen Mother Yi Ren under house arrest.
Since the army was controlled by the cronies of Queen Mother Yiren, Pang Shide had no choice but to think of the glorious Zhang Chenglie.
At that time, Zhang Chenglie trained a new army of more than 7,000 people in the suburbs of Yanjing. The entire army was equipped with imported firearms from the Lu State, and its combat power was unprecedented. What is commendable is that there were 3,000 new army soldiers in the capital.
Zhang Chenglie supports the New Deal, which Pang Shide knows. The only thing that makes Pang Shide and others uneasy is that Li Chenglie is the person of Dugu Rongxin, the governor of Zhongzhou, and Dugu Rongxin is the confidant of Queen Mother Yiren.
After repeated consideration, Pang Shide decided to take the risk and use Zhang Chenglie.
The natural result of the adventure was that Zhang Chenglie tipped off Dugu Rongxin, and the Empress Dowager Yiren put Emperor Jingxian under house arrest that night and ordered the execution of Qin Fusheng and other important officials of the New Deal.
Because of Zhang Chenglie's meritorious service in informing, he was promoted by the Empress Dowager Yiren in an unusual manner. Since then, he has risen through the ranks and is now one of the seven military ministers of the Dayan court, wielding power over both the government and the public.
For the past twenty years, Emperor Jingxian had fantasized about cutting Zhang Chenglie to pieces every day, almost to the point of hysteria.
"God has mercy on me. This day has finally arrived. The old godly woman who has controlled the government for half a century is finally going to die."
Emperor Jingxian prayed silently in his heart, thinking about the humiliation and suffering he had suffered in the past twenty years and the rights that were about to be returned, and all kinds of emotions piled up in his heart.
Emperor Jingxian suddenly remembered a sentence he read in an unknown book: "If you hate someone, you wish he would die early, but you can neither beat him nor scold him, and his power is much greater than yours." , then you take good care of yourself, eat well, drink well, play well, and finally live longer than him, that is the best revenge."
Emperor Jingxian looked at the arrow he shot with satisfaction, and his mood immediately improved. He picked up a cup of brewed tea and took a sip.
The tea is fragrant and the temperature is just right.
Perhaps because he was too thirsty, Emperor Jingxian drank several large gulps and felt a warm current flowing down his throat and reaching his Dantian, which made him feel very comfortable.
After each exercise, Emperor Jingxian would return to his study and do nothing. He would just sit quietly at his desk and think about his thoughts.
Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in his abdomen. Emperor Jingxian had no time to call the eunuch, and rushed into the thatched cottage like a gust of wind.
On this day, Emperor Jingxian ran to the latrine no less than ten times. In the end, he couldn't get anything out of his stomach, so he just pulled out blood. The blood leaked out like a shot, and it was shocking.
This situation lasted until evening. The imperial physician in the palace changed several decoctions one after another, and finally gave strong medicine to barely stop the diarrhea.
At this time, Emperor Jingxian was out of breath, his face was as golden as paper, and his body was so weak that he could not even lift a finger.
