Chapter 85. Zhao Junchen is absent.
On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, the court meeting will be held again. [No pop-up novel website]
Although the New Year and the birthday celebrations have passed, Emperor Deqing was still in high spirits when he went to court as the two major events of Spring and Southern Tour were approaching.
In fact, for the emperors of the past dynasties, it is not an exaggeration to say that daily life is extremely boring. Although they are rich in the world, they are bound by various rules and regulations, such as when they should get up, when they should eat, and when they should take care of themselves. There are detailed regulations on politics, when one should deal with the concubines in the harem, and when one should go to bed. They will be recorded in the "Daily Record" and watched by countless people. In the final analysis, it is your own time and freedom. Not much at all.
Every move and every detail in daily life also needs to be carefully considered, extremely careful, and cautious. Otherwise, even if it is just a small thing, if people are careless for a moment, people will misunderstand it, and it may lead to a big mess... and so on. , the so-called emperor's mind seems unfathomable, but in fact it is a very tiring thing.
It is not that "the world belongs to the emperor", but "the emperor belongs to the world". This difference has created countless wise emperors and wise emperors, as well as many foolish emperors.
"Your Majesty, it's time to get up", "Your Majesty, it's time to have a meal", "Your Majesty, it's time to go to court"...
Every emperor hears similar words countless times every day. The word "should" seems to have other options, but in fact it is semi-forced for the emperor. As far as Zhao Junchen knows, Emperor Deqing was extremely disgusted with these two words. Although he did not show it, Zhao Junchen never said the word "should" in front of Emperor Deqing.
This is also one of the important reasons why Emperor Deqing favored Zhao Junchen. In front of Emperor Deqing, Zhao Junchen always only considered "what Emperor Deqing wants to do" but never considered "what Emperor Deqing should do."
It is precisely because of this that emperors of all dynasties have always been extremely enthusiastic about things like spring visits, southern tours, and celebrations. Although they will still be bound by countless rules, compared with usual times, there are finally some changes and more excitement. It won't be that boring.
………
It is out of this expectation that Emperor Deqing was smiling when he went to court that day. According to the plan, both the spring visit and the southern tour, starting from this day, preparations must be made step by step. Because of this Hopefully, Emperor Deqing won’t mind if today’s morning court lasts longer and the discussion is more detailed.
However, after Emperor Deqing arrived and the ministers shouted long live, Emperor Deqing looked at the ministers under the imperial court, but he always felt that something was wrong.
"All my dear friends, stand up."
While Emperor Deqing was speaking, he looked carefully among the ministers and finally discovered something was wrong.
Zhao Junchen is not here!
However, Zhao Junchen was still only a second-rank minister, and the position he stood in when he went to court was only in the middle and in the front, which was not conspicuous. Therefore, Emperor Deqing could not show it off and pretended to be unaware. Xu said: "The new year has passed, and we have to start arranging all the major events this year. The first ones to bear the brunt are the Spring Palace and the Southern Tour. I mean, the Spring Palace is a major event for our court to select talents, and it is the top priority. , the Ministry of Rites should come up with some plans as soon as possible. As for the southern tour, we cannot neglect the delay, but Zhao Aiqing, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, will prepare it in advance. What do you Aiqing think?"
As he spoke, Emperor Deqing looked down and after searching for a while, he seemed to have just discovered it. He frowned and asked, "Huh? Why isn't Zhao Aiqing here today?"
To Emperor Deqing's surprise, the first person to come out to answer the question was not the Ministry of Civil Affairs, which managed the behavior of ministers, nor the Metropolitan Procuratorate, which monitored the moral conduct of officials, but Prince Zhu He, who had always been the least confrontational with Zhao Junchen.剉.
Zhu Heyu looked serious, but a hint of joy appeared in his eyes. After he came out of the queue, he raised his voice and said: "Father, I am afraid that Zhao Shangshu will not be responsible for the arrangements for the southern tour. Before today's morning meeting, Zhao Shangshu just arrived at After getting off the sedan chair in front of the Meridian Gate, before taking two steps, the cold wind blew and I fainted. I'm afraid I won't be able to do anything these days. So I asked my father to leave all the arrangements for the southern tour to others for the time being. In my opinion, Bao Wenjie, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, is experienced, shrewd and capable, and is just the right candidate."
Emperor Deqing frowned, but ignored Zhu Heyu's words and just asked: "Zhao Aiqing fainted in front of the Meridian Gate? What happened? Was it cold or something? Why didn't I get the news? Is there an imperial doctor? Have you had a medical examination?"
As he spoke, Emperor Deqing glared at Zhu Heyu, obviously dissatisfied with Zhu Heyu's actions of gloating about others' misfortune and seizing the opportunity to seize power.
Noticing Emperor Deqing's expression, Zhu Heyu seemed to feel that his mentality was wrong and unbecoming of a gentleman, so he lowered his head and remained silent.
Regarding Emperor Deqing's series of inquiries, all the officials in the court looked at each other with envy of Zhao Junchen's holy family. Obviously, they could not explain the reason for Emperor Deqing's inquiries.
In the end, it was Zuo Lanshan, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, who came out and replied: "Your Majesty, the incident happened suddenly. It's just that the time has not come yet, the Meridian Gate has not opened, but there is no imperial doctor to call. We are not good at medical skills, but we can't investigate. What happened? I just helped Zhao Shangshu to the sedan chair and returned to his home for recuperation. During this period, Zhao Shangshu woke up once, but his face was pale and his body was weak. Although he still insisted on going to the morning court, we persuaded him. Go down. At this time, I think Zhao Shangshu has returned to the mansion and is being treated by the doctor. However, Zhao Shangshu is still young and has always been in good health. He will probably recover in a while. I hope your majesty does not worry. "
On the other side, the minister of household affairs, Zhan Shanchang, was also full of admiration. After he came out of the queue, he took out a bunch of notes from his sleeve and said: "Yes, Your Majesty, Zhao Shangshu's loyalty and patriotism are really amazing. Just now Zhao Before the Minister left, he was afraid of delaying the official business, so he kept up his energy and handed these details to Wei Chen. They are last year's income and expenditure settlement of the Ministry of Revenue, as well as this year's income and expenditure budget, please His Majesty to review."
While he was talking, the eunuch who was waiting at the side handed the book to Emperor Deqing.
Emperor Deqing did not review it. He just pondered for a moment and said: "In this case, according to my decree, three imperial doctors will be sent from the Taiyuan Hospital to the Zhao Mansion immediately to diagnose and treat Zhao Aiqing's condition. If there is any discovery, they will report it immediately. As for me, until Zhao Aiqing recovers, the three imperial doctors will stay in the Zhao Mansion."
As the eunuchs around him responded and quickly left to make arrangements, Emperor Deqing turned his eyes and settled on Zhou Shangjing, Huang Yourong, and Shen Changmao. He suddenly said: "I heard that Zhao Aiqing just met Zhou Shoufu and Zhou Shoufu the day before yesterday. Mr. Huang Ge and Mr. Shen Ge were having a dinner at Jude Restaurant, why did they suddenly fall ill?"
That day, Huang Yourong hosted a banquet for Zhou Shangjing, Shen Changmao and Zhao Junchen. Of course Emperor Deqing would not have known about it. However, it was common for courtiers to gather in private and compete in various transactions. Emperor Deqing had always turned a blind eye. However, due to Zhao Junchen's sudden illness, Emperor Deqing could not help but feel suspicious.
Zhou Shangjing slowly stepped out of the queue, sighed and said: "Yes, Your Majesty, I also found it strange. That day, Huangge Lao held a banquet, and both the old minister and Mr. Zhao went there. However, Mr. Zhao seemed to be quite energetic at that time and was not seen at all. There was no sign of physical discomfort, but it turned out that the old minister was in poor health. At that time, Mr. Zhao also advised the old minister to take care of his health, but he did not expect that the old minister would be fine in the end. Instead, Mr. Zhao suddenly fell ill."
As Zhou Shangjing finished speaking, Huang Yourong and Shen Changmao also nodded in agreement. At the same time, their expressions also showed a little doubt and confusion, but more importantly, they were gloating and happy.
However, such expressions and expressions fell into the eyes of Emperor Deqing, which dispelled some of the doubts in Emperor Deqing's mind.
………
In the morning court, naturally nothing could be delayed because of Zhao Junchen's absence. All things that should be discussed must still be discussed, and what should be decided must still be decided.
The most important thing among them is naturally the preparations for the spring visit and the southern tour.
Among them, the Chunwei Examination is held every three or four years. It has its own rules and regulations to follow, and there is no need for too much discussion between the king and the ministers. They just follow the rules and regulations. After all, it is still in the preparation stage. Although the choice of the examiner is arbitrary. Everyone looked hot, but it wasn't time to make a decision yet.
On the contrary, the preparations for the southern tour could no longer be delayed, and the person in charge had a lot to gain. Zhao Junchen was originally the natural choice. He was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue and the Internal Treasury, and had the support of the Ministry of Works, and also worked in the Ministry of Rites. The influence is not small, and with the full support of Emperor Deqing, no one can compete with him.
But with Zhao Junchen suddenly falling ill, such a fat job will naturally attract countless people to compete for it. Not only the prince's party is sharpening their knives, but also the three factions of Zhou Shangjing, Huang Yourong, and Shen Changmao have tough attitudes and are bound to win. However, Zhao Junchen's party, headed by Zuo Lanshan, strongly advocated that such a decision should be put on hold until Zhao Junchen recovered from his illness before discussing it. During the quarrel, there was no need to mention all the excitement.
However, Zhao Junchen's illness happened suddenly, and the factions in the DPRK were unprepared. The candidates proposed by each faction were always fully attacked and denied by other factions. In addition, Emperor Deqing was noncommittal. The attitude was ambiguous, and in the end the person responsible for arranging the southern tour could not be decided.
The attitudes and quarrels between the various factions in the court also dispelled one-third of Emperor Deqing's doubts.
Before the end of the morning court, Huang Yourong even couldn't wait to propose, "While Zhao Shangshu is recuperating, the Ministry of Revenue has no one in charge, so preparations should be made early." Obviously, he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to intervene in the Ministry of Revenue. As soon as Huang Yourong's proposal came out, , Prince Yidang, Shen Changmao and even Zhou Shangjing all had their eyes changed, and they were all ready to make a move, but Emperor Deqing suddenly announced that he would go down to court.
However, Huang Yourong and others took the opportunity to seize Zhao Junchen's power, and the doubts in Emperor Deqing's heart were reduced, leaving only three or four points.
But for Emperor Deqing, even though he had only a few or four doubts, it was enough to make him uneasy.
The current situation is obvious. With the various factions in the DPRK and China trying to contain each other, the candidates proposed have their own shortcomings. The arrangements for the southern tour are most likely to be taken over by the prince's party.
However, if the prince's party were responsible for the southern tour, Emperor Deqing could naturally imagine the harm it would bring, but he was quite unwilling to do so.
Therefore, after going to court, Emperor Deqing had just left the Hall of Supreme Harmony and solemnly asked the eunuch beside him: "How is Zhao Junchen's condition? Is there any news?"
Zhang De, who was standing by, shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, there is no news back yet, but I think it will come soon."
Emperor Deqing frowned. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly said, "Prepare some casual clothes for me. I'm going to see Zhao Junchen in person."
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