In February of the sixth year of Ji Hanlong'an, the fields of Henan are dyed green, willow trees are lingering on both sides of the river, the spring breeze blows, apricot blossoms and peach blossoms are flying like red snow, and wild animals and birds also appear in groups at this time. In normal years, people would go to Longmen for outings, horseback riding, or fly eagles to chase rabbits, capture deer, and shoot deer. It is a season full of vitality. But this year, the Thousand Miles of Central Plains under the imperial court's rule has now entered a state of martial law due to the failure of the Southern Expedition. The capital, both domestic and foreign, has rarely entered a state of martial law. Official and private travel is extremely rare, and white flags are hung on many doors. It then presents a scene of silence and desolation. It's like winter is still here and spring has not yet arrived. Rumor has it that the war in the south is not over yet. The enemy's commander-in-chief, Zhou Yu, has led his troops back to Jiangling, intending to counterattack Xiangyang, Runan and other places. However, there are other reasons why people are worried.
After receiving the handwritten letter from the Queen Mother, the emperor hurried back to the capital, but he hurriedly returned to Luoyang, but it was too late. At the end of the year, Queen Zhong died of a hemorrhage due to dystocia, and the newborn prince could not be saved. When Liu Xie rushed back to the palace, all he saw were two coffins. From then on, the emperor was short of breath and depressed. After taking care of the affairs of his wife and children, it was difficult to deal with the affairs of the court for a while. When the tragic defeat in Jiangnan and the news of the death of Zhou Buji and Huang Quan came back to Luoyang, the emperor was shocked at first, and then he couldn't control himself. He fell ill directly on the bed.
This disease is truly overwhelming. The emperor originally liked bowing and horses. He was physically strong and could shoot a three-stone bow and tame a sweaty horse. Therefore, he was once praised as "the young master on horseback" by the students of Imperial College. But after a few days of recovering from his heart attack, he looked haggard and distraught, and his former richness and handsomeness could hardly be seen at all. The emperor was in such a situation, and the war situation was extremely corrupt, which couldn't help but cause discussions among the government and the public. Some people said that at the end of the year, the country suffered misfortunes one after another. Is it God's will or a coincidence?
But the most important thing right now is to revive the situation. After the disastrous defeat at Lingyan, the country lost almost 60% of its field elites. This resulted in the defense from Huaibei to Huainan being almost completely empty. Only Du Ji and others gathered the remnants in Shouchun, hoping to resist the Wu counterattack. , to control it in Huainan. But if the imperial court does not send reinforcements, it is destined not to be a long-term solution. Not to mention that Zhou Yu's navy has returned to Jiangling and may have another big battle with the Han army in Xiangyang and other places, which will require reinforcements.
But this brings us to a new question: Where will it come from? Along with the field elites, a considerable number of officers and generals died, and quite a few of them were newly promoted by the emperor, such as Yan Yu, Wen Hui, Yang Qiu, Qu Sheng, You Chu, Cen Guang and others. Jiang Zhong wanted to send someone to support the situation, but the DPRK could not find a suitable candidate for the time being, at least not someone who could make an independent decision at the Shangshutai.
In desperation, Zhuge Liang could only report the matter to the emperor. Liu Xie was silent for a long time after hearing this, and then said to Kong Ming: "Since I am so incompetent, let me fulfill the wishes of some people!" He endured the discomfort and drew up a transfer list for Shangshutai: Reactivate the recruitment list General Ma Chao of the Western Army was reinstated as the Commander-in-Chief of Hanzhong, in charge of the military affairs of Yizhou. He re-appointed Wei Yan, the prefect of Yinchuan, as General of the Guard. He and Marshal Guan Yu rebuilt the Shanglin Army in Henan and were responsible for supporting Xiangyang. At the same time, he re-appointed Yuan Tan as the Commander-in-Chief of Pengcheng. Zhu Hao was moved to be the governor of Qingzhou, and the two of them were in charge of the military affairs of Qingzhou and Xuzhou. In addition, there have been many changes in the political arena. Many old officials from Kansai have been reactivated. People such as Meng Da, Li Yi, Wei Duan, etc. have been assigned to serve as county guards in frontline counties. But the most important thing is, Still, Chen Chong, Zhong Yao, Liu Bao and Fazheng were ordered to re-enter the stage to record the ministerial affairs.
Zhuge Liang read the list and after a long silence asked, "I wonder what your Majesty's plans are for my ministers?"
Liu Xie smiled and said: "Kong Ming has seen my intention. I can't use anyone else to clean up the mess in Huainan, so you can clean it up." After that, he ordered Zhuge Liang to be the leader of Yangzhou. The governor was in charge of all military affairs in Huainan.
This edict was transmitted to the court, and it was indeed effective. The uproar caused by Lingyan's fiasco in the court was gradually dissipated at this time. Although there were still all kinds of chaos in the future, at least people were at ease. Some even said that after this incident, the emperor was finally relieved. I understand the general outline and have done something wise.
However, Chen Chong did not think so. After receiving the order to re-enter the cabinet, he was in a daze for a long time. After sending away the messenger, he worriedly said to Dong Bai: "Ajian has been hit hard. I'm afraid he won't be able to survive." Stop." He was so upset that he unknowingly called the Emperor by his small name. Dong Bai reminded him: "This is not what you should say. This time you re-enter the cabinet, you can just focus on official matters, but you must not get involved in the Tian family's family affairs."
Chen Chong had a smile on his face and said nothing, but he was stern in his heart. He couldn't help but think: Even Abai could see the undercurrent in the court, and I'm afraid the whole court and the public were also in commotion.
After receiving the edict, he changed into court clothes and immediately went to the palace to meet the emperor. Since Liu Xie came back, he knew that Liu Xie was in a bad mood and had a very good face. If he went to see him, he might hurt his self-esteem, so the two of them had not seen each other during this time, and when he went this time , he was also a little worried, worried that Liu Xie would be even more upset.
When entering the palace, the two sides of the corridor were already covered with wisteria flowers, which looked like grapes or purple butterflies flying around. They had a spring fragrance, but as they approached the forbidden area, the fragrance was masked by the smell of medicinal juice. When I stopped, the smell of pain immediately reminded me of trouble. When approaching the hall, incense from unknown sources was burning in the hall. Combined with the fragrance of flowers and concoction, it was really unspeakable. But it gave Chen Chong an inexplicable illusion: maybe this is the taste of life.
Liu Xie was lying on the bed on the left side of the hall. The temperature had obviously risen, but he was covered with a winter quilt and there was a brazier in front of the bed. Even a cold person like Chen Chong could not stand it when he got close. It felt a little stuffy, but Liu Xie was still sleeping soundly.
This is the first time Chen Chong has met the emperor this year. Although the emperor was still sleeping, his body was clearly frail. His face turned pale, his lips turned purple, and he frowned in his sleep, showing a very uncomfortable look. Two palace maids were waiting on the side. Seeing Chen rushing in, they wanted to wake up the emperor, but were stopped by Chen Chong with a wave of his hand. He called someone forward and asked softly: "How is your Majesty?" The palace maid replied in a low voice: "Your Majesty drank some medicine last night, but he was tired all the time and fell asleep two hours ago."
Chen Chong said: "In that case, I will go to the side hall and wait."
Unexpectedly, when he was about to leave, he was stopped by the emperor. It turned out that he had been awakened by the slightest sound just now. When Liu Xie reluctantly sat up, Chen Chong was so surprised that he could not speak for a moment. He did not expect that the emperor would become so thin in one month, and even his weak body seemed to be praised. But the emperor smiled. He pointed at Chen Chong and said, "My uncle hasn't come to see me for a long time. I thought he had forgotten me."
The waiting maid prepared to reach out to help the emperor, but he raised her hand to push it away. He said, "I still have the strength to sit." But Chen Chong could see that he was trying to be brave, so he stepped forward. , holding the emperor's hand, the cold touch made Chen Chong shudder. After sitting down, Chen Chong gave him some support and then fell silent. What should he say to this child? Nothing seems right to say in this situation, but something should be said.
So Chen Chong said: "Your Majesty is about to die, don't be discouraged. No one is a sage, who can be undefeated? When the late emperor was still alive, he was defeated by Cao Cao many times, but he was able to fight a hundred battles and defeat powerful enemies. It can be seen that defeat is not a big deal, as long as you work hard If you make progress and taste your courage while working hard, you may not be able to avenge your shame in the future."
But while Chen Chong was talking, he found something was wrong. He saw the emperor smiling and listening for a while, but remained silent. Gradually, the smile disappeared, and some fragile lines appeared at the corners of his eyes and mouth. It was not that Chen Chong had never seen such an expression before, he was even very familiar with it, because he had seen it too many times on the faces of Chen Shi and Chen Zhang who cried when they were young. Sure enough, the emperor could not hide the anguish in his heart at this moment. Although he covered his eyes with his hands in advance, tears flowed out uncontrollably, followed by sobbing like a child.
Chen Chong was at a loss at first. He thought the emperor would continue to show off his strength, but in the end he showed such a fragile side. Since he ascended the throne, Ajian must have been feeling very stressed. Thinking this, Chen Chong subconsciously patted Liu Xie's back with his hand. At this time, Liu Xie could no longer control his emotions and buried his head in Chen Chong's waist. Chen Chong stroked Liu Xie's head and whispered to him: "It's okay, Ajian, it's okay. You've done a great job. I know you've tried your best."
Liu Xie buried his head, tears rolling down his cheeks and dripping onto the corners of Chen Chong's legs. The man in his late thirties was so sad that he couldn't express his sorrow. He wanted to say thousands of words to his uncle, but he couldn't find where to start. Speaking of it, he just kept saying in unclear words: "Uncle, I don't want to be the emperor anymore, I don't want to be the emperor anymore!"
When Chen Chong heard this, he couldn't help but shed tears for a moment. He looked at the child-like emperor and recalled the past in his heart. Why did the former domineering Prince Dai become like this? Few people may think that even the emperor who rules the world needs warmth and care. How many people think they are ruthless political machines, but in the end it is impossible for them to live alone in this world. This made Chen Chong couldn't help but blame Xuande in his heart: Why did he leave so early?
It was also at this time that Chen Chong felt the heavy pressure on his shoulders again. He already had an unspeakable premonition: I am afraid that the challenges he will face in his later years are just beginning now.
