Chapter 7 Strange Case: Six Thousand Ancients, Misty Red Pill Case

The three months of July, August, and September in the forty-eighth year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty (1620) were the most gloomy three months since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.In mid-July, Zhu Yijun, who had been emperor for forty-eight years, died.Between the ruling and opposition parties, joy was suppressed and joy was forbidden, and everyone pretended to be sad to express their condolences for Emperor Daxing.In the Forbidden City, the curtain of filial piety hangs down, cigarettes curl up, and it is a bleak scene.According to the old rules of the Ming Dynasty, after the emperor's funeral, the crown prince Zhu Changluo took the throne on the first day of August.But before Wanli's funeral was finished, the newly enthroned emperor suddenly fell ill, and the illness was severe.After conversing with the pulse of several highly skilled imperial doctors from the Tai Hospital, they even prepared four heavy medicines but failed to reverse the condition.The emperor was so angry that he scolded the imperial physician for being useless, and the envoy of the imperial hospital personally went into the palace to feel the pulse, but he didn't dare to reveal the cause of the disease.On August 16th, news came out from the palace that the emperor could no longer get out of bed.

The new king has just ascended the throne for half a month and can no longer manage the government affairs. This is very anxious for several cabinet ministers, because there are no less than hundreds of memorials submitted by the six ministries and provincial governors and governors every day, many of which are urgent. To be processed, the emperor fell ill and could not carry out Zhu Zhu's approval, so he had to suppress it.Fang Congzhe, the chief assistant of the cabinet, was calm at the beginning, but he couldn't sit still after a few days.Fang Congzhe joined the cabinet with the qualifications of the Minister of Rites and a Bachelor of Dongge University. He served as the chief assistant in the Wanli Dynasty for seven years, and he was very good at handling the relationship between the monarch and his ministers.Emperor Wanli did not meet with his officials for more than 30 years, but Fang Congzhe's draft edicts for Wanli were hardly refuted.After Wanli's death, Fang Congzhe supported the crown prince Zhu Changluo's tomb, thinking that the new king would be in his prime in his forties and would work hard to rule.Read the official documents in person, saving yourself a lot of trouble.Unexpectedly, the new emperor was even inferior to Wanli. Although Wanli ignored the government, he could always make Zhu Zhu on the imperial edict. After the new emperor fell ill, he lost the ability to make Zhu Zhu.The imperial decree cannot be issued, and state affairs cannot be handled.And the memorials of the six departments and nine ministers urging for approval almost filled a table every day.Recently, even the cabinet ministers have been complaining behind their backs that the chief assistant is not doing his job well, so why doesn't it make him anxious?

Today: As soon as Fang Congzhe came to the imperial court, the inner court sent an urgent official letter.Open it and have a look.It turned out that the emperor was sick and went to the doctor indiscriminately. Yesterday, he dismissed the medical officer of the imperial hospital without authorization, and asked his servant Cui Wensheng to see him.Cui Wensheng prescribed a prescription. After eating, the emperor continued to have diarrhea and went to the toilet thirty or forty times overnight. He is now unconscious and urgently asks the cabinet to deal with it.After Fang Congzhe looked at it, he was shocked and angry.Shocked that Wansui is critically ill, the society is difficult to stabilize, and so angry that there are so many officials in the twenty-four yamen of the inner government, but they can't dissuade the emperor, and let a servant who doesn't know medical skills use tiger wolf medicine indiscriminately.While rushing to send the imperial doctor of the Imperial Hospital to the palace for rescue, he notified the cabinet ministers to rush to the gate of Taihe and wait for the call-he estimated that if the emperor was critically ill, he would call the cabinet ministers to arrange the funeral.

When Fang Congzhe arrived at the Gate of Supreme Harmony with his cabinet ministers, the inner court was already in chaos. The emperor was unconscious and the imperial physicians were helpless. The continuous sound of footsteps coming from the Supreme Harmony Gate indicated that the situation was critical.Fang Congzhe was very nervous, eagerly waiting for the doctor's diagnosis. It was almost noon, and several imperial doctors came out from the palace.Since the chief minister had something to say, he had to report Wansui's condition in time, so the foreman's imperial doctor came to the court room to look for Fang Congzhe.This imperial doctor is over seventy years old this year, and he has a deep relationship with Fang Congzhe on weekdays.So we speak out without any hesitation, and when we first met, he lowered his voice and said: "The superior is not well." Fang Congzhe said with some doubts: "You are just in your early forties, how could you be so ill?" The old doctor shook his head and said : "Frozen three feet, not a day's cold, the emperor's essence damage is too heavy, as the saying goes, 'The foundation of life, accumulate essence and become strong', so the imperial physicians have always used medicines such as solid essence and Jianzhong, in order to gradually recover. Its true yin is insufficient. This kind of medicine is a slow work, how can the gods catch it? The emperor complained that the medicine was ineffective, and he abused laxatives, so that we ruined the cure for several months." Fang Congzhe felt it from the old doctor's complaint. It's not good, so I blurted out and asked: "Could it be difficult to handle?" The old doctor sighed and said: "If you don't use quack doctors indiscriminately, and only use blood-congesting and sperm-promoting medicines to recuperate, there is still hope, I'm afraid..." Fang Congzhe Quickly took it over and said: "I will go to the palace to advise, please the emperor to wither according to the medical records of the imperial hospital." The old imperial doctor cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty trusts you." After saying that, he hurriedly bid farewell and went back to the imperial hospital.

It was past noon when Fang Congzhe sent off the old doctor, and Fang Congzhe had a quick lunch. He was about to write a letter to persuade the emperor to trust the imperial hospital, but he heard a series of calls from the Supreme Harmony Gate, "The emperor urgently called the chief assistant into the palace." From this summons, it can be seen that the emperor is indeed critically ill, Fang Congzhe calmed down, and after his emotions stabilized, he followed the eunuch who came to guide the way to the harem. After entering the gate of Qianqing, the atmosphere in the harem is depressing.Emperor Wanli's funeral had not yet been completed, and long filial curtains were still hung in front of the gates of the various courtyards in the harem. In the midsummer weather, the gates of all the palaces were tightly closed.In the huge palace courtyard, except for one or two eunuchs passing by occasionally, there was no sound.Due to the hot weather, the precious flowers and trees in the palace courtyard also had their leaves hanging down, as if they were thinking about something.

Zhu Changluo's bedroom is in the Hall of Mental Cultivation in the southwest of Qianqing Palace. At this time, the door of the hall is closed tightly, and a large bamboo curtain hangs down, so when entering the hall, it gives people a gloomy feeling.Fang Congzhe scanned the hall, but he didn't find any servants. He only saw a few sticks of ambergris burning on the dragon table in the center of the hall.The eunuch who led the way walked gently to the West Nuan Pavilion, raised the low bamboo curtain, and only heard the new emperor's weak voice say: "Please come in, Mr. Fang!" Entering the Nuan Pavilion, knelt down on both knees, and said respectfully: "Fang Congzhe sees my emperor, long live!"Only then did Fang Congzhe lower his head and sneak a glance at Zhu Changluo from the corner of his eyes. He saw that his complexion was pale, his three-strand beard was neatly combed even though he was ill, and there was a piece of wet yellow hair wrapped around his head. Ayako, obviously to cool down.Judging from all these signs, although the emperor's illness was serious, it did not seem to be in mortal danger.Zhu Changluo stretched out his trembling hand to hold Fang Congzhe, and said, "I have been dizzy for the past few days, and my body is weak, and I can't go to court. All important matters are bothering my husband." Do you dare to do your best to serve the country?" Zhu Changluo said: "The political affairs of the court can be criticized by Zhu on my behalf. The prince is naturally cowardly, and I hope you can support him. The wives and concubines in the harem..." He felt exhausted at this point, and he gasped for a while before continuing "It's not too late to be canonized, sir, you can still draw up your name as usual." These few words are nothing more than an confession. After listening respectfully, Fang Congzhe comforted him and said: "Long live the spring and autumn, if you get a minor illness, it's not a big problem. I hope you can take care of yourself in peace of mind, and don't mistakenly believe the rumors and act like a dragon." Zhu Changluo shook his head and suddenly asked: "Has the Shou Palace ever been ready?" This question made Fang Congzhe feel very embarrassed, he didn't know that the emperor was asking about the already arrived Wanli’s birthday palace was still his own, so he couldn’t answer for a while, so he thought for a while before saying, “Long live, don’t worry, Emperor Daxing has been buried. After finishing speaking, Zhu Changluo became impatient and interrupted, "I'm asking about my longevity palace." Fang Congzhe hurriedly knelt down on the ground and persuaded in a trembling voice: "The imperial doctor of the imperial hospital has reported that Wansui is only weak at present. That's all, where is the world collapsing?" Zhu Changluo said annoyedly: "There are quack doctors in the Imperial Hospital, I can't believe it." "Long live, if you don't believe in the Imperial Hospital, I should spread the word to the world and call for famous doctors." Hearing Guangzhao Zhu Changluo suddenly thought of someone after the words of a famous doctor, and asked: "I heard that officials from Honghe Temple came to feed medicine, why don't they send it now?" Fang Congzhe said: "Li Kezhuo, the prime minister of Honghe Temple, once said He has immortal prescriptions that can cure long-lived illnesses, but the ministers discussed with the cabinet ministers and thought that Li Kezhuo should not be trusted, so he dismissed Li Kezhuo." Zhu Changluo showed anger, and was silent for a while before saying: "Emperor doctors are useless, and immortal prescriptions are useless. Is it unbelievable, do you tell me to hang my hands and wait to die?" Fang Congzhe was so frightened that he kowtowed and said, "How dare I? It's just that Li Kezhuo's words are not credible, the emperor thinks twice." Zhu Changluo waved his hand and said: "Even if it can't cure the disease, it can't be cured. It won’t be fatal, right? If you pass on the decree, I’m going to try this fairy recipe.” Fang Congzhe knew that since Wanli’s grandfather, Emperor Jiajing, he believed in Taoism and sought to refine the elixir of immortality. This trend has a long history. Wanli In his later years, he had to sit in the alchemy room and practice alchemy with those old Taoists almost every day. It seems that the new emperor is also well versed in this law and has a superstitious belief in "immortal prescriptions", which is hard to dissuade.He had no choice but to evade and said, "I will report to the Emperor Ming after I have discussed with the six ministries and nine ministers." Zhu Changluo talked too much and felt that he lacked confidence, so he waved his hand to signal Fang Congzhe not to say any more.Fang Congzhe hurriedly lay down with several maids to wait on the emperor, watched him close his eyes, panted slightly, kowtowed his head and hurriedly backed out.

For three days in a row, people kept coming from the harem to ask, "Has Li Kezhuo's elixir been delivered?" Fang Congzhe just procrastinated, and on the afternoon of the third day, the emperor's personal eunuchs came to Tiren Pavilion, saying that the emperor had issued an order , Li Kezhuo quickly brought the elixir into the palace.Fang Congzhe had no choice but to negotiate with the cabinet minister Han, and the two of them would accompany Li Kezhuo, the prime minister of Honghe Temple, to bring the medicines into the palace to see the situation. Li Kezhuo, the Prime Minister of Honghe Temple, is an old man in his fifties. He has a slender face and elegant demeanor.The "elixir" he brought in was contained in a very simple and simple brocade box. When Fang Congzhe opened the brocade box, a refreshing fragrance immediately wafted out, making people feel at ease.Looking at the elixir again, it is a pill as red as agate, with crystal luster and dazzling brilliance. It is really not like anything in the world. According to Li Kezhuo, this elixir is from when he was collecting medicine in Mount Emei when he was young. It was given by a fairy elder, and the medicinal materials used were all collected from the fairyland of the Shenfu, which could not be obtained from the world, and could cure all diseases.Even Fang Duizhe couldn't believe it, and hurriedly brought Li Kezhuo to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Zhu Changluo looked thinner than the previous few days, and his body was weak. He even found it difficult to sit sideways, so he had to lie flat on the dragon bed.But his mind was very clear, when he saw Fang Congzhe and Han coming in, he immediately asked, "Did you bring the elixir?" I don't dare to speak nonsense, please make a clear decision." At this time, Li Kezhuo also held the "elixir" and knelt behind Han.Zhu Changluo signaled to bring up the medicine, Fang Congzhe quickly turned around and took the medicine box, walked to the dragon bed on his knees and handed the medicine up with both hands.A personal palace lady took the medicine box and slowly opened it, and immediately the whole room was filled with a faint fragrance.Seeing the suspicious expressions of the surrounding ministers, Li Kezhuo took a pill first.The minister was relieved.But when Zhu Changluo saw the rosy and crystal-clear elixir, he felt that it was extraordinary, and the fragrance of the medicine at this moment made him feel refreshed, so he ordered someone to fetch water, and swallowed the medicine in a hurry. Han Du waited nervously for the emperor's reaction, only Li Kezhuo seemed confident, with a confident look on his face.After taking the medicine, the emperor closed his eyes and remained motionless for a moment.The courtiers guarding on both sides were a little impatient, and Fang Congzhe signaled the messenger eunuch to keep an eye on Li Kezhuo and not let him run away.At this moment, the emperor opened his eyes and called for Gong'e to help him, trying to sit up.Just as Fang Congzhe was about to stop him, Zhu Changluo had already sat up and seemed to be healthier all of a sudden, with a smile on his face, he even boasted: "It really is a fairy medicine, a fairy medicine!" He also praised: "Li Kezhuo is a great loyal minister." The emperor's actions made Fang Congzhe and Han believe in the efficacy of the fairy medicine. They asked in unison: "Long live, how do you feel now?" Zhu Changluo said: "I just feel cool all over, and I don't seem to feel weak anymore." After finishing speaking, he leaned out and shouted: "Li Kezhuo!" Li Kezhuo replied lightly, "I'm here." Zhu Changluo said: "The elixir really worked. Please take another pill tomorrow, and you will probably be cured." " Li Kezhuo replied: "I still have a pill of elixir in my family, but the fairy elder once pointed out that the second pill should be taken three days after the first pill, and I should offer the elixir three days later." Zhu Changluo said "After Lian recovers from his illness, I will definitely give you an official promotion." Li Kezhuo kowtowed and said, "I don't ask for an official promotion, but I only hope that the long-lived dragon will recover its true vitality, and I will be satisfied." Zhu Changluo even more He kept nodding and praising "loyal ministers, loyal ministers." Fang Congzhe knelt to support the emperor and said, "Long live just recovered, I hope you can take care of yourself." Zhu Changluo nodded and said, "I know, you kneel down!" Fang Congzhe respectfully Standing up respectfully, he led the two foreign ministers out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

At the end of August in the lunar calendar, it is the golden autumn season in Beijing. In the courtyard of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, several huge pots of osmanthus are in full bloom. The golden flowers are clustered together, and the rich fragrance permeates the courtyard.In the main hall, the door that had been closed for more than ten days has been opened, and the fragrance of flowers is blowing into the Xinuang Pavilion with the wind.Zhu Changluo sat in front of the dragon table, feeling very happy.After eating Li Kezhuo's "elixir", for some reason, half of the disease seemed to be driven away at once.In the past two days, besides sitting in front of the dragon table to rest his mind from time to time, he actually walked out of the palace gate twice.Seeing the lush osmanthus tree, he lamented that because of his illness, he didn't take time to appreciate the moonlight of the Mid-Autumn Festival.Thinking that today is August 30th, and Li Kezhuo's second elixir will be delivered, I feel even more happy.

Zhu Changluo, like his father, Emperor Wanli, was very superstitious about the so-called panacea. This time he took the "elixir", and his illness suddenly eased, which made him admire the elixir in every possible way.He clearly remembered that eighteen years ago, his father, Emperor Wanli, also suffered from a serious illness. At that time, he thought that there was no room for recovery, so he passed on a will, entrusting the crown prince and concubine to the chief assistant Shen Yiguan.But overnight, his condition suddenly got better, which is said to be the result of taking the elixir.Thinking of this, he hoped to get the second elixir as soon as possible, so since this morning he has sent six groups of eunuchs to urge Fang Congzhe to pass Li Kezhuo into the palace as soon as possible.But now it was getting close to Shen Shi, and Li Kezhuo hadn't arrived yet, so he felt a little anxious, and kept chanting "the chief assistant's mistake".It wasn't until the end of the application that the eunuch reported that Mr. Fang and Mr. Han accompanied Li Kezhuo to wait for the order in front of the palace gate. Zhu Changluo couldn't wait to say: "Tell me!"

Li Congzhe is in great trouble today.Three days ago, under the urging of the emperor, he led Li Kezhuo into the palace to offer medicine. Although he had received the effect at that time, but based on his many years of experience, he always felt that it seemed to be caused by psychological effects, not necessarily the magical effect of the medicine .After returning to the mansion, several confidantes came to inquire about the situation. They agreed with Fang Congzhe's opinion and advised Fang Congzhe not to lure Li Kezhuo into the palace again.In particular, the several imperial physicians of the Imperial Hospital denied the role of the "elixir" with one voice. They said that if the first assistant introduced any "elixir", they would collectively resign.On the second day, a few people came to the matter, impeaching Fang Congzhe as the chief assistant, unable to stop the servants from using tiger wolf medicine indiscriminately, and indiscriminately attracting absurd people into the palace to offer absurd medicine, making Fang Congzhe hard to argue, so He was going to repel Li Kezhuo again.But the news from the harem was that the emperor was able to walk, which made him pin a glimmer of hope on the elixir.He also visited the envoy of the imperial hospital, who told him that there are two possibilities for the emperor's recovery. One is that the recent medical prescriptions presented by the imperial hospital have worked, and the other may be the "return to light" of the disease. "No matter how you say it, it has nothing to do with fairy medicine.This makes it difficult for Fang Congzhe to judge which is right and which is wrong.Early this morning, the emperor sent people to urge the immortal medicine. Fang Congzhe pressed again and again, trying to delay, but after noon, the emperor urged him even harder, and issued an imperial edict.He had no choice but to summon Li Kezhuo to the cabinet, and repeatedly asked Li Kezhuo to ensure that the elixir was effective, so Fang Congzhe pulled Han to accompany Li Kezhuo into the palace. Entering the palace, seeing the emperor sitting quietly in front of the dragon case, his expression was indeed much better than the day before yesterday.Fang Congzhe finally became a little more at ease, and he believed in the magical power of the fairy medicine again.The red pill that came in today is slightly larger than the previous one, and the color is brighter.After Zhu Changluo took it, he held it carefully for a while, with an unspeakable joy on his face.The maid brought light ginseng soup, and Zhu Changluo quickly took the medicine with the ginseng soup.Seeing that the emperor had finished taking the medicine, Li Kezhuo knelt down to ask him to go to bed and rest, but Zhu Changluo waved his hand indifferently and said, "No need, I'm in good spirits today. Li Aiqing has made great contributions in donating the medicine, and I will be rewarded in the future." Walking on the ground for a few square steps, he smiled at Fang Congzhe and said, "Mr. Fang, do you think I can come to court tomorrow?" It won't be too late to come back after the Great Kang." Zhu Changluo nodded in agreement.In order not to overwork the emperor, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony cut off their conversation in time, and sent the three foreign ministers directly to Longzongmen before waving goodbye. The first day of September is a festive day for the new king to ascend the throne for one month.Seeing that the emperor recovered quickly from his illness, the inner court officials decided to remove the filial veil in honor of Emperor Daxing overnight.Hang lanterns and colors to congratulate the new monarch on his pro-government.Therefore, August 30th in the Forbidden City was a sleepless night, and the twenty-four yamen arranged and decorated the palace overnight.The imperial supervisor and the divisional supervisor were even more busy, sending a large amount of red silk and palace lanterns to the Sixth Court of Sangong.The eunuchs of various courts were running back and forth, those who hung the lamps hung the lamps, and those who sent the brocade clothes sent the brocade clothes, for fear that they would pick out serious problems when the eunuch in charge of the yamen inspected tomorrow at Yinshi 24th.In the middle of the night, there was a sudden commotion in front of the Qianqing Palace. Four young and strong eunuchs were running to pass orders to the palaces, and immediately stopped to put up lanterns and festoons. The envoy of the Imperial Hospital led the imperial physicians into the palace, and after a while the emperor's oral order was issued, ordering Li Xuan of the Qianqing Palace to lead the crown prince and concubines to the Qianqing Palace to listen to the decree. Palace... This series of summons shows that the emperor is critically ill.When Fang Congzhe led all the ministers to Qianqing Palace, the imperial physicians had already come out of the palace dejectedly, and the female relatives of the six palaces in the Qianqing official were crying like a group. The emperor, who had already recovered, took a red pill that was not given by the imperial doctor, and died suddenly at night. This is no small matter.Fang Congzhe was even more nervous at the moment. He had already expected that there would be countless memorials accusing him of impeachment flying in tomorrow morning.So although he remained calm on the surface, he was secretly thinking about the countermeasures to free himself.According to the old rules of the Ming Dynasty, when the emperor passed away, his edict had to be drafted by the chief minister of the cabinet. Fang Congzhe thought about it and thought that he could only use the opportunity of drafting the edict to declare that it was the emperor's own opinion to take the red pills, and push the responsibility to the general public. The best policy is to act on the emperor.Having made up his mind, his expression has settled down, and he adjusted the funeral affairs with the demeanor of a prime minister, unexpectedly making everything orderly, and arranged all the procedures for mourning that night. As expected by Fang Congzhe, the sudden death of the emperor attracted the attention of the entire court.There were hundreds of memorials to trace the cause of the emperor's death within two days.Some of the memorials have publicly pointed out that Cui Wensheng, the servant who gave the emperor laxatives, initially served under Zheng Guifei, and was later recommended by Zheng Guifei to Zhu Changluo.Cui Wensheng dared to use laxatives to torture the late emperor, there must be someone behind him.This surprised Fang Congzhe, because he knew that he also had an extremely close relationship with Concubine Zheng.If someone says that Hongwan was introduced by himself, and then connects it with Cui Wensheng, it will naturally form a regicide plot of Yu Jihua.It will be difficult to calm down once the court discussion starts, and he will become the target of public criticism.Although he had expected these things, he never expected that the situation would develop so quickly.Fortunately, he had already thought of countermeasures on the day of the emperor's funeral, and he believed with full confidence that the fact that all the ministers went to the book now was due to ignorance of the truth.Now as long as the emperor's will is issued, the public sentiment will calm down.So Fang Congzhe couldn't wait to obtain the consent of the cabinet ministers, and promulgated the will drafted by him.In the last edict, Li Kezhuo was praised in every possible way in the tone of the Daxing emperor, and silver coins were awarded.Fang Congzhe thought that this might have a great effect on blocking the mouths of the officials.But it never occurred to him that he had made the stupidest move.After the edict, the crowd was full of enthusiasm. The courtiers all knew that the edict came from the hands of the first assistant, and Fang Congzhe and Jin Hongwan were closely linked together invisibly.Everyone regarded the will as Fang Congzhe's "There is no silver three hundred taels here", and many officials bluntly included Fang Congzhe in the ranks of regicides, demanding that Cui Wensheng and Li Kezhuo be punished, and the voices of the masterminds behind the scenes were strictly investigated. At this point, Fang Congzhe also felt a little overwhelmed. In the cabinet in the early years of Tianqi, the auxiliary minister Han was considered the most prestigious. After the "Hongwan Case" happened, even though all the ministers went to the shuffle to ask questions, Han never said a word.This made Fang Congzhe very angry.On October 4th, when discussing political affairs in the cabinet, Fang Congzhe asked Han: "You knew Li Kezhuo's entry into Hongwan from the beginning to the end, why didn't you say something fair?" no answer.Fang Congzhe really didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in this assistant minister's gourd.In fact, Han has been watching the movements of the officials, and he also has a lot of sympathy for Fang Congzhe's blamelessness, but he sees the problem much further than Fang Congzhe.According to his idea, he should have taken a nonchalant attitude towards the ministers' request to investigate the Hongwan case and punish the people behind the scenes.Fang Congzhe jumped out prematurely, issued a will, and ordered people to defend himself. In fact, he put chains on himself.Now that Fang Congzhe has become the target of public criticism, and he is also one of the cabinet ministers who accompanied Fang Congzhe to take the medicine, the group of ministers attacked Fang Congzhe, but they may not have no doubts about themselves. If the situation is passive, then it will be more difficult to clarify the case.How did Fang Congzhe know about Han's painstaking efforts? In mid-October, the call for investigating the "Hongwan case" reached its climax. Sun Shenxing, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, and Zou Yuanbiao, the censor of Zuodu, made two noteworthy memorials. There is a crime of killing the king. If you want to give up the name of killing, you will inevitably kill the reality." Zou Yuanbiao sternly reprimanded: "The first assistant Fang Congzhe did not extend the righteousness of punishing thieves, but instead practiced the code of rewarding traitors. That is to say, he has no intentions. How can he explain it to himself? In the world." Both Sun Shenxing and Zou Yuanbiao were the most respected ministers in the court, and they were known for their loyalty and honesty.Especially Zou Yuanbiao, who was severely punished with a cane for opposing Zhang Juzheng, the chief assistant who had been in power for a while, was hailed as one of the "five straight ministers" by the people at that time, and his reputation shocked the government and the public.Their memorials set the tone for the investigation of the culprit of the "Hongwan case", and Fang Congzhe could hardly refute even with ten thousand mouths.Holding these two memorials, Fang Congzhe's hands kept trembling. Looking back on his efforts to quell public anger in the past few days, he felt that he had not made a wrong move. For example, when meeting with the officials, he once solemnly pointed out: "Cui Wensheng, Li Kezhuo's medicines were all requested by the late emperor, if there is a conspiracy in it, the first thing is to make the late emperor suffer a reputation of not dying, and if he is a subject, how can he bear it?" This was a righteous counterattack. , enough to make those menacing speech officials flinch.Unexpectedly, this counterattack not only did not work, but added fuel to the fire, causing the momentum of the investigation to form a frenzy.In the past, it was only some officials who impeached him, but now even many ministers have stepped forward. The previous playbook was just "still holding the pipa half-hidden", mainly insinuating, and now they simply scold him by name. up.What's more, some memorials turned up old accounts, revealing the scandal of Fang Congzhe's attachment to Concubine Zheng, and finally led to the memorials of Sun Shenxing and Zou Yuanbiao... The autumn wind blew up, and the palace courtyard was full of fallen leaves. The cold air comes in from the cracks in the doors and windows, making people feel cold all over.Fang Congzhe felt cold in his heart at the moment, he felt that he could no longer resist these severe censures, he never imagined that he was careful and painstaking in everything in his life as an official, and he was charged with "regicide".Now that there is only one way to save the lives of the whole family, that is to go to the Shu and ask for seclusion.After thinking about it philosophically, Fang finally decided on this plan of retreat.He wrote a long memorial, in which he defended himself carefully and at the same time made a very sincere request to retire. Less than ten days after Fang Cong handed over the zhe zueben, Emperor Tianqi's decree of approval came down.At the beginning of November, the veteran minister who had been in power for eight years left the capital sadly in the bleak autumn wind.In front of the long pavilion of the Lugou Bridge, the reeds are rustling, the setting sun is slanting, and the sound of breaking the horns is a chilling scene.Fang Congzhe raised his wine glass and vented his sighs to the staff who came to see him off.A gust of cold wind blew in, and his gray beard fluttered in the wind, making him look more desolate, so that the staff who saw him off all shed tears of sadness.Fang Congzhe left, and on the small road invaded by the weeds, at the end of the sky bordered by the chaotic clouds and the weeds, in the autumn wind with fallen leaves, walked alone a loser who was squeezed out of the ruling group, but the tragedy did not come to an end. This is the end... Not long after Fang Congzhe left Beijing, another batch of memorials to investigate the inside story of the Hongwan case was sent to Emperor Tianqi's desk.The sixteen-year-old young emperor's life was full of ups and downs. When he was still young, his biological mother died of illness due to being beaten, and his father had never been trusted by the Wanli emperor, and he was almost deposed as the crown prince several times. title.He managed to ascend to the throne of the emperor, but he was seriously ill, and now he died suddenly and unexplainably, which made him feel a sense of revenge in his heart.Fang Congzhe happened to be the target of his hatred.So when Fang Congzhe's begging return came up, he approved it without any hesitation, and now the officials have not stopped attacking him because of Fang Congzhe's demotion, which makes Emperor Tianqi feel that Fang Congzhe can't escape Charged with regicide.However, since Congzhe is a veteran of the third generation, it is not easy to deal with it too severely for a while, so Tianqi kept all these memorials and kept them silent to observe the movement.This morning, Emperor Tianqi was looking for the scriptures against Fang Congzhe in the memorials of the officials, but he neglected to find a very familiar font. Looking carefully, it was Fang Congzhe who sent it from his hometown where he became an official.The memorial was written very earnestly, and it said: "After leaving Beijing, I have been paying attention to the court all the time. I know that the officials are still entangled in the examination of the late emperor's funeral. I am old and ignorant, and I can't prevent mediocre officials from taking medicine. The crime will not be tolerated." Execution. In order to express my apology, I would like to beg to have my official rank cut off, and I will go to the frontier as an old fashioned person to quell the grievances of the courtiers." After reading the memorial, Tianqi felt a little sympathetic for the old minister, and sent Yuan Shu to the cabinet for discussion .He didn't expect that this is exactly what Fang Congzhe, far away in the south of the Yangtze River, wanted him to do. In the process of handling the Hongwan case, Fang Congzhe took one wrong step, and only this last memorial was right.The purpose of his memorial is first to quell the public outrage with earnest words and severe self-blame, and second, to arouse the sympathy of some courtiers, so that they can stand up and say a few words for him.As a result, both goals were achieved.When the officials were discussing Fang Congzhe's memorial, some people had complained about him.Soon, Huang Kezuan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, Wang Qingbai in Geshizhong, and Wang Zhidao, the censor, wrote letters one after another, demanding that the public opinion on investigating the mystery of the sudden death of Emperor Daxing be stopped immediately.Their main reason is that if the entanglement continues, the court will be restless, and the late emperor will be trapped in a place where the emperor died unhappily, and the reputation of the royal family will not be good.If such a reason is said from Fang Congzhe's mouth, it will cause public outrage, but it seems reasonable if it is said from the mouth of other officials.However, Tianqi believes that this defense does not clarify the truth of the Hongwan case, and it is difficult to make a decision for a while.At this time, the cabinet minister Han who had been silent all this time finally stood up and spoke.Han appeared as a witness and explained in detail all the facts he witnessed at that time.In particular, Fang Congzhe's dilemma and dilemma at that time are depicted in a very specific way.In the end, Han Cai raised the "Hong Pill" case, which has been entangled for more than a year, but Cui Wensheng and Li Kezhuo, who really put the late emperor to death, have not dealt with it until now. Although these two people used drugs indiscriminately, they did follow the order Taking medicine can be punished appropriately, but the case of Hongwan should not be further investigated. Han was a well-known senior official during the Wanli period. He was an official for more than ten years and handled affairs fairly. The cabinet has nothing to do with the factional disputes in the original cabinet, and has been accompanying Fang Congzhe to cook for Hongwan after joining the cabinet. What he said is credible.So after his memorial was reported, the turmoil was quickly calmed down.Soon after, Emperor Tianqi issued an imperial decree, "Li Kezhuo will be expelled from Beijing, and Cui Wensheng will be sent to Nanjing for resettlement." The uproar finally came to an end.But why did Zhu Changluo die suddenly overnight?What exactly is the red pill presented by Li Kezhuo?But it has always been a mystery.For more than three hundred years, although historians have different opinions and conceived various answers, none of them is convincing. Therefore, the Hongwan case has become an eternal mystery, and a court political struggle surrounding the sudden death of a generation of emperors , but it profoundly reveals the fierce family disputes between concubines, kings, eunuchs, foreign relatives, cabinet ministers, Jiuqing, speech officials, and foreign officials in the last years of the Ming Dynasty.Through it, we can finally see all kinds of bad policies and long-standing abuses in the late feudal society, so until now, some people still list the "slamming case", "Hongwan case" and "moving palace case" that occurred in the late Ming Dynasty as the reasoning of Ming Dynasty. The key to the context of political struggle!