Chapter 29 Chapter 29 Covering the Sky

For the people around Emperor Wanli, Emperor Wanli seemed to have no reason, and suddenly imitated the ancient Chu Zhuang King's "blockbuster" and tried to cheer up. They, who have always been "good at the emperor's heart", did not get it right this time. , Therefore, immediately some people began to secretly panic, and hurriedly sought remedies to deal with Emperor Wanli's reaction. Of course, Emperor Wanli never noticed this at all—when the strict imperial education he received in the past began to slowly wake up from the hibernation in his heart, when his heart began to awaken, when his reason began to produce a little ego During the self-criticism, the words "Cheer up" gradually spread from the most remote corner of his heart...

The experience of going to court in childhood is certainly an unpleasant memory, but now that he is older, he has understood that dealing with state affairs at court is the most basic job of an emperor; receiving courtiers and discussing state affairs are hard work, but they should not be avoided ;The ministers should judge the right and wrong before dealing with the "harsh words", and should not be furious at the first hearing - after a long "rebound period", he started another level of change. The good emperors described in detail in "Illustrations of the Emperor's Supervision", Han Wenjing, Tang Zhenguan - every good emperor who has survived forever is diligent in governing and loving the people, observing elegant words, knowing people well, and convincing the public with virtue; After thinking about it a few times, his heart gradually became active.

Therefore, he immediately and actively launched the practical action of "reviving". In the first step, he first conveyed his sincerity in trying to cheer up the issue of "establishing a crown prince" that has caused the most controversy for several years; he took the initiative to summon the cabinet scholars and six ministers in Yude Palace, and personally brought the emperor The eldest son Chang Luo appeared together; this move made a clear hint that he would adopt the opinions of the courtiers and the public opinion of the world, abide by the ancestral system of "establishing a head", and solve the unresolved and long-debated issue of establishing a reserve in the near future. Chang Luo is the crown prince.

In the next few days, he returned to the court, personally reviewed the memorials, and left several senior scholars in the cabinet to discuss matters after the next court; Therefore, he personally instructed Shen Shixing that he would strictly inspect the administration and taxation of the whole country in the near future, and re-examine the national land data and household registrations measured in Zhang Juzheng's era, and review the national army. When Shen Shixing heard these instructions from his own mouth, his first reaction was to kneel on the ground and kowtow repeatedly: "Long live Lord Shengming..."

However, although there was an expression of extreme admiration and approval on his face, he secretly shouted badly in his heart, and unconsciously trembled with anxiety. Since the death of Zhang Juzheng, the administration of officials across the country has begun to decline rapidly, and since he himself became the chief assistant, due to the policy of "tolerating and raising traitors", in just a few years, it has already changed from Qingming to corruption. Among the local officials, less than one-tenth of them are honest, caring for the people, respecting the law, and efficient in handling affairs; more than half of the officials in the imperial court are villains, and corruption and fraud are commonplace. Can it stand the test?

As for taxes, the "one-whip law" has long existed in name only. Over the past few years, the burden of the common people has increased several times over the past few years, which has seriously affected the economic power of the common people; The people of Gaotianfu abandoned their fields and fled, or took refuge in rich and powerful families, which had already made it impossible to implement the land policy planned by Zhang Juzheng and destroyed it. The problem in the army is even bigger. The long period of peace and the absence of war for many years have resulted in the lack of training and loss of sense of urgency in the army throughout the country; However, the lower-level military officers were in the fish and meat village, bullying the people with power, military discipline had long since disappeared, and the long-standing problems were not easy to solve. How could Emperor Wanli find out about all this?

"Don't say that the Lord Long Live knows the details--these, as long as the Lord Long Live knows one or two points, and after the investigation, I will be the first to be responsible-the first assistant. I usually have no 'assistant'. If something happens , but he has to bear the brunt of losing his official position!" Losing an official position is still a trivial matter, and it was not that none of the chief assistants in the past were kidnapped and taken to the execution ground, and the decapitation of Kacha sounded - thinking of this, Shen Shixing became even more worried.

I am an incompetent chief assistant. In the past, I just relied on Emperor Wanli's desolation and leisure, ignored the government, and never investigated his political achievements, morals, and official reputation as the chief assistant. Zhang Baozuo; but now, Emperor Wanli is trying to cheer himself up, and he will be the first to be discovered by Emperor Wanli, who is intelligent in nature and has received a complete imperial education... All this, the more he thought about it, the more worried he became. He couldn't sleep for several days, and his wrinkled face looked even older.

He thought that when he first became the chief assistant a few years ago, he also had ideal visions in his heart, and he had really longed for it for a long time. He hoped that Emperor Wanli would work hard and lead his officials to create the "Government of Wanli" so that His name can be as famous as Wei Zheng and other virtuous ministers in history; however, after a few years, the situation has been very different-with the current situation of the whole country, not only can I no longer hope that Emperor Wanli will have the courage to work hard to govern. One day, instead, he had to do everything possible to stop Emperor Wanli's efforts to rule.

Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable; even if Emperor Wanli forgave himself after knowing the truth about the current political corruption and gave him a chance to reform himself, he would definitely ask himself to rectify the administration of officials; Lu, if there are more people who offend and blame the officials all over the country, and there are more people who hold grudges, it is hard to guarantee that he will not fall into the same fate as Zhang Juzheng in the future! I rely on a set of official philosophy of "hometown wishes" to deal with the officialdom...

Thinking about it left and right, his heart sank inch by inch, and his heart felt extremely uncomfortable; but, after all, he was an old fox who had been in the officialdom for many years, and when his heart was so heavy that he fell to the bottom, his brain had a turning point: "I have to find a way—yes, I should unite some people who have the same idea and start from various aspects..." He first thought of several other cabinet masters, but he immediately rejected the idea in his heart - he knew better than anyone else that the second assistant, the third assistant, and the others, who didn't deliberately try to squeeze him out of power every day ?Zhengchou couldn't catch his little pigtails, how could he be willing to work together with him to face difficulties; it might as well be some small officials in the court who have always obeyed orders and clung to themselves, maybe they can still command, as long as they are under Emperor Wanli. In my mind, the weight is not heavy, and the influence is not big. However, when he thought of this, his eyes suddenly lit up, and his spirit was even more subconsciously refreshed... "Why didn't I think of it earlier? Eunuchs and concubines—those who are closest to the emperor and who can speak to the emperor the most are not these two kinds of people? In terms of weight and influence, who else can compare?" What's more, he can be sure without even thinking about it, on the point of "stopping Emperor Wanli's efforts to govern", the two closest people to the emperor will definitely stand on the same line with him! Concubine Zheng, Zhang Cheng—he narrowed his eyes and smiled. "If Lord Long Live is diligent in political affairs, will he still have time to hang out with his concubine, eat, drink and have fun? Zhang Cheng has single-handedly controlled the power in the palace, and he is doing dirty things outside to cover half of the sky, and he will not be afraid to wait. Lord Long Live, make every effort to cure it, do you want to check it out?" He is fully confident that he can unite these two "comrades" to complete the task... Sure enough, his calculations were correct, the only small mistake was that Concubine Zheng's anxiety and reaction exceeded his expectations, and she took action alone without waiting for his cooperation. Emperor Wanli went to court for a few days, and was busy reading this play and criticizing that book when he came off the court. Of course, she was left out in the cold, and her world immediately fell into a desert; Bringing Chang Luo to summon the officials in the Yude Palace, vaguely hinting that Chang Luo will be established as the crown prince according to the opinions of the officials. In addition to bitterness and jealousy, her heart is so anxious that she can't get peace for a moment . If Emperor Wanli had put all his heart on national affairs, and had no time to summon himself to accompany him day after day, then, in a short time, he would forget himself completely. And once Chang Luo is formally established as the prince, then the hope of establishing Chang Xun will be lost, and his hope of being established as the queen will also decline... Based on these alone, she was several times more anxious than Shen Shixing in her heart; fortunately, being smart by nature, her ability to think was not affected by the anxiety in her heart. After careful thinking, she Immediately sent someone to find Zheng Guotai and quietly entered the palace to meet her. As soon as Zheng Guotai finished the ceremony, she immediately gave clear instructions straight to the point: "Quickly think of some ideas for me. If there is something fun to do, the more the better..." Zheng Guotai is also a very intelligent person. When he heard this, he already had a score in his heart, and immediately said to her with a smile: "What happened to my emperor's brother-in-law? My female music and male sex are all dedicated to him." , I’ve lost everything to play with myself, isn’t he satisfied?” Since he is a brother and sister who grew up together, he had nothing to do with the national system when he met Concubine Zheng in private, so he was always informal and used to talking with a smiley face, which made the atmosphere relaxed, harmonious and happy, but this time, Concubine Zheng's mood But she couldn't relax, there was no talking or laughing——she frowned slightly, sighed, looked at Zheng Guotai, and said quietly: "If I can't win his heart this time, I have no choice but to express myself." Please, cut your hair and go to practice as a nun!" "Is it that serious?" Zheng Guotai was taken aback by her words, and asked repeatedly: "What happened?" Concubine Zheng Gui didn't answer his words, but just let out another long breath, and then said through gritted teeth: "If I want to live a lonely life in the future, I have to look at the face of that ugly old witch Wang Gongfei. I might as well be a nun." Come and have a good time!" Zheng Guotai said in surprise: "Your Majesty is an imperial concubine, and Concubine Gong's rank is much lower than your Majesty's, so why would you want to look at her face?" Concubine Zheng snorted coldly and said: "If her son becomes the Crown Prince—in the future, she will still be the Empress Dowager, why don't you look at her face?" Now, Zheng Guotai understood the main point of the matter, and also understood the seriousness of the matter. He immediately put away the smile on his face, and changed his solemn attitude and asked: "Has the Long Live Lord made a decision? At least he hasn't officially issued an edict yet." ? Can it be redeemed?" Zheng Guifei sighed and said, "That's why I asked you to come up with some new tricks to bring Long Live Lord's heart back to me and Chang Xun!" This is really a "great burden" - Zheng Guotai realizes that he has a great responsibility and must do his best - in addition to the relationship between sister and brother, the real stakes are also in front of him, and the future of Concubine Zheng directly affects The future of the Zheng family, including him, must not be taken lightly. However, after turning his head carefully and racking his brains to think about every form of amusement, he was discouraged—indeed, he had tried his best to put all the amusements into consideration before that. Ideas have been contributed and nothing new can be thought of. So he frowned, thought hard, sighed, and tossed and tossed for a long time but still had no results; facing Concubine Zheng, he was under a lot of psychological pressure, and the more he couldn't figure it out, the more flustered he felt, and the more panicked the more he couldn't figure it out, like this for a while It was a vicious circle, and in just half a day, he was so anxious that his hair almost turned gray. Concubine Zheng was more anxious than him, and her mood was worse. Every short period of time, she had to look directly at him. Every look brought him greater mental pressure and made him miserable; When pushed to the extreme, the potential is often forced out - before dusk, Zheng Guotai was finally able to do business. "There is a new thing, I haven't had time to try it yet, I just heard a few friends mention it, and everyone who has tried it praises it, maybe I can give it to Long Live God..." He came up with an idea, and explained it to Concubine Zheng in detail: "This stuff is called Fushou Ointment, and the selling price is more expensive than gold, but it has infinite uses; after taking a couple of sips, you will be as happy as a fairy, and you can't live without it for a day. It—I have a few friends who have tried it, and according to them, with drugs, I don’t want to play with anything else, I just want to taste this happy fairy taste—I think, Long Live God has everything, just It’s just that he has never been a god, let him taste the taste of a god, maybe it will win his heart back!” Concubine Zheng Gui had never seen the power of fushou ointment before, so she only heard these words half-believed, but she could always give it a try, so she told Zheng Guotai: "It doesn't matter if the price is expensive, you can buy some for me first, so that Long Live God can try it." try!"

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