Chapter 73 Section 72

As soon as Yuan Shikai arrived in Xiyuan, Zhang Jing, a trusted military officer, came to secretly report: Maybe it was because of the cold yesterday, the Empress Dowager Cixi's condition suddenly changed, and she was so depressed that she hadn't woken up until dawn.This is the news from the palace of Yiluan, absolutely reliable. Sure enough, at around seven o'clock, the eunuch from the Neizuo Office came to pass the decree: All "rises" and "withdrawals".If the Military Aircraft Department has a major matter that must be decided immediately, it will be written and submitted.

"Isn't it very effective for Lu Yongbin to ask for pulse? Why did it happen again and again?" Zhang Zhidong said with a worried expression, "Isn't this matter related to the details, so I have to ask." If you want to ask, you can only ask the Minister of Internal Affairs. Zeng Chong, Kui Jun Jilu, and Jing Feng were all invited to talk.As far as Jilu knows, Empress Dowager Cixi has always been self-willed and self-confident. She considers her body to be extremely healthy, and regards "river fish disease" as a minor illness that is not worth worrying about. Raw and cold, go hand in hand.This time the attack is very fierce, I am afraid that I will lie on the bed for a while.

"Did you call for a doctor?" Zhang Zhidong asked. "It's Lu Yongbin's pulse." Ji Lu said, "The prescription hasn't changed much from before. I'm decocting the medicine right now. Let's see what to say after taking it." "The emperor's illness is not good either!" Chang Chuan said to Zeng Chong, who took care of Yingtai, "It's probably because of the cold." "What's wrong?" Yuan Shikai asked. "It's hard to say. Even the doctor on the first shift can't tell." Zeng Chong replied with great difficulty: "Anyway, he doesn't look quite right."

"Didn't it mean that the medicine for the first shift was ineffective? Why didn't you change it?" Zhang Zhidong said again: "At the beginning, there were three shifts, and it was said that there would be one shift every two months. If it was the beginning of August, then we should have changed shifts." ?" Zeng Chong didn't answer, and the other three ministers pretended not to have heard of it, and no one answered. The situation froze a bit, and finally Shi Xu said, "You have to hear about the Empress Dowager first when changing shifts. I mentioned earlier that some people say that the Empress Dowager has always been in poor health, so don't bother her, so..." He didn't say any more.

Who is "someone"?Zhang Zhidong was asking in his heart, but remained silent.This time it was Yuan Shikai who broke the silence: "Do you want to invite King Qing back?" he asked. "I also have to ask the Empress Dowager for orders." Shi Xu said, "King Qing's trip is not a different kind of errand." Yuan Shikai also realized that Yikuang was going to inspect and accept the "Wannian Jidi" to enshrine Buddha statues. This mission was extremely important. If he said that he was going to be brought back, it would definitely make Empress Dowager Cixi angry, so he quickly retracted his words: "Yes! Yes! It must not be overdone.”

"Let me invite you first!" Zhang Zhidong said, "At this moment, I can only calm down, but it's too much work for you, so please contact me at any time." Then, he bowed his hands to the four ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, expressing his deepest entreaties. As soon as they left, Zaifeng asked: "Should we also stay behind? If we live here, we have to send someone home to pick up the bedding as soon as possible." Everyone thought his words were ridiculous. What's the big deal about "going home to get the bedding" that's worth mentioning?Shixu has always been a bit dependent on the young people, so he bluntly touched them back: "My lord, don't worry about this, I won't freeze you anyway!"

"The inside is important, and the outside perception cannot be ignored. If it is not necessary, you don't need to live here." Zhang Zhidong said: "Otherwise, when the news spreads, people will panic." "Yes, yes!" Yuan Shikai immediately seconded: "I see, let's talk about it in the afternoon!" So the five ministers of the military aircraft stood by and waited. At noon, the minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs came to pass on Yi's decree: "The clan Jueluo orphans and the soldiers of the Eight Banners and Green Step battalions will be rewarded with half a month's money and food." Instructing Mingfa to inform Du branch Shangshu Zaize to negotiate, how much money and food will be needed for the half-month bonus, and where will it come from?At this time, there was another Yi decree: "The money and food distributed by Jia En for half a month will be distributed by the internal gang." This is the Empress Dowager Cixi using her private house to benefit the orphans and widows of the Eight Banners. The purpose is to pray for blessings and eliminate disasters. Not good.

Soon Su La came to report that Zai Ze had returned home.Fortunately, the money has already been settled, and it doesn't matter whether Zai Ze comes or not. After completing the edict, there is no need to let the sick Empress Dowager Cixi look over it, and ask the cabinet directly for Mingfa. It was more than three o'clock in the afternoon, Zhang Zhidong was asking how the palace was going.If the Empress Dowager Cixi's condition has been relieved, she might as well disperse the value.Nazhi Zengchong hurried over and said: "The emperor himself felt very bad, so he sent me to him and asked me what to do?

I had no choice but to ask the prince and Zhongtang for instructions. " As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Zhidong immediately asked, "What's wrong?" "The emperor said that he was short of breath, as if his time was approaching." "what do you say?" "I think it's a little dangerous." "Then call a doctor immediately!" "Yes! I'm here to ask for instructions, how can I find them?" Shixu first understood what he said, and immediately said: "It was the first shift to ask for pulse. If you change to the second or third shift, you have to play the Empress Dowager Ming first. I'm afraid there will be too little time."

"Then play Empress Dowager Ming." Zaifeng said: "Delays are not to be delayed." "Since we can't delay, let's call the doctor first!" Zhang Zhidong made a decision: "I'll write a play later and send it to Cilan." "This is the best!" Zeng Chong asked again: "Should the whole class be called?" "As long as it is beneficial to the disease, you might as well call them all." "It's better to have one more person!" Saying this, Zeng Chong left in a hurry. Once back at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Zengchong asked someone to send a car to pick them up separately.Du Zhongjun, who lived in the Binsheng store on Yangmeizhu Xiejie Street, had just finished dinner when he heard that the emperor was seriously ill and left without even washing his face.When he arrived at the front gate, he saw a eunuch riding a horse coming to remind him. Du Zhongjun became more and more worried, and at the same time he was quite confused. He hadn't seen the emperor for more than two months. Heavy?

When I arrived at the Neifu Office, I saw Zhou Jingtao from the second class, who had just received a pulse, and only said: "The condition is very serious!" Du Zhongjun wanted to ask again, but Zeng Chong was already urging him repeatedly. So he hurried to Yingtai bedroom.The emperor sat on the kang in the outer room, resting his chin on his left hand and placing his right hand on the kang table, with a sad face and no words. Du Zhongjun didn't bother to ask any questions, he knelt on the mat to cut his pulse, the pulse was throbbing and thin, the Qi in the heart was insufficient, and there seemed to be glass in the liver "How is it?" The emperor opened his mouth, the smell was very strong, he said in a crying voice: "Head Ben’s medicine is of no use at all! Ask them, but they don’t have a decisive answer. What can you do to save me?” "I haven't had a pulse for two months." Du Zhongjun asked: "How is the emperor's bowel movement?" "I haven't had a major solution for nine days! I have a lot of phlegm and shortness of breath, and my heart feels empty." "The emperor's disease is full of excess and deficiency, and the heart is timid. Ginseng should be used; phlegm and constipation should be treated with Citrus aurantium, but it is difficult to handle. Wait for the minister to go down and carefully consider it." "You must prescribe the prescription carefully!" The emperor's cry appeared again: "I am satisfied with taking your medicine, but I changed my shift later, and I don't know who's idea, so I sent you to the third shift. You must always take care of yourself." Save me!" "Yes!" Du Zhongjun said with a sour heart, lowered his head, "I will definitely do my best." Exit Yingtai and go to Zhilu in Zhangjing, the military aircraft, to prescribe prescriptions, where the four ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are all sitting and waiting.It took Du Zhongjun a long time to finish the work.When Jilu saw the pulse case, he couldn't help being surprised. "You said 'real and false, I'm afraid there will be a sudden escape', won't the emperor be afraid of this way of writing?" "The emperor's illness must be dangerous within four days. After I entered Beijing, I was ashamed that I couldn't cure the emperor. When I got sick, I couldn't see it. How could I explain myself?" Du Zhongjun was suddenly angry and excited. Said: "You told me not to write like this, it's all right! But in the future, something extraordinary will happen, I have to declare in advance that I can't be responsible." "He's right." Kui Jun interjected, "We can't be responsible either. Why don't we ask our superiors to see what they say." "They" means that the minister of military aircraft is still waiting.After Du Zhongjun explained what he said earlier, King Chun took a look at Zhang Zhidong and said, "It's good that we know, don't write it!" Du Zhongjun nodded, without saying a word, went back to the original place and opened Zhang Fangzi again, and deleted the eight words "real, real, false, and false, for fear of sudden release" in the pulse case. It was already the second watch when we returned to Binsheng's store. Du Zhongjun had to go to bed early because he still had to enter the palace early the next morning, but his mind was so full of thoughts that he tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.After like this for an hour, he suddenly heard the sound of the door, and asked in surprise, "Who?" "Master, it's me!" It was his servant, Du Sheng, who turned on the light, went to the bed and opened the curtain and said, "The shopkeeper said, there is something very important, I want to see the master!" Du Zhongjun was startled and suspicious, but there was no reason why he didn't see him, so he said, "Okay! let him in. " When he put on his clothes and got up, the treasurer Zhao of Binsheng store had already stepped in, and asked An to apologize first: "It's so late, it's really wrong to startle you from the kang all the time! However, I can't help it." He took two steps and said in a low voice: "There is a eunuch who is an acquaintance, no matter what I say, he will not leave if he wants to see Mr. Du. Please, Mr. Du, just meet him?" "This is impossible!" Du Zhongjun's tone was very serious: "Unless he is on business to send a message, I can't meet him in private! Besides, it's late at night, and besides..." He felt that there was no need to say more, so he swallowed his words and wished shopkeeper Zhao the best of luck. He stopped talking, and finally retreated, but soon knocked on the door again. Du Zhongjun saw clearly through the crack of the door that he was the only one, so he opened the door to let him in. "Master Du," the shopkeeper said with a helpless expression, "He wants me to ask you an old question." "What words?" "He said, Mr. Du went to the palace to ask for his pulse. Did he say that if the Lord Long Live is within four days, he must be in danger?" Upon hearing this, Du Zhongjun's expression changed suddenly, "Who is this eunuch?" He asked: "Who asked him to ask this question?" "This eunuch," Shopkeeper Zhao said in a very low voice, but with a serious expression, "is under Chief Cui Er." Du Zhongjun also knew that Cui Yugui's power now surpassed that of Li Lianying, and he originally wanted to be reprimanded by others in the future, but now he couldn't help being discouraged. "Master Du," Shopkeeper Zhao said again, "You told me, and I told him, I will take care of him not to gossip around. I know this person very well, and I am sure." Du Zhongjun bit his lip and thought for a while before making a decision. To tell the truth, the words of "four days" must not be admitted. "The emperor's illness is very serious, and it's a bit dangerous." He said: "However, I never said that within four days, there must be danger. A doctor can decide whether a person lives or dies. The truth is that they can only live for a few days. It's just talk. No one has such a great ability!" "Yes! I'll tell him what Master Du said." Du Zhongjun nodded, and when he was about to leave the room, he suddenly shouted: "Shopkeeper Zhao, you sent him away, please come back again, I have something to ask you." Shopkeeper Zhao agreed and left, about the time of a cup of tea. He went back and forth, holding a pot of tea in one hand and two roasted sweet potatoes in the other, and said very politely: "Master Du is probably hungry. Cushion hunger." "Thank you, I'm not hungry." Du Zhongjun asked, "Is he gone?" "gone." "Did you say anything?" "Let me thank Master Du." "This person," Du Zhongjun asked, "is he in the Empress Dowager's palace?" "It's also in the Empress Dowager's Palace." "How do you call it 'also counted'?" "He's running errands. But Chief Cui Er trusts him and often assigns him to do important things." "Then, Cui Yugui asked him to come if he came today." Du Zhongjun asked, "Did he ever tell you why Cui Yugui asked this question?" "No. He won't tell me." "Didn't you say you knew him very well?" "Yes. Familiarity is familiarity. If there is any discrepancy, he will not talk nonsense. I came here to chat for a while. It is nothing more than a joke in the palace." "A joke in the palace?" Du Zhongjun said, "Tell me something!" "Yes!" Shopkeeper Zhao was pouring tea for him, thinking at the same time, halfway through the pour, he suddenly asked, "Master Du is familiar with Dr. Chen from Jiangsu, right?" "You mean Chen Lianfang?" Du Zhongjun shook his head: "Not familiar, not familiar!" "Then, Dr. Chen hit a big snag in front of the emperor, did you hear about it?" "I don't know! I haven't heard of it. I only heard people say that the emperor didn't appreciate him very much. What happened to him?" Du Zhongjun said: "We are very careful in the palace. Dare to walk around, don't dare to say a word. Maybe you don't know as much as you do." "That's the truth. We small businessmen should never think of going to the palace to see and see for the rest of our lives. However, eunuchs and the masters of the House of Internal Affairs know a lot, and they are tired of hearing about things in the palace. This spring, a Suzhou Mr. Cao, who was also recommended by Chen Futai, listened to me one day, and asked for leave the next day. Before leaving, he gave me a big bow and said that I saved his life. This Mr. Cao is very clever. " Hearing this, Du Zhongjun was very concerned.He knew that before he arrived in Beijing, Jiangsu governor Chen Qitai had recommended a famous doctor, Cao Zhihan. Not long after he arrived in Beijing, he asked for leave to return home, and then said he was sick and resigned.Chen Qitai asked many people to tell him that he was promised a monthly subsidy of two thousand silver for "public expenses", but Cao Zhihan was unmoved, which is a bit unreasonable.Now after listening to shopkeeper Zhao's words, I know that there is something inside, and the long-standing doubts can be broken. So he hurriedly asked: "Shopkeeper Zhao, what did you say to make him ask for leave and return to Suzhou immediately, and you think you saved his life?" "I also heard it by accident. One day, an eunuch told me, 'Doctor Cao's medical skills are good, the emperor is willing to take his medicine, and it is effective. However, Doctor Cao is about to be unlucky!' I felt strange, How can the medicine be good, the emperor's medicine is effective, but it will be unlucky? The eunuch smiled and refused to explain the reason, but said, "his pulse is well cut, and he will be sent to wait on the emperor's side, and he will not let him go." If you go out of the palace, you will be out of luck at that time! No one cares about sleeping and eating, and you are not allowed to walk around, starving him to death.'" Hearing this, Du Zhongjun's hair was terrified, he could not help but shudder, forced himself to laugh and said: "I see! You really saved his life." "To be honest, Mr. Du." Shopkeeper Zhao said calmly: "When you moved to my Binsheng shop, I heard that there was a round every two months. I didn't tell you this. Let's talk about your four months' room and board money first. Now, it doesn't matter!" "Why?" Du Zhongjun hurriedly asked: "Why do you think I'm okay?" "Didn't you always say that the emperor's illness is dangerous? The emperor is dangerous, but the doctor who treats the emperor is not dangerous!" Du Zhongjun suddenly realized.There are mixed feelings in my heart, and I really regret this trip.Shopkeeper Zhao saw that there was something wrong with him, so he stood up and said goodbye, but Du Zhongjun didn't let him go, "Talk, talk!" He said, "You didn't tell me how Dr. Chen got into trouble." So shopkeeper Zhao sat down to talk about Chen Lianfang again.It is said that he asked for pulse on the first day, but he was blamed. When he asked for pulse the next day, the emperor issued his prescription with twelve words written on it: "The tricks of famous doctors, but that's all, it's a pity!" "I heard from the eunuchs that the emperor himself often read medical books. As the saying goes, 'long-term illness becomes a doctor', the emperor also knows the way of medicine. One day he wrote a list of his illness, and when Dr. Chen prescribed the medicine, the emperor sent him Called to go, take the list I made to match the pulse case, it is completely different. Immediately, I gave Dr. Chen a dog-blood sprinkler. However, it is not as big as the nail hit this afternoon! This afternoon, the emperor threw Dr. Chen’s prescription On his face, he also said, "My illness is all in your hands, and I can't spare you even if I die!" After hearing this news, Du Zhongjun didn't care because Chen Lianfang had offended the Tai Hospital after all.When the six imperial physicians asked for the pulse, the palace handed over two hundred prescriptions prescribed for the emperor to the imperial hospital. Those who know medicine can point out the fallacy.Not only dry ginger and aconite, which are hot in nature, but also antelope and gypsum, which are cold in nature, rhubarb and citrus aurantium are used for attacking, and ginseng and purple river carnation are used for a while.Thanks to the emperor's choice to take these two hundred doses of medicine, if he had taken all of them, he would have died long ago. These words, those who see the opportunity are just wrong, Chen Lianfang once planned to make a bitter discussion, but later listened to people's persuasion, and gave up his original intention.But occasionally he complained, and the people from the Tai Hospital must have heard it, and said something bad about him in front of the emperor, which made him hit a wall. "Master Du," Shopkeeper Zhao asked, "I'm a little puzzled. Dr. Chen is also a famous doctor. Could it be that he can't even see the emperor's illness?" "That will never happen." "Since it's not possible, why do you always run into trouble? Could it be stage fright, once you see the emperor, scare him back?" "No way." Du Zhongjun replied: "Probably he also knows that there are only disadvantages and no benefits to asking the emperor for pulse. He deliberately did this in order to hope that the emperor can go home without looking for him." "Yes!" Shopkeeper Zhao nodded deeply: "Probably he will be home soon!" Du Zhongjun understood what he meant, Long Yu was the honored guest, and the doctors recommended by each province would naturally return to their hometowns.There will never be punishment, but the order to seek medical treatment results in turning the "Jin Shang" who should be cured into a "Daxing Emperor". Very bad. Therefore, after tossing and turning at night, I still can't fall asleep, and when it is four o'clock, the passengers who get up early and rush on the road are noisy, which is even more annoying.Du Zhongjun simply didn't sleep, washed his breakfast, sat neatly dressed and waited for someone from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to pick him up.