afterglow

Chapter 292 No Team, No Emperor; It's Another Way
"The primary problem is Prince Chu. After all, it was a stroke. It is difficult to ensure that His Majesty will recover as before... In the future, his energy will definitely not be as good as before." Fang Shujun said worriedly.

"It's good to be able to continue to control the overall situation, but I'm afraid I won't be able to control the power." The helpless Luo Fu sighed: "It can be said that it is really not enough now. When Prince Yiwen died of illness, Emperor Gaozu still had time to spare. He ruled the government for many years."

What these two people said was equivalent to nonsense in Zhu Lingjing's ears. She said calmly: "King Jiang is still here, so there can be no chaos. Father can abdicate as the emperor, and he can handle important affairs occasionally, and the cabinet will deal with other matters."

"Your Highness, isn't that good?" Fang Shujun thought for a while, and frowned: "The Republican Party, ▇▇▇, and the Peasant and Industrial Union are all focused on reducing the power of the emperor. Taking this opportunity, they will 100% strive to strengthen the power of the Advisory Council , Maybe the right to appoint the prime minister should be stripped away."

"There has to be a compromise." Zhu Lingjing sighed, "There is no other way at the moment. King Jiang has a soft temper and soft ears, so he is not suitable for politics."

The ownership of power was clearly written into the "Daming Constitution". Although the Advisory Council is responsible for the revision of the law, the emperor has the final decision. embodiment.

Want to weaken the monarchy by changing the law?Wouldn't it be nice if the emperor directly vetoed the constitutional amendment?

It is natural for a normal emperor who has firmly grasped the power to be afraid, but what if it is an emperor who has no foundation, no team, and weak nature?
The ministers and members of parliament are not easy-going lamps, and most of them are ways to put pressure on the emperor and try to force him to submit.

When the conflicts are mild, the methods will be milder; if the conflicts intensify, it is entirely possible that the army will cause a mutiny, or a few people will be killed suddenly in the Forbidden City.

Obviously, the emperor who lacked a team and experience would find it difficult to resist such tireless efforts, and would easily be defeated.

Luo Fu let out a "tsk" and said, "The mutiny is the most terrifying. What is terrible is not the mutiny itself, but that it will weaken the emperor's trust in the army. This has a bearing on the overall situation in the future, and I dare not imagine it."

"Indeed." Fang Shujun nodded in agreement.

"It's not that exaggerated, is it? Mutiny? At most, a small disturbance to scare people, a large scale... I think the possibility is very small."

To be honest, Zhou Changfeng felt that their worries were a bit too much. The government would indeed be unstable, and there would probably be a lot of noise for a while, but it was unlikely to reach the level of a large-scale mutiny.

This is not the ancient times, the soldiers at the lower level only obey the orders of the army chiefs, and whoever gives the money will work with them.

Although the current Ming army still retains many feudal military habits, it is essentially a reconstructed modern army with qualified nationalism education, and the salary is not paid by the army, but the households and houses of the local government entrusted by the Ministry of War. Issued jointly by the Brigade.

Separating this aspect of finance from the military and handing it over to the civilian government, although it has brought a lot of trouble, is an effective means to prevent the military from becoming self-respecting.

For example, the First Marine Regiment is stationed in Jiangning County. The salaries of officers and soldiers are special checks issued by Jiangning County households, stamped with the seal of the barracks, and sent to the station at the beginning of each month.

There are also places where the financial industry is underdeveloped, so checks are not issued, but cash and banknotes are used directly.

But no matter whether it is a check or cash, they are all sealed in envelopes, with bright red words such as "Salary Pay", "Issued by a certain soldier's military supervisor", "Issued by a certain county's household house", etc., which can be said to be from the inside out. They are all reminding that the money was issued by the court, not by a certain general.

The nobles and the big bosses of the military department care about the huge benefits that come with the war. As long as the emperor does not obstruct this aspect, how can they be so shameless as to plan a mutiny?
If the reason is not sufficient, there is a high probability that the soldiers will simply desert and disperse.

Zhu Lingjing glanced at him, "Just in case, there are advantages and disadvantages to being more careful."

Zhou Changfeng said "hmm", "I don't know if the cabinet forgot. Our department has not received the transfer order. The third division and the fourth division are now preparing to go to Zhenjiang and Taiping."

"It's just that you have a small number of people and are still stationed on Jiangxinzhou, so it's not difficult to guard against them, so there's no need to transfer you away."

"Your Highness, what you said..." Zhou Changfeng glanced at the people beside him, and continued: "This time the posture is a bit big, and I'm afraid it has aroused suspicion from the outside world."

"It's enough to buy a few days, and the dust will be settled by the time it is known to the outside world." Zhu Lingjing waved her hands indifferently and said, "Everyone should go to their duties."

"Your Highness, take care." Everyone knew that she was in a bad mood, so she left after leaving this sentence.

The attitude of others made Zhou Changfeng doubt himself a little. He felt that Fang Shujun, Luo Fu and others thought things too badly, while he was much more optimistic.

Could it be that I am too big-hearted?
But no matter how he thought about it, he felt that this crisis would not turn into a disaster.Since the experienced emperor is still there, no matter how bad the situation is, at least it will not get out of control, at most it will transfer some power.

After returning to the station, he called home and told Xia Xiaoshi that he would stay in the barracks on standby for the next few days and could not go home, and told her to take care of herself.

The latter could feel the unusual atmosphere from the tone of her voice, and roughly guessed that something important might have happened, but she was very sensible and didn't ask.

And Zhu Lingjing rushed to the Forbidden City after tidying up briefly, and she was destined to have no sleep this night.

Zhu Liqie's condition is not bad at present, but everyone knows that this is just the last peace before the defense line against germs collapses.

Outside the ward, two imperial doctors were whispering with a few test results sheets, and when they saw Zhu Lingjing coming, they bowed their hands and saluted.

"How is the prince?"

"Return to Your Highness, it is still stable at the moment."

Zhu Lingjing with complicated eyes stood by the door and looked in, hesitated for two seconds before gently pushing the door in.

This light green ward is very elegantly decorated, the dado and the floor are made of solid wood, the cracked windows are closed tightly, and the whole room is maintained at a comfortable and comfortable temperature by the air conditioner.

The princess was sitting on a stool beside the sick bed, and the two sons and daughters leaned side by side.

Zhu Liqie's complexion was flushed, and a deep tired look could be seen with the naked eye.

It can be seen that he is very sleepy now, but he still insisted on not sleeping, because he was worried that he might not wake up, wouldn't that be equivalent to wasting the last precious time?
Zhu Lingjing, who came slowly, didn't know what to say. At this moment, she had no choice but to speak a thousand words, as if every word she wanted to say was inappropriate.

In the end, Zhu Liqie was the first to break the silence, "Have you gone to see your father?"

"Before..."

"I mean just now."

"I didn't go." Zhu Lingjing, who was a little puzzled, asked, "Is there anything father wants to explain?"

"You'll know when you go later."

"it is good."

At this time, Zhu Liqie sighed, "Hey, the experience of the past two days has been ups and downs, and it came too fast."

He turned his head and looked out the window, "I can't see the future, tsk, what a pity."

"..." Standing beside the sick bed, Zhu Lingjing covered her heart with her hands, lowered her head slightly, her eyes drifted, and she was speechless.

Next, although Zhu Liqie originally thought about whether to talk about political affairs, he dismissed the idea before he could speak.

In the future, my father will have plenty of time to talk to her, but talking about this now is a waste of time, so he brought the topic back to the past many years ago.

"The Forbidden City is not a good place. The palace walls are too high and depressing. Once when I was a child, you seemed to have just turned ten years old. You were very naughty, like a small cannon, and clamored to go to the palace walls to have a look, so I I can only take you to find a tree, thinking to climb to the tree first and then pass the branches to the wall, but in the end I got stuck, unable to advance or retreat... Later, my mother gave me a hard training, hey..."

While talking, he laughed, but Zhu Lingjing put her hands in front of her eyes and sobbed.

About half an hour later, Zhu Liqie asked everyone to retreat because he was exhausted and exhausted, expressing that he wanted to sleep for a while.

Outside the ward, the dejected Zhu Lingjing was in a daze, while the Crown Princess covered her face and wept in a low voice.

Zhu Lingjing raised her head slightly, closed her eyes for a few seconds, took a deep breath, then turned and left without looking back.

In another ward of the Imperial Hospital, she saw the emperor who seemed to have recovered more than half.

"My son has seen his father."

"sit down."

The two were relatively speechless, and the atmosphere was both gloomy and depressing. If they were in it, their hearts would be raised involuntarily.

The emperor suddenly said, "Is it really just a whim when you have nothing to do in the past few years?"

This question was too strange and had nothing to do with what Zhu Lingjing was thinking, so she was stunned for a moment before hesitatingly replied: "Big... basically yes."

"Generally? Then what are the other few?"

"Father... um... just..." Zhu Lingjing was a little embarrassed, and said falteringly: "I feel that if I always have nothing to do, it would be a pity to spend half my life... I just want to do something."

The pampered daughter Qianjin naturally does not understand the difficulty of life. Zhu Lingjing has lived a heartless and carefree life for a long time.Because of the lack of emotional accumulation, she didn't feel depressed for long after the son-in-law died of illness.

After being tired of the long-term monotonous life, she was somewhat stimulated by some folk ridicules and "royal family jokes", so she simply tried to change a way of life, and she has achieved little success to this day.

The popularity of sarcasm and royal jokes is largely due to the Great Depression. Even though the negative impact on Ming Dynasty is relatively small, it still lags far behind the previous prosperous economy.

When the common people had to work hard to be frugal, and then looked at the still extravagant imperial family and nobles of the Ming Dynasty, various jokes came into being.

"At first, I thought you were just trying to make something new, and when you're more interested, you'll go back to normal. Unexpectedly... you've persisted for four years." The emperor thought for a while, and said.

Zhu Lingjing was a little embarrassed, "You're right, the affairs of the political world are chaotic and complicated, and there are many dirty things, and my ministers are both happy and disgusted."

The emperor laughed when he heard the words, very freely.

After a while, he gradually stopped smiling, and said in a very formal tone: "I'm in poor health, I should step aside. In terms of jurisprudence, the emperor's exercise of power is not as straightforward as the emperor's. It will be difficult in the future." Presiding over the overall situation, King Jiang will definitely not be able to stabilize the court."

Zhu Lingjing thought that now she was going to think about the little prince's succession, so she said without thinking, "I will try my best to help..."

"Yes, but not optimal."

"Ok?"

Did I hear you right?Not the best choice?Father, did he say something wrong?
Zhu Lingjing showed a puzzled look.

"The new emperor cannot live without his own team. I have talked with the crown prince..." The emperor looked at Zhu Lingjing two steps away with a calm expression and sharp eyes, and said seriously: "Perhaps...it would be better for you to come."

The latter was completely stunned in place, his lips were slightly parted, and his eyes were wide open.

She took a step back subconsciously, and said panickedly: "Father...Father, you are confused, you are confused by phlegm..."

"Why are you confused? I am sober." The emperor reached out and tapped lightly on the bedside table beside him, "You have your own people, and you are young and energetic, and the lack of experience is secondary. This is not ancient At that time, the difference between men and women was not an iron rule, not to mention that even in ancient times, there were people who broke the rule..."

"Father," Zhu Lingjing involuntarily lowered her voice, and whispered, "This is too shocking."

"Indeed. But you are justifiable... don't you think that today's Ming Dynasty is not as open and tolerant as it was a thousand years ago?"

"I……"

So far, the emperor has ignored his daughter's mental state.

In this matter, after weighing, she is the only one with medium risk and high return. It is related to the survival of the dynasty and the destiny of the country, and it is not up to personal opinion.

In the middle of the night, Zhu Liqie's symptoms suddenly worsened, and his body temperature soared to over 40°C.

After using multiple methods, he barely suppressed it, and he was sober for a while in the morning, and made a clear arrangement for his own inheritance.

"The money is of no use to the clan... It is more useful to use it in other places. Um... No matter what, the principle that food is the most important thing for the people remains unchanged. The [-] million people in our dynasty still have a considerable amount of money. It is difficult for the people to feed themselves... how to get enough to eat is still a big problem. Today's fast-changing technology has hope to solve all this... half of the legacy will be deposited in the bank, and the interest every three years will be used to reward those who have contributed to the farming. So be it."

Since noon, he fell into a long coma again.

The intensifying sepsis induced a cytokine storm, and the ensuing multi-organ failure made his lamp of life quickly consume the last bit of oil.

On the same day, the emperor secretly sent an oral order to summon the Prime Minister Gao Qingkui, the Metropolitan Governor Wei Guogong Wu Weihuan, the Chairman of the Constitutional Council Lu Hongmu, and the "top five ministers" of the cabinet.

The emperor stated his attitude and thoughts straight to the point - his physical condition was unable to bear the changes in the situation in the future, but it was not suitable for the little prince Jiang Wang to take over the position of Great Treasure.

"Your Majesty's plan is indeed detached." Wu Weihuan's reaction was the most flat. He stroked his beard and pondered, "But my Ming Dynasty has its own national conditions here, so I can deal with it temporarily... Maybe it's okay, but I'm afraid it won't last long. The old minister thinks that there should be a time limit." .”

Gao Qingkui said slowly: "I have other ideas, maybe we can create a new position of Second Prime Minister? Your Highness is the Prime Minister, who is in charge of the court, and the minister retires as Second Prime Minister. It is also a good idea."

　Well, the first volume is 10,000+ words, and finally it's time for the second volume.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)