afterglow

Chapter 568 What does this mean? From now on...it's up to you
The atmosphere in the palace was very depressing, with a sense of urgency as dark clouds pressed over the city, and invisible hands seemed to be grabbing everyone's heart.

"It's been a long journey, so sit down and take a rest."

As soon as Zhu Lingjing finished speaking, Su Yiyi came over with a tray. She looked a little more dull than usual, a little distracted.

Zhou Changfeng smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, I have been on a plane for dozens of hours, and now I really want to stand for a while."

"That's it, it's up to you." Zhu Lingjing smiled and continued to read, "How do you feel about being out these days?"

"It's not bad. I picked some useful things and only used a small half of the budget."

"You'll get along fine."

"With luck, I got this important thing without spending a lot of money." Zhou Changfeng thought of the multi-cavity magnetron test product and design draft he bought from Alcatel Electric Company.

The conversation between the two of them seemed calm and calm, but they couldn't help but feel uneasy in their hearts.

After a while, she said again: "When it gets daybreak, you will go to the Ministry of War to report on your duties."

This wasn't the best of times, but thankfully... it wasn't the worst of times either.

Zhou Changfeng, who had had enough sleep on the plane, was not sleepy at all and was flipping through past issues of newspapers.

Some of the congressmen who have become the focus of the fire are regarded as weak, naive, and stupid thieves, who are actually the scourge of the Ming Dynasty - maybe their intention is not to be traitorous, but the policies they promote are traitorous!

Seeing that the situation was not right, Taiyuan Hospital immediately prescribed the right medicine, using Qingreding, which is known as the life-saving medicine - penicillin.

Zhou Changfeng doesn't like to follow the crowd, and hastily changing his family if the situation is not going well is extremely opportunistic.

Last year, King Jiang was just a young man obsessed with his studies, but now, after more than a year of intensive training, he has gained seven wings.

What's more, she didn't have much affection for her half-brother.

In the past few days, all the dignitaries in the capital were very anxious and very few could sleep peacefully. It was under such circumstances that when everyone woke up early in the morning, they learned of the sudden appearance of someone Zhou.

In fact, if Zhou was not there, she would not hesitate between persisting or giving up, but would directly choose to give up decisively.

Some people even said with grief and anger: "Wen Tian is so playful that he treats military and national affairs as child's play, and his crime will be remembered in history!"

A month ago, he arranged the on-the-spot speech outside the Consultative Yuan with ulterior motives, which put great pressure on many members of the Consultative Yuan. The Sun and Moon Society, the Chinese Party, and the Pioneer Association took the opportunity to publicize all kinds of "crisis theories." and criticize individual members of Congress.

Sadly, it is ridiculous to talk about family, affection, and friendship in the face of power and status.

There are always queues outside the official offices of the Ministry of War, especially during the war, when a large number of officers come every day to report on their duties or receive appointments.

Zhou Changfeng watched with gusto. It was really interesting for people to give advice and comment on government affairs. Occasionally, you could see conspiracy theories and weird reasoning about the court.

However, after the sudden change between the emperor and the prince, many followers chose to run away and rejoin the team after waiting and watching.

Zhou Changfeng walked into the official office in full view of everyone, greeted the civilian lieutenant who came to receive him, and then went to the second floor.

Now in November of the 40th year of Zhichang, there are only a few people who are truly loyal followers. Among them, Zhou is the most special and important one.

"Understood." Zhou Changfeng met her eyes.

In addition, Mr. Zhou believes that the bottom line of personal ethics is that even if he cannot reciprocate, he must not add insult to injury. He must know that his smooth journey is largely due to Zhu Lingjing. If he chooses to abandon it, he really has a guilty conscience and simply continues. , it’s not a big deal.

Every day, major newspapers publish signed or anonymous editorials commenting on the current situation in this regard, often with insights and suggestions.

Zhou has been extremely cautious in this regard for a long time and never discussed it with anyone. At most, he only had a few vague words with Xia Xiaoshi.

The subsequent meticulous care and conditioning objectively allowed him to recover a lot, but the frail body after a serious illness is like an old machine that will eventually have a life limit.

This kind of problem of one emperor and one courtier taking sides, even if he is wrong in the end, at most he will not be reused, and he will be idle for the rest of his life, or he will be held in a idle position. It is impossible to liquidate, and it does not involve rebellion. Under the background of constitutional government, the possibility of getting things done is almost impossible.

As a result, many congressmen rushed to clarify for fear of getting burned, or simply took a leave of absence due to illness and went to other places to avoid the limelight.

The news that Zhou returned to Beijing overnight could not be kept secret for long. He came on a special passenger plane, and it was already known before he even got off the plane.

Under pressure, the Finance Committee of the Consultative Council had to hold a press conference and publicly promised that it would carefully determine next year's budget.

Power conflicts and contradictions therefore inevitably and naturally arise. Sister, friend and brother? That's just the appearance.

The tax superintendent also said that he is considering whether to issue more banknotes and will only start printing money after careful evaluation to avoid triggering inflation beyond controllable limits.

Bacteria in this era have never seen antibiotics, and their resistance is low. The efficacy of the drugs is obvious at first, but it takes many days to fully recover, and then the condition worsens again.

Penicillin is currently sold by two Ming Dynasty pharmaceutical companies. The drug names are Qingreding and Quji'an. The output of both is extremely limited. Most of them are given priority to the military. Ordinary people with money can hardly find formal purchasing channels, so scalpers And the black market is rampant.

Last year and the year before last, as a rare political participant among the royal family, Zhu Lingjing, as a special advisor to the Executive Committee, held a transcendent status in the Chinese Party and had developed her own network and team. After all, very few members of the Ming royal family were engaged in politics, so gender was irrelevant.

Whether based on professional knowledge or a more metaphysical woman's intuition, Zhu Lingjing firmly believed that the critical moment was coming.

Although the royal family of the Ming Dynasty was relatively harmonious and down-to-earth, it does not mean that the descendants of the Zhu family can still be lenient in the face of power.

Obviously, after the emperor escaped from death, he vigorously cultivated the second prince, Prince Jiang. In a few years, Jiangshan Sheji would change hands, so it was naturally better to change the family as soon as possible.

"It's just a big grassroots team, how can we have so many careful ideas and far-sightedness."

A few years ago, she never dreamed that she would have the opportunity to sit on the throne. A few years later, she had to face a dilemma - if her father really decided to let her go now, should she insist on it?

A cold in winter caused pneumonia. At first everyone thought it was just a small cold, but the worsening of the symptoms and the subsequent high fever quickly made everyone panic.

In the east room of Zhaoren Hall, the clock on the wall showed that it was now past six o'clock in the morning, and it was still more than an hour before the official office time.

He put away a few newspapers, put them back on the bookshelf next to him, stood up and left.

The stroke caused irreversible damage to Zhu Shiyan's body. At that time, it was a miracle that he managed to escape from danger. It was like stepping into the gate of hell with one foot and suddenly pulling back the second foot.

If she had to hand over power now, Zhu Lingjing would undoubtedly be unwilling to do so - either don't let me take over from the beginning, or let me finish from beginning to end. How could there be such a dabbler with no power?
Disposable after use is so indifferent that no one can accept it.

Zhang Xi, who was in a hurry, cupped his hands as soon as he saw him and said, "Is Zhou Taizhao here to report on his work? I happen to be free."

As the third-in-command, the right assistant minister basically takes over the main daily affairs and does the most chores, but in this situation, Zhang Xi must be available even if he is not available.

Several officials and typists also came in, and the sound of questions, conversations, and the crackling of typewriters filled the room.

Because the particularity of Chinese characters made it difficult to make a small typewriter, although the Ming Dynasty made complex large-scale Chinese character typewriters, in order to improve work efficiency, typewriters using alphabetical pinyin were also widely used. Everyone was a little absent-minded. At this juncture, the superficial question and answer had become a formulaic dialogue, sometimes without any logic.

About half a quarter of an hour after the so-called work report began, someone knocked on the door and said, "Lin Ge is experienced."

The door opened, and Lin Xi walked slowly with a smile on his face. Several people inside returned the greetings while being surprised.

"Are you here too?" Zhou Changfeng said with a smile: "It seems that your trip to Germany and France will attract a lot of attention."

"Well, this trip will be of great benefit."

"All in all, I've been to a foreign country for a long time. I've received a lot of goods, and I've managed so carefully that I have more than half of the budget left." Zhang Xi said polite words casually.

"It's not hard, it should be." Zhou Changfeng, with a calm expression, quickly changed the subject and said unhurriedly: "Now that the war is in a stalemate, we must work hard and work together."

The air in the room seemed to freeze for a moment.

After a while, Lin Xi pondered and said: "Are we all united? What does Zhou Daizhao mean?"

Zhou Changfeng glanced sideways out of the window, then met the gaze of the defense cabinet minister and said seriously: "I am just a soldier. In my humble opinion, the general direction should not be changed at will. Only when I can convince the public and suppress dissent can I Okay, let’s just follow the current trend and we’ll be able to talk about everything after the war is over.”

After one second, two seconds, three seconds of silence.

"I see. Then I won't disturb you. I have a lot of official business, so I'll leave now."

Lin Xi got the answer he wanted and left without stopping.

Not long after, the so-called work report came to an end.

Zhou Changfeng left the Ministry of War headquarters in a car, and the car drove west along Chongli Avenue.

When we drove out of Chongli Avenue and arrived at Zhongzheng Avenue, the fireworks of the city suddenly appeared, with shops on both sides of the street, pedestrians coming and going, and jingling trams...

In the evening of the same day, the garrison commander ordered the capital and the capital to be under martial law. The Forbidden Army and the army departments were not allowed to leave the camp without authorization. All guns except the sentries were sealed and stored in storage.

There are more figures outside the houses of the main dignitaries. Basically, they are five or six patrol policemen or sergeants in uniforms, euphemistically called "protecting the personal safety of the high officials in the DPRK."

Xia Xiaoshi couldn't help but feel extremely nervous. She asked softly: "Sir, this posture is so scary."

"There is nothing to be afraid of in a battle within reason." Zhou Changfeng held her hand and said nonchalantly.

It's okay, there are submachine guns and automatic rifles in the storage compartments.

"I hope... I hope everything is safe."

"definitely."

A military coup is theoretically feasible. In fact, it does not require careful planning or huge momentum. As long as the basic political conditions are met, it only takes a few hundred people to capture the highest official office.

Although the 1st Marine Brigade is still thousands of miles away on the island of Oahu, there are still hundreds of people at the original garrison, and there are even several tanks and armored vehicles.

The trouble with a coup is that it must be done without hesitation, which is very difficult in the context of the current war over national destiny. If this dead end is chosen, the war will almost end here - it will be even more exaggerated than the Great Purge. .

An incomplete coup is the same as no coup at all, and a compromised coup is suicidal.

China's history of thousands of years is too long. Looking back on the past, people have walked on the right road, crooked road, and evil road. The predecessors have already killed the road, and the future generations have no way. There is no answer to this question, and the chain of suspicion is too long.

That night, more than a dozen cabinet ministers and dignitaries entered the palace to wait.

The Forbidden City was rarely brightly lit, and a group of people gathered in the Imperial Hospital.

In the middle of the night, the seventh day of November arrived unknowingly.

Compared with her sobbing brother and the sighing ministers, Zhu Lingjing did not shed a tear from beginning to end. She just bowed her head and remained silent.

"I'm still sorry for you. I didn't choose the right person back then, and it's made you suffer all these years." Zhu Shiyan stared at his daughter's eyes on the hospital bed.

The latter replied softly: "It was many years ago. It was just an accident. It was not expected."

"Yeah, it was unexpected..." Zhu Shiyan coughed a few times and said slowly: "It's hard to decide the winner at halftime. The burden is heavy. From now on...it depends on you."

Zhu Lingjing's eyes seemed to show a strange brilliance. Her hands trembled slightly and she hesitated to speak. It took ten seconds for her to say word by word: "The beginning is good and the end is good, please don't worry."

"Discipline your people well." Zhu Shiyan reminded him seriously again.

At the end, he said with emotion: "Forty years is enough to see the country's dynasty rejuvenate."

The first quarter moon hung like half a silver disk in the night sky, and thin clouds drifted past one after another, covering a corner of the starry Milky Way.

As the stars change, this night is particularly long.

Zhou Changfeng was perhaps the calmest among all the nobles. He could even sleep deeply and seemed to be completely aloof from the incident.

He woke up at dawn and found his wife pressing against him tightly, holding his arms with both hands.

After a slight movement, Xia Xiaoshi opened her eyes.

Zhou Changfeng reached out and pinched her nose, and said with a smile: "You have read too many novels and dramas, why are you so nervous?"

"I just...can't sleep..."

"It's okay, it's still early, just go back to sleep."

Zhou Changfeng walked out of the room and went down to the first floor without washing or changing clothes.

Lin Xi and other attendants all got up very early. She reported in a very low voice: "Those people outside left at some time."

Not long after, the phone suddenly rang, making everyone startled. There had never been such an unsettling situation.

Zhou Changfeng walked over and answered the phone. This was a call from the palace.

Suddenly, Lin Xi took out a letter with the seal of Gong Zhengsi, "Ah, General, I was a little flustered and forgot to give it to you. This is a letter that someone delivered earlier. I want you to open it personally."

"The Emperor said: Harmony between relatives and friends is a long-term solution. After victory, choose the opportunity to meditate, and still follow the order of 'brothers will succeed to brothers, fathers will die and sons will succeed'..."

(End of this chapter)