My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 903 The Death of Queen Mother Zhang

"Grandma~"

In the imperial city of Beijing, in the palace of the Empress Dowager, Zhu Qizhen threw himself on the bedside of the Empress Dowager Zhang and cried bitterly.

Zhu Qizhen is now an adult and looks somewhat similar to his father Zhu Zhanji. Speaking of which, he lost his father when he was young and was brought up by the Empress Dowager Zhang. Although the Empress Dowager Zhang had strict control over him, she was also very strict with him. Therefore, the relationship between grandfather and grandson is still quite good. Now that Empress Dowager Zhang is seriously ill, Zhu Qizhen is of course very sad.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, there is no need to be sad. I am getting older, and this day will come to me after all!"

I saw Queen Mother Zhang lying on the bed with a kind look, stretched out a hand and gently touched Zhu Qizhen's forehead and said.

"Grandma, don't say such depressing words. I will definitely let the imperial doctor cure your illness, otherwise I will kill them all!"

Zhu Qizhen suddenly raised his head, gritting his teeth and crying.

"Confused, life and death are determined by fate, what can we do against human power? The imperial doctors have done their best, your Majesty must not vent your anger on them!"

When Queen Mother Zhang heard Zhu Qizhen's words, her eyes widened suddenly and she scolded him angrily.

"Grandma, don't be angry. It's your grandson who made a mistake. Just lie down and have a good rest. I believe your illness will definitely get better!"

Seeing that Queen Mother Zhang was angry, Zhu Qizhen was so frightened that he immediately admitted his mistake.

Hearing what her grandson said, Empress Dowager Zhang also softened her heart. She reached out to grab his hand and said again: "Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty governs the country with benevolence and filial piety. Your grandfather's temple name is Renzong because he is a kind man. You must pay tribute to him on this point." Your grandfather learned that you must never take out your anger on others because of selfish desires!"

"My grandson respects my grandmother's teachings!"

Zhu Qizhen nodded with tears in his eyes. After all, Queen Mother Zhang was so ill, but she still reminded him, which moved him very much.

"Your Majesty, you have reached adulthood and have started to get involved in government affairs in the past two years, and you have done well. In addition, there are ministers such as Hu Hui and Yang Pu in the court to assist you. Your Majesty must listen to the opinions of ministers more in the future, and never... never act alone. !”

Empress Dowager Zhang's breathing became more and more rapid at this time, so she took the time to tell Zhu Qi Zhendao again.

"Yes, my grandson understands. Grandma, don't worry!"

Zhu Qizhen held the Empress Dowager Zhang's skinny hand tightly and said.

"It's a pity that Yang Rong passed away two years ago. Although Yang Pu is loyal, he lacks flexibility. Hu Hu is a capable person, but a bit cunning. The new cabinet members Ma Yu and Cao Nai are too junior and do not have enough prestige to take on big responsibilities. Your Majesty must keep these in mind."

Queen Mother Zhang knew that she was not going to die soon, so she took the time to give Zhu Qizhen a few more words. She gasped for a while before continuing.

"After my death, Your Majesty will send someone to report my funeral to the Han as soon as possible. Our relationship with the Han has been harmonious over the years. Your Majesty should not be hostile to the Han because of the grievances of our elders. After all, the original grievances have long since passed. And it’s impossible to say who is right or wrong. Everything must be based on the current interests of Ming Dynasty, and it is in our interests to be on good terms with the great Han..."

Empress Dowager Zhang spoke too hastily and had too much to say. At the end of the conversation, she was panting so hard that she almost couldn't breathe. She was so frightened that Zhu Qizhen wanted to call the imperial doctor over.

But after Empress Dowager Zhang took a breath, she stopped the imperial doctor from coming forward. With her last breath, she suddenly stretched out her hand and pointed behind Zhu Qizhen.

Wang Zhen, who was behind Zhu Qizhen, was trembling with fright, because Queen Mother Zhang's finger was pointed at him, and Queen Mother Zhang had a murderous look on her face at this time, and she obviously had nothing nice to say to Wang Zhen. But it was Wang Zhen's luck. When Queen Mother Zhang pointed at Wang Zhen, she just opened her mouth, but failed to make any sound. Then her whole body softened and her old eyes slowly closed.

"The great emperor passed away!"

When Wang Zhen saw this, he hurried forward and shouted, taking the opportunity to attract everyone's attention.

"grandmother!"

When Zhu Qizhen saw the death of Emperor Zhang, he immediately screamed in grief, threw himself on the bed and burst into tears. Others in the palace also cried bitterly.

Soon the news of Emperor Zhang's death was notified to the cabinet. Hu Hui, Yang Pu and others sighed, and then braced themselves and began to prepare for Emperor Zhang's funeral.

During the years when Empress Dowager Zhang was in power, although she rarely dealt with specific government affairs, she held the general direction of the Ming Dynasty's policies and was willing to delegate power to the cabinet. In particular, she advocated improving relations with the Han Dynasty, which allowed the two countries to lift the previously hidden conflicts. hostility, and both countries have benefited greatly from it.

Therefore, the cabinet was very sad about the death of Empress Dowager Zhang. However, besides being sad, Hu Hu was also a little worried because Zhu Qizhen was still too young and there was an ambitious Wang Zhen beside him. In the past, When Queen Mother Zhang was around, these were not problems, but now that Queen Mother Zhang is gone, these problems will explode sooner or later.

It's just that Hu Hui didn't expect that his worries came faster than expected, and the first thing was related to him.

On the sixth day after the death of Empress Dowager Zhang, the first seven days had not even passed. On this day, as usual, Hu Hui first came to the Ministry of Household Affairs to prepare to handle some official business.

Hu Hui was originally the Minister of Rites, but later Xia Yuanji passed away, so he also served as the Minister of the Ministry of Husbandry. Later, he put aside the Ministry of Rites and took charge of the Ministry of Husbandry. After all, compared to the Ministry of Rites of Qingshui Yamen, the Ministry of Husbandry had greater authority.

Hu Xi came to the back hall and sat down. As usual, she had someone make herself a pot of tea, and then she processed some official documents while sipping the tea.

Just when he had just finished processing an official document and was about to pick up the official seal on the table and stamp it, he was shocked to find that the official seal that usually was placed on the desk was missing.

"Come here! Where is my official seal?"

When Hu Hu saw that his official seal was missing, he immediately shouted angrily.

I saw several scribes rushing over immediately. When they saw that the big seal on the desk was missing, they were also shocked. Then they all said that they had not seen the official seal either.

Hu Xi was also shocked at this time, because he keenly smelled a conspiracy. After all, this was the Ministry of Revenue, and only a few scribes could enter his office room except himself, but these scribes But everyone said they didn't see the official seal. Where would the official seal go?

"Mr. Hu, do you want to block the news so we can look around again?"

At this time, an old scribe came forward and suggested that this scribe had followed Hu Hui for many years and was his most trusted confidant. He was also very aware of the impact of losing the official seal, so he suggested that Hu Hui block the news.

"That's the official seal. Without it, how can I review official documents? So I can't hide this matter at all. If I block the news, it will make me look guilty!"

Hu Xi said bitterly. He was now almost certain that someone was behind the loss of his official seal. Although this kind of low-level method was not on the table, it was very effective. Even though he was used to seeing big winds and waves, now he actually Also helpless.

(End of this chapter)