The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 585
Although the newly-built Meridian Gate Square is simple in furnishings, it has a majestic and majestic atmosphere, but the Empress Dowager Zeng was not in the mood to observe it carefully at all, and hurriedly ordered before she sat still on the carriage: "Hurry up, go back to the palace! "Suddenly worried that the eunuchs trotting would make his son jolted, he immediately changed his words, "No, it's better to walk steadily..."

After passing through the Gate of Supreme Harmony, she finally understood why she had to abandon her horse and take a sedan chair—outside the Gate of Supreme Harmony is the majestic and majestic imperial palace, but further north, there is still a large construction site, with materials and rubble piled all over the ground. , There are still many craftsmen who are repairing the temple, and it is difficult for cars and horses to pass through.

It wasn't until entering the Longfu Gate on the northwest side of the Forbidden City that the surrounding area was reorganized again, giving it the feeling of a royal palace.A eunuch at the side reported, "I would like to report to the Empress Dowager, now that the Sixth West Palace has been properly repaired, where do you think is the best place to live?"

Empress Dowager Zeng pointed to the nearest Yongshou Palace, "That's right here. By the way, are the imperial doctors here yet?"

"Back to the Empress Dowager," Pang Tianshou hurriedly said, "The Song Academy sent them to follow the holy car, and the imperial doctor from Nanjing is already waiting outside the Kunning Gate."

Empress Dowager Zeng entered the gate of Yongshou Palace under the guidance of the eunuchs, passed through the eunuchs and maids, and went straight into the bedroom, carefully placed Zhu Linyuan on the bed, seeing him blink again, she was a little relieved.

Afterwards, dozens of imperial physicians huddled together in the room, taking turns to check the little emperor's pulse, or discuss in a low voice how to use the medicine.

Not long after, the courtiers who heard the news came one after another, but they could not enter the harem without being summoned, and only gathered in groups of three or five outside the Longfu Gate.From time to time, someone stepped forward to ask the eunuch at the door about the situation inside.

"Master Huang means to go to speak today..." A wide-mouthed official looked at Huang Jingfang in surprise, but realized that his voice was a little louder, so he hurriedly glanced around and saw that no one was paying attention. Only now did I lower my voice and continued, "Your Majesty just heard the news from the palace. The emperor just barely opened his eyes, and he still hasn't woken up. The Queen Mother has just arrived in Nanjing, and she hasn't seen any indications. The attitudes of all parties are also different. It’s not very clear, if it’s time to activate it, wouldn’t it be too hasty?”

Huang Jingfang, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, smiled slightly, and also said in a low voice: "My lord Meng's words are wrong. I just saw the Queen Mother's explicit instructions, so I decided to strike while the iron is hot."

"The Empress Dowager made a clear statement? Why didn't the lower officials hear about it?"

"My lord Meng, when the holy car arrived outside the city of Nanjing, the queen mother ordered her to go to Xiaoling to pay homage before seeing all the ministers. What do you think this means?"

Meng Zhengfa was taken aback for a moment, "Master Huang means..."

"The first sacrifice to Xiaoling Mausoleum is an important task for the Son of Heaven." Huang Shilang said, "The Empress Dowager just wants to announce to the world that the Son of Heaven is the Son of Heaven. Even if others have great power, they should not make a big sacrifice to Xiaoling Mausoleum. It is beyond the Emperor's responsibility!"

Speaking of which, he was calculating power and status all day long, so that he tended to think too much, but he didn't know that Empress Dowager Zeng was pure-hearted, but she just remembered the late emperor, in order to fulfill his unfulfilled wish as soon as possible, so she rushed to Xiaoling to pay her respects , where is there any other deep meaning.

Meng Zhengfa thought for a while, then nodded and said: "Master Huang is right. From this point of view, the Empress Dowager also has scruples about the assistant king's excessive power..."

"Yes!" Huang Jingfang pointed to the north, "The puppet emperor of Donglu is more than ten years old, and his queen mother, Borzigit, did not hesitate to bribe Dorgon with her own body. Our queen mother can't plot If the temple is broken, Wu can't get on the horse to flatten the frontier, and there is no way to coerce the assistant king. Tell me, can she not worry?
"The Holy Majesty has not woken up before, and the Empress Dowager's thoughts are mostly on the emperor's illness. Now that the Holy Majesty is well, how can she not worry about her son's authority?

"At this time when she has no power and no soldiers, we will send charcoal in the snow, and the people of Fujian and Chu will be relied on as the pillars of the court!"

Meng Zhengfa immediately nodded delightedly, "With Tianxing Mansion and Lord Dutang joining forces, why worry that you can't defeat the assistant..." He swallowed the last two words subconsciously, and looked around carefully, "In the future it will be The Queen Mother hangs down the curtain, and Fujian and Chu are in charge of the situation!"

It turned out that because of the relocation of the capital, a large number of Fujian officials were forced to "leisure" in Fujing. They were very resentful, so they gathered a party to plan things and supported Huang Jingfang as the party leader.

And Meng Zhengfa's ancestral home is Hubei, and he and He Tengjiao are old acquaintances, and they are the internal response of the Huguang feudal forces in the court.

Recently, Zhu Linmi mobilized several people to secretly station around Huguang, and recruited the Zhongzhenying Camp for her own use. Although it has not been revealed yet, He Tengjiao can already vaguely smell the smell that the mountains and rain are about to come.So he urgently ordered Mengshi to find a way in Yingtian Mansion.

The two of Huang and Meng hit it off, and their goals are very clear—it would be best to overthrow the co-government king, and at worst to create a force capable of competing with Zhu Linmi, so as to serve the two groups of forces in Huguang and Fujing. "Shelters from wind and rain".

At present, the only one who can compete with the assistant king is Empress Dowager Zeng, who is the birth mother of the son of heaven.

Meng Zhengfa thought for a while, and then asked cautiously: "Master Huang, you said a few days ago that you could persuade those old guys in the cabinet to support us. I don't know how things are going. If the cabinet is on the side of the assistant king, I'm afraid the Queen Mother will ..."

"Don't worry, Yan Qiheng has already assured me that if the court proposes to restrict the power of the auxiliary king, the people from the Zhu Ge Department will definitely not object." Huang Jingfang said proudly, "Lao Huang Ge and the Lu Ge Department are Fujian natives, so on my side There are many people who can talk to them. Although they haven't made it clear, judging from their attitude, at least they won't support Zhu Linming."

Meng Zhengfa was pleasantly surprised: "Master Huang is really good at tricks, and he really convinced these old guys!"

"Earlier, Zhu Linmi wanted to do something about Huangzhuang, which offended most of the courtiers. I only told a few old guys that I want to cut Zhu Linming's power, which probably fits their wishes. It's just that we will make a request in the court at that time. The queen mother listens to the government behind the curtain, but it is difficult for them to raise objections."

Huang Jingfang smiled again, "Did you know that Zhu Linmi took advantage of the Huangzhuang scandal and dismissed hundreds of people from their positions, but appointed his confidantes arbitrarily. Letting Xu Erlu, Song Yingxing and others enter the court has already made the court dissatisfied. This time he Even Huang Gelao and others were quite critical of Yao Qisheng, Ma Lin, Li Tianchun and other guys who didn't even have family backgrounds into the court as officials.

"This auxiliary king has made enemies in many ways, and it is his own fault, but he has helped us a lot."

"Haha, that's right, that's right!"

The two of them were talking when they saw Pang Tianshou come out of the Yongshou Palace, standing at the door and saying in an official voice: "The queen mother said, she knows what your lords are thinking. Your majesty has just taken the medicine and has already fallen asleep. My lords Please go back, so as not to disturb the emperor's rest."

Huang Daozhou heard what the eunuch said, so he called all the ministers to go back to their homes first, and come to a formal audience at another day.When he walked past Meng Zhengfa, he saw that Meng Zhengfa respectfully bowed to him but did not leave, only nodded slightly, and left with his head held high.

(End of this chapter)