Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

As night falls, the lanterns come on.

The city of Beijing looks even more charming under the lights. The Hongzhi Dynasty gave the city new vitality and became a thriving imperial capital.

Whether it is day or night, the city of Beijing exudes unique charm.

During the day, it is a lively street with a dazzling array of products, and at night, it is an entertainment venue with wonderful dramas, operas and poems. It has become a postcard of China.

Just when the emperor had completely conquered the Queen Mother of Korea, the outside world was already making a noise.

The Qianqingmen arson case was not just a case, it directly affected the sensitive nerves of countless people, and even led to a sell-off in national debt today.

More and more people in the capital believe that the reason why they can have such a good life today is inseparable from the leadership of their wise and powerful Emperor Hongzhi.

Once something unexpected happens to Emperor Hongzhi, the current good situation will not collapse instantly, but it will also directly affect the Ming Dynasty's finances and national debt credibility.

Just like this, when the news of the arson at Qianqingmen came out, many people sold their national bonds to wait and see, resulting in a rare sharp drop in the price of national bonds.

"God bless, fortunately the emperor is safe!"

"Isn't this He Shanggong too bold?"

"He Shanggong? Are you really stupid or are you pretending to be stupid? Does a female official really dare to burn down the emperor's palace?"

…

The people and scholars in the capital have been paying attention to the arson case at Qianqingmen. Even when Song Cheng entered the palace and when he left, everything was clear. Now that they learned that the arsonist turned out to be He Shanggong, they all pointed their fingers at this female official.

It's just that the matter cannot stop at He Shang Palace. After all, everyone knows that there is no core conflict of interest between a female official and the emperor, so it is more likely that she was instigated by someone else.

As for who the instigator was, since the master of He Shang Palace was the Empress Dowager Zhou, the first person that everyone thought of was naturally the aloof Empress Dowager Zhou.

"The Queen Mother is His Majesty's biological grandmother, so that shouldn't be the case, right?"

"Haha... Your Majesty, in order to reform, the Empress Dowager's natal family has been beheaded!"

"Although you can't make random guesses about this matter, I believe you know in your heart who did it."

…

There are many brave people among the people. Now, combined with the known information, they all suspect that the Empress Dowager Zhou is responsible. Some people have even named her directly.

An ordinary nanny would not have made such a guess, but Empress Dowager Zhou's family members had all died at the hands of Zhu Youtang, so Empress Dowager Zhou had a strong motive for committing the crime.

That's why, even though He Shanggong has only been found, everyone has already suspected the Empress Dowager Zhou.

"The latest news is that the emperor has stopped Song Cheng's investigation!"

"I asked why Song Cheng didn't enter the palace after he came out to change clothes!"

"It seems like the emperor still wants to keep this family relationship!"

"They set fire to His Majesty's door. They really took advantage of that old witch!"

…

This matter continued to ferment. After learning that the emperor actually stopped Song Cheng from conducting an in-depth investigation, everyone knew that this was actually the emperor's way of protecting the Empress Dowager Zhou.

Song Cheng, the Minister of Punishment, has repeatedly solved strange cases, and his investigative ability is well known to everyone. Some good people even gave him the title of "The First Divine Judgment of the Ming Dynasty".

Now that the case has been traced to He Shanggong, the emperor suddenly stopped Song Cheng from continuing to investigate the case. It was obviously to protect the Empress Dowager.

For a time, public opinion in the capital pointed at the Empress Dowager Zhou. Especially after the emperor stopped Song Cheng's investigation, it was determined that the arson case was committed by the Empress Dowager.

Restaurants, brothels and teahouses are all places where public opinion fermented. Now their voices have become unanimous, and public opinion has concluded that the Empress Dowager Zhou was responsible.

The next morning, winter had already risen high.

Forbidden City, Guanju Palace.

Empress Dowager Zhou was sleeping on the bed, looking very peaceful.

She was selected as a concubine when she was only fourteen years old. Although she was in an embarrassing situation as the concubine of the Supreme Emperor during the Jingtai period, she was given the title of Imperial Concubine after the restoration of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty.

In the Chenghua Dynasty, she had two empress dowagers in parallel, and in the Hongzhi Dynasty, she became the only empress dowager. It can be said that she has enjoyed all the glory and wealth in the world for so many years.

Her energy and blood were maintained very well. She slowly woke up from her sleep, her hazy eyes gradually focused, and she habitually called: "Liu Ying!"

Normally, Liu Ying would be waiting outside the bead curtain and would arrive in response to the call.

Today, however, it seemed unusually quiet outside.

After waiting for a moment, Liu Ying was still nowhere to be seen. The Queen Mother could not help but frown. She raised her voice and called again: "Liu Ying!"

"To report to the Queen Mother, Liu Ying and Chen Jin have just been taken away." At this moment, a palace maid who was on the edge timidly walked in and lowered her head to report.

Earlier, these old people in Qingning Palace were liquidated again. Like Wu Shen, they were taken away and never came back.

"What? Who dares to be so bold?" Empress Dowager Zhou sat up in shock and stared at the palace maid in disbelief, her eyes flashing with anger as if she wanted to devour everything.

The maid felt the overwhelming anger of the Empress Dowager, but she still had to report: "They are from the Shenjie Department!"

"Whose order is this?" Empress Dowager Zhou felt an inexplicable rage in her heart. This sudden change made her feel more out of control and uneasy than ever before.

The maid answered cautiously, fearing to offend the honorable Grand Empress Dowager: "The people of the Shenjie Division said that Liu Ying and Chen Jin participated in the Qianqing Gate arson case, and other servants were also unaware of it!"

All kinds of signs have shown that the Queen no longer tolerates the Grand Empress Dowager's misbehavior, or intends to put an invisible yoke on the Grand Empress Dowager.

Although the Emperor stopped Song Cheng's investigation and did not investigate the Qianqing Gate arson case in depth, the Grand Empress Dowager became "blind" in the palace after removing several confidants around the Grand Empress Dowager.

A Grand Empress Dowager without confidants, eunuchs and palace maids is simply a phoenix in the water, and will not pose the slightest threat to the harem.

"They are simply rebelling!" Grand Empress Dowager Zhou roared and stood up suddenly.

After years of fighting in the harem, how could she not know the viciousness of this move. Once she has no one around her, it will be difficult to harm the emperor in the future, even to protect herself.

Her eyes swept around the palace, and finally fell on the tea table not far away. She walked to the tea table, grabbed a porcelain cup, and then threw it hard on the ground.

The porcelain cup instantly shattered into countless pieces on the ground, and the crisp sound of breaking echoed in the palace, as if it was her cry of anger and dissatisfaction.

Then, she still couldn't get rid of the anger in her heart, and broke several porcelains and decorations in succession, and the whole room was suddenly in a mess.

The palace maids outside were trembling with fear, but no one dared to step forward to dissuade them. They could only watch the Queen Mother Zhou vent her anger here.

But the more the Queen Mother Zhou threw things, the more her incompetence was highlighted. I'm afraid there will be no place for the Queen Mother in the harem in the future.

After venting her anger, Empress Dowager Zhou, who was a veteran of harem struggles for many years, suddenly laughed in anger and said, "Okay, very good, since you Zhu Youtang are so ruthless, let the world know how unfilial you are!"

It was a sunny day just now, but in the blink of an eye, the sky changed and a dark cloud rose in the east.

The struggle in the court is often invisible.

Xiao Yongfang, Jia Mansion.

Cough cough...

Jia Jun is old after all, he is nearly 70 years old, lying on the bed coughing, his eyes full of confusion.

He is a native of Northern Zhili. Although his family is not prominent, he is also a scholarly family. He passed the imperial examination when he was young, but the competition in the imperial examination was too fierce, so he entered the officialdom with the title of juren when he was 30 years old.

Even though he started from a low point, with his outstanding talents, especially his strong management ability in architecture, he has now entered the cabinet and become a prime minister.

That's right. He is not only the first juren Shangshu since the Ming Dynasty, but also the first juren cabinet elder. Now he has become a model for juren officials all over the world.

"Master, you are not in trouble!" The concubine served in front of the bed and looked very worried.

Pah!

Jia Jun coughed up a mouthful of thick phlegm, then spit it on the spittoon, waved to his concubine, and the whole person was relieved.

If it weren't for the medical school under the Imperial College that cultivated several geniuses, especially Li Yanwen, who was like Hua Tuo in the world who pulled him at the gate of hell, he would have died long ago.

"Dad!" Jia Xiong came in from outside, looking worried.

With the help of his concubine, Jia Jun lay back on the bed and slowly opened his eyes and said, "Why is there so much noise outside? What happened?"

"My father, someone is coming from the palace!" Jia Xiong looked at his father's sick body and had to say it honestly.

Jia Jun's eyes lit up slightly, and he immediately raised his hand to get out of bed and said, "Hurry up and have someone dress my father. Don't keep His Majesty waiting for too long!"

Since he entered the cabinet and became a prime minister, he also hoped to dedicate his body to the emperor like Wan'an, and even if he lived to be eighty, he would work diligently for the emperor.

It's just that the cold came so fast this time that he fell ill all of a sudden, so he had to take sick leave and rest at home.

Fortunately, the empire can be run without anyone, and the Ministry of Works is full of talents, so the several projects he is responsible for will not be affected too much.

But now when he heard that someone was coming from the palace, his heart was still tight, worried that there were mistakes in the several major projects he was responsible for supervising.

"Dad, your health is important. This is the decree of the Empress Dowager! His Majesty just asked the imperial doctor to treat you, and he has always been sympathetic to us ministers. Why would he summon you to the palace at this time!" Jia Xiong hurriedly stepped forward and held his father, looking earnest.

Although he is worse than his father and cannot even pass the imperial examination, he is now the vice president of the Engineering Academy under the Imperial College.

Not to mention that his father gave him an official position, it also gave him the opportunity to display his talents. Now his father is related to the rise and fall of the entire Jia family, so naturally he does not want his father to enter the palace with illness.

If the emperor summoned him, he would not dare to stop him, but the imperial decree of the Empress Dowager could be completely rejected, not to mention that his father is now ill in bed.

"The Empress Dowager?" Jia Jun was stunned at first, and then he seemed to understand.

"Dad, the Empress Dowager not only issued an imperial decree to our family, but also sent people to important officials such as Yin Ge Lao and Wang Junji, but they all refused on the grounds of poor health! The Empress Dowager must want to accuse the emperor or the queen of being unfilial, or convey other words that are unfavorable to His Majesty. Our family cannot get involved in this muddy water." Jia Xiong was well-informed and also seriously dissuaded.

There is no wall that is impenetrable, and after the Qianqing Gate was burned, the entire city of Beijing was paying attention to the movements of the palace.

Although after finding out that He Shanggong was the culprit, the emperor decisively stepped forward to stop Song Cheng from further investigating, intending to close the case with He Shanggong as the culprit of arson.

However, the Empress Dowager Zhou was always thinking of another plan when one plan failed. Now she suddenly issued an imperial decree to summon important officials to the palace. Naturally, it could not be for state affairs, but must be to accuse the emperor of being unfilial.

Now whoever dares to enter the palace to face the Empress Dowager will be the enemy of the entire court, even his father can't stand the pressure from the Imperial Guard Hall.

That's right, not to mention that his father is already sick, even if he is not sick, he can't enter the palace to meet the Empress Dowager.

"Master, Xiong'er is right, your health is important!" The concubine next to him also advised.

Jia Jun couldn't help but sigh and nodded gently.

Although he was in the hospital bed, he also knew the whole story of this matter. Not to mention that the Empress Dowager was obviously at fault, now the emperor has created a situation that has not been seen for a thousand years, and they, the ministers, naturally have to support the emperor.

The Empress Dowager Zhou had no idea of ​​governing a country, nor did she have the right to interfere in the political affairs of the Ming Dynasty. This time, she summoned their important ministers to the palace to stir up trouble.

Just at this moment, a eunuch broke in and said in a weird tone: "Lord Jia, is it so difficult for me to even see you now?"

The two servants saw that they could not stop him and were about to apologize to Jia Xiong, but Jia Jun sent him away with great dissatisfaction.

"Lord Jia, the Empress Dowager asked me to tell you a message! If she had not personally greeted you back then, would you have achieved what you have today? Now that you have only seen me once, you are so evasive. Do you really want to be an ungrateful person?" Eunuch Chen seemed to be well prepared and directly scolded Jia Jun on the sickbed.

Huh?

Jia Xiong could not help but turn his head to look at his father, and he had a vague answer in his heart.

Originally, he was also wondering why his father could climb so fast as a juren official. Although his father did have extraordinary talents in engineering, the officialdom has never judged heroes by their abilities.

Now listening to the words of this eunuch Chen, everything seems to be clear. It turns out that his father followed the path of the Empress Dowager Zhou, so he had the opportunity to be promoted.

Jia Jun coughed violently, as if he had made a great decision, and said: "Forget it! Since the Empress Dowager insisted on summoning me, as a minister, how can I not respond? Undress for my husband!"

"Hehe... Mr. Jia will definitely be a famous minister of his generation, praised by history books!" Eunuch Chen saw that Jia Jun agreed to respond to the call, and he also praised him. (End of this chapter)