Chapter 822 Fainted at the 911 Meeting

Although there were rumors that Emperor Longqing was in poor health or even had a breakdown, the rumors were quickly nipped in the bud because the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard acted quickly.

However, Emperor Longqing's health was indeed not good.

In the past two months, he did not handle government affairs much.

It happened that during this period, the memorials submitted by various places were not very important, and the Silijian approved almost all of them according to the cabinet's proposal, so Gao Gong had no reason to go to the Qianqing Palace.

In the Qianqing Palace, Longqing was still slumped on the bed with his eyes half closed, and two palace maids rubbed his left leg and his right leg respectively. Although he was only 35 years old, Longqing's face was lifeless and looked sickly because of the "evil ghost in the sex world" every night.

He had been in this state for several days, and even though the imperial physicians of the Imperial Hospital tried to change several prescriptions, they were not very effective.

At this time, Emperor Longqing was in the side hall of the Qianqing Palace. Through the window, the gate of the Qianqing Palace was on the other side of the square, and there was a touch of bright yellow on the roof of the gate.

He knew that it was the yellow tiles on the three main halls.

Unconsciously, Emperor Longqing thought of his childhood, perhaps that was the happiest time for him.

With the support of his elder brother, the prince, he lived happily with King Jing in the palace, although his elder brother had not become the prince at that time.

Then, he became the prince, but soon, he was gone.

People in the palace privately rumored that it was because his elder brother met his father on the day of the crown prince.

Yes, in the childhood of Emperor Longqing, except for his mother and his father's other concubines, there were only three brothers.

As for the elder brother he had never met, he naturally had no memory.

With his elder brother, the prince, gone, his life in the palace became difficult, although he was actually the eldest son of his father.

His brother, Prince Jing, who had been close to him, also kept a distance from him, and this relationship lasted until they both came of age and moved out of the palace.

At this time, he became Prince Yu, and his brother also became Prince Jing.

Then, Gao Gong came to Prince Yu's Mansion, and many people came and left.

Scenes of the past seemed to appear in front of Emperor Longqing again. He still remembered his joy when his eldest son was born and his pain when his eldest son died.

Until he got the news that his brother also died in Anlu, his relatives were only his father except his children.

Then, his father also died. He asked him to enter the palace the day before he died. He said a lot to him, but now he seems to remember nothing.

He became the emperor, the emperor of the Ming Empire.

Keep the status quo, yes, my father said that it was difficult for him to keep the status quo, because he really did not have the potential to become a wise monarch.

But what was the court like after he ascended the throne?

It seems that they have been fighting all the time, you fight me, I fight you.

Until now, although it has only been six years, many cabinet ministers have left the court, and they are all victims of political struggles.

But what has changed in the court?

It seems that the finances are stretched to the limit, and the income is not enough to cover the expenditure every year.

Yes, it seems that there are fewer Japanese pirates, and there are few memorials about the coastal areas being looted by Japanese pirates.

Emperor Longqing didn't know whether it was because he agreed to open the sea that the Japanese pirates changed their careers to become sea merchants.

If this is true, it would be too terrifying.

Just some merchants can stir up trouble along the coast and create unrest in several coastal provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

There is also the Datong Peace Agreement. It seems that now only some money is needed to reward the Mongols. In the past year or so, there seems to be no major war in the northern border towns.

Although there are sporadic wars, they are all due to fights between the two sides due to some minor disputes, and they are not even conflicts.

Hey, why am I thinking about these things? Could it be that

When Emperor Longqing thought of this, he felt a panic for no reason.

You know, he is still young, how can he learn to be sad and look back on the past like those people in their seventies and eighties.

Footsteps sounded outside the palace, and Meng Chong walked into the palace with old steps, followed by several eunuchs holding a pile of memorials.

After bowing in front of him, he stood up and said to him: "Your Majesty, these are the memorials approved by the Ministry of Ceremonies yesterday, please read them."

"Are they all drafted by the cabinet?"

Emperor Longqing certainly had no intention of reading these memorials at this time, but just asked lightly.

"Yes, they are all approved according to the draft."

Meng Chong replied.

"Is there anything important?"

Emperor Longqing nodded, and then asked again.

"They are all trivial matters reported by local governments, nothing important."

Meng Chong replied.

"Then send them to the cabinet and let them deal with them."

Emperor Longqing said a little tiredly. Although he only dealt with a few words, he felt very tired physically and mentally.

After instructing Meng Chong, and after they left with the memorials, Emperor Longqing ordered the eunuch next to him to go to Qingning Palace to call Feng Bao over. He wanted to ask about the situation of the prince in the past two days.

Of course, Meng Chong would not go there in person to send the memorials to the cabinet, but just arranged for the eunuchs holding the memorials to deliver the things.

Before coming, these memorials had been registered in the secretarial office, so they did not need to be taken back to the Silijian for processing.

This was also the norm during this period, so Meng Chong was already very experienced.

After Feng Bao had a conversation with Emperor Longqing in Qianqing Palace, he keenly noticed that the emperor seemed to be in a worse state of mind.

"Your Majesty, do you want to cancel tomorrow's Synodic Meeting?"

After Feng Bao told the story of Prince Zhu Yijun's daily life these two days, he suggested.

Emperor Longqing only had regular court meetings, but he still participated in the Synodic Court meetings twice a month.

That is to say, it was because of poor health in the past two months that I was able to avoid the Shuowang Dynasty.

After listening to Feng Bao's suggestion, Emperor Longqing wanted to nod his head and agree, but when he thought about seeing the secret post before and knowing that the government and the public were talking a lot because the emperor had not shown up in the past two months, he shook his head and said, "Tomorrow, the New Moon Palace will be held as scheduled. Tian feels much better.”

Yes, he wanted to show his face in front of the courtiers. In the past two months, the only people he had seen, except those in the inner court, were Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng from the cabinet.

I always don't go to court, and the government and the public will inevitably have strange ideas.

"But Your Majesty, your body is not feeling well yet."

Feng Bao said this from the bottom of his heart. Although it seemed that Emperor Longqing had been caring about the prince's daily life for more than a month, it was not a good sign, but he also sincerely hoped that Emperor Longqing would get better and hold on for at least another year until Wei Guangde came back.

Although Wei Guangde will definitely be beaten by Gao Gong in the short term after returning to the court, it is better to have someone who can speak in the cabinet than the immediate collapse of the emperor.

But his kindness was obviously not taken seriously by the emperor, and Emperor Longqing interrupted him.

"You don't need to worry about this. It's your duty to serve the prince well."

After Emperor Longqing said this, he asked Feng Bao to kneel down.

Feng Bao left the Qianqing Palace and met the cabinet minister Zhang Juzheng who was coming over before he walked a few steps.

"Mr. Zhang Ge, are you asking to see the emperor?"

Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng were also old acquaintances. It was not good not to say hello when they met, so they stopped and bowed their hands to Zhang Juzheng.

"Eunuch Feng, did His Majesty summon you just now? How is Your Majesty doing now?"

Zhang Juzheng was smiling and asked eagerly after he handed over to Feng Baogong.

"Your Majesty, are you feeling well?"

Feng Bao replied, "Mr. Zhang Ge came here to see the emperor?"

"I don't know if Your Majesty will attend the court meeting tomorrow."

Zhang Juzheng replied.

"Your Majesty is going to court."

Hearing that Zhang Juzheng came for this matter, Feng Bao spoke up.

"His Majesty issued an order?"

Zhang Juzheng originally just said it casually, but he didn't expect Feng Bao to know about it.

You know, the cabinet didn't get any news about this matter, but Feng Bao knew about it in advance, which is really strange.

"Previously, I saw that the emperor's body was not in good shape, so I wanted to invite your majesty to attend the court meeting at the end of the day. I could get myself well before going to court, but your majesty did not agree and ordered the court meeting to continue as usual tomorrow."

Feng Bao told about the previous situation in Qianqing Palace, and Zhang Juzheng was silent for a moment after listening.

"Eunuch Feng is right. If His Majesty is in poor health, there is no harm in postponing the meeting."

Zhang Juzheng said.

"Did Lord Chief Assistant call you here to ask?"

Feng Bao asked again.

Zhang Juzheng nodded in acquiescence.

"If I had known earlier, I would have sent someone to deliver the news to you, so I wouldn't have had to make this trip in vain.

Now that we're here, let's go see the emperor. The emperor seems to be getting thinner and thinner. "

Feng Bao said again.

When Zhang Juzheng heard Feng Bao's words, his heart moved, and then a smile broke out on his face and he said: "In the future, please let Eunuch Feng know if you have anything to do. You and I are also considered old people, so we should keep in touch more often." "

"Yes, in the capital now, we are the only ones who came out of Yuzhuan. The others are either serving as officials or being assigned to jobs. They are thousands of miles away from the capital."

Feng Bao said.

"I invite Eunuch Feng to my house tonight. It's been a long time since we had a drink."

On the afternoon of May 14, the sixth year of Longqing's reign, a piece of news spread throughout the yamen in the capital.

Emperor Longqing, who has been out of court for two months, will attend the Shuowang Dynasty meeting tomorrow.

The Shuo Wang Chao is held on the 15th day of the lunar month (the first day of the lunar month) and is held at the Fengtian Hall. However, this court meeting is just a formality and does not discuss specific matters.

Generally speaking, this kind of formal court meeting does not last too long, and it will pass with a little patience.

Except in the early Ming Dynasty, the current court meeting has long lost its original meaning and is no longer a place where the emperor decides on government affairs.

In the early morning of that day, the official residences in Beijing became lively. Officials got up early to wash up and prepare to enter the palace to meet the emperor.

The Shuowang Dynasty is different from the Chang Dynasty. All officials above the ninth rank in Beijing are required to participate. Almost anyone who is an official can participate in the Shuowang Dynasty meeting.

However, those of lower rank were destined not to be able to see the emperor, and could only stand in the square outside Huangji Hall (Fengtian Hall), waiting for the ceremony to end.

After all, Emperor Longqing had suspended the court meeting for a long time, so the officials who got the news still planned to go for a visit unless they were really delayed.

Soon, all the roads leading to the Forbidden City were blocked by sedan chairs and carriages, making a lot of noise even in the dark.

When everyone gathered outside the Meridian Gate, the senior officials went into the court room to rest, while the rest could only stand in the square, gathering in small groups and talking quietly.

Fortunately, the weather was not cold at the moment, and everyone felt much more energetic after chatting.

Soon after the general on duty, Su Wei, Zhizhang Flag School and others lined up to enter the Meridian Gate, the hour came and the Bell and Drum Department sounded the bells and drums, and the civil and military officials filed in through the open left and right doors.

Civil servants enter through the Zuoye Gate, and military attachés enter through the Youye Gate. They are first arranged in order according to their grades in the south of Jinshui Bridge.

After the whip was sounded, they crossed the bridge one by one and arrived at Danqi of Huangji Gate. The civilian officials were the left class and the military officers were the right class. They faced each other on the imperial road and established marquises.

During this period, the censor responsible for picketing was supervising. Anyone who coughed, spitted, was crowded or behaved improperly would be recorded and awaited handling.

Not long after, the bell and drum band standing on the left and right side of the steps began to play music. The emperor arrived at the imperial gate in a sedan chair. Guards in royal robes held five umbrella covers and four groups of fans, climbed up the Danqi from the east and west sides, and stood on the left and right sides behind the throne.

Emperor Longqing slowly moved out of the sedan chair, forced himself to support himself and walked up to the throne step by step.

After he sat down, the whip was blown again outside, and the Honglu Temple "singed" to enter the class. The two civil and military classes on the left and right advanced into the royal road at the same time. At this time, the civil servants "went north to the west" and the military officers "went north to the east" and bowed three times. The ceremony of knocking.

As the proceedings of the Shuowang Dynasty Meeting were carried out one by one, Emperor Longqing, who was sitting on the throne, felt increasingly depressed and drowsy.

He wanted to hold on. After all, he had experienced this kind of court meeting countless times. He knew that if he waited a while, it would be over and he would have completed his purpose of showing up this time. The outside world would not have anything to do with his health. rumor.

Although these news seem to be true.

Pulling himself together, watching the courtiers complete the court meeting procedures step by step under the guidance of Honglu Temple officials, he also kept urging in his heart to end this seemingly meaningless court meeting as soon as possible.

Finally, Emperor Longqing, who was sitting on the large throne, felt his eyes go dark and his body collapsed on the throne.

The Honglu Temple officials below were still unaware, but Meng Chong who was waiting below saw it. The cabinet ministers and Liubu Hall officials in the front row also saw it, and everyone couldn't help but feel nervous.

Among them, the one who was most concerned about Emperor Longqing's health was undoubtedly him.

Before he could take action, Meng Chong had already hurriedly climbed onto the throne, knelt beside Emperor Longqing and called softly.

But after several times, Emperor Longqing did not regain consciousness.

Meng Chong knew that the court meeting could not go on and His Majesty had fainted.

Turning around and waving to the side, he summoned four strong eunuchs to carry Emperor Longqing off the stage. They carefully put Emperor Longqing into the sedan chair, and then the sedan chair hurried toward the Qianqing Palace.

When Meng Chong called the eunuch to come forward, the officials of Honglu Temple suddenly realized that they had suspended the court ceremony and stopped there at a loss.

"Your Majesty is in poor health. Today's court meeting is over. Your Excellencies will go back to your respective offices first and do not forget the state affairs."

Gao Gong stood up at this time, turned around and said to the official in front of him.

Now there are only the servants in charge of cleaning the main hall, and only Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng stand up to maintain order, allowing the officials to exit the square in order and return to the yamen to work.

The news that Emperor Longqing fainted at the court meeting also spread with little wings and spread quickly in the capital.