Chapter 79 Wanli
Chapter 79 Wanli
Ming Dynasty, Beijing City.
This is the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and the towering Forbidden City in the center of this city is also the center of the world.
This capital, which was originally built during the Yuan Dynasty, was rebuilt on a large scale after Zhu Di ascended the throne. It replaced Zhu's imperial palace in Nanjing and once again became the center of the world.
More than two hundred years have passed since the capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. From Emperor Yongle to the present, eleven emperors of the Ming Dynasty have ruled the country from here and controlled this beautiful land.
Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun has been emperor for 48 years to date, breaking the record of his grandfather Jiajing and becoming the longest-reigning emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
And now, the health of this supreme emperor has been getting worse since last year. He often feels dizzy and unable to handle things. The serious illness makes the emperor feel unbearable.
Wanli was obese and had a foot disease, so he had never been in good health. He had been ill for a long time, but he had never been able to recover, which brought him great pain.
Medical experts in later generations judged that Wanli's illness was most likely lower limb arteriosclerosis, which may have been accompanied by severe hypertension and diabetes.
As a famous otaku among emperors of all dynasties, Wanli did not attend court for decades. In addition to the reason that he did not want to see his ministers, the torture of illness was also one of the reasons. However, being in the harem did not mean that Wanli had no control over the court. On the contrary, for this country, he was still the emperor who was high above and held great power.
A few days ago, Wanli's Queen Wang suddenly passed away. Although Wanli had always doted on Concubine Zheng and did not have much feelings for Queen Wang, they had been husband and wife for many years after all. The death of Queen Wang made Wanli feel extremely sad.
Ma Rong, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, came to the Hongde Hall. He did not enter the hall immediately, but asked the young eunuch who served Wanli in a low voice.
After asking the questions, Ma Rong walked into the hall and tiptoed to the inner hall. At a glance, he saw Wanli lying on the couch with his back to him. His body rose and fell slightly with his breathing. He didn't know whether he was awake or asleep.
Not daring to disturb Wanli, Ma Rong stood at the door with his hands down, waiting quietly.
It was not known how long had passed, but Wanli, who was lying on the couch, suddenly started coughing. Ma Rong hurried forward, helped Wanli up, and gently patted his back a few times.
Wanli spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm, and his cough eased a little. Ma Rong took the ginseng soup from the young eunuch and served Wanli two sips.
After drinking the ginseng soup, Wanli looked much better. He then noticed Ma Rong who was serving him and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Lord Fang is kneeling outside the Rende Gate begging for the Emperor's health." Ma Rong reported in a low voice.
"Why is he here again?" Wanli frowned. Fang Congzhe was the chief minister of the cabinet. On the sixth of April, Queen Wang passed away. Fang Congzhe asked to see the emperor, but was sent back by Wanli. Unexpectedly, just a few days later, Fang Congzhe came again.
And from what Ma Rong said, Fang Congzhe actually knelt and begged outside the Rende Gate. As the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty Cabinet, such behavior made Wanli extremely unhappy. Isn't this forcing him to see him?
For a moment, Wanli subconsciously wanted to say that he didn't want to see her, but when the words came to his lips, Wanli hesitated again.
Now there is no one in the cabinet, and Fang Congzhe, as the chief minister, is the sole prime minister. There is only Fang Congzhe in the entire cabinet. Not only the cabinet, but even the officials in the ministries and courts have only five people in total. There is no Chief Censor all year round, and there are only a dozen or so officials. There are countless vacancies for officials in the central institutions of the entire Ming Dynasty. One person in each department has to do the work of three or four people to barely maintain operation.
Fang Congzhe was the person specially selected by Wanli to replace Ye Xianggao after the former Prime Minister, and he was also a clay Buddha placed in the cabinet. Once Fang Congzhe quit, the Ming Dynasty court would be completely paralyzed. There was a precedent. Last year, Fang Congzhe did this. He went on strike at home for more than 40 days, strongly demanding that Wanli agree to his resignation as Prime Minister. Wanli repeatedly tried to retain and appease him, and it took a lot of effort to get Fang Congzhe to return to the cabinet to work.
At present, his health was getting worse day by day, and his condition was much more serious than last year. If Fang Congzhe quit again at this time, the government would be paralyzed. In addition, after the defeat in Liaodong last year, the Ming Dynasty was now in crisis. Even if Wanli didn't want to see Fang Congzhe, he could only meet him at this time.
"Go! Bring him to see me." Wanli hesitated and felt that it would be better to meet him, so as not to force Fang Congzhe too much and cause this guy to go on strike again.
Ma Rong responded, stepped back and quickly walked out of the Hongde Hall. After a while, he arrived outside the Rende Gate. Seeing Ma Rong coming, Fang Congzhe, who had been kneeling outside the door waiting anxiously, was suddenly overjoyed and hurriedly asked if the emperor was willing to see him.
"The Emperor is meeting the Minister in the Hongde Hall." Ma Rong said in a low voice. Fang Congzhe showed a look of joy and stood up hastily. However, as he had been kneeling for too long, his legs became weak and he almost fell. Fortunately, Ma Rong supported him and prevented him from falling.
Ma Rong led them into the inner palace, and after a while they arrived at the Hongde Hall. Ma Rong asked Fang Congzhe to wait outside while he went in to report. Fang Congzhe bowed to Ma Rong to express his gratitude, and Ma Rong went in first. After a while, Ma Rong came out again and took Fang Congzhe into the hall.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty be blessed..."
After entering the inner hall, Fang Congzhe immediately saw Emperor Wanli who was half lying on the couch, and hurriedly stepped forward to pay his respects.
"Sir, there is no need to be so polite. Please stand up. Ma Rong, please find a seat for you." Wanli raised his hand, his voice was not loud but full of majesty.
Ma Rong quickly brought a brocade stool for Fang Congzhe to sit on. Fang Congzhe once again thanked the emperor and then sat down carefully. Sitting down, looking at the emperor not far away, Fang Congzhe felt that it was not easy to see the emperor. He was the chief minister of the Ming cabinet and had been in the cabinet for eight years. In these eight years, this was actually the second time he saw the emperor.
In those days, Emperor Jiajing also did not attend court for many years and hid in the harem to practice Taoism. But at that time, at least the cabinet functioned normally, and it was not difficult for cabinet elders to see the emperor. Unlike me, I was the only bachelor commander in the entire cabinet, and it was harder than ascending to heaven to see the emperor. If I hadn't lost my face this time and knelt in front of the door to beg as the Prime Minister, I might not have seen the emperor.
"Your Majesty is in poor health, and outsiders are not fully aware of it. I was terrified when I heard the imperial physician's advice yesterday. Your Majesty is also deeply saddened by the passing of the Empress. I humbly hope that Your Majesty will comfort you and take good care of yourself to meet the expectations of your subjects at home and abroad." Fang Congzhe said earnestly to the emperor.
Wanli said slowly: "I understand. The country is in trouble right now. You can do your best to help."
Fang Congzhe saluted and said: "I have received great kindness from the Emperor. If there is any way I can repay you, I will do my best!"
Wanli sighed, and the other party said: "Since March of last year, I have been getting angry frequently and feeling dizzy. I have had stomach problems and vomited several times, which hurt my spleen and stomach. I still have diarrhea from time to time and my body is weak. Due to excessive diarrhea, my lower body is swollen and painful and I can't sit. I also have phlegm flowing, and my right foot hurts, making it difficult for me to move. I personally read the documents every day, but I am in a trance and my eyes are blurry, so it is difficult for me to read them carefully..."
"Ma Rong!"
"The slave is here!"
"Let me take the case files of the Imperial Hospital and show them to you, Master."
Ma Rong responded quickly, walked to the side, took out the medical records of the emperor from the Imperial Hospital and handed them to Fang Congzhe. Fang Congzhe took it and looked at it carefully. Sure enough, the condition written on it was consistent with what the emperor had just described.
"Sir!" Wanli continued.
"emperor……."
"Sir, please come forward." Wanli waved to Fang Congzhe, who stood up and came to Wanli's side. Wanli rolled up his sleeves to show Fang Congzhe his wrist, pointed at the swelling on his wrist and sighed, "It's not that I don't want to see you, sir, but I'm really ill, and I still need your help in state affairs."
Fang Congzhe sighed inwardly. He originally thought that Wanli was pretending to be sick to avoid seeing him, but he didn't expect that Wanli was really sick. Moreover, when he saw Wanli this time, he could clearly feel that the emperor was seriously ill and had lost a lot of weight. These could not be faked.
Fang Congzhe first comforted the emperor with a few words, saying that the emperor was protected by a hundred gods, and if he took care of himself, he would be fine. After that, Fang Congzhe took this rare opportunity to bring up the old matter again and complain to Wanli, telling him that the court departments were seriously short of staff, and he was the only one in the cabinet. He was old, weak and mentally exhausted, and it was really difficult for him to handle the affairs alone. In addition, the Liaodong military incident had not been resolved, and now the queen had come, so he asked for two more people to join the cabinet to help him handle affairs.
As for who these two people were, Fang Congzhe had written to the emperor before, and they were Shi Jikai and Shen Hong. Wanli closed his eyes slightly, and after Fang Congzhe finished speaking, he shook his head without comment.
"The Liaodong incident was caused by the discord between the civil and military officials. I have already approved it before. Due to my birthday, there are many documents and I don't know where they are. I will send it out as soon as I find them."
Fang Congzhe was stunned for a moment, and quickly said, "I hope the emperor will investigate the matter of adding cabinet ministers as soon as possible."
"I understand. I'll do it when I feel better."
Fang Congzhe was bitter to see Wanli adopting a policy of delay again, and continued: "I see that there is an extreme shortage of senior officials and officials at present. At this troubled time, I hope the emperor will appoint someone new."
"I understand. I'll do it together when I feel better. Sir, you can go back to the pavilion and do your best to assist. Don't shirk your responsibilities..."
Fang Congzhe never expected that Wanli would continue to delay at this time. When he was about to bring it up again, he saw Wanli muttering: "I know... I know..." His voice gradually became lighter, his eyelids drooped, and he fell asleep in front of him.
Seeing this scene, Fang Congzhe didn't know what to say. At this time, Ma Rong came to Fang Congzhe and whispered that the emperor was seriously ill. He had already met with Lord Fang and told the emperor what he wanted to say. For the sake of the emperor's health, Lord Fang was asked to go back first. Since the emperor already knew about it, he just had to wait patiently until the emperor got better and then do those things.
Seeing this, Fang Congzhe was helpless and could only stand up and kowtow to Wanli, then left the Hongde Hall.
Fang Congzhe had just left Hongde Hall when Wanli, who was still drowsy the moment before, opened his eyes the next moment and looked in the direction outside the hall. He frowned slightly with a thoughtful expression.
(End of this chapter)