Chapter 62: Heart at Ease, Old Matters Replayed

The group walked out of the Ciqing Palace, and Zhang Hong followed the Emperor cautiously.

After this incident, his mood was already uneasy; he quietly raised his head, looked at the Emperor with an ugly face, and didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

Following with small steps, his mind was turning a thousand times on how to remedy it.

"Zhang Hong, is your position as the Head of the Directorate of Ceremonial a bit too smooth?"

A voice suddenly entered his ears, a cold tone that made Zhang Hong's heart jump.

He hurriedly knelt down to plead guilty: "This servant is guilty! Your Majesty, this servant will definitely investigate this matter clearly!"

Zhu Yijun looked down at Zhang Hong and sneered: "Investigate? The fire has already burned; what is there to investigate?"

If it were so easy to investigate, Shizong wouldn't have caught fire so many times.

Zhang Hong kowtowed repeatedly, making real thumping sounds.

Zhu Yijun watched coldly without making a sound.

Just as he was about to continue beating Zhang Hong, he suddenly saw Li Jin running over from a distance, looking extremely disheveled.

Zhu Yijun's eyelids jumped; a bad premonition emerged again.

Sure enough, as soon as Li Jin arrived, he immediately knelt on the ground, panicked: "Your Majesty, the late Emperor's youngest daughter, Yaojiang, has passed away!"

The late Emperor's youngest daughter, Zhu Yaojiang, was the daughter of Consort Qin, ranking seventh.

She was born in the seventh month of last year and was only one year and four months old now.

She was fine before, but passed away overnight!?

Zhu Yijun took a deep breath and put away all expressions on his face.

He looked at Li Jin calmly: "How did she pass away?"

Li Jin caught his breath and said at a very fast speed: "It happened this morning!"

"At that time, she was crying non-stop, her limbs were twitching, and then the imperial physician was invited, but she couldn't be saved after the physician applied needles."

"The Chief Physician said it was death from convulsions."

Zhu Yijun slowly closed his eyes.

His voice was a bit heavy: "Which imperial physician? Which Chief Physician?"

Li Jin hurriedly replied: "Chief Physician Wang Wenli, Imperial Physician Song Zhaoh!"

Zhu Yijun just nodded quietly and didn't ask any more questions.

Without saying a word, he stepped out and walked away, leaving the two great eunuchs kneeling on the ground.

After walking a good distance, it seemed he remembered something; Zhu Yijun turned his head and ordered: "Wait for me to come back."

After saying this, he led the Embroidered Uniform Guard and turned to leave, letting the two great eunuchs kneel and send him off.

The two great eunuchs knelt on the ground, not daring to get up, watching the Emperor's back as he left, kowtowing repeatedly.

Wenhua Hall.

Today's Court Deliberation had not yet ended.

The palace had its own affairs, and the outer court had its own affairs; sending a Zhongshu Sheren to express condolences and receiving the news that everything was fine was enough.

The Court Deliberation continued in an orderly manner.

Censor Hu Xiao was impassioned: "On the third day of the tenth month, the night of the third earthly branch, a guest star appeared in the northeast, like a bullet, passing by the Pavilion Road, and the wall star gradually became faint and bright. After nineteen days, on the night of the ninth earthly branch, the star was reddish-yellow, as large as a cup, with rays of light in all four directions. The divination says: This is a Comet."

"Now, there is the fire in the rear of the Ciqing Palace, the place where the palace concubines live, which is a response to disaster!"

"The star's shadow is like fire, born of accumulated yin; once the demon star enters the angle, and the fire anomaly appears in the palace, is this a trivial matter?"

Everyone was watching Hu Xiao jumping up and down.

The fire in the Ciqing Palace was spread by someone, and everyone knew about it as soon as the Court Deliberation began today.

After expressing condolences to Empress Dowager Chen and receiving an affirmative reply, Hu Xiao performed energetically.

Taking the demon star of the third day of the tenth month as a pretext, and then connecting it to this fire in the Ciqing Palace, he made a big fuss.

The Imperial Observatory had previously said it was an auspicious omen, but recently changed its tune, saying that it had not dispersed for many days and must be a demon star.

Everyone understood what was going on.

Those who were not involved watched coldly.

Those who had guesses examined carefully.

Those who were secretly planning looked around.

Only hearing Hu Xiao continue to speak passionately: "In the East Sea, a filial woman was killed, and it did not rain for three years; a filial woman still moved the harmony of Heaven to this extent, let alone the two dynasties of palace concubines blocking the rear court?"

"The old ones don't know where they ended up, the young ones are full of resentment, widows and lonely women, their sorrow is ten thousand times!"

"In my view, this fire was mostly done by palace maids who were full of resentment!"

These words were already blatantly pointing at the Holy Venerable.

Not only blatantly, but even repeating the old trick.

This point of view... when Shizong was almost strangled by palace maids, it was about this kind of statement.

Hu Xiao became more and more excited as he spoke: "If Tang Gao is not a ruler, and Wu Zetian is cruel, it almost endangers the country; this is not enough to say to the Emperor, but the mistakes of the past should also be a lesson!"

If Tang Gaozong was incompetent and Wu Zetian was cruel, it almost endangered the country; these things, although there is no need to say them to the Emperor, the Emperor should also learn from the lessons of history!

Finally, the dagger was revealed.

This was already clearly saying that the Emperor was not virtuous, which brought about these retaliations.

Unfortunately, at this time, the Emperor was not alone.

The Supervising Secretary of the Office of Personnel, Li Zaiting, immediately wanted to step out and scold.

He was about to act, but saw a figure bypassing the side hall from above the throne.

Zhu Yijun raised his hand to let Li Zaiting return to his rank, and the latter honestly retreated.

The Emperor had arrived, and the court officials naturally saluted: "Your Majesty."

Hu Xiao's voice also stopped abruptly, looking up at the Emperor, his face a bit fearful and embarrassed: "Your Majesty."

Zhu Yijun nodded, his face expressionless, and simply spat out two words: "Continue."

And then he didn't pull the screen, just watched Hu Xiao quietly, waiting for his follow-up.

Hu Xiao's body stiffened for a moment.

But gritting his teeth, he straightened his body again and continued to speak: "The cause of the disaster lies in the ruler's body; how to express correctness? If it lies in the treacherous, how to repel them? Others like suppressing abuse, please follow the ancestral system, save money to thicken the people's livelihood, and order lectures to broaden the path of governance; these are all ways to summon the harmony of Heaven and Earth and open the governance of ten thousand years!"

If the disaster lies in the Emperor, shouldn't he reflect well? If it lies in the treacherous, shouldn't he keep them away?

This was naturally a set of clichés, and the focus was on the solution.

Hu Xiao's prescription was very simple: do not compete with the people for profit, follow the ancestral system, and study the classics, only then can there be "harmony of Heaven and Earth."

If he didn't listen, don't blame him for hurting the "harmony."

These words were still too implicit, and Zhu Yijun didn't seem to understand much.

He casually hummed: "What do you mean by 'thickening the people's livelihood,' 'following the ancestral system,' and 'pardoning lectures' that Hai Yushi Hu mentioned?"

The Emperor didn't call him Minister according to his usual habit, but called him Hai Yushi Hu.

Some court officials looked at the Emperor's expressionless appearance and began to feel fear.

This scene... how similar it was to when Shizong was in court!

Hu Xiao had reached this point, naturally he couldn't be more straightforward, and could only stammer: "I am shallow in learning and can only say this much."

Zhu Yijun nodded and didn't pursue it.

Suddenly remembering something, he almost muttered to himself: "Is Hai Yushi Hu a native of Nanzhili?"

Hu Xiao bit the bullet and said: "I am a native of Wuxi, Southern Zhili, a top palace examination graduate from the second earthly branch year of the forty-fourth year of Jiajing."

Zhu Yijun pressed it without expressing it.

He looked at Zhang Juzheng again: "Minister Zhang, what else was discussed in the regular court today?"

Zhang Juzheng was silent for a moment, knowing that the Emperor was angry, and had the heart to appease him.

He spoke slowly: "Your Majesty, several things were discussed in the regular court today."

"Matters of revising the Veritable Records of the Mu Temple."

"Following the proposal of Viceroy Wang Zongmu, exempt the class troops of the East and West Offices of Huai'an from going to the capital for training annually, and allocate them to patrol the sea to prevent sea transport."

"The Ministry of War impeached the Viceroy of the Capital Battalion, Gu Huan..."

As soon as the words fell, Zhu Yijun turned his head and looked at Yang Bo.

His eyes were meaningful, as if he were just asking the Senior Zhang Gelao, and as if he were talking to Yang Bo: "What did Senior Zhang Gelao Yang impeach Viceroy Gu for?"

Zhang Juzheng said: "Impeached Gu Huan for bypassing the Ministry of War and submitting a memorial to Your Majesty, which violates the precedent."

Yang Bo's face changed slightly.

Zhu Yijun nodded: "I know, Minister Zhang, continue."

Zhang Juzheng continued as if reading from a script: "We also discussed the border defense of Xuanda and the Southeast."

"And the Supervising Secretary of the Office of Revenue, Jia Daiwen, impeached the Investigating Hai Yushi Hai Rui for being a Hai Yushi but living in the Northern Division, suspected of colluding inside and outside."

"And then there is this memorial from Hai Yushi Hu."

After saying this, he looked up at the Emperor.

He saw that the Emperor was expressionless and couldn't see any thoughts at all.

He had anticipated this situation since the Emperor showed that he wanted to move against the Lianghuai salt administration.

His political views were very different from Hai Rui's; it could be said that he completely disagreed with this matter.

But the Emperor insisted on doing so, and he could only acquiesce.

Acquiescence was the limit; asking him to fully support it was naturally impossible.

Reaching this official rank and position, apart from Hai Rui, this kind of lone official, no one else was just themselves, but a large group of people behind them pushing them forward.

Apart from his own thoughts, he also had to consider the thoughts of his fellow travelers.

Asking Zhang Juzheng to raise a flag and clearly say that he wanted to move against the Lianghuai salt administration meant abandoning all the support of Southern Zhili behind him.

This difficulty was no different from cutting himself with a knife.

Turning the knife inward is the most difficult.

The only support he could give was to suppress the dissatisfaction of his own side, and on the surface, be impartial and treat it as an ordinary case.

But, he could suppress his own side, but the Nanzhili regional clique was not only behind him.

Just the Supervising Secretary of the Office of Revenue, Jia Daiwen, and the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Bi Qiang, had a large group of Nanzhili people around them.

What Supervising Secretary of the Office of Works Zhang Daoming, what Reviewer Shen Yiguan, the middle level of the Hanlin Academy and the Six Ministries occupied almost half.

The North-South Ranking Case had its own reasons; at this time, it was not as simple as a sign.

Not to mention that there was also the Jin clique's long-standing dissatisfaction with Gu Huan's matter, which might not have added fuel to the fire.

Zhang Juzheng had long felt that there would be trouble.

Hearing that the Ciqing Palace caught fire this morning, he knew it was going to be bad.

At this time, seeing the Emperor's expression like the sea, calm and peaceful, yet with waves gathering, he didn't dare to be distracted, for fear that this Emperor, who was doing things for the first time, would suffer a setback and then play the "court beating" set.

But after Zhu Yijun heard Zhang Juzheng's words, he didn't fly into a rage.

Instead, he nodded slightly to Gao Yi and said: "Sir, my youngest sister Yaojiang has passed away; I want to posthumously confer the title of Princess; can you get me an instrument of ceremony as soon as possible?"

Not just Gao Yi.

Everyone was stunned.

Zhang Juzheng's heart jumped!

No wonder the Emperor was like this! He thought it was just a simple fire, but it turned out he lost his youngest sister! The Emperor must be furious in his heart right now!

He suddenly raised his head and looked at some people, his eyes containing silent questioning.

How dare they!

He thought they would at most set a fire to build momentum; who would have thought they would dare to go to this extent!?

Zhang Siwei and Jia Daiwen's faces changed drastically, shaking their heads violently, signaling to the Senior Zhang Gelao to clear their relationship.

Gao Yi also lost his voice: "The late Emperor's seventh daughter Yaojiang, passed away!?"

"When did this happen?"

Zhu Yijun shook his head: "Just now, you will know the details later."

The imperial physician knew, so naturally, he would report the details to the Cabinet, and he didn't want to waste his breath.

Gao Yi hurriedly pursued: "What is the reason?"

Zhu Yijun still had no expression on his face, appearing very calm: "The imperial physician said it was sudden death from convulsions."

Gao Yi looked at Zhang Juzheng.

Sudden death from convulsions, that was to die without illness...

Both of them felt very bad.

Gao Yi still wanted to pursue, but Zhu Yijun looked at Lu Diaoyang: "Minister Lu, I specially selected a title, called Princess Xixia; what do you think?"

Lu Diaoyang was silent for a moment.

Finally, he bowed and replied: "I obey the edict."

This was not as simple as asking about a title.

This matter should have been asked to the Ministry of Rites, but it was asked to him, a Cabinet Assistant.

In other words, it was already forcing Zhang Juzheng, Gao Yi, and Lu Diaoyang to express their stance.

The Emperor was furious!

The three didn't know what the Emperor was going to do, and looked at each other, only to see that each of them had a face of anxiety.

Zhu Yijun looked at Yang Bo again: "Senior Zhang Gelao Yang, I heard your impeachment, Viceroy of the Capital Battalion Gu Huan submitted a memorial bypassing the Ministry of War?"

Yang Bo was at a loss, biting the bullet and nodding.

Zhu Yijun said kindly: "There are some reasons for this; the Minister of War Wang Chonggu has not yet arrived at his post, and official business is piled up; it is truly an expedient measure."

"What does Senior Zhang Gelao Yang think?"

Yang Bo was in a dilemma.

He glanced left and right, just seeing the expressions of his colleagues, as well as Zhang Siwei's hint.

He suddenly realized that the Emperor was deliberately suppressing him!

At this time, he still had room for maneuver if he bowed his head; otherwise, I am afraid Princess Xixia's death would be recorded on his head!

He hurriedly said: "Your Majesty's words are reasonable; it is my shallowness!"

Zhu Yijun nodded.

Only then did he have time to respond to Hu Xiao's memorial earlier.

He asked the court officials: "The comet invades the master, the light shines on the ground; the palace catches fire, burning the rooms; the youngest sister has convulsions, and died without treatment; is this all caused by my lack of virtue?"

As soon as the words fell, the Supervising Secretary of the Office of Personnel, Li Zaiting, stepped out and said: "Your Majesty!"

"The auspicious star enters, it is Your Majesty's ability to be assisted by capable ministers, the interaction between Heaven and Earth; the inner court is like fire, it is the prosperity of the dynasty's fire virtue; Princess Xixia's matter is the crime of the imperial physician!"

"Hu Xiao is playing with right and wrong, barking wildly, pointing at the Holy Venerable, and has a way to die; I request to beat him to death!"

As soon as Li Zaiting finished speaking, the Supervising Secretary of the Office of Revenue, Jia Daiwen, changed his face.

Anger erupted on his face.

Pointing at Li Zaiting's nose, he scolded: "The speaking officials report based on hearsay, and there has never been a case of being punished for words!"

"Li Zaiting, you are a speaking official, but you want to beat your colleagues to death; you traitor, what is the difference between you and Yan Song!"

He had long looked down on Li Zaiting for aiding the evildoer.

At this time, he had a pile of drafts and was about to continue scolding this person.

But he suddenly heard a cold voice: "Supervising Secretary Jia, are you pointing at the mulberry and scolding the locust?"

He turned his head and saw that it was Gao Yi, looking at him with a cold expression.

Jia Daiwen's face changed.

The Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Bi Qiang, hurriedly stepped out to help: "Let everyone discuss things well..."

A sound of appreciation suddenly came from the Imperial Steps: "It is right to discuss things well."

Zhu Yijun looked at the crowd and said: "I asked if it was caused by my lack of virtue; why did only Minister Li respond to me?"

"Is it that I am so lacking in virtue that you are disgusted?"

Lu Diaoyang was already sweating profusely and was about to come forward to appease.

The Emperor ignored him and continued: "Minister Li's words have a suspicion of comforting me."

"Now, the star shows signs, the fire warns, the relative died young; how can I be indifferent."

"I have listened to Hai Yushi Hu's advice."

When he said this, Zhang Juzheng's heart skipped a beat; he had already realized what the Emperor meant and wanted to interrupt.

The Emperor didn't give him a chance, his voice cold: "I will copy the Daoist scriptures well from now on and burn them to Heaven and Earth."

"In addition, in three days, I will move into the West Garden to cultivate my body and virtue!"

"You continue the Court Deliberation, I will return to the palace first!"

After throwing down this sentence, the Emperor didn't care about the reaction of the court officials and got up to leave.

Almost at the same time, the court had already exploded!

Zhang Juzheng, Gao Yi, and Lu Diaoyang all changed their faces; the three of them understood what the Emperor meant the first time.

Even Shen Shixing and Tao Dalin, who had been watching coldly, showed astonishment.

Only the newly promoted officials who had not experienced the Jiajing dynasty were still puzzled and looking around.

Their eyes revealed exploration.

"Your Majesty!"

Suddenly a shout came from the Assistant Zhang Gelao of the current dynasty, Lu Diaoyang.

Lu Diaoyang suddenly knelt down, his voice almost trembling: "Your Majesty, I request to demote Hai Yushi Hu Xiao to a commoner!"

Hu Xiao's body stiffened, and Jia Daiwen and Bi Qiang also suddenly realized that it was bad.

Zhu Yijun's steps to leave paused.

And then he continued to walk down the Imperial Steps, shaking his head: "How can I be a person who doesn't listen to advice? Hai Yushi Hu is my Wei Zheng; Minister Wen of the Ministry of Personnel, discuss how to promote Hai Yushi Hu."

After saying this, Zhu Yijun was about to leave.

Wen Chun was air in the Court Deliberation; this was the first time he received a task and was about to kneel to receive the edict.

Shen Shixing hurriedly pulled him, signaling him not to act rashly.

Seeing the Emperor walk down the Imperial Steps, his figure was about to disappear.

Gao Yi suddenly disobeyed the etiquette and walked forward several steps: "Your Majesty! I request to put Hai Yushi Hu Xiao in prison!"

Zhu Yijun paused and looked at Gao Yi.

His voice was tired: "Sir, let's discuss it later; I still need to appease the two palaces and go see my youngest sister."

He nodded to Gao Yi with a disappointed face and, surrounded by inner officials and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, turned into the side hall.

Gao Yi immediately turned back to look at Zhang Juzheng and suddenly changed his color: "Senior Zhang Gelao! Are you still going to pretend to be deaf and dumb!"

At this time in the Court Deliberation, the Junior Zhang Gelao suddenly roared at the Senior Zhang Gelao, and the court officials were even more terrified.

The Hai Yushi of Ceremonies said nothing, as if he hadn't heard anything.

Zhang Juzheng's face was uncertain.

He looked back at Gao Yi and dodged: "This is not just Hu Xiao's matter."

Hu Xiao didn't know at this time that he had become a bargaining chip between the Cabinet and the Emperor.

He looked at Jia Daiwen for help.

Jia Daiwen knew he couldn't sit idly by and had to argue: "Senior Zhang Gelao..."

Zhang Juzheng's pent-up anger finally had someone to vent on.

He suddenly turned to look at Jia Daiwen and roared: "Shut up!"

"Hai Yushi of Ceremonies! Make this guy shut up!"

After venting, he met Gao Yi's gaze again.

Gao Yi grabbed Zhang Juzheng's arm, a sentence like spitting out from between his teeth: "Does the Senior Zhang Gelao really want to watch another Emperor Shizong appear!?"

Note 1: Hai Yushi Hu Xiao of the Guangxi Circuit memorialized: "Your Majesty sincerely sacrifices to the ancestral temple, pays respects to the two palaces, and benevolently protects the four seas; it should be a sign of harmony. Recently, a large star suddenly entered the angle of the Big Dipper, its light shining on the ground, appearing before night, and the inside and outside are surprised and suspicious, the subjects are shocked. Some divined it as the invasion of barbarians, some divined it as the arrival of famine, some divined it as the worry of the four directions, the trouble of the Xiao wall cannot be prevented, the border is worrying, and the disease of the abdomen cannot be cured. Also, on the night of the 16th of this month, the rear of the Ciqing Palace caught fire, which is the place where the palace concubines live, which is a response to disaster. The star's shadow is like fire, born of accumulated yin; once the demon star enters the angle, and the fire anomaly appears in the palace, is this a trivial matter? In the East Sea, a filial woman was killed, and it did not rain for three years; a filial woman still moved the harmony of Heaven to this extent, let alone the two dynasties of palace concubines blocking the rear court, the old ones don't know where they ended up, the young ones are full of resentment, widows and lonely women, their sorrow is ten thousand times! Therefore, the urgent task of eliminating changes today is nothing more than releasing palace people. Please check those favored by the previous dynasty, treat them with preferential treatment, and make them satisfied; those who have not been favored, regardless of age, should be released. If Tang Gao is not a ruler, and Wu Zetian is cruel, it almost endangers the country; this is not enough to say to the Emperor, but the mistakes of the past should also be a lesson. Please summon one or two Cabinet Ministers to discuss the cause of the disaster; if it lies in the ruler's body, how to express correctness? If it lies in the treacherous, how to repel them? If it lies in the barbarians, how to control them? If it lies in the common people, how to appease them? Others like suppressing abuse, please follow the ancestral system, save money to thicken the people's livelihood, and order lectures to broaden the path of governance; these are all ways to summon the harmony of Heaven and Earth and open the governance of ten thousand years." Entered, the Emperor read it and was angry. ===== CHAPTER 63 =====