Daming Town Haiwang

In the sanatorium on the hillside of Fragrant Hill in the Old Summer Palace in the capital of Ming Dynasty, Emperor Hongzhi, who is about to be 80 years old, has gray hair, wrinkles on his face, cloudy eyes, and his mind is often not clear. Can't understand words.

The eunuchs and maids who served him were all cautious, for fear of offending the emperor. Since the death of Empress Zhang last year, Emperor Hongzhi's health has been worsening day by day.

Emperor Hongzhi and Empress Zhang loved each other all their lives. Although they were in the royal family, they lived like a husband and wife in an ordinary family. They were very affectionate.

As an emperor, Emperor Hongzhi had only one woman, Empress Zhang, in his whole life, and he only loved Empress Zhang in his life. From ancient times to the present, he has been the only one among emperors.

The departure of Empress Zhang made Emperor Hongzhi, who was already in poor health, even worse. The longing for Empress Zhang, coupled with the fact that his body was exhausted, meant that Emperor Hongzhi's time was running out.

There have been a lot of people coming to the Old Summer Palace recently, and people come to see Emperor Hongzhi every day. Everyone knows that Emperor Hongzhi's time is numbered.

Even for this reason, Emperor Zhengde Zhu Houzhao often came to Yuanmingyuan to accompany Emperor Hongzhi, for fear that he would never see his father again once he left.

For the current Zhengde Emperor Zhu Houzhao, the person Zhu Houzhao cares most about is Emperor Hongzhi. The relationship between their father and son is very good.

Emperor Hongzhi loved Zhu Houzhao very much since he was a child, and he was often like a father and son in an ordinary family. The two went shopping and playing in the streets and alleys of the capital, enjoying the happy time between father and son.

Zhu Houzhao didn't have to listen to anyone, but he must listen to Emperor Hongzhi's words. He listened to what Emperor Hongzhi said.

Even now, he will do everything that Emperor Hongzhi said. He used to be rebellious and disobedient when he was young. The older he is, the more he hopes that Emperor Hongzhi can tell himself more.

But now Emperor Hongzhi seldom, very rarely said anything about Zhu Houzhao. The only thing he said was to ask Zhu Houzhao to pay attention to restraint and not to be too indulgent, which is not good for his health.

Every time Emperor Hongzhi said, no matter how lecherous Zhu Houzhao was, at least ten days and a half months could be passed. If Emperor Hongzhi was not still there, Zhu Houzhao would have been in poor health for a long time.

The older he got, the worse Zhu Houzhao's health became, and he was unrestrained, and even let the imperial doctor of the imperial hospital secretly match some tigers and wolves, which seriously hurt his body.

But except for Emperor Hongzhi, it was useless to persuade anyone else, and it had no effect.

At this moment, Emperor Hongzhi was lying on the old man's chair, overlooking the beautiful scenery of Xiangshan through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and at the same time looking at the bustling and lively capital.

In recent years, the development of the capital city has been extremely fast, and the area has been expanded and expanded, and the area has become larger and larger. The surrounding area of ​​Xiangshan has developed, and there are many high-rise buildings. At night, the lights are bright and it is very lively.

"The capital city has changed, and the changes have been huge."

Emperor Hongzhi could not see his eyes because of a fall, so he passed the throne to Zhu Houzhao in advance. After recuperating, his eyes slowly recovered, and he could see even more clearly than before.

"Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Zhang Mao, Ma Wensheng, Zhou Jing, Liu Daxia~"

Emperor Hongzhi kept chanting names one by one, and recalled some things and people in his youth when he was young.

It’s just that these people have already left, but at this moment, Emperor Hongzhi felt that they were by his side, and their figures and voices echoed clearly in his mind, so clear and so of familiarity.

It was as if he was sitting on the dragon chair in the Golden Luan Hall, and all the officials, civil and military, were reporting to him important national affairs and discussing important matters related to Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Hongzhi's life was unfortunate, but some were lucky.

Emperor Hongzhi's mother was just a maid in the palace. Her mother, Ji, was the daughter of a chieftain in Guangxi. Because she rebelled against Daming, she was defeated by the Ming Empire's troops.

Once Emperor Hongzhi's father, Emperor Ming Xianzong, saw it, and he fell in love with this court lady, who knew that he was pregnant with Emperor Hongzhi.

But at that time, the situation in the palace was very special. Emperor Xianzong loved Concubine Wan Gui and obeyed Concubine Wan Gui in every possible way. .

As long as someone is pregnant, she will immediately find a way to abort the other party. This also caused Emperor Xianzong to have no heirs, so that there were no successors in the country.

In such an environment, the Ji family became pregnant with the dragon species, which definitely caused a murderous disaster for herself.

Fortunately, Mrs. Ji is a very good person. The maids and eunuchs in the palace like her and have a good relationship with her, so when Concubine Wan Gui sent someone to investigate, the maid said that she had a tumor in her belly, not that she had a child. .

After giving birth to Emperor Hongzhi, Concubine Wan Gui sent someone to drown Emperor Hongzhi, but the eunuch Zhang Min sent was very sympathetic to Ji and Emperor Hongzhi's mother and son, and risked his life to hide Emperor Hongzhi in the palace. In, feed with rice flour.

Concubine Wan Gui became furious when she knew about it, and sent people to search the palace many times but failed to find out. Empress Wu, who was later abolished by Concubine Wan Gui, also helped Emperor Hongzhi.

In such an environment, Emperor Hongzhi lived until he was six years old, until Emperor Xianzong's health failed, but he lamented that he didn't even have a son. At this time, the great Ming Dynasty didn't even have an heir.

Only then did eunuch Zhang Min tell Emperor Xianzong about Emperor Hongzhi, and Emperor Xianzong officially met Emperor Hongzhi who was six years old but had not even shaved his fetal hair due to long-term confinement in the palace.

Emperor Xianzong burst into tears, lamenting that God was still kind to him, and finally left himself a child, and then formally called a group of ministers to announce this period to the world.

And officially canonized Emperor Hongzhi as the Crown Prince, and named Ji as Concubine Shu, but Ji died suddenly in the palace shortly after, no doubt being poisoned by Concubine Wan Gui.

At the same time, eunuch Zhang Min died because he was afraid that he would commit suicide. It can be said that the two most important people to Emperor Hongzhi, his mother Ji and eunuch Zhang Min, both died because of Concubine Wan Gui.

Even Emperor Hongzhi, who had become the crown prince, was constantly threatened by Concubine Wan Gui. For this reason, Emperor Xianzong's mother, Empress Dowager Zhou, was afraid that Emperor Hongzhi would be poisoned by Concubine Wan Gui, so she personally adopted her grandson in her Renshou Palace Only then did Emperor Hongzhi gradually grow up.

Everything in the early years of Emperor Hongzhi can be said to be unfortunate, but fortunate.

Unfortunately, he lives in the shadow of Concubine Wan Gui all the time. Fortunately, with the help of his mother Ji, eunuch Zhang Min, Empress Wu, Queen Mother Zhou, and many court ladies and eunuchs, he was able to grow up.

Because of childhood encounters, Emperor Hongzhi's health has always been very poor and weak, but it is precisely because of these childhood encounters that the character of Emperor Hongzhi is generous and kind.

Because when he was in darkness and shadows, there was always someone who stood up to help him, allowing him to see the warmth and love in the world.

Therefore, even after he ascended the throne, for those who had hurt him, he was able to let them go with a benevolent heart.

After becoming emperor, Emperor Hongzhi faced internal and external troubles. Internally, his father, Emperor Xianzong, had not been in court for a long time and had not seen his ministers. Concubine Gui, Concubine Wan Gui has her followers all over the court and the public.

The result is that the whole Ming Dynasty is full of smog, traitors are rampant, and there are many internal conflicts in the Ming Dynasty. Both the palace and the ruling and opposition parties need to be rectified by Emperor Hongzhi.

At the same time, externally, the Japanese pirates in the southeast coastal areas often harassed, the northern Tatars went south to seize and plunder every year, the southwestern chieftains were capricious, and Liaodong Jurchen often robbed Liaodong border towns.

Faced with such a situation, Emperor Hongzhi made great efforts to govern, and has always been very diligent and hands-on. He not only went to the morning court, but also held small meetings after the morning court, and sometimes held a late court. All his energy was put on governing the country.

Emphasize Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian and other virtuous ministers to clear up the miasma of the ruling and opposition parties.

However, the Ming Dynasty has entered the middle period at this period, and many problems have gradually been exposed. Land annexation has become more and more serious, and contradictions have become increasingly prominent.

Taxes on the treasury side are often not collected, resulting in an empty treasury, and even the supplies of border soldiers cannot be supplied, and even food cannot be transported.

In the past, salt merchants had to transport grain to the border to get the salt to the salt farm to extract salt. However, because the emperor rewarded a large amount of salt to the ministers, princes and nobles, etc., the salt merchants had no salt but the salt was raised. There is no salt, so they are unwilling to transport grain to the border areas.

In the end, there was really no other way, and the only way to pay for food was to pay for money. This further led to a serious shortage of military supplies for the soldiers at the border. There was no food, and they were often hungry.

At the same time, the state treasury will soon be unable to collect the money from the salt tax, and the whole situation will be completely corrupted at once. The state treasury is empty, the border defense is empty, and the armaments are slack, which leads to further southward movement of the Tartars, forming a vicious circle.

Emperor Hongzhi was also worried about this, but he still couldn't think of a way to solve this period.

The civil-official group is constantly growing, and officials and businessmen are colluding. Anyone who tries to collect commercial taxes or re-measure the land will be opposed by them collectively. The money that the Ming treasury can collect is getting less and less.

Once natural disasters and man-made disasters occur, the entire Ming Dynasty will be precarious.

It was not good for Emperor Hongzhi. He tried his best, conscientiously and diligently to govern the country, but the Ming Dynasty did not get better because of it.

But he was lucky again, until the appearance of Liu Jin, with Liu Jin's assistance, he carried out a series of reforms, which gradually changed the situation of the Ming Dynasty.

After a series of reforms, such as taxation reform, bureaucratic reform, and military system reform, the Ming Dynasty gradually became stronger. Coupled with the development of overseas colonization and capitalism, the Ming Dynasty, which had only a lifespan of more than 100 years, was abruptly transformed into a Prosperity never existed before.

At the same time, even Emperor Hongzhi himself, who died of intestinal carbuncle, was treated in time, and his appendicitis was cut through surgery and he has lived to this day.

"Where is Liu Jin, where is Liu Jin!"

"Why hasn't he come yet?"

Thinking of Liu Jin, Emperor Hongzhi shouted again.

At this moment, he was very eager to meet Liu Jin, talk to Liu Jin about the past, and talk about Daming's future.

"Taishanghuang, Mr. Liu is already rushing to the capital, and he can arrive within a day or two."

Hearing Emperor Hongzhi's words, the little eunuch beside him quickly replied respectfully.

This is not the first time that Emperor Hongzhi called Liu Jin. He often called Liu Jin's name, Li Dongyang, Liu Jian, Xie Qian, Zhang Mao and others, but Liu Jin was called the most.

At the same time, Liu Jin is currently the only person alive who is still being talked about by Emperor Hongzhi. For this reason, Zhu Houzhao directly issued an imperial decree to Liu Jin, asking Liu Jin to come back as soon as possible to meet Emperor Hongzhi.

Of course, Liu Jin is also on his way back without Zhu Hou taking the imperial decree, because Liu Jin still has a lot of people to meet, Emperor Hongzhi is dying, and Wang Shouren is dying too. Emperor Hongzhi was two years younger.

Liu Jin hurried back to Daming just to see them, these old friends.

"Are you finally coming back?"

"It's been almost 12 years since I saw you!"

When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he immediately calculated carefully. It seemed that he hadn't seen Liu Jin for 12 years.

This Liu Jin has been traveling around the world since he resigned from office. It took him 15 years to go out. How many more 12 years can he live?

"He really knows how to enjoy life. He has played outside for more than ten years, and he is really clear about his life plan."

Thinking of Liu Jin, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help laughing.

This Liu Jin has always been like this. He is very lazy and enjoys himself. He quit his job when he was only in his 50s. He resigned and went to travel around the world. This small life is really comfortable, and people are alive Very thorough.

The little eunuch on the side listened carefully, thinking silently in his heart.

The often confused Emperor Hongzhi couldn't remember many things clearly, and many people couldn't remember either, but he remembered things about Liu Jin so clearly.

When thinking of Liu Jin, he would even laugh, but this Liu Jin, he has not come to see the Supreme Emperor for 12 years, and this Supreme Emperor can still remember clearly.

It shows that Liu Jin occupies a very important position in Emperor Hongzhi's heart.

As for this Liu Jin, I don't know much, because in the past 12 years, Liu Jin has been far away from the ruling and opposition parties, and his influence has gradually faded. A large number of new stars have emerged in the ruling and opposition parties, and their names are the most familiar.

A person who hasn't come to see the Supreme Emperor for 12 years can occupy such an important position with the Supreme Emperor. What kind of person would he be?
At this moment, a young eunuch came to report: "The Supreme Emperor, Liu Jin, the former chief assistant of the cabinet, is here to see you!"

"Liu Jin!"

Hearing the little eunuch's words, Emperor Hongzhi immediately stood up, his whole body regained his energy, and he got up and said, "Go, go, take me there quickly."

Seeing Emperor Hongzhi like this, the little eunuchs around him were startled, and hurried forward to help Emperor Hongzhi, and at the same time took Emperor Hongzhi to meet Liu Jin in person.

Here in a side hall of the Old Summer Palace, Liu Jin is admiring the scenery in the Old Summer Palace. It is summer, and the scenery in the Old Summer Palace is very good. All kinds of flowers are in full bloom, exotic flowers and plants, and they are extremely beautiful.

It's very quiet here, and the air is good. It's the most suitable place in the capital for retirement, but compared with Nanyun Province, it's still far, far worse.

Maybe after seeing these old friends, I can get up and go to Hongyun Manor in Nanyun Province, where I will retire, and when the old ones are dying, then I can go back to my hometown in Changli County.

"Liu Jin! Liu Jin!"

At this time, the excited figure of Emperor Hongzhi came from a distance.

It can be heard that Emperor Hongzhi was very excited, and the whole person seemed very excited and happy.

Hearing this voice, Liu Jin became excited immediately, and hurriedly walked along the voice.

Soon, after turning around a rockery made of trees, the two met, stopped each other slightly, arranged their appearance and clothes, and then walked towards each other with smiles on their faces.

"His Majesty!"

With tears in his eyes, Liu Jin came to Emperor Hongzhi.

"You are finally back!"

Emperor Hongzhi was very happy and excited at this moment, so much so that his face was glowing red, as if returning to the light.

"Yeah, I'm finally back!"

Liu Jin nodded with a smile, and the two stood together, looking at each other.

"Liu Jin, you are much older. I think you were handsome and extraordinary back then, but now you have become an old man."

Looking at Liu Jin, Emperor Hongzhi sighed with a smile.

Although Liu Jin in front of him is still elegant, even though he must have been a handsome guy when he was young, he is already in his 60s after all, and the years have carved traces on his face. It was Liu Jin back then.

"Yes, Your Majesty, you are much older."

Liu Jin nodded with a smile, and looked at Emperor Hongzhi. He was older and thinner, his face was thin and fleshless, his cheekbones protruded, his eye sockets were sunken, and his hair was gray and loose.

"Haha, everyone will grow old, and I'm not a fairy."

"Go, go, you're back, let's sit down and have a chat, you'll really enjoy it, it's been 12 years since I've left, I've been waiting so long."

Emperor Hongzhi took Liu Jin's hand and said as he walked, "You must tell me well about the places you have visited and visited over the years, so that I can know the outside world."

PS: On the first day of the new year, I would like to wish all book friends a happy new year, a fortune in the new year, and good luck in the new year!