Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2402: Drastic Change (III) Rumors Spread

South of Deshengmen, in the "Tinghai Tower" near Shichahai, the charcoal basin was burning red, and tea drinkers wrapped in cotton robes crowded around the table, whispering about the strange things that happened this morning.

"Have you heard? The carriage of Chen Zhangyin, the head of the Imperial Household Department, was stopped by the guards at Xuanwu Gate just now!" A man who looked like a porter took a sip of hot wine and said mysteriously, "My second uncle works in the Military Department. It is said that Zheng Guotai, the younger brother of the empress in the Yikun Palace, led 3,000 guards to break into the inner court!"

"Jingjun? Aren't those eunuch soldiers who supervise the imperial horses?" The scholar at the next table frowned and interrupted, "Eunuch soldiers stopped the eunuch leader. This is really like a flood that washed away the Dragon King Temple. Family members don't recognize each other anymore."

"Hey, you must be a scholar from outside the city, and you don't know the ins and outs of this." The man who looked like a porter laughed, "Although the Chief of the Imperial Household Department is the head of all the eunuchs in the palace, the Imperial Stables is different. It is an inner court office that controls military power. In addition, the Chief of the Imperial Stables has a special status, and he is the emperor's youngest uncle, so naturally he doesn't take the Chief of the Imperial Household Department seriously."

"Even so, there's no need to be so hostile. Could it be that they have some deep hatred?" the scholar asked, shaking his head.

"I'm not sure about that, but the current situation is definitely not right..." The man who looked like a porter looked at Deshengmen in the north with some worry, "The Imperial Guards suddenly took over the nine gates, but they didn't even bring all the muskets, which shows how anxious they were to send troops... Could something big happen in the palace? Could it be that the situation is going to change?"

An old tea drinker in the corner sneered and tapped his pipe. "Change? I think someone is trying to make a big fuss! Old Wang, who sells incense and candles at Xizhimen, went to the Jinghua Commercial Society in Dongcheng to buy goods. On the way, he saw with his own eyes that Chen Ju, the seal holder, ran to Coal Hill with a bundle in his arms. There was yellow silk sticking out of the corner of the bundle. I'm afraid the imperial seal is lost!"

"I'm afraid your news is not very reliable... I heard from Liu Laoer in Guaibang Hutong that Chen Zhangyin drove out of Di'anmen Gate himself, and turned left into the Jingguo Mansion as soon as he got out of Di'anmen Gate! I think it's probably that Gao Yuanfu is critically ill, and the emperor came to visit him in person."

The rumors became more and more shocking and varied. Some people sighed, "Prince Gao may be critically ill," some muttered, "The crown prince has been poisoned," some insisted that "Prince Gao was poisoned by the Zheng family," and some even gestured in a serious manner, "My cousin is farming in Changping, and yesterday he saw Commander Ma's generals heading south. The Imperial Guards are trying to purge the emperor..."

The waiter, carrying a copper kettle, went back and forth to add tea, leaving the tea drinkers to guess wildly. He only secretly touched the new silver coin in his arms - it was a reward from an old man from the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Beijing this morning, asking him to "pay more attention to the after-tea conversation."

At the same time, in the duty room of Section 6, several section chiefs (all of them were officials in charge of the Imperial Censorate) sat around the stove. The crackling sound of the charcoal fire could not mask the anxiety in their conversation.

"The imperial decree to mobilize troops has no cabinet signature, no six departments' copy, and not even a tiger seal!" Zhang Pu, the military department's chief censor, put down his teacup heavily. "If Li Rumei really obeys this chaotic order, it will set a bad example of military men interfering in government!"

"Brother Zhang, be careful with your words!" He Ruchong, the chief official of the Ministry of Revenue, lowered his voice hastily, "Didn't you see that when Li Wenjin came back from the Jingbei camp this morning, even the curtains of the sedan chair were filled with murderous intent? The Imperial Stables are now in cahoots with the Yikun Palace, and Zheng Guotai just led 3,000 guards into the palace. The Yikun Palace is so well guarded that not even a fly can fly in. Who knows what the emperor is thinking now? If we hold on now, I'm afraid we'll have to add a few more shackles to the imperial prison tomorrow!"

In the corner, Cui Shixun, the silent engineering official, suddenly said quietly, "If the prime minister is really critically ill, Gao's party will fall. But if the critical illness is fake..." He dipped his fingertips into the tea and drew the word "Zheng" on the table, saying in a serious tone, "That queen even dared to steal the private seal of 'Wanshi Lijiu'. The next step is probably to forge an imperial edict to appoint a crown prince."

Everyone fell silent. Outside the window, the north wind blew snowflakes onto the paper, like countless prying eyes.

All eyes suddenly fell on the person sitting by the door. He Ruchong couldn't help asking, "Brother Zhenzhi, you have been with Yuanfu for several years, which is incomparable to us. In your opinion, is Yuanfu's illness real or fake? Is it mild or serious?"

Zhenzhi is Li Zhizao's courtesy name.

Li Zhizao and the other section chiefs were all classmates of the Wuxu examination in the 26th year of the Wanli reign, but he was particularly lucky and was personally selected by Gao Youshi as a Jinshi observer. Later, he was transferred to the newly established position of "Cabinet Washer", which was equivalent to the confidential secretary of the Prime Minister. Although his rank was not high, his status was unique - as the saying goes, the closer you are to the center of power, the more powerful you are, and this was probably the case with Li Zhizao.

Of course, he knew that his position and power all came from Gao Yuanfu, so he didn't want Gao Youshi to have any problems. However, he also knew that the situation was delicate at the moment. Because of Yuanfu's illness, a series of changes had occurred in the capital. It was now difficult to sort out what had happened. It could only be confirmed that something had changed within the core circle of power in the Ming Dynasty. At this moment, Li Zhizao did not dare to express his opinion casually, and could only say vaguely: "Yuanfu has indeed been very busy recently, but he has always been strong and does not seem to have any hidden illness."

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what information each of them had conveyed. Yan Mingtai, who was born in the same year as him in the Wuxu year of the 26th year of the Wanli reign, smiled and said, "Brother Zhenzhi, we are all born in the same year, so how can we not look after each other? Look at what you said, we seem to have heard it, but we also seem not to have heard it... Can't you give me a definite answer? I just want to ask you one question today: Is the Prime Minister okay?"

Li Zhizao's cheeks couldn't help but twitch slightly. He looked at the eyes cast at him and said with a wry smile, "I don't have any definite information here. If you brothers must get the news, I can only say four words: I don't think it's a big deal. As for whether you brothers believe it or not, I can't speculate."

At the same time, in the warm pavilion in the back garden of the Duke of Ying's mansion, several nobles gathered under the pretext of enjoying the snow. The young Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, stroked his jade ring and suddenly said, "The latest news just now is that the lady in the Yikun Palace is searching for the seal in the whole palace, but according to reliable information, Chen Ju has already left the palace successfully."

A few words should be added about the lineage of the Duke of Ying. Zhang Yuangong, the Duke of Ying, who Gao Youshi had known in his early years, inherited the title in the 10th year of the Wanli reign. He died unexpectedly in the 23rd year of the Wanli reign. As he had no heir, his younger brother Zhang Yuande inherited the title. However, Zhang Yuande also died after only two years in office. Therefore, his eldest son Zhang Weixian, who was the young man who just spoke, continued to inherit the title.

"Where are the Queen and the Crown Prince?" asked Duke Chengguo Zhu Yingzhen anxiously.

"It is said that she is still in Kunning Palace. Zheng Guotai led the Jingjun to seal the gates of each palace. Except for Yiku Palace, the Cining and Kunning Palaces are particularly heavily guarded. Chen Zhangyin is alone and cannot take care of her. I guess he cannot take care of her." Dingxi Marquis Jiang Jianyuan took a sip of tea and shook his head.

Xu Xigao, the eighth Duke of Dingguo, who had inherited the title from his grandfather Xu Wenbi less than half a month ago, waved his hand and smiled, "Uncle Jiang, although your news must have come from the palace, it is not accurate enough. As far as I know, Chen Zhangyin drove out of Kunning Palace just before Zheng Guotai led his troops to Kunning Palace, and Zheng Guotai was furious after arriving at Kunning Palace, and even broke the Queen's dressing table with his own hands... From this, it can be seen that the Queen and the Crown Prince may have been taken away by Chen Zhangyin."

"Is this true?" Dingxi Marquis Jiang Jianyuan was quite surprised, and then he pondered: "If this is the case, then this drama is still going to go on... Do you know where Master Chen went?"

"Where else could it be? It must be the Duke Jingguo's Mansion." Zhu Yingzhen slapped his thigh and laughed, "Now things are going to be interesting. Since Li Rumei is willing to accept the imperial edict, he must have followed the wishes of the Yikun Palace. Although his troops are elite, they have no weapons and can only guard the nine gates, but dare not enter the city.

Hey, I want to know, if the Duke of Jingguo is not already critically ill as some people have spread the rumors, but instead suddenly came to Deshengmen in person, do you think Li Rumei would have the courage to order military action against the Duke of Jingguo?"

Zhang Weixian shook his head and said, "Uncle, what you said may not come true. Even if the Duke of Jingguo is just pretending to be sick, the first person he has to deal with now is not Li Rumei, but the Four Tengxiang Guards. According to information from my nephew, his Jinghua servants have already ambushed in Zhaohui Jinggongfang, waiting for the Zheng family to take action first."

"Please tell me, Brother Shi, why did Duke Jingguo insist on waiting for the Zheng family to take action first?" asked Xue Yu, the young Marquis of Yangwu, who also inherited the title this year.

"Only with a legitimate reason can one speak with a clear conscience." Although they were both young, Zhang Weixian was still six years older than Xue Wei, and the two families were related by marriage. Therefore, Zhang Weixian smiled cordially and said, "My dear brother, you may not know that our Duke Jingguo always insists on having a legitimate reason for everything he does. When he was the governor of Guangxi, he also found a pretext before sending troops to recover Annan... If you ask me, what pretext is needed to recover Annan? They are just a bunch of rebellious people. I will fight them if I want, but what can I do to them?"

"I think the matter here is not that simple." Zhu Yingzhen is now actually an "elder figure" in the circle of nobles, so he has some status.

He narrowed his eyes and pondered, "Is there any confirmed news that Ma Gui has indeed returned from Changping? However, he did not go south to Beijing as the rumors said, but went east... Where is he going?

Also, why did Li Rumei only guard the nine gates and not enter the city? People in the streets and alleys said that it was because the Second Town did not get the weapons, but this reason made no sense - the Second Town had more than 12,000 people, all of them were elite, so how difficult would it be to capture the Wucheng Bingmasi city defense force of only a few thousand people?

In my opinion, the actions of the Imperial Guards are strange. Both Ma Gui and Li Rumei are probably waiting for something! If we don’t find out the reason, we’d better not speak out too early... After all, no matter how these people make trouble, we, the nobles who share the same fate with the country, can’t easily do that."

A gust of cold wind blew through the hall, and the candlelight suddenly dimmed. Everyone looked at the "Complete Map of the Territory of the Great Ming Dynasty" on the table tacitly - the Jingguo Mansion, located in the southwest corner of Zhaohui Jinggongfang, in the middle and north of the capital, immediately received more than a dozen "honorable" gazes.
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