The atmosphere in the capital is very strange these days, and this weirdness is not only reflected in the court, but also in the people.

The reason why the atmosphere in the court is strange is because the officials are sensitively aware that the Ming Dynasty is about to change the sky, these days the originally deserted Xinwangfu suddenly became crowded, and the officials queuing up to see the Xinwang can be sent from the gate of the palace to the outside of the alley, and the door of the palace receives red envelopes and receives soft hands, which also makes the people of Xinwangfu surprised and happy.

The people of the Xinwang Mansion are not fools, they naturally know why these officials, large and small, suddenly ran over to burn the cold stove of the Xinwang, but this surprise came too suddenly, so that they were not prepared for anything, and the most aggrieved thing for them was that they couldn't show any joy yet, otherwise they would have to be turned out to settle old accounts in the future, and even the Xinwang Zhu Youzhen couldn't spare them for his own reputation.

In the people, it was a different scene, and the people were very worried and worried about the emperor's sudden illness.

The common people are simple, and at the same time, they are also the least demanding group of people.

In the past two years, the changes in the capital have been felt by the people most directly, first of all, the people feel the most is the price of grain, because potatoes began to be planted in large quantities in the Ming Dynasty, the price of grain also began to fall rapidly.

In the past, March and April were the time when the folk commonly known as green and yellow were not connected, and the grain price in the capital was at least one or two or five or even two taels of silver per stone, and the grain price fell rapidly since the appearance of potatoes, and the price of rice this year dropped to eight dollars of silver per stone, and the price of potatoes even dropped to five dollars of silver per stone, which has reached the grain price of the Hongzhi period.

What does this mean?

Since ancient times, there has been a saying that the people of China regard food as the sky, as the saying goes, there is food in the hands and there is no panic in the heart. For the common people, as long as there is enough food at home, other things are not a thing, because of the continuous decline in food prices in the past two years, the cost of living of the people in the capital has become lower and lower, and the satisfaction of the people is getting higher and higher, and as the master of the Ming Empire, Zhu Youxiao is getting higher and higher in the hearts of the people, and now I heard that the emperor is critically ill, and many people have begun to pray for the emperor spontaneously, which is very rare.

Just when the people in the capital were panicking, the "Confucian Daily", which was the mouthpiece of the Donglin Party, suddenly published an article called "The Snake Can't Do Without a Head", which explained that His Majesty was now critically ill and could not handle the government affairs, and the imperial court should choose a virtuous person to replace His Majesty in supervising the country. Originally, the best candidate for the prison should be the crown prince, but now His Majesty has no heirs, what should I do?

At this point, the topic of the article changed to King Xin, and the article said that King Xin, as the younger brother of His Majesty's mother, naturally became the best candidate for prison when His Majesty was unconscious, and finally the article also called on the current Empress to issue a decree as soon as possible to appoint King Xin as the prison state.

As soon as the article came out, it was like a big stone thrown into a pot of oil, and public opinion suddenly began to boil.

"These people...... How dare they...... How dare they do that? ”

In the Qianqing Palace, next to Zhu Youxiao's bedside, Zhang Yan, who had been taking care of Zhu Youxiao for many days, looked at the newspaper in her hand, and her eyes were red with anger. Under the impetus of Yang Feng, the newspaper as a new thing soon swept the entire capital and even the Ming Dynasty, especially as the first newspaper "Pravda" after the success, the Donglin Party followed the trend to run the "Confucian Daily", although limited by technical reasons, "Confucian Daily" is far inferior to "Pravda" in terms of content and circulation, but as the mouthpiece of Confucianism, "Confucian Daily" is still very marketable in Shilin, Zhu Youxiao subscribed to these two newspapers on a non-pull issue, Under his influence, Zhang Yan and some concubines in the harem also had the habit of reading the newspaper, after all, in the deep palace, this is also one of the few means for them to get out of the outside world.

Zhang Yan, who had almost exhausted her energy for her husband's illness, almost blew up her lungs after seeing this article, and this article actually proposed to let her issue a decree to appoint King Xin as the prison state, and she could naturally see the sinister intentions at a glance, but she couldn't refute it, because the whole article stood on the moral high ground and shouted at her in the air, so that she couldn't say anything about her suffering, not to mention how uncomfortable it was.

"...... Now that Your Majesty's dragon is unwell, you have to take care of your phoenix body at this time. Chu Rui, the personal palace maid on the side, looked at Zhang Yan, who was so angry that her eyes were red, and carefully persuaded her.

"Are they already so impatient?" Zhang Yan's tears finally flowed, crystal tears fell to the ground, like pearls instantly shattered into countless pieces, she looked sideways at Zhu Youxiao, who was still unconscious on the hospital bed, and shouted sadly: "Your Majesty, have you seen it?" You have only been in a coma for a few days, and those people can't wait to arrange your afterlife, you tell the concubine, what should the concubine do? ”

Looking at the grief-stricken Zhang Yan, the eunuchs and palace maids on the side knelt down and said in unison, "Niangniang, please take care of the phoenix body." ”

Looking at the palace maid and eunuch who knelt on the ground, Zhang Yan only felt sadness and cried even more......

In a quiet backyard, several men in civilian clothes sat around a stone table, sipping fresh fruit and sipping tea.

A middle-aged man stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Mr. Jingyi's strategy is really wonderful, now the call for King Xin to supervise the country in the capital is getting higher and higher, I believe that it will not be long before the other side will be unable to withstand the pressure and be forced to retreat, as long as King Xin can supervise the country, he will be able to succeed to the throne smoothly after that one goes." ”

The man who spoke was Li Qiyuan, the former head of the household department, since he was dismissed by Zhu Youxiao, he should have gone back to his hometown to eat himself, but this is an official fan, always thinking about when he can be reinstated, because he has been staying in the capital for more than half a year to run around, and Gao Panlong's mansion has become the place he comes to most often.

"Shh......h Master Li said cautiously. Qian Qianyi, who was on the side, raised his index finger to his lips and whispered: "Although the son is critically ill today, he is still there after all, how can we, as courtiers, criticize the monarch behind our backs, this is not a gentleman's doing." ”

"Exactly!" Gao Panlong, who was sitting in the first place, stroked his beard and said with satisfaction: "Mu Zhai has a point, how can we, as courtiers, criticize the monarch behind our backs, let's stop here." ”

"Yes......" Everyone responded in unison, but after finishing speaking, Li Qiyuan's heart sneered, I really thought that after saying a few good words, I would become a humble gentleman, don't think that others don't know about the dirty things you do, it's just that everyone sees through it and doesn't say it, and the boss doesn't talk about the second.

Seeing that the atmosphere became a little dull after he finished speaking, Gao Panlong smiled again: "Of course, everyone here is a righteous man and a gentleman, and the old man believes this, but he still has to have an idea in the future, otherwise it will not be good for everyone to spread it, do you think so?" ”

"Thank you Mr. Jingyi for your teaching!" Everyone had to answer again, only this time there was a knowing smile on everyone's faces.

Seeing that everyone's emotions were mobilized again, Gao Panlong said again: "It's just that this matter is not too late, tomorrow we will jointly ask to see the queen mother, let the mother personally issue the decree, and then the cabinet will use the seal, so that this matter will become justified, so that people will not gossip, it is best to get this matter done tomorrow." ”

"Tomorrow?"

"It's too urgent, I'm afraid it's too late."

Everyone was slightly startled and looked at Gao Panlong. Xindao, this is not like the style of a tall man, this has always been calm, why is he so anxious today, what happened again?

Gao Panlong put everyone's expressions in his eyes, and sighed lightly after a while: "Although it can be said that most of the matter has been made now, the old man always feels a little uneasy, you must know that the people from Dongchang have been out for eleven days, Yang Feng must have gotten the news, with this person's means, I don't know what will happen, so the old man thinks about a quick solution, so as not to have too many dreams at night." ”

Qian Qianyi was surprised: "Fujian is thousands of miles away from the capital, even if Yang Feng comes alone, it will take five or six days, if he comes with a large army, let alone with a large army, he can't arrive at all in a month, and when he arrives in the capital, our major event will have already been completed, if he really comes to the capital, it will be self-defeating, and we will just capture it in one fell swoop and hand it over to the three divisions for trial to correct the national law!" ”

In the end, Qian Qianyi's face was full of excitement, as if he really saw Yang Feng being caught in front of them.

Li Qiyuan, who was on the side, also gritted his teeth and said, "That's right...... Yang Feng's second thief bewitched the saint, tea poisoned the world, we should bring him to justice, and the three divisions were sent to the vegetable market to ask for a knife after the trial, and his family members were sent to the teaching department, so as to solve the hatred in our hearts. ”

Speaking of which, Li Qiyuan's Hubu Shangshu was swept to the end because of Yang Feng, and his hatred for Yang Feng was also the strongest.

Qian Qianyi, who was on the side, couldn't help but joke when he saw Li Qiyuan gritting his teeth: "Lord Li, I heard that Hai Lanzhu, the wife of Yang Feng's family, is the most famous beauty in the Horqin grassland of Mongolia, and the two concubines are Hai Lanzhu's own sister and aunt. ”

"Hehe......"

When men talk about women, they always have a common language, and everyone present here laughed knowingly, with a look in their eyes that all men understand. There are even people who say: "I heard that Yang Feng's other two concubines were originally famous on the Qinhuai River, and these two people can't be let go after this ambush." ”

"Hahaha......" Everyone finally couldn't help laughing.

"Ahem, ahem, ahem......"

Gao Panlong on the side really couldn't listen to it anymore, so he could only cough lightly twice.

Only then did everyone wake up, as court officials, they openly discussed how to insult the family members of fellow officials, which is unjustifiable in any case, after all, some things cannot be done, if they spread it, where will they put their face.

The seventh year of the Apocalypse, May 26

The sun slowly climbed the horizon, and with a creak, the two gates outside the gate were slowly pushed open in the afternoon under the push of the four palace guards, but when the guards pushed the gate open, they saw a large group of officials standing outside the door, and these people were standing densely outside the noon gate.

At first glance, seeing so many people looking at him, several palace guards were also taken aback, and their right hands involuntarily held the hilt of the knife at their waists, and said with a nervous expression while slowly retreating: "Everyone stop, the palace is forbidden, and those who have not been summoned are not allowed to enter!" ”

"Presumptuous!" A young official at the head shouted: "You can't wait for a small guard, dare you stop me?" If you don't go to report quickly, you will say that we will ask to see the queen mother, and ask the queen mother to issue a decree to let His Royal Highness the king of letters supervise the country! ”

The guard said loudly: "It's okay to report, but you also have to abide by the rules and don't trespass into the palace, otherwise you won't blame me for being rude!" ”

The young official wearing the seven-rank official uniform and the officials behind him shouted excitedly as if they had won a battle when they saw that the palace guards had agreed to the report, and for a while bursts of cheers rang out in front of the palace gate......

"What do they want to do, Your Majesty is still in a coma, do they want to force the palace?"

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhang Yan, who heard the news, was anxious and angry, she really didn't expect that her husband had only been in a coma for more than ten days, and those people couldn't help but want to force the palace.

Zhang Yan said in a deep voice: "Who is the leader?" ”

The eunuch who came to report said in a low voice: "The leader is Gao Panlong, the imperial history of the left capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Li Qiyuan, the former secretary of the household department, Qian Qianyi, the former waiter of the Ministry of Rites, and more than two hundred imperial historians, the momentum is extremely huge, if it is not dealt with in time, the slaves and maids may cause chaos." ”

Zhang Yan took a deep breath: "What about Wei Zhongxian...... Where is he now? Inform him of this immediately and let him take care of it! ”

The eunuch was embarrassed and said: "Niangniang, Grandpa Wei has rushed over, but he still can't stop it, and now there are more and more officials gathered outside the noon gate, Grandpa Wei is afraid that he will ...... I'm afraid I can't stand it......"

"What?" Zhang Yan's pretty face became more and more pale.

"Niangniang, what should we do?"

Zhang Yan looked sadly at her husband, who was still lying unconscious on the bed, and a wave of sadness surged in her heart. Look at it, this is the courtiers who are usually respectful to you, and now that you are not dead, they are thinking about pushing your brother into that dragon chair.

After a long time, Zhang Yan slowly sat down again and asked in a low voice, "Isn't there any news from Jiang Ningbo yet?" ”

"Nope!" The eunuch shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Niangniang, Fujian is too far away from us, wait until Jiang Ningbo leads the troops to feel ...... I'm afraid ......"

The eunuch didn't continue, but Zhang Yan understood what he meant, she struck angrily and laughed: "That's it, don't they just want this palace to make an edict to let the king of Xin supervise the country." If you really can't wait, this palace has made this decree, and this palace wants to see what else they want? ”