Chapter 2: Medicine
Fortunately, there was nothing unusual with the physical condition of His Majesty Prince Feixuan Zhenjun. He could still roar loudly with all his strength when the eunuchs broke down the door. However, the emperor's psychological condition seemed difficult to describe. Li Zaifang rushed into the hall and saw the emperor sitting on a futon with disheveled hair, and the floor and walls were covered with broken porcelain, gold and silver wares, and he was shaking uncontrollably all over.
After hearing the noise, the emperor suddenly raised his head, his dragon face swollen and purple in rage, and as for his eyes, his eyes - my goodness, his eyes were swollen even redder than when Yang Shen led people to lie on the palace gate to stop the grand ceremony discussion...
Oh my god, is the sky falling?
Li Zaifang's legs went limp and he fell down.
Zhenjun stared at his confidant fiercely, making Li Zaifang's teeth chatter and tremble all over. After silently exerting pressure for half a quarter of an hour, the emperor finally spoke coldly, his throat still clenched:
"Li Zaifang, has your Imperial City Division found anything unusual recently?"
Li Zaifang was sweating:
"To answer your Majesty, how dare I say that I am the Imperial City Officer? I am watching for you... but I am incompetent. I really haven't found anything."
His Majesty the Emperor is notoriously eccentric and unpredictable. Instead of daring to speculate on someone's thoughts, it's better to just tell the truth.
His Majesty snorted. He sent the Embroidered Uniform Guards to communicate with the Imperial City Bureau every day to inquire about the situation, so of course he knew the situation in the capital. No matter from which details you look at, the capital has been calm in recent days. There shouldn't be any unusual disturbances, let alone treason, associated with such a demonic book.
After this hysterical outburst of rage, the Emperor regained some composure. After all, he was a shrewd man who could compete with the current cabinet ministers in wits and courage and hold power at the age of fifteen. He only thought about it for a moment and immediately realized the key point - although a lot of information in the evil book was blocked by some kind of "privacy protection", but judging from the leaked information alone, it was definitely not something that an ordinary minor official could hear; he must be a nobleman in a high position who could assist in the affairs of the government. In this case, there are not many candidates...
He asked gloomily:
"Who attended the cabinet meetings these days?"
Li Zaifang didn't know why, so she spoke carefully:
"As usual, there will still be several cabinet ministers, ministers, eunuchs in the inner court, the prince of Duke Mu, the eldest son of Duke Zheng, and other noble families..."
In the old system of this dynasty, although most of the founding heroes were useless and could no longer check and balance the civil servants, in order to show the emperor's grace and leniency, the top dukes, marquises, earls, etc. were still allowed to participate in the meetings in front of the emperor, but as a rule they were not allowed to speak.
The emperor was too lazy to listen any more:
"Add more Jinyiwei and spies from the Imperial City Bureau to keep an eye on them all! Report any news immediately!"
Li Zaifang felt his scalp tingling and complained inwardly: secretly sending people to monitor the cabinet ministers and nobles, even if he is the eunuch who holds the seal of the inner court, it is really a bit unbearable. But no one in the world dared to touch the dragon scales when the emperor was angry, so he could only kowtow and obey his orders.
Perhaps because of the increased sense of security after the enhanced surveillance, the emperor regained some of his consciousness. He stared at the roof with a changing expression, but gradually he remembered the strange records in the demon book - apart from those inexplicable sarcasms, it seemed to mention a lot of subtle contents, vaguely related to the future...
I won't talk about "X Ping Mei" anymore. The "salt inspection" and "3 million taels of salt tax" mentioned in the evil book...
Wait, three million taels of salt tax?
The emperor suddenly turned around and stared at his confidant:
"Di-Di Maoyan has arrived in Jiangnan?"
Li Zaifang was a little confused and could only answer carefully: "Master, you are right."
The emperor had a blank expression on his face, but he was thinking rapidly in his mind - although this evil book was rebellious, its content was arranged quite carefully. It has a friendly note under the main text, saying that this Lord Di Maoyan made so much money in such a ruthless way that he was able to scrape off three feet of the ground, causing smoke to rise. That’s why later generations respectfully called him “Smoking Ground”. It was from this time that the court's salt policy began to fail miserably and became out of control.
However, the taxes collected from the salt inspection should have been an absolute secret of the imperial court. Apart from the eunuch who directly handled it, even the ministers had no right to inquire about it. If the demon book can even detect this...
The emperor's eyes flashed.
"Your people should follow the salt inspector's boat and find out how much salt tax can be collected this year?"
Li Zaifang said, "Master, please understand. According to the spies we sent out, this year's harvest is probably only about three million taels."
The emperor's face suddenly changed. In an instant, the pain of being humiliated by the evil book and the resentment of being plundered by his subordinates surged into his heart, and he couldn't even tell which one was more exciting. Under the new hatred and old grudges, he finally broke down completely and roared in front of his servants:
"My money! How dare he touch my money! The ground is smoking, the ground is smoking! I'm going to peel off his skin—"
·
The roar was deafening, and the echo resounded throughout the hall. All the eunuchs in the quiet room then lay down and never dared to look up again.
After roaring out his anger, the emperor decisively issued an order:
"Let the Imperial Guards surround that bastard's house! When this bastard returns to the capital, we will raid his lair - don't let even a fly escape!"
Damn it, I can’t catch the person who wrote the evil book, and I can’t catch you smoking either? !
The eunuchs kowtowed like crazy, not daring to express the slightest opinion. Although Lord Di usually curries favor with Lord Yan and bribes important people in the palace with large sums of money, now that the emperor has gone so mad, I'm afraid not even the emperor can save him.
Since it is impossible to save it, you might as well use your brain as soon as possible and think about how to get something when the house is searched.
The emperor panted heavily and shook his head from side to side to vent his anger. But as he glanced around, he suddenly fixed his eyes on a plate of golden elixir on the ground - according to the emperor's usual rule, he had to take a golden elixir to calm his mind when he got up in the middle of the night, but today, the eunuch rushed in in a panic and actually brought this plate of golden elixir with him.
Seeing the elixir made from the bright red cinnabar, the emperor's eyes burst into flames again - he naturally remembered the "old wall lamp", "exploding gold coins", and "chemical master" cursed in the monster book, and was furious; but in his anger, he remembered the "heavy metal poisoning" and "biochemical monster" mentioned in the monster book.
Although I didn't quite understand it, I knew the meaning: This golden elixir... could there be something wrong with it?
Zhenjun was the most sensitive and suspicious person in his life, and his heart sank as he felt a pang.
Of course, the emperor has trusted in the art of alchemy for a long time, and he cannot change his mind just because of a simple sarcasm. He thought about it over and over again, but still felt hesitant. After looking at the plate of golden elixir, he made up his mind:
"Give all the golden elixirs refined today to the Grand Secretaries." He waved his sleeves and issued an order: "Let the Grand Secretaries taste them carefully and write down their thoughts after taking them to me!"
·
Although there was a commotion in the quiet room of Qingliang Palace in the middle of the night, due to the emperor's strict orders to suppress it, no eunuch dared to leak the news. On the next morning, Li Zaifang brought his close disciples and went to the homes of the elders to reward them with elixirs.
There is no way. The emperor is urging for a reply, so I have to be quick.
Faced with the same box of golden elixirs, important officials of different identities showed different subtle attitudes. Even a highly respected person like Prime Minister Xia hesitated for a moment when faced with the golden elixir, and accepted it reluctantly after hearing the oral order - there was no other way, he was nearly seventy years old and was about to retire, and he really didn't want to put himself in danger; and a newcomer like Lord Xu had to bow his hands to express his gratitude only after being urged by the eunuch, and he also had to ask the emperor's opinion - even though the emperor's will was in front of him, the Lord Xu was still considered a leader of the clean stream, and he couldn't lose face for the time being.
Only Lord Yan, the leader of the Turbid Current who marched forward bravely, immediately bowed down to express his gratitude after hearing the imperial edict. Then, without hesitation, he stretched out his hand to grab two or three golden pills and poured them directly into his mouth.
Li Zaifang, who was about to explain how to take it, said: “…………”
Old Yan Ge's white beard moved violently, and he chewed the golden elixir with a clattering sound, while chewing he exclaimed loudly:
"Your Majesty's grace is truly as high as the sky and as deep as the earth. Even if I were to die, I would not be able to repay you even a fraction of it! This elixir is indeed extraordinary, and it tastes sweet when I chew it..."
If Mu Qi had the good fortune to witness it, he would probably sneer: Nonsense, fresh mercury sulfide plus lead oxide, how can it not be sweet?
However, this method of taking the medicine still shocked Li Zaifang: You know, although the emperor loves elixirs and medicines, he only dares to take one pill every three days, and he has to drink strong wine to make the medicine work slowly and not hurt his body; but now he takes two or three pills at a time, and he chews them...
He asked carefully, "What do you think, Lord?"
"Of course, my blood vessels are relaxed and my bones and muscles are healthy." Elder Yan smiled and said, "Your Excellency may not know, I have a chronic fear of cold. After taking the elixir today, I feel warm all over my body and no longer feel cold..."
Before he could finish his sentence, two lines of blood flowed down from his nostrils and went straight into his beard.
Li Zaifang:! ? ? ! !
Elder Yan remained calm, and even though his face was covered in blood, he still kept smiling: "Please, eunuch, thank His Majesty for me."
Eunuch Li was so shocked that his scalp went numb. He dared not look at Lord Yan's expression again and could only hurriedly say goodbye with the eunuchs.
Seeing the eunuch's figure disappear outside the gate, the old man finally couldn't hold on any longer, and fell on the armchair with a cry - the power of the elixir was stronger than one could imagine. In just a short while, the seventy-year-old old man Yan felt his heart beating faster, breathing became difficult, and he was almost dizzy.
The close family members were all terrified and rushed forward to support the master. Even Yan Donglou, the only son of the elder who was hiding behind Duobao Pavilion, rushed out in a hurry and wiped the blood from his father's nose with his sleeve to comfort his father.
Seeing his father's face flushed, the young elder couldn't help but complain:
"Dad, why are you doing this again?"
Elder Yan groaned but ignored his son's words. He took the servant's hand and slowly sat down on the armchair, his complexion slightly returning to normal.
"What do you mean by 'father'? I have repeatedly instructed that as long as the gift from the emperor is in front, it is like being in the court." Elder Yan said in a hoarse voice: "How can there be father and son in the court? When working, everyone must refer to their position!"
Yan Xiaoge Lao had no choice but to submit:
"Lord, why are you doing this?"
Elder Yan sighed slowly, but looked at the box of golden elixirs on the rosewood table. Perhaps he was confused, and he actually uttered some true feelings:
"I have no other choice. Donglou, I really want to improve myself..."
At this point, even though he was tortured by the effects of the drugs, there was a gleam in Lord Yan's eyes!
This is not surprising. Yan Fenyi and the current Prime Minister Xia Yan are both from the same hometown and the same place, and they graduated from the same imperial examination. They have been close friends since they entered officialdom. But after decades of ups and downs in the officialdom, Xia Yan was repeatedly blessed by the emperor and rose to prominence. He entered the cabinet as the chief minister at the age of fifty and held power for more than ten years. However, Yan Fenyi was unlucky in his career and was repeatedly suppressed. He was nearly 70 years old before he got a cabinet position, and his power was far behind his friend...
It is said that he is afraid that his brothers will suffer, and he is also afraid that his brothers will become the prime minister. Seeing his friends in the same subject who were several years younger than him overcome all difficulties with great success, and then looking at his own turbulent control group, how could Lord Yan not feel hatred?
Besides, Xia Yan is about to retire and return home, and the new prime minister will be nominated by the cabinet. Is it bad enough that I have endured for decades and allowed my good brother to show off his power, but even Xu Shaohu, a fifty-year-old junior, is going to step on my head?
How could Mr. Yan, a man of honor, endure such humiliation!
When he thought of this, Lord Yan became extremely ambitious and even forgot about his worries. He grabbed his son's sleeve and said in a deep voice:
"Donglou. Now a wise ruler is in power, fierce ministers are everywhere, and the cabinet is full of fierce competition. We cannot afford to be negligent. Your father is old and weak. I am not as energetic, talented, and courageous as Xia Yan and Xu Shaohu. But there is only one thing that you can never compare with me; and only this one thing can determine the outcome of the world in one fell swoop. You must remember it firmly."
Yan Donglou humbly asks:
"Please speak, sir."
Yan Ge Lao said: "In order to gain power, they all want to please the emperor; but after all, some of them have the bad habits of noble scholars and dare not be too shameless. I am different. I will laugh and scold you, and I will be a good official myself! Tell me, who will the current emperor like?"
Yan Donglou was quite shocked, but at the same time he was convinced: "Your Excellency is wise."
"So, this box of elixir cannot be missed!" Elder Yan said decisively, "They all want to save face, and dare not take the elixir openly. Isn't it a contempt for the imperial edict? Donglou, you must know that this box of elixir is not just elixir. In a nutshell, it is actually the loyalty of the ministers, the conscience of doing things, and the enthusiasm of being loyal to Your Majesty. Resisting the imperial edict is certainly a serious crime, but taking it step by step cannot show our sincere loyalty. Didn't the imperial edict say that we should take it all in one month? We can finish it in ten days, and be the first to be loyal to the emperor, and don't give others a chance."
Mr. Yan: …………
How should I put it? Lord Yan's profound and profound remarks are indeed in tune with the young Lord's three views and are completely in line with his moral standards which are eighteen levels below the ground. But...if we finish eating so many golden pills in ten days, will something bad happen?
He was a little worried: "But the elder's health..."
Although the emperor's favor is important, if you accidentally take an overdose, you might have to invite half of the court to a banquet.
Yan Ge Lao comforted him:
"It's okay. Although the golden elixir is a bit strong, but if we go into battle together, you take half and I take half, what's the problem with this little golden elixir? So, take five pills back first, and take a few tonight to see how effective it is."
Yan Donglou took a breath and his face finally turned green.
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