Emperor Jian'an woke up, his face pale and pale. After drinking some medicine to calm himself down, he looked at the imperial physician and asked, "How much time do I have left?"
The imperial physician said tremblingly, "It could be as long as half a year, or as short as a month."
Unless he is well cared for and no longer loses his heart blood, if he becomes angry again and vomits blood and faints, he may die suddenly on the spot.
Emperor Jian'an waved his hand to let the imperial physician leave. Only Li Fu, Emperor Jian'an, and a group of palace maids and eunuchs with their heads lowered were left in the inner hall.
"Your Majesty, you must not work so hard anymore." Li Fu saw Emperor Jian'an struggling to get up, and stepped forward to support him worriedly.
"Call Concubine Lai."
Li Fu winked at his apprentice, telling him to go quickly. Then, the emperor began to summon his former trusted ministers to the palace for an audience.
Concubine Lai's complexion did not look good, but it was not as bad as Emperor Jian'an's. In an ordinary family, the two of them looked like a father-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Although Princess Lai lost her son and the last of his bloodline, she still had a princess.
"Your Majesty, please take care of yourself." Concubine Lai knew that she had nothing to fight for. After being persuaded by the Eighth Princess for so long, she had already calmed down. Since there was no hope, she had to go on with her life for the rest of her life. What else could she do?
"My beloved, I wish to marry Xiao Ba to the Northern Rong. I sent a letter to the King of Northern Rong a month ago."
Concubine Lai's eyes widened as she looked at Emperor Jian'an in disbelief. "What did your Majesty say?"
Emperor Jian'an patiently repeated it again, and finally said, "If the Northern Rong people can help us, they will surely be able to restrain Prince Su from moving south, and the situation in the north will be stabilized."
Concubine Lai's legs gave way and she fell to the ground. She knelt forward and grabbed Emperor Jian'an's legs and said, "Your Majesty, Zhou'er is my only daughter left. Please have mercy on me."
Concubine Lai was extremely panicked. "Anyang is unmarried and older than Zhou'er. Why doesn't Your Majesty send Anyang to the Northern Rong?"
Emperor Jian'an coughed uncontrollably, and the handkerchief covering his mouth was stained with blood. He still had some patience for his beloved woman. "Anyang has the blood of the Zhenguo Duke, and she is not on the same page with me. If I send her to marry, it will not help the situation."
"It's settled. On the day Xiao Ba gets married, I will crown you queen."
Concubine Lai burst into tears, "Your Majesty, I beg you not to take Zhou'er..."
How could she not want to be the queen in the past? But her family background was not outstanding among the many concubines in the harem, and the only thing she relied on was his favoritism.
Now that the opportunity was before her, she simply didn't want it.
How could she smile when her daughter's sacrifice was exchanged for her position as queen?
"Your Majesty, if you send Zhou'er away, I won't be able to survive..."
Concubine Lai cried and begged, making the veins on Emperor Jian'an's forehead bulge.
His face was slightly grim. "What do you want from me? If my kingdom is lost and stolen by traitors, you and your daughter may die with me!"
Emperor Jian'an had a horrifying look on his face. He pinched Concubine Lai's neck with one hand, and veins bulged on the back of his hand.
"Your Majesty, please do not be angry and take care of your health." The eunuch at the side hurried over to remove Emperor Jian'an's hand from Concubine Lai's neck, helped Emperor Jian'an sit down, and stroked his chest.
"Zhen'er, you will help me, right?" Emperor Jian'an said in a deep voice and with a stubborn look in his eyes.
Concubine Lai was crying so hard that she couldn't speak, and her body was shaking like a sieve.
"Send Concubine Lai back to the palace."
Before his trusted ministers arrived, Emperor Jian'an sat alone in front of the imperial desk in his study. He supported his head with one hand, his unfocused eyes fixed on a certain spot on the desk.
Although he knew that his time was running out, he was unwilling to let his kingdom be stolen by these rebels.
Half an hour later, all the trusted ministers he summoned arrived, along with Jingzhao Yin, who was carrying two boxes containing skulls and feeling unwell.
After Jingzhao Yin finished explaining the matter with his head down, the ministers looked at each other.
The looks of several people were subtle, the King of Qi was coming with great momentum.
However, after not seeing you for a while, Your Majesty looks like an old man who may not have much time left.
"I have made the decision to pass the throne to Xiao Chenghao, the eldest son of the Emperor's eldest son, Prince Shun."
Before the crowd could speak in shock, Emperor Jian'an continued, "Send a message to Fan Du, the governor of Yongzhou, to recruit 100,000 soldiers to attack the traitor Xiao Feng. Order Jiang Shan to lead 50,000 soldiers to assist Fan Du in defeating the traitor."
"Your Majesty, this is unacceptable. The small countries in the southwest have been making frequent moves recently. If Jiang Shan leads his troops from the southwest to the northwest, there might be trouble."
Emperor Jian'an glanced coldly at the official who spoke. "Why are you panicking? Isn't the eldest son of the Zhenguo Duke in the southwest? The Wan family has been operating in the southwest for many years. If anything goes wrong, I will hold them accountable."
Emperor Jian'an had a good plan. He transferred troops from the southwest. For the stability of the southwest, the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion did not dare to support Xiao Feng. Even if there were losses, it would be the Duke of Zhenguo's men who were consumed. If something went wrong, he would be more likely to be held accountable.
"Your Majesty, it is inappropriate to let Fan Du recruit soldiers on a large scale!" The governor is the highest administrative officer in charge of military and political affairs in a state. If the number of state soldiers is too large, it is very likely to threaten the central government in the end.
How could Emperor Jian'an not know this? It's just that he didn't care about it anymore.
"Your Majesty, recruiting soldiers is one thing, but the treasury is empty. We simply don't have the money to buy food and fodder."
An old minister was worried.
There was Prince Guangling in front and Prince Su behind. The war had lasted for a year and the national treasury was exhausted and almost empty.
Emperor Jian'an angrily asked, "Will you not collect next year's taxes in advance?"
If he has to solve everything, what's the point of having officials like them?
Several trusted ministers could only remain silent in the face of Emperor Jian'an's wrath. Now that war was raging everywhere, if he continued to impose heavy taxes and levies, where would the people's hearts be?
Since he had already made all the decisions and he would not listen to anything they said, why bother summoning them into the imperial study?
As the atmosphere was stagnant, the letter from Beirong arrived.
After reading it, Emperor Jian'an's expression became uncertain, and he immediately gave the secret letter to several trusted ministers for review.
The King of Beirong was really arrogant. He only promised two cities and the marriage of the eighth princess in exchange for them to contain the King of Su. But the King of Beirong actually wanted the whole Beiyuan and wanted to replace the eighth princess with Princess Anyang.
The princess is easy to deal with, she is just a daughter, but if Beiyuan is given away, how will he be described in history books?
"Your Majesty, you absolutely cannot agree to this. Prince Su's rebellion is the internal affairs of the Great Wei. How can we allow an enemy nation to interfere? Beiyuan is the territory of the Great Wei. We cannot give it up under any circumstances!"
How could Emperor Jian'an not know this? But does he have any other choice now?
If the stalemate with Prince Su continues, it will only be a matter of time before the treasury is depleted. Beiyuan was conquered by Prince Su and is now his sphere of influence. If the court cannot suppress Prince Su, how much of the entire north can be considered his territory?
Emperor Jian'an looked uncertain.
"My dear ministers, what you said is correct. But if Prince Su goes south, will Beiyuan still be considered the territory of the Great Wei?"
Everyone understands the truth, but who can bear the reputation of giving away land to the enemy?
For a moment, no one spoke. The ministers all had heavy expressions on their faces, and no one knew what they were thinking in their hearts.
"Since Your Majesty wishes to abdicate, why not choose an auspicious day nearby?"
Someone has to take the blame for this, and Your Majesty will have a way out.
Several court officials glanced at Minister Zhou who was speaking, thinking that this century-old famous family and scholarly family was nothing but a group of spineless scholars. Princess Anyang, who was going to marry into the Northern Rong, was Minister Zhou's future niece-in-law, but he did not object at all and even pushed forward this matter in order to please the emperor. He was really shameless to the extreme.
After several court officials came out of the imperial study, they did not say much in the palace. After leaving the palace, they gathered together privately. Of course, there was no villain like Minister Zhou among them.
No one who has reached the highest position in the government is not a fox. Why would the emperor choose to bear the blame and secretly cooperate with the Northern Rong? It's simply because he can't control the situation!
"The fact that the King of Qi has been able to control Liang Province for over half a year is enough to prove that he is no ordinary person. What do you think?"
Several people looked at each other, and one of them stroked his beard and said leisurely: "If he can fight his way out of the encirclement of Fan Du and Jiang Shan, it won't be too late for us to see!"
If that day comes, what else is there to say?
They are civil officials. When the world is in chaos, they cannot rely on their mouths to stabilize the world. However, they are indispensable for governing the country. Now it depends on who has the bigger fist, the emperor or the king of Qi!
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