Chapter 287: Red Ginseng Case (IV)
"You mean Yao Guangxiao has arrived in the capital?"
"The eunuch is not sure. He only said he was an old monk. Xu Shouhui was also respectful to him, and everyone called him a master."
Who else would be the old monk known as the master besides Yao Guangxiao? This is definitely a surprise and joyful news that Yao Guangxiao is the left and right arm of King Yan. If this left and right arm can be cut off, King Yan will sooner or later be defeated.
However, Li Weizheng was not impulsive. He knew that it was not the time. He walked a few steps in the room with his hands behind his back, and then said to Fang Lan: "The eunuch named Wang Minglu let him go and let him act according to the original plan, but he must appease him and not make any mistakes."
"I understand, I will make arrangements now."
Fang Lan quickly walked away, Li Wei was sitting in the seat and staring out the window for a long time without saying a word. For him, it was also an opportunity. As long as Zhu Yunwen was on the throne for one day, his new policy would be restricted for a day and he could never let go. Moreover, a group of hard-working royalists led by Huang Zicheng would always go against him. If he was not careful, his efforts would be wasted.
Li Wei is very conflicted now. It should be said that Zhu Yunwen is a good emperor, open-minded and reasonable, not bad in his heart, and has no such powerful skills. But the problem now is not Zhu Yunwen, but the imperial power he represents, which is the biggest obstacle to his constitutional monarchy. He must get rid of this obstacle, but before getting rid of this obstacle, he wants to give Zhu Yunwen a last chance.
Thinking of this, Li Wei suddenly turned around and said, "Come on, prepare a horse for me, I want to come to the palace to meet the saint!"
As the sky was getting dark, Li Wei was waiting in front of Zhu Yunwen's bedroom. After waiting for a while, an old eunuch hurried forward and said, "Li Xiangguo, Your Majesty, please follow me."
The two walked towards the bedroom one after another, and Li Wei asked while walking, "How is the emperor's illness reflected?"
"If you return to the prime minister, the emperor has been weak and blood recently, so he should not be too tired. The imperial doctor also prescribed a prescription, but it has not yet been effective. He must take care of it slowly."
"The emperor has a weak constitution and needs to be well maintained. If you lack something, come to me."
"Thank you for your concern."
The two arrived in the bedroom. Li Weizheng waited for a while before entering Zhu Yunwen's place of recuperation. The room was filled with pungent smell of medicine. Two eunuchs were helping Zhu Yunwen to sit up. Li Weizheng immediately stepped forward and bowed and said, "My dear Li Weizheng met His Majesty the Emperor."
"Li Aiqing, please sit down!" Zhu Yunwen's voice was very small, his face was pale, and he looked very weak.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Li Wei was sitting down and asked with concern: "Have you ever taken medicine?"
"The queen has decocted me medicine every day and has taken two doses. Thank you for your concern. Is there anything important about the Prime Minister here today?"
"Your Majesty, I am here today to discuss something with Your Majesty."
"Please say it, my dear!"
Li Wei was pondering for a moment and said, "I have recently discussed it with several ministers of the Political Affairs Hall in private, and they all believe that everyone should have a certain term of office and cannot continue without restrictions. We have reached a consensus on this point."
Zhu Yunwen's eyelids suddenly hopped. What does Li Weizheng mean? The minister of the Political Affairs Hall must have a certain term. Does this include himself?
As if he knew his thoughts, Li Weizheng smiled and said, "The Pingzhang thing I mentioned includes myself. I am the same as the right prime minister of the Central Secretariat. I cannot go on indefinitely. After a certain term, I must step down and let other talented ministers take the role."
Zhu Yunwen's eyes lit up. What he was most worried about was that Li Weizheng usurped the Ming Dynasty and stepped onto the Golden Palace. But today he didn't seem to have this idea. He was still ready to give up the right prime minister at a certain time. What does he mean? Does he really have the desire for power? Zhu Yunwen was puzzled. He remained silent and waited for Li Weizheng to say the following words.
"But I am thinking, how can I know that the new Pingzhang matter is talented? I always feel that it is impossible to determine whether this person is really capable from a person's perspective, and it needs to be judged by more people. So I wonder, why can't all officials be allowed to recommend the future Pingzhang matter? Give the power of choice to all officials. If possible, it is best to let scholars or people all over the world choose. In this way, the selected important officials are people with real talents and knowledge. Of course, this is just my idea. There are still many things to do if I really implement it. I just want to ask Your Majesty if it feels so reasonable?"
Zhu Yunwen's face turned red and white. He understood. Li Weizheng's meaning was that the emperor would not be appointed by the emperor in the future, which means that the emperor would be completely deprived of his power. He could no longer help but feel angry and asked coldly: "What the Prime Minister means is that I can't appoint any ministers in the future?"
"Your Majesty misunderstood what I mean. Your Majesty is the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, a symbol of the Ming Dynasty admired by the people of the world. Major celebrations require Your Majesty to come forward. All nations come to pay homage to Your Majesty. In the future, Your Majesty's descendants will be the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty for generations, and the Ming Dynasty will continue for thousands of years. However, Your Majesty will no longer ask about the specific affairs of the government and will be replaced by the Prime Minister. This will become the highest law of the Ming Dynasty..."
"Li Xiangguo, I don't want to listen anymore, you go down!"
Zhu Yunwen was extremely angry. Li Weizheng not only wanted to take away his power, but also his descendants' power. Unless he died, he would not want to make himself nod and agree.
"His Majesty!"
Li Weizheng's expression was extremely serious. He said solemnly: "For thousands of years, dynasties have changed, but the people of the world have endured endless pain. I am determined to implement a system that can allow the people of the world to govern the world. It is definitely not for the selfishness of the minister. Once this system is successful in the future, I will hand over the military power and let the army belong to the Ming Dynasty, not to a certain person. At that time, I am willing to lead the Ming Dynasty to open up territory for the Ming Dynasty, and no longer care about the power of the right prime minister. Please think twice."
Zhu Yunwen shook his head firmly and decisively: "Li Xiangguo, this is not a problem that I don't consider when exams. The power of the monarch is a grant of heaven. Even if there are treacherous ministers who take power for a while, it cannot change the fact that the monarch is the subject of the minister. Li Xiangguo, the reason why I promised you to be the prime minister is that I am willing to accept the Tang system of the rule of the king and the prime minister, and it is definitely not the current situation. You go! I and you no longer have any common language. You can usurp the Ming Dynasty and become the emperor, but if you want me to bow to you, that is absolutely impossible!"
After saying that, he reached out and pulled down the curtain, leaving Li Wei outside the dragon couch, not wanting to look at him again. Li Xiangguo stood there for a while before finally sighing, "What can I do if I do this?"
He retreated silently. As soon as Li Wei was leaving, Zhu Yunwen immediately sat up. He came to the table, spread a piece of paper, and wrote: "Tell me that the people of the world have been in danger for a long time. Now there is a treacherous minister Li Weizheng who is trying to plan for the Ming Dynasty. My Ming Dynasty is not a tyrant Qin, how can we perish in two lifetimes? I appeal to the world and beg the righteous people in the world to rise up, save me from the fire, save the Ming Dynasty, and kill Li Weizheng's traitors together!..."
After writing, he hid the edict in a hat and handed it to a confidant eunuch and said, "If you take this edict to Henan, you must hand it over to Huang Zicheng."
"I'm going to set out now, and I will definitely not disappoint Your Majesty."
In the night, several cavalry horses were galloping on the official road. They kept whipping and drove towards the camp on the river like lightning. A quarter of an hour later, several cavalry rushed to the Liaodong Naval Army camp. They turned over and dismounted and ran towards the camp.
"Who, stop!" the guard shouted sternly.
Several cavalrymen raised a golden arrow and said, "We are here to send orders to General Zheng Hui at the orders of the Grand Commander."
After checking their identity, they immediately let them into the camp. At this time, the young navy general Zheng Hui had already received the news and hurriedly came out the account. He happened to meet the soldiers who came to pass the order.
"General Zheng, there is the order of the Grand Commander."
The messenger handed over a handwritten order from Li Weizheng to Zheng Hui and said, "The Grand Governor has an order to block the river immediately and not allow any ferry to cross the river. All bald men, regardless of monks and lay people, will be arrested."
Zheng Hui looked at the hand order and nodded, "Please tell the Grand Governor that we should act immediately and never allow one person and one boat to cross the river."
The Liaodong Navy began to take action. Nearly a thousand warships left the shore and began patrolling the river. All major ferries also posted notices saying that the river was in a storm and the ferry was stopped for three days.
At the same time, three personal guards with the most powerful martial arts skills were also ordered to go to the vicinity of Xu Shouhui's mansion. They will monitor every move in Xu Shouhui's mansion. Li Wei was issuing the highest order and would never allow Yao Guangxiao to escape from the capital.
As soon as dawn, the eunuch Wang Minglu left the palace with two other eunuchs. He reported to Empress Ma yesterday that he heard that there were red ginseng in Yansi's pharmacy. Empress Ma was overjoyed when she was worried that there would be no medicine. As soon as dawn, she sent him to the pharmacy to buy red ginseng.
Yansi Pharmacy is located at the intersection of Xiajie, which is also a relatively prosperous area in the capital. Yansi Pharmacy is also quite famous in the capital. You can buy some rare medicines here. Wang Minglu entered the pharmacy gate and said, "Can your boss be there?"
"Yeah! Yeah!" A middle-aged man came out and said, "I am the shopkeeper Ma Wen. I wonder what the customer wants to buy?"
Wang Minglu made a secret gesture and said, "I want to buy red ginseng, I wonder if there is one in your store?"
"There is one that has just arrived. If the customer wants it, it can be cheaper, four hundred taels of silver."
"Take it out! We bought it."
Chapter completed!