Inside the Qianqing Palace, the Imperial Palace in Beijing.
Emperor Hongzhi was unconscious and unconscious.
"what happened?"
Zhu Houzhao, who received the news immediately, hurried to Qianqing Palace and asked the eunuchs beside him sternly.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
"Your Majesty got up early to exercise as usual today, but for some reason he fainted and fell to the ground!"
The little eunuchs knelt on the ground, all of them silent at this moment. Emperor Hongzhi fell down and fell into a coma, unconscious. None of the eunuchs who were serving him could escape their responsibility. Once they were implicated, they would all die.
"Fainted to the ground?"
"Why doesn't anyone help me?"
Zhu Houzhao's eyes were blood red, like a man-eating beast.
For Zhu Houzhao, the most important person in the world was Emperor Hongzhi. The relationship between their father and son was very good. He was extremely worried when he thought about what might happen to his father.
"We, we can't outrun His Majesty."
The little eunuchs said helplessly.
Even though Emperor Hongzhi is almost 60 years old, he has been exercising for many years and his body is actually very good. These little eunuchs are all castrated and have physical disabilities. When running, they are indeed Some couldn't keep up with Emperor Hongzhi.
Of course, these eunuchs would find ways to take turns to follow Emperor Hongzhi's side to prevent any accidents. However, this time, they did not have time to support Emperor Hongzhi.
"Can't run?"
"If anything happens to my father, I will kill you all."
Zhu Houzhao looked at these eunuchs with red eyes.
"Useless things!"
He kicked a little eunuch so hard that the little eunuch burst into tears, but he didn't dare to say a word.
At this time, the imperial doctors from the Imperial Hospital hurried over and quickly began to examine Emperor Hongzhi.
After a long time, after they finished the inspection, Zhu Houzhao and Queen Zhang also asked eagerly: "How is it?"
"Return to the Queen, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
"Your Majesty, this is because you are old and have some common cardiovascular diseases among the elderly, mainly heart failure and high blood pressure. When you exercise, your blood pressure rises and your heart beats too fast, so you suddenly fall down. .”
"And this time he fell on his head again, causing concussion and coma."
After a discussion among the doctors at the Imperial Hospital, everyone came to the same conclusion, so they truthfully told Empress Zhang and Zhu Houzhao.
"Then when will you wake up?"
Zhu Houzhao also asked quickly after hearing this.
"This, this may be difficult to say."
"If it's fast, you'll wake up soon, if it's slow..."
The imperial doctors thought about it but did not dare to speak directly.
After hearing the words of the imperial doctors, Zhu Houzhao and Empress Zhang immediately understood that they had injured their head, not some other place.
At this time, Liu Jin, Yang Yiqing, Yang Tinghe, Zhong Fan, Li Kun, Yang Yun, Tong Rui, Fang Yongliang and other ministers who received the news also hurried to the palace.
"See the Queen, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
"No need, no need~"
"Empress, Your Highness, what is going on?"
Liu Jin and others also asked with concern.
Emperor Hongzhi was a good boss, a boss who treated his employees very well, and it was very good to work for Emperor Hongzhi. Compared with any emperor in history, Emperor Hongzhi was more kind and kind to his ministers.
"I fell down while exercising this morning. The imperial doctor said it was caused by old age, heart failure, and high blood pressure."
Zhu Houzhao also briefly explained the situation.
"Advanced age, heart failure, high blood pressure?"
When Liu Jin heard this, he quickly looked at Emperor Hongzhi.
After a closer look, it was suddenly discovered that Emperor Hongzhi was really old. His hair and beard were gray, his skin was wrinkled and he had obvious age spots.
In the past, I really didn't pay close attention to these issues. If I do the math, Emperor Hongzhi will soon be sixty years old. At forty, he will not be confused, at fifty, he will know the destiny, at sixty-one years, and at seventy, it will be rare.
In this era, it is very rare to live to be sixty years old. Although he is an emperor and has good maintenance, he is getting old after all.
Moreover, for heart diseases, let alone ancient times, even in later generations, many times there is nothing that can be done. Of course, rich people can have their hearts replaced.
"When will Your Majesty wake up?"
After thinking about it, Liu Jin also asked the imperial doctor.
"This, I can't say for sure."
The imperial doctors thought for a while and then said it bravely.
"not sure?"
Liu Jin was slightly dumbfounded again. If his high blood pressure caused a cerebral hemorrhage, he would be doomed and there would be no way to save him, even in future generations.
But that situation usually ends soon, but Emperor Hongzhi is still breathing, which means it's probably not a cerebral hemorrhage.
Now he is in a coma, and there is no telling when he will wake up. This makes people have to think about whether he will become a vegetative state.
If he becomes a vegetative state, he really doesn't know when he will wake up.
The atmosphere in the entire Qianqing Palace was very solemn and tense.
In previous dynasties, once the emperor died, the situation in the dynasty would be very turbulent. Especially in sudden situations, all forces would find ways to support their own princes to compete for the throne.
Normally at this time, not only the palace would be closed, but even the capital would be sealed off, and normalcy would not gradually return until a new emperor was born.
Of course, this problem basically did not exist in the Ming Dynasty, because the Ming Dynasty established the crown prince system of eldest son succession since the founding of the country.
Once any emergency situation arises, the prince can take over the throne naturally, and there has never been any accident.
Because since the prince became the prince, there have been huge institutions in the East Palace, and the ministers who serve in these institutions are also important ministers who hold real power in the court.
The prince's teachers are often important ministers in the court, prestigious and capable ministers.
These all determine that in the Ming Dynasty, the succession of thrones was very smooth, and there would be no palace coups.
What's more, Emperor Hongzhi now only has one son, Zhu Houzhao. Zhu Houzhao has been the prince for more than thirty years and is about to retire.
So even if this situation occurs now, the situation in the palace and the capital is still the same as before, and there is no chaos.
But no matter what, the atmosphere here in Qianqing Palace is still very solemn now.
Everyone was waiting silently, standing in front of Emperor Hongzhi's bed, waiting for him to wake up.
This waiting lasted a full day and night, and then Emperor Hongzhi slowly woke up.
"Why don't you turn on the light?"
Emperor Hongzhi's first words when he woke up shocked everyone.
Because not only were the lights turned on, but there were more than one, the room was extremely bright, but Emperor Hongzhi could not see it.
"Father!"
Zhu Houzhao burst into tears immediately, holding Emperor Hongzhi in his arms and crying extremely sadly.
"Silly boy, why are you crying?"
Emperor Hongzhi touched Zhu Houzhao's head.
He understood immediately, and realized that he was afraid that he was going blind.
"Imperial physician, imperial physician!"
Liu Jin on the side also quickly called the imperial doctor waiting next to him.
The imperial physician also quickly began to examine Emperor Hongzhi carefully.
The final conclusion was that Emperor Hongzhi was fine in other aspects, but this eye may have been temporarily blinded due to a fall, and it may take a long time to slowly recover.
Hearing this answer, Emperor Hongzhi also sighed longly and said: "It's OK, I'm tired, and I want to have a good rest. I just have time to rest peacefully."
"Liu Jin, Yang Yiqing, Yang Tinghe, Zhong Fan, Li Kun, and Yang Yun obey orders!"
Emperor Hongzhi was able to accept this fact calmly, which made everyone around him have to look at Emperor Hongzhi with admiration.
As Emperor Hongzhi finished speaking, several ministers immediately replied in unison: "I am here!"
"From now on, the throne will be passed down to the Crown Prince, and you should support the Crown Prince wholeheartedly and continue to create a prosperous era for our Ming Dynasty!"
"I obey the decree!"
When the ministers heard this, they immediately responded in unison.
There were no objections, which was very rare in the past dynasties, mainly because Emperor Hongzhi was indeed physically unfit to continue to govern the Ming Dynasty.
He has lost sight, has high blood pressure, heart failure, etc. These all require a good rest. If he rests properly, Emperor Hongzhi may live for many more years.
But if you don't take a good rest and continue to work on national affairs, you may not be able to live long.
The heart failure was most likely caused by Emperor Hongzhi's long-term commitment to national affairs. To govern a huge empire like the Ming Dynasty, there were too many things to worry about in all aspects.
Fortunately, he only has one Queen Zhang. It would be even worse if the harem was not peaceful either.
Of course, Emperor Hongzhi passed the throne to Zhu Houzhao so decisively, so he obviously did not have to worry about his future life.
They have a deep love for father and son, and they have a very good relationship. There is only one son, and all the love goes to Zhu Houzhao. Although Zhu Houzhao was playful in the past, he was very filial.
If in the past dynasties, the emperor did not dare to pass the throne easily when he got old, a very important reason was that he was worried about his own future life problems and was afraid that his son would abuse him, so even if he was not in good health, he still had to firmly hold the power.
Emperor Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao did not have this problem. Realizing that his health was failing, Emperor Hongzhi decisively passed the throne to the prince and asked him to become emperor.
Of course, another very important reason is that Emperor Hongzhi might have been really tired of being emperor. He had been emperor for 40 years, or he might have been really tired and didn't want to do it anymore.