In the temporary office study of Emperor Hongzhi in the Kunning Palace of the Imperial Palace, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but sigh softly.
Li Guang committed suicide, which was something that Emperor Hongzhi never expected. Li Guang placed his hope on Emperor Hongzhi's health and longevity, which is why Hongzhi wanted to keep him on the throne at all costs.
It's not that he doesn't know some of the things Li Guang did, but what does it matter? As long as he can make Emperor Hongzhi better physically and live longer, that's enough.
Then who would have thought that the words of Empress Dowager Zhou scared Li Guang to death and made him commit suicide by drinking poison. After receiving this news, Emperor Hongzhi looked listless, as if he had lost hope.
"Your Majesty, the investigation has been completed."
At this time, Xiao Jing walked in and looked at Emperor Hongzhi's expression. He felt a little unbearable, but he still had to tell the truth about his losses.
"Say it."
Emperor Hongzhi said softly with his eyes closed.
When they heard that Li Guang had committed suicide, the government and the public were filled with joy. One memorial after another came to the hands of Emperor Hongzhi like snowflakes, all criticizing Li Guang, saying that Li Guang was corrupt, perverted the law, acted tyrannically, plundered people's fields, built private houses, etc.
etc., in short, they listed various crimes and asked Emperor Hongzhi to conduct a thorough investigation and punishment of Li Guang.
Of course, anyone with a discerning eye knows that Li Guang is already dead. Even if something is really discovered, it is impossible to let Li Guang die a second time.
When it comes to politics, all people are smart and good at writing. Although Li Guang is dead, he can still use Li Guang's affairs to attack his political opponents or achieve other goals.
If Li Guang was still alive, Emperor Hongzhi would naturally protect him. However, after Li Guang died, Emperor Hongzhi also followed the trend and asked Xiao Jing to check Li Guang's background, so that he could give an explanation to the world.
Of course, Emperor Hongzhi still refused to give up. He felt that there might be a rare and strange book hidden in Li Guang's home, which might help him practice immortality, so he sent Xiao Jing to search Li Guang's home.
"Your Majesty, we found a notepad of embezzlement and bribery in Li Guang's home. It records that civil and military officials sent yellow rice to Li Guang, while white rice cost several thousand dan each."
Xiao Jing took out a notebook from his arms and handed it over respectfully.
"Yellow rice, white rice?"
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he was immediately confused. Is this bribing people to give rice?
"Your Majesty, yellow rice is worth gold and white rice is worth silver~"
Xiao Jing explained helplessly and softly.
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he immediately opened his eyes, picked up the notepad and read it carefully. The notepad clearly stated the time and amount of bribes to officials from Li Guang. Among the officials who bribed him were the Dukes and Dukes.
Bo, commander-in-chief, governor, minister, minister, imperial censor and other civil and military ministers, capital officials and local officials.
"Bang~"
After Emperor Hongzhi read it, he couldn't help slamming the table and said angrily: "Check it out for me, check it out carefully. Even the princes, ministers, general soldiers, and governors are bribing Li Guang."
Emperor Hongzhi was really, really disappointed. Not only was he disappointed with the officials who bribed Li Guang, but he was even more disappointed that Li Guang's so-called magic of immortality was all a lie.
Emperor Hongzhi spent a lot of money on Li Guang. Because of Liu Jin's appearance, his pockets were bulging. He also extorted a lot of money from Zhu Houzhao and allocated hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to Li Guang, asking him to give
Pray for yourself, make elixirs, etc.
As a result, all the money went into Li Guang's mouth, feeding him well. Xiao Jing found out after a quick investigation that the secret rooms in Li Guang's house were all money allocated by Emperor Hongzhi.
The last hope of immortality in his heart was completely shattered, and he felt once again that the person he trusted had deceived him.
He trusted Li Guang and gave a lot of his frugal money to him, asking him to pray for him and make elixirs for him, but all of them were fed to the dogs.
He trusted the civil and military ministers in the court, claiming that the court was full of integrity and that there were no virtuous people left in the wilderness. However, the theft of the official warehouse and the bribery list discovered by Li Guang made him feel that he had been deceived again.
He is a good person, a kind-hearted person, but now he is really angry. He was so angry when his hope of immortality was shattered, and now something like this happens again.
"Yes~"
When Xiao Jing heard this, he felt happy and nodded quickly.
Investigating cases is his favorite thing, because only by investigating cases can he reflect his value and the value of Jinyi Weidong Factory. If it were like before, he would just be a waiter, but he would serve the emperor.
Apart from that, there is nothing at all.
Although the government and the public were respectful to him, there was nothing else. This Li Guang just helped Emperor Hongzhi pray for blessings and make elixirs, and so many civil and military ministers gave him gifts, and he, the chief of etiquette and eunuch Zhang Yin, received as much filial piety in a year.
Even less than this Li Guangdong.
So, does he understand a truth, or let Emperor Hongzhi know his own value, know the value of factory guards, and be willing to reuse himself and factory guards, so that his life will be easier, and these factory guards under him can follow him
Eat well and drink spicy food.
"Father~"
At this time, Zhu Houzhao walked in excitedly.
Seeing Zhu Houzhao, Emperor Hongzhi looked much better and had a smile on his face.
"You can't even walk. If you're like this, how can I safely hand over this inheritance of our ancestors to you?"
Emperor Hongzhi sighed and said that his health was getting worse and worse, and he was getting older and older. However, the prince Zhu Houzhao was still a child and had not grown up. This made him worried. Once he left, Zhu Houzhao would be able to control the Ming Dynasty.
Country?
Is it possible to govern the Ming Dynasty?
"Father, I have a long life. I don't want to be an emperor. It's good to be a prince. I can eat and drink without having to worry about those troublesome things."
Zhu Houzhao said very carelessly, but his words also made Emperor Hongzhi feel a surge of heat in his heart. After all, it was his own son who was kind to him, and he hoped that he would live forever.
"Everyone is subject to birth, old age, sickness and death, and the same goes for my father. Sooner or later, he will leave you. And sooner or later, you will also have to take over the inheritance of your ancestors and start up the Ming Dynasty."
With Zhu Houzhao, Emperor Hongzhi treated him more like a father and son. When he was a child, because of Concubine Wan Gui, Ming Xianzong rarely had such a father-son relationship with Emperor Hongzhi, so when he became the emperor, he treated Zhu Houzhao the same way.
Love more, which is also an important reason why Zhu Houzhao is very willful.
Emperor Hongzhi often couldn't bear to discipline him and doted on him too much.
"Father, I feel like you are acting weird today. You keep saying strange things."
Zhu Houzhao looked at Emperor Hongzhi carefully, thought for a while and said.
"Haha, when you get older, you always have a lot of feelings."
Emperor Hongzhi smiled, then saw that Zhu Houzhao was not wearing a prince's uniform, but very ordinary clothes. He immediately lowered his face and said, "Did you run out of the palace again?"
"I just left the palace to find Liu Jin."
When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he immediately smiled awkwardly and said. He was in such a hurry that he even forgot to change clothes.
"Looking for Liu Jin?"
"Are you discussing some profitable business again?"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded. He knew Liu Jin. Zhu Houzhao had indeed learned a lot and grown a lot from following Liu Jin. Therefore, he did not object to Zhu Houzhao looking for Liu Jin. He was a son of an elite and had profound knowledge. He was close to Zhu Houzhao.
The red is close to the black and the black is dark. It is better to follow Liu Jin than to fight with the eunuchs around Zhu Houzhao.
As for forcing Zhu Houzhao to learn the Four Books and Five Classics, how to govern the country, etc., forget it. Emperor Hongzhi knew it very well. As long as it was not related to being an emperor, Zhu Houzhao learned it very quickly. Zhu Houzhao was so smart that he even learned
Sanskrit and Arabic.
"No, no~"
When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he shook his head repeatedly, and then said: "Father, wasn't your Qianqing Palace burned down? Liu Jin and I will discuss building a new Qianqing Palace for you."
"Build Qianqing Palace?"
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he was slightly startled.
"Yes, Father, we will discuss building a brand new Qianqing Palace for you. Of course, it will be different from the previous Qianqing Palace. We are going to use cement and blue bricks to build the Qianqing Palace for you."
Zhu Houzhao nodded solemnly and said.
"Cement, blue bricks?"
Emperor Hongzhi wondered again, the houses in the Forbidden City were all made of wood, and Zhu Houzhao and Liu Jin actually thought of using cement blue bricks to build the Qianqing Palace for Emperor Hongzhi.
"Don't the houses in the palace always have water leakage? It's a blessing that you, Emperor Father, are not here in Qianqing Palace this time. Houses made of wood are prone to water leakage and are very unsafe. Houses built with cement and blue bricks are not afraid of water leakage.
"
"Moreover, the previous Qianqing Palace was too dark and too cold in winter, which seriously affected your health. I have long wanted to demolish it and build a better palace for you."
Zhu Houzhao said matter-of-factly, and then said to Liu Jin who was waiting aside: "Bring the drawings here."
When Liu Jin heard this, he quickly handed over a stack of drawings in his hand respectfully. Zhu Houzhao opened the drawings. The top one was a planning drawing, using black lines to outline a majestic, tall and magnificent palace, but this
The layout and style of the palace are completely different from the traditional Qianqing Palace.
"Do you even have the drawings?"
Emperor Hongzhi raised his eyebrows slightly, looked at the drawings spread out by Zhu Houzhao, and was immediately deeply attracted.
"Father, we are going to build this brand new Qianqing Palace with reinforced concrete, with porcelain panels on the outside. All the windows will be panoramic floor-to-ceiling glass windows, and equipped with glass chandeliers. There will also be heating, a swimming pool, a bathtub..."
Seeing Emperor Hongzhi's interest, Zhu Houzhao immediately began to repeat what Liu Jin had said.