In February of the sixth year of Ji Hanlong'an, the fields of Henan are dyed green, the willow trees on both sides of the river are lingering, the spring breeze blows, the apricot blossoms and peach blossoms are flying like red snow, and wild animals and birds also appear in groups at this time. If in normal years,
People go out to visit Dragon Gate, go for horseback riding, or fly eagles and rabbits, or capture deer and deer. It is a season full of vitality. But this year, the Thousand Miles of Central Plains under the rule of the imperial court has been under martial law because of the failure of the Southern Expedition. The capital is rare at home and abroad.
In this state, official and private travel is extremely rare, and white flags are hung on many doors, which then presents a quiet and desolate scene, as if winter is still there and spring has not yet arrived. It is rumored that the war in the south is not over yet, and the enemy's commander-in-chief Zhou Yu leads his army.
Returning to Jiangling, he planned to counterattack Xiangyang, Runan and other places, but there were other reasons why people were worried.
After receiving the handwritten letter from the Empress Dowager, the Emperor hurried back to the capital, but he hurriedly returned to Luoyang, but it was too late. At the end of the year, Empress Zhong died of dystocia and hemorrhage, and the newborn prince also failed.
However, when Liu Xie rushed back to the palace, all he saw were two coffins. From then on, the emperor was short of breath and depressed. After taking care of the affairs of his wife and children, it was difficult to deal with the affairs of the court for a while. When Jiangnan was defeated, Zhou Buyi
, the news of the death of Huang Quan's generals came back to Luoyang. The emperor was shocked at first, then couldn't help himself, and fell ill on the bed.
This disease is really like a mountain falling down. The emperor originally liked bowing and horses, was physically strong, could shoot a three-stone bow, and tamed a sweaty horse. Therefore, he was once praised as "the young master on horseback" by the students of the Imperial Academy. But after a few days of heart disease, he
However, his face was haggard and soulless, and it was almost impossible to see the richness and handsomeness of the past. The emperor was in such a state, and the war situation was extremely corrupt, which couldn't help but make the government and the public talk about it. Some people said that at the end of the year, the country suffered one after another.
Unfortunately, is it God's will or a coincidence?
But the most important thing right now is to revive the situation. After the Lingyan defeat, the country lost almost 60% of its field elites, which resulted in the defense from Huaibei to Huainan being almost completely empty. Only Du Ji and others collected the remnants in Shouchun.
, hoping to be able to resist Wu's counterattack and contain it in Huainan. However, if the imperial court does not send reinforcements, it is destined to not be a long-term solution. Not to mention that Zhou Yu's navy has returned to Jiangling, and I am afraid that it will have to fight with the Han army in Xiangyang and other places.
If another war breaks out, people will be needed to lead reinforcements.
But this will face a new problem: where will it come from? Along with the field elites, there were also quite a few officers and generals who died, and quite a few of them were the country's underachievers recently promoted by the emperor, such as Yan Yu, Wen Hui, Yang
Qiu, Qu Sheng, You Chu, Cen Guang and others all died in Jiangzhong. Even if they wanted to send people to support the situation, the court could not find suitable candidates for a while, at least not those who could make independent decisions at the Chancellery.
In desperation, Zhuge Liang could only report this matter to the emperor. Liu Xie was silent for a long time after hearing this, and said to Kong Ming: "Since I am so incompetent, let me fulfill some people's wishes!" He endured it.
Not feeling well, he drew up a transfer list for the Chancellor: Re-activating Ma Chao, the general who conquered the west, as the governor of Hanzhong, taking charge of the military affairs of Yizhou, re-appointing Wei Yan, the prefect of Yinchuan, as the general of the Wei, and re-establishing the Shanglin Army with Marshal Guan Yu in Henan.
He was also responsible for supporting Xiangyang matters. At the same time, he appointed Yuan Tan as the governor of Pengcheng and moved Zhu Hao as the governor of Qingzhou. The two of them were in charge of the military affairs of Qingzhou and Xuzhou. In addition, there were many changes in the political arena, and many old officials from Kansai were re-elected.
Since then, people such as Meng Da, Li Yi, Wei Duan, etc. have been assigned to serve as county guards in the frontline counties. But the most important thing is to order Chen Chong, Zhong Yao, Liu Bao, and Fazheng to re-enter the stage and record Shangshu together.
thing.
Zhuge Liang read the list and after a long silence asked, "I wonder what your Majesty's plans are for my ministers?"
Liu Xie smiled and said: "Kong Ming has seen my intention. I can't use anyone else to clean up the mess in Huainan, so you can clean it up." After that, he ordered Zhuge Liang to be the leader of Yangzhou.
The governor was in charge of all military affairs in Huainan.
This edict was passed to the court, and it was indeed effective. The uproar caused by the Lingyan defeat in the court gradually subsided. Although there were still all kinds of chaos in the future, at least people's hearts
In Jian'an, some people even said that after this incident, the emperor finally understood the general outline and did something wise.
However, Chen Chong did not think so. After receiving the order to re-enter the cabinet, he was in a daze for a long time. After sending away the messenger, he worriedly said to Dong Bai: "A Jian has been hit hard. I'm afraid he won't be able to survive."
Stop." He was so upset that he unknowingly called the emperor by his small name. Dong Bai reminded him: "This is not what you should say. This time you re-enter the cabinet, you can just pay attention to your official duties, but
Never get involved in the family affairs of the Tian family."
Chen Chong had a smile on his face and said nothing, but he was stern in his heart. He couldn't help but think: Even Abai could see the undercurrent in the court, and I'm afraid the whole court and the public were also in commotion over it.
After receiving the edict, he changed his court clothes and immediately went to the palace to meet the emperor. Since Liu Xie came back, he knew that Liu Xie was in a bad mood and had a good face. If he went to see him, he would probably hurt his self-esteem.
Therefore, the two of them had probably not seen each other during this time, and when he went there this time, he was a little worried, worried that Liu Xie would be even more upset.
When entering the palace, the two sides of the corridor were already covered with wisteria flowers, which looked like grapes or purple butterflies flying around. It had a very spring fragrance, but as we got closer to the forbidden area, the fragrance was masked by the smell of concoction.
When I stopped, the smell of pain immediately reminded me of troubles. When I approached the temple, I saw that incense from someone unknown was burning in the temple. Combined with the fragrance of flowers and concoction, it was really unspeakable. But it made me feel uncomfortable.
Chen Chong had an inexplicable illusion: Maybe this is the taste of life.
Liu Xie was lying on the bed on the left side of the hall. The temperature had obviously risen, but he was covered with a winter quilt and there was a brazier in front of the bed. Even a cold person like Chen Chong could not stand it when he came near.
It felt a little stuffy, but Liu Xie was still sleeping soundly.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! This is the first time Chen Chong has seen the emperor this year. Although the emperor is still sleeping, his body is obviously fragile. His face is pale, and his lips are
He turned purple, and even frowned in his dream, showing a very uncomfortable look. Two palace maids were waiting on the side. Seeing Chen rushing in, they wanted to wake up the emperor, but were stopped by Chen Chong with a wave of his hand. He called someone forward, and then asked softly
"How is your majesty?" The palace maid replied in a low voice: "Your majesty drank some medicine last night, but he was tired all the time and fell asleep two hours ago."
Chen Chong said: "In that case, I will go to the side hall and wait."
Unexpectedly, when he was about to leave, he was stopped by the emperor. It turned out that he had been awakened by the slightest sound just now. When Liu Xie reluctantly sat up, Chen Chong was so surprised that he could not speak.
Thinking that the emperor had become so thin in just one month, even the weakest man seemed to be praising him. But the emperor burst into laughter. He pointed at Chen Chong and said, "My uncle hasn't come to see me for a long time, and I thought he had forgotten it."
It’s me.”
The waiting maid prepared to reach out to help the emperor, but he raised her hand to push it away. He said, "I still have the strength to sit." But Chen Chong could see that he was trying to be brave, so he stepped forward.
, holding the emperor's hand, the cold touch made Chen Chong shudder. After sitting down, Chen Chong gave him a certain amount of support, and then fell silent. What should I say to this child? In this situation, nothing seems to matter.
No, but I should still say something.
So Chen Chong said: "Your Majesty is about to die, don't be discouraged. No man is a saint, how can he be undefeated? When the late emperor was still alive, he was defeated by Cao Cao many times, but in the end he was able to fight a hundred battles and defeat powerful enemies. It can be seen that defeat is not a big deal, as long as you work hard
If you make progress and try your best, you may be able to avenge your shame in the future."
But while Chen Chong was talking, he found something was wrong. He saw the emperor smiling and listening for a while, but remained silent. Gradually, the smile disappeared, and some fragile lines appeared at the corners of his eyes and mouth. Chen Chong had never seen this before.
The look on his face was even very familiar, because he had seen it too many times on the faces of Chen Shi and Chen Zhang who cried when they were young. Sure enough, at this moment, the emperor could not conceal the anguish in his heart. Although he covered his eyes with his hands in advance, his tears still fell.
It flowed out uncontrollably, followed by sobbing like a child.
Chen Chong was at a loss at first. He thought that the emperor would continue to show off his strength, but in the end he showed such a fragile side. Since he came to the throne, Ajian must have been very stressed. Thinking of this, Chen Chong subconsciously clapped his hands.
Liu Xie's back. At this time, Liu Xie could no longer control his emotions and buried his head on Chen Chong's waist. Chen Chong stroked Liu Xie's head and whispered to him: "It's okay, Ajian."
, it’s all okay, you’ve done a great job. I know you’ve done your best.”
Liu Xie buried his head, tears rolled down his cheeks, and dripped down to the corners of Chen Chong's legs. The man in his late thirties was so sad that he couldn't express his sorrow at this moment. He wanted to say thousands of words to his uncle, but he couldn't find where to start.
Speaking of it, he just kept saying in unclear words: "Uncle, I don't want to be the emperor anymore, I don't want to be the emperor anymore!"
When Chen Chong heard this, he couldn't help but shed tears for a moment. He looked at the child-like emperor and recalled the past in his heart. Why did the former domineering Prince Dai become like this? It may be very difficult.
Few people would think that even the emperor who controls the world still needs warmth and care. How many people think that they are ruthless political machines, but in the end it is impossible for a person to live in this world. This made Chen Chong couldn't help complaining about Xuande in his heart
:Why did he leave so early?
It was also at this time that Chen Chong felt the heavy pressure on his shoulders again. He already had an unspeakable premonition: I am afraid that the challenges he will face in his later years have only just begun now.