Before leading his army to leave Kaifeng, Li Laiheng said goodbye to Luo Yanqing and Youci at the Jin Palace, and finally went to the palace to thank his adoptive father Li Guo.
The imperial palace in Kaifeng was rebuilt from part of the Zhou Palace of the Ming Dynasty. Li Guo was ill in bed and had difficulty getting up. The old illness from the Huolu War had been torturing the body of Emperor Guangzhong.
Empress Dowager Gao is now in charge of the imperial palace, but because of Empress Dowager Gao's limited energy, sometimes Youci would go to the palace to handle affairs on her behalf. Empress Dowager Gao herself took a group of female officials to stay in Li Guo's palace to take care of the emperor's condition.
Li Laiheng wore a light yellow round-neck dragon brocade robe and walked through the palace gate while wearing light clothes.
The traces of the palace gate being set on fire by rebels during the Tianniu Incident have been covered up with paint by the soldiers of the Yulin Army. The palace walls seem to be brand new, and there is absolutely no trace of the incident that almost happened here a few months ago, which may have overthrown the Dashun regime.
Civil war toward destruction.
Passing through the palace gate, surrounded by palace walls, the female officials in the courtyard are all wearing plain clothes. They are still mourning for the sacrifice of Lao Long live. White curtains are hung in many places in the palace, some of which are for mourning Li Zicheng.
Some are to protect Li Guo from the cold wind today.
Li Laiheng stood in front of the palace gate. He entered the palace with Fang Yiren, the political minister of Pingzhang. The two stopped at the same time, facing the direction of the memorial tablet of Li Zicheng behind the white curtain, and knelt down together.
Li Laiheng laid his body on the ground, his forehead lightly touching the bluestone floor, making a knocking sound.
"Long live the old spirit in heaven, please protect me when I go to the river, so that I can win the battle..."
Fang Yiren also knelt on the ground, kowtowed to the palace where Li Zicheng's coffin was placed, and said: "The former emperor condemned the people and punished them, and raised the soldiers of benevolence and righteousness to save the people from the fire. The people of Jingchu have already won the Su, and the people of Yan and Zhao are eagerly awaiting submission.
The troops are coming. The King of Jin will lead his troops across the river today to relieve the siege of Kaizhou. The ministers and others kneel down to ask for the protection of the late emperor, so as to open a great country and bring peace to the eternal emperor."
Then Li Laiheng stood up, turned around again, and helped Fang Yiren, who was kneeling beside him, up:
"There are only female officials in the palace, and many things are not as convenient as they were in the Ming Dynasty. The preparations for the late emperor's national funeral are a bit crude. After the Gutong soldiers clear out the Eastern captives, they must once again give us Long Live Lao,
A glorious state funeral."
Fang Yiren rolled up his sleeves and said:
"The most unpopular thing about the evil government in the Ming Dynasty was the eunuch government. In fact, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty placed great emphasis on eunuchs, simply because he used civil servants to suppress military officers, and eunuchs to suppress civil servants. Such divergent theories confuse each other.
Since Xuande, the Ming Dynasty has not only used eunuchs to repair palaces, but also often called in the troops from the Beijing camp to repair and build palaces.
Therefore, the eunuch government is not necessary in terms of the harem and the palace ban. General palace affairs can be handled by female officials. In fact, since the early years of the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs alone are no longer enough for real physical work. They must also be introduced.
The soldiers from the Beijing camp went to the palace to do their work.
As for controlling civil servants, what is the difference between female officials and eunuchs? The late emperor banished the eunuchs, and today he has also said that he will never restore the eunuch government. Even those scholars in Jiangnan who oppose us, listen to this matter.
After I said it, everyone gave me high-fives."
Li Laiheng pulled Fang Yiren and walked deep into the palace. Abolition of eunuchs and replacement of eunuchs with female officials as the inner court was Li Zicheng's established policy, which was largely influenced by Ming Dynasty literati such as Niu Jinxing.
From the perspective of maintaining the harem, female officials are not as good as eunuchs in terms of physical labor, but in other aspects, female officials can do everything that eunuchs can do. And errands that really require a lot of physical work, such as repairing the palace, even in
In the Ming Dynasty, the main task was to summon the troops from the capital to enter the palace, rather than rely on the eunuchs to do it.
Therefore, after Dashun abolished eunuchs and replaced them with female officials, it actually did not have much bad impact on palace life.
Of course, both Li Zicheng and Li Guo had very small palaces, which is one of the reasons why the female official system is now unimpeded.
Li Laiheng said as he walked:
"After the chaos in the country is settled, it will be necessary to sort out the system of female officials. This is at least a century-old plan and has far-reaching consequences.
Whether to restrict the marriage of female officials, how to distinguish female officials from concubines in the harem, how to prevent the family power of female officials from affecting the inner court, and many other things.
We must use female officials to completely replace eunuchs, and they must also play a role in stirring up different opinions and maintaining the balance of the court. In the future, you, Leshan, will be asked to sort things out."
Fang Yiren lowered his head and said, "This is beyond my control."
"Haha." Li Laiheng smiled, "Then let's not talk about this. Let's go see His Majesty."
Li Guo was still recuperating in the inner palace. Along the way, Li Laiheng and Fang Yiren saw many imperial doctors and palace servants coming and going. Emperor Guangzhong's old illness was particularly serious, and his injuries from the battle of Huolu have not recovered to this day.
After the imperial doctor made the diagnosis, although he didn't say it clearly, everyone including Empress Dowager Gao knew that it was no longer possible for Li Guo to get back on his horse and gallop on the battlefield.
Li Laiheng couldn't help but clenched his knuckles, and he grasped the palm of his hand as if he wanted to grasp something, but in the end he just grasped an empty handful of cold sweat.
"Leshan, has the Li government discussed the outcome of the posthumous title of the chief sentry officer?"
Fang Yiren said "hmm", he knew what Li Laiheng was thinking. At this time, the King of Jin suddenly mentioned Liu Zongmin, who died many years ago, and how to posthumously confer this general who died young, and he must have been in a very complicated mood.
Li Laiheng turned his head. He wanted to say something, but in the end he just sighed.
"Father...Father, I hope he can see the day when Dashun cleans up the country."
Empress Dowager Gao was waiting in front of the inner palace, where more than a dozen palace officials lined up in two rows to welcome the arrival of King Heping Zhangzhengshi, the supervisor of Jin Dynasty.
Empress Dowager Gao is much older than when she was in Funiu Mountain. In fact, she is not yet forty years old, but her hair has turned gray and wrinkles have covered the corners of her eyes. The hard work in the first half of her life and the repeated bad news in the second half of her life,
All of them sapped the little vitality in Queen Mother Gao's life.
"Lehengon...the emperor is waiting for you."
emperor.
Li Laiheng swung his sleeves and asked Fang Yiren to stop outside the hall. He arranged his clothes before going in.
Li Zicheng died, Liu Zongmin also died for several years, and even Niu Jinxing committed suicide. The Dashun Army experienced so many sacrifices, but at least Li Guo became the emperor now, which is something different from past history.
.
Li Laiheng sometimes asked himself, is his arrival a good thing or a bad thing for Dashun? Are the things he has done a good thing or a bad thing for Li Lai, who has always loved him?
?
After hearing the word "emperor" uttered by Empress Dowager Gao, Li Laiheng breathed a sigh of relief. In any case, Li Guo's name will not disappear easily in the long river of history this time.
He is not the unknown tiger in Chuangying, but the second emperor of the Dashun Dynasty, Emperor Guangzhong, who controls half of the country.
Even if the Dashun regime is destroyed tomorrow, the glory and reputation Li Guo left in history will be more dazzling than the original history.
"Father..."
Li Laiheng bowed and walked into the inner palace. There were two imperial doctors and five palace servants busy in the room. Li Guo was lying on the imperial bed, his face was pale, but his eyes were still bright and clear.
Lose the fighting spirit you should have.
The bedding and bedding in the inner hall are all white cotton. Like the late emperor Li Zicheng, Li Guo was extremely frugal in his salary, and even treated his own life to the point of being harsh and mean.
Even though he was seriously ill, Li Guo still held himself to extremely excessive living standards.