It was usually quiet in the Forbidden City in the afternoon, but the quietness varied according to the season. When there was nothing to do, the eunuchs, junior eunuchs, and servants in the palace liked silence the most. However, in troubled times, the quieter it was, the more uneasy and frightened they were. Everyone knew what kind of character the Emperor Wanli was.
Today, the palace maids serving Wan Li didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
"Is there any hope for me to recover from my foot disease?"
Zhu Yijun sat on the soft couch and leaned back, facing the imperial physician who was treating his foot disease in a very lazy posture. The imperial physician's face was pale. The weather in March should be comfortable and cool, but the imperial physician's forehead was covered with dense beads of sweat. It was no wonder that the person in front of him was the Daming Emperor.
It was not a big deal to have foot disease. Many people had foot disease. However, it was a little inappropriate for the Daming Emperor to have foot disease. It should be known that the Emperor had to walk to worship the four seasons, worship the ancestors, and pray for rain in times of drought to show respect to Heaven and ancestors. However, if the Emperor had foot disease, how could he do it?
As the imperial physician who served the Emperor closest to him, he was very clear about how many imperial physicians the Emperor had killed for this matter. Now, once an imperial physician was called into the palace to treat the Emperor's foot disease, the imperial physician had to write a will and prepare for the Emperor's funeral. It had almost become a tradition. Originally, the battle for the crown prince had made the Emperor and the ministers very hostile. Now that the Emperor had foot disease, he was even more unwilling to see those noisy ministers, which would always make the Emperor feel oppressed. The ministers couldn't be killed, so the imperial physician and servants were the best tools to vent his anger.
The imperial physician was afraid, and so were the servants.
"Your Majesty is blessed. As long as you take good care of him, his foot disease will definitely recover."
After thinking for a while, the imperial physician threw out a bottle of all-purpose oil. In this way, even if it was useless, he wouldn't be killed. However, if he knew that his predecessor was killed because of this, he would definitely not choose to say so.
A sharp light flashed in Zhu Yijun's eyes. He lifted his uninjured left leg and kicked the imperial physician's arm, causing the imperial physician to fall to the ground. Under the imperial physician's panic-stricken and inexplicable gaze, Zhu Yijun roared furiously, "Quack! You've wronged me! Drag him out! Behead him! "
Immediately, strong eunuchs picked up the imperial physician on the ground and carried him outside like a chick. Naturally, someone went to carry out the Emperor's order.
At this moment, the feeling of a fox mourning the death of a rabbit filled the entire palace. Almost all of the servants and serving girls knelt on the ground and asked their Emperor to quell his anger. Even the head of the 100,000 eunuchs of the internal court, Zhang Cheng, knelt on the ground. He was terrified and asked Zhu Yijun to quell his thunderous anger.
Looking at the scene in front of him, Zhu Yijun was both happy and sad.
He was happy because he could experience the dignity and power of being an Emperor here. He was sad because only here could he experience the dignity and power of being an Emperor.
From ascending the throne at a young age, he had been completely oppressed by the iron triangle of the empress dowager, Feng Bao, and Zhang Juzheng. Then, after Zhang Juzheng's death, he had been completely oppressed by the other civil officials. Often, when he appointed an official, he had to be approved by the other officials. When he removed an official, he had to be furious and roar in order to force the civil officials to give in. When he asked for some money to do some things, he was always rejected. When it was time to choose a Crown Prince, he wanted to choose a son he liked as the Crown Prince, but the officials didn't approve. No matter what, those bastards wouldn't budge.
Daming the ancestral system, the eldest son of the first wife should be made the Crown Prince.
Those hateful fellows kept on talking about the ancestral system as if they were righteous and sanctimonious. However, Zhu Yijun had long seen through these fellows! They thought that they were doing a good job and no one would know. They put on a straight and upright appearance for the world to see, but in fact, which one of them didn't have the support of a few powerful people behind them?
There was nothing they couldn't do to deceive their superiors and their subordinates! Nepotism, forming cliques, embezzling the national funds to the extent that it made Zhu Yijun tremble with fear!
In the early days, Zhu Yijun also had the fantasy of becoming a sage, and he really did it. But as he grew older, Zhu Yijun increasingly felt that his brain was broken. He was played in the palm of a group of civil officials. He couldn't see the silver, nor could he see the troops. Whoever was promoted had to be nominated by the imperial court. Otherwise, it would be unjustifiable. Zhu Yijun really wanted to ask those scoundrels, "Is the Daming Emperor in charge, or is it you scoundrels?"
Of course, Zhu Yijun didn't intend to ask this, because he was very clear that even if he asked, those ministers would solemnly vow and righteously say, "The world belongs to the Emperor and the scholar-officials!"
He more and more understood why Emperor Zhengde indulged the eunuchs, why Grandpa Jiajing asked the chief minister of the court to appoint Yan Song to establish his authority and "bring chaos" to the world, and more and more understood why his father was manipulated by a group of civil officials. As a result, after he took over the government, he was faced with a hard stone that couldn't be pierced with a needle or poured with oil!
Since the death of Grandpa Jiajing, the world was no longer under the control of the Zhu Emperor. Zhu Yijun had long realized that his decrees not only couldn't go out of the capital, but sometimes even the Forbidden City. Those officials obeyed him on the surface, but there were policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom. When he threw out his strategy, everyone would shout "Long live the Emperor" three times. In places that he could see, he would find scapegoats to make up the numbers, and then do what he should do. In places that he couldn't see, no one would know. It was questionable whether the imperial edict was implemented. At most, it was just for show, to tell the Emperor that his words were listened to.
But Zhu Yijun didn't vigorously support the Imperial Bodyguard and the East Faction Guards for nothing! He saw it all and remembered it in his heart!
When Zhang Juzheng was still alive, he was a complete puppet. After Zhang Juzheng died, he was the Emperor on the surface, but in reality, he was a puppet. It was just that he didn't have any face. In the past ten years, he had settled accounts with Zhang Juzheng, got rid of Feng Bao, regained control of the Imperial Bodyguard and the East Faction Guards, and promoted his lackeys to speak for him. But these lackeys were still civil officials. If they wanted to speak for the Emperor, they would immediately put a big hat of "flattery" on the civil officials, launch an offensive of public opinion, and use the moral high ground to fight against these lackeys. Then, these lackeys' political careers would be over.
Whatever he wanted to do, those civil officials would definitely oppose. Whatever he wanted to say, the civil officials would definitely disagree. It was as if the more intense and forceful their opposition against the Emperor, the more sense of accomplishment they felt. Being flogged, reprimanded, demoted, removed from office … The harsher the punishment, the more satisfied they felt. They were all masochists. To them, these actions of the Emperor were like taking the Herculean Skill Pill. After a while, they would come back to life and continue to disagree with him in some department.
Fine, fine, I want to repair the palace, I want to buy things, you can scold me, you have the right, I can't win against you, I can use my palace treasury. But I want you to do something serious, disaster relief, repair the city, repair the roads, dredge the rivers, repair the weapons, compensate the soldiers! Where's the money? Where's the money?! I want to repair the palace, and you say the money is used for serious matters. I say I want to do serious matters, and you say the money is not enough. You want me to use my private money in the palace treasury to subsidize the country?
Why don't you use your private money to subsidize the country?! Now you know that the country belongs to me?! Then why doesn't anyone listen to what I say?!
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