"I heard that the Empress is seriously ill and even Doctor Sun can't do anything about it. Is that true?" Fang Xuanling had already received Li Chengqian's request and asked solemnly.
Li Shimin nodded sadly, "Since the news has already spread, I won't hide it anymore. The Empress' illness is indeed not optimistic."
This year, because of Empress Zhangsun's illness, Li Shimin didn't even hold the annual palace banquet. Furthermore, Sun Simiao frequently went in and out of the palace, so naturally, the news had already spread.
"Empress!" Zhangsun Wuji heard and instantly burst into tears.
Zhangsun Wuji wasn't faking it. He and Empress Zhangsun had depended on each other since young and grew up together. Naturally, they were very close. When he heard Li Shimin confirm Empress Zhangsun's illness, he couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Don't be sad, the School of Medicine is still trying their best to treat her. There might be a turn for the better!" Li Shimin comforted. Even he knew that his words were not very convincing.
Zhangsun Wuji wiped his tears and apologized, "Yes, I lost my composure. I also know about the Empress' illness. She has been ill since young and I'm afraid it's difficult for even a deity to cure her."
Yu Zhining rushed to say, "That's not true. The Empress is blessed and can't be someone with a short lifespan. I implore Your Majesty to grant amnesty to the world and pray for the Empress. Her illness will definitely get better."
"I implore Your Majesty to grant amnesty to the world and pray for the blessings of the heavens." The officials all followed.
"Grant amnesty to the world!" Li Shimin couldn't help but be moved. Previously, he was opposed by many when he granted amnesty to the world. Now, he had the support of all the officials.
He and Empress Zhangsun were very close. Now that the School of Medicine was helpless, it wasn't impossible to find another way.
The officials couldn't help but smile when they saw this. They instantly knew that this matter was most likely going to happen. Next, they would propose to help people enter the path of Dao and repair temples to pray for blessings.
However, just when everyone thought that it was in the bag, a discordant voice suddenly resounded in the imperial court.
"No, the Minister believes that amnesty is absolutely not allowed!" Meton suddenly stood out and said.
When Yu Zhining saw Meton's objection, he couldn't help but become furious. "Mo Jiazi, what do you mean by this? Don't you want to see the empress recover?"
Yu Zhining gave him no chance to explain, but Meton was not afraid at all. He said, "The idea of pardoning the world and praying for blessings is a myth. Countless emperors in history have used this method, but can it really make people recover? I don't think so. "
"Even if there's only a sliver of hope, we can't give up!" Yu Zhining said firmly, looking loyal and devoted.
"That's right. It's such a good plan, yet Mo Jiazi is opposing it. I wonder what your intentions are? How disloyal and unfilial! "Many censors angrily rebuked Meton for being unfilial.
Even Li Shimin looked at Meton in confusion. He also didn't understand why Meton would oppose it.
Meton said, "It's not that the Minister doesn't want the empress to recover. His Majesty wants to pray for the empress. I'm afraid that pardoning the world will backfire. It won't bring about blessings, but rather disaster."
"Why is that?" Li Shimin said with a frown.
"His Majesty previously pardoned the world and pardoned three hundred prisoners on death row. Does Your Majesty still remember this?" Meton asked.
Li Shimin nodded. This was what he was most proud of. He pitied the three hundred prisoners and allowed them to return after the autumn harvest. In the end, none of the three hundred prisoners returned. Li Shimin was moved and pardoned all of them.
"Then does Your Majesty know if the three hundred prisoners will turn over a new leaf after being pardoned, or if they will continue to cause disaster?" Meton asked.
"Naturally …" Li Shimin opened his mouth, but when he saw Meton's expression, he immediately had a bad feeling.
Meton nodded heavily and said, "Replying to Your Majesty, the Legalists' Han Zheng resigned from his law studies to investigate the current situation of the three hundred prisoners. The results were chilling. The three hundred prisoners really received Your Majesty's gratitude, and only a few of them turned over a new leaf. Ten percent of them were felons, and the rest used the notoriety of surviving the prison to dominate the countryside."
"How dare they?" Li Shimin was so angry that his entire body trembled. The pardoning of the world that he was so proud of actually had such a huge flaw.
"Ministry of Justice, is there really such a thing?" Li Shimin suddenly turned to look at Li Daozong.
Li Daozong smiled bitterly and said, "Since ancient times, about thirty percent of the prisoners were felons after being released from prison. As for the three hundred prisoners that Your Majesty pardoned, many of them have indeed been sent back to prison. This has already been reported to the Ministry of Justice, but the rest have yet to know."
"Why didn't you say so earlier!" Li Shimin said angrily.
"Minister, I'm sorry!" Li Daozong immediately apologized. Pardoning the three hundred prisoners was Li Shimin's proudest achievement, so how could he dare to expose this matter?
Meton sighed and said, "If these prisoners continue to do evil after the pardoning of the world, I'm afraid that these prisoners will not be praying for the Empress, but inviting disaster!"
The entire court couldn't help but fall silent. Just now, they had all supported the pardoning of the world, but who would have thought that the pardoning of the world would have such a serious flaw?
"It seems that there is only one way, and that is to help people enter the Dao and build temples to pray for the Empress." Fang Xuanling sighed and said.
If the Buddhists were here, they would definitely laugh loudly. Meton had helped them a lot this time. Now, if they wanted to pray for Empress Zhangsun, they were afraid that this was the only way.
"Your Majesty, please help people enter the Dao and pray for the Empress!"
Modun's face darkened when he saw all the civil and military officials in the court speaking in unison in favor of renovating the temple. They believed that since Empress Zhangsun was thirty-six years old, she needed to issue three thousand six hundred certificates and have three thousand six hundred monks to serve Buddha and pray for Empress Zhangsun day and night.
"Buddhists!"
Meton suddenly realized that the Buddhists must be behind this. He looked at Li Chengqian, who was the leader, and shook his head slightly. Although this matter was carried out in the name of Li Chengqian, the Buddhists must have contributed a lot to the officials' response.
The pervasive Buddhists would not let go of the opportunity of Empress Zhangsun's illness. Meton couldn't help but feel angry. He was angry not because of the development of the Buddhists, but because the Buddhists made a fuss about Empress Zhangsun's illness. Although Empress Zhangsun was his mother-in-law, she had always been very good to him. From the bottom of his heart, he had already regarded Empress Zhangsun as his mother.
In Li Chengqian's view, he did this out of filial piety, but in Meton's view, the Buddhists were threatening him with illness. This was as abominable as the Buddhists asking for incense money from poor people who were already seriously ill and whose families were in dire straits.
There were only tens of thousands of monks in the Tang dynasty, and this sudden increase of three thousand and six hundred monks. The Buddhists were good at calculating, but they had miscalculated! Meton's heart was burning with anger.
"Help people enter the Dao and pray for blessings!" Li Shimin couldn't help but think in his heart. Although the policy of the imperial court was to suppress Buddhism, he was not willing to give up on the seriously ill Empress Zhangsun, even if there was a glimmer of hope.
If it were any other time, Li Shimin would definitely agree. As long as Empress Zhangsun could get better, the three thousand and six hundred monks would not be taken seriously by him.
However, Meton had mentioned to him about the struggle between the divine and the royal authority. He had also secretly looked for Hu merchants to investigate many times, and the results made him shudder.
"Father, mother's life is at stake. Father, please accept your son's filial piety," Li Chengqian begged.
Li Shimin sighed in his heart. This time, Empress Zhangsun's illness did not only affect her, but also his and Empress Zhangsun's seven children. He was not a muddle-headed person. Naturally, he knew that reciting the scriptures and praying for blessings was only hoping for a miracle, not really curing the illness and saving people.
However, seeing Li Chengqian's pure filial piety, Li Shimin could not help but soften. Just as he was about to agree, he suddenly heard Meton's voice, "Your Majesty, the School of Mo and the School of Medicine have jointly launched the Qinglong Project and found a cure for Empress Zhangsun."
Instantly, all the civil and military officials fell silent. They all stared at Meton.
"Really?!" Li Shimin said with a trembling voice.
Meton sternly said, "This matter was personally witnessed by Princess Changle, so the Minister naturally would not dare to lie. Moreover, this matter concerns Princess Changle, so the Minister would not dare to lie."
"The Qinglong Project!" Li Shimin uncontrollably stood up and paced around. Just from the name, one could tell the importance of this medicine.
Meton solemnly said, "If this medicine succeeds, it will definitely be the best of all medicines, able to cure all illnesses in the world. If this medicine is ineffective, then even if the gods descended from the heavens, it would be useless."
The officials could not help but be shocked. If this medicine really existed, wouldn't it be useful for them when they fell ill in the future?
Li Shimin could not help but look meaningfully at Meton. He took a deep breath and said, "Alright, then we will wait for the good news from the School of Medicine!"
Immediately, all the civil and military officials in the court congratulated Li Shimin in unison. The idea of praying for blessings that the officials strongly advocated was immediately thrown to the back of everyone's mind. In front of the School of Medicine and Buddhism, everyone knew that as long as there was a glimmer of hope, they would choose to believe in the School of Medicine. Only when there was really no cure, praying to Buddhism was just asking for spiritual sustenance.
The difference in status between the School of Medicine and Buddhism was obvious.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
