The flood in the south of the Yangtze River was in emergency. It didn't take long for the disaster relief team to set off from the capital and rushed to the south of the Yangtze River with silver and provisions.
This disaster relief team can be said to carry the hope of the whole dynasty. The cabinet is urging questions every day, and the station is waiting in full force. However, everyone has been looking forward to it for a long time, but the news related to the disaster has not come.
Even if Xu Wen sent a memorial, it was full of colorful mandarin clichés, and about the flood and disaster relief, he brought it up in a few words. The emperor thought that the capital and Jiangnan were far apart. Xu Wen was busy relocating the victims and had no time to write documents, so there was no news for a long time, so the emperor forcibly suppressed his anxiety and waited patiently.
However, the patience of the civil and military officials did not wait for the news that the flood was cured and everything was back on track. The courtier, who was placed by Li Chengjing as his deputy, failed to persuade him for a long time. At the risk of being disrespectful, he sent an urgent memorial to Beijing . His memorials were escorted in several ways, and in the end only one of them reached Li Chengjing. Li Chengjing sank immediately after seeing the memorial, and the next day, he handed the memorial to the emperor in public in the morning.
"Your Majesty, Jiangnan Emergency News, Xu Wen rashly greed for merit, embezzled money for disaster relief, replaced new rice with moldy rice, and the victims vomited and diarrhoea after eating, and the death toll soared to more than 1,300 in just ten days. Xu Wen rushed down. After the catastrophe, he tried to cover it up in vain. He did not mention it in the memorial. He also suppressed his subordinates and did not allow everyone to report to the court. As a result, because the bodies were not disposed of in time, a plague broke out. Jiangnan has been raining and raining continuously for the past few days, and the climate is humid and plagues. It spread very fast, and before Zhao Liang risked his death, an entire village had been infected with the plague."
"Plague!" The people in the DPRK were shocked. After floods and droughts, the most feared thing is the plague. In history, it is not uncommon for one of ten households to die because of the plague. Catastrophe.
Like a drop of water falling into the boiling oil, the court officials immediately fry the pot. Yang Fucheng threw his sleeves vigorously and shouted: "Ridiculous! Zhao Liang is only a deputy and has no power to report to the court. Now that he has jumped up the ranks, he has committed a crime of disrespect. This person is not credible, and he should be removed immediately. The position will never be reused.”
"Shoufu's remarks are bad." Li Chengjing did not give in, saying, "It's not that Zhao Liang didn't report to the superior, but Xu Wen was stubborn and greedy, so he didn't use it, causing the disaster to expand and a plague to break out. Sticking to the rules and not reporting to the court, do you have to wait until all the people in the south of the Yangtze River are dead, Xu Wen can't hold back, does Yang Shoufu send someone to take care of the people's lives? The only one who respects the senior. Yang Shoufu does this, where will the people of the world be placed? And where will the Daqi temple be placed?"
"He has leaped to the top to report, which shows that his character is not good. Who knows if he is deliberately making up names to frame the superior in order to grab credit?"
"Yes or not, you can find out by sending someone to Jiangnan. Yang Shoufu thought about dismissing him and punishing him without knowing what was going on. Could it be that he wanted to cover for someone?"
…
The early morning arguing continued until noon, and finally the emperor showed a headache and managed to end it. Even though the two sides paused to discuss, the smell of fire still enveloped Miyagi, and the atmosphere was tense throughout the afternoon.
Li Chengjing saw the emperor with a tired face, and followed the emperor away. Later, he stayed with the emperor for an afternoon, invited the imperial physician and sat in on the discussions of the six ministries of the cabinet. He was busy until Hai Shi.
Although Cheng Yujin stayed in the inner palace, she also knew that something big was going on outside. The flood has not stopped yet, but it has even induced a plague. At this moment, herbal medicines are scarce, and there are very few orthodox doctors who have studied medical theory. The common people have to rely on their bodies to survive when they get sick, not to mention the plagues that are highly contagious, fast onset, and extremely high mortality. Just hearing the word plague, the palace maids and the maids and others felt their heart skip a beat.
Li Chengjing didn't come back until late at night, and when he heard the door open, Cheng Yujin immediately put on his cloak and walked out: "His Royal Highness!"
Li Chengjing saw that it was her, and quickly reached out to support her: "Why did you come out?"
"I am really worried when I see that His Highness has not returned for a long time."
Li Chengjing's face was heavy. He had just returned from outside. Even though he held an umbrella on the way, his hands were cold from the rain. He squeezed Cheng Yujin's hand hard, the coolness of the water droplets in his palm almost seeping into his heart: "It's okay, let's talk first."
After entering the hall, Cheng Yujin immediately ordered the maid to drain the water, and she poured the ginger soup to ward off the cold by herself and brought it to Li Chengjing. Li Chengjing was sitting at the table, pinching his eyebrows tiredly, when he heard the voice and raised his eyes coldly, seeing that it was Cheng Yujin, he put down his guard.
Cheng Yujin sat beside him and watched him drink the ginger soup before asking softly, "His Royal Highness, how is it?"
Li Chengjing didn't speak, he was silent, and Cheng Yujin also sat aside to accompany him. After a while, Li Chengjing said, "Yujin, I might go to Jiangnan."
"What?" Rao Shi Cheng Yujin was also frightened, her eyes widened and she couldn't believe it, "His Royal Highness!"
"I know." Li Chengjing firmly held Cheng Yujin's hand and said, "I also know that there is a plague in Jiangnan now, and it is very dangerous to go to the disaster area at this moment. However, I must go."
Cheng Yujin frowned, apparently still disagreeing: "His Royal Highness, the plague is not a joke. No one knows what the situation in the disaster area is now. If the plague expands during the period of sending the memorial? What is the cause of the plague? I don’t know how to spread it, how to spread it, what medicine to use, and how to prevent it. No one knows. Your Highness, I know that you care about the people, but you are the pinnacle of the world. Only if you are healthy can you treat more people. .You really can't risk yourself."
Li Chengjing sighed and said, "I understand your scruples. If it wasn't for the lack of time, why would I take such a risk?"
Cheng Yujin frowned and instinctively felt that something was wrong: "His Royal Highness, what do you mean?"
"The emperor's face was wrong when he went to court today. The courtiers thought the emperor was angry, so they had to stop arguing and leave the palace. But I followed the emperor back to the palace. He... didn't pretend to be at that time."
Cheng Yujin gasped, and the blood in her body cooled. Cheng Yujin couldn't understand what kind of information contained in these short sentences.
Cheng Yujin couldn't help lowering her voice and asked quietly, "Your Highness, you mean..."
Li Chengjing nodded solemnly: "I didn't know before that the emperor was surrounded by his own people, and these things were not spread to the outside world. Until today, when I was with the emperor, I personally saw the imperial doctor to ask the emperor for a pulse, and then I knew that he was sick. , it's been a while."
"Your Majesty he..."
"It's not a serious illness, but it can't be cured. If you don't move, you will have a headache. When you have a serious headache, you will be restless and you won't be able to eat. It used to be not frequent, but recently, there has been a lot of court affairs. Originally, the emperor was worried about Jiangnan Water Affairs. When I learned that the flood was not cured, a plague broke out. In my anger, the head disease became more and more serious. I watched the emperor announce the imperial doctor in the Qianqing Palace with my own eyes, and drank several medicines before going out to discuss matters with the ministers. It is said that the emperor's illness needs to be kept warm for a long time, and he should not worry about it, but the plague is no trivial matter. When I left tonight, I obviously felt that he had a headache again."
Cheng Yujin sighed, the emperor is not in good health, which is really not good news for them. The East Palace has been able to go smoothly today, thanks to the emperor's clear support. Now that the Yang family has not fallen, Yang Fucheng is in control of the government, and the Empress Dowager Yang is eyeing the palace. If the emperor falls at this juncture, the situation of the East Palace will suddenly become worse.
Cheng Yujin vaguely understood why Li Chengjing said that he had no time and had to go to the disaster area.
Seeing that Cheng Yujin had understood, Li Chengjing sighed slightly in his heart, and tightly wrapped Cheng Yujin's hand with both palms: "I don't have much time, I have to plan for the worst as soon as possible. The family tree is not something that can be achieved overnight. But now, I have no time, I need to be able to stand up with the Yang family. "
Cheng Yujin looked at him, and although he didn't say anything, his eyes were full of water, and he was ready to speak. Cheng Yujin was of course unwilling to let Li Chengjing take risks in his heart. The plague was not a joke, and he would not make excuses because Li Chengjing was the prince. But she knew that Li Chengjing was right, they had come to the edge of the cliff now, and it was obviously too late to count on a long-term plan. He was going to make a big gamble, and the chips were his own life.
Cheng Yujin finally did not persuade him, got up and said: "I will prepare wormwood and incense for epidemic prevention for His Royal Highness. The sachets and clothes on His Highness's body will also be replaced with new ones."
Li Chengjing's expression softened. This is his wife. Even if he doesn't want to, he will still understand him and support him. Li Chengjing stood up, hugged Cheng Yujin from behind, and said, "Today is too late, don't be busy with this. When I had this idea, the one I felt most sorry for was you. If I was still not married, I would be alone, There is nothing to worry about, and there is no hesitation to gamble with this life. But now that I have you, I am actually afraid. I am afraid that I will not be able to come back, and I will not be able to watch the birth of the child, and I will not be able to watch you again."
"His Royal Highness!" Cheng Yujin frowned, sighed, and said, "What did you say? You will come back safely. I'm still waiting for you to come back and name our child."
"I know." Li Chengjing lowered his head, buried it to Cheng Yujin's neck, and murmured in a low voice, "Why am I willing not to come back."
Because of the plague, many people in the capital were covered with dark clouds. The next morning, when they came to court, all the officials looked solemn.
Not long after the early morning, the courtiers quarreled again over the disaster relief. The quarrel that was forcibly aborted yesterday because the emperor left the venue did not dissipate because a day had passed, but became more and more aggressive under the fermentation of the night. Just when the courtiers were arguing about whether to send another person to relieve the disaster, the prince took the initiative to ask for his life, saying that he was willing to go to the front line of the disaster area as a special envoy to find out the situation and appease the hearts of the people.
The smell of gunpowder in this courtroom was fixed because of this sentence.
Yes, who is more convincing, more trusted, and more able to appease the hearts of the people than the crown prince. In this mess now, whichever party is sent will lead to factional struggles. Those with less seniority cannot control local officials, those with seniority are old and not suitable for long-distance travel, and those with low positions cannot convince the public. Let the victims suspect that the court is not doing anything, and people with high positions are not willing to take risks.
But Li Chengqian met all the conditions, was young and capable, and at the same time, because of his royal status, he could best appease the hearts of the people. The most urgent task is to quickly stabilize people's hearts and show the world that the grace of God is mighty, and the court will never give up the people of Limin. And Li Chengjing is the crown prince, and this role is the most obvious.
As long as the people are united, half of the matter after that has been resolved. No matter what the entanglements are in Jiangnan's officialdom, if the crown prince stops there, who would dare to violate yin and yang? It doesn't matter whether Li Chengjing can find out the truth or not, the aura he brings with him is the most important thing.
After Li Chengjing said these words, the court quickly became quiet, and after a while, everyone praised the prince's high righteousness, which was really a blessing to my court. The emperor took this opportunity to finalize the candidate for his deputy, and after a while, the team of special envoys was completed.
The disaster relief was urgent, so Li Chengjing was busy gathering a team to familiarize himself with the situation on the day he asked for his order. On the third day, he set off from the capital.
When Li Chengjing left, the Ciqing Palace seemed to be half empty. Cheng Yujin looked at the green leaves outside the window, thinking about where he was now and what he was doing today.
I have always lived alone before, why did I never feel that the room was so empty that I could almost hear the echo of footsteps.
Because of Li Chengjing's absence, Cheng Yujin became more and more lazy to go out. Except for greeting the queen and queen mother all day, he did not leave the Ciqing Palace at all other times.
Day by day, the rain in the capital stopped, revealing a big bright sun. Zhao imperial doctor came to ask for the Ping An pulse for the crown princess as usual today. After returning to the imperial hospital, he went to stare at Yao Tong to decoct the medicine in person. When he came back, he suddenly found that his medical box seemed to have been turned over.
Imperial Doctor Zhao frowned and suddenly had an ominous premonition.