Chapter 344 The Emperor is seriously ill, the Crown Prince is the Regent

A few days later, Qingxia came back from Liaoan Prefecture and brought news about the eldest daughter of the Zheng family.

Zheng Xiao's eldest daughter is named Zheng Xinnian. She is fifteen years old this year. She has a gentle personality and is the kind of lady who never leaves the house. She is also very pretty and most importantly, she is unmarried.

After getting these accurate news, Yang Zhengshan no longer hesitated and wrote a letter to Zheng Xiao in person.

Zheng Xiao had met Lin Zhan, who was Liu Zhe's student. When Zheng Xiao came to the Yang family, he had met Lin Zhan. When Liu Zhe left Liaodong, he also took Lin Zhan to visit him in Liaoan Prefecture.

However, these were four years ago, so after receiving Yang Zhengshan's letter, he asked to meet Lin Zhan.

It is understandable that the father-in-law wants to test the future son-in-law.

Yang Zhengshan naturally had no reason to refuse, so he asked Lin Zhan to go to Liaoan Prefecture.

After Lin Zhan arrived in Liaoan Prefecture, he was first tested by Zheng Xiao, and then arranged to meet Zheng Xinnian.

Yang Zhengshan didn't know the details of the meeting, but Zheng Xiao had already agreed to the marriage when Lin Zhan came back.

The next step was to talk about marriage.

While the Yang family and the Zheng family were talking about marriage, in the Yangxin Palace in the imperial city of Kyoto.

It was just dawn, and the dim light could not penetrate the doors and windows into the room. Instead, the flickering candlelight illuminated the room.

Emperor Chengping was lying on the bed, his face was haggard and his breathing was weak.

Eunuch Chen and a group of eunuchs served in front of the bed.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty~~" Eunuch Chen called softly.

Emperor Chengping opened his eyes with difficulty and stared at Eunuch Chen in a daze. It took a long time for him to recover. "Decree, from today on, the crown prince will be the regent, and Prince Gong and Prince Cheng will come to the court to observe politics!"

"I understand, I will draft the decree now!" Eunuch Chen replied.

"Eunuch Chen, the imperial hospital envoy is here!" A little eunuch outside the door said softly.

Eunuch Chen looked at Emperor Chengping who had fallen into a coma again, slowly stood up, walked outside the door, nodded slightly to Sun Wanzhen, the director of the Imperial Hospital, and said, "Sorry to bother you, Director!"

"I dare not!" Sun Wanzhen glanced at the bed in the bedroom and bowed slightly in response.

"I will go to pass on the imperial edict first, and I will leave it to you, Director!"

After that, Eunuch Chen slowly left the Yangxin Palace and walked towards the Taiji Palace. The closer he got to the Taiji Palace, the faster his steps became and the paler his face became.

When he entered the Taiji Palace, his forehead was covered with beads of sweat and his breath became hurried.

At this time, all the civil and military officials in the court had gathered in the Taiji Palace, waiting for Emperor Chengping to come to court.

It was past the time for court, and all the civil and military officials in the court felt something was wrong, but they still waited patiently.

It was not until Eunuch Chen came with the imperial edict that the ministers knew that Emperor Chengping was ill and could not go to court.

If Emperor Chengping was just ill and unable to attend court, the ministers would not care too much. In the past few years, Emperor Chengping's health has been getting worse year by year. He would catch a cold or get a minor illness from time to time, and he would often stop attending court. The ministers have become accustomed to it.

But now Emperor Chengping actually let the crown prince regent. Does this mean that his health has reached the point of exhaustion?

"Eunuch Chen, can we see the emperor now?"

After Eunuch Chen passed on the order, the chief minister of the cabinet, Li Siyuan, stood up and asked.

Eunuch Chen glanced at several cabinet ministers and said in a hoarse voice: "The Imperial Hospital's Director Sun is already treating your majesty. All cabinet ministers can wait in the Wenhua Hall now. If your majesty summons you, we will summon you to see the emperor!"

The ministers looked at each other, and no one spoke for a while. Eunuch Chen did not say much, and left the Taiji Hall with the imperial edict. Next, he had to pass on the order to the crown prince, Prince Gong and Prince Cheng.

In the hall, Liu Yuanfu looked at the back of Eunuch Chen as he left, thinking.

Ningguo Duke Zhou Mao also glanced at it.

The ministers began to discuss again. Some were worried, some had ulterior motives, and some silently observed everything around them.

Guan Wenshuo, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, touched Liu Yuanfu and asked in a low voice: "Old man, is His Majesty very ill?"

Liu Yuanfu glanced at him and said with a calm expression: "Be careful with your words!"

Although the Left and Right Censors-in-Chief of the Censorate were of the same level, the official positions of the various departments of Darong have always been on the left. For example, the Censorate was headed by the Left Censor-in-Chief, while the Right Censor-in-Chief was mostly sent out to serve as a governor-general or a governor-general.

Liu Yuanfu was a special case in the Censorate. He had been sent out to serve as a governor-general before, but was later dismissed and returned to his hometown. Then Emperor Chengping reinstated him and restored him to the position of Right Censor-in-Chief, but he did not dare to send him out again. The reason was very simple. This little old man was too good at making trouble.

Emperor Chengping originally thought that if he stayed in the Censorate, he would be more honest, but he didn't expect that the old man would actually confront him in the court.

Emperor Chengping was angry and directly exiled him to Chongshan Town, which is Yinghe Fort.

Later, something happened in the Censorate, and the former Left Censor-in-Chief was dismissed by Emperor Chengping. The Censorate needed someone to take the lead, so Emperor Chengping reinstated Liu Yuanfu.

After Liu Yuanfu returned to Beijing, probably because of his old age, his temper was not as strong as before.

So Emperor Chengping has been more pleasing to him in recent years, but in view of his previous offense, Emperor Chengping will definitely not promote him again, so he has been staying in the position of Right Censor-in-Chief.

In the Censorate, although Guan Wenshuo is above Liu Yuanfu, he is actually less than fifty years old and is considered Liu Yuanfu's junior. So in many things, Guan Wenshuo respects Liu Yuanfu's opinions.

Upon hearing Liu Yuanfu's reminder, Guan Wenshuo quickly straightened his posture and remained silent.

The cabinet ministers standing at the front were also silent, as if they were all asleep.

About an hour later, the Crown Prince, Prince Cheng and Prince Gong came together.

When the prince entered the palace, his face was full of solemnity and worry. Prince Cheng and Prince Gong also had worried faces, but everyone knew that these people must have a lot on their minds.

In fact, Emperor Taiping has been letting the prince and two princes observe the government in recent years. Although he has not let them intervene in specific government affairs, he has been cultivating their understanding of and handling of political affairs.

The three people arrived, and the morning court proceeding as usual. However, no one was paying attention to court affairs, so the court meeting quickly dispersed.

After the morning dynasty dispersed, the news that Emperor Taiping was seriously ill and lethargic spread throughout Kyoto. For a time, all kinds of news spread wildly in Kyoto, and all kinds of rumors spread.

Immediately afterwards, the news spread out of Kyoto and spread to all parts of Daiei.

In an ordinary house in Nancheng District, Kyoto.

Wu Zheng also received the news that Emperor Taiping was seriously ill. He asked his subordinates in front of him solemnly: "Is the news confirmed?"

"It's been confirmed, the news is true!"

Wu Zheng took a deep breath and said, "Send this news back immediately. Master must need this news!"

"Then I can go back in person?"

The subordinates standing in front of him also came from the Tianqing Sword Sect and were considered his junior disciples. They had been staying in Kyoto these years to collect various information. Although most of the information was of no use to Yang Zhengshan, Yang Zhengshan still let him Stay in Kyoto.

Not only that, Yang Zhengshan also increased his investment in them. He has sent more than 200 people to Kyoto and invested tens of thousands of taels of silver.

After many years of operation, Wu Zheng and others were not able to collect some superficial information like at first. Now they have been able to collect some more secretive information, especially the troubles in the court. Master it in one go.

"No, you can't go back. Something big may happen next. We must stay in Kyoto and keep an eye on it!"

Wu Zheng said in a deep voice: "You should arrange for two people to send the news back."

…

Tenglongwei.

The first batch of monoculars were handed over to the Navy. On the Dafu ship, Yu Tonghai and Xue Ping looked at the surrounding warships and merchant ships with their monoculars.

"Can you actually see so far?"

"You can see clearly from a thousand feet away!"

Xue Ping said in surprise.

Yu Tonghai was also full of shock, "With this telescope, we can not only anticipate the enemy's opportunities, but also allow the warships behind to follow the flagship's orders!"

"This is definitely a weapon in naval battles!"

He thought much more profoundly than Xue Ping. Xue Ping was just surprised by the function of the telescope, while he thought of the usefulness of the telescope in naval battles.

Over the past three years, the Tenglong Guard Navy has become more and more elite. Now the Tenglong Guard Navy is fully staffed, with 5,600 soldiers who are all elites who dare to fight desperately.

In fact, they have experienced a lot of battles in the past three years. Tenglongwei now has so many merchant ships out to sea. It is impossible for the navy to be perfect and ensure that every merchant ship does not encounter pirates.

Almost two years ago, merchant ships sailing from Tenglongwei were hijacked by pirates from time to time. For this reason, Tenglongwei's navy launched attacks one after another and wiped out more than a dozen pirate groups.

Up to now, the Tenglong Guard Navy has gained quite a reputation in the Daerong Liaohai Sea and the East China Sea, and few pirates dare to take the initiative to provoke the Tenglong Guard Navy.

Of course, this is also because there are fewer pirates in the Daerong Liaohai Sea and the East China Sea. If placed in the southeastern sea, Tenglong Guard may not be able to block the attacks of those pirates.

After all, there are too many pirates in the southeastern waters, and there are many powerful pirates among them.

But no matter what, today's Tenglong Guard navy can be considered an elite navy.

"How many did your Excellency send?" Yu Tonghai asked the entourage behind him.

"Twenty-eight in total!" the attendant said.

Yu Tonghai frowned, "Not enough, too little. Such good things must be equipped with more. Eagle ships and mother-child ships do not need to be equipped, but other warships must be equipped with them, and each ship must be equipped with at least four. !”

According to his idea, the Tenglong Guard should be equipped with at least a hundred telescopes, so that the functions of the telescope can be maximized.

"Well, I just heard from my colleagues in the weapon making workshop that this one costs thirty taels of silver! And you can only make three at most every day!" the follower said with some embarrassment.

Yu Tonghai's expression froze with dissatisfaction, "One tube costs thirty taels of silver?"

"Yeah! That's what the people in the weapon-making workshop said!" the follower said affirmatively.

Yu Tonghai fell silent.

Today's Tenglong Guard Navy is very well-equipped, and there is no shortage of weapons and equipment that should be equipped. The warships are maintained every year. In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the warships, Yang Zhengshan even built a shipyard specifically for the navy. to maintain the warship.

Currently, Tenglongwei's shipyard can manufacture some small warships, such as eagle ships and mother-child ships. However, it can only repair medium-sized and large warships, but cannot manufacture medium-sized and large warships.

But even so, Yang Zhengshan also invested a lot of money.

The current Tenglong Guard can be said to be rich and powerful, but facing the two gold-eating behemoths of the Navy and the Fifth Army Camp, Yang Zhengshan had to save some money.

One piece of thirty taels of silver, one hundred pieces of silver is three thousand taels of silver.

Three thousand taels may not seem like much, but it is definitely not a small amount either.

Yu Tonghai was silent for a while before he said, "We still have a lot of budget this year, let's order 100 first!"

He still felt that the money had to be spent, because the telescope was too important for the navy.

"Yes!"

The attendant responded and left the Dafu ship, ready to go to the Weisi Yamen.