On the second day of the second month in the spring of the forty-first year of the Jiajing reign, the dragon raised its head.
In the morning, the sound of drums from the Drum Tower echoed over the majestic imperial city.
The group stopped in front of Xi'an Gate of Xiyuan. A young man wearing an ochre-yellow five-dragon robe got out of the sedan chair, and a eunuch in his forties came forward to greet him.
"Your servant Feng Bao pays respect to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
The boy nodded, took off his badge and handed it over.
Feng Bao took it with both hands, passed it to the guard, and pretended to check it.
After entering Xi'an Gate, the young man got on a sedan chair carried by four eunuchs and headed east.
"Feng Bao, is the Emperor in Renshou Palace?" The young man held the handrail with both hands and looked ahead.
"In reply to the prince, the emperor is in meditation." Feng Bao, who was following closely on the left side of the sedan chair, replied quickly.
"Mr. Huang is here too?"
"Godfather is here too."
The young man stopped talking. He squinted his eyes and looked at the rising sun in the east, which was slowly jumping out from the red walls and yellow tiles.
Feng Bao quietly raised his head and glanced at the young man, with a bit of fear in his eyes. The golden light from the morning sun pierced his eyes, causing him to lower his head involuntarily.
Zhu Yijun, the eldest grandson of the Emperor, was born on the fifth day of the fifth month in the thirty-fourth year of the Jiajing reign (1555). His original name was Zhu Yiyun. His mother, Princess Li of the Yuwang reign, unfortunately died of illness in the winter of the thirty-seventh year of the Jiajing reign.
The prince was so sad that he fell ill and was bedridden for several months. No medicine worked, and the imperial physician even told him to prepare for his funeral.
In the early morning of May 5th, the 38th year of the Jiajing reign, a red light suddenly fell from the sky and landed on the dying prince.
At daybreak, he actually began to get better.
He recovered after three days and could recite the Tao Te Ching by heart.
The emperor was surprised and delighted, and asked his godfather Huang Jin to carry him to Renshou Palace to interrogate him in person. Unexpectedly, the prince could not only recite the "Tao Te Ching" by heart, but also recite the "Tai Shang Ganying Pian".
Several real people said that the emperor's grandson was a man of heavenly blessing, a star from heaven who had descended to earth. Moreover, he was related to the emperor by a different generation, breaking the rule that the two dragons could not meet.
The emperor was delighted and gave him the name Zhu Yijun, made him the Prince of Yu, and brought him by his side to teach him personally.
The prince was very intelligent. He could not only read and write quickly, but also had a talent for meditation, and he also developed a set of Tai Chi by silently reading the Tao Te Ching.
She would return to Prince Yu's Mansion every ten days, spend a day and a night with Prince Yu and Princess Chen, and then return to West Garden the next morning.
From then on, the day when the Crown Prince returned to Prince Yu's Mansion became the most cautious day for everyone in Xiyuan.
If you are not careful, you will make the emperor unhappy. The lighter punishment is a beating with a small stick, and the heavier punishment is beating to death on the spot.
Feng Bao followed the sedan chair closely.
He didn't know that the eight-year-old boy sitting on it had already changed his soul in the early morning of May 5th, the 38th year of Jiajing.
Zhu Yiguo, 40 years old, is a senior civil servant in a city's Religious Affairs Bureau. He was reborn in the body of Zhu Yizhen after a car accident.
Being able to recite Tao Te Ching and Tai Shang Ganying Pian fluently is basic business skills.
After learning that his grandfather was Emperor Jiajing, of course he had to show off.
Sure enough, he was immediately promoted to the Prince of Yu, and was given the name Zhu Yijun, which completely took advantage of Emperor Wanli.
Inside the body of a child of several years old, there is a forty-year-old soul that understands the ways of the world and has experienced the vicissitudes of life.
With some effort, he coaxed the brave and solitary Taoist Emperor Jiajing into being so happy that he became dependent on him.
At the same time, Zhu Yijun stayed with his grandfather, Emperor Jiajing, for more than three years, and learned a lot about imperial politics and strategies, and also had his own insights.
Now, he feels the time is right and is ready to show his skills.
Time waits for no one!
Cheap grandpa takes golden elixirs every day, and you can see obvious symptoms of heavy metal poisoning. No one knows when he will ascend to heaven.
My stepfather, Prince Yu, ascended the throne and became Emperor Longqing, and sat on the dragon throne for six years.
During these six years, the struggle between the dynasties was fierce, like a hurricane and a raging fire. The foundation was unstable and one could be blown away if one was not careful.
Concubine Li, the mother of Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun in history, was not an easy person to deal with.
If I don't prepare early, many accidents will happen in the next six years.
If you don't think about the future, you will have immediate worries!
Today, I will draw my sword for the first time and kill Yan Song, the political tumbler of the Jiajing Dynasty.
When they were almost at Renshou Palace, Zhu Yijun suddenly asked.
"Just now outside Xi'an Gate, I saw an official sedan parked. Has anyone passed a sign in today?"
"In reply to the prince, the Minister of War and Governor-General of Zhizhe, Hu Zongxian, has been summoned to the court to see the emperor," Feng Bao replied with his head down.
Zhu Yijun nodded and asked, "What did Minister Hu come for? Oh, it must be that Grandpa Huang asked him about suppressing the Japanese pirates in the southeast. I didn't expect that Old Hu, a Jinshi, was very knowledgeable about military preparations and martial arts, and he did a good job suppressing the Japanese pirates in the southeast."
Feng Bao smiled and replied: "Hu Butang is the Minister of War, so he naturally knows about military affairs. It's just that he spends money in a way that makes people tremble with fear."
Zhu Yijun turned his head and looked at him without saying anything.
Feng Bao's heart skipped a beat.
Was I too happy just now and said something wrong?
As one of the leading eunuchs around Emperor Jiajing, he was well aware of how powerful this pair of grandfather and grandson were.
Needless to say, Emperor Jiajing came to Beijing alone from Chengtian Prefecture (Anlu Prefecture) in the early days of his reign. As a 15-year-old boy, he had a lively exchange of views with famous officials such as Yang Tinghe.
The three-year dispute over the Great Ceremony defeated these civil officials.
From then on, he always controlled the court. Even though he later lived in seclusion in the Western Garden, nothing happening in the court could escape his eyes and ears, and everything was in his hands.
Zhu Yijun, the prince of Prince Yu, was brought to the emperor's side three years ago and taught carefully.
Feng Bao felt that the prince must have learned all the emperor's strategies and wisdom, and even surpassed him.
Feng Bao couldn't help but speak because of his desire to survive: "I was so happy to receive the prince back to the West Garden today that I lost my words. The important matters in the court cannot allow servants to speak carelessly."
"Feng Bao."
"The servant is here."
"Mr. Huang once talked about you, saying that his godson was a perfect person except that he was easily fickle-minded." Zhu Yijun said lightly on the sedan chair.
A line of sweat ran down the back of Feng Bao's neck and he bent his waist even lower.
"Your Highness is right in your teachings. I must be patient in the future!"
The other eunuchs who followed behind did not find it strange to see the prince sitting on the sedan chair, an eight-year-old child, acting like an adult. Just two words made eunuch Feng Bao, one of the most outstanding eunuchs among the thousands of eunuchs in the palace, sweat profusely. Instead, they thought it was normal.
The sedan chair soon arrived at the gate of Renshou Palace. After Zhu Yijun got off, the rest of the people withdrew one after another, leaving only Feng Bao by his side.
Zhu Yijun walked gently into the palace gate and stopped in front of the main hall door.
After waiting for a while, I heard a long howl coming from inside, followed by a long, vague chant.
"After swallowing a golden pill, I realized that my fate is not determined by heaven."
Well, the emperor is taking elixirs again.
It is truly a golden elixir, filled with heavy metals.
His face is now ashen, he is occasionally hyperactive, and he doesn't feel cold or hot, which are obvious symptoms of heavy metal poisoning.
Therefore, I have to speed up the pace, recruit people and gather a team.
No one knows when the emperor grandfather will pass away. When the cheap father ascends the throne, he and he will meet like two dragons.
He is both the legitimate heir to his throne and the biggest threat to his power.
The Heavenly Family is so ruthless!
Zhu Yijun calmed down, took a deep breath, and said loudly: "A crane returns to the Huabiao every thousand years, with a crown of cinnabar and clothes of snow."
A hearty laugh came from the hall, "Haha, my good grandson is back! Come in, come in! Grandpa has prepared breakfast for you and is waiting for you!"