Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 156 The cabinet has gone crazy, God bless you!
Cabinet desk.

It is filled with account books of Shanxi merchants.

The Imperial Guard presented it to Yuxi Palace, and the Emperor sent Huang Jin to move it to the Government Affairs Hall so that the ministers could take a good look at it.

As the saying goes, "Silver is cold, but when held in the hand, the heart is warm."

Zhang Juzheng's cabinet was very lucky, as it took over the richest court since its inception.

Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin were often calm when they checked the amount of silver in the account book before they saw the mountains of treasure. After all, it was just a string of numbers.

But after seeing the "one billion taels of silver", he still couldn't help but feel shocked.

Money! Lots of money! Money you can’t spend!
The government hall was quiet for a while.

When Liu Tai, the secretary of the cabinet, came to check the situation, he noticed that the eyes of the prime minister, the second prime minister and three cabinet ministers were all red.

Seeing that the person was fine, he quietly retreated.

"We are so lucky." Zhang Juzheng said, "With these 100 million taels of silver as support, even if we build palaces for His Majesty and select concubines every day, our descendants will praise us as the most loyal and wise ministers in history."

The emperor is very old, and no one knows how many more years he can continue to shine like the sun upon the people.

But Zhang Juzheng had already anticipated that if he could live longer, he would stay in charge of the central cabinet for another 20 years. When the time came, he would submit a petition to resign so as not to block the way for newcomers.

Without taking into account the emperor's previous purges, executions of corrupt officials, and confiscation of embezzled silver, this 10 billion taels of silver would not be spent within 20 years, even if all taxes in the two capitals and 13 provinces were exempted, and even if the people of the world no longer required a penny of money or grain.

Zhang Juzheng didn't even dare to think about it. If the Ming Dynasty had been tax-free for twenty years during his twenty years in charge of the central cabinet, what kind of comments would future generations give him?
What about Zhuge, what about Fang and Du, as long as he wanted, he could run to the Confucius Temple and make Confucius stand up or sit there.

It is a great blessing for the country, the emperor, the people, the court, and the cabinet.

As a high-ranking official, what he had been longing for suddenly came true today.

Zhang Juzheng laughed loudly, staggering forward and backward, not looking like the head of the cabinet or the leader of all the civil and military officials in the world at all.

Gao, Hu, Li and Chen were deeply infected and started to laugh unrestrainedly as well.

Sweep away the gloom that has surrounded the cabinet for some time.

Gao Gong temporarily forgot the death of his old friend, and Li Chunfang temporarily forgot that his family was investigated for smuggling.

My mind suddenly felt open, as if a cool breeze had blown into my heart, circulated through my body, and brought a sense of comfort straight to my soul.

Liu Tai entered the Government Affairs Hall again and saw several ministers laughing and crying. Worry appeared in their eyes. He quickly asked someone to go to the Imperial Hospital to invite the imperial physician, and then he stood guard in front of the door of the Government Affairs Hall and did not let anyone in.

The ministers seemed to have collectively gone insane, or perhaps some acute infectious disease, with so many people coming and going in the cabinet every day, all from the six ministries and other offices in the capital. It wouldn't be a problem if the disease spread to court officials, but if it spread to the emperor, he would be blameless.

Li Shizhen, who had recently been promoted to the director of the Imperial Medical Service, quickly arrived with a group of imperial doctors. They rushed into the government hall and pinned several cabinet ministers to the ground. They also stuffed small wooden sticks into the mouths of Zhang Juzheng and others to prevent the ministers from biting their tongues.

Hu Zongxian was a man of letters but also a warrior, so he needed an explanation. But in Li Shizhen's view, it was a resistance that had lost his mind. When he was still in Zhejiang, Li Shizhen met Hu Zongxian and formed a close friendship with him. Seeing that his friend's "symptoms" were so intense, Li Shizhen personally took action to relieve Hu Zongxian's strength.

In front of a doctor, especially a great doctor, the human body is very fragile. It is clear and obvious which place can make a person lose strength if pressed, which place can make a person suffer unbearable pain, and which place can be pricked by a thin silver needle to take a person's life.

A cabinet minister, who was overjoyed, was unexpectedly "taken down" by the imperial doctors who used a combination of observation, listening and palpation methods.

In the government hall, the central place of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng and his four companions were stripped naked. "They are all quite white!" Li Shizhen said casually.

They didn't think it was a big deal, after all, doctors are selfless, but Zhang Juzheng and others were so ashamed that they almost committed suicide.

Fortunately, there was a small wooden stick to bite.

As expected of him, he was the Saint of Medicine. In a short while, he had figured out the health conditions of the elders, and they all had some problems to some extent.

Especially for Chen Yiqin, who is from Sichuan and likes to eat pepper and mustard, he has some unspeakable problems in the lower back part of his body.

Zhang Juzheng also suffered from some external symptoms such as numbness and stiffness in the limbs and occasional internal symptoms such as headaches.

Although Li Shizhen has not yet found out the cause of the disease, it is obviously not related to amnesia, hysteria, or insanity.

They are basically related to weak internal organs, deficiency of qi and blood, emotional imbalance, overwork and over-rest, and excessive sexual intercourse.

Li Shizhen asked the imperial doctors to dress the ministers, and personally prescribed medicine for them. He asked Zhang Juzheng and Chen Yiqin to visit the Imperial Hospital again when they were free, and finally asked Liu Tai to untie the ministers after he and the imperial doctors from the Imperial Hospital left.

Although Li Shizhen and the imperial doctors were walking, it looked like they were running when they left the cabinet.

If eyes could kill, Liu Tai would have been cut into pieces. Standing trembling in front of the government hall, Liu Tai smiled a smile uglier than crying: "Master, I am worried about you."

"hehe."

Zhang Juzheng tried to smile, "My dear disciple, let me go first!"

Liu Tai, "..."

There are four words: expelled from the sect. Liu Tai didn't understand it before, but today he experienced it personally.

……

The news of the cabinet's excitement spread to Yuxi Palace. When Zhu Houcong heard about it, he smiled and said, "I forgot that the cabinet elders, ministers, and generals all have some health problems. We should ask the imperial doctors of the Imperial Hospital to take a look."

Although people like Zhang Juzheng have selfish thoughts and distractions, they cannot hide their contributions to the country. If they live longer, it will do more good than harm to the Ming Dynasty.

Huang Jin, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department who was serving before the emperor, wanted to say something when he heard this, but did not utter it.

Zhu Houcong noticed him and said, "What do you want to say? You seem to be hesitant."

Huang Jin knelt on the ground and said, "I know I was wrong, but I hope Your Majesty will not let the imperial doctors of the Imperial Hospital examine the health of the cabinet elders, ministers, and generals or prescribe medicine. If they really want to examine them, they should let Li Yuanzheng and the imperial doctors who went to the cabinet today. As for the other imperial doctors... I hope Your Majesty will be careful."

The Imperial Household Department knew very well what the Imperial Medical Bureau was like. Letting those good-for-nothings go down to check on the health of the ministers, pillars of the country, and generals would not be a blessing from heaven but would shorten their lives.

"You dog slave, you know some things better than I do. When I don't ask, you tell me nothing." Zhu Houcong also came back to his senses and scolded with a smile.

"I know my mistake."

"Since my Lord is not seriously ill, please send over the Huizhou Merchants case files presented by the Royal Guards to add to the burden."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)