Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 66 Going to Ma Wensheng's Mansion Again
In fact, Zhu Houzhao had always been worried about this in his heart. He was afraid that old ministers of the Hongzhi period like Ma Wensheng and Wang Shu, who truly served the country and the people, would suddenly die.

For Zhu Houzhao, he had just ascended the throne and had no time to train new civil servants who were keen on innovation. He could only rely on these idealistic officials who were keen on innovation during the Hongzhi period.

Zhu Houzhao also knew that the famous officials who were willing to disregard their own interests and serve the country were just a drop in the ocean.

After all, idealists are still a minority in this world, especially officials like Ma Wensheng who are still idealists after years of ups and downs in officialdom. Once Ma Wensheng cannot preside over the government for him, it means that his pace of reforming the Ming Dynasty will be slowed down for a long time.

Therefore, when Zhu Houzhao heard the news that Ma Wensheng was dying, he was quite shocked and extremely unhappy. After all, Ma Wensheng was one of the few loyal ministers who truly cared about the life safety of Emperor Hongzhi and himself.

But Zhu Houzhao never thought that Ma Wensheng would suddenly die. Although he had always been worried that old ministers like Ma Wensheng would suddenly leave, according to his understanding of the original history, Ma Wensheng died in the fifth year of Zhengde, which is more than five years away from now. He should not leave the world so soon, otherwise Zhu Houzhao would not have entrusted him with the great task of reforming the government.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but wonder why Ma Wensheng had been so healthy these days and spoke with so much energy, so he suddenly fell ill. It didn't matter if he got sick, but if Ma Wensheng got sick or even passed away, he would have to look for old ministers who were willing to reform again.

However, although Zhu Houzhao was unwilling and did not want Ma Wensheng to leave like this, he still calmed himself down and asked, "Tell me in detail, what exactly happened, when did he get sick, what exactly is the disease, has a doctor seen it, and has it been diagnosed?"

Gao Feng hurriedly replied, "Originally, today was the day when Liu Jian and Xie Qian were leaving Beijing to return home, and Ma Gefu and others went out of the city to see them off. He was fine at first, but then Li Dongyang provoked him with a few words and he suddenly had an attack. He covered his chest with sweat all over his head, was short of breath, but his whole body was extremely cold, and he suddenly vomited and coughed. He has now been sent back home. The doctor has examined him and said that he is useless and can only rely on luck!"

"Prepare the horses. I will go to the Leopard House first. Also, tell the imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital to rush to Lord Ma's residence immediately! Do not delay!"

Zhu Houzhao sat back after he finished speaking, thinking that since Ma Wensheng could not get over the fact that his position as Prime Minister was taken away from him, there was no need for him to pretend to be magnanimous. Now that he had suddenly fallen seriously ill due to the provocation, he had to become anxious as well.

After Zhu Houzhao arrived at the Leopard House, he immediately went to the Royal Industrial Experimental Base to find Qiu Ju and asked, "Has nitroglycerin been extracted?"

Qiu Ju didn't understand why his master suddenly came to ask this, so he could only answer truthfully: "In reply to your Majesty, we have extracted about three grams of nitroglycerin, but we haven't found anyone with heart pain yet, so we haven't tested its effect yet."

"You don't have to wait for the test results. Pack your things and follow me to Ma Gefu's residence. Once there, you are not allowed to speak. I will arrange everything!"

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, Qiu Ju hurriedly followed Zhu Houzhao's order to pack up three grams of nitroglycerin, and then rushed to Ma Wensheng's house with Zhu Houzhao.

……

In those days, Emperor Hongzhi treated his old ministers well and granted mansions to civil servants such as Li Dongyang and Ma Wensheng in the Xuanwumenli Street area of ​​the inner city. The mansion given to Li Dongyang happened to be adjacent to the one given to Ma Wensheng. Therefore, Li Dongyang also learned at this time that Ma Wensheng was seriously ill and might not live.

Coincidentally, Yang Tinghe also came to visit Li Dongyang again at this time.

Li Dongyang smiled when he saw Yang Tinghe: "Happy event, it's really a happy event, you came at the right time!"

Yang Tinghe hurriedly bowed and said, "If what I have predicted is correct, the cabinet minister must be happy because Ma Wensheng is seriously ill. Once Ma Wensheng dies, Your Majesty will be left without a supporter in the outer court, and Ma Wensheng's followers will scatter like birds and beasts, which will naturally help the cabinet minister to unify the outer court."

Li Dongyang smiled and said, "Yang Tinghe's wisdom is indeed not inferior to mine. However, I am not only happy for this, I am also happy for you. After Ma Wensheng passed away, I used my influence in the court to get you into the cabinet. By then, there will be only you and me in the cabinet, and then Jiao Fang will be squeezed out. At least the affairs of the outer court are still under our control!"

When Yang Tinghe heard Li Dongyang say that he wanted to get him into the cabinet, he was overjoyed and hurriedly thanked Li Dongyang.

Yang Tinghe even couldn't help but joke: "In that case, today is a double celebration. I think since it's a happy event, why not set off firecrackers to celebrate it!" "Very good, very good! Just put them outside his Ma Mansion. Even if Ma Wensheng doesn't die of illness, he will be angry to death!"

Li Dongyang couldn't help but burst into laughter and hurriedly ordered people to prepare to set off firecrackers.

……

By this time, Zhu Houzhao had already arrived at the Ma Mansion.

At this time, Ma Wensheng's housekeeper had already begun preparing the white curtain.

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao shouted: "Why are you in such a hurry? It's hard to say whether the person will die or not. You servants are so anxious. Get out of my way!"

The servants of the Ma Mansion were a little angry when they saw a fifteen-year-old boy appear and yelled at them to get out of the way. The so-called seventh-rank officials in front of the prime minister were naturally very majestic. They were about to call for someone to beat him, but they saw that Zhu Houzhao was wearing a dragon robe, followed by a large group of eunuchs and Jinyiwei. They were so scared that they knelt on the ground:

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

"Everyone get up!"

Zhu Houzhao walked in as he spoke. Seeing an old butler wearing a watermelon hat and Songjiang cotton clothes kneeling in front of him, he picked him up and said, "Take me to see Ma Wensheng."

The old steward of the Ma Mansion nodded quickly in agreement.

At this time, the eunuch Luo Xiang who came with him was about to shout "Your Majesty has arrived", but Zhu Houzhao stopped him: "Don't scare the patient!"

Luo Xiang had no choice but to shut up.

At that time, Ma Wensheng was lying on the bed exhausted and half dead. His family members had already kneeled inside and outside the room and started crying, waiting for Ma Wensheng to take his last breath.

However, Ma Wensheng did not die. He would take a breath from time to time and raise his hand as if he wanted to say something.

Li Yanwen, the imperial physician who had arrived in advance, shook his head helplessly when he saw this, and said to Ma Wensheng's old wife: "The minister's illness is really a matter of fate. According to my many years of medical experience, the minister has purple spots on his face and I'm afraid he can't recover! Please accept my condolences, old lady!"

After the imperial physician Li Yanwen finished speaking, everyone in the Ma residence burst into tears.

Ma Wensheng himself stammered helplessly, trying to struggle and say that he didn't want to die yet, but he no longer had the strength to open his mouth.

Thank you for the 200 starting coins reward from my friend Dao Wu Hua Xia. I just came back from the hospital, so I'm sorry for the late update.

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(End of this chapter)