Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 67: The Long-cherished Wish of Recovering Hetao

"It's useless. Who said it can't be saved? Who knows if we don't make a final attempt?"

Zhu Houzhao's words had already been heard in Ma Wensheng's room before he arrived.

Everyone looked back and were shocked, wondering why His Majesty was here.
Li Shizhen's father, Li Yanwen, who was a clerk in the Imperial Hospital at the time, felt quite aggrieved. He thought that he was a famous doctor after all, and Ma Gefu was already terminally ill, and even a god could not save him. How could he say that he was useless? It turned out that working in the Imperial Hospital was not a good job.

Everyone turned around and knelt before Zhu Houzhao.

Although Li Yanwen was unhappy with what Zhu Houzhao said, he was still prepared to perform the ceremony obediently.

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao hurriedly shouted: "Don't kneel! I'm not dead!"

After Zhu Houzhao shouted like this, no one dared to kneel anymore.

When Ma Wensheng saw Emperor Zhu Houzhao coming, he raised his hand a little higher and opened his mouth as if to say something, but he could only utter the word "Your Majesty". Two turbid tears unconsciously shed from his old eyes.

Zhu Houzhao didn't know why, but he couldn't help but feel his eyes moisten when he saw this scene, but he still shouted loudly:
"No need to stand up and bow. Everyone except the imperial physician and the old lady should leave. Also, go open all the windows to give the patient enough air!"

The Emperor issued an order, and no one dared to disobey. The filial sons and grandsons who were waiting to mourn for Ma Wensheng hurriedly left.

Zhu Houzhao also walked in and asked everyone else to stand outside the yard. He only brought Qiu Ju to Ma Wensheng.

Zhu Houzhao hurriedly ordered the old lady to prepare a cup of warm water, and Qiu Ju immediately took out some nitroglycerin tablets to prepare for Ma Wensheng.

It was the first time that Ma Wensheng's wife met the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. She didn't know how to stop Emperor Zhu Houzhao, so she had to obey him obediently. Like an old servant, she hurried to get warm water and handed it to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, the water is here."

At that time, Li Yanwen didn't know what the powdery substance in Qiu Ju's hand was, and thought it was some kind of elixir. He couldn't help but remind him, "Your Majesty, although the cabinet assistant's illness was caused by a temporary stimulus, he has actually been ill for a long time. Moreover, he is old, his blood vessels are blocked, and he has heart failure. It is beyond human power to cure him. If you rashly use elixirs, it will make the cabinet assistant suffer more before his death. Lead and mercury will only damage the liver and spleen, and will not help!"

Although Zhu Houzhao secretly felt that Li Yanwen should be a highly skilled doctor, otherwise he would not have been able to determine that the root cause of Ma Wensheng's illness was heart failure caused by old age, but at this moment, he wanted to try nitroglycerin, and naturally he was too lazy to listen to Li Yanwen's chatter, so he hurriedly ordered someone to cover Li Yanwen's mouth.

At the same time, Zhu Houzhao hurriedly ordered Qiu Ju to give Ma Wensheng a cup of warm water to moisten his mouth, and at the same time put a nitroglycerin tablet under his tongue.

Ma Wensheng was unable to resist and had to hold the nitroglycerin tablet in his mouth.

Ma Wensheng's wife did not dare to stop Emperor Zhu Houzhao. She only looked at her husband worriedly, fearing that her husband would be in even greater pain after taking the elixir as the imperial physician Li had said. So she only wiped away her tears secretly, thinking that this emperor was unreliable. He fed his husband the elixir directly to save him, but she could not stop it.

After Ma Wensheng took the medicine, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but look at Ma Wensheng. He was secretly a little uneasy, thinking that nitroglycerin should be able to relieve heart pressure and dilate coronary arteries, thereby achieving the purpose of treating coronary heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases.

However, Zhu Houzhao was not sure whether the nitroglycerin he asked Qiu Ju to extract would be really effective on the human body. After all, it had not undergone clinical trials. But Zhu Houzhao could only take a gamble. At worst, Ma Wensheng would still die of a heart attack. But if successful, on the one hand, Ma Wensheng would naturally be able to come back to life, and on the other hand, it would allow nitroglycerin, a good medicine for treating heart disease, to complete clinical trials and be able to be mass-produced.

It was not known whether it was because the drug had begun to take effect or because of Ma Wensheng's last moments of enlightenment, but when Ma Wensheng saw Zhu Houzhao sitting in front of him, he was finally able to speak:
"Your Majesty, please forgive me for not being able to assist you in your new policy of civil service reform, but my lifelong wish has not yet been fulfilled. Now I can only ask Your Majesty for help. If there is a day in the future when my wish is fulfilled, I hope Your Majesty will send someone to inform me at my grave!

"I can also tell the late emperor in my grave. The late emperor also had the same wish as me when he was alive. It's a pity that he died before he could accomplish his great cause. Now I have to go to the late emperor in advance and tell him about your majesty's intentions. In this way, your majesty can be relieved in your grave!" Ma Wensheng started coughing violently, and then he couldn't help but close his old eyes. Two lines of hot tears rolled down from the corners of his eyes. Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but hold his old hands, sighed, and asked, "What is your long-cherished wish?"

"Recover Hetao! Since Xuande, the Tartars have occupied our Hetao and have not returned it until now, causing serious border troubles and our Ming Dynasty cannot advance westward," Ma Wensheng replied weakly.

"Don't worry, my dear minister. You are just a little anxious and angry. It's not a serious illness. I just gave you some good medicine. You will get better. Then we will work together as king and minister to recover Hetao. Not only Hetao, but also Hamiwei!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Ma Wensheng couldn't help but smile bitterly.

At this time, Ma Wensheng's wife couldn't help crying again: "Your Majesty, my master is no longer useful. Please rest in the main hall and allow us to change my master's burial clothes to prevent the disease from spreading to Your Majesty!"

"Let's take a look! Wasn't he able to talk to me just now? Maybe there really is hope!"

Zhu Houzhao was still insisting, and for some reason, he began to choke up while speaking.

"Your Majesty, maybe it's just a flash of brilliance!"

At this time, the eunuch on the side was so focused on Ma Wensheng that he forgot to cover Li Yanwen's mouth, so Li Yanwen also said something at this time.

"Shut up!"

Zhu Houzhao replied directly, and at this time, Ma Wensheng still had his eyes closed, but his breathing became much more even. However, suddenly, the sound of firecrackers and fireworks was heard outside, and the light directly illuminated the inner hall of the Ma Mansion.

Zhu Houzhao was already feeling a bit irritable, and couldn't help but ask, "Who is setting off fireworks and firecrackers at this time? Let's go and have a look!"

So, someone went to see it, and then came back to report: "Your Majesty, it's being set off at Li Gechen's residence across the street, for a happy event!"

At this time, Ma Wensheng suddenly opened his eyes and bared his teeth: "He is trying to irritate me, he is trying to irritate me, Li Binzhi, you and I have been officials in the same court for so long, is it necessary to do this! Is it necessary!"

After Ma Wensheng finished speaking excitedly, his breathing became rapid again.

Zhu Houzhao hurriedly ordered Qiu Ju to put another nitroglycerin tablet under Ma Wensheng's tongue.

Ma Wensheng regained his composure and soon sat up on his own.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but laugh when he saw this: "It seems that this medicine is really effective."

Li Yanwen, however, was still staring at Ma Wensheng with his eyes wide open, thinking, "The purple spots have disappeared and his breathing has become normal. Is your majesty's elixir really a magical medicine? Can it really bring the dead back to life?"

(End of this chapter)