The Prosperous Era of Longwan

After the news of Lu Bing's death from a sudden illness came out, even though the Jinyi Guards were dispatched in large numbers, various versions were still circulated in teahouses, restaurants and streets in the capital.

In the mythical version, he was killed by someone who died unjustly, in the conspiracy version, he was murdered by a political opponent, and in the secular version, he died on a woman's belly.

This news was also reported to Wei Guangde by Zhang Ji as gossip, but Zhao Hu never came back after going out.

Zhao Hu didn't come back until it was dark and reported all the news he had learned during most of the day.

"Master, it is said that Governor Lu was in good condition when he left Beizhen Fusi in the afternoon and entered the palace. However, when he came out of the palace, he was carried by someone, followed by two imperial doctors. Later, several imperial doctors came, and All the famous doctors in the capital, as long as they were somewhat famous, were called to Fusi, Beizhen, but they still couldn't save her until night."

Zhao Hu inquired in detail this time, but Wei Guangde frowned slightly after hearing this.

"It means that Governor Lu fell ill while he was in the palace. He saw the imperial doctor while he was in the palace, and then sent him back to Beizhen Fusi. He also invited other imperial doctors and the capital to go there for diagnosis and treatment?"

"Yes, it is said that the emperor has decreed that all the imperial doctors from the imperial hospital should go there."

Zhao Hu replied.

"What kind of disease is it? It's so dangerous. Has anyone revealed it?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously, now it seems that Lu Bing really has an emergency, and death is his destiny.

"No, those people are very secretive and refuse to tell what the disease is."

Zhao Hu said awkwardly.

"It's so secretive? Is there anything else that's hard to say?"

Wei Guangde immediately heard the question and hurriedly asked, but then he remembered something and exclaimed: "Plague?"

In this era, violent diseases are really rare. Diseases that can lead to rapid death after onset. Wei Guangde only knows that some plagues are like this, and they die within half a day of onset.

However, not all plagues are so quick, and many take several days.

Now the doctors of the Ming Dynasty have also noticed that although they call highly infectious diseases "plague", there are still differences between plagues, with different onset cycles and symptoms.

Combined with the fact that the doctors had kept secrets before, Wei Guangde had just experienced an epidemic in the south. Naturally, his first thought was that the epidemic in the south had spread to the north.

Not to mention that this possibility does not exist, Wei Guangde clearly remembers that even when the plague was prevalent in the south, Jin Yiwei's spies and intelligence transmission did not stop. Maybe the intelligence was contaminated with unclean things. Lu Bing was checking it. This information was transmitted at the time, and he didn't even know it.

Thinking again that Lu Bing fell ill in the palace, Wei Guangde suddenly shuddered. What if he was called into Xiyuan two days from now?

That place is dangerous now, and you may be infected with the invisible virus inadvertently.

Wei Guangde was worried in the room. What Zhang Ji had heard before were all rumors, but he had laughed a lot, but now he couldn't laugh anymore.

Of course, this was not the time for him to be happy. He had to wait a few days to go to the Lu Mansion to pay homage. After all, Lu Bing was considered an elder, but he passed away before he could take care of him.

Without Lu Bing's protection, Wei Guangde suddenly felt that maybe Weng Pu's opinion was right, and if possible, it would be better to serve for two terms.

Before, he was young and ignorant, so he thought it would be good to live in the capital. Later, he was arrested by Lu Bing and met. With this big boss, he felt more at ease living in the capital, although Wei Guangde did not break the law or discipline.

But things are different now, he has no one to rely on, and Chen Ju in the palace is also showing off with him, and he can't have more contact. Now in the capital, he suddenly returned to the way he was when he first came to the capital, without channels to inquire about all kinds of information.

Not long after, Lao Kan, Zhang Ke and other fellow villagers came over, as well as new scholars Guizhi Yang and Ouyang Yijing.

They were able to sneak into Wei Guangde's house all because of fellow villagers, real fellow villagers.

Guizhiyang was from De'an and was elected in the 31st year of Jiajing. He was the same year as Zhu Shilong. However, Zhu Shilong had no intention of taking the imperial examination in the past two years and went out to enjoy the mountains and rivers.

It is said that Wei Guangde also participated in the Jiangxi Provincial Examination that year, but failed, so he was naturally familiar with Guizhiyang.

It's just that Guizhiyang was unlucky. He failed in the joint examinations in the 32nd and 35th years of Jiajing's reign. It was not until last year that he was awarded the title of Jinshi, and he passed the exam.

As for Ouyang Yijing, he actually passed the imperial examination earlier than Zhu Shilong and Guizhi Yang. He was the examiner in the 28th year of Jiajing period, but Ding You was at home, and Wei Guangde had visited him at his house when he was in Pengze.

However, time has passed and the boy back then has already stepped into the officialdom before him and became his senior.

It is worth mentioning that Ouyang Yijing also participated in the Jiajing 35th General Examination. He arrived in the capital at the last minute to complete the registration at the Ministry of Rites, but failed in the end.

After learning that he had failed the exam, he immediately left the capital and returned to his hometown in Jiangxi. It could be said that he came and went in a hurry.

Today I learned that Wei Guangde had returned to the court, and the two new scholars came uninvited. Naturally, they got the news from Lao Kan.

During Wei Guangde's absence in the capital, officials from Jiujiang gathered around Lao Kan.

As for the reason, it is actually very simple. Although Jiangxi is a province with a large imperial examination system, the Jinshi in Jiujiang Prefecture can only be regarded as a middle-to-lower level in Jiangxi as a whole. There are few people and the official positions are not high. Naturally, they have to stay together internally and look after each other.

At the wine table, everyone's conversation naturally focused on Wei Guangde's southward trip and then on Lu Bing's matter.

Wei Guangde could tell that they were all envious of him for being sent on foreign missions one after another. Zhang Ke also burped at the banquet and said: 'Next month, I will probably be able to go to Shanxi. ’

"Censor?"

Lao Kan asked in surprise.

Zhang Ke nodded, "Forget it, I got through it, the Chinese Book Department is just a decoration, there is nothing to do all day long, no matter which room in the six departments next door is busy, there is nothing in our room. "

Zhang Ke said it easily, but Wei Guangde also knew that this man probably spent a lot of money to transfer.

He picked up the wine glass and smiled at Zhang Ke: "From now on, we will be colleagues in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and we will have to take care of each other."

"Haha. That's that."

Zhang Ke laughed out loud, picked up the wine glass and touched it lightly with Wei Guangde, and then the two drank it down in one gulp.

"I heard that Mr. Lu fell ill in the palace. Why did the disease come on so violently?"

Guizhiyang watched them drink a drink, and then asked.

Now he is in the Pedestrian Department, and he is anxious to change his job. However, it is not easy to transfer, and he has to wait and see the opportunity.

So when Wei Guangde and Zhang Ke were talking, he waited on the side until the two put down their wine glasses before interrupting.

Lao Kan smacked his lips. His behavior naturally attracted the attention of others, including Wei Guangde, who looked over there.

In the past, Wei Guangde was the know-it-all in their small circle, but now that he has just returned to the capital, his know-how must not be as good as it is now.

Seeing Lao Kan's expression as if he knew something, Wei Guangde couldn't help but asked out of curiosity: "Just tell me if you know it, don't pretend to be profound."

"Ahem."

Lao Kan looked at Wei Guangde and shook his head, as if he didn't want to say anything.

"Everyone takes turns to offer you a glass of wine. If one drink is not enough, just two drinks until he is willing to talk."

Wei Guangde looked at Lao Kan's look and joked, taking the lead in raising his glass as he spoke.

"No, no, no, I'm just having fun."

When Lao Kan heard that Wei Guangde was planning to get him drunk, he immediately waved his hand, "It is true that something happened to Mr. Lu in the palace, but I heard that it was not a disease caused by Lao Shizi, but something caused by testing the medicine for Your Majesty. The elixir he just practiced The medicine contained erysipelas, Master Lu couldn't bear it, and the imperial doctor was helpless, and that's what happened in the end."

"What? Will you die if you take the elixir?"

Ouyang Yijing was slightly surprised and said, let alone him, Wei Guangde didn't expect it either, so he was still a little dazed at the moment.

He even suspected that Lu Bing was infected by the plague in the south and suddenly fell ill and died. But according to Lao Kan, he died from eating the elixir newly refined by Emperor Jiajing.

"Actually, if you ask some Taoist priests, you will know that all the elixirs produced have erysipelas, it's just a question of how much.

It is said that taking the prepared elixir can make the body strong and rejuvenate the body. However, it cannot be taken for a long time because the elixir is erysipelas.

If the refining is poor, it may be highly poisonous. Anyway, it is best not to touch the elixir. "

Lao Kan could speak calmly at this time. After speaking, he picked up the chopsticks on the table, picked up a piece of food, put it into his mouth, and chewed it slowly.

"I only heard about it this afternoon. I didn't expect Ren Zhi to know about it."

Zhang Ke on the side laughed.

"Did you hear that too?"

Wei Guangde wondered.

"There are not too many secrets in the officialdom. What happened in the palace, the servants in the palace have to go to the Sixth Section every day, and I don't know who revealed it, and then I found out."

Zhang Ke replied, "And I've also heard that people were eaten to death in the early years, but they haven't been eaten to death in recent years. However, there are also cases of vomiting and diarrhea after taking the elixir.

By the way, Mr. Yan Ge took the elixir given by His Majesty a few years ago. As a result, he lay in bed for three days and almost failed to save his life. Others said that Mr. Yan Ge was unlucky. The same elixir, Your Majesty He almost died after eating it alive. "

Wei Guangde felt happy after hearing this. He thought that it might be because Emperor Jiajing had taken too many drugs and his body was more resistant to erysipelas. Also, after all, Mr. Yan Ge was old and his health was not as good as the emperor's.

However, he had heard about this matter, and it was naturally Chen Ju, because he was present when the medicine was given, and he watched Emperor Jiajing pour two pills from the jade bottle, take one himself, and One grain was given to Yan Song.

Then, Emperor Jiajing had nothing to do and was still meditating there, while Yan Song fainted without much effort. He was carried out of Xiyuan by the chamberlain and sent directly home, where he was in a panic again.

After his performance, Emperor Jiajing received the reward and quickly called the imperial physician for diagnosis and treatment.

As a result, rumors that Yan Song was unlucky spread inside and outside the palace.

This was what Chen Ju had seen with his own eyes, and there was absolutely nothing false about it, so many people at the time believed it without a doubt.

In this era, many people still believe in gods and ghosts. There are not many atheists like Wei Guangde, and most of them are scholars.

Of course, as he traveled through time, Wei Guangde became a little unsure about the theory of gods and ghosts.

Regarding the legends of ancient gods and monsters in later works, most of the lines used are "Zi didn't talk about monsters and his power confuses the gods." It gives people the impression that Confucius said this as if he was saying not to talk about gods and monsters, just like what he said "respect ghosts and gods and stay away." Of".

After a few words of chatting, Wei Guangde felt relieved. As long as Lu Bing was not infected with the plague, Xiyuan could still go there, but it would be really dangerous if he would take the elixir given by Emperor Jiajing in the future.

What if, what if Emperor Jiajing insists on rewarding him with pills?

Wei Guangde unconsciously thought that he would just say that he was not so lucky.

Soon, Wei Guangde thought of a way to deal with it.

But thinking about it, this time the pill poisoned Lu Bing, Emperor Jiajing probably wouldn't give medicine to others casually for a long time.

While the Wei Mansion was drinking and drinking, the same was true in several other mansions in Beijing, where the owners were happily drinking and having fun.

Of course, the reasons for their happiness are naturally different. Perhaps only the Lu family is miserable at this time.

As the backbone of the Lu family, he was gone. He was fine the day before, and even fine in the afternoon, but such bad news came out in just half a day.

But it's just worry, the Lu family is not panicking. After all, when Lu Bing was alive, he relied on Emperor Jiajing's favor to make a very careful layout in order to protect his family and still be able to maintain it even when he was gone. .

Lu Bing's son Lu Jing married the granddaughter of Gao Shu, the right governor, his eldest daughter married the son of Cheng Guogong Zhu Xizhong, his second daughter married Yan Song's grandson Yan Shaoting, his third daughter married Xu Jie's son, and his fourth daughter married She was given to the son of Sun Chengen, the Minister of Rites, and the fifth daughter was married to the son of Wu Peng, the Minister of Officials, forming a powerful political marriage alliance with relatives.

In fact, it can be seen from this that Lu Bing once placed his hope on using Yan and Xu to balance the court, and he married two families separately for insurance.

What's more, they already know the real cause of Lu Bing's death, and all they can do now is prepare a grand funeral for Lu Bing.

At this time in Xiyuan, Emperor Jiajing was not meditating in the house as usual, but standing in the garden behind Yongshou Palace, looking up at the moon in the sky.

The news of Lu Bing's death last night was like a bolt from the blue to Emperor Jiajing.

Lu Bing is not only his trusted minister, but also his good brother.

The two grew up together. Emperor Jiajing met his nanny's son when he was very young, and the relationship was already deep.

When his mother died, he was touring the south to bury the queen mother and his father together. Halfway through the journey, the fire at Wei Hui was still vivid in his mind. It was Lu Bing who rushed into the sea of ​​​​fire and carried him out. Zhu Xizhong was also helping.

At that time, Emperor Jiajing determined that these two people were loyal to him, otherwise he would never have rushed into the fire to rescue him in such a fire.

However, I didn’t expect that Lu Bing would actually