Chapter 2668 - 2601: Consent

The Emperor gave him a deep look and said, "The people are the foundation, naturally I have made preparations."

Wei Zhi then fell silent.

The Emperor, seeing him relent, immediately rolled up his sleeves and looked at Director Xiao and Zhou Man, suppressing his excitement, "Come, both of you come and examine me?"

Manbao lifted her head, only to meet Director Xiao’s gaze, and both of them felt a bit helpless, so they had no choice but to step forward.

Manbao particularly respects the elderly, and since Director Xiao is her superior, she naturally let him check the pulse first. Thus, she firmly stood behind him.

Director Xiao, feeling helpless, could only step forward to take the Emperor’s pulse.

Everyone watched intently, especially those who opposed the Emperor leading a military expedition, like Minister Li from the Ministry of Rites, who shifted slightly to the Emperor’s side, facing Director Xiao who was examining the pulse.

He repeatedly gave him meaningful looks.

Director Xiao saw this and simply closed his eyes slightly, tilting his head while feeling the Emperor’s pulse.

Actually, there was no need to do so; he had just checked the Emperor’s pulse two days ago, and during the crisp autumn weather, the Emperor’s health was good.

After a while, Director Xiao withdrew his hand and stood to the side.

Manbao looked at Director Xiao, hoping he would speak first, but Director Xiao only raised an eyelid to glance at her, then motioned for her to step forward.

Manbao, feeling helpless, had no choice but to withdraw her gaze, sit on the small stool, and gently examined the Emperor’s hand placed on the table...

After a while, Manbao also stood up and moved to the side.

Everyone looked at the two, pressuring them with their gazes to achieve their own purposes.

Manbao looked at Director Xiao.

Director Xiao then honestly reported the Emperor’s pulse condition.

State Duke Zhao, feeling impatient, directly asked, "Just tell us whether His Majesty’s body can withstand leading a military expedition, all this talk about ’rounded pulse’ and ’smooth pulse’, we don’t understand it."

Director Xiao: "... It’s not a rounded pulse, it’s a solid pulse, but forget it, saying it means nothing to you, though I think Lord Wei and Minister Li are knowledgeable enough to understand, right?"

In today’s scholarly world, who hasn’t skimmed through the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor while studying? Even if not specialized in it, although one might not be able to discern the pulse, they’ve experienced enough to understand when I say the pulse is solid, strong, and smooth without stagnation, don’t you understand?

Anyway, the Emperor understood and immediately exclaimed, "Didn’t I say my health is good?"

Director Xiao hesitated and looked towards Zhou Man.

Manbao was lost in thought, not noticing his expression.

Wei Zhi sensed this, and just as the Emperor was about to decide on leading the military expedition, he directly asked, "Director Xiao, Imperial Doctor Zhou, is there truly no issue with His Majesty leading a military expedition? If something were to happen during His Majesty’s campaign, would you be able to bear the blame?"

Director Xiao was precisely concerned about this, hence he was reluctant to describe the pulse condition too simply; I say the Emperor’s pulse now is very good, strong enough to kill two oxen, but what if something happened and he was held accountable?

Even though this is indeed the reality.

So Director Xiao took a deep breath and said, "His Majesty’s pulse is indeed good now, but who can be certain about traveling?"

"Away from home, after all, the environment is different, not to mention the battlefield where situations change swiftly, no one knows what might happen," Director Xiao paused, then continued, "Moreover, His Majesty still carries old injuries."

The Emperor was unexpectedly taken aback seeing him change stance, widening his eyes, turned his head to Zhou Man and said, "Courtier Zhou, what do you think?"

Manbao bowed and replied, "I think Director Xiao speaks rightly, Your Majesty. Even drinking water could choke someone to death, not to mention going out, especially for something like leading a military expedition."

The Emperor was surprised for a moment, then laughed heartily, slapping the armrest and asking everyone, "Indeed, should I really abstain due to fear of choking?"

He finally understood what this old fellow Director Xiao was worried about, and directly said, "Since all courtiers are here today, let it be known, my expedition is my determination, unrelated to the judgment of the Imperial Hospital."

Director Xiao secretly sighed in relief, giving Zhou Man a look of approval.

Wei Zhi sighed, asking, "With Your Majesty on a distant expedition, who will handle affairs at court?"

"The Crown Prince will oversee the administration," the Emperor had already considered, "Previously when I went to Yongzhou for summer, the Crown Prince oversaw the administration for two months, did he not manage it well?"

The Crown Prince, who had been standing aside like a background extra: ...

He suspiciously looked up at his father, suspecting he had planned it all along.

Other ministers in the room shared the same suspicion, though upon reflecting, the Emperor only learned about Goguryeo’s attack on Yingzhou after he went to the temporary palace, not knowing beforehand, so it should be mere coincidence.

Thus, everyone collected their thoughts again.

The Emperor then nominated Wei Zhi, Minister Li, Minister Liu, and Lord Tang, saying, "You few, assist the Crown Prince in managing internal affairs well, so I can confidently lead the army outside."

What else could the others say?

He even invited Director Xiao and Zhou Man beforehand; although they believed stopping the Emperor from leading the expedition was correct, strong reasoning was required.

A mere phrase like "A wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall" clearly wasn’t enough.

Since the Emperor countered with "Boosting morale."

But Great Jin indeed suffered multiple setbacks against Goguryeo, not that they didn’t win the battles, but winning without subduing the opponent, in their eyes, was equivalent to not winning.

Like against Western Turks, Gaochang, and other nations, they won, took territory, established states and counties, governed by Han People’s rites, that’s considered a win.

Even if it’s like with Tubo, they won, regained the land when they could, and those they couldn’t, Tubo quietly paid tribute for several years, and during festive occasions, either Tubo’s envoys come to celebrate longevity or festivals, sometimes even the Tubo King personally dropping by.

This is called closeness, reciprocation, intimacy without barriers, called the nations of barbarians.

But when it came to Goguryeo, they surrendered quickly during battles, the reports sounding nice, but failed to pay tributes when due, and evaded visiting the capital for mutual exchanges, it was fine, the Emperor was busy, couldn’t bother with them.

But last year they cut off other vassal states’ routes to court, and this year they subtly dispatched troops to seize territory, that’s excessive.

Under such circumstances, claiming Great Jin won against Goguryeo was unacceptable even to ministers from scholarly backgrounds, let alone military generals who had long bottled up anger.

And privately, there are somewhat unpleasant rumors.

Half of the reason for the previous dynasty’s downfall was due to eastern expeditions against Goguryeo, so civilians often say Goguryeo is the nemesis of the Central Plains, whoever confronts it faces national annihilation.

At this point, there’s a big difference between the Emperor leading the expedition himself and sending troops east.

Precisely because of this, ministers were quickly convinced.

However, they passed one hurdle, but there was still the Empress’ hurdle in the harem.

Thus, when the Emperor departed the imperial study heading for the harem, he specifically asked Zhou Man to accompany him, taking the Crown Prince along as well.