The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Your Highness, ladies and gentlemen, I just received the news that Mr. Yan Ge has gone to Xiyuan."

The little chamberlain's report made everyone in the room fearful again, but Yan Song's holy family was still there, and his meeting with the emperor would change the situation again.

King Yu frowned, but said nothing.

Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng were also sullen and wondering whether Emperor Jiajing would modify the punishment this time because of Yan Song's relationship.

Only Yin Shizhen seemed to feel relaxed now, and actually laughed and said: "That's it, hahaha."

His laughter naturally made him the focus of everyone in the room, and everyone's eyes were focused on him.

"Your Highness, Uncle, Shandai, you have forgotten that His Majesty wants Yan Ge to serve in the old age. Logically speaking, he has to submit a memorial to thank you. When he goes to Xiyuan this time, he will definitely intercede for his son. But there is also a need to thank His Majesty for letting him The grace of becoming an official.

Tut Tut's son was punished, but His Majesty still allowed him to return to his hometown according to the old tradition of returning an old official with honor, and even gave him Lumi. "

Seeing that everyone's eyes were attracted to him, Yin Shizhen explained with a smile.

"What do you mean, Yan Song has no intention of resisting, but just wants to go to Xiyuan to plead for his son? He has actually accepted the order to become an official?"

Zhang Juzheng asked with a frown.

In the teachings Xu Jie gave him, Yan Song and Yan Shifan were always described as very powerful characters. They were greedy for money and power, and logically they would not give up their rights easily.

Even if Emperor Jiajing wanted them to leave the court, he would probably resist stubbornly.

In the capital, there are military officers and nobles who control the surrounding garrisons. However, after all, Yan Song has been the prime minister for more than ten years, and he has deployed many people in the local area. Especially Hu Zongxian of Zhejiang, who can hold 100,000 troops, and the entire south. The most capable unit.

Even though Tan Lun took away a group of troops because of the encirclement and suppression of Fujian rebels, the strength in his hands should not be underestimated.

Letting Yan Song return to Jiangxi easily is tantamount to letting the tiger go back to the mountain. The best, once and for all solution is to take down both Yan Song and his son, so that they can relieve their worries.

Stability, above all else.

"Then, Yan Shifan will never be able to get out of prison no matter what."

Wei Guangde said suddenly.

"Exactly."

Yin Shizhen continued: "At least, it is impossible for Yan Shifan to be released before Hu Zongxian is relieved of his military power. No matter how Yan Song pleads for mercy, he may be exempted from death."

After hearing Yin Shizhen's words, Zhang Juzheng suddenly understood.

Indeed, after capturing Yan Shifan and imprisoning him in imperial prison, even if Yan Song returned south, he would not be able to cause any trouble, and his son would still be imprisoned.

Just go home and take care of yourself. It will be great if you are in your 80s and enjoy your old age.

After taking down Hu Zongxian, Yan Shifan's punishment should come out. Even if they really let him go at this time, they won't be able to make any waves.

The Jin Yiwei of Nanchang may have captured Yan Hu at this time, and his son and grandson are not here. Even if Yan Song had the intention to do anything, he would be unable to do so.

If you think about it this way, you really don't need to catch them all. Although it will make people unwilling, it will have the least impact on the court.

When Xia Yan was tried and punished, it not only disgraced the court, but also chilled the hearts of many knowledgeable people.

In the officialdom, there were many people who supported Xia Yan and many who opposed it, but Xia Yan's beheading still made the opponents dissatisfied.

The punishment is not good enough for the scholar-bureaucrats.

This is the reason why the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty dared to challenge the emperor. Xia Yan was not a rebel, he was just a relatively power-hungry official, but his ability was obvious to all. At least Emperor Jiajing felt many times that Xia Yan could not live without Xia Yan in the cabinet. .

Supporters are naturally those who maintain the same position as Xia Yan and can benefit from Xia Yan's governance. At least they have similar views and they support Xia Yan's rectification measures.

The opponents are mostly because Xia Yan and his party have deprived their rights and have harmed their own interests. Naturally, they stand on the opposite side of him. They do not necessarily think that Xia Yan is incompetent, but just because Xia Yan touches their interests. .

They were beheaded by Emperor Jiajing just because of political disagreements. How could they do anything?

Even if they knew that Xia Yan's death was inextricably linked to Yan Song and Lu Bing, over time they came to understand that it was Yan and Lu who had done the killing, even though it was Emperor Jiajing who gave the order. .

Because of this incident, Yan Song was gradually ostracized by the civil service group, especially since he was not inferior to Xia Yan in seizing power, so he finally stood on the opposite side of most officials.

If you want to be promoted, you can only rely on Yan Song.

In such an environment, if other people are willing to work under him as a pawn, they will naturally stand on the opposite side of most people.

People's words are formidable, so it's obvious how they choose.

Knowing that even if Yan Song pleads for mercy in front of Emperor Jiajing, Yan Shifan would not be released, and the outcome of the Yan family's downfall would not change, Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde naturally were not too worried.

To be honest, they were really afraid that Yan Song would cry and beg in front of Emperor Jiajing and reverse the good situation that was finally formed.

At this time, Yan Song was walking into the Yuxi Palace step by step on trembling legs. He looked so desolate, with a numb expression, and holding the memorial in both hands, which made people feel pity when he saw it.

After all, he was over eighty years old. His age was there, and he deliberately created such an image. The purpose was of course to win the sympathy of Emperor Jiajing.

He was well prepared, but he didn't expect that his son would be arrested and thrown into prison at the last moment, so he was in a very bad mood.

Although it was a performance, the state of mind at this time was real.

Once inside, he knelt down and saluted Emperor Jiajing.

In fact, Emperor Jiajing's heart had softened a bit since he came in, but when he thought about some scruples, he knew that he had to be hard-hearted, at least not until the hidden dangers were solved.

In the past, when Yan Song came in, he just handed over his hand. In the Ming Dynasty, there was no requirement that ministers must kneel and kowtow when they see the emperor. Only in formal occasions, they had to bow. On occasions like today, just bow and bow.

However, maybe Yan Song knew that after today, he was afraid that he would never have another chance. If he was not more gentle, he was afraid that he would never be able to plead for mercy in person after leaving here, so he did everything he should do.

"Flat body."

Emperor Jiajing sat on the throne, watched Yan Song kneel down, and said.

However, Yan Song naturally would not let the emperor's words affect his plans. After the difficult ceremony of kneeling five times and kowtowing three times, he shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, Yan Song, thank you for your kindness."

Being an official is punishment for some people, but it is also a relief for some people.

Being an official is not that easy.

Yan Song was a Jinshi in the Hongzhi year and served the three emperors Hongzhi, Zhengde and Jiajing, so he naturally had a clear understanding of this.

In fact, he didn't know if he was still greedy for that bit of power. After all, his body really couldn't bear it, and all he wanted to do was protect his family.

Now, he could finally be freed from the endless official documents, which was a good thing from the bottom of his heart, but his son's crime still made him feel uneasy.

"Yan Aiqing has been diligent in political affairs and sharing my worries over the years. It is also hard work. You have said several times before that you want to return to your hometown for retirement. At that time, I really had to do without Aiqing's assistance, so it was delayed for many years.

It is strange that I am eighty years old. Ordinary people have already enjoyed their old age in peace, but I am still working hard on state affairs. I cannot bear it, so I have issued this edict. "

Emperor Jiajing said with some emotion, as if all his opinions were based on Yan Song's consideration.

"I thank your Majesty for your love and care. I was lucky enough to win your Majesty's favor and take charge of the cabinet with my little merit, but I neglected to discipline my ministers."

As Yan Song spoke, he held up the memorial in his hand. Huang Jin stepped forward to take it from his hand and handed it to the emperor.

Yan Song was actually doing a miserable job at this time, hoping to use his merits and hard work to exchange for the sympathy of Emperor Jiajing, so that he could take his son Yan Shifan south with him.

As long as a person is released from prison by Emperor Jiajing, what happened in the capital will be brushed aside and will never be mentioned again.

After all, Zou Yinglong's impeachment had written out almost all of Yan Shifan's crimes. If he continued to pursue the case, it would not be the Yan family's problem, but the emperor's.

Yan Song is really not afraid of people turning over old scores.

As for whether someone will copy Zou Yinglong's memorial and continue the impeachment, hoping to hold him accountable?

Yan Song believed that no one would do the trick of picking on someone's teeth and targeting the family of the former chief minister of the dynasty.

Emperor Jiajing did not read the two memorials, so he naturally knew what was written in them.

After Yan Song finished speaking, he looked at Yan Song who was lying on the ground, shook his head slightly and said: "I already know what Shifan did through the memorial, and I also asked the factory guards to verify it and know where the person was found. ?

Is it true that you don’t know anything about these things? "

After Emperor Jiajing asked two questions in a row, he stood up and said in a somewhat solemn tone: "Xuan Cheng is grateful for his kindness, and he has protected the evil and evil deeds. He bullies his superiors and slanders him more and more every day.

I remember that you have been conscientious and diligent in the king's affairs for more than 20 years, so I have given you advantages and disadvantages. Why do you use evil children to save you? "

As the saying goes, "The benevolent sees benevolence, and the wise see wisdom." What it actually means is that different people have different views on the same issue from different positions or angles.

Regarding the issue of Yan Shifan, Emperor Jiajing and Yan Song actually had different understandings of him, and their opinions were naturally very different.

In fact, Yan Song arranged from the overall situation and competed for some key positions for the smooth implementation of his administration, but these could only be achieved with the acquiescence of Emperor Jiajing.

Therefore, Yan Song thought that the so-called strict party was actually on the surface. Emperor Jiajing naturally knew who it was?

As the saying goes, as long as the tree falls and the monkeys disperse, as long as they resign, these people will be almost independent and go their own way, which will not arouse Emperor Jiajing's fear at all. What's more, most of the senior officials have been replaced in recent years, and many of the people he used have either been promoted to official positions or have been punished. , is no longer what it used to be.

As for the group of friends around Yan Shifan, in his opinion, they just want to take advantage of the situation. If he leaves his job and takes his son south, he will naturally stop contacting them.

He knew about Yan Shifan's selling of his official position, and when Wu Peng or Ouyang Bi entered the administrative staff, he did hint at it sometimes, but in his opinion, they were all insignificant positions, and there was nothing more between them than A transaction.

Others give them money, and if they meet the conditions for taking office, they are given some preferential treatment to allow them to take office early.

In fact, this is just to get what everyone needs and will not have any impact on the government.

As for whether they would give money to the Yan family and get the money back after taking office, that was no longer within his scope of consideration. Strict punishments would be enough for those who broke the law.

He didn't know how many official positions Yan Shifan had sold, and how many of them had been drawn to his side and become nails in the local government.

Yan Song didn't know this, but Jin Yiwei and Dongchang paid close attention to it.

After discovering that many people were still in contact with the Yan Mansion after taking office, they naturally knew what was going on. These were all people from the Yan Mansion, and then they naturally became involved in the small books.

Not many people know about these things. Even Yan Song is kept in the dark. He has no idea that his family has expanded infinitely under the control of Yan Shifan. It has spread from the capital to many places, and they are still very important. Prefecture and county.

It's just that most of the people with real materials choose to take the right path, and naturally they won't get involved with the Yan family. It's not that they don't want to, but they are worried about their face and want to hang out among the scholars.

Although he has many people and can do a lot of things, Yan Shifan also has a very clear understanding of these people.

These arrangements were also made to force King Jing to ascend to the throne in the future. They were worried about the severe backlash in the local area and could be controlled by human hands. However, in the eyes of Emperor Jiajing, these actions were considered to have ulterior motives.

At this time, Yan Song was frightened when he heard Emperor Jiajing's words in his eyes, knowing that he could not force anything.

Emperor Jiajing wanted to take Yan Shifan into custody, so he could only say that his son must have really sinned against the emperor, so he had to kowtow to plead guilty.

"Your Majesty, everything is the fault of my lax management of the family. The world vassal has committed serious crimes. Please punish me severely to atone for your sins."

If you want the merit to make up for it, then plead guilty and take the initiative to ask for a heavy punishment. I think the emperor will remember a little bit of incense.

To retreat is to advance, this is the only choice Yan Song can make at this time.

"The country has its own laws, and the crimes of feudal lords are determined by their own laws."

At this time, Emperor Jiajing's voice reached Yan Song's ears, and he couldn't help but feel a little frightened.

The Law Division, that is, the Three Law Divisions, are handled by the Ministry of Punishment, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Dali Temple.

Dali Temple was fine, and the Ministry of Punishment was able to talk things out, but the Procuratorate was a little more difficult to deal with.

Up to now, among the three departments of law, the only one the Yan family can still control is Dali Temple. The Department of Punishment was taken down by him in the past, so his connections are still there.

But over to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the current Zuodu Censor Pan En is from Xu Jie.

In a daze, Yan Song exited Yuxi Palace.

When he walked out of the gate of Xiyuan, he unconsciously looked back and saw only red walls and green tiles.

It's just that this is no longer a place where he can come.

Yan Song never expected that as a cabinet minister and a bachelor of Huagaidian, the last decree he drafted would actually be his official edict. Although he enjoyed Chiyi and Lumi as in the previous decree, he cared most about his son. Still haven't come out from the prison.

The decree was quickly sent to the Director of Ceremonies, and after it was printed, it was quickly sent to the Sixth Section and the Cabinet for processing.

Huang Jin witnessed all this in Yuxi Palace and knew that Emperor Jiajing had made up his mind to capture Yan Song, so naturally he did not dare to delay at all.