Yan Song (1480-1567 AD), whose courtesy name was Weizhong and his pseudonym was Jiexi. He was fed to Yiren, Jiangxi, and Hongzhi joined the territory. In the 21st year of Jiajing (1542 AD), he served as the Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace, the General Secretary of the World, and was also the Minister of Rites. He was always arrogant to Emperor Shizong of Ming Dynasty, stealing power and seizing profits, and killing dissidents. Yan Song was good at writing some "green poems" that burned and sacrificed to heaven, and was favored by the emperor. In August of the 23rd year of Jiajing (1544 AD), he impeached the censors of Zhai Luan and his son.

He cheated when he entered the country, causing Zhai Luan to be demoted to the people. In September, Yan Song was promoted to the chief minister and took charge of the state's affairs. He was called the "Prime Minister of Qingci". He was over 60 years old and stayed in Xiyuan all day long. He never returned home to take a bath. Emperor Shizong of Ming Dynasty was moved by his diligence and trusted him even more. Yan Song used his son Yan Shifan and adopted son Zhao Wenhua as his minions to win over Lu Bing, commander of the Jinyiwei, and manipulated the government for more than ten years. He was powerful in the court, accepted gifts and bribes, and did whatever he wanted, which made the Ming Dynasty's politics extremely dark and the border defense slack.

1. Boy

Yan Song, with thick eyebrows, loud voice, long and tall feet, and thin, as if he had only two feet. He was born in a poor family of scholars in Fenyijiexi in the 16th year of Chenghua (1480 AD). His grandfather Yan Ji and his father Yan Zhun were a poor scholar who was taught in the village.

Yan Song was smart when he was young and was the eldest son of the house and grandson. His father was particularly concerned about his studies. He recited books and history at the age of eight, and was able to write literature. He had strange words.

According to the "Yan Family Genealogy", when Song was studying in a private school, he once spoke to his teacher and his uncle in a couplet, saying, "Holding the columns in the house with his hands, and walking on the cloud ladder, stepping up step by step"; "A bay of beautiful water is full of love, and the flowing pearls and jade are all looking around, looking at the mountains, and the green is cut; "A seven-year-old child is called the old master before he is old, and his uncle is thirty-year-old but he is a scholar." Because of his extraordinary words, he is called a child prodigy.

2. Go to the official position

After years of hard study, Yan Song finally passed the imperial examination in the 18th year of Hongzhi (1505), and was selected as a Shujishi of the Hanlin Academy for "Politics of Viewing Peony After the Rain" (the Ming Dynasty system, a new Jinshi who was good at literature and calligraphy was selected as a Shujishi, who continued to study and practiced political affairs). Yan Song was just twenty-six years old that year. In the second year of Zhengde (1507), Yan Song graduated and was awarded the editor of the Hanlin Academy.

His officialdom was in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and this turbulent autumn of the Jiajing period. During the 46th year of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty, he only cared about two things, namely "Great Li An Discussion" and Xuan Xiu, and the ministers' attitudes on these two things were his standard for measuring talents. Yan Song performed just right in both things, and was suddenly noble because of his discussion of etiquette, and praised Xuan Xiu. "The suspicious master likes to use gentle ministers." Looking at Yan Song's life, we can see that Yan Song's life creed is not to be a mountain, but to only make water, follow the place, and to be round.

Yan Song was successful in his youth, and his bright future seemed to have been revealed in front of him. However, in March and the summer of the following year of Zhengde (1508), due to the death of his grandfather and mother one after another, he had to return to his hometown to observe the system, interrupting his official career.

3. Retire from Qianshan

In his prime, why did Yan Song retire to Qianshan and live in vain for eight years? This has to be linked to the special political environment during the Zhengde period. Zhu Houzhao, the Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty, was very happy, built leopard houses, visited Xuanfu, and did whatever he wanted all day long, indulging in pleasure. He was a typical emperor who was frivolous and unruly. Wuzong's desolate affairs provided the eunuch Liu Jin with the opportunity to abduct power, which intensified the disaster of eunuchs during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, and many loyal and upright people were hit and persecuted to varying degrees.

Yan Song retired to Qianshan, and made a decision after carefully analyzing the political situation at that time. As a new Hanlin, if he competed with the eunuch party, it would be like a mantis arm to block a chariot and destroy himself. If he became an official, he had to surrender to the eunuch party, which was not ashamed of the scholars. Yan Song retired to Qianshan, which was also closely related to the party struggles in the Ming Dynasty. At that time, the eunuch Liu Jin, who was in power, was from Shaanxi, and Jiao Fang, the minister of the eunuch, was from Henan. Therefore, the large number of officials they promoted and quoted were from northerners. The court was the world of northerners, and most of the southerners were affected.

In order to crack down and exclude, especially the cabinet minister Jiao Fang, he was particularly excluded from Jiangxi people. It turned out that Jiao Fang had served as a lecturer for nine years and later moved to the Grand Secretary, when he was a member of the Jiangxi clerk, Peng Hua, because of his poor character, he was mocked by Jiangxi clerk Peng Hua: "Has Jiao Fang also become a bachelor's degree?" Jiao Fang then hated Jiangxi people to the core and once openly declared: "Don't abuse Jiangxi people in the future." Yan Song was from Jiangxi, and he was in a low position and had little power. On the political stage at that time, there was no chance for him to display his talents. Because of this, Yan Song judged the situation and took advantage of the opportunity of worry to make an excuse to be sick.

In the third year of Zhengde, Yan Song built a hall at the foot of Mount Qian, named it "Qianshan Hall", and lived a secluded life, entertaining himself with poetry and prose. During this period, Yan Song "aimed in famous mountains and rivers, seeking horizons and seeking secluded, and writing more and more wealthy." Yan Song had great achievements in literature, and his poetry and prose were known as elegant. Li Mengyang, a man at the time, once said: "Now, the study of Ci Zhang is the best among Hanlin masters." He Liangjun said: "Yan Jie Lao's poems are beautiful and beautiful, and the famous modern masters are few who can surpass him." Yan Song's literary attainments are rarely mentioned in later historical books, which is related to Yan Song's reputation as a "traitorous minister". However, because people are not desirable, his achievements in poetry and prose are still worthy of recognition. Yan Song also wrote good characters, and it is said that the three words "Liu Biju" in Beijing's old-fashioned pickle shop are his calligraphy.

During his retirement, Yan Song became famous and dated Li Mengyang, Wang Shouren, He Jingming, Wang Tingxiang and others. These people were not only knowledgeable, but also were benevolent and ambitious people who dared to fight against eunuchs and were quite famous. Yan Song discussed poems with them and analyzed the classics and meanings, which not only improved his literary reputation, but also expanded his social influence. In the seventh year of Zhengde (1512), Yan Song also compiled the Yuanzhou Prefecture Chronicle at the request of the prefect of Yuanzhou Prefecture. After three years of hard work, Yan Song completed the compilation of the Yuanzhou Prefecture Chronicle in the ninth year of Zhengde (1514). The system of this book was quite unique, and Yan Song became more and more famous.

The eight years of Qinshan's seclusion were of great significance to Yan Song's career in the officialdom. Withdrawing from Qianshan, Yan Song was able to protect himself and stay away from political struggles. During this period, Yan Song devoted himself to studying and writing poetry, and his literary literacy improved greatly. This was of great benefit to his ability to be able to spread the officialdom after his comeback and his poetry and prose were very beneficial to the emperor's favor. At the same time, Yan Song also won himself a reputation through eight years of hiding his strength and maintaining a low profile. At this time, he was no longer just a new Jinshi, but a figure with a high literary reputation and social influence. This accumulated sufficient capital for him to return to his career.

4. Return to the career

In the late Zhengde period, the political situation changed a lot. Liu Jin was executed and Jiao Fang was demoted. Yang Tinghe, Fei Hong and others were mainly in power in the court. They were all from southerners, and most of them were righteous gentlemen, and they had some friendship with Yan Song. In Yan Song's view, it was time to go out. In March of the 11th year of Zhengde (1516), Yan Song responded to the imperial edict and set off for Beijing to return to his official career.

Yan Song opened his eyes wide like a falcon, looking for opportunities to make a fortune in the officialdom. Hard work pays off, and opportunities finally fell from the sky. In the 16th year of Zhengde (1521), Wuzong Zhu Houzhao passed away, and his cousin Zhu Houzeng inherited the throne, which was Emperor Shizong. The young emperor was only fifteen years old when he ascended the throne, but he was very cunning and very independent. In order to pursue his biological parents, he had a long-lasting "big ceremony" dispute with the court officials. This dispute lasted for more than 20 years and was a major event in the history of the Ming Dynasty and was rare in Chinese history.

The reason why Emperor Shizong of Ming started this battle was on the surface because of his father's title, sacrificial ceremonies, and the entry of the zong to the temple, and had a fierce debate with his ministers. The essence of the "ritual discussion" dispute was first of all, that Emperor Shizong followed the throne with the vassal kings and posthumously named Xingxian, who had never been an emperor, as the emperor. The purpose was to maintain the legitimacy of his inheritance of the throne, indicating that his throne did not inherit his cousin Wuzong, but from his father's blood relationship, that is, directly inheriting his grandfather Xiaozong. Secondly, this

It was also a power struggle between Shizong and the old ministers of the previous dynasty. Shizong used the "ritual discussion" dispute to clean up Yang Tinghe and other former ministers who had made merits from the court, so as not to have a situation where they were arrogant in the future. Shizong's stubbornness and meanness and mercy were also considered a relatively prominent performance among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. The "ritual discussion" dispute ended with the victory of Shizong of the Ming Dynasty. Many court officials either died, were imprisoned, or demoted due to the dispute to the "ritual discussion" dispute, while Yan Song was one of the few beneficiaries in the "ritual discussion" dispute.

Since Zhengde returned to his official career in the eleventh year, Yan Song often worked in places with relatively few political struggles such as the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial College, and also served in Nanjing for many years. In the early stage of the "Great Li Gong" dispute, Yan Song was not involved in the whirlpool of this struggle and was able to protect himself. In an event that happened later in the late stage of the Li Gong dispute, Yan Song was good at observing the political trend, seized the opportunity in time, and began to gain the favor of Emperor Shizong.

This happened in June of the 17th year of Jiajing (1538). Emperor Shizong wanted his biological father, Emperor Xian, to call him the Emperor Taimiao, and ordered the Ministry of Rites to discuss. Yan Song, who was the Minister of Rites at that time, could not escape. This was a tricky job. If you obey the emperor, you would immediately be criticized. According to the convention, you would handle it impartially, and it would be difficult to protect your own black hat. After some thought and careful consideration, Yan Song finally wrote an ambiguous memorial to the emperor. Emperor Shizong was very dissatisfied with his attitude towards riding the fence, and wrote "Mingtang Or Question" in person to warn the court officials, with sharp words and firm words.

He expressed his intention to let his father Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty call him the emperor and enter the temple. This was very exciting to Yan Song. He was frightened and afraid that the emperor would blame him. Therefore, Yan Song changed his previous statement and completely obeyed the emperor's will, arranged grand etiquette for Emperor Xian, the biological father of Emperor Xian, to enjoy the Taimiao, and fully utilized his talents. After the sacrificial ceremony, he wrote "Ode to the Clouds" and "Ode to the Completed Quotes". His writing style was excellent and highly appreciated by the emperor. This incident had a decisive significance in Yan Song's career in the officialdom and became a turning point in his political destiny. From then on, he rose to prominence.

Yan Song finally helped Shizong realize his biological father's wish to be called a zong in the temple. Yan Song made an indelible contribution to the final victory in the "ritual discussion" dispute. Yan Song also learned a lesson in this matter - from then on, he obeyed Shizong's will and embarked on the path of "a gentle minister".

5. The struggle with Xia Yan

Emperor Shizong made little political achievements, but he focused his main energy on Xuan Xiu, and was keen on refining elixirs and praying for immortality. In those seemingly mysterious rituals, he often needed to write some green poems that burned and sacrificed to the sky, which gave rise to the Qing poems prime minister who were very unique in the Ming Dynasty and even in Chinese history.

The so-called Qingci is the stamp used by the Emperor of Heaven during the Taoist rituals. It was written on the green vine paper with a red pen. It was named after it was written on the green vine paper. This is a kind of fu article, which requires extremely gorgeous writing to express the emperor's respect for the Emperor of Heaven and his sincerity to seek immortality. Emperor Shizong often asked his ministers to offer Qingci, and he would immediately be promoted and even enter the cabinet. Many ministers in the court were favored by offering Qingci, and Gu Dingchen, the top scholar of Yan Song, who was on the list, entered the cabinet because of Qingci. Yan Song had a good writing style, and all the Qingci were written in line with Shizong's intentions, so he found a shortcut to promotion. In the first month of the 18th year of Jiajing (1539), the emperor held the "Respecting Heaven and Honoring the Dictation", and Yan Song, the Minister of Rites, fulfilled his duties and responsibilities, wrote Qingci and praised the virtues, and was specially appointed as the Prince Taibao. At that time, Xia Yan and Yan Song "both for Qingci", and people at that time criticized him as "Prime Minister of Qingci".

This Xia Yan is not an idiot. He was suddenly favored because he stood on the side of the emperor in the grand ceremony. He served as the Minister of Rites in the early days of the Sejong Dynasty and later as the chief minister of the cabinet. He played an important role in Yan Song's political career. He was once the ladder for Yan Song to climb up, and later fought with Yan Song. After more than ten years of thrilling struggles, he was framed by Yan Song and was brutally abandoned (a criminal law in ancient times, which was sentenced to death in a downtown city and stormed the prisoner on the street).

Xia Yan was a Jinshi who passed the imperial examination in the 12th year of Zhengde of Wuzong (1517), more than ten years later than Yan Song, but he was promoted very quickly and his position was higher than Yan Song. In the 15th year of Jiajing (1536), Xia Yan joined the cabinet and became prime minister, and in the 18th year (1539), he was promoted to the chief minister. Yan Song had been serving as an official position without any real power for more than ten years after returning to his career, which made him both depressed and unwilling to accept it. At this time, Xia Yan entered his vision. Xia Yan was a fellow villager in Jiangxi, and with such a relationship, he tried his best to curry favor with Xia Yan and flattered him. Finally, he gained Xia Yan's trust and recommended him many times. Yan Song was promoted to the Minister of Rites under his support.

However, the relationship between the two was not a solid one. Xia Yan tugged and beat him. When Yan Song became increasingly favored and wanted to enter the cabinet, he failed to do so because of Xia Yan's stop. Yan Song was still respectful and kind to Xia Yan, but he gritted his teeth behind his back and began to plan how to defeat Xia Yan. Xia Yan was "heroic and talented, and he could not be blamed for his superiority." He was brave enough to be a official to be upright, but he relied on the emperor's favor and was a bit arrogant, and sometimes he was also arrogant in front of Shizong. At that time, he had complaints among ministers, including "If you don't see Fei Hong, you don't know how to be great; if you don't see Xia Yan, you don't know how to respect each other." Yan Song took advantage of Xia Yan's personality weaknesses and made a big fuss, forming a sharp contrast with Xia Yan in his words and deeds. He was even more obedient to Shizong, flirtatious, and showed humility and loyalty everywhere; if you are more respectful and courteous to his colleagues, he was very popular.

In some specific events, Yan Song's performance like a clown made Shizong very satisfied. According to the Ming Dynasty's crown and uniform system, the hat worn by the emperor was made of black veil scarf, called Yishan Guan. Ming Dynasty Emperor Shizong advocated Taoism and did not wear the winged crown he should wear but the winged crown, which is the Taoist hat. He also specially made five scented crowns and distributed them to Xia Yan, Yan Song and others. Xia Yan believed that this was not the official court uniform of the ministers and should not be worn. Therefore,

Never worn it before, and Sezong was very angry about it. In order to please the emperor, Yan Song specially wore a glutinous leaf crown when he entered the Xiyuan and summoned the right person. He also put on a cage and a green gauze to show his solemnity. When Shizong saw it, he was indeed very happy. At the same time, Shizong ordered the ministers to ride horses according to the habits of Taoist priests and were not allowed to sit in sedan chairs. Xia Yan ignored it at all and still took a sedan chair in sedan chairs. Shizong was also dissatisfied with this.

Xia Yan's actions of despising Taoist priests indirectly reflect his somewhat resistant to Shizong's practice of cultivating immortals and ruining the country. Xia Yan's actions also made the Taoist priests around the emperor hate him, and they inevitably took the opportunity to slander him in front of the emperor. Everyone's words made money, and Xia Yan gradually lost the emperor's favor. Yan Song saw that the time was ripe, and when Shizong summoned him alone, he cried and told him that Xia Yan usually treated him and

Other ministers bullied wantonly. Soon after, the solar eclipse occurred, and Yan Song took the opportunity to frame Xia Yan for arrogance in the name of God's warning. Emperor Shizong couldn't help but be furious and immediately dismissed Xia Yan's official position and drove him home. As the will of heaven, Yan Song finally removed the stumbling block on his way forward. In August of the 21st year of Jiajing (1542), Yan Song made up for the vacancy after Xia Yan left and entered the cabinet to participate in the memory.

At this time, Yan Song was already an old man in his sixties, but he was energetic and was getting stronger. He served in Xiyuan day and night and often followed the emperor. Shizong became increasingly unable to leave him and favored him. Yan Song was not satisfied with entering the cabinet. In order to monopolize the government, he tried every means to crack down on dissidents and formed bribes, and he often used tens of millions of dollars. During this period, many censors impeached Yan Song, but they were all unable to do anything to the emperor's protection.

However, for the emperor, powerful ministers were intolerable. In the 24th year of Jiajing (1545), Shizong gradually became disgusted with him because he heard some rumors about Yan Song's arrogance. It happened that the cabinet was short of people, and Shizong issued an edict to appoint Xia Yan again. After Xia Yan entered the cabinet, he was responsible for the chief minister, and his position was above Yan Song. Because of his last resignation, Xia Yan despised Yan Song's behavior. Xia Yan not only looked down on Yan Song, but also attacked him from time to time. When Xia Yan handled political affairs, he did not seek Yan Song's opinions at all, and removed all the confidants arranged by Yan Song. Not long after, another incident happened that made Yan Song lose face. Yan Song's only son Yan Shifan used his father's power to do it.

Shang Baosi Shaoqing managed some engineering projects, exploited many parties, and embezzled and accepted bribes. These illegal acts were discovered by Xia Yan and wanted to impeach. After Yan Song heard about it, he knew that the disaster was coming, so he pulled his son to Xia Yan's house to ask for a visit. Xia Yan was entrusted to illness, Yan Song bribed the doorman and took his son straight into the back hall. Regardless of his face, the father and son both knelt before Xia Yan, asking Xia Yan to be generous and let Shifan go. Xia Yan was soft-hearted and agreed not to pursue it. Xia Yan was easily sympathized, and Yan Song took advantage of this to make the Yan family escape a catastrophe. However, his resentment towards Xia Yan increased day by day. On the surface, he was smiling, but secretly waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.

Shizong was a suspicious person. When he lived in Xiyuanzhai, he built a duty room on site. On the surface, it was convenient for ministers to handle government affairs, but secretly he often sent small eunuchs to spy on the actions of the ministers. Xia Yan did not take these small eunuchs seriously at all, and still did his own thing and was busy with government affairs. Yan Song was different. He knew that it was important to have a good relationship with these eunuchs, so he was courteous to these small eunuchs and often stuffed some gold and silver to bribe. After listening to the report of the little eunuchs, Shizong had a completely different impression of the two. At the beginning, Xia Yan

Both Yan Song were lucky because of Qing Ci. At this time, Xia Yan was already tired of it. Most of the Qing Ci manuscripts were written by his guest, and he no longer reviewed them. Many Qing Ci were even offered to him. Emperor Shizong was very angry and threw the Qing Ci he presented to the ground. No one around the emperor revealed this situation to Xia Yan. Yan Song worked harder on Qing Ci, and often pretended to read Qing Ci manuscripts under the lamp when it was late at night. In this way, Yan Song's favor was further consolidated and Xia Yan's status was in danger.

In the 25th year of Jiajing (1546), Zeng Xian, the Minister of War, governed the military affairs of the three borders in Shaanxi. For border defense considerations, he proposed a plan to recapture the Hetao region occupied by Mongolia. The Hetao region is a large area along the Yellow River east of Helan Mountain and south of Langshan and Daqing Mountain in Ningxia and Inner Mongolia today. Controlling the Hetao region has important strategic significance for border defense in the Ming Dynasty. Shizong solicited opinions from the ministers, Xia Yan agreed, and Yan Song firmly opposed it. Yan Song also took the opportunity to attack Xia Yan and Zeng Xian for "use of power and use their own power" and "had a great pleasure in merit." At this time, it happened that

The palace was caught fire and the queen died. These changes made Emperor Shizong frightened and uneasy. Soon, the Mongolian army disturbed Yan'an, Ningxia and other places. Yan Song took the opportunity to tell Emperor Shizong that these were all caused by Xia Yan and Zeng Xian's regaining Hetao. Shizong believed in this and immediately arrested Zeng Xian and executed him, allowing Xia Yan to retire again. Yan Song was afraid that Xia Yan would make a comeback in the future, so he would have to put him to death and soon. So he slandered Xia Yan for accepting Zeng Xian's bribes and supporting the regaining Hetao. Collusion between ministers and border generals was a serious crime, so Xia Yan was finally abandoned in the 27th year of Jiajing (1548).

The thrilling struggle between Yan Song and Xia Yan for more than ten years ended with Yan Song's victory. In this battle, Yan Song's character's harshness, insidiousness, cunningness, and ruthlessness were fully demonstrated. Yan Song went through all his efforts and finally became the most powerful minister.

At first, when Xia Yan died tragically, no one called for justice for him. When Yan Song was acting recklessly in politics and "disaster to the world", people felt that Xia Yan died a pity. Interestingly, Xu Jie, the chief assistant who replaced Yan Song in the future, was exactly the person he praised and appreciated by Xia Yan. Xu Jie played an important role in the process of Yan Song's collapse, and history seemed to have experienced a cycle of reincarnation. Xia Yan was soon rehabilitated, his official position was restored, and he was given a funeral.

6. Prime Ministers of the Big and Big

Although Yan Song was powerful in the Jiajing Dynasty, with a high position and a cunning and cunning character, he was a good husband in his family life. He had a good relationship with his wife, Ouyang, and had no other concubines. The two had two daughters and one son. When Yan Song was in charge of politics, there were "big prime minister" and "little prime minister" circulating throughout the court and the country. "big prime minister" refers to Yan Song, and "little prime minister" refers to Yan Song's only son - Yan Shifan.

Yan Shifan, named Donglou, was born in the eighth year of Zhengde (1513), in March of the 44th year of Jiajing (1565), and was executed for crimes at the age of fifty-three. Yan Shifan did not go to the imperial examinations to go to the Imperial College for his career, but instead took advantage of his father's light to study in the Imperial College, and then became an official. He was moved to Shaoqing of Shangbao and the Right Minister of Works. It is said that Yan Song was tall and thin, with sparse eyebrows and loud and sharp voices, which was very consistent with the image of a treacherous minister portrayed in the minds of the people. However, Yan Shifan's appearance was not at all similar to his father. "Short neck and fat body" was indeed the atmosphere of a rich young man, but unfortunately he was blind. Yan Shifan was treacherous and clever, familiar with current affairs, familiar with national laws, and was quite good at understanding other people's wishes.

In the 27th year of Jiajing (1548), when Yan Song was nearly 70 years old, he was gradually a little old and weak and mentally exhausted. At this time, he had to accompany the emperor day and night, and no longer had the time and energy to deal with government affairs. If there was a ruling in case of a case, he would rely more on his son. He always said, "When I discuss with the Donglou child, I will decide." He even privately asked Shifan to directly enter the value and make a vote on his behalf. The vote was to make a reply after receiving the memorial and then be reviewed by the emperor. It was an important manifestation of the power of the cabinet ministers. Shifan's votes could meet Shizong's wishes, so he was praised by Shizong many times. Yan Song simply handed over all government affairs to his son, and Shifan was "powerful in the world."

It is said that a famous novel in the Ming Dynasty, "Jin Ping Mei", has a close connection with Yan Shifan. The main character "Ximen Qing" in the novel alluded to Yan Shifan. Yan Shifan's nickname is "Qinger" and named "Donglou". The author of "Jin Ping Mei" "Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng" turned "Donglou" into "Ximen", and directly used the name of "Qing" to create this novel character to allud to Yan Shifan's licentious life. Let's not verify here whether "Ximen Qing" is based on Yan Shifan, but Yan Shifan became greedy and his life was very similar to Ximen Qing in the novel.

Once, Yan Song's adopted son Zhao Wenhua came back from Jiangnan and gave Yan Shifan a gift of meeting with him, a priceless gold silk tent, and a jewelry bun for each of Yan Shifan's twenty-seven concubines. Yan Shifan thought it was too few and was very dissatisfied with these gifts, which shows how greedy he was. Zhu Zai'an, the third son of Emperor Shizong, should have been made the crown prince as usual, but Emperor Shizong was not very close to him. Therefore, the father and son of the Yan family were also

He was very cold. Even as usual, the Ministry of Revenue was not given to the annual gifts of Prince Yu's mansion every year, but the Ministry of Revenue did not issue them for three years because it did not have the orders of the Yan family and his son. In the end, the future emperor raised 1,500 taels of silver to Yan Shifan. Yan Shifan happily accepted it, so he asked the Ministry of Revenue to reissue the annual gifts. Yan Shifan always boasted to people: "The emperor's son wants to give me silver, who dares not give me silver?" Yan Shifan was extremely brave.

At that time, the Yan family and his son controlled the selection of officials in the court and promoted them. No matter how big or small the officials were, they all had pricing. It was not up to the reputation and ability of the officials. Everything was based on the officials' bribes. Yan Shifan used various means to plunder the wealth of his family, and his family's wealth was comparable to that of the country. It is said that Yan Shifan and his wife wanted to bury gold and silver in the cellar. They remembered that they all depended on his father, so they invited Yan Song to watch it. When Yan Song saw it, the number was beyond imagination and was stunned and vaguely felt that a disaster was coming.

Although Yan Song was greedy and cunning, he had only one wife of Ouyang, and the two of them lived together to live. Yan Shifan was completely different from his father in this regard. Greed must be lustful, and lust must be greedy. This statement may not be accurate when used on Yan Song, but it is very suitable for Yan Shifan. His extremely licentious life is even better than Ximen Qing in "Jin Ping Mei". Yan Shifan has twenty-seven wives and concubines, and there are countless other maids and maids.

He asked his beautiful wives and concubines to live in groups of houses. The clothes they used were embroidered with dragon and phoenix patterns and pearls and stones, and they were extremely luxurious. Yan Shifan used ivory beds, surrounded the golden silk tent, singing and dancing at night, and was very proud of his extravagant life. But he did not expect that this was one of the reasons why he was hated the most by the people. During the Jiajing dynasty, the southern Japanese and northern Japanese were captured and the people were living in poverty. Yan Shifan's extensive extravagance was of course even more hated.

The Yan family and his son had long been hated by upright people because of their corruption and abuse of power, and people kept coming forward to impeach them. However, because of the Ming Dynasty's partiality and the treacherous and cunning, these impeachments not only failed, but those who impeached their father and son in the previous chapter were often hit hard. Not only did they lose their official position, but some even lost their lives.

Shen Lian once worked as an Jinyiwei. In the 31st year of Jiajing (1551), he submitted a memorial to impeach Yan Song for "greed, stupid and despicable", listing his crimes such as "being bribed by generals and relaxed border defense", "being gifted by kings to interfere in the affairs of the royal family", "taking the power of the censors and corrupting political discipline", and "jealousy of the virtuous and capable". Not only did Emperor Shizong not punish Yan Song, he also believed that this was Shen Lian slandering the ministers and issued an edict to slander Shen Lian and exiled to the court. The father and son of the Yan family did not give up. A few years later, he instructed his followers to find an opportunity to frame him. Shen Lian was beheaded, two of his three sons were beaten to death, and one was sent to the frontier.

Yang Jisheng, who was hailed as the most direct minister of the Ming Dynasty, was also convicted of impeachment of Yan Song. In the 32nd year of Jiajing (1553), Yang Jisheng, who was then a member of the Ministry of War, submitted a "Memorial on Requesting to Punish the Thief Ministers", impeaching Yan Song "According to the Law of the Ancestor", "Stolen the Great Power of the Emperor", "Mission on the Military and National Affairs", etc., including the "Five Great Witnesses", and the true face of Yan Song's disaster to the country and the people. At the end of the memorial, Yang Jisheng begged the emperor to "listen to the words of his ministers and observe Song's traitors". Yan Song could not deny the crimes reported by Yan Song in the memorial, but

Yan Song was scheming after all, so he grabbed Yang Jisheng's sentence "Ask the two kings (King Yu, King Jing) and asked them to be evil" in the memorial, and falsely accused Yang Jisheng of colluding with the two kings. The stubborn Shizong was most taboo to ministers who crossed him to make friends with his sons, for fear of forcing him to force the palace. So he did not ask whether the memorial exposed Yan Song's crime was true, so he issued an order to arrest Yang Jisheng and imprisonment. More than two years after being imprisoned, Yang Jisheng was executed in the 34th year of Jiajing (1555). Before the execution, Yang Jisheng calmly wrote a poem:

The great spirit will be restored to the vastness, and the loyal heart will shine forever.

I have not finished my life before, so I will leave it to future generations to make up for it.

7. Yan Song's death

The Yan family and his son escaped by luck again, but they were already full of dangers.

Shizong's absurdity, arrogance, cruelty and like to play with power tricks made his behavior impossible to explain with normal logic. Yan Song's career was closely linked to Shizong, and his honor, disgrace, rise and fall were determined by the emperor alone. Yan Song entered the cabinet for 21 years and served as the chief minister for fifteen years. Except for Yang Shiqi, no one could match the Ming Dynasty. The father and son of the Yan family were traitorous and insulted the country and had long been the target of public criticism, but Shizong was indifferent. So, how did Yan Song collapse? It turned out that Shizong was determined to eliminate the Yan family's father and son, but it was the result of the joint action of conspiracy and power tricks.

In the 40th year of Jiajing (1561), Yan Song's wife Ouyang passed away. Yan Shifan returned to his hometown to observe the system for three years according to the old etiquette system. Although the emperor allowed Yan Shifan to stay in the capital at the request of Yan Song, he could no longer place a ticket for his father during his mourning period. Yan Song was over 80 years old and stupid. The tickets he made were often unclear and inconsistent. The Qing Ci he presented were also written by others. Most of these were not considered the intention of Shizong, so he gradually became dissatisfied with Yan Song. Later, he heard that Yan Shifan was greedy and disgusted with his father and son even more.

At this time, Yan Song was so misfortune that he could not win the emperor's favor. He also had a fierce struggle with Xu Jie, who was the second assistant at the time. Xu Jie was a smart and powerful person. He felt the subtle change in Shizong's attitude towards Yan Song, so he bribed a Taoist priest named Lan Daoxing, whom Shizong trusted very much. When Lan Daoxing was writing the spirit, he showed the words "Fin Yi father and son, and were treacherous and treacherous and powerful". Shizong asked: "Why didn't God kill him?" Lan Daoxing said in a weird way: "Let's leave it to the emperor for the right." Shizong was very concerned about his thoughts.

Moved. In this year, a fire broke out in Wanshou Palace where the emperor lived. The emperor didn't know what to do in the future. He asked the ministers. Yan Song actually suggested that the emperor move to Nangong to live. Nangong was a place where Emperor Yingzong was imprisoned in the old days. This really violated a big taboo for Emperor Shizong who liked auspiciousness. Xu Jie catered to the emperor's wishes and advocated the reconstruction of Wanshou Palace. Not long after, the new palace rose up and became more majestic and beautiful than before. In this way, Xu Jie's position in Shizong's mind gradually replaced Yan Song. This incident became a turning point in Yan Song's fate in his later years.

Yan Song fell out of favor, and the censor Zou Yinglong moved to hear the news and submitted a memorial to impeach Yan Song. In the 41st year of Jiajing (1562), at the instigation of Xu Jie, the emperor took away all his official positions and ordered him to return to his hometown. Yan Shifan was exiled to the guards of Leizhou. Yan Shifan ran back to his hometown in Jiangxi during the exile to Leizhou. His nature was difficult to change and he continued to do many evil things. In the 43rd year of Jiajing (1564), he was impeached by the censor again. Emperor Shizong was furious and arrested Yan Shifan and imprisoned.

The case was settled in the second year, Shifan was beheaded, Yan Song was stripped of his family and his family property was confiscated. Yan Song had to build a hut next to his ancestral grave to feed him. The evening scene was very desolate. In April of the 45th year of Jiajing (1566), a treacherous minister Yan Song died in loneliness and poverty. When he died, he was so poor that he could not afford a coffin, and there were no mourners. Before his death, Yan Song wrote with difficulty, "I have served the country for my whole life, but I have to die and follow others to speak right and wrong." He threw a pen and died.

In December of that year, Emperor Shizong of Ming Dynasty also controlled the Bintian. The treacherous ministers and foolish monarchs really "complement each other". The two died in the same year, and the same era came to an end.

Why Yan Song became a "traitor"

From Yan Song's message on his deathbed, we can see that he went to another world with endless grievances, unwillingness and resentment. "History of Ming Dynasty" states: "Song has been stealing power for twenty years, believing in his evil sons, poisoning the world, and all people are referring to the treacherous ministers." Yan Song must have never imagined that the infamy of the "treacherous minister" he bears not only did not disappear due to his death, but was widely circulated, and his name became synonymous with treacherous ministers. Regarding this, we have to mention a famous historian in the Ming Dynasty - Wang Shizhen.

Wang Shizhen and Yan Song have a grudge. It is said that there is a case. Wang Shizhen's father was Wang Jun who was executed by Shizong. By chance, Wang Jun got the priceless national treasure "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". Soon, the Yan father and son learned about it. The two asked Wang Jun. Due to the power of Yan's father and son, Wang Jun asked a painter to copy a picture to Yan Song. Later, the matter was exposed and Yan Song held a grudge against him. Later, taking advantage of Wang Jun's failure to guard the border and was imprisoned, Yan Song submitted a memorial to kill him. Because of this resentment, Wang Shizhen slandered Yan Song in his "The First Auxiliary Since Jiajing - Biography of Yan Song" and other historical works, and Yan Song's reputation plummeted.

(1) Regarding Yan Song's "stealing the power" issue

In the 13th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister system that had existed for more than 1,500 years in Chinese history; by the Ming Dynasty, the cabinet was established, and the "Ming History - Official Records" recorded that the duties of the cabinet's grand ministers were mainly to "master whether the substitute could be given, obeyed the rules and regulations, and to submit the prosecution and prosecution to approve the common affairs." It can be seen that the cabinet's grand minister was not a political official. Volume 58 of the General Catalogue of Siku Quanshu, "The Chief Auxiliary since Jiajing" stated that "the Chief Auxiliary was appointed in Jiajing, and those who were the Chief Auxiliary were particularly responsible... In the middle of Emperor Shizong, Xia Yan and Yan Song took action and became the prime minister.

The six ministers were suppressed." This statement is very debatable. In the early days of Shizong's rule, he was very diligent in his administration. He did not attend court since the 18th year of Jiajing. Even so, there was no situation of dictatorship of powerful ministers. According to the "History of Ming Dynasty - Biography of Yan Song", after Yan Song was appointed as the chief minister, "even though the emperor was very close to Song, he did not believe his words. He once made arbitrary decision, or showed similarities and differences, and wanted to kill his power." This shows that although Shizong was in the great state, he was firmly in the imperial power. Therefore, no "power minister" could "stole the power" in the dynasty of Shizong. Regarding this, other records can also be verified.

Shizhen's "Biography of the First Auxiliary of the Cabinet since Jiajing": "(Shizong) was not in the imperial palace in his later years, but he approved the consultant, and he never stopped daylight; therefore, although he lived in the deep abyss and silently, he was controlled by the power and handled it without moving." "Shizong's Veritable Records" said that he "was worried about not hearing about external affairs." Volume * of "Guoqi" quoted Li Weizhen: "(Shizong) lived for decades, and planned to trap the world in his palms, and China and abroad were as if he was here." He also quoted Fan Shouyi and said, "I was at the stairs of Xu Shao, and I read the edicts and letters of Shim Temple and the draft of the reorganization of the edicts. People once said that the auxiliary ministers drafted the edicts and the handling of the country, which was a big deal...... I am like the emperor

How many people are there?... Therefore, the great resolution, great promising, and great rewards are all arbitrary." Yan Song could not steal the power, which can be proved by historical comparison. For example, in Volume 4 of "Bin Tui Lu", Ouyang Bijin (the left censor of the Censorate of the Censorate), and was a relative of the children of Yan Song. If Song wanted to arrange for him, he would be the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. After Song begged again and again, Emperor Shizong only asked Ouyang to be the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who had been the Minister of Personnel for half a year, he would be reprimanded. Yan Song wanted to arrange for his children and relatives to be so difficult, so how could he talk about controlling the government and forming a party for personal gain? From this point of view, it was just groundless to say that Yan Song's "stealing the national government's government"!

(2) The relationship between Yan Song and Shizong

Shizong was an emperor who was extremely difficult to serve. Shizong was suspicious, suspicious, and bloodthirsty. Not only that, he was indifferent to others, and was ruthless and unrighteous to his wife, children, maids, and ministers, and even a group of weak women in the palace wanted to strangle him to death. This was the "Current Maid Change" that occurred in October of the 21st year of Jiajing. "The Book of Spring Mengyu" contains a statement from Zhang Cong, who was highly valued by Emperor Shizong because of his "big discussion of etiquette": "There are few officials in the cabinet that have always been able to die well. It is easy to be suspicious, and the responsibility of endorsement is easy to attract discussion. It is not even the way for the ruler and ministers to protect each other." This is to say that the chief minister should bear responsibility for the emperor's faults and be content.

When Xu Jie defeated Yan Song and promoted him to the chief assistant, his friend Wang Weizhen once said to him: "The prime minister is the most respectful and most important. However, there are three difficulties now. The emperor is wise and the ministers cannot reach it and think of it to benefit it. One difficulty is one difficulty; the ministers in the Secretariat, and the responsibility is to respond to this, and the gains and losses are severity and importance. The court officials cannot hear the words of the court officials, but the court officials are not able to know what they have learned, but they are not too far away from it. They propose to reprint the notes, which are easy to touch the lips and kiss them, which are the three difficulties. Those who are in these three difficulties dare not tell others, so they are said to be the most painful" (Volume 16 of "Wang's Parody"). From this point of view, we seem to be looking at Yan Song from another perspective.

Yan Song served as the chief minister for fifteen years, and it was not easy to be able to live with an irritable and bloodthirsty emperor for so long. Shizong advocated Taoism, praised Xuanxiu, and offered Qingci was almost a requirement for Ren Pavilion officials. Therefore, "flattery" and "stylist" were common among the cabinet ministers, and Yan Song was not necessarily more flattering than other cabinet ministers. For example, after the palace maids' change, Shizong avoided living in Xiyuan, and the fire broke out in Yongshou Palace where he lived in Xiyuan. Shizong wanted to rebuild the palace.

Yan Song considered that Shizong had not looked down on the dynasty for a long time and had to spend a lot of money on construction, so he did not agree to rebuild the palace. Another cabinet minister, Xu Jie, tried his best to advocate reconstruction. In this regard, people at that time were "very good at Song's response, but he called the flattery of Jie" (Volume 16 of "Xian Zhenglu"). What is shown here is the other side of Yan Song's rigidity. "The Chronicles of the Ming History - Yan Song's Use of Things" analyzed the reason why Shizong favored Yan Song: "Besides, Song is really capable of serving the emperor; the emperor is strong.

Song is gentle; Emperor is arrogant and Song is cautious; Emperor is heroic and Song is simple and sincere; Emperor is arbitrary and Song is isolated... The suspicious lord likes to use gentle and charming ministers." Only in this way can the violent temper of Emperor Shizong calm down and prevent the government from becoming worse. Regarding this level, Emperor Shizong should have a clear idea. Therefore, Emperor Shizong also praised Yan Song many times, such as giving Yan Song the silver seal of "loyal, diligent, and intelligent" and giving his library "Qionghan Liu" to his library

Hui", Feng Xuanzhi Hall is called "Yan'en Hall", and the letter is given to him is called "Zhongbi". Even when he was ordered to retire, Shizong said in his edict that "Song is careful and loyal," and his treatment after retirement was also favorable than other chief ministers. "When he retired, he still ordered him to go to the post office, and the annual salary was given to him by the officers" (Volume 22 of "Shimiao Zhiyu Lu"). This shows that Yan Song was able to sincerely serve the master and had no different intentions, so that he could win the kindness of this monarch who was careless and had no different hearts.

Then, it would be incredible to say that Yan Song was a "traitorous prime minister".

(3) Regarding Yan Song's "slaughter of loyal and kindness"

After Yan Song entered the cabinet, many ministers impeached him. Some of these ministers were executed and some were demoted. Among them, Yang Jisheng, Shen Lian and others had a greater influence in history.
To be continued...