Those Things in the Ming Dynasty Part 5 The Empire Shakes _ Chapter 1 Deadly Justice
Yan Song’s counterattack
Yan Shifan was imprisoned and Yan Song was overthrown. In the eyes of many people, Comrade Xu Jie's butt was about to be moved to the throne of chief minister, and the matter had ended successfully.
People who hold this view generally do not understand politics. In this world, everything is negotiable, but as long as interests are involved, they will fall out faster than turning over a book.
The extent of the disagreement and the way it is expressed depend on how much profit there is, whether it is with words or with hands, or with knives and missiles. You know, when you usually go shopping for groceries, you have to quarrel over a few cents, and
In those days when the emperor was not in charge of affairs, the throne of the chief minister was the symbol of the highest power and the greatest benefit. Unless everything was turned upside down, there would be no ghosts in the changes in the world.
Xu Jie knew this, and Yan Song naturally knew it too. Decades of political experience allowed him to quickly recover from shock and begin to gather the strength to fight back. Next, he will use actions to tell his opponents why he can stand in the political arena.
It is no accident that it has survived for twenty years.
Xu Jie, let me show you my true strength. The competition has just begun.
In fact, the reason why Yan Song was able to surpass Yang Tinghe, Guo Xun, Zhang Cong, Xia Yan and others before him and become the most powerful official was not only due to Yan Shifan's intelligence, but also his comrades. Because all along,
Yan Song is not fighting alone.
The name Yan Song does not represent a person, but a force and a community of interests. If I become a doctor, you will become a member of the family; if I become a minister, you will become a doctor. We will make progress and make a fortune together.
Now Xu Jie wants to punish Mr. Yan, what's the point? My wife has just bought jewelry, my son is going to a private school, and I still hope to be promoted. If you, Xu Jie, dare to touch our jobs, I will risk my life for you!
Yan Maoqing, the right minister of the Ministry of Punishment, is one of the above-mentioned people. Since taking refuge with Yan Song, he has done many bad things. It was under his advice that Yang Jisheng was eventually killed. In return, he received a good job in managing the salt administration.
, it was so crazy to make money. Before, Comrade Jiajing only levied a salt tax of 600,000 yuan a year. After he took office, he actually asked for a tax of 1 million. He could not only please the emperor, but also take the opportunity to extort the local government. He was worthy of being a traitor.
.
So when the news of Yan Song's resignation came, he immediately called in Yan's associates to urgently discuss countermeasures. Since Yan Song had retired and returned home, after carefully analyzing the situation, Yan Maoqing decided on the first action plan - to rescue Yan Shifan.
As the think tank of the Yan Party, Yan Shifan plays an irreplaceable role, so the most important thing right now is to fish this man out and let him make an idea, so that everyone can get things done.
But this matter is not easy. Yan Shifan was investigated by the emperor's order and involved serious economic crimes. He lived in the Beijing Model Prison. He could not be solved by fighting and being locked up in the police station and waiting for someone to guarantee.
What's even more troublesome is that this case was assigned by the emperor, and as a rule, it was jointly tried by the three departments of law. The so-called three departments of law refer to the Dali Temple, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Punishment. Therefore, if you want to get people, you must deal with these three departments.
No less.
Yan Maoqing is the right minister of the Ministry of Punishment, so the affairs of the Ministry of Punishment are naturally easy to handle, but Yan Song has fallen and there is no one to speak in the cabinet. How can Dali Temple and the Metropolitan Procuratorate solve the problem?
This is the general situation faced by Yan Maoqing. It seems really difficult to handle, but the facts tell us that he did it:
After a joint trial by the three judicial departments, Yan Shifan was unanimously found guilty of corruption, and the total amount of money was found to be 800 taels, and he was ordered to be sent to Leizhou to be expelled from the army.
For many years, he was the contractor and chief of the confidential department of the Ministry of Industry. It turned out that he was only worth eight hundred taels, which was really an auspicious number.
Of course, the consequences of the treatment are not unimportant. The so-called Leizhou is today's Leizhou in Guangdong. It was a famous barbaric land at that time. If you go there, you will most likely not be able to come back.
But history tells us that rules are dead, but people are alive. Suspended death can be converted to indefinite, and indefinite can be converted to fixed term. After the fixed period, it can be transferred to medical parole, and the matter will be solved. Yan Shifan is certainly no exception, but his method is relatively simple -
Escape.
This brother had just walked halfway, and he didn't know whether he bribed the escort or made his own decision, and ran back like this. Ordinarily, if he is a fugitive, he must find a relatively remote place to hide, at least no one knows him. But Yan Shifan is really
The talented man was so bold that he actually ran back to Jiangxi and lived in a grand place. He went to the streets to buy groceries and traveled around as usual. It was better to return home in rich clothes than to return home in rich clothes.
The number of major corruption offenders was reduced to 800 taels, and they were sent home after being sent to the army. The power of the Yan Party was indeed beyond Xu Jie's imagination, but when he was about to fight back, the emperor suddenly issued an edict. It was this edict that made things happen again.
Lost control.
After all, they have been old friends for many years. To put it bluntly, even a dog has feelings after being raised for more than 20 years, not to mention that Yan Song is much more energetic than a dog. So after driving Yan Song away, Jiajing felt a
Loneliness soon turned into sympathy, and he ordered:
"Yan Song has retired, and his son has also pleaded guilty. If anyone dares to receive the same memorial as Zou Yinglong in the future, he will be executed immediately!"
Now that Xu Jie was finished, he was ready to take advantage of the situation to pursue and drown Yan Shifan with memorials. Jiajing's order just hit his vital point. In an instant, he lost all means of attack and could only sit there and wait.
With the opponent's counterattack.
The reason why Xu Jie is so obsessed with Yan Shifan is because he knows very well that this is a person with too much destructive energy. He can only be kept in a cage and can never be released into the wild. With this person's IQ, if he is not careful, he will
He would be put to death. And the facts confirmed his expectation. Soon after, Yan Shifan took action, which was not only vicious, but also fatal.
After Yan Song retired, he should have returned to his hometown, but he stopped when passing through Nanchang because he was unwilling to fail, and he knew very well that the matter was not over yet.
The development of things proved Yan Song's intuition. The old Jianghu waited in Nanchang for the emperor's order and his extremely clever son.
In the edict, Yan Song saw hope, and in his son, he found a way to turn defeat into victory.
Yan Shifan was still very calm. He told his father that although things had come to this, and although Xu Jie had become the chief assistant and held great power, he was not indestructible. Everything could be started from scratch, as long as one person broke through - Lan Daoxing.
Yan Shifan's head has only one eye, but he has extremely terrifying wisdom. Under countless appearances, he firmly grasps the essence of things. It is not wrong at all, Lan Daoxing is the key to the problem.
The reason why Jiajing drove Yan Song away was because the gods didn't like him, not Lan Daoxing. So as long as it was proved that the person who wrote on the sand table that day was not a god, the problem would be solved; if Xu Jie could be pulled up by the way, it would mean that he was related to him.
The things are inextricably linked, that is the crime of deceiving the emperor, and death is inevitable.
At that time, Yan Song will be re-employed with honor and continue to seek personal gains and work passively, Party Yan will be in power again, and everything will return to the starting point.
At the beginning of the operation, Yan Song first ordered his comrades in the court to send money to Lan Daoxing, hoping that he would fight back and accuse Xu Jie of planning the incident. After the incident was completed, he would be guaranteed to be promoted and make a fortune.
Lan Daoxing refused.
Since softness is not enough, hardness comes. Yan Song bribed the eunuchs in the palace, instigated them to frame Lan Daoxing and put him in prison. What was even worse was that he also communicated with the jailers and tortured Lan Daoxing.
, tortured him in every possible way, forcing him to frame Xu Jie (it doesn’t seem to be a frame-up).
Lan Daoxing still refused. Although he was beaten black and blue, he never uttered a word.
Not eating anything soft or hard, Yan Song was puzzled. In his opinion, Lan Daoxing was just a charlatan and a Taoist priest who boasted. How could he be so tough?
From a Taoist priest to a steel warrior, it is just because of one thing - faith. In this world, faith is the strongest object. Once you insist on it, it is difficult to shake, and money and beauty are extremely weak in front of it.
.
Lan Daoxing is a Taoist priest, but he believes in Wang Xue. He believes that he can find the real light in this legendary figure's study of light. Therefore, whether it is inducement or coercion, money or whips, he will never accept it.
yield.
This is the power of faith, a force that cannot be shaken by any substance. But Yan Song, who is obsessed with profit, will never understand this.
Lan Daoxing held on, and so did Xu Jie. Yan Song missed a single hit and began to wait again. He believed that as time went by, the emperor would gradually think of him, sympathize with him, and then cooperate with the strict party forces in the DPRK.
, he will definitely be able to make a comeback.
This is a good plan, and in fact it is very possible. The previous edict has partially proved this. What is puzzling is Xu Jie's attitude. Yan Song's large-scale invasion, from beginning to end,
He didn't react at all, let alone use the power in his hands to launch a counterattack, although it was very easy for him.
Politicians are the most stoic animals on the planet. They never act rashly and will launch the final attack only when victory is certain. After the incident between Yan Shifan and Lan Daoxing, Xu Jie has clearly seen Yan Song's true strength.
He knew that although he was the chief minister, Yan Song still had considerable influence on the emperor, and the Yan Party still had strong power in the court.
So now we can only wait, waiting for the opponent's next flaw, and it will definitely appear again.
Therefore, Xu Jie not only paid no attention to Yan Song's attacks, but also often wrote to greet Yan Song in Nanchang, wishing him good health and a few more years of life. He knew clearly that Yan Shifan fled home without permission, and never sent anyone to investigate.
, just treat it as if you don’t know.
What's more, after Xu Jie became the first assistant, his son once said to him, Dad, you have suffered so many grievances and now you have finally come forward, you should seek revenge from Yan Song.
Unexpectedly, Xu Jie became furious and cursed:
"Without Mr. Yan, how would I be where I am today? How can you think like this?"
This is true for his son, and even more so for others. Over time, these words reached Yan Song's ears, and he was deeply touched.
He used to keep a low profile when he was the second assistant, but now he has the power and does not add insult to injury. Xu Jie's actions made Yan and his son feel that Xu Shoufu is a kind person. Especially Yan Shifan, it is well known that he came back as a deserter.
, if you want to punish him, there are ready-made tools, but Xu Jie has done nothing about it, so this man who prides himself on being the smartest in the world also sighed sincerely:
"Master Xu, don't cheat on me!"
Yan Shifan is a very smart person, so he is also a little too arrogant. In the past ten years, he has never taken Xu Jie seriously, treating him as a janitor or something like that, bullying him wantonly, and being unreasonable. However,
Xu Jie has endured it. Now Xu Shoufu is still the same as before, with no plans or actions for revenge. It seems that he is ready to continue to endure it.
Yan Shifan was relieved. He seemed to have forgotten his status as a deserter, and openly built a luxurious villa in Jiangxi, preparing to become a local rich man and enjoy the fruits of the corruption of the previous ten years.
However, Yan Shifan, who was too crazy, didn't know that Mr. Xu, who never cheated others, was digging a hole now, a bigger hole than last time. Because the so-called revenge is never a hot dish, but a cold dish.
Yan Shifan didn't understand Xu Jie, but Xu Jie knew Yan Shifan. He knew very well that although this one-eyed genius was extremely smart, he also had a fatal flaw.
It is estimated that because of his physical disability, Yan Shifan has some kind of psychological problem. To put it simply, he is a bit abnormal. Looking at his life, it is not easy to only do bad things and not do good things. Moreover, he is extravagant and lustful, and does things regardless of the occasion.
Depending on the location, you can do whatever you want.
For example, when his mother died, he should have been at home to observe filial piety and help his father with work, but he just hid at home every day and had sex with women, completely ignoring what his father told him. Comrade Yan Song was already over eighty, dizzy and confused.
He couldn't understand, couldn't write Qingci, and was scolded by the emperor several times, which led to his downfall after class.
So from a political point of view, Yan Shifan is a talented staff member, but a poor politician. He doesn't know how to hide and suppress his desires. In this regard, he is very different from his father. He is a deserter.
Whether it was building a villa or building a villa, Xu Jie didn't care, because he believed that the flaw he was waiting for would definitely appear in this person.
Success is also the world's Fan, and failure is the world's Fan. It's fate.
A murder caused by a brick
In Xu Jie's opinion, it is better to let Yan Shifan out than to lock him in a cage. Let him fly and break out, and one day he will cause trouble.
As expected, trouble soon came, but the perpetrator was not Yan Shifan, but another old acquaintance - Luo Longwen.
This dear friend has been introduced before. He is a fellow villager of Hu Zongxian. He worked as an undercover agent to suppress Xu Hai and made great contributions. However, as I said before, this person is narrow-minded, picky and unreasonable. So in Hu Zongxian’s case,
After his fall, he took advantage of the situation and took advantage of someone's trap. He actually defected to Yan Shifan's subordinates. As they were said to have similar odors, the two quickly became close friends.
Since they were close friends, Yan Shifan was sent to the army, and Luo Zhifan was also sent to the army. In the same way, since they were close friends and Yan Shifan was a deserter, he naturally became a deserter as well. However, he did not flee to Jiangxi, but instead sized up the situation again and defected to his old enemy——
Japanese pirates became deserters and traitors.
Although he has a job, robbery is a high-risk job after all, and he is not as comfortable as in the capital. As time goes by, Luo Longwen misses the good old days more and more, and hates Zou Yinglong and Xu Jie who cheated him more and more. He often shouts at people:
"I must take the heads of Zou Yinglong and Xu Jie to vent the hatred in my heart!"
This is roughly a spiritual victory method. He has no money, no one, and a few robbers, so he can only complain thousands of miles away, and no one in the capital can hear him anyway.
But what he never expected was that his words were the beginning of his final destruction.
Soon, Xu Jie in the capital heard these words. The naive Luo Longwen did not know that as an important accomplice of Yan Shifan, from the time he escaped to the time he defected to the Japanese pirates, there were people watching him, watching him turn from a fugitive to a robber.
He committed a crime, but no one ever stopped him. Because in Xu Jie's view, this man's current behavior would become a weapon to kill Yan Shifan.
After learning this, Xu Shoufang immediately took action. Not only did he report this to the emperor and publicize it with great fanfare, he also dispatched a large number of royal guards to protect himself and Zou Yinglong's home, and publicly stated that his personal safety was seriously threatened.
When Yan Song was rectifying Lan Daoxing, it was a matter of life and death, but Mr. Xu was as stable as a rock; a man threatened him thousands of miles away, but he was so excited
, in the final analysis, it is just for one reason-political purpose.
Only by making Luo Longwen's matter a big deal can everyone be alerted and lead to Yan Shifan. Luo Xiaodi became a Japanese pirate, so Brother Yan naturally couldn't escape his involvement, and the emperor had never had a good impression of this one-eyed dragon.
Yan Shifan and Yan Song have been gradually forced into a dead end. So far, everything is under Xu Jie's control, but even he himself did not expect that the occurrence of an accident would bring this good show to an end early.
The cause of the matter was just a brick.
Unlike Luo Longwen, Yan Shifan is not depressed or complaining. He is concentrating on building his new house in Yuanzhou, Jiangxi Province. Just as Xu Jie expected, Yan Shifan is really arrogant. He is supposed to be a fugitive, find a few friends, and build a small hut.
It's just a matter of living and living in hiding. But this brother actually hired more than 4,000 migrant workers, and for fear that others wouldn't know, he started building the mansion with gongs and drums every day!
Of course, if Yan Shifan dared to be so arrogant, the magistrate of Yuanzhou had naturally taken care of it, so no one took care of him.
Unfortunately, prefects were not the only officials in the Ming Dynasty.
When there were more workers, they would naturally gather together to have fun. While they were talking and laughing, a man passed by and looked at them twice. This group of people just finished their work and wanted to cause trouble, so they provoked the passerby.
, while talking, someone was bored and threw a brick at someone, causing him to be punished on the spot.
This brother was quite sane and did not fight (there were many people on the other side). He just stepped forward to ask their leader, Yan Shifan's servant, for the theory.
However, the servants of the Yan Mansion were arrogant and ignored him at all. Someone nearby saw the signs and thought that this man was behaving unusually. He was probably an official, so he reminded the servant to be polite.
After all, I had run errands for Yan Shifan and had seen big scenes on weekdays. The so-called seventh-rank official of the prime minister's disciples, this dear friend's eyes crossed, and he shouted on the spot:
I have seen many high-ranking officials in the capital. Who do you think you are? Get out of here!
Facing this ferocious servant, the passers-by said nothing, covered their wounds, and left silently with humiliation.
The servant's pride was greatly satisfied, and the seeds of disaster were thus planted.
The name of this passerby was Guo Jianchen, who was the official of Yuanzhou at the time. As the servant said, he was not a high official, but this loser obviously did not understand some basic concepts of officialdom, such as background, backing, etc.
One glory, all glory, etc.
Guo Jianchen is an official in charge of justice, the same job that Xu Jie once did. Although he is not as promising as Xu Jie, he has a good friend named Lin Run.
So, feeling humiliated but unable to vent, Guo Jianchen wrote a letter of his grievances and anger and sent it to Lin Run.
No one is easy to offend, but he did offend this person. It can only be said that Yan Shifan has run out of energy.
Lin Run, whose courtesy name is Ruoyu, was born in Putian, Fujian. He was a Jinshi in the 35th year of Jiajing (1556). Although this man has little qualifications, he is not an ordinary person. He was first assigned to be a county magistrate. Due to his outstanding performance, he was very popular.
He was soon promoted to Nanjing as censor.
You must know that it is not easy to be promoted from a local official to a censor in just a few years. Since the censor often writes to the emperor, if you are lucky and a certain memorial is appreciated by the leader, it is not easy to be promoted several levels in a row like Hu Zongxian.
possible.
And this Lin Run can be said to be the best among the censors. He is not only tough in character, but also very smart. Not long after he took office, he dared to write a letter to impeach his own leader - the left deputy censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the famous corrupt official Yan Maoqing, and Tanci.
It's written so well that you can't grasp anything.
Although the final impeachment was abandoned due to Yan Song's protection, Lin Run's scolding skills and wit left a deep impression on Yan Shifan, so he invited his brother to have a meal.
At the dinner party, facing the wealthy and powerful Yan Shifan, Lin Run showed no fear at all. Instead, he turned his back on his guests and talked and laughed happily. This incident left a deep impression on Yan Shifan, and he has been very polite to Lin Run ever since, for fear of offending him.
However, the people Lin Run hated most were the Yan family and his son who had brought disaster to the country and the people, so when he received Guo Jianchen's letter, an idea came to him - to impeach Yan Shifan.
Although Zou Yinglong had already complained once before, and Jiajing had warned that anyone who dared to make a fuss about this matter again would be killed, Lin Run still decided to take a risk.
Unlike Yang Jisheng, Lin Run had no intention of killing himself. Although his move was risky, he made it because he was optimistic about it. Judging from the subsequent development of things, he is likely to have a close connection with Xu Jie, so for the current situation
He knew the situation very well. After the previous Luo Longwen incident, Jiajing's patience had reached its peak. As long as he lit another fire, the angry volcano would completely erupt.
In December of the forty-third year of Jiajing (1564), Lin Run formally submitted a letter, and the war broke out again.
This is a very powerful article. In the article, Lin Run once again used his wisdom. He not only impeached Yan Shifan for colluding with bandits without authorization and committing evil deeds, but also exposed the crime that everyone on earth knows-deserting.
I deliberately hid it for two years just for today.
After seeing the memorial, Jiajing was indeed furious. He once again forgot what he had said, and strictly ordered the matter to be investigated and Yan Shifan arrested.
second to none
After learning the content of the decree, Xu Jie was not excited at all. Instead, he seemed very anxious and immediately sent a secret envoy, requesting that Lin Run be informed of the matter as soon as possible.
Xu Jie seemed to be too anxious. After the order was issued, Lin Run would naturally know it. It was only a day or two late, so what difference did it make?
But it turned out that this was an extremely wise decision. It was these critical days or two that changed the course of the situation. Because Xu Jie knew very well that although Lin Run's memorial was sharp in words, it had no solid evidence. The only way to prove it at present was
Yan Shifan was only guilty of escaping halfway back to his hometown.
When the order is made public, the members of the Yan Party in the DPRK will definitely report the news to Yan Shifan. With Yan Shifan's IQ, he will definitely escape immediately and run back to Leizhou, where he was exiled. In this way, Lin Run will be falsely accused, and things will go away
Let it go.
So what determines the success or failure of something is the speed of information dissemination.
Xu Jie's prediction was absolutely correct. On the day the edict was promulgated, Yan Shaoting, Yan Shifan's son and a member of the royal guard, set off overnight to report the news. But when he arrived in Jiangxi out of breath, all he saw was a mess.
Because two days ago, Lin Run had already visited here and captured Yan Shifan who was laying bricks.
Not to mention, Lin Yushi sent the Buddha to heaven, and even his little brother Luo Longwen was arrested, and a second bullet was printed, enumerating Yan Shifan's crimes, and sent them to the capital together with the memorial. Yan Shifan once again became a
The prisoner came to the capital again. This time, everyone believed that he would be completely destroyed, including Xu Jie.
However, when this young master Yan entered the capital, something unexpected happened again.
As soon as Yan Shifan and Luo Longwen arrived in Beijing, they took off the shackles on their bodies and accepted the banquet hosted by the officials in a grand manner. After eating and drinking, they didn't even go to the prison gate and moved directly into the mansion that had been prepared for them.
All in all, these two gentlemen are not prisoners, but rather like leaders who came to inspect.
Seeing this spectacle, Xu Jie was shocked again. Two imperial prisoners were so arrogant in broad daylight, but all the court officials turned a blind eye and remained silent without exception. Dali Temple didn't care, the Ministry of Punishment didn't care, and the Procuratorate didn't care either.
in spite of.
Am I the only one who saw all this?! Xu Jie couldn't help but tremble, he felt an unprecedented fear.
Yan Song fell, and Yan Shifan entered the palace for the second time. Things have reached this point, and the Yan Party is still so powerful, and can be so unscrupulous and lawless!
Xu Jie, who recovered from the shock, began to think again. He finally realized that this was an extremely tenacious force and an extremely solid community of interests. To completely destroy it, relying on conventional means alone was absolutely impossible.
Not available.
To break it, we must find a breakthrough, and Yan Shifan is the most suitable candidate. Since impeachment is useless, arrest is useless, and even imprisonment is useless, then I have only one option left - kill him.
We must let all those who are coercing know who is the true leader of the imperial court, and we must use the most severe means to tell them that relying on the strict party will lead to a dead end!
Just when Xu Jie made up his mind, Yan Shifan was drinking and having fun with Luo Longwen in a relaxed manner. However, as both prisoners, Luo Longwen did not have the same psychological quality as Yan Shifan. Although the Yan Party had wide connections and power, he did not have to spend time in jail or eat food.
It's just leftovers, but after all, he is here to stand trial. If he reveals all the bad things he has done by then, he will not be executed immediately, but at least he will be given a reprieve.
However, Yan Shifan smiled and said to him:
"We'll be fine, don't worry."
Luo Longwen breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Yan Shifan had already settled the judge who was trying the case.
However, Yan Shifan told him that the chief of the Three Laws Department who was responsible for hearing the case, Huang Guangsheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, Zuo Du Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Minister of Dali Temple were not Yan Party members, and they had always had a grudge against him. They were holding back because the time had not come yet. He will definitely be tried to death.
Before Luo Longwen could finish digesting the bad news, Yan Shifan went on to say something unbelievable:
"I have sent people to spread the news everywhere to redress the grievances of Yang Jisheng and Shen Lian. The reason why they died is all our fault. I believe this matter will be spread to the Sanfa Division soon."
Luo Xiaodi fell into extreme panic. He shouted loudly to Yan Shifan:
"Are you crazy? Isn't this asking for death?!"
"Don't panic," Yan Shifan remained calm, "not only can these crimes not kill us, they can also save our lives."
He calmly looked at Luo Longwen, who looked confused, and said confidently:
"Of course there is a crime for killing me, but it's not something that the nerds from the Sanfa Division can come up with. In this world, there are only two people who can kill me."
"One is Lu Bing, he is dead; the other is Yang Bo, I have inquired about it. He just committed a crime not long ago, and now that he has lost power, he can no longer speak in front of the emperor, so there is nothing to be afraid of."
Therefore, the confident Yan Shifan made his final prediction:
"Let him start a prairie fire, and he will pour out the sea water!"
My plan is foolproof and will never fail. Lu Bing is dead and Yang Bo is dead. There is no rival in the world. I am the only one with the most talent in the world! Who can kill me?!
Xu Jieneng.
When Xia Yan was killed more than ten years ago, he was just an untrained young man at the deputy ministerial level. He was still far behind in terms of both strategic and political skills. But after years of bloody events, He has become accustomed to and mastered all the rules and techniques. Today, he has the ability to participate in this death match.
In fact, from the day Yan Shifan came to Beijing, his every move has been under the strict supervision of Xu Jie. From having fun and drinking to spreading news, Xu Jie is aware of everything. Unlike the officials of the Sanfa Division, after a short period of thinking, He then understood Yan Shifan's intentions and understood his overall plan.
This was a duel between the two most intelligent men during the Jiajing period, and the outcome depended on it.
This is the final test. After more than ten years of torture and training, after going through ups and downs, I have finally reached this point. The advantage is all in my hands. There is only one last enemy left in front of me.
If I kill this man, no one in the world will be able to defeat me.
Xu Jie's Justice
Just as Yan Shifan expected, the Third Law Division adopted the opinions of the roadside community in the streets and put the charges of killing Yang Jisheng and Shen Lian on Yan Shifan's head. He wrote impassionedly about the unjust killing of loyal ministers and the public outrage in the world.
After completing the draft, they sent the charges to Xu Jie, the chief minister of the cabinet, for review as usual.
Xu Jie seemed to have been waiting for them for a long time. He took the manuscript, read it carefully, then smiled and praised:
"You did a good job on this matter, your words were sharp, and your charges were clear."
"But I have a question to ask you," Xu Jie suddenly stopped smiling and said in a stern tone:
"Do you want to kill Yan Shifan, or do you want to save him?"
This was a question that insulted IQ. Several judicial cadres immediately turned red in the face and shouted:
"Needless to say, of course I want to kill him!"
Looking at the excited comrades, Xu Jie laughed out loud:
"Once this memorial is sent, Yan Shifan will definitely go unpunished, and all of you will be busy in vain."
What kind of statement is this? Everyone was stunned and looked at Xu Jie, waiting for his explanation.
"You don't understand the mystery. Although there is public outrage in the world about Yang Jisheng, it must not be reported to the emperor. You must know that although Yang Jisheng was killed by the Yan family and his son, the order to behead was issued by the emperor."
"The current emperor is the head of the Yingchao, and he never admits that he is at fault. If you put this charge on him, wouldn't it be to make the emperor look good? How can the emperor's face be saved if he is deceived like this? When the emperor becomes angry, Yan Shifan will naturally
Acquitted.”
Xu Jie was right, and Yan Shifan's wishful thinking was just like this. In order to realize his intention, he first let out the news, saying that he was most afraid of the Yang Jisheng incident, and then induced the people of the Sanfa Division to prosecute the crime, because Emperor Jiajing's
He knew his character very well. This man was too arrogant and believed that he was the best in the world. No one could deceive him and he would never admit his mistakes.
Now you have to tell him, brother, you are wrong. They used your hand to kill Yang Jisheng, and you even signed it. You are an idiot who took advantage of him. Naturally, he will get angry and deny your statement, so Comrade Yan Shifan can just borrow it.
Machine to escape.
This trick is very vicious. It is the so-called dragging the emperor into the water. It is not something that ordinary people can think of and use. For example, Du Yuesheng, the oldest gangster in Shanghai, also used this trick. It was on the eve of liberation that Chiang Ching-kuo, the son of Chiang Kai-shek,
I was ordered to go to Shanghai to rectify the financial order and combat speculation. I worked enthusiastically, but ended up getting Du Yuesheng's head. Not only did I show no mercy, I also made it clear that you were the one being punished.
Du Yuesheng did not argue and accepted the punishment obediently, but secretly instigated others to report Kong Xiangxi's son for opportunism and took the matter directly to Jiang Jingguo: If you don't deal with him, why should you deal with me?
As a result, the vigorous Shanghai financial defense war ended hastily. The Jiang family and the Kong family were all one family, and they could easily discuss matters, and Du gangster was freed.
But Yan Shifan did not have the same luck as Du Yuesheng
, because his opponent is Xu Jie, a person who can rival him.
The nerds were dizzy, and they had not yet recovered their heads. They just asked Xu Jie stupidly, "In this case, please come up with an idea and set a crime, and we will deal with it immediately."
However, Xu Jie's next move surprised them even more. The unfathomable chief minister just smiled and took out a prepared memorial from his sleeve:
"I've already written it, you just send it in."
What's going on? Can you still predict this?
With infinite admiration and reverence for Mr. Xu, the officials of the Sanfa Division opened the memorial, with murderous intent rushing towards them.
To put it simply, Yan Shifan's charges are as follows: First, he and Luo Longwen were buddies, and Luo Longwen colluded with Japanese pirates. Yan Shifan also linked up with Japanese pirates. They gathered pirates and tried to connect with foreign countries and escape to Japan.
Secondly, he colluded with Jiang Yang gangsters, trained private armed forces, and conspired against evil intentions.
Finally, he occupied the land to build a house. According to the on-site investigation, it was a piece of land with royal aura. Yan Shifan was so bold that he built a building on it, which was a heinous crime (Hu Weiyong also suffered this crime back then).
After reading this memorial, the nerds of the Sanfa Department have also concluded that Yan Shifan will definitely die, because the two words that Jiajing disliked the most were "committing to the upper class" and "together with the Japanese".
The officials of the Third Law Department took this fatal memorandum and left tremblingly. Before leaving, they bid farewell to Mr. Xu with extremely awe-inspiring eyes. Xu Jie still politely returned the greeting, with a calm expression on his face, as before.
That never happened.
In the history of the Ming Dynasty for nearly three hundred years, this is a scene that touches me deeply. Every time I think about it, I can't help but feel creepy. Because in this plain speech analysis, although there is no sword, sword or shadow, there is a kind of
A more terrifying wisdom.
As the two most astute people in the world at that time, both Yan Shifan and Xu Jie keenly grasped the most critical element of this struggle-Jiajing. In fact, whether Yan Shifan died or was released did not depend on whether he was guilty or not.
What a crime. Not to mention being a liaison with the Japanese, even if he colluded with aliens, as long as Jiajing didn't open his mouth, Yan Shifan would not die.
After so many years of dealing with each other, Yan Shifan knew Jiajing better than Jiajing. He knew that the emperor was a man who wanted to save face, so he came up with this trick. If there were no exceptions, it should not be a problem to pass through safely, but it was a pity that he happened to encounter it.
Come to Xu Jie.
Just analyze the previous conversation and you will understand that Xu Jie's city can only be described in two words - terrifying.
He cracked Yan Shifan's plan, wrote a memorial in advance, and determined the charges. To do this, he must understand the following three points, each of which is indispensable:
First of all, he was very aware of Jiajing's habits and knew that he would not admit his mistakes even to death, so he knew what could be said and what could not be said.
Secondly, he knew what the idiots in the Sanfa Division thought, and he also knew what crimes they would convict.
It is extremely difficult to grasp the psychology of the emperor and his ministers, but we can be sure that Yan Shifan also knew these two points very well, because his conspiracy was based on this.
But the reason why Xu Jie was able to become the final winner was because he also mastered the most important third point - Yan Shifan's psychology.
Not only did he know what the emperor thought and what the judge thought, he also knew what Yan Shifan was thinking, and even the conspiracy methods he used were clear. Yan Shifan, who boasted that he was the most intelligent in the world, was cunning and cunning, and he had all sorts of tricks, but he was always there.
Xu Jie's hands were spinning, and he was still counting the banknotes after being sold.
Accurate understanding of people's hearts, accurate predictions of events, and unfathomable scheming. This is the ultimate wisdom. In my opinion, it has surpassed the limits of human beings.
In this secret battle, Yan Shifan lost, but he did not lose unjustly, because he lost to a person who was smarter than him, and the really sad person was Jiajing.
This talented, intelligent and self-willed emperor finally paid the price for his self-righteousness. He devoted his life to scheming and controlling people's hearts, but in the end he became a tool of struggle between two ministers. His temper and personality were undermined by the two ministers.
You have it at your fingertips, use it whenever you want, and play with it whenever you want.
In this way, the puppeteer finally became a puppet, which can be regarded as retribution.
I would also like to remind everyone that specific issues must be analyzed in detail. The reason why Xu Jie and Yan Shifan were able to play with the emperor was ultimately because Comrade Jiajing loved face. If Zhu Yuanzhang were to be replaced, it is estimated that not only Yan Shifan would not survive, but also the few who handled the case.
Even nerds can't run away. Let's join hands and meet the King of Hell together. So don't use this trick indiscriminately. Dogmatism will kill people.
As Xu Jie expected, after the memorial was sent to him, Jing became furious. He immediately ordered a review and executed Yan Shifan immediately. Luo Longwen was indeed more obedient than his son.
Contrary to what many people imagine, the death penalty system in the Ming Dynasty was very strict. It was a rumor that human life was taken lightly. Local officials had no power to kill people. The power to review death sentences belonged to the central government, to be precise, the emperor.
Every time the execution list was sent, the Emperor would personally review it, and not all of them would be killed. Anyone who didn't like it would just put a tick on it, and that person would be dead. He would be beheaded during the Autumn Jue, and then he would die.
If you don't get the chance this time, you will have to stay in jail for another year. You will have another chance next year.
According to Yan Shifan's situation, it was just an Qiu Jue at most. However, with the great help of Comrade Xu Jie, Jiajing gave him special care - Li Jue.
Yan Shifan was about to die, but he was still kept in the dark. He had no idea and was still boasting to Luo Longwen:
"There are many people outside who want to kill me and avenge Yang Jisheng, do you know?"
Luo Longwen couldn't afford to bother anymore. After all, he had no confidence in his heart. Looking at the two hundred and fifty in front of him, he was so angry that he couldn't fall out, so he had to remain silent.
Seemingly feeling that the joke had gone too far, Yan Shifan returned to normal, patted Luo Xiaodi on the shoulder and gave him a guarantee:
"Don't worry, just drink. We will be able to go home in less than ten days. Maybe my father will be able to recover (we don't know his fate), and then we can clean up Xu Jie. Lin Run, retaliate for this."
Revenge!"
Luo Longwen became happy now, but when it came to specific issues, Yan Shifan didn't say a word. It seemed that he liked this kind of teasing game very much.
Comrade Yan Shifan, since you like to play, then go ahead and play while you can.
Soon, Yan Shifan, who was full of hope, received the result he had been waiting for for a long time - the good news of a large number of Jin Yiwei and Li Zhan.
As the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Yan Shifan, who had good food, accommodation and fun, suddenly heard the bad news and immediately fainted to the ground. After being successfully rescued by pouring cold water on him, although he regained consciousness, he was left with sequelae - non-stop
He was trembling. He kept trembling until Father Yan sent someone to see him and asked him to write a suicide note, but he couldn't write a word.
Needless to say, Luo Longwen believed that Big Brother had been deceived for so long. How could he be so miserable that he cried with his head in his arms all day long? If he had known this, he might as well have died on the anti-Japanese battlefield, and at least he could still be recognized.
point.
On March Xinyou in the forty-fourth year of Jiajing reign (1565), Yan Shifan and Luo Longwen were identified and taken to the execution ground to be executed.
This genius, who was outstanding in learning and intelligence, but also committed all kinds of evil and cruelty, ended his criminal life.
The evil that has gone on so far has finally reached its full limit.
On the day when Yan Shifan was executed, people in the capital rushed to tell each other and went to the execution ground to watch the execution, bringing wine, beverages, non-staple food, etc. with them. They laughed and ate and watched, which was better than an outing.
It's really rare for people to be so popular.
On this day, a university student studying in the capital desperately squeezed into the crowd and occupied the best spot to watch the execution. He also held a piece of cloth high in his hand, with only seven eye-catching characters on it——
Jin Yiwei experienced a heavy chain.
After witnessing Yan Shifan's head being chopped off, he burst into tears and shouted to the sky:
"Mr. Shen, you can finally rest your eyes in peace!"
After saying that, he cried all the way away. More than ten years ago, when Shen Lian was demoted to security because of the impeachment of Yan Song, he taught local poor students to read and write for free regardless of remuneration until he was killed by Yan Song and his son. And this He was one of those poor children back then.
He had waited too long for this day to come, and he finally saw justice.
Xu Jie finally realized his justice, in his own way, not with propriety, justice, integrity, or moral preaching, but with conspiracy and scheming.
Was Yan Shifan's death an injustice? An injustice, indeed an injustice.
Luo Longwen colluded with the Japanese pirates just to make a living. He was not Wang Zhi. With his little potential, even if he wanted to find the traitor, he would not be found.
Not to mention Yan Shifan, this man has been greedy for so many years, and his family has a lot of money. At that time, Japan was very poor from top to bottom (who would become a Japanese pirate if he was not poor). Rich man Yan built a villa at home and enjoyed eating and drinking. Hey, you're a traitor? Don't be ridiculous, even the emperor himself wouldn't do it.
As for occupying land with a royal aura, it's really uncertain. There was no land law back then, and given Yan Shifan's status, it was trivial to occupy a piece of land at will. But if you insist that this land has a royal aura, then no one can do anything about it. Regarding this issue, Xu Jie once vowed at that time that he had sent people to investigate on the spot, and there was no doubt that it was Wang Qi.
But there is no basis for this matter, and there is no authoritative certification agency. But Mr. Xu is in power, so he said that if there is one, then forget it.
The only real evidence is that he gathered desperadoes and bribed gangsters. But Comrade Yan Shifan didn't study at all. He was a complete gangster. He usually dealt with gangsters. It was his duty to develop a gangster organization. Moreover, it seems that he has not committed any major crimes, and his plotting to commit crimes is even less reliable.
So the conclusion is: Yan Shifan was killed unjustly.
so what?
Which one of Yang Jisheng, Shen Lian, and those who were harmed by the strict Party is not unjust? It is still the old saying: to deal with gangsters, use gangster methods.
Regarding this issue, I will once again quote the nonsensical Mr. Stephen Chow in his "Nine Grades of Sesame Official", which is a line that is more advanced than countless so-called upright people and Taoists:
"Corrupt officials are more treacherous than corrupt officials!"
I think this is the most appropriate annotation.
The development of the matter confirmed that Xu Jie's judgment on Yan Dang was completely correct. As soon as Yan Shifan died, Yan Dang immediately dispersed and changed their families one after another, hoping to escape the disaster. But Xu Jie was not a compassionate person. In a matter of months, he successively dismissed and transferred more than 20 members of the Strict Party. It can be said that he acted vigorously and resolutely, and the most traitorous Party that had controlled the government for more than ten years was uprooted.
But this matter is not over yet, there is still one last old friend left that we need to take care of.
Yan Song's home was finally ransacked. Facts have proved that over the years, although he has not paid much attention to national affairs, he has spared no effort to make money. According to statistics, more than 30,000 taels of gold and 3 million taels of silver were confiscated from his home. Celebrities There are countless rare treasures of calligraphy and painting. The confiscation of the house took more than a month, and even the list of property that was confiscated was compiled into a book. It was later published publicly and named "Tianshui Bingshan Lu", which became a best-seller in the Qing Dynasty.
Yan Song was completely despairing at this point. His son was dead, his minions were scattered, and Jiajing didn't care. He finally came to the end of his life. Facing the busy house search staff, this man, while frustrated, actually proposed another idea. Require.
Yan Song said that because there are many servants at home, he hopes to leave some money for himself to pay severance pay.
Seeing this pitiful old man, the confiscation officer couldn't bear it, so he reported this request to Xu Jie and suggested that his request should be met.
Xu Jie thought for a moment and then said his answer word for word:
"I remember that Yang Jisheng's family had no servants."
Now is the time to pray for mercy. So when Xia Yan was killed, where was the mercy? When Yang Jisheng and Shen Lian were killed, where was the mercy? Without a single soldier, the Mongolian cavalry was allowed to burn and kill outside the city. When people are looting and committing all kinds of evil, where has the compassion gone?!
Yan Song left home and returned to his hometown alone. This was the starting point of his success, and now it has become the end of his failure. The so-called rise and fall, honor and disgrace, can only happen in a thought.
Victory comes again, and this time, it is a true and innocent victory, with no sequel.
After more than ten years of dedicated practice and more than ten years of patience, Xu Jie, who struggled to survive in anger and hatred, trickery and justice, won. From being full of traitors to killing them all, he relied on his perseverance and wisdom to gradually regain his reputation. Disadvantage, and it led to this final outcome. Everything was fulfilled one by one like a rehearsal in advance.
With one exception.
In the past ten years, Xu Jie had rehearsed countless times in his mind: how to cut Yan Song into pieces after a successful counterattack, but when the day came, he changed his previous plan.
Seeing Yan Song leaving sadly, Xu Jie had a new idea in his mind: don't kill him, and you can't kill him.
Over the past thirty years since he offended Zhang Cong and was demoted in the early years of Jiajing, Xu Jie has transformed from an upright and unyielding angry young man who spoke out his advice to a smooth and calculating politician. However, his personality characteristics Throughout the years, one thing has never changed - revenge must be avenged.
For more than ten years, his hatred for Yan Song has been deeply rooted in his bones, and now it is time for revenge. Facing this enemy who has committed numerous crimes, he is determined to use another way to repay his blood debt, a more cruel way.
Dismissal of office, confiscation of home, death of wife and children, but this is not enough, and it is far from enough to compensate those innocent people who were framed and killed by you, resulting in the destruction of their families and their lives.
I won't kill you, although it is very easy. I want you to watch your relatives around you die one by one, just like Yang Jisheng's wife did; I want you to see with your own eyes everything you have ever obtained, in front of your eyes. It keeps disappearing and there's nothing you can do about it.
Keep living and suffering, Yan Song, you deserve this.
In April of the forty-fourth year of Jiajing (1565), Yan Song was deprived of all his property and rushed back to his hometown. No one paid attention to him, so the former chief minister of the imperial court changed his career and became a beggar. He relied on begging on the streets to make a living. He was looked down upon for two years. He died tragically in the wilderness at the age of eighty-eight.