In ancient China, which emphasized Confucianism, under the influence of Confucianism, "learning and excellence", "Chao Wei Tian Shelang, Twilight Heavenly Son Hall" also became the ideal that countless readers hoped for, and then they could rule the country and the world, smell the world, and leave their names in history. Life is like this, what do you want?
And he is one of them, but looking at his decades of eunuch ups and downs, after realizing the life ambition of the Tianzi Hall, what remains above the History of Qing is the evaluation of "no talent, only flattery, stealing power and profit". Later generations even rated him as the first of the top ten traitors of the Ming Dynasty.
That's right, he is Yan Song. As a teenager, Yan Song was quite legendary and was a well-known prodigy. Yan Song, who came from Jiangxi, where the literati were born, was able to recite poems at the age of 5, and had already exported chapters at the age of 7, while at the age of 18, Yan Song went to participate in the township examination and easily took the examination to get a meritorious name. At the age of 26, in 1505, Yan Song entered the high school, and also ranked second in the second class, that is, in addition to the first class, the first rank, the list eye, the tanhua and the second class first, the fifth place in the country.
He was elected as a Shujishi and was able to enter and leave the Hanlin Temple. It also makes him, who is already talented, especially famous, and his peers also appreciate it. But unfortunately, just when he hoped to be able to fight the ambitions, he was seriously ill and could not be cured for a long time, so he had no choice but to write to resign and go home to recuperate. In fact, this was only one of the reasons for his resignation, the most important thing being that at this time, Liu Jin, a eunuch who was favored by Emperor Mingwu Zhu Houzhao, was in power, and he himself adopted a policy of exclusion of southern scholars, especially Jiangxi people- "no need to abuse Jiangxi people".
Therefore, he had to live in seclusion in Fengyi County. In the more than ten years of Fengyi County, he "knew the common things closely, learned to cultivate the southern mountains" and "an official family with many diseases, several families with family food and old poverty" Peaceful and poor life, but also let him "quite a clean reputation."
In 1510, after the fall of Liu Jin, Jiangxi officials were restored one after another. In 1516, Yan Song was also able to use it.
For Yan Song at this time, Qing Yu was in his body, so he became a zheng official who dared to speak out, and repeatedly asked Ming Wuzong to focus on national affairs and abandon the evil customs of greed, but for Zhu Houzhao, who pursued the liberation of personality, the affairs of the court were far less happy than touching fish and leopard rooms. In 1521, the Zhengde Emperor died of pneumonia caused by touching fish.
Since Zhu Houzhao had nothing to offer, his 14-year-old cousin Zhu Houxi succeeded to the throne at the suggestion of Empress Zhang and Yang Yanhe. And Yan Song himself was able to rise from the Hanlin Academy in Nanjing to the Guozi Supervisor of Wine, and he was able to go to Beijing, and finally ushered in the turning point of his life.
At the beginning of his term of office, the Jiajing Emperor wanted to advocate the appointment of his father as his father, but this great ceremonial dispute may not have been expected by anyone to last for three years. As a result, the division of the Qunchen also gave Zhang Xuan and Gui Cao, who were located in Nanjing, to support the jiajing emperor's choice of honoring his father Xingxian wang as the emperor, while Yang Tinghe, the old man of the two dynasties, wanted the jiajing emperor to honor his uncle Xiaozong as the emperor.
Which side do you want to choose?
This has a great connection with the political rules left by Zhu Di, the ancestor of Ming Cheng. After the Battle of Jingnan captured Emperor Jianwen's Jiangshan, and because ming xiaoling was in Nanjing, he had to retain the two-capital system. However, after the relocation of the capital, the center of political power was in Beijing, and although Nanjing also retained the official system of six ministries and other officials, they were all "hopeless" officials who had no hope in their careers and could not be sacred. The Jiajing Emperor's great ceremonial dispute also gave them hope, and almost all of them sided with the support of the Jiajing Emperor, while the opposing side included Yang Yanhe, the head of the cabinet at that time, and others.
At this time, Yan Song did not choose a side. Because no matter which side he is on, he knows the stakes and losses. The Wanli Emperor had almost no possibility of defeat, but the rabble-rousers on the same side naturally tarnished their own reputation, and choosing Yang Yanhe was also a self-defeating ending. In the end, Yang Yanhe was forced to pay tribute, and the supporters of the Jiajing Emperor celebrated. Yan Song was not promoted or degraded, and after more than ten years of eunuchs, he also learned to hide. In 1528, Yan Song was promoted to the position of Right Attendant of the Rebbe, and also obtained a Mei Cha "responsible for renovating the tombstone of the parents of the Jiajing Emperor".
After completing the task perfectly, Yan Song put on 2 seals. One is to describe the auspicious omens of auspiciousness when the parents of the Jiajing Emperor were repairing, and also wrote a memorial text, and the other is sympathetic to the public opinion of the disaster in the south.
It was also such a move that made us can't help but admire his wisdom, and the Jiajing Emperor was very touched after reading the recital, and highly praised Yan Song's behavior.
But the next thing made Yan Song finally go to the abyss. In 1538, a subordinate Shangshu Honored the father of the Jiajing Emperor and offered the emperor a temple number and entered the Taimiao Temple. This was also a continuation of the dispute over the Great Ceremony, and Yan Song at this time was actually opposed, but this also angered the Jiajing Emperor and rebuked Yan Song, who found his teacher Xia Yan under the fall. Xia Yan supported the Jiajing Emperor in posthumously honoring his biological father because of his "knowledge of the times", and the official was Zaifu. Therefore, under the guidance of the teacher, Yan Song also took the opportunity to flatter him and was recommended by him as the Rebbe Shangshu.
But this was obviously not Yan Song's ultimate goal, he wanted the position of the first assistant of the cabinet under one person and above ten thousand people. In 1544, Xia Yan was demoted and Yan Song was promoted to the rank of first assistant. At this time, 39 years had passed since he was a middle soldier, and the eunuch sea was floating and sinking, and he knew that the Jiajing Emperor was actually unbearable in his heart, and he was able to calm his heart and write back to Xia Yan.
However, this was only a step for Yan Song to fall into the well. In 1546, the governor of Shaanxi wrote a letter requesting the recovery of the Hetao region, but Xia Yan strongly supported it. The Jiajing Emperor, on the other hand, was afraid of causing trouble, so he hesitated. Yan Song took the opportunity to propose that "the matter of re-setting should be considered again and again", and then Yan Song united with his henchmen and wrote a letter attacking Xia Yan for flying and flying, and there was no king law, and Xia Yan finally fell into the valley this time. And Yan Song finally reached the peak of power.
More than 20 years of teenagers have struggled to achieve the dream of "ascending to the Heavenly Son's Hall", but in the face of reality, is it reality? He chose the most favorable orientation for the individual, but eventually achieved his notoriety.
Reference: History of the Ming Dynasty