Yan Shifan is indeed powerful, he can solve the problems that the cabinet ministers can't solve, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is "exquisite".
Many people may not know when it comes to Yan Shifan, but Yan Shifan's father, Yan Song, everyone must know that the famous cabinet chief assistant of the Ming Dynasty was also a famous traitor in the Ming Dynasty.
In the end, when the Qing Dynasty revised the "History of the Ming Dynasty", Yan Song squeezed into the "History of the Ming Dynasty: The Biography of the Traitorous Ministers" and became one of the six traitorous ministers of the Ming Dynasty.
Yan Song was a scholar of the Yichou Branch in the eighteenth year of the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty (1505), and served as a Shuji scholar after passing the examination, and was later awarded the editor. At the beginning, Yan Song was also a hot-blooded young man, because he was dissatisfied with the dictatorship of the eunuch Liu Jin, and then resigned "due to illness" and returned to his hometown, starting an idyllic life of poetry and literary talent, and gained a good reputation during this period.
In the seventh year of Zhengde of Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty (1512), Yao Ting, the prefect of Yuanzhou Prefecture, began to cultivate his ambitions and asked Yan Song to be the chief compiler, and Yan Song came out to be an official again. However, he has always served in the Hanlin Academy.
It was not until the eleventh year of Jiajing (1532) that Yan Song was promoted to the secretary of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, and two years later it was changed to the secretary of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites. At that time, the head of the cabinet in the court was Xia Yan, who was deeply favored by Emperor Jiajing, and Yan Song and Xia Yan were fellow countrymen and worked hard.
In the fifteenth year of Jiajing (1536), it was the year when Yan Song came to run, he went to Beijing to report on his work, and was favored by Emperor Jiajing to stay, serving as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites. Due to the reign of Emperor Jiajing, there was a dispute over the "Great Rites Discussion", so the position of the secretary of the Ministry of Rites gradually became important.
Emperor Jiajing often summoned Yan Song and discussed with him until late, which shows Emperor Jiajing's trust in Yan Song.
In the seventeenth year of Jiajing (1538), someone asked the emperor (Jiajing Emperor's father) temple to be called Zong, in order to enter the temple. The ministers of the court and the central government opposed one after another, and even Yan Song, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, did not approve, and Zhu Houxi, the Jiajing Emperor, was very angry.
So Emperor Jiajing wrote an article "Mingtang or Ask", sternly questioning the ministers, which frightened Yan Song to change his previous statement and support Sejong to carry his father into the temple. The controversy over the emperor's entry into the temple is the end of the Great Rites Discussion, and Yan Song, who saw the wind and made the rudder, more favored by Emperor Jiajing.
Because this time Yan Song supported Emperor Jiajing and obtained great benefits, from then on, Yan Song finally understood that as long as he followed the emperor's will, he could always enjoy glory, wealth and power.
At that time, Xia Yan was favored by Emperor Jiajing in the court, and Yan Song was promoted by Xia Yan, but later, as Yan Song's power grew, he began to compete with Xia Yan for favor.
Xia Yan did not have Yan Song's mind to obey Emperor Jiajing, for example, Yan Song supported Emperor Jiajing's addiction to Taoism, but Xia Yan opposed it, and slowly Xia Yan did not have Yan Song to be favored by the emperor.
After Yan Song entered the cabinet, he framed Xia Yan, and in the twenty-seventh year of Jiajing (1548), Xia Yan was beheaded by Emperor Jiajing.
When Yan Song served as the first assistant of the cabinet, he was already in his sixties and his thinking ability was slow, so he promoted his son Yan Shifan to be the squire of the Ministry of Industry to help him take power. Yan Shifan does have two brushes, he is good at observing words and feelings, understanding the psychology of others, and is well-read and memorized, known as "the first ghost talent of the Jiajing Dynasty".
So how smart is Yan Shifan, the "No. 1 ghost talent of the Jiajing Dynasty"?
First, he is good at figuring out the emperor's thoughts, and he can often cater to the emperor and not be disadvantaged.
Although Yan Song is a big traitor, he is extremely dedicated to his feelings, and he has only one wife, Ouyang, who gave birth to a baby son Yan Shifan for himself.
Yan Shifan was born in the eighth year of Ming Wuzong Zhengde (1513), Ming Shizong Jiajing ten years (1531) with his father's fame into the country to study, and then entered the officialdom, Jiajing twenty-four years (1545), promoted to Taichang Temple Shaoqing.
After Yan Song served as the first assistant of the cabinet, he was old and weak, mentally exhausted, and had to serve the emperor day and night, so he no longer had enough energy to deal with government affairs. Many political affairs need to be handled with the help of his son, and every time he encounters something that needs to be decided, Yan Song always says, "Wait until I discuss it with the children in the East Building."
"Ming Shilu Shizong Record": Every time the division asks for a judgment in vain, Song will say: "Discuss it with the child." "Shifan is a ferocious scoundrel, and he steals the authority of the country, so he is blatant and opens the bribery door.
Yan Song even privately asked Yan Shifan to enter the cabinet to help with the drafting, the so-called draft vote is that the ministers of the DPRK and China need to make a decision in the cabinet, and then report to the emperor for review. The role of the cabinet is to help the emperor and lighten the burden, and the emperor is only responsible for the final review.
Yan Shifan is indeed unusual, many times of ticket drafting, can cater to Emperor Jiajing's thoughts, Yan Song also received a reward from Emperor Jiajing.
It is said that there is also a small story in this, Emperor Jiajing sent a decree at night, and there was something that needed to be decided by the cabinet before reporting to the emperor.
Cabinet minister Yan Song and scholars Xu Jie, Lu Ben carefully discussed in the duty room, they each wrote a vote, and then saw whose method was good, and finally reported to the emperor.
As a result, the three of them wrote several times, but they were not very satisfied, and Yan Song sent someone to ask Yan Shifan. At this time, the emperor was impatient and came to urge the cabinet to draft a vote, and the three of them could only submit the best vote to the emperor. After Emperor Jiajing saw it, he drew a lot of places with a red pen and asked for a new draft.
Just when the three of them were anxious, Yan Shifan's reply came, so the three of them wrote a ticket according to Yan Shifan's countermeasures and handed it to Emperor Jiajing.
Second, he is well-read and well-read, and he has a subset of scriptures and histories, all of which are understandable.
Although Yan Shifan did not embark on the road of official career through the imperial examination, he is well-read and has a very strong memory ability, what others know, he knows, and what others don't know, he also knows.
For example, Emperor Jiajing liked to read books such as the subset of scriptures and histories, and every time Emperor Jiajing encountered something he didn't understand, he would write it directly on a slip of paper and ask the eunuchs to hand it over to the cabinet ministers to see what it meant. In most cases, the cabinet ministers can still explain it, after all, they are all from the imperial examination, and they can be regarded as having a literary background.
One day, Emperor Jiajing's similar inquiry came again, and Yan Song and others received questions, but several of their cabinet ministers could not answer. Yan Song said that it was okay, and then wrote a secret letter and sent someone to Yan Shifan, the prime minister. Not long after, Yan Shifan's reply came, which was clearly written, including which book this passage came from, how many chapters and pages, and the explanation of this passage.
Yan Song and Xu Jie immediately compared the book, and when they looked at it, as Yan Gongzi said, they were really powerful, and they could be called "ghost talents" in the world. Therefore, Xu Jie has always been very jealous of Yan Shifan, and when Yan Song's family was in full swing, Xu Jie could only choose forbearance. Even later, when Jiajing wanted to punish the Yan family, Xu Jie was very careful, the reason was that he was afraid of Yan Shifan.
Thirdly, there is no mistake between living a life of immorality and "working".
As Yan Shifan was good at figuring out the psychology of Emperor Jiajing and was repeatedly rewarded, Yan Song's family was in power in the court for more than ten years, and Yan Shifan's greed and debaucherous life were slowly revealed.
Yan Shifan used the power of the Yan family to bend the law for bribes, accept bribes, and live a luxurious life. It is said that Yan Shifan is also a good person for Longyang, and there is an article "Cuiya Building" in "The Twelfth Floor", which is dedicated to Yan Shifan's viciousness and unscrupulousness in playing with men. At that time, there was not only a beautiful Longyang in Beijing who had never slipped through the net, but also the person who wore the crown and belt in the subordinates.
Yan Song is emotionally single-minded, just one wife, while Yan Shifan is the opposite, there are twenty-seven wives and concubines, and there are countless other maids and male pets. Yan Shifan used an ivory bed and a gold wire tent to dance at night.
However, there is one thing, no matter how Yan Shifan has fun, he can still not delay his work.
Yan Shifan sings and dances every day, drinks and has fun every day, and falls asleep every time he gets drunk. But as long as his father Yan Song has something important to ask, he fills a large basin with hot water, soaks the towel, takes advantage of the heat to wrap the towel around the head three times, and then changes it when it is cold, and Yan Shifan will be sober once or twice.
After waking up, Yan Shifan immediately picked up the pen and began to write, there was no feeling of drunkenness at all, and he handled political affairs properly, which was unexpected, he really deserved to be called "the first ghost talent of the Jiajing Dynasty", and even Yan Song admired his son very much.
The end of Yan's father and son?
At that time, Yan Shifan relied on his power, and he didn't even care about the prince. Emperor Jiajing's third son, Yuwang Zhu Zaikun, should be made the crown prince as usual, but Sejong was not very close to him, which caused Yan Song's father and son not to give Zhu Zaikun face.
According to the usual practice, the household department wanted to give Yuwangfu a year's gift, but because there was no order from Yan Song, Yuwang's year's gift was not given for several years. In the end, Zhu Zaikun had no choice but to scrape together enough 1,500 taels of silver to give to Yan Shifan, so that Yan Shifan would give him a New Year's gift.
Yan Shifan also brazenly boasted to others: "The son of the Son of Heaven still wants to give me silver, who dares not to give me silver?"
Yan Shifan controlled the appointment of officials of the imperial court, and used this power to clearly mark prices and accept bribes. It is said that Yan Shifan hid the gold and silver he collected in the cellar, and the amount was unimaginable. Once, Yan Shifan asked his father Yan Song to watch, Yan Song was shocked, and felt that a catastrophe was coming.
Yan Shifan has a short neck and a fat white neck, which is completely different from his father's emaciation, and his voice is loud and sharp, which is more in line with the image of a traitor.
In the face of the evil deeds of Yan Song's father and son, some ministers in the court began to impeach them, just like Shen Lian and Yang Jisheng, but due to Emperor Jiajing's protection, these two were finally executed.
In 1562 AD, Emperor Jiajing's favored Taoist priest Lan Daoxing exposed the evil deeds of Yan Song's father and son, and Emperor Jiajing began to pay attention to this matter.
But at the beginning, Emperor Jiajing didn't really want to execute Yan Shifan, but only exiled Yan Shifan to Leizhou, Guangdong.
Yushi Lin Run began to impeach Yan Shifan and arrested Yan Shifan, but it was more difficult to convict Yan Shifan. Because of ordinary crimes, Emperor Jiajing would not kill him, and at the same time, Yan Shifan also sent people to spread the news, saying that Yushi Lin Run wanted to overturn the case of Shen Lian and Yang Jisheng before.
Yan Shifan is worthy of being called a "ghost talent", he just hit the nail on the head in doing so, because it was Emperor Jiajing who convicted Yang and Shen, and Emperor Jiajing was a person who wanted to save face, and he would never slap himself in the face, so the minister Xu Jie said that to punish Yan Shifan, Yan Shifan's persecution of Shen Lian and Yang Jisheng must not be mentioned.
In the end, Xu Jie still had the means, this old minister who had endured for many years had long wanted to bring down Yan Song's father and son, so he convicted Yan Shifan of three crimes.
- First, colluding with the Japanese and conspiring against the Japanese.
Yan Shifan and Luo Longwen are iron buddies, and Luo Longwen is indeed a Japanese coward, and then they did not try to communicate with foreign countries and flee to Japan.
- Second, the training of private armies.
Yan Shifan once colluded with Jiangyang thieves and attempted to rebel.
- Third, build a building in a place where there is the spirit of a king, and commit the following crimes.
Yan Shifan occupied the land, and also built a building in a place where there was a king's spirit, and later after the imperial court survey, it was indeed true.
Emperor Jiajing was well aware of the corruption of Yan Song's father and son, and the reason why he did not move Yan Song's father and son was mainly because he did not infringe on his own interests. However, in collusion with the Japanese and rebellion, of course Emperor Jiajing could not forgive them, and directly sentenced Yan Shifan and Luo Longwen to behead, and the two received the holy decree and hugged their heads and cried. The family asked Yan Shifan to write a suicide note, but Yan Shifan held the pen and couldn't write a word.
"Ming History Chronicle": From the top, he ordered to kill Shifan and Longwen in the city. When the two heard this, they hugged each other and cried. The family members asked to write a suicide note to thank their father, but it could not be written into a word.
After Yan Shifan's house was raided, the money copied out was more than 30,000 taels of gold, more than 2 million taels of silver, and millions of other treasures.
After Yan Shifan was killed, Yan Song was repossessed of his family property, cut his official position and returned to his hometown, and he was homeless. In the first year of Longqing (1567), Yan Song died in poverty and illness at the age of eighty-seven. When Yan Song died, there was no coffin to bury, and no one went to mourn him, and the head of the cabinet who leaned towards the government and the opposition actually lived like this, and he could only say that he found it himself.
To sum up: Yan Shifan does have a certain talent, he is good at understanding the needs and thoughts of the emperor, and is familiar with the national classics, well-read, and has a strong literary foundation, and he can do things that others can't do.
But even if he is so smart Yan Shifan, he can't play Emperor Jiajing, although Emperor Jiajing believes in Taoism all day long, but for the affairs of the court, he is like watching the fire, and let Yan Song and his son fight with Xu Jie.
Xu Jie was later defeated and began to pretend to be stupid, Emperor Jiajing could only take action by himself, and the result was Yan Shifan, but for Yan Song, Emperor Jiajing still left him alive, after all, Yan Song is still loyal to Emperor Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing is a person who wants to save face, and killing Yan Song is to deny himself. I have to say that Emperor Jiajing is very good at scheming.