Preface
There are indeed a lot of talented people in ancient times, and the "prodigy" we often say is also famous in the circulation of later generations, but it is even more difficult to be called a "ghost talent", after all, his reputation is not very good, and smart people who don't want their reputation to spread far and wide is a good reputation?
During the Jiajing period, there was such a figure, and his intelligence made Emperor Jiajing praise constantly. Even if he is not a member of the cabinet, he can exercise the power of the head of the cabinet, but what he does is not what a virtuous minister should do, and in the end he is too smart, and he can only lose himself.
And what kind of father has what kind of son, what kind of "ghost talent" is "Yan Shifan" in the Ming Dynasty?
1. "Cabinet Chief"
Speaking of Yan Shifan, we have to talk about his father who was the first assistant of the cabinet in the Ming Dynasty, although the official position is in the hands of his father Yan Song, but Yan Song can't cope with it, but Yan Shifan has to come, otherwise he may not be able to sit steadily.
Yan Songke was promoted to the office, and his position was repeatedly promoted after Ming Shizong ascended the throne. Before he was 108,000 miles away from the position of the first assistant of the cabinet, the closest is probably because the auxiliary minister of the cabinet is his hometown, so he has climbed into a relationship.
Originally, Yan Song's official position and qualifications at that time were not enough to serve as the country's prince and priest, but with this relationship, Yan Song was able to enter Beijing, before he was just a student of the Nanjing Hanlin Academy, and he was in Nanjing, if he wanted to climb to the power, he still had to be in the capital.
In this way, Yan Song stayed in Beijing as he wished, and his position was promoted by taking advantage of the situation. Yan Song kept an eye on everything when he was doing things, originally Ming Shizong asked him to go to the Xianling Tomb, but Yan Song had a record of what he saw along the way, to a large extent, he was recording the lives of the people.
For example, some disaster-stricken areas need to be described in detail, so that in the emperor's eyes, Yan Song is a good and honest official, and they are all officials who need to be reused by the emperor and let them serve the imperial court. After returning to the court like this, Yan Song played one after another, which made Sejong full of praise.
At least at this time, Yan Song's good image in Sejong's heart can be regarded as a foothold, and the position can be said to be only promoted but not demoted. If you want to say when Yan Song really became a big celebrity around Ming Shizong, it must be when he sacrifices to the emperor.
Sejong's meaning was to sacrifice in Myeongdang and then let him sacrifice to God. And at this time, there are still people who ask for a play, in order to let the emperor add the temple to the name of the sect, and can enter the temple. But the whole court and the central government suddenly became chaotic, and there were more and more voices against blocking, remember that Yan Song was also among the people who blocked it at this time.
But as soon as Sejong questioned him, Yan Song didn't dare, and even said that it was right to follow the emperor's plan. Therefore, his position was to follow Sejong and help Sejong plan the etiquette in detail. The corresponding Yan Song naturally left a deep impression on Sejong, and Yan Song would do anything to please Sejong.
Later, after Yan Song sat on the position of first assistant, Yan Song's father and son can be said to be in power and opposition, and no one once matched him, plus he is a celebrity of Sejong, although he has to be careful when necessary, after all, Sejong's suspicion is also very serious, but he is ruthless in order to protect his status.
As long as it is an official who impeaches him, Yan Song will definitely not let it go, and the people who are promoted later are naturally his own people, and they can also be said to be people who are dependent on Yan Song.
In this way, Yan Song relied on flattery to get to the top, and then he and his son Yan Shifan reaped a lot of benefits by selling officials. Therefore, Yan Song is by no means a virtuous minister, or even the opposite.
2. Yan Shifan's "Puzzle Solution"
Speaking of his son Yan Shifan, it can be said that he is a talent that can be created, and because of Yan Song, he also entered the Guozijian to study, the living environment is quite good, and the most important thing is that Yan Shifan was born with a good life, and he also entered the official career without the imperial examination.
But Yan Shifan and Yan Song are almost insatiable people, and the officials' money is in their pockets, and they don't let go of the people's money. There must be a discerning person in this matter, that is Xia Yan at that time.
At this time, Xia Yan's official position is above Yan Shifan's father and son, as long as Xia Yan dares to speak, Yan Shifan's father and son will be disposed of early. However, Yan Shifan's father and son were the first to take the lead, and these two could only go to the door very attentively to plead, kneeling and crying to call a pity, and finally Xia Yan relented and let the two of them go.
It's just that Yan Shifan's father and son may not know, and even said that after the two of them went back, they began to think about how to kill Xia Yan, in short, in the end, Yan Shifan's father and son got what they wanted.
Aside from these, according to legend, Yan Shifan is a rare genius, he can never forget any ancient books, classics, etc., as long as he asks him, he can answer.
Even if Emperor Jiajing couldn't figure out the questions, Yan Shifan could answer one or two. Legend has it that once, Yan Song and other ministers were discussing matters, but Emperor Jiajing used it, and no matter how busy he was, he had to free his hands. So Emperor Jiajing was confused about the content of the scriptures, so they naturally came to solve the confusion.
If they can't solve it, the emperor will definitely think that they are useless, and it is possible to be demoted or even demoted. Sure enough, Emperor Jiajing didn't understand, and no one knew about them.
At this time, Yan Song thought of his son Yan Shifan, and rushed to give the problem to Yan Shifan. Yan Shifan only glanced at it, then explained the puzzle, wrote it down, and presented it to the emperor. Moreover, Yan Shifan wrote clearly, which book and page can be said to be clearly marked by him.
In this way, Yan Shifan's talent shines even more in the court.
But Yan Shifan's father and son have amassed a lot of wealth, and it is rumored that his life is luxurious, and he has even reached a rich country. And he has a smart intellect, but he can't escape the habits of his son.
In the end, Xu Jie did not let go of their father and son, and the impeachments continued, even if the smart Yan Shifan escaped, Xu Jie still found a way to let Emperor Jiajing convict him, and he could not escape death. And its confiscated family property and rare treasures shocked the world.
3. Take the blame
In general, Ming Shizong's attitude towards employing people has changed dramatically, and it is more accurate to say that he is a little moody. However, being on the throne, suspicion must exist in every emperor, and it is naturally certain that it appears in Ming Shizong's body.
Ming Shizong has a very strong grip on power, in our current words, possessive. In the imperial court, for every civil official, there is only a lot more control by Ming Shizong, but it seems that Yan Song's father and son are wrong.
Don't look at their tragic ending in the end, but Ming Shizong has misused Yan Song for more than 20 years. What they did was by no means virtuous officials, and during this period, it had a far-reaching impact on the politics of the Ming Dynasty court.
For example, Yan Song has done a lot of things such as mutilating Zhongliang and intensifying social contradictions, and his son Yan Shifan is not like this.
In short, Yan Shifan is not lacking in a smart person who can solve Emperor Jiajing's doubts, but his cleverness is not used in the right place, and his ending is to blame.
epilogue
Yan Song's reputation was already bad, and even notorious, which made everyone hate him very much. And Yan Shifan is also extremely vicious, because of the emperor's attention, his father's official position, very arrogant, can only be said to be smart but mistaken by cleverness, he is a good genius, but he chose a dead end, and there will be a desperate day after all.
If Yan Shifan, a "ghost talent", used his cleverness in the right place, he might have other endings.