The world of film and television begins with the God of Medicine.

Chapter 1567 Just perform normally
Feng Bao was Wanli's chief attendant and the steward of the Prince's residence. He had served Prince Yu diligently for many years and was highly trusted.

Now that Prince Yu has ascended the throne as the Longqing Emperor, Feng Bao, a former official from the Prince's residence, has naturally risen to prominence and is now the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, succeeding Huang Jin and leading the Imperial Guard.

"Oh dear, Grand Secretary Wang, really. Everyone can see that His Majesty sent me to mediate this conflict. Why can't you just pretend to be confused and let it go? Why did you have to bring it up and make Grand Secretary Gao angry again?"

"That old man's getting a bit arrogant. Even when the late emperor was alive, he couldn't make decisions about the country with a single word. Now that he's the Grand Secretary, he's jumping up and down like this?" Wang Yan looked at Feng Bao with a smile. "Don't you think that makes sense, Eunuch Feng?"

"Why does it sound like the Grand Secretary is speaking to me?" Feng Bao laughed. "The Grand Secretary's recent actions and words are not like those of the late Emperor. I must remind the Grand Secretary that the late Emperor was the master, and the current Emperor is also the master. We dare not neglect anyone."

"What you're saying makes no sense. I used to punish Yan Shifan, criticize Yan Song, and criticize Xu Jie when the late emperor was in power. I even criticized them in the cabinet when we were fighting the Tartars. I wasn't even a cabinet member then. Now that I'm a cabinet member and can participate in decision-making, isn't that the perfect time to criticize them every day?"
"Eunuch Feng, you are a sensible person. You can clearly see who benefits and who suffers in many situations, and who is ultimately in control. You also know how Wang Yan has maintained his position over the years. Tell me, how can I not criticize them?"

Wang Yan, with his hands behind his back, looked at Feng Bao and said, "As for whether I spoke to Eunuch Feng about what I said earlier, you've misunderstood. I was talking about Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng. They're becoming increasingly outrageous; they're the ones who are disrespecting His Majesty. Eunuch Feng, tell me, when the late Emperor was alive, who among them would have dared to cause trouble?"

"Then I misunderstood you, Your Excellency. You are very loyal, and I will certainly tell His Majesty the truth in a moment."

Feng Bao then said, "I heard that it was the Grand Secretary who escorted the Ancestor to the auspicious land? The Grand Secretary is truly righteous, willing to take the time to make the trip in person at this time. As the Ancestor's godson, I must thank you, Grand Secretary, I bow to you."

"Alas, I've known Eunuch Lü and Eunuch Huang for over a decade, and they've helped me a lot over the years. Now that they're retiring, I can't just stand by and watch them be bullied. Luckily, I was the one who escorted them this way, otherwise they would have really suffered."

Chen Hong is so petty. When I entered the palace earlier, he deliberately waited for me at the entrance of the West Garden and said a bunch of nonsense. You'd better be careful, Eunuch Feng. Don't blame me if you fall into Chen Hong's trap.”

"Don't worry, Your Excellency, I know what I'm doing."

"That's settled then. We can communicate anytime if anything comes up. It's almost the end of the year, and there's always so much to do. As the accountant for the Ming Dynasty, I'm constantly busy. Other government departments are even blocking my door, wanting to increase next year's budget and have the Ministry of Revenue make up for this year's deficit. Look at them, damn it, they're all trying to get me to spend money, not a single one of them is thinking about how to help me earn more."

Damn it, just thinking about this makes me furious. Eunuch Feng, you be the judge! I risked my life for this golden opportunity, a chance to easily plow through the entire Ming Dynasty. And they messed it up terribly, and now they're blaming me for being too meticulous, inflexible, and ignoring the bigger picture…

When it's time to make money, they stop me; but when it comes to money, they want it quick and easy. You give a little, he gives a little, everyone gets rich, but they treat me like a fool. Eunuch Feng, tell me, shouldn't these bastards be cursed?

"Uh... Minister Wang, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now. Let's talk again later."

Feng Bao didn't reply, but turned and left with the little eunuch.

Wang Yan smiled and strolled back to the Ministry of Revenue to resume his official duties...

Wang Yan was not lying. The year-end financial review is a very important matter. Everyone needs to have a clear idea of ​​their own financial situation.

Especially after he became Minister of Revenue, he reformed the tax law, unified the tax items throughout the country, and also reformed the statistical standards and procedures. He also naturally expanded the boundaries of his power. Now the Ministry of Revenue has grown considerably and has even more responsibilities.

The tasks included collecting and supervising various local taxes and reports, calculating and supervising reports from other government departments, reviewing and supervising next year's expenditure reports, calculating the expenses of the imperial family and the inner court, conducting unified accounting with the Royal Bank, the Maritime Trade Office, and other government departments, as well as necessary supervision and review, and dealing with the back-and-forth negotiations with the provincial administration commissioners and other government departments. And so on and so forth…

As the highest financial institution, the Ministry of Revenue wielded considerable power. Wang Yan further elevated his supervisory and auditing authority to the highest level; theoretically, after obtaining permission, he could audit all government offices of the Ming Dynasty.

In practice, he could audit all government offices below the level of the Provincial Administration Commission without seeking permission. As for the finances at the Provincial Administration Commission level, that was not a matter for auditing; it was a matter between factions, between the central government and local governments, and between local governments.

If we really wanted to investigate, to put it bluntly, even an average emperor couldn't solve the problem. Take the whole mess caused by the "converting rice paddies to mulberry fields" policy from over a decade ago, for example. None of the four emperors after Longqing, Wanli, Tianqi, and Chongzhen were any good.

Oh, and there was also Emperor Taichang, Zhu Changluo, who died after only a month on the throne, a legendary figure involved in three of the greatest cases of the late Ming Dynasty. He was no exception!

The current Longqing Emperor seems to have no sense of propriety. His father is his father, and he is himself. The greatness of the Ming Dynasty was achieved by Wang (the Longqing Emperor) leading the officials and common people who followed him; it had nothing to do with the emperor.

Ultimately, everything Wang Yan did was predicated on ensuring Jiajing had money to spend and on his favor towards Jiajing. Whether it was material enjoyment, the expansion of power, or the strong emotional response to the empire's growth, all of this stemmed from Wang Yan satisfying Jiajing's needs. Only with Jiajing's support could he skillfully and painstakingly create this situation…

Longqing, having just ascended to the throne, was already thinking of ordering Wang around so that he could receive money like Jiajing.

Even if Wang Yan refuses to give Longqing any money, Longqing has no power to remove him from power. Putting aside everything else, even if Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and others dislike Wang Yan, they would absolutely not agree to remove him from power.

No one understood Wang Yan's contributions to the Ming Dynasty better than they did.

The emperor can die, but Wang Yan cannot be dismissed. Otherwise, without Wang Yan's life-or-death suppression, the seemingly prosperous Ming Dynasty will soon be engulfed in flames, and the powerful families will surely retaliate.

The powerful families' counterattack couldn't be suppressed by a large army, or even by the group represented by Gao Gong and others. They were intertwined, each with their own interests. Even with Wang Yan standing in their way, they still managed to fall short. Without Wang Yan's deterrent, they would be even less likely to succeed.

Often, Wang Yan is used as a bargaining chip in their struggles for benefits with others; they are all very wicked.

Once a counterattack occurs, the Ming Dynasty will suddenly fall from its golden age into crisis. Although the collapse will not be so rapid, the achievements of the reforms are not yet secure, and it will return to the previous situation in about ten or twenty years.

Anyone who dares to reform will surely perish quickly. Not everyone has the resilience of Wang Yan…

As for Zhang Juzheng's reforms, some say that his reforms extended the Ming Dynasty's life by fifty years, while others say that if you look at it the other way around, the Ming Dynasty would only have fifty years left after Zhang Juzheng's reforms.

Whether his reforms were effective or not is a matter of opinion.

But one thing is certain: it's not as good as Wang Yan's revisions...

For a period after Longqing ascended the throne, the biggest gossip circulating was that Grand Secretary Wang angrily berated the other three Grand Secretaries in the cabinet, and that he launched a major purge in the hometowns of all the Grand Secretaries, as well as in the hometowns of Xu Jie and Yan Song. He also issued an edict to the whole country to further investigate land ownership, crack down on illegal activities, and thoroughly examine commercial taxes.

Along with this, the headlines in the newspapers announced the mobilization of Beijing garrison soldiers to the south to guard Henan, Shandong, Shanxi and other places. The southern navy also reduced its forces and patrolled the waters outside Songjiang Prefecture. The army also went on full combat readiness.

And so, the world fell silent. Then, as if nothing had happened, the Ming Dynasty continued its great reign at its original pace. Only the monthly newspapers, temporarily devoid of other news, were filled with information about the illegal and criminal activities of officials at all levels and local tycoons. Strings of names and bolded descriptions of labor camps and other punishments sent chills down one's spine.

After yet another crackdown began, the first newspaper of the new year prominently featured Xu Jie's name!

In fact, Gao Gong agreed with Wang Yan's plan to deal with Xu Jie. In fact, Gao Gong himself wanted to deal with Xu Jie even without Wang Yan's intervention. The one who opposed it was Zhang Juzheng, his teacher, who had also taken over Xu Jie's political power; naturally, Gao Gong would support Xu Jie.

The reason Gao Gong went against Wang Yan was that Wang Yan not only wanted to deal with Xu Jie, but also with Gao Gong. After this thorough investigation was completed, the big families would be reshuffled, the officials would be reshuffled, and even the lowest-level clerks would be reshuffled. The entire Ming Dynasty would be reshuffled from top to bottom.

However, Gao Gong had no choice but to agree, because Wang Yan directly denied his existence as the chief minister, attacking him on his character, reputation, and historical records.

Previously, with Jiajing Emperor's authority to suppress him, Wang Yan showed great respect to Jiajing, refraining from causing trouble as Jiajing promised. However, now that Jiajing is gone, Wang Yan's aggressive nature has become apparent.

Furthermore, Wang Yan also had reasons to cause trouble.

In fact, Feng Bao was right. With Jiajing gone, not only did Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and others rise up, but he also became more aggressive and volatile.

What Longqing thought was actually irrelevant; he was simply being paid to live a life of extravagance. Thus, Longqing happily spent his money and enjoyed the life of an emperor, while Wang Yan reluctantly helped Longqing manage the Ming Dynasty. Everyone was quite happy; it was truly a win-win situation.

As for the connections with Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and other eunuchs like Chen Hong and Feng Bao, their suppression of him was irrelevant. A mild crackdown wouldn't help; a harsh crackdown would bring them all down.

Wang Yan should just do his own thing...

"I'll arrange a good job for you."

In the main hall of the Shuntian Prefecture government office, Wang Yan, while eating and drinking, said the following to Hai Rui.

"What job?" Hai Rui asked with a suspicious look.

"Look at you, you still don't believe me?" Wang Yan chuckled. "You've been here for quite a while now. Right now, our Great Ming is conducting a new round of thorough investigations, and many local powerful families and officials are colluding against us."

You, Hai Gangfeng, are known for your incorruptibility and uprightness. It would be perfect to send you to the Censorate as Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, a promotion, and then assign you the post of inspector of the fields and villages, letting you travel the country. Check on the implementation of policies in the localities, purge the corrupt officials, and improve the lives of the people.

"Don't worry, your safety will be guaranteed. I'll send you a detachment of elite troops from the Beijing Garrison, and I'll also have the Imperial Guard send men with you. On our Ming Dynasty soil, no one will be foolish enough to cause you trouble. Just don't get killed by some unsuspecting people; it's best to avoid any unexpected mishaps."

This was truly a lucrative position, offering not only a publicly funded trip but also immense power. Wang Yan had certainly treated Hai Rui well. Hai Rui's appointment was no easy feat; Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng both opposed it, only Emperor Longqing was willing. Why was he willing? Wang Yan said that the Ministry of Revenue had finished its accounting and allocated 500,000 taels of silver to the inner court.

So Longqing agreed and happily began researching things like selecting concubines...

From this perspective, Longqing wasn't entirely useless...

In reality, Hai Rui's career had reached its limit at this position, considering he was only a Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations). A position of real power at the fourth rank was already quite rare. To advance further would mean truly entering a ministerial level.

There were only two or three hundred successful candidates in each imperial examination, all of them top-notch intelligence, all waiting to be promoted. It really wasn't Hai Rui's turn. And frankly speaking, Hai Rui didn't have enough grand vision, such a broad perspective, or the talent of a prime minister; no matter how high the position, he couldn't hold it. Managing the Shuntian Prefecture was quite difficult for him, and he aged several years in three years.

Hai Rui said warily, "Let me tell you, you want me to help you deal with Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng? I definitely won't do it!"

"Don't worry, none of their men are good people. Your normal performance is enough to keep them in check."

Wang Yan solemnly raised his glass, "Master Hai, whether I can become the Grand Secretary depends entirely on your help. The people of the Ming Dynasty need me..."

"Shameless!"

Wang Yan laughed heartily: "At least I've always been true to myself and genuinely care about the people. Alright, go to the Ministry of Personnel tomorrow to complete the formalities, and you can put aside your duties here."

"Who will take charge next?"

"Shen Shi Xing".

"He's switched sides with you?"

Wang Yan shook his head: "What do you mean by 'defecting'? It's because he understands the greater good, knows what's right, and knows how to make our Ming Dynasty even greater!"

Hai Rui was speechless with emotion.

After having drinks with Wang Yan, he completed the formalities the next day and set off in less than a week.

Wang Yan was right. As long as Hai Rui performed normally, his destructive power was already sufficient. There was no need to specifically target anyone.

Of course, the main reason was that Wang Yan didn't send Hai Rui anywhere else. He said he was going to inspect the whole country, but that meant the area north of the Yangtze River and south of Ji and Liao...

And so Wang Yan began to be assassinated again...

　I want to express my sincere gratitude to all the kind readers who have given me generous support through tips, monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and those who have been reading quietly!

　　(End of this chapter)