My father is Jiajing

Chapter 167: Named Wuji and Conferred the Title of Champion

Just as Anda was barking incompetently, a burst of extremely hearty laughter came from the Wanshou Palace in Xiyuan.

"Call Yan Song here, call Yan Song here."

Emperor Jiajing was extremely happy. Not long after nightfall, he finally received an urgent secret report from Huang Jin from Gubeikou.

After reading the contents of the secret report, Emperor Jiajing felt as relaxed as eating ice cream in the hottest days of summer, and he felt like his soul was about to ascend to heaven.

At this time, Huang Jin was not around to share his happiness, so the first person Emperor Jiajing thought of was naturally Yan Song, who understood his thoughts best.

The story of Yan Song's rise to power is actually very similar to that of a previous prime minister named Zhang Cong. Both of them stood out from the crowd and became the prime minister of the cabinet by figuring out the mind of Emperor Jiajing.

However, the two men had different fates. When Zhang Cong was appointed as the chief minister, it was the time when Emperor Jiajing was determined to make progress. That period of history was also given the glorious title of "Jiajing Restoration".

But after Yan Song defeated Xia Yan with great difficulty, Emperor Jiajing seemed to have changed his character. He no longer had the same determination as before, but retreated to the Western Garden and became an emperor more like a Taoist priest.

However, this Taoist emperor was more ambitious and unfathomable than before, so much so that even a man as smart and wise as Yan Song had to be extremely careful and serve beside the emperor.

Of course, such a result did not happen overnight. If you want to blame someone, just blame it on the saying “the higher the virtue, the higher the evil.”

No matter how smart and wise Emperor Jiajing was, he was just one person. He wanted to use Zhang Cong to fulfill his political ambitions. Unfortunately, Zhang Cong's foundation was too shallow and he could not defeat Yang Tinghe, the old and upright minister after Yang Shen and his son. It was always extremely difficult for him to realize his ambitions and political ideals.

So after holding on for another 10 or 20 years, Zhang Cong grew old and Emperor Jiajing's enthusiasm slackened, and conservative officials led by Xia Yan regained control and became the mainstream of the cabinet.

However, during the years that Xia Yan served as Prime Minister, he seemed to have forgotten his original intention. He no longer had the enthusiasm to cut down on redundant staff and investigate the royal estates as ordered. He turned a blind eye to the problem of gentry annexation, which was no less harmful than the annexation of royal family.

This caused all of Emperor Jiajing's early reforms to come to a standstill. Then the Renyin Palace Coup broke out, causing Emperor Jiajing to completely lose his resolve for reform, and he devoted his entire attention to cultivating the Tao.

However, in the eyes of Xia Yan and other conservative traditional officials, the emperor's behavior of practicing Taoism was a waste of time.

Therefore, Xia Yan also had some complaints about Emperor Jiajing's practice of Taoism. When Emperor Jiajing asked him to write a poem, he always wrote it in a weird tone. Over time, his original holy heart naturally turned into disgust.

Yan Song seized this opportunity and wrote many heart-warming poems. Gradually, Yan Song came into the sight of Emperor Jiajing and embarked on a fast track to success.

In a few years, Yan Song also became a member of the cabinet and started to compete with Xia Yan.

In the end, it was also under the disgust and connivance of Emperor Jiajing that Yan Song successfully defeated Xia Yan and sent Xia Yan to the guillotine.

This is also the only "prime minister" level minister since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, except for Li Shanchang and Hu Weiyong.

This shows how much Emperor Jiajing hated Xia Yan. Even though Yang Tinghe despised the emperor's authority back then, Emperor Jiajing did not kill him.

But when it came to Xia Yan, Emperor Jiajing killed him. It has to be said that Xia Yan really disappointed Emperor Jiajing in some aspects. Otherwise, why would Emperor Jiajing, who was determined to be a wise ruler like Emperor Wen of Han who ruled by inaction, kill his own prime minister?
You must know that once the political struggle escalates to the stage where even the Prime Minister cannot escape unscathed, it means that the contradictions and struggles within the court have reached a terrifying stage where they cannot be resolved.

This is definitely not a good thing for a huge empire that pursues stability. But the result is that Xia Yan was abandoned by Emperor Jiajing, and Yan Song rose to become the prime minister favored by the emperor.

This has to be said to be the wonder of fate.

Yan Song, who was staying in the duty room in the Western Garden, heard the emperor's summons. He slowly stood up, tidied his appearance with the help of his son Yan Shifan, and then followed the eunuch who announced the imperial edict to the presence of Emperor Jiajing.

"Old minister Yan Song pays respect to His Majesty."

Yan Song tremblingly bowed to Emperor Jiajing.

Emperor Jiajing was in a very good mood at the moment, and he ordered the eunuch beside him, "Bring a brocade cushion over for Lord Yan."

Yan Song bowed again to express his gratitude. After the eunuch beside him brought a brocade cushion over, he carefully sat on the side of the cushion and waited for Emperor Jiajing's instructions.

Emperor Jiajing said happily, "I just received a report from the front line. Zhu San, the commander of the Saner Siwei Battalion, bypassed the main force of the Anda bandit army and attacked the bandit camp in the rear. He killed Anda's son Guluge and captured the leader of the Duoyan Guard Yingke alive. How should I reward him for such a great achievement?"

Emperor Jiajing's words stunned Yan Song. It seemed as if his brain was overloaded by this short paragraph. Is there such an outrageous battle report?

But seeing Emperor Jiajing's happy expression, Yan Song also reacted. No matter whether it was true or false, as long as it could make Emperor Jiajing happy, he would say anything.

Yan Song said, "This is all the credit of Your Majesty. Your Majesty knows how to use people well, which is why General Zhu San has made great contributions in crushing the bandits, beheading the son of the bandit leader, and capturing the leader of Duoyan. I think Your Majesty should reward General Zhu San with the reward of Emperor Wu of Han."

Yan Song said this very skillfully. He had also found out Zhu San's identity early on and knew that this General Zhu San was only in his teens. A general in his teens could achieve such great merits. It seemed that only Huo Qubing during the time of Emperor Wu of Han had such a record.

Of course, the identity that Yan Song was able to find out was naturally fake, and it could not be Zhu Zaigui’s original identity.

So at this time, Yan Song also followed the thoughts of Emperor Jiajing and praised Emperor Jiajing subtly, comparing Emperor Jiajing to Emperor Wu of Han.

When Emperor Jiajing heard Yan Song's words, his eyes suddenly lit up.

If I think about it carefully, San'er does seem to have the courage of Huo Qubing, and I trust San'er so much. Isn't this the template of Emperor Wu of Han?

So Emperor Jiajing also smiled happily, "My dear minister, what you said is very good. Zhu San's contribution is very great. I will give him the reward of Emperor Wu of Han. The cabinet will prepare an edict. After the bandits retreat, I will give Zhu San the name of 'Wu Ji' and make him the Marquis of Guanjun, so that it will be a good story for all ages. Before that, you must keep the secret and not reveal any of it in advance. I will give him a surprise."

Yan Song stood up and bowed, saying, "I obey your order!"

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Asking for a monthly ticket——

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(End of this chapter)