I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 188: Yan Song's Birthday Banquet, Thirteen Gifts Take the Lead

Lin Shisan is extremely popular in the Yan Party.

In the past, before Lin Shisan became famous, officials of the Yan Party would ask him for help when their pets were sick or in trouble.

Now he is considered a big shot in the court, but he never puts on airs as the emperor's favorite, the prime minister's nephew, or the sworn brother of a young cabinet minister.

If someone's pet gets sick, he will still be there whenever they call as before.

Such a humble and low-key person will naturally be popular.

One day, a Persian cat raised by Zhao Wenhua's mother was vomiting and urinating. After Lin Shisan came and took care of it, the Persian cat immediately became lively and energetic.

After finishing the work, Zhao Wenhua invited Lin Shisan to have tea.

Zhao Wenhua sighed: "Alas, I promoted Hu Zongxian and Tang Shunzhi as well."

"Hu Zongxian was promoted from a censor to the governor-general of Zhejiang. Tang Shunzhi was also promoted to the governor of Fengyang this year."

"Over the years, everyone I promoted has been promoted step by step. But I am still stuck at the position of Minister of Industry, unable to make any further progress."

"Could it be that I am destined to be a maid who makes wedding clothes for others?"

It must be said that Zhao Wenhua was not completely useless. He was very good at identifying and employing people. If Hu Zongxian and Tang Shunzhi had not been promoted by him, they would probably still be little-known officials.

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "Tomorrow is the 80th birthday of Lord Yan. Zhao Butang presented Lord Yan with the Hundred Flowers Immortal Wine. If Lord Yan is happy, won't it be a piece of cake for you to join the cabinet?"

Zhao Wenhua said: "I hope so."

Lin Shisan suddenly lowered his voice and said, "But Mr. Zhao, I have something to say but I don't know whether I should say it or not."

Zhao Wenhua said: "Brother Lin, we are a family. Is there anything we can't talk about?"

Lin Shisan took a sip of tea and said, "In my opinion, if you want to join the cabinet, you can't just please Lord Yan. You also have to please the emperor."

Zhao Wenhua said: "How could I not know? But who among the officials in the world doesn't want to please the emperor? It's hard to find a way!"

Lin Shisan said, "Minister Zhao has something that can please the emperor. If we present that thing to him, the emperor will surely be very pleased."

Zhao Wenhua hurriedly asked: "What is it?"

Lin Shisan replied: "Hundred Flowers Fairy Wine."

Lin Shisan began to set a trap for Zhao Wenhua according to the instructions from Prince Yu's Mansion.

Zhao Wenhua nodded repeatedly: "Aren't you trying to bring bad luck to the emperor? When the emperor was young, he practiced the Zhengyi School and could drink."

"But after the 29th year of Jiajing, he changed to Quanzhen Sect and abstained from meat and alcohol."

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "The emperor doesn't drink ordinary wine from the world. But how could you forget that there is a word 'Xian' in the Baihua Xian wine?"

"This wine was given to Xianshan Xiongxian by the Three Pure Ones. Xianshan Xiongxian felt that he was not worthy enough to enjoy it, so he asked someone with a predestined relationship to give it to the current emperor."

"Drinking this immortal wine can not only boost your Taoist power, but also prolong your life. Your Majesty's greatest wish in this life is to become an immortal, and the next best thing is to live forever."

"If you offer the Hundred Flowers Immortal Wine to the Emperor, he will surely be very pleased."

Zhao Wenhua slapped his thigh and said, "What a wise words! I will give one of these two jars of wine to Lord Yan and one to the Emperor."

"Come on, change my clothes for me, I want to go to the palace to offer wine."

Lin Shisan said, "Minister Zhao, please be patient. I think you should give it to Lord Yan first. Once Lord Yan is happy, he will write a memorial recommending you to join the cabinet and present it to the emperor."

"Then you can go to the palace again and offer wine to the emperor. The emperor will be happy and approve the memorial of Lord Yan."

"The golden chair of the cabinet will be yours!"

"There is no precedent in the Ming Dynasty where a father and son serve as prime ministers one after another. Moreover, the position of the young cabinet minister is only a deputy hall, and he is not even qualified to join the cabinet."

"When you are a hundred years old, the position of the Prime Minister of the Cabinet will definitely be yours!"

"When that time comes, I will respectfully address you as Prime Minister Zhao!"

The pie drawn by Lin Shisan was big and round, which made Zhao Wenhua very excited.

In his excitement, he lost his mind and listened to what Lin Shisan said.

Zhao Wenhua said, "Okay. Just as you said, tomorrow I will offer wine to the elder first, and then to the emperor."

The next day was Yan Song’s birthday.

Yan Song had announced before: This time, he would not accept any vulgar gifts such as gold, silver, and treasures. If people who wish to celebrate his birthday want to give gifts, they should give elegant gifts that are commonly given by scholars.

Old Yan Song knew that Emperor Jiajing wanted to suppress the Yan Party recently, so it was not appropriate to show off.

But the 80th birthday celebration had to be held. If not, those fence-sitters in the court would immediately think that the Yan family was finished and would turn to Xu Jie.

In the lobby of Yan's residence, all the Yan Party officials gathered together and began to present birthday gifts.

Luo Longwen smiled and said, "Lord, to celebrate your birthday, I spent a year making a piece of top-quality She ink by myself, named Taiqing Jade."

Luo Longwen was the best ink maker of this dynasty. The She ink he made casually, with his "Luo Xiaohua" signature on it, could easily be exchanged for a thousand taels of silver on the market.

What’s more, it is a top-quality product that took a year to make.
Yan Song took this "Taiqing Jade" and looked at it carefully, and couldn't let it go. He saw the words "Shoushan Fuhai" engraved on the back of the ink.

Yan Song praised: "Good! Good! Good! Han Zhang (Luo Long's writing), you have a thoughtful heart!"

Everyone praised: "Luo Xiaohua made this ink himself. It is hard to find one on the market. This one is the best of the best. And using ink to celebrate a birthday is very elegant and noble."

"Yes. Lao Luo gave me this birthday gift. My birthday gift is simply not worth it."

On such a happy day, how could Lin Shisan, a magpie spirit, remain silent?

Lin Shisan said loudly: "Offering ink as a birthday gift has extraordinary meaning!"

"The fragrance of top-grade She ink lasts for a thousand years, just like the auspicious omen of 'pine and cypress are evergreen' proposed by Mr. Yan."

Fang Xiang, the military butler of the Yan Party, said with a smile, "Brother Lin, you must have come to the birthday party after eating bee shit this morning!"

Wan Cai laughed and said, "Brother Lin, if you don't go to the Ministry of Rites to be a doctor, you are really wasting your talent!"

Everyone laughed and the hall was filled with a happy atmosphere.

Yan Song discovered something: "This ink seems to have been used before?"

Yan Shifan smiled and said, "Yes, Er, Ting'er and Hu'er have used it. We wrote a hundred characters for longevity together as a birthday gift."

After saying this, Yan Shifan and his two sons Yan Shaoting and Yan Hu stepped forward and presented Yan Song with a hundred characters of longevity.

As the name suggests, Baishouzi means the word “Shou” written in one hundred different fonts, with no two characters repeated.

Yan Song was a master of calligraphy. He smiled and said, "The handwriting is quite standard. What is rare is the filial piety of my son and my two beloved grandchildren."

Everyone began to praise Yan Song's two grandsons for their promising future.

Which grandfather in the world doesn't like to hear others praise his grandson? Yan Song's face was full of rosy glow. The atmosphere in the birthday hall was full of joy.

Zhao Wenhua stepped forward and said, "Foster father, I will present you with a jar of wine. It is called 'Hundred Flowers Fairy Wine'. This wine is rare in the world and is recorded in ancient books. Drinking it can prolong your life."

How much of an old hand in the court was Yan Song? He had long known that Zhao Wenhua coveted the position of a cabinet member.

But Yan Song had already made up his mind and would never recommend Zhao Wenhua to join the cabinet.

The reason is simple. The Yan family's power has made Emperor Jiajing wary.

Now that Emperor Jiajing was suppressing the Yan Party, putting his godson into the cabinet at this time was tantamount to stepping on Emperor Jiajing's bottom line. Zhao Wenhua never expected that Yan Song would not even want to take a second look at the Baihua Xianjiu that he had bought with 50,000 taels of silver.

Yan Song said calmly: "You are thoughtful. Yan Nian, put it away."

Just as Zhao Wenhua was about to say a few auspicious words to wish him a happy birthday, Yan Song interrupted him on purpose and turned to ask Lin Shisan, "Your little mouth is as sweet as honey. Let me ask you, what birthday gift have you prepared for me?"

Lin Shisan clapped his hands. Sun Yue came forward, holding a jade-pole and gold-inlaid bird stand. A pigeon was standing on the bird stand.

Yan Song was fond of raising pigeons. When Hu Zongxian wanted to join him, he presented him with a top-quality white-feathered bow-tailed pigeon.

Yan Song was knowledgeable. He stood up and asked, "Is it the Fengling Xueyin Pigeon?"

The white feather bow tail is produced in Nanyang, while the Fengling Xueyin is produced at the foot of the snow-capped mountains in the Western Regions.

Previously, Biyun prepared several birthday gifts for Yan Song on behalf of Lin Shisan, but Lin Shisan was not satisfied with any of them.

Finally, Lin Shisan bought the Phoenix-Feathered Snow-Hidden Pigeon from a "buyer" from the Western Regions.

The "Pengyou" in the Western Regions are good at making money when they do business. As the saying goes, when Pengyou meets Pengyou, they will definitely make money.

Lin Shisan spent a total of two thousand eight hundred taels of silver.

Lin Shisan took the bird stand from Sun Yue and presented the Phoenix Feather Snow Hidden Pigeon to Yan Song.

Yan Song reached out and stroked the pigeon's back. "It is indeed the extremely rare Fengling Xueyin. Good, good. Oh, by the way, Xiao Shisan, is there any reason why you gave me this birthday gift?"

Lin Shisan praised others' birthday gifts to the utmost. When praising his own birthday gifts, he naturally had to be very eloquent and eloquent: "Feng Ling Xue Yin is not an ordinary pigeon, but the 'Jiugao Birthday Guest' recorded in the Thousand Birds Classic!"

"Please look at its jade beak and golden eyes, which correspond exactly to the 'appearance of good fortune, wealth, longevity and health' as described in the Book of Rites."

"There is a poem praising it: 'It holds the Kunlun jade in its beak, and its eyes receive the light of the sun and the moon. It can spread the message of the three mountains by flapping its wings, and it will bring the auspiciousness of the five mountains when it returns to its nest."

"This bird's feathers contain the universe, and its neck has a silver ring pattern, which is in line with the Beidou Longevity Formation."

"The tip of the tail is adorned with dark green, just like the immortal pine of Penglai."

"When you get up in the morning and fly around your home three times, it is the living hexagram of the Three Yangs Bringing Good Luck in the Book of Changes."

"Returning home at dusk, stepping on the clouds, holding a branch in his mouth, it corresponds to the good prophecy in the Chu Ci: 'Drinking orchid dew, longevity is endless.'"

A group of Yan Party officials were stunned: Is Lin Shisan really a school lieutenant? Even if he was a real Jinshi, he couldn't make up such auspicious words.

Rare pigeons are not rare, but coupled with his sweet words, they are even better than Luo Longwenxian's Taiqing jade.

After hearing what Lin Shisan said, Yan Song's eyes narrowed into a line of joy: "Good, good, good. Little Shisan's birthday gift is really what I want."

"What I like more is his eloquent mouth!"

"This is really - among birds with the most clever beaks, the lark is the most clever beak in Beijing!"

Luo Longwen smiled and said, "Third brother, everyone says you are a magpie that has turned into a spirit. Today, the elder gave you a test, and you are a lark that has turned into a spirit."

Yan Shifan gave a thumbs up and said, "Third brother, you are worthy of being me."

Everyone praised Lin Shisan, but Zhao Wenhua felt extremely disappointed.

Old Zhao thought to himself: That pigeon must have cost at most a few thousand taels of silver. My two jars of Baihua Xian Liquor cost a full 50,000 taels! This jar is 25,000 taels!
The old man was too lazy to even look at it, let alone taste it.

This is a birthday party of unity, a birthday party of victory, and a birthday party that brings together the hearts of the Yan Party members.

Although important figures such as Prince Yu, Xu Jie, and Lu Fang were not present, they all sent gifts to Yan Song.

Emperor Jiajing even gave Yan Song a scented leaf crown.

It was almost noon, and the ceremony of presenting birthday gifts should have ended and everyone should sit down to enjoy the birthday banquet.

However, Yan Song did not start the feast yet, as if he was anxiously waiting for someone's birthday gift.

Finally, a message was sent: "Zhezhi Governor Hu Zongxian sent someone to present birthday gifts to the elder!"

Yan Song's old eyes suddenly burst into ecstasy: "A birthday gift from Ruzhen? Present it quickly."

A captain from the Zhejiang Governor's Office entered the hall, holding a long gift box in his hand.

Luo Longwen guessed: "Judging from the shape of the gift box, it should be calligraphy and painting."

Yan Shifan guessed: "Xu Wei, the most talented scholar in Jiangnan, is unrivaled in poetry, calligraphy and painting. He is now in Hu Ruzhen's court."

"I think it must be the calligraphy and painting that Hu Ruzhen asked Xu Wei to write for your birthday."

Yan Song nodded: "Quick, open it and take a look."

Qianhu opened the long gift box and found a sword inside! A Japanese sword!

The Yan Party officials were greatly surprised and whispered to each other: "How can a knife be given as a birthday gift?"

"Yes, swords and other ominous weapons are extremely unlucky!"

The captain shouted, "On the first day of May, Qi Jiguang led the new army of Zhejiang soldiers and Yu Dayou led the Fujian soldiers to Ninghai to defeat the Japanese pirates who landed there. They killed more than a thousand of them."

"This sword was worn by the Japanese pirate leader, Saigo Jurokuro. It is said that it was given to Saigo Jurokuro's ancestors by the Japanese king a hundred years ago."

"Hu Bu Tang said that he would give this knife to the elder to use for cutting fodder for the stables in the mansion."

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "The Japanese king gave me a sword, but when I got to Yan's mansion, I was only allowed to chop fodder in the stable. Wonderful, wonderful!"

The captain said, "Hu Butang also said that without the emperor's strategic planning and the strong support of the elders, how could the Zhejiang and Fujian armies achieve such a great victory?"

"May the emperor live forever, and may the elder live a hundred years, and bless the people of the southeast!"

Yan Song had mixed feelings. On the one hand, he admired Hu Zongxian very much and truly regarded Hu Zongxian as his own student.

On the other hand, he had asked Yan Shifan to write a letter to Hu Zongxian. The letter only had ten words: "The Japanese pirates must be suppressed, but not all of them."

This seized Japanese sword represents Hu Zongxian's attitude: When it comes to suppressing the Japanese pirates, students cannot listen to you.

Yan Shifan's face suddenly changed when he saw the Japanese sword, and he cursed in his heart: My father is so stupid to raise an ungrateful wolf like Hu Zongxian! This guy obviously doesn't want to listen to the orders of the Yan family.

Yan Song forced a smile and said, "Okay. The most gratifying thing for me in recent years is that I accepted Hu Zongxian as my last disciple. When he became my disciple, he was just a rough jade."

"Now, the unpolished jade has become the pillar of the southeast!"

"The imperial court cannot do without Dongnan for a day, and Dongnan cannot do without Hu Zongxian for a day. Hu Zongxian is a truly capable minister!"

In fact, it is not just the imperial court that cannot live without the southeast for a day. The Yan Party also cannot live without the southeast for a day.

Everyone started to flatter him again, praising Yan Song for his sharp eyes and his ability to employ talented people.

The birthday ceremony was over. Everyone sat down to drink and chat.

The birthday party lasted until the evening.

Lin Shisan returned home. Biyun helped him take off his boots and asked, "Is Lord Yan satisfied with your birthday gift?"

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "I am very satisfied. My birthday gift today is either first prize or second prize."

At this moment, Zhang Bo came over and said, "Zhao Wenhua from the Ministry of Industry is here."

Lin Shisan quickly ordered Biyun: "Go and get me 25,000 taels of silver."

(End of this chapter)