Chapter 304 Chapter 303 Walking Back

After telling Yan Shifan about the change of the Minister of Revenue, Yan Song suddenly questioned Yan Shifan in a very fierce tone: "Did you secretly instigate the suspension of salary at Prince Yu's Mansion?"

Yan Song had asked Yan Shifan about that matter, but after he denied it, Yan Song was relieved. He thought it was a test from Emperor Jiajing to Prince Yu.

He was happy to see that Prince Yu could not handle the Ministry of Revenue and lost points with Emperor Jiajing.

Yan Song was a Jinshi in the 18th year of Hongzhi. He had experienced three dynasties and was naturally far-sighted in judging people and things.

When Prince Yu and Prince Jing were fighting, he wanted to jump out completely at first, treat the two princes equally and not get involved.

But his son got in touch with Prince Jing, and the two sides began to have exchanges.

Just when Yan Song wanted to stop the exchanges between the two families, when he was alone with Emperor Jiajing, the emperor hinted that he should spend more time with Prince Jing.

Yan Song knew the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty. According to the system set by Zhu Yuanzhang, Prince Yu had an absolute advantage. As long as he did not make any mistakes, the throne would definitely belong to him.

So if he had to choose between Prince Yu and Prince Jing, he would certainly choose Prince Yu and definitely not Prince Jing. However, after Emperor Jiajing's hint, he had to follow His Majesty's will regardless of whether he was willing or not.

It can be said that the Yan family would be tied to the chariot of Prince Jing. The initiator was Emperor Jiajing rather than others. Otherwise, no matter how smart Yan Shifan was, he would never dare to disobey his father Yan Song's orders.

Yan Song no longer prevented him from interacting with Prince Jing, and naturally the relationship between the two families quickly approached. From the outside world's point of view, the Yan family turned to Prince Jing and fully supported him in his fight for the throne.

However, this sign made other members of the Yan party feel strange and could not understand the reason.

In fact, on the night when Yan Song received Emperor Jiajing's hint, he had a secret communication with Yan Shifan. He wanted to know why his son could guess Emperor Jiajing's intention.

Yes, after this conversation with the emperor, Yan Song understood that Yan Shifan should have guessed the emperor's intention, so he was dating Prince Jing.

The reason why Yan Shifan saw through all this was very simple. In fact, it was just as Yan Song thought, Dabao should be inherited by Prince Yu, as long as Prince Yu did not make serious mistakes before that.

As the most influential force in the court, Emperor Jiajing certainly did not want the Yan family to turn to Prince Yu's Mansion. To put it bluntly, he might be stripped of his imperial power.

As for his relationship with Prince Jing's Mansion, the reason was actually very simple, that is, the Yan family might become a touchstone, a touchstone for Emperor Jiajing to test Prince Yu.

If Prince Yu did not perform well in the fight with the Yan family, then his inheritance rights might be lost, allowing Prince Jing to succeed.

Although such a chance was very slim.

For Prince Yu, Emperor Jiajing carefully selected Gao Gong from the Hanlin Academy to assist him, because Gao Gong and Prince Yu had complementary personalities.

Prince Yu was weak and shy, while Gao Gong was strong but could judge the situation and know when to advance and retreat.

In fact, the ministers who were in the dark were all trusted ministers who would be reused when the new emperor ascended the throne. This was also the reason why the Hanlin Academy would fight for the job of the Zhanshi Mansion.

However, the change of the Ministry of Revenue without any signs this time made Yan Song think of Yan Shifan's analysis of himself at the beginning, and then thought of the previous withholding of Prince Yu's salary and annual gifts by the Ministry of Revenue, which made Yan Song have a new judgment.

This was probably deliberately done by Yan Shifan relying on Emperor Jiajing's desire to hone Prince Yu.

Since Emperor Jiajing wanted to test him, Yan Shifan was naturally not afraid of making things bigger. As long as it did not endanger Prince Yu's personal safety, it should be within the range that Emperor Jiajing could tolerate.

Others might not dare to do so, but Yan Song was familiar with his son's courage. Now that Emperor Jiajing had moved the Ministry of Revenue, he still let Jia Yingchun, who was from Prince Yu's Mansion, serve as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. The meaning was self-evident and gave people a chance to vent their anger.

Although Yan Shifan did not show panic at this time, his face did become very ugly.

He had already understood what Emperor Jiajing meant. The few people who leaned towards him might have to move their positions, otherwise they would have a hard time.

But if he lost control of the Ministry of Revenue, how would he get his own money in the future?

The Ministry of Revenue had only so much money, and each government office needed money. It made a big difference who he gave it to first and who he gave it to later.

In fact, Yan Shifan was not a fool. Since he knew what Emperor Jiajing meant, how could he sit and wait for death?

Let Prince Yu come to power to deal with him in the future?

Impossible, he was not that stupid.

But at this stage, the only thing he could do was to help Prince Jing stay in the capital. He had to drag it on as long as possible, and he absolutely could not let Prince Jing leave Beijing to be a vassal.

Yan Shifan still had a deep impression that his father took an elixir that Emperor Jiajing took daily, and he lay in bed for several days, and almost died.

But what about the emperor?

He took those elixirs and was still alive and kicking every day.

Yan Shifan naturally asked many people and came to the conclusion that Emperor Jiajing's health was not as good as it looked on the outside, and all the poison was accumulated in his body, but it was hard to say when it would break out.

Now the nobles are responsible for the defense of the capital, and Lu Bing and Huang Jin are in charge of the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang respectively, so he naturally dare not have other ideas.

But as long as the time is delayed until the poison breaks out in Emperor Jiajing, then he can operate more room, no matter what, his father is still the chief minister of the cabinet.

At the critical moment of the transfer of imperial power, the right to speak is very important.

At the very least, the throne announcement should be drafted by cabinet ministers.

Yan Shifan was not worried about Emperor Jiajing's arrangements, he was just worried that it would be difficult to move money from the Ministry of Household Affairs in the future, and Yan Song was naturally not concerned about this, but about the future of the Yan family.

Yan Shifan didn't dare to say some things to his father, after all, the matter was a bit involved.

Today, when his father asked about it again, Yan Shifan knew that he might not be able to hide it, but he still couldn't admit it.

"No, I told you the truth when you asked me before. This was absolutely not the case."

Yan Shifan swore at this time and almost swore to the sky to deny any involvement in this matter.

Yan Shifan's reaction was actually expected by Yan Song, but it was no longer important. He already had the answer in his heart.

If it was arranged by Emperor Jiajing, there was no need for him to suddenly make such an arrangement today.

Shaking his head, Yan Song looked at Yan Shifan and said: "I'm afraid my father won't be in this position for long. It could be as short as three to five years. Maybe it's time to give up his position. You can take care of yourself. You need so many yellow and white things." What things do, life does not bring, death does not take away.”

At this time, Yan Shifan bowed down to receive the instruction, but his head was lowered and his mouth was curled.

If he hadn't received the money, how would the family's expenses have come from? The enjoyment life of my parents would have been greatly reduced, and they would not be able to live as exquisitely as they do now.

As for the calligraphy and painting works that Yan Song liked, some were sent by officials below to please his father and son, but some were bought with money.

Of course, for any calligraphy and painting that they like, someone will naturally redeem it. If they are not willing to sell it, they will buy it by force. They will eventually take it back to the house.

At this time, Xu Jie from the cabinet had already received the message from Yan Song. After knowing these things, although he was very surprised, he did not dare to neglect at all. He immediately drafted the decree and sent someone to the Supervisor of Ceremonies for approval. Then send six subjects.

The palace has already issued a driving notice to the Sixth Section, and after it was stamped, it was sent to Fusi, Jinyiwei North Town. Even if it was getting dark, Tiqi would be dispatched to Xuanda to collect people, and would not delay for a moment.

As large groups of Tiqi emerged from the gate of Fusi in Beizhen, the news that Emperor Jiajing issued an order to arrest Yang Shun, the governor of Xuan Dynasty, and that Lu Kai, the patrol censor of Xuanfu, returned to the capital, spread rapidly in the official circles of the capital.

But only a few people know that as Tiqi was dispatched to the Xuanfu, the Minister of Hubu, now it should be said that the former Shangshu of Hubu, Fang Rui, was transferred to Nanjing to take up a post. The new Shangshu of Hubu was Jia Yingchun, who had just arrived in the capital from Nanjing.

And he was not the worst off, because Xu Lun, the Minister of the Ministry of War, was directly dismissed from his post. Now the Ministry of War errands are temporarily handled by the Minister of War, and Jiang Dong even set out overnight to Xuanda University to take over the rights vacated by Yang Shunkong.

That night, the restaurants and tea shops in Dafang City were doing brisk business, and people kept coming in and out. Without exception, most of them were officials in Beijing.

There was no warning about the sudden reshuffle of power, which naturally made everyone very curious.

However, except for the eunuchs around Emperor Jiajing, very few people knew the details of the matter, and naturally no one thought of Wei Guangde's role as a promoter.

However, during their discussion, Jin Yiwei's name was mentioned repeatedly.

Just as Yan Song thought at the beginning, the only one with the ability to inform Emperor Jiajing was the governor of the mainland.

At this time, Wei Guangde had arrived not far from Baoan Prefecture, and there were still two days to go.

On the one hand, he sent two people to contact Ma Fang, and on the other hand, he sent two teams to search for the official escorting Shen Xiang between Huailai County and Baoan Prefecture.

Of course he didn't intend to rob anyone. Zhang Ji's bad idea must not be used.

But since he had chosen to save people, he naturally had to take action.

In Wei Guangde's plan, he only needs to delay Shen Xiang's arrival in Baoan Prefecture. He has already handed in his memorial. According to Wei Guangde's analysis of Emperor Jiajing's character, the dead will not attract his attention, but once the border town becomes unstable , he will use thunderous means, including but not limited to substitution, using people he trusts, and even possibly transferring back Governor Yang Boyang who was just re-elected as Governor of Ji Town last year.

As long as Governor Xuanda is replaced, Shen Xiang's life will be saved.

Of course, the premise is that the newly appointed Governor Xuanda is not Yan Song.

However, with Emperor Jiajing's shrewdness, he probably would not continue to arrange for Yan Song's people.

At this time, Wei Guangde and about ten people stopped at the side of the official road to wait for news. As for if Shen Xiang had been sent to Baoanzhou City, then he could only mourn in silence. This was a matter of life and death.

More than a dozen other people were sent out by Wei Guangde to find someone. As for how to delay, Wei Guangde also had a plan in mind, that is, drugging.

The medicine he took while pretending to be sick was so powerful that it kept him in bed for several days.

Wei Guangde planned to repeat his old trick, and before leaving Yongning, he asked a doctor in the city to prescribe a medicine. Although it would not be as severe as Wei Guangde's before, it would cause vomiting and diarrhea for a few days, and then he would gradually get better.

As long as they were slowed down, Wei Guangde would have achieved his goal.

While waiting for the news, Wei Guangde felt that he was too busy. If he had ignored this mess, he would be able to catch up with Tang Shunzhi's team in Jizhen now.

The key is that his coming to Xuan Mansion cannot be exposed yet. He has no identity now.

The person who contacted Ma Fang came back first. Since there was a specific station, it was easy to find. Ma Fang also came with the escort.

Ma Fang is not much different now from the year before. Although his official position has been promoted from guerrilla to deputy general soldier in more than a year, he still leads his troops to fight fiercely with the Tatars at the border.

Last year, the Anda Khan led his troops to attack Datong. As the deputy commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, he commanded the Xuanfu army to carry out rescue operations and fought several fierce battles with the Anda troops around Datong City.

However, at his current official position, it is not easy to take credit and continue to be promoted. It is really a carrot and a pit. He cannot be promoted until the people above him leave.

However, Ma Fang seemed to be very satisfied with his current status. When he saw Wei Guangde coming all the way, he dismounted his horse and hurried over to salute.

After seeing the gift, Ma Fang still looked puzzled and asked why Wei Guangde came to the Xuan Mansion, "Sir, I read the Di newspaper. It said that you visited Jizhen with Mr. Tang. I was scared when I received your letter. A jump.

You shouldn't be here. "

Although Ma Fang was a military commander, he was not a rough man, so he naturally guessed that Wei Guangde had no identity when he came to Xuan Mansion.

Regardless of whether your official position is large or small, as long as there is no reasonable reason for going to a place, it is a reason for official criticism. What's more, Wei Guangde also had an errand to inspect Jizhen, but he went to Jizhen.

"You don't have to worry about this. Although not many people know about it, they will definitely not say anything about it."

Wei Guangde shook his head and said: "Since Yang Shun was at Xuanda University, the border towns and the Tatars have been fighting. Are there really dozens of military fortresses that have been breached?"

"Wanquan's left and right guards are pretty good. If the Tatars dare to come, I will fight them back. The main reason is that the losses on Xuanfu's side are a bit heavy."

Ma Fang replied.

"Relying on the military fortress, how could the losses be so great?"

Wei Guangde was still a little puzzled. The Mongols were not good at attacking cities. The military fortresses on the border all had walls built. Although they were not very tall, they were not easy to climb, let alone attack.

"The reasons are quite complicated."

Ma Fang said a little dejectedly: "There is the element of returning people. Most of them are White Lotus believers, so those who sneak into the fort often become insiders when the Tatars attack the fort."

When he heard the word "walking back," Wei Guangde naturally knew what it was.

"Those who return to me will live in peace in China forever, and those who carry me will flee outside the Great Wall." This is an edict issued by Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who actively recruited those outside the Great Wall to migrate to the Central Plains in order to stabilize the border.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang's main targets were the Mongols, and he used this to build a powerful cavalry.

The people who returned home can generally be divided into two categories, namely those who actively left and those who left passively. Many of the people who took the initiative to leave were because their lives could no longer be maintained and they defected outside the Great Wall in order to find a new way out. They accounted for the absolute majority. Some of them took the initiative to flee because of their religious beliefs. They are naturally White Lotus believers.

In addition, there is a relatively special group, the spies sent by Jin Yiwei.

Those who passively went there were mainly Han Chinese who were kidnapped by the Tatars during the war and some deserters who wanted to survive and surrendered to the enemy.