The reincarnation of power

In May of the forty-first year of Jiajing (1562), Yan Song, who had been in the cabinet for 20 years, was dismissed from office and returned to his hometown of Fenyi.

Although Jiajing advocates Taoism and wants to become an immortal, he is not a foolish emperor, and his brain is still very flexible, so Yan Song can serve in the cabinet for such a long time, which is indeed outstanding.

And Yan Song's best thing is to eliminate dissidents.

The former first assistant Xia Yan was shrewd and intelligent. This is actually a nonsense, just imagine which person is the first assistant, not the dragon and phoenix among the people? This Xia Yan is good at perceiving the current situation, and he fully supports Jiajing in the "Great Etiquette" incident (this event is a major event in the early years of Jiajing, which is not the focus of this article, so it is not narrated), so he can rise to the top, and it is very rare to go from a speech official to a scholar within a year.

And Xia Yan is also a good hand in meeting the upper intentions, Emperor Jiajing advocates Taoism, and Xia Yan, who is very talented, writes a good hand of green words, which is very pleasing to Emperor Jiajing.

Qingci is a kind of literary style written by the Taoist god of Zhai Tian Jiao, which is mainly used to apologize to the gods, avoid disasters, and bless peace. During the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty enclosed Taoism and ordered that the Zhaijiao documents should be written on green rattan paper with cinnabar, because the color of green rattan paper is cyan, and the title of green words comes from here.

Xia Yan's scenery made one of his fellow villagers look at him, and this person is Yan Song. Yan Song was still a small character at this time, but he and Xia Yan were both from Jiangxi, Yan Song used this to cling to Xia Yan, and Xia Yan also needed a group of supporters to expand his power, and the two hit it off.

In the fifteenth year of Jiajing (1536), Xia Yan recommended Yan Song to replace him as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites. According to the convention, the Ministry of Officials is the head of the six departments, but due to Jiajing's emphasis on etiquette, the Ministry of Rites Shangshu actually became the leader of the six departments. It can also be seen from here that Xia Yan regards Yan Song as a confidant and his own.

But the deadliest blow often comes from one's own people.

Yan Song was ambitious, and after he became the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, his contact with Emperor Jiajing began to become frequent. Jiajing's most important thing was to formulate etiquette with the auxiliary ministers and the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, sometimes summoning Yan Song two or three times a day, and sometimes even in the middle of the night, Yan Song retreated. Yan Song lived about four miles west of the city, and when Emperor Jiajing summoned him, because he was too busy with the speed of the car, Yan Song rode alone to the palace many times, which became a scenery at that time.

Although Xia Yan is also good at flattery, he is still somewhat arrogant in his body, and Emperor Jiajing punishes ministers, and he sometimes comes forward and saves him with good words. Emperor Jiajing excessively advocated Taoism, and Xia Yan dissuaded him.

Jiajing gave the agarwood leaf crown to Xia Yan, Yan Song and other ministers, although Xia Yan was grateful, he did not wear it; And Yan Song will wear this crown every time he goes out of the court, and he also specially uses a light sarong to show solemnity.

Of course, all this could not escape the eyes of Emperor Jiajing.

At this time, the country was in the autumn of many difficulties, and the Tatars repeatedly violated the frontier in the northwest. But what Yan Song saw was not a war, but thought that this was a good opportunity to bring down Xia Yan, a traitor is a traitor, and his perspective is different from ordinary people. Yan Song bribed the eunuchs around Jiajing, framed Xia Yan with ulterior motives, and after Xia Yan was deposed, he fabricated rumors that Xia Yan was dissatisfied with Emperor Jiajing.

The emperor is in the deep palace, and the ** of information is controlled, and it is easy to be deceived. In the end, Xia Yan was executed by Emperor Jiajing, and he also became the first Shoufu to be executed in the Ming Dynasty.

Yan Song's victory, the essence of the mountain is a political struggle, and neither he nor Xia Yan can be said to be the real ministers of rejuvenating the country and securing the country.

After Yan Song became the first assistant of the cabinet, he actually only did one thing, and he served Emperor Jiajing carefully. After Yan Song was old, he promoted his son Yan Shifan to assist in taking power, and Yan Shifan was the squire of the Ministry of Works. Yan Shifan was even more bold, and directly bribed the eunuchs left and right of Emperor Jiajing, and these eunuchs reported Emperor Jiajing's daily life, daily life, diet, and every move to the Yan family father and son, and the two used this information to deal with them one by one, and they were able to hold power for more than 10 years.

The ministers did not have no complaints about the behavior of Yan Song's father and son, but they were powerless to break such a political pattern, and they acted rashly, for fear that they would be burned.

But no one can hold power for long.

The appearance of Xu Jie was because of the incompetence of Yan Song's father and son, and in the twenty-ninth year of Jiajing (1550), Xu Jie successively took charge of the Jinyi Guard, and added the title of Prince Taibao. In August, the Mongols invaded the important town of Datong, and approached the Beijing Division, which was the change of Gengxu.

The Mongols hit Beijing, which was a major event related to the life and death of the Ming Dynasty, and Emperor Jiajing hurriedly convened his ministers to discuss the strategy of retreating from the enemy. Yan Song, the first assistant of the cabinet, thought that my answer was not enough, but he could not give a solution. Xu Jie, on the other hand, advocated active defense, and suggested using a delaying tactic to stabilize the response, and waiting for reinforcements from all over the world to arrive during this period. Xu Jie also asked Emperor Jiajing to go to the court (Emperor Jiajing did not go to court for a long time) to boost the morale of the people and stabilize the hearts of the ministers. Not only that, Xu Jie also took the initiative to take responsibility and asked him to inspect the Jingshi's preparedness.

It can be seen that Xu Jie's ability is far above Yan Song, but he also attracted Yan Song's jealousy because of this.

In the face of Yan Song's attack, Xu Jie was very dangerous, and Xu Jie was also caught by Yan Song, because Xu Jie's opposition to Emperor Jiajing's opinion was to promote Emperor Ming Renzong and Empress Xiaolie, which angered Emperor Jiajing. Moreover, he also asked for the crown prince five times in more than a year, but Jiajingzong did not allow it.

Yan Song took the opportunity to slander Emperor Jiajing that Xu Jie had two hearts, Xu Jie felt that he was in a dangerous situation at this time, he did not harden Yan Song like Xia Yan, but went to tie up Yan Song, and he set up a family with his children and daughters, and married his granddaughter to Yan Song's grandson (Yan Shifan's son).

Xu Jie escaped the catastrophe, but Xu Jie never gave up to bring down Yan Song.

Jiajing forty-one years (1562), there is Shandong Taoist Lan Daoxing is famous in Yanjing for being good at helping the puppet, the so-called "Fu Ping" is a kind of Taoist priest of the trick of the immortal possession, Xu Jie introduced the blue Daoxing to Emperor Jiajing, one day the blue Dao line is in the "Fu Ping", and when the immortal possession said: There are traitors today.

And Yan Song just came.

Emperor Jiajing, who believed in Taoism, was disgusted with Yan Song's father and son for a long time. In the end, the power of Yan's father and son was overthrown by a few words from Taoist priest Lan Daoxing.

In the forty-fourth year of Jiajing (1565), Yan Shifan was sentenced to beheading, and cried a lot before the execution. Two years later, Yan Song died of poverty and illness at the age of 87. When he died, there was no coffin to bury him, and no one came to mourn.

When Xu Jie was the first assistant, it was the end of Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing's body gradually declined, King Yu's power began to rise, and his staff Gao Gong was able to enter the cabinet. Gao Gong, as King Yu's person, did not put Xu Jie in Yanli, and the two often disagreed and quarreled.

Let's talk about the high arch.

Gao Gong's family is also a local famous family, his grandfather, his father are officials in the court, his father's official to Dali Temple Shaoqing, after his death were posthumously presented by the imperial court as the official department of Shangshu, university scholar, although it is posthumously gifted, but it also shows the imperial court's recognition of the Gao family.

Born in a family of eunuchs, Gao Gong received a good education, and he himself is also talented, young and studious, five years old good couple, eight years old a day to recite thousands of words, is an out-and-out prodigy.

Gao Gong has the talent of the world, and during the Jiajing period, the "Yongle Canon" was rebuilt, and Gao Gong was the chief officer. But the shortcomings of the high arch are also obvious, that is, he thinks very highly of himself, which also makes him contradict many people. Hu Yingjia had a holiday with Gao Gong in the matter, and Hu Yingjia saw that Emperor Jiajing was seriously ill and King Yu was not far away. After King Yu became the emperor, the high arch will definitely be reused, so the high arch will be the first to be sparse. At this time, Emperor Jiajing was seriously ill and had no energy to ask. This Hu Yingjia happened to be Xu Jie's fellow villager, and Gao Gong naturally thought that Xu Jie's master Hu Yingjia was his own, so he recorded all the accounts on Xu Jie's head.

The beams of the high arch and the Xu step cannot be unraveled.

After Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, the power of Gao Gong, as the emperor's teacher, increased, but although Emperor Longqing believed in Gao Gong, he was unwilling to lose Xu Jie, the first assistant. But the contradiction between Gao and Xu has been like fire and water, Gao Gong first attacked, retaliated against Hu Yingjia, and wanted to remove him from office, which was agreed by Emperor Longqing. Gao Gong won for a while, and then let his doorman Guangdong Dao try Shi Qikang to be sparse **Xu Jie** and disloyal. This kind of ** is unfounded, and it has not been recognized by Emperor Longqing, and Qi Kang was punished. Xu Jie held an important position in the court for nine years, and his foundation was not comparable to Gao Gong, and a group of officials rose up and pointed the finger at Gao Gong, and even Hai Rui supported Xu Jie. Gao Gong stole chickens and rice, and was forced to resign under pressure.

Although Gao Gong resigned, anyone with a discerning eye knew that he would make a comeback.

In July of the second year of Longqing (1568), Xu Jienei resigned because of the fact that the official presented evidence of his favoritism, corruption, and abuse of power, and was approved by Emperor Longqing.

Xu Jie's resignation made Gao Gong quickly reinstated and re-entered the cabinet.

Although Li Chunfang was the first assistant of the cabinet at this time, Gao Gong did not take Li Chunfang in his eyes because of his close relationship with Emperor Longqing, and Li Chunfang also knew Gao Gong's domineering style and took the initiative to apply for resignation.

Before Xu Jie and Li Chunfang left their posts, they both intended to improve the status of cabinet member Zhang Juzheng in order to restrain Yu Gao Gong. But Gao Gong did not regard Zhang Ju as an enemy, the reason is simple, both of them were once ministers of King Yu and worked together for many years, but Gao Gong instead regarded Zhang Juzheng as being on the same front as himself. When Xu Jie and Gao Gong fought, Zhang Juzheng was very embarrassed, Gao Gong and himself were both teachers and confidants of Emperor Longqing, and the relationship between the two was naturally extraordinary; And Xu Jie has the grace of knowing himself, and he is also his teacher.

Gao Gong his people, the ability is very outstanding, during the reign, both internal and external affairs are handled in an orderly manner, I answer the tribute is completed under the auspices of Gao Gong, this is a rare Ming Dynasty to resolve the hostile relations with foreign people by peaceful means. Whether it is in the employment of people or in the handling of internal affairs, Gao Gong is handy and praised by the people at that time.

Therefore, the arrogance and madness of the high arch have their capital.

Gao Gong's talent and the trust of Emperor Longqing made him even dare to decide on the appointment and dismissal of the celebrant supervisors, and asked the celebrant to hand over the right to approve the red to the cabinet (for the right to approve the red, please refer to my article: The Ming Dynasty under the dual-track system). If the power of approving the red is handed over to the cabinet, it means that Gao Gong's power even exceeds that of Prime Minister Hu Weiyong in the early Ming Dynasty.

In terms of the selection of several eunuchs, Gao Gong almost had the final say, but he offended one person.

In the first year of Longqing (1567), Admiral Feng Bao was in charge of the affairs of the Imperial Horse Supervisor in the East Factory. At that time, the highest position of the celebrant was vacant, and Feng Bao should take over this important position according to his qualifications, and Gao Gong recommended Chen Hong, the imperial eunuch, and Feng Bao was jealous of Gao Gong. After Chen Hong was deposed, Gao Gong recommended Meng Chong again. Meng Chong was originally in charge of the Shang Shan Supervisor, and should not be in charge of the Master of Ceremonies as a rule. As a result, Feng Bao was even more jealous of Gao Gong.

Feng Bao tried his best to get rid of Gao Gong, but he couldn't do it with him alone. Feng Bao chose cabinet member Zhang Juzheng as his ally.

Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong have worked together for many years, and there must be friendship between the two, but Zhang Juzheng is also the pride of the sky, so why not want to replace him, Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao reached a political alliance, although it is somewhat unexpected, but if you think about it carefully, it is reasonable.

After Emperor Longqing fell ill, Feng Bao secretly instructed Zhang Juzheng to draft an edict in advance, but was seen by Gao Gong. The process of the matter being exposed is also dramatic: Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng met Zhang Juzheng's henchman Yao Kuang into the palace to deliver a letter on the way, and Gao Gong asked who this letter was sent to? Yao Kuang didn't know that his master was hiding Gao Gong's secret plot with Feng, so he bluntly said: "With Gonggong Feng." So Gao Gong asked Zhang Ju exactly what he said? Zhang Ju was red-eared and frightened, so he replied: "It's a matter of testament." ”

Gao Gong was silent after hearing this, and then he was very angry, the unexpected betrayal made him lose control of his emotions, and reprimanded Zhang Juzheng in person, Zhang Juzheng knew that he was at a loss, and quickly apologized to him. Gao Gong was even more disgusted with Feng Bao and wanted to expel him.

Gao Gong has no defense against Zhang Juzheng, he has always regarded him as his closest ally, so even if Zhang Juzheng drafted the edict behind his back, Gao Gong did not attack Zhang Juzheng, but put all the accounts on Feng Bao.

Gao Gong said in "The Last Words of the Sickbed":

Jing Ren (referring to Zhang Juzheng, Zhang Juzheng is a native of Jingzhou) was young and intelligent, diligently learned, and understood a lot of words. To love, to pay special respect, to give a day of strength between teachers and friends, the day and the analysis of reason, the discussion of the Tao, to forget the remains. To taste and make an appointment, he will be able to use it day by day, and he should be the father of the monarch.

And the battle between Feng Bao and Gao Gong has entered a white heat.

If it was just Feng Bao, Gao Gong would not fall behind, but Zhang Juzheng would come from behind, and Gao Gong would have no choice.

Gao Gong has been fighting all his life, fighting with Xu Jie, fighting with Zhao Zhenji, fighting with Li Chunfang, fighting with Yin Shidan, and fighting with Feng Bao, and finally he was also beaten down, such an ending is not unexpected.

And there is another important reason for the fall of Gao Gong: Emperor Longqing, who trusted him the most, died. Just like Wang Anshi was to Song Shenzong, Gao Gong's power was completely dependent on the favor of Emperor Longqing.

Gao Gong is a prodigy, and Zhang Juzheng is not a prodigy. In the fifteenth year of Jiajing (1536), 12-year-old Zhang Juzheng participated in the children's examination and became famous in a war.

In the sixteenth year of Jiajing (1537), 13-year-old Zhang Juzheng participated in the township examination, but unexpectedly failed the list, not because he did not do well enough, but because he did too well. The governor of Huguang and a generation of great Confucianism, Gu Luan, saw that he was very intelligent, and was afraid that he would be too sharp, so he deliberately let him suffer setbacks. In order to let him experience more hardships and become a great tool, Gu Lan deliberately let him fall off the list. If it weren't for Gu Lan's intention to "block", it is very likely that Yang Ting and the 19-year-old Zhongjinshi's record would not be kept.

When Zhang Ju was studying at the Hanlin Academy, Xia Yan and Yan Song were fighting fiercely; And Xu Jie recommended him as King Yu's attendant, and it was obvious that Xu Jie cited him as an important aid to bring down Yan Song; Seeing so many political struggles, Zhang Juzheng had to "grow up".

After Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao teamed up to defeat Gao Gong, Feng Bao wanted to kill Gao Gong, and his methods were not clever, framing Gao Gong to assassinate the young Emperor Wanli. Such behavior was not allowed by the courtiers, and the final focus fell on Zhang Juzheng, who had already served as the first assistant. Zhang Juzheng had no reason to support Feng Bao to kill Gao Gong, and Feng Bao's ** failed to succeed.

Zhang Juzheng became the first assistant, ending the cabinet struggle since Emperor Jiajing, and no cabinet member can challenge his authority, the core reason is that he reached a political tacit agreement with the celebrant on behalf of the cabinet, which can also be called a political alliance.

This political alliance is so powerful that it can suppress the imperial power at the top and humiliate hundreds of officials at the bottom.

After the little emperor of Wanli made a mistake, Feng Bao would report to the queen mother, and the little emperor would be severely punished, and issue an edict of guilt, which was written by Zhang Juzheng in advance, a lot of them, and corresponding to various mistakes, when the little emperor made a mistake, he only needed to find out the corresponding version and copy it.

The price of daring to suppress the imperial power was huge, and the ending for Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng was not good.

And the civil official group is also reluctant to see such a powerful first assistant appear, the civil officials dare to compete with Jiajing for great etiquette, dare to face Emperor Zhengde, and why not be afraid of Zhang Juzheng.

The dissatisfaction of the ministers with Zhang Juzheng finally broke out in a concentrated manner on the matter of seizing the love.

On September 26, the fifth year of Wanli (1577), Zhang Juzheng's father died of illness. But at this time, it was a critical moment for Zhang Juzheng's reform, Zhang Juzheng was unwilling to leave, and Feng Bao and others supported Zhang Juzheng to win love, that is, for the sake of the country, there was no need to go home to keep filial piety.

As soon as this incident came out, it immediately caused an uproar.

Failed to fulfill filial piety, how to be loyal to the monarch, the Manchu Dynasty civil and military discussions. As a result, the human feelings are turbulent, whether it is the imperial history or the six **slacks, they must be upright and defending, and Zhang Juzheng is facing unprecedented pressure.

The first to stand up against it was Zhang Han, the secretary of the ministry, who was the head of the six ministries, and its weight was not light, and Zhang Han was dismissed and driven back to his hometown.

The next day, Wu Zhongxing, one of Zhang Juzheng's students, said that Zhang Juzheng had been away from home for 19 years, and now that his father had died, he should immediately rush back to keep filial piety.

On the third day, Zhang Juzheng's student Zhao Yongxian played **Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng, who was angry, imposed a court staff on opponents, and Zhao Yongxian and Wu Zhongxing were each given a court staff of sixty and were removed from their official status and never hired.

Just when Wu Zhongxing and others were punished by the court staff, a young ** named Zou Yuanbiao was also at the scene**, the future core member of the Donglin Party waited for the court staff to end, and also sent a letter to oppose Zhang Juzheng's love, and scolded Zhang Juzheng for not respecting filial piety, no different from beasts, Zou Yuanbiao was also eighty by the court staff.

After Zhang Juzheng's death, there were constant partisan disputes in the court, and social contradictions became more and more serious. Zou Yuanbiao couldn't help but miss the prosperity of Wanli's New Deal, and also deeply felt that Zhang Ju was a rare hero. Zou Yuanbiao played for Zhang Juzheng's rehabilitation:

Jiangling (referring to Zhang Juzheng, Zhang Juzheng was born in Jiangling County) merit in Sheji, in the net worth, the country's discussion, after death, called the minister of Sheji, ridiculed?

After Zhang Juzheng's death, there was no more power in the world. Because the emperor did not allow it, and neither did the courtiers.

Ye Xianggao, who served as the first assistant of the two terms, spoke highly of Zhang Juzheng and said: "The upper steals the prestige of the king, and the lower invades the authority of the six Caos." ”

Zhang Juzheng's method, Ye Xianggao categorically will not agree.

After Zhang Juzheng, the protagonist of the next historical stage became the battle between eunuchs and courtiers.

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