prosperous age

Chapter 439 Chapter 438
"So what if you stay?"

Yan Song asked in a deep voice.

At that time, he actually thought that such a situation would happen, but he didn't expect that his son didn't know how to restrain himself when he was outside these years, and instead it got worse.

At first he really didn't know that Dong Lou was very smart, if he could see it, he must be able to see it too.

In his mind, even if he was punished, his son would be nothing more than dismissed from office and deprived of his fame because of his hard work in serving the emperor for so many years.

It's just that it's too late when I know that my son has come here all these years.

To express kindness to some people in private is to think that there are still people in the capital who can help take care of it just in case.

However, it seems that the son has other plans.

"I haven't thought about it yet, but I must not make mistakes at this time."

Yan Shifan said and looked at his father, "Father, in your current situation, sometimes you really can't figure out that old fox Xu Jie. I really don't feel at ease without a son by your side."

What is the son's plan, in fact, think about it, that is the only way to keep the Yan family's prosperity and wealth, there is no other way.

Although Yan Song was half buried in the earth, he still hoped that his children and grandchildren would live a better life.

He still made up his mind that some of the arrangements that should be made must continue. No matter what plans his son has here, it is not for the future of the Yan family.

As for the cabinet, of course Yan Song knew what was going on, and it was not a matter of a day or two before Xu Jie wanted to replace him, but he hadn't cultivated enough yet, and the emperor didn't trust him.

However, he is old after all.

He took a deep look at Yan Shifan and said nothing, but he still approved of his plan in his heart.

Having been rich for half of my life, I really can't bear to see my family run down when I get old, and my children and grandchildren have no food and clothing. I can close my eyes and ignore the affairs behind me, but their days are still long.

Nodding his head slightly, he gave Yan Shifan an answer.

And Yan Shifan was also happy when he saw his father nodding his head. It wasn't that he was not filial to his mother, because his mother was gone. It stands to reason that as a son, he should return to his hometown to guard his home, but the current situation really doesn't allow it.

Hey, I only blame myself for being alone, without even a brother, otherwise I wouldn't be so passive, but it's useless to think about it, so Yan Shifan opened his mouth and said his plan.

"Father, since that's the case, mother's coffin will return to the hometown"

Xu Jie, who was drinking with Gao Gong, really did not expect that Yan Shifan would make such a decision.

Although Yan Shifan did not become an official through the imperial examination, but took a shortcut, went directly to the Imperial College to study, and then became an official directly, but he was very familiar with the classics and history, and he was a scholar.

In these days, what is filial piety?
Xu Jie really didn't expect that Yan Shifan would dare to directly encourage his father to ask Emperor Jiajing to spare his son Ding You, otherwise he would not have given the emperor some eye drops in advance.

The reason why Xu Jie was sloppy in this matter was that apart from the fact that he felt that the Yan family was also a scholar and he should understand these things, there was another important reason, that is, the current Ming Dynasty was not what it was in the early Ming Dynasty.

At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhu Yuanzhang and Ding You's approval was more important. According to the "Records of Ming Taizu", all officials who were abroad heard that their parents had passed away, and they had to wait for the imperial court to issue a document to their hometown for verification before returning home for the funeral.

However, the means of communication in ancient times were relatively backward. It took a long time to go back and forth like this. By the time the officials arrived home, the funeral might have already ended, and there was no time to send their parents off for the last time.

In response to this problem, in the eighth year of Hongwu, according to Lu Ben's proposal, the procurator of Peking at that time, after the death of an official's parents, the family members would directly report to the imperial court through local officials, thus reducing the round-trip inquiry and verification process.

Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang also restricted that "except for Ding You, who bears the burden of parents and grandparents, the rest of the annual uniform system is not allowed to attend funerals."

It can be seen that the Ming Dynasty basically continued the Ding You system of the Han and Tang Dynasties. This is mainly because the ruling class of the Ming Dynasty had the same ideas as the Han and Tang Dynasties. They all put "filial piety" before "loyalty" and hoped that "filial piety" would To strengthen "loyalty", and then consolidate their dominance.

In fact, at the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang had very strict control over Duoqing, and basically all officials forced Ding You to do so. It was only in the Yongle period that a precedent was set for Duoqing, but it was relatively restrained.

This situation changed completely during the period of Ming Xuanzong and Ming Yingzong, and the wind of seizing love reached its climax. There were 25 people seizing love in the Xuande Dynasty, 77 people in the Orthodox Dynasty, and 39 people in the Jingtai Dynasty. After the restoration of Tianshun Dynasty, there were 27 people in love.

Seizing love almost became a trend during this period, and officials of all sizes in the imperial court hoped to seize love, so that officials from the Ministry of Rites had to write a letter requesting that foreign officials be prohibited from seizing love.

After the memorials of the officials of the Ministry of Rites, the phenomenon of seduction of emotions in the Ming Dynasty began to be contained. In the end, it was not a situation related to war, and the court basically did not agree to seduction of emotions.

On the whole, except for the few decades when it was particularly loose, there were generally only these types of people in the Ming Dynasty who could seize love:
First, generals. Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as Ding Youyi;
Second, for talents in special positions, such as imperial doctors and officials of Qintianjian, it is difficult for the court to find people to replace them;
Third, people who are not generals but are related to the war, for example, there is a rebellion in the area under the jurisdiction of local officials, and they are organizing counter-insurgency work;
In addition, there is another type of people who can also seize love, that is, the parents and officials of the ruling party, and the people spontaneously plead for their lives to seize love, but there are very few such people.

But what needs to be specially explained is that in the early Ming Dynasty, the governors and governors generally allowed Ding You, but in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, they generally seized love.

Generally speaking, those who can seize love "in accordance with the law" are those who are in danger to the country or who the emperor really cannot do without.

Yan Song's wife died, so naturally he was not in the scope of Ding You as stipulated by the Taizu. Yan Song didn't need Ding You, but Yan Shifan was different.

What's more, let Yan Shifan Dingyou not affect the government. Xu Jie feels that his body and spirit can work for the country for another 20 years.

It's just that he never expected that under such circumstances, Yan Shifan could play tricks on him.

Early in the morning of the second day, Yan Song put on his court clothes after washing and went to the mourning hall to take a look. With Yan Shifan's support, he went out of the mansion gate and got on a sedan chair to go to Xiyuan, Yan Shifan followed behind.

After receiving the imperial decree, it is natural to thank you.

Yan Shifan followed Yan Song into Xiyuan, and met Emperor Jiajing to thank Emperor Jiajing in the Yongshou Palace. These were just red tapes. If Yan Song hadn’t brought Yan Shifan in, the Emperor Jiajing usually had people salute outside the Yongshou Palace. .

After Yan Shifan thanked her, Emperor Jiajing sighed: "Your mother is also a long-lived person, so you should not leave any regrets, but you must do well for the funeral."

Yan Shifan yelled to obey the order, while knelt down and kowtowed.

After Yan Shifan kowtowed and stood up, Emperor Jiajing glanced at Yan Song, then at Yan Shifan, and then said: "There are many things to do in your family, you should go back first."

Yan Shifan knew that although he was helping his father with official duties in the cabinet, he was not a cabinet scholar after all, even with the permission of Emperor Jiajing.

In the past two days, because of family affairs, Yan Song was on leave at home, and the emperor asked him to go home to leave his father behind, and he wanted to talk about the cabinet.

Now there are only two people in the cabinet, and my father can't be on duty, so Xu Jie is the only one left, which is naturally impossible.

Either father will return to the cabinet to work, or he will add cabinet ministers, but the addition of cabinet ministers cannot be settled in a short while, so it is probably what the emperor should do now to let his father handle official affairs in the cabinet.

After resigning from Yongshou Palace, Yan Song was thinking about it.

Given Emperor Jiajing's reliance on Yan Song, he should have agreed. Before leaving Xiyuan, he saw a few eunuch servants coming from far away, holding memorials in their hands.

Of course Yan Shifan was familiar with this scene, it was all official documents handed over by the cabinet to the Supervisor of Rituals, Gao Zhong was naturally walking in the front of the crowd, and there was an eunuch behind him, he also recognized it, it was Chen Ju.

Say a few polite words with Gao Zhong, and pass by each other.

After taking two steps, Yan Song stood still suddenly, and unconsciously turned his head to look at the backs of Gao Zhong and Chen Ju.

In the past, Chen Ju and Wei Guangde's contacts were very secretive, but now they are no longer secretive, and they still don't know what's going on. It seems that someone in the outer court has noticed.

Although it's hard to judge whether it's true or not, but rumors did spread, and I don't know if it was discovered by someone or someone in the palace or the Wei family accidentally spread it. In short, it was somewhat exposed.

Many members of the Wei family have met Chen Ju, and the emperor in the palace sent him to contact Wei Guangde, so it's hard to say what went wrong.

Therefore, when Wei Guangde and Chen Ju sometimes met, they no longer kept secrets. Yan Shifan naturally knew about such news.

Moreover, Yan Shifan knew about it a little earlier than the rumors from the outer court, and it was all rumored by people in Yongshou Palace.

However, at that time, Yan Shifan thought that Chen Ju had received the emperor's order to meet Wei Guangde, so he didn't think too much about it, but now that he saw Gao Zhong and Chen Ju, he began to have suspicions based on the relationship between the two.

Different from Prince Yu's Mansion, Prince Yu's Mansion knew from the very beginning that the news about Wei Guangde's presence in the palace was very reliable. Chen Ju alone would naturally not know many news in advance, so Prince Yu's Mansion also had some guesses.

Yan Shifan doubted Gao Zhong, but it was actually not difficult, the eunuchs in the palace, besides the emperor, who else could they rely on?
King Yu, if the normal situation develops, he will become the master of the Forbidden City in the future. Except for Huang Jin, none of these eunuchs would want to lean towards King Yu early.

And in the Yongshou Palace, Emperor Jiajing looked at Yan Song's steamed buns with silver hair and felt a lot of emotion.

Seeing him, he unconsciously thought of Xia Yan, then Mr. Zhang, and even Yang Tinghe and others whose memory was already blurred.

Perhaps, this is why old people often think about the past.

"It's not easy. It's really not easy for you husband and wife. After so many years of honor and disgrace, I heard that at home, you old couple have never blushed. Is Ouyang also [-]?"

Emperor Jiajing sighed.

"Yes."

Yan Song showed a very sad look at this time, and replied in a low voice.

"There are not many couples in their eighties."

Emperor Jiajing just sighed with emotion, and then the topic turned back to government affairs.

"Now there is only Huating in the cabinet, and one person can't handle a lot of things. The government still depends on Weizhong."

When Emperor Jiajing said this, he naturally wanted to hear Yan Song's answer when he would return to the cabinet.

Such a fake, it is not justified to say that it is not approved, but it is true that there are too many government affairs, and it is too busy.

When Yan Song entered the Yongshou Palace, his eyes were blank and he just stared blankly at the ground in front of him. At this time, he changed his previous appearance and raised his eyes to look at Emperor Jiajing, saying with great difficulty: " Song is not talented, His Majesty Meng values ​​the position of chief assistant, and he dare not abolish the public for personal reasons, His Majesty has shown great kindness to my Yan family, Song should pledge himself to the country, and tomorrow I will return to the cabinet to do business."

While speaking, his tone gradually became low, "Song has been accompanied by his wife all the way. Now that his wife is not here, only one son beside him has to go back to his hometown to keep his filial piety. Song.
The year of Song is eighty one, after this parting, I wonder if we will be able to see Shifan for the last time."

Speaking of this, Yan Song's sallow eyes were a little red, but his face full of vicissitudes showed a trace of determination, as if he was holding back tears.

He directly asked for mercy, begged Emperor Jiajing to win back his love, and it was wrong to leave Yan Shifan by his side, so he could only show his age to talk about the matter.

Although Yan Song's body and bones are not as good as before, but his family knows that it is his own business, and it will be fine for another two or three years, but thinking about the discussion last night, he can only shamelessly pretend to be pitiful in front of the emperor.

I thought Yan Song like this had never appeared in front of Emperor Jiajing.

As the chief assistant, Yan Song has always appeared very stable and responsible in front of Emperor Jiajing, but at this moment, Yan Song, in the eyes of Emperor Jiajing, is no different from an old man among the people.

At this moment, Emperor Jiajing was moved in his heart.

He has known Yan Song for 20 years. Thinking about Yan Song's appearance when he first met, and looking at his aging appearance now, Emperor Jiajing felt unbearable.

It will take more than two years for Yan Shi Fan Ding to worry about it, and the time spent on the round trip will be almost three years.

Looking at Yan Song's appearance, and thinking that he is already eighty years old, he may kick his legs at any time. At that time, there will be no one around who will be filial and burn paper money.

Although there is a grandson, can the grandson compare with the son?
Emperor Jiajing's hand on the armrest of the throne couldn't help but tighten. He knew the situation of Ming Dynasty best these years. Others were rushing for the position of chief assistant, but only those in power knew the real situation.

It is not easy for Yan Song to be the chief assistant.

It is true that the biggest problem for the imperial court is the lack of money, but there is no way to get money, that is, relying on Yan Song to move around and borrow money to try to maintain the situation.

"At the beginning, I allowed Shifan to join the cabinet to assist in handling official affairs. You can bring him with you when you join the cabinet tomorrow."

Emperor Jiajing said.

"Your Majesty, this is impossible."

Yan Song hurriedly opened his mouth to stop, but was interrupted by Emperor Jiajing's wave of his hand.

"I remember Shifan has two sons, the eldest son is no longer loyal, so let the second son carry the coffin back to his hometown on his behalf, Huang Jin."

When Huang Jin heard Emperor Jiajing calling him, he hurriedly stepped forward and bowed to obey the order.

"Xu Jie was ordered to draw up an edict that the chief assistant should not be left alone when he is old, and that he should stay in the family to take care of him, ordering that there is no need to guard the funeral, and ordering Song Sunhu to protect the coffin and return to the post."

"According to the order."

Huang Jin immediately agreed, and then retreated to the front of the main hall to send someone to send a message to the cabinet. At this time, Yan Song had already prostrated himself on the ground and sobbed: "Old minister, old minister, thank you, Your Majesty Long En."

"You should put the country's affairs first, and suppress your grief to comfort me."

For Yan Song's gratitude, Emperor Jiajing also felt uncomfortable, and said with emotion.

(End of this chapter)