I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 26: Elder Yan

After leaving Xi'an Gate, Zhu Yijun got into a sedan chair and, escorted by Feng Bao and others in casual clothes, blended into the bustling crowd of the capital and headed towards Yan's Mansion in the east of the city.

I also want to teach Grandpa Huang about sea power theory, the wealth of nations, currency wars, and the importance of a sound financial and taxation system to a country.

But is it useful?
it's useless.

The three views of my grandfather, the Emperor Jiajing, were formed long ago and are deeply rooted. He can't fool people by acting coquettishly, being cute, and then claiming that they are bestowed by God.

In Zhu Yijun's view, the emperor's grandfather practiced Taoism and pursued immortality, but was actually paralyzing himself.

He was such a shrewd man, and also suspicious by nature, how could he not know about the tricks that Shao Yuanjie, Tao Zhongwen, Duan Chaoyong, Hu Dashun and Lan Daoxing were using to play tricks on others.

Moreover, these people were gradually disliked by the Emperor, and in the end, they all ended up with no good ending.

People like the Emperor are very confident and stubborn. They think that even if 99 percent of the information is fake, if one of it is true, they will make a fortune.

But he didn't expect that this kind of thing was 100% fake.

Since I can't convince the Emperor, can I give some advice to Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong, Li Chunfang and others, and teach them some knowledge like Theory of Sea Power and The Wealth of Nations?
Don't be ridiculous, these people won't listen.

Instead, they would think that he believed in heresy, which might even affect his status as the crown prince.

I can only lure them with benefits.

Taking advantage of the emperor's desire for money, he offered a plan and suggested setting up a Ming Dynasty version of the Shaofu.

Yang Jinshui was responsible for the practical operations, and Hu Zongxian was responsible for the escort.

Yang Jinshui escaped death, and Hu Zongxian survived in a desperate situation. They are both of the same quality. If they are not careful, they will die without a burial place.

And I am their lifeline.

So no matter what knowledge you tell them about sea power and the wealth of nations, no matter how heretical they are, they will think about it seriously and then put it into practice.

The butt determines the thinking.

The group soon arrived near Yan's residence and saw a group of people gathered at the gate, making a lot of noise.

"Feng Bao, send someone to take a look."

Zhu Yijun stopped the sedan chair across the street and sent someone to inquire.

After a while, the person who was investigating came back.

"Your Highness, it was the steward Wang from Prince Yu's Mansion who said that the Yan Mansion owed the Prince's Mansion three thousand taels of silver and now came to ask for it. The steward Yan Mansion said that he had no evidence, so how could he return it? So they started arguing."

"Manager Wang from Prince Yu's Mansion?" Zhu Yijun couldn't remember such a person.

Feng Bao came to the side of the sedan chair and whispered, "Your Highness, this is the son of Concubine Li's uncle."

Li, the concubine of Prince Yu, was the biological mother of Zhu Yijun in history.

She is beautiful and capable, and is deeply favored by her father. This year, she was promoted from a palace maid to a concubine.

Are you starting to curl your tail now?
"Go and see."

Zhu Yijun got off the sedan chair and walked to the side door of Yan's mansion under the escort of Feng Bao and others.

From a distance, Steward Wang could be heard cursing, "How dare you take the money from our Prince Yu's Mansion? You are so bold, aren't you? I tell you, I am here today to settle all old and new accounts at once.

You have eaten our Prince Yu's Mansion's food, and you must spit it out today with interest."

Behind him, a dozen servants and hangers-on followed suit and shouted in a menacing manner, acting in an imposing manner.

The steward of the Yan Mansion opposite had pale hair and a gloomy expression.

The servants standing behind him were also older, weak and timid.

Zhu Yijun walked over, and someone reported to Manager Wang, who hurried over to greet him.

"I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"What's going on?" Zhu Yijun asked.

"In reply to your Highness, in the 36th year of Jiajing, Yan Shifan instructed the Ministry of Revenue to withhold the salary of our Prince Yu's Mansion. The prince had no choice but to hand Yan Shifan two thousand taels of silver, and the Ministry of Revenue then paid the salary.

How could our Prince Yu's Mansion suffer such a huge loss? I came here today to get back the two thousand taels of silver, including the principal and interest."

After listening to this, Zhu Yijun stared at Steward Wang and asked calmly, "Was it your idea, or did someone in the mansion ask you to come?"

Steward Wang rolled his eyes and replied, "To answer your Highness, the accountant found this account when he was clearing the accounts the day before yesterday. I happened to be serving nearby, so I volunteered to do this job."

"Since it's an errand for the palace, then who assigned you this job?" Steward Wang's eyes rolled around and he hesitated, refusing to say anything.

Zhu Yijun said bluntly: "Since this is not an errand from the palace, you are deliberately coming to the palace of the Prime Minister to cause trouble under the name of the palace."

Steward Wang knelt down with a plop and said, "Your Highness, yes, it was the concubine who felt that the palace could not afford to lose this amount of money, so she asked me to come and get it back."

Zhu Yijun shook his head.

The rules set by our ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang were not good. The princes and grandchildren all married daughters of poor families and used their beauty to please them. They did not receive much education since childhood and knew nothing about the ways of the world and the court system. Everything they did was petty.

No, it seems that Zhu Biao, Zhu Di, and Zhu Yunwen all married daughters of nobles and ministers. So where did this unhealthy trend start?

Never mind. Now is not the time to discuss this.

"Feng Bao."

"The servant is here."

"Take someone to bring Steward Wang back to Prince Yu's Mansion and tell any one of the three gentlemen, Chen (Chen Yiqin), Yin (Yin Shidan) and Zhang (Zhang Juzheng), and they will handle it themselves."

"Yes."

After this matter was dealt with, Zhu Yijun walked to the side door, bowed and said, "Please inform that Prince Yu has been ordered to come and visit Lord Yan."

The gray-haired Yan Mansion steward's eyes widened, and he was stunned for several breaths before he reacted, and shouted: "Quick, go and inform the master. Quick, open the door, open the middle door!"

"No need. I didn't bring any imperial decree with me today. I just came to visit Lord Yan. Just open the side door. No need to make a fuss."

"Yes, yes, open the side door."

When he walked from the side door to the second courtyard, he bumped into Yan Song who had hurried out to greet him after hearing the news.

He was over eighty years old, wearing a golden silk robe, with his hair tied up in a bun and a jade hairpin inserted in his hair.

He knelt down tremblingly and said, "Your Highness, I, Yan Song, pay my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Master Yan, get up quickly, get up quickly." Zhu Yijun hurried forward and extended his hand to support him. At the same time, he winked, and Feng Bao hurried forward to support Yan Song, who had not yet kneeled down.

Yan Song shouted, "Thank you, Your Highness!" and stood up.

When they arrived at the central hall, Yan Song asked Zhu Yijun to sit in the first seat at the top, and he sat in the second seat at the bottom.

Serve tea and cakes.

Yan Song raised his head and asked slowly, "Your Highness, are you here today for a decree?"

"Lord Yan, I came here today only because I heard that you were unwell, so I came to see you."

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince loves and cares for me. This really makes me feel bad."

"You are too polite, Lord Yan." Zhu Yijun got straight to the point. "Hu Zongxian won another victory in the southeast, and the emperor praised him again."

"Ruzhen is talented, and the emperor knows how to use people well."

"Today I told the Emperor that some people want to wipe out the Yan Party. This is not a good trend. Are these people doing this to prove to the world that the Emperor is incompetent and has used corrupt officials to govern the Ming Dynasty for twenty years?"

Yan Song raised his head suddenly, staring at the prince with his dim eyes, trying to find his true purpose from his face.

Zhu Yijun continued, "I pointed to the victory report and said to the emperor. The emperor was able to trust Yan Ge Lao for many years and rely on him to govern the Ming Dynasty for twenty years. He did not rely on those corrupt officials, but on capable officials like Hu Zongxian.

The Yan Party is not full of corrupt officials, but also loyal and capable officials who serve the country and share the worries of the emperor. "

Yan Song tasted the meaning and said slowly, "Your Majesty is wise, and the Crown Prince is intelligent. Hearing these fair words, I am greatly encouraged and my illness has healed immediately. I will write a letter to cancel my leave tonight and report to the Cabinet tomorrow."

"I heard from the Imperial Household Department that Lord Xu and Lord Gao were acting on impulse and delayed a lot of important matters. Lord Yan needs to come in and take charge. No matter what, we can't let the state affairs get delayed."

"Yes, we can't let the affairs of state get in the way." Yan Song followed up with a sentence, and suddenly asked with expectation: "Prince, what about my son, the hereditary vassal?"

Zhu Yijun was silent for a while and then replied, "I heard that he sneaked back to his hometown in Jiangxi from Leizhou where he was exiled."

Yan Song's face suddenly turned sad, "My son brought this upon himself."

"Lord Yan, I heard that you already have four generations living under one roof."

"Yes Yes."

"Four generations living under one roof, what a wonderful thing. Lord Yan must be very satisfied, as his children and grandchildren will have their own blessings!"

Yan Song nodded, and replied with a mixture of sadness and joy: "Yes, my children and grandchildren will have their own blessings! I am content."

(End of this chapter)