My father is Jiajing

Chapter 409 Yan and Xu join forces
"What's going on in the southeast?"

Looking at the increasingly deteriorating situation in the southeast over the past few years, Emperor Jiajing, who was practicing Taoism in the deep palace of Xiyuan, could no longer sit still.

He summoned Yan Song, Xu Jie and others to the Yuxi Palace and questioned these pillars of the country whom he relied on face to face.

Yan Song and Xu Jie lowered their heads. The thunder, lightning and rain were all grace from the emperor. Faced with such accusations, as subjects they could only bow their heads and admit their mistakes.

"Why aren't you talking?"

Emperor Jiajing could not help but become annoyed. These bastards acted like cowards at critical moments. Whether things were done well or messed up, they would pretend to be worried and say it was all for His Majesty.

But His Majesty is in the deep palace, how much can he know about the whole situation?

No matter how supreme the emperor was, all he could see were memorials from various places sent to the palace, or secret reports sent back by his secret spies from the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang.

However, these are one-sided contents, and they are also seriously lagging behind and extremely subjective.

Therefore, it is simply a daydream to expect an emperor living in the deep palace to shine his divine light far and wide and govern the world in order.

Therefore, no matter whether the monarch is tyrannical or foolish, if he wants to govern the world, he must have a bureaucratic system composed of people like Yan Song and Xu Jie in order to achieve control over the world.

But now this group of people don't want to take responsibility and want to pass the blame on to others. How can Emperor Jiajing tolerate this?
It seems that if anything goes wrong in this world, it is his sole responsibility, and no one can take the blame for it.

Therefore, Emperor Jiajing’s anger can be understood to some extent.

Emperor Jiajing held the memorial of Zhang Jing, the governor of Zhejiang Province, and questioned Yan Song, Xu Jie and others, "Didn't you say that the Japanese pirates in the southeast were just some small pirates? Now that these pirates have landed, you are still whitewashing the situation in front of me. Are you waiting for the Japanese pirates to reach the capital before you are willing to tell me the truth?"

Zhang Jing's memorial was sent to the capital in the form of a secret memorial, without going through the Ministry of Public Security or the Cabinet.

Therefore, Yan Song and Xu Jie were both completely in the dark about what Zhang Jing said in his memorial.

Now they were called to the Western Garden by Emperor Jiajing and scolded severely. In fact, they felt quite aggrieved.

Because of the situation in the southeast, as cabinet ministers, they, like Emperor Jiajing, had always been in the capital, and it was difficult for them to understand the full picture of the situation.

They can only make corresponding strategies based on the information sent from the local area.

But who could have thought that Zhang Jing was so unethical that he simply skipped them and reported the matter to the emperor in secret.

This put Yan Song, Xu Jie and others in a passive position.

When Yan Song didn't speak, Xu Jie had to speak, because that was the rule.

Xu Jie gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, the situation in the southeast is very complicated. Minister Yan and I have been paying close attention to it, but..." Emperor Jiajing snorted, "Just what? There is nothing we can do, right? If Zhang Jing had reported it in time this time, I would not have known that the Japanese pirates' threat in the southeast had gradually become a festering trend."

"You have indeed had a lot of peace and comfort over the years. I solved the problems in the north for you, and I also solved the earthquake in Huazhou for you. Now there is only the southeast, and you still messed with me like this? I really don't know why I liked you and brought you into the cabinet."

As soon as the Jiajing Emperor finished speaking, Yan Song moved. He knelt on the ground and took off his black hat. "No matter how many mistakes I made, they are all my fault. I failed to share the worries of my father and the emperor."

Yan Song's action also inspired Xu Jie, who immediately knelt down and took off his hat faster than Yan Song.

Emperor Jiajing watched Yan Song and Xu Jie take off their official hats and snorted, "You want to give up and push all the responsibility onto me, right? I won't let you give up. Now that Zhang Jing has spoken out about the matter, you must immediately find a way to solve the problem in the southeast. If you can't solve it, then it won't be as simple as just taking off your hats."

Emperor Jiajing warned Yan Song and Xu Jie coldly, then he stood up and returned to his own residence, no longer paying any attention to them.

Yan Song and Xu Jie looked at the departing Emperor Jiajing and bowed again, "Farewell, Your Majesty."

After the shadow of Emperor Jiajing disappeared, Chen Hong quietly came over and said softly: "The Emperor just wants you to take an attitude. Now the things in the southeast can no longer be covered up. If you still don't take an attitude, it will be difficult for the Emperor to deal with it."

After Chen Hong said this, he quietly stepped away.

Xu Jie helped Yan Song out of Yuxi Palace, and the two spoke very little along the way.

When they were alone, Yan Song said, "Huating, someone must take responsibility for the situation in the southeast. Otherwise, we won't be able to explain this to the world."

Xu Jie replied in agreement, "What you said is true. There is such a big mess in the southeast. As the governor of Zhejiang, Zhang Jing has an unshirkable responsibility. He secretly reported to Your Majesty this time just to escape responsibility. People like this who dare not take responsibility and want to shirk responsibility should not be allowed to stay in the southeast any longer."

Yan Song and Xu Jie reached a consensus in just a few words. This time, they were both badly tricked by Zhang Jing.

Otherwise, they would not have been summoned to Yuxi Palace by Emperor Jiajing to be reprimanded in person. So before leaving Yuxi Palace, the two of them had already thought of getting Zhang Jing.

Now that both of them have made it clear, one can imagine what will happen to Zhang Jing next.

Zhang Jing became a Jinshi in the 12th year of Zhengde, and was considered an experienced minister. He served as the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi in the 16th year of Jiajing, and suppressed the Yao people's rebellion in Datongxia. Later, he was promoted to the Minister of War in Nanjing for his merits.

In the 33rd year of the Jiajing reign, there were signs of Japanese invasion in the southeast. The court thought of this senior governor-general and appointed him as the governor-general of Zhejiang and Zhili, and gave him the title of Minister of War, in charge of the military and political affairs of Zhejiang and Zhili, and to eliminate the Japanese invasion in the southeast.

But now more than two years have passed, and not only have the Japanese pirates not been wiped out, but they are becoming more and more powerful, which makes Zhang Jing very panicked.

Therefore, in order to explain the current situation in the southeast to the court, Zhang Jing had no choice but to write a secret report directly to the emperor, hoping that Emperor Jiajing would give him enough authority and support so that he could mobilize more forces to deal with the Japanese invasion in the southeast.

Unfortunately, in the eyes of Yan Song and Xu Jie, his action was an act of reporting to the higher authorities, which made it difficult for him to be tolerated by the two factions.

Therefore, in the next moment, Zhang Jing will not only have to deal with the Japanese threat in the southeast that cannot be eliminated, but also the cold arrows that may be shot at any time from the capital!
(End of this chapter)