I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 221 History rolls forward, Lin Shisan, acting pacification commissioner of the Northern Garrison!
In the winter of the forty-first year of the Jiajing reign (1552), Lin Shisan escorted Hu Zongxian back to the capital. Hu Zongxian was temporarily imprisoned in the imperial prison.

Prince Yu still admired Hu Zongxian. His protégé, Zhu Xixiao, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, appointed Lin Shisan, a commander of the Northern Garrison, to temporarily manage the imperial prison.

With Lin Shisan in charge of the imperial prison, Hu Zongxian's days in prison were much quieter than when he was the Governor-General of Zhejiang and Zhili. Lin Shisan also found famous doctors from the capital to treat him, and even paid out of his own pocket to hire a chef from Fumanlou Restaurant to prepare medicinal meals for Hu Zongxian.

On the first day of the twelfth lunar month in the forty-first year of the Jiajing reign, Grand Secretary Xu Jie inscribed three lines of calligraphy in his office: "Return authority and power to the emperor, return administrative affairs to the various departments, and return the use of punishments and rewards to public opinion."

It is obvious to anyone with discerning eyes that the key point of these three sentences lies in the second sentence, "returning administrative affairs to the various departments."

To put it bluntly: Yan's faction has fallen. Your Majesty, your henchmen are gone. Power should be returned to the civil service. Wouldn't it be better if we, the emperor and his ministers, ruled together?

On the same day as the inscription, Xu Jie instructed Lu Fengyi, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, to impeach Hu Zongxian for ten major crimes.

He misappropriated military funds to fight against Japanese pirates, which was considered "embezzlement of military funds".

The purpose of raising funds to fight against Japanese pirates was to impose taxes, which turned into "excessive taxation".

The most ruthless charge is the last one: "the Party protected Yan Song." There's no way to clear that up.

A few days later, an old friend came to visit Hu Zongxian in prison and advised him to turn against Yan Song and expose his crimes, which would save his life.

Despite the persuasive words, kind advice, and even threats from the lobbyists, Hu Zongxian remained silent throughout, only saying one sentence at the end: "Grand Secretary Yan has shown me great kindness and recognition."

The following day, 309 civil officials from the Six Ministries, the Censorate, the Six Offices, and various temples jointly submitted a memorial requesting the execution of Hu Zongxian. The momentum was overwhelming, like a mountain pressing down. It seemed as if if the emperor didn't execute Hu Zongxian, all government offices in the capital would go on strike and come to a standstill.

Good heavens! Yan Shifan had just been exiled to Leizhou, and Yan Song had just been dismissed from his post, and now the civil official group had launched a second coup, reminiscent of the Great Rites Controversy.

At the critical moment, the Jiajing Emperor instructed the Embroidered Uniform Guard to step forward.

From the commanders down to the centurions, the Embroidered Uniform Guard jointly submitted a memorial to the throne to plead for justice for Hu Zongxian.

In the following two weeks, of the 309 civil officials who impeached Hu Zongxian, 31 were arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and imprisoned in the Imperial Prison for embezzlement, bribery, favoritism, and abuse of power.

In order to save Hu Zongxian's life, the usually tactful Lin Shisan didn't care about offending anyone this time and directly transformed into the King of Hell in the Imperial Prison.

He ordered the thirty-one men to be tortured. These men were so eager to confess that they would admit to everything, even the smallest things they had done as children, like stealing needles from someone's house or picking melons from someone's garden. Naturally, they confessed to every single despicable thing they had done after becoming officials.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard followed the principle of strictness and swiftness in dealing with these officials.

This is a strong political signal: whoever wants to get rid of Hu Zongxian, the Embroidered Uniform Guard will get rid of them.

To save Hu Zongxian's life, the Jiajing Emperor changed his previous style of "residing deep in the palace, hiding behind curtains, and manipulating the court." He personally stepped in to express his opinion: First, Hu Zongxian had rendered meritorious service in suppressing the Japanese pirates.

Secondly, Hu Zongxian is not a member of Yan's faction. Since he became a censor, I have consistently promoted him. I previously rewarded him for suppressing the Japanese pirates; if I were to change my mind so easily, who would serve me in the future?

Thirdly, Hu Zongxian did indeed violate some laws and regulations during his tenure as governor-general. Although his original intention was for the great cause of suppressing the Japanese pirates, the law could not be violated. Therefore, he was dismissed from all official positions and ordered to return to his hometown to live in retirement.

If Xu Jie's faction continues to harass Hu Zongxian now that things have developed to this point, they would be truly ungrateful.

This political upheaval gradually subsided under the Jiajing Emperor's political maneuvering and the iron-fisted suppression by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Hu Zongxian was able to return to his hometown.

Emperor Jiajing wrote a note to Prince Yu regarding this matter: "Hu Ruzhen is the great talent I have left for you as a prime minister."

The tug-of-war between the emperor and the civil officials continues.

January of the 42nd year of the Jiajing reign.

Lin Shisan was impeached by an imperial censor for "mistreating convicted officials" in the imperial prison during the "Protect Hu" incident.

Another censor impeached Lin Shisan for abusing his power for personal gain and for allowing his father to run a large-scale ice business for government use.

Next, an imperial censor impeached Lin Shisan, saying that he and Yan Shifan were sworn brothers and that Lin Shisan had colluded with Yan's faction to kill Shen Lian in Xuanfu.

This is a deadly move. Nowadays, even those with deep connections in the court can't escape being labeled as members of Yan Xishan's faction. Moreover, there's the additional charge of "harming loyal and virtuous officials."

Fortunately, Lin Shisan had left a backup plan in Xuanfu.

That was the confession of the sorcerer Yan Hao: Yan Song's faction forced him to lie to the Embroidered Uniform Guard and frame Shen Lian. Shen Lian had never provided any intelligence to the Tatars. Yan Song's faction, wanting to frame a loyal official, instructed him to make baseless accusations. Shen Lian died unjustly; the crime lay with Yan Song!

There is also a letter that Shen Lian wrote to Lin Shisan before his death. This is sufficient to prove that Shen Lian was not killed by Lin Shisan.

The Grand Secretary Lü Fang and the Grand Secretary Huang Jin also testified for Lin Shisan: Lin Shisan was a spy planted within Yan Shifan's faction at the emperor's behest. His sworn brotherhood with Yan Shifan was merely a stopgap measure to gather evidence of Yan Shifan's crimes.

Lin Shisan escaped a calamity.

Surprisingly, Lin Shisan submitted a memorial to the throne, admitting that the official's accusation of "abusing public power for private gain and condoning his father's large-scale business of selling ice for official use" was true. He requested punishment.

The shrewd and calculating Jiajing Emperor saw right through Lin Shisan: this fellow was trying to shirk responsibility. He wanted to play the game of taking a small beating and then running away. Considering his meritorious service in suppressing the Japanese pirates, he granted his wish. He demoted him from the Northern Garrison to the Elephant Training Office, making him a chiliarch (commander of a thousand men).

After seven or eight years of twists and turns, Lin Shisan returned to the elephant training camp. The difference was that back then he was just an unknown junior officer in the camp. Now he had become the head of the elephant training camp.

Just as the Jiajing Emperor had guessed, Lin Shisan had played a trick.

He knew all too well that after the fall of Yan's faction, the emperor and the civil officials would inevitably engage in a protracted tug-of-war. He had no desire to remain in the Northern Garrison as a tool for scheming.

It's important to understand that the struggle between imperial power and ministerial power is no joke; one wrong move and you could face utter ruin.

It would be better to return to the elephant taming guild for safety and become a carefree commander like Chang Qingyun.

Sun Yue also followed him back to the elephant training camp and served as a centurion.

As for Li Gao, due to his connection with Consort Li, he was promoted to Right Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, in charge of royal ceremonies.

In September of the 42nd year of the Jiajing reign, Consort Li, a concubine of Prince Yu, gave birth to a son, Zhu Yijun. Because Prince Yu's eldest son, Zhu Yiyi, and second son, Zhu Yihan, had died young, Zhu Yijun was granted the title of Heir Apparent.

With the birth of an empress, Prince Yu's position as crown prince became even more secure. Consort Li's status in Prince Yu's residence also reached its zenith.

Prince Yu's two favorite ministers, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, did not get involved in the power struggle between the emperor and his ministers. They hid in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and the Imperial Academy, respectively, and quietly developed their power.

In October of the forty-second year of the Jiajing reign (1553), the Tatars invaded from the south, breaching the walls of Qiangziling, and martial law was declared in the capital. It seemed that the second Gengxu Incident was about to unfold.

At the critical moment, it was General Jiang Yingxiong of Datong who led troops to defend the emperor and decisively defeated the Tartar army at Miyun, thus securing the safety of the capital.

This person is Yang Bo's student.

In November of the forty-second year of the Jiajing reign (1553), Luo Longwen, originally sentenced to exile in Xunzhou, escaped back to Huizhou. Restless, he repeatedly traveled to Jiangxi to plot a comeback with Yan Shifan. He was arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and imprisoned in the imperial jail.

One of the charges the Embroidered Uniform Guard leveled against Luo Longwen was "colluding with the Japanese pirates." In all honesty, Luo Longwen's journey across the sea to the pirate Xu Hai's lair in Japan was a ploy to sow discord and weaken the pirate force.

In the end, it became a crime.

To prevent Lao Luo from suffering inhuman torture in the imperial prison, Lin Shisan used almost all of his connections. Despite the trouble it might cause, he visited Lao Luo in prison multiple times.

To express his gratitude, Luo Longwen gave Lin Shisan a piece of advice: "In the imperial court, one must be careful in choosing sides; if you choose the wrong side, your merits will turn into crimes."

In the early spring of the forty-third year of the Jiajing reign, Hai Rui and Hai Gangfeng, the magistrates of Xingguo County, were promoted to the position of principal of the Yunnan Provincial Department of Revenue. They rode a lame mule into the capital.

The most formidable figure of the late Jiajing reign has slowly stepped onto the stage of history.

In the autumn of the forty-third year of the Jiajing reign, Xu Jie reported on the surplus silver and rice in the imperial granary, saying, "The year was bountiful, and the imperial granary had a surplus of 140,000 taels of silver and 80,000 shi of rice."

Since the fall of the Yan faction, Xu Jie had been in charge of the cabinet for nearly three years. In a year of great harvest, the national treasury's granary only had a surplus of 140,000 taels of silver and 80,000 shi of rice, yet Xu Jie touted this as a achievement. Meanwhile, the Xu family's 200,000 mu of land in Songjiang yielded 570,000 shi of rice that year, more than seven times the amount stored in the granary.

It's really ridiculous.

In the first month of the forty-fourth year of the Jiajing Emperor's reign, Zhu Zaizhen, the fourth son of the Jiajing Emperor, died. Only the lineage of the Jiajing Emperor remained, that of the Prince Yu.

Grand Secretary Xu Jie submitted a memorial stating: "Prince Jinggong has died without an heir, and his fiefdom should be abolished. His wife should return to the capital to be cared for. His fiefdom should be returned to the people."

This disgusted the Jiajing Emperor immensely. "My son is dead, and instead of offering comfort, you stab me in the heart. What 'returning the fiefdoms'? You play the good guy, and I'll be the bad guy?"
If you care so much about the people, why don't you distribute your Xu family's more than 200,000 mu of land to them?
Ten days later, the Jiajing Emperor issued an edict to transfer Yan Ne and Li Chunfang to the cabinet to share Xu Jie's power.

In the third month of the forty-fourth year of the Jiajing reign (1555), Luo Longwen was beheaded, and the emperor ordered the confiscation of his family's property.

Officials discovered a secret letter written by Hu Zongxian and Luo Longwen in the Luo residence, concerning their resistance against the Japanese pirates. The letter detailed their plan to lure Xu Hai ashore for capture and execution, and to forge an imperial edict appointing Xu Hai as "Assistant Commander of Zhejiang Province."

During the critical period of fighting against Japanese pirates, Hu Zongxian had no choice but to use extraordinary measures. Now, however, these measures have become concrete charges against him.

In any dynasty, forging an imperial edict would be a grave crime. Censors rose up against him, and the Jiajing Emperor had no choice but to order the Embroidered Uniform Guard to arrest Hu Zongxian and imprison him in the imperial prison.

In the end, Hu Zongxian left behind his last poem in prison, "My precious sword is buried in this wrongful prison, my loyal soul lingers among the white clouds," and committed suicide.

The pillar of the southeast died unjustly in prison.

In October of the forty-fourth year of the Jiajing reign (1555), Hai Rui, a principal clerk in the Ministry of Revenue, submitted a memorial entitled "Memorial on Governance," also known as "The First Memorial Under Heaven." This is the famous historical account of Hai Rui criticizing the emperor.

Hai Rui became a tool for certain people in the court. However, the Jiajing Emperor did not execute Hai Rui, but instead imprisoned him in the imperial prison.

After this upheaval, the Jiajing Emperor was so enraged that his health deteriorated rapidly.

In the first month of the forty-fifth year of the Jiajing reign (1556), Lu Yi, the Deputy Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was awarded the title of Commander-in-Chief, but the Emperor ordered him to retire to a life of leisure. The Lu family era in the Embroidered Uniform Guard had come to a complete end.

In March of the forty-fifth year of the Jiajing Emperor's reign, the emperor ordered the addition of new cabinet members. Gao Gong, recommended by Prince Yu, and Guo Pu, recommended by Xu Jie, were appointed to the cabinet.

After Gao Gong entered the cabinet, he and Xu Jie held opposing political views and were at odds.

Zhang Juzheng resided in the Prince Yu's residence, devoting himself entirely to lecturing the Prince on Buddhist scriptures.

December 14th, 45th year of the Jiajing reign. The Jiajing Emperor died in the Qianqing Palace at the age of sixty. His temple name was Shizong, and his posthumous title was Qintian Lüdao Yingyi Shengdi Xuanwen Guangwu Hongren Daxiao Su Emperor.

Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng secretly conspired to draft the imperial edict. Prince Yu ascended the throne and changed the era name to Longqing.

The wheels of history keep turning.

In the third month of the first year of the Longqing reign, at the elephant training center.

In the warm spring of March, the grass grows and the orioles fly. Spring is the mating season for elephants, and the elephant handlers at the elephant training center are extremely busy.

Inside the duty room of the commander, Lin Shisan, a 32-year-old commander, was playing Go with his deputy commander, Sun Yue.

Lin Shisan had been living a quiet life at the elephant training center for four years. During these four years, he had lived a peaceful life, envying neither lovers nor immortals. Let the storms in the court rage on; I'll just watch from the sidelines and enjoy the show.

Time flies. He was no longer the handsome military officer he was twelve years ago; he had gradually gained weight and become quite plump. However, compared to Sun Yue, he was still a case of the small fat man looking at the big fat man.

Lin Shisan took a sip of tea: "My disciple, stop wasting your brain. The four pieces are already set, just resign and admit defeat."

Sun Yue said, "Damn it, I lost again. I've lost more than twenty games today."

Just then, a girl's silvery laughter drifted into the duty room. Sixteen-year-old Wang Xiaochuan, fourteen-year-old Lin Hu, and eight-year-old Fu'er walked in.

Wang Xiaochuan has now blossomed into a graceful and beautiful young woman.

When the Yan family fell from grace, the engagement between Lin Hu and Yan Nian's granddaughter was naturally canceled. After discussing it with Bi Yun, Lin Shisan did not restore Wang Xiaochuan's status as a child bride, but treated her as an adopted daughter.

Lin Hu was fourteen years old and studying at the Imperial Academy in the capital. He had the same features as his father when he was young, and was quite handsome.

As for Fu'er, she was at the age where everyone and even dogs disliked her. She was naughty to an outrageous degree.

Fu'er laughed and said, "Daddy, now we know what it's like to mate with an elephant! It's like sticking it in and poking around."

Lin Shisan scolded, "What nonsense are you spouting in front of your sister? It's improper!"

Turning his head, Lin Shisan scolded Wang Xiaochuan again: "You're almost married, and you come to the elephant training center to play instead of looking at other things. Don't you understand the principle of 'don't look at what is improper'?"

"And you, Tiger, you're supposed to be taking the prefectural exam next year, and you're supposed to be well-read. What are you doing fooling around with your sister and brother?"

Wang Xiaochuan muttered under his breath, "That little devil Fu'er insisted on coming to see, how could I stop her?"

Lin Shisan turned to Sun Yue and asked, "Have you found out anything about that Magistrate Zhao? What's his son like?"

Sun Yue said, "I asked my comrades in the Northern Garrison to investigate Magistrate Zhao's family back three generations. They are indeed from a scholarly family and are good men who will be passed down through generations."

"His son is also quite handsome; he just passed the imperial examination and became a scholar last year. However..."

Lin Shisan asked, "But what?"

Sun Yue replied, "I have the same hobby as you, I like to play with birds and insects. His father often scolds him for this, saying he's wasting his time on trivial things."

Lin Shisan laughed and said, "That's nothing. Chuan'er, in a few days I'll find an excuse to invite that Young Master Zhao to our mansion to watch birds. You can pretend to be a maid and watch from the sidelines to see if he likes it."

"Although marriage is a major event that is decided by parents and matchmakers, I still feel that you have to be to my liking before I can confidently marry you off."

Unlike his mischievous self as a child, Wang Xiaochuan blushed with embarrassment and said, "Dad, what nonsense are you talking about?"

After saying that, Wang Xiaochuan turned and left.

Lin Hu laughed and said, "Dad, you've embarrassed my sister so much that she left."

Just then, a junior officer entered the duty room and reported: "Your Highness, the Junior Supervisor of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, Eunuch Feng Bao, the Director of the Directorate of Palace Attendants, Eunuch Chen Ju, and the Heir Apparent of the Earl of Wuqing are waiting for you in the main hall to receive the imperial decree."

Lin Shisan was taken aback: "Is there an imperial decree?"

A new emperor brings a new court. After the Jiajing Emperor's death, the Longqing Emperor treated former eunuchs such as Lü Fang and Huang Jin well. He retained Lü Fang's position as the Director of Ceremonial Affairs and Huang Jin's position as the Chief Secretary of the Ceremonial Affairs.

However, Lü Fang and Huang Jin wisely chose to live a secluded life in Heishan, refusing to concern themselves with the affairs of the prison.

Currently, the head of the Directorate of Ceremonial is Meng Chong, the former chief eunuch of Prince Yu's residence, who is temporarily serving as the chief scribe.

The second most important person was Feng Bao, a confidant of Consort Li Caifeng and a junior supervisor.

Before his death, Gao Zhong, a renowned official who resisted the Tartars, entrusted Chen Ju to Huang Jin. Before Huang Jin went to Heishan, he entrusted Chen Ju to Feng Bao.

Therefore, Chen Ju has now been promoted to the fourth rank among the eunuchs – Sizheng.

Consort Li's father, Li Wei, was granted the title of Earl of Wuqing, and Li Gao became the heir apparent of the Earl of Wuqing.

Lin Shisan hurriedly went to the lobby.

Feng Bao unfurled an imperial edict and announced loudly: "By imperial decree, Lin Shisan, commander of the Elephant Training Thousand-Household Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, is hereby promoted to Acting Northern Garrison Commander. So be it."

(End of this chapter)