Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 270 Alas! How terrifying! [Requesting monthly votes]

Nie Bao was also an extraordinary person, and his influence on Xu Jie was considerable.

When he passed the imperial examination in the twelfth year of the Zhengde reign, he took Yan Song as his teacher.

Later, when Wang Shouren promoted Yangming's philosophy of mind and lectured in Shaoxing, he went there to learn from him. He and Wang Shouren hit it off immediately and he called himself Wang Shouren's disciple.

His influence on Xu Jie can be traced back to his time as magistrate of Huating County (later Songjiang District of Shanghai).

At that time, Xu Jie was just a scholar who had failed the provincial examination in Yingtian Prefecture.

Nie Bao believed that Xu Jie was a promising talent. After reading his articles, he praised him as a "national treasure" and took Xu Jie as his student, teaching him his studies.

Later, Xu Jie indeed passed the provincial examination with a score of seventh, and the following year he passed the metropolitan examination. In the palace examination, he became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest level of the imperial examination) and was appointed as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy.

This only refers to the impact on the imperial examination system.

Even Xu Jie's first marriage was arranged by Nie Bao.

Xu Jie's wife was Shen Zhongheng, the daughter of the wealthy Shen family in Huating County.

Unfortunately, Shen Zhongheng did not live long. After giving birth to Xu Jie's eldest son, Xu Fan, in the eighth year of the Jiajing reign, he died of illness the following year.

However, it was precisely this marriage that made Xu Jie's power in Huating County an unshakeable force.

This laid a solid foundation for the Xu family to become an all-powerful local tyrant in Huating County, seizing hundreds of thousands of acres of land, monopolizing the cotton textile industry in Songjiang, and even controlling maritime smuggling in the region.

Then there's the influence of the philosophy of mind.

After Nie Bao became Wang Shouren's disciple, when he taught Xu Jie, he naturally couldn't help but include a lot of his own ideas about the philosophy of mind.

Therefore, Xu Jie also became a follower of Yangming's philosophy of mind, and he also introduced these personal ideas to his student Zhang Juzheng.

Especially after Xu Jie became the Grand Secretary, he immediately took the lead in giving lectures and repeatedly invited officials from all over the country who came to the capital to pay homage to him and officials from various government departments to listen to his lectures. This made Yangming's philosophy of mind, which was originally banned in the court and among the people, extremely popular and overshadowed the official schools of thought.

His actions not only fueled the corrupt atmosphere of pursuing fame and fortune in officialdom, but also caused Yangming's philosophy of mind to fall into the realm of abstract and metaphysical discussions.

Even Zhang Juzheng, who was also influenced by Yangming's philosophy, couldn't stand it anymore. So after he came to power, he destroyed academies and forcibly stopped the cult of Xu Jie's advocacy.

As for Yan Maoqing's mention of "corrupt and illegal practices".

He didn't wrong Nie Bao.

Historically, this guy was arrested for corruption in the 26th year of the Jiajing reign and was sent to the capital to be imprisoned.

Yan Song, as his teacher, and Xu Jie, as his student, worked together to defend Nie Bao and exonerate him, finally getting him released from prison.

The details of what happened during this period are not recorded in historical books, but this matter cannot prove that he embezzled and broke the law.

This time, Yan Maoqing obtained solid evidence in Pingyang Prefecture, so he was definitely not wronged.

Moreover, neither Yan Song nor Xu Jie in the present day have the right to defend or exonerate this person in front of Yan Maoqing.

As for the corrupt and lawless practices, Yan Maoqing felt that Xu Jie must have already mastered them.

And in the future, it will be carried forward and developed, otherwise how could it become a huge corrupt official that even Yan Song and his son could only look up to?
"Lord Biguo, although I do not know the truth, I absolutely believe in my mentor's character."

Xu Jie then adopted a respectful posture, bowing and pleading for Nie Bao's life.
"I suspect there may be other hidden reasons, or perhaps my mentor has some unspeakable difficulties. I humbly request Your Excellency to make a wise judgment."

Yan Maoqing smiled and said:
"This concerns your mentor. Whether out of consideration for reason, fairness, or the provisions of the Ming Dynasty Code, you should recuse yourself from this matter."

"Whether it's the Chamber of Affairs of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, or the Three Judicial Offices, they will all handle the case in accordance with the law and regulations."

"What, do you suspect that I would deliberately frame your mentor without any grudge?"

"Please forgive me, Your Excellency, I dare not..."

Xu Jie had no choice but to lower his head and apologize, a barely perceptible hint of gloom flashing in his eyes.

In this one encounter alone, he discovered that this young duke was sharp and ambitious, and indeed not someone easy to get along with.

In fact, Xu Jie had already thoroughly investigated Yan Maoqing's actions over the past year, aside from those unknown secrets, and had summarized some notable characteristics from them:

Although quick-witted, he acts impulsively;
Although decisive in handling affairs, he lacks shrewdness;
Although his talent was undeniable, he made countless enemies.

Therefore, in Xu Jie's mind at this moment, Yan Maoqing was a typical hothead who only cared about his own interests and not his own.

Such a hothead is actually not difficult to deal with!

His ability to rise from a newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) to Duke Biguo in just one year was nothing more than a stroke of good luck, a stroke of good fortune from his ancestors.

Xu Jie even had reason to suspect that Yan Maoqing had been used as a pawn by the emperor from the very beginning, at most a catfish that the emperor deliberately threw into the pond, so that he could run wild and disrupt the situation in the court, making it easier for the emperor to fish in troubled waters.

Once the emperor has gained enough initiative, or when the tide turns against him, Yan Maoqing will lose his usefulness and the emperor will discard him without hesitation.

"There is no best."

Yan Maoqing nodded, his smile widening.

"By the way, you just said that in a few days, after the Ministry of Personnel completes the procedures, you will be reinstated as the Imperial Stables of the Bureau of Classics under the Court of Imperial Sacrifices?"

"Don't blame me for not reminding you, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices has some new rules now. You'd better learn about them in advance, so you won't be unable to adapt on your first day."

"I will certainly keep Duke Bi's words in mind."

Xu Jie responded meekly.

He had originally intended to cultivate a good relationship with Yan Maoqing today, and perhaps even see if Yan Maoqing could make an exception for his mentor, Nie Bao. However, Yan Maoqing's words immediately blocked that path completely, leaving him no chance to speak, and he had no choice but to give up.

However, this matter is not over yet.

Even if Yan Maoqing confirms Nie Bao's crimes of embezzlement and perverting the law, such a crime is not punishable by death; at most, he will be demoted, his property confiscated, and he will be exiled to the border.

Besides, since he has come today, he has already done his duty to his mentor.

Whether or not Nie Bao can be rescued is actually not important. The key point is that no matter what happens to Nie Bao in the future, no one can accuse him of disregarding the bond between teacher and student... That is his real purpose.

From now on, Nie Bao's matter can be completely put aside.

He should also seriously consider how to make himself stand out when he goes to the Imperial Household Department, so as not to be treated differently by Yan Maoqing because of his mentor Nie Bao.

After all, judging from Yan Maoqing's current attitude, he doesn't seem to have any good feelings towards me.

And I had never had any contact with him before, so this was probably because of Nie Bao...

So first of all, you have to adopt the right attitude.

Let's start by openly writing this impassioned admonition on the wall of the duty room:
[Hey! You passed the imperial examination at the age of twenty-one. The country has shown you great favor. How can you complain?]
Those who do not exert themselves with utmost loyalty and effort, but instead form cliques to exclude the virtuous, or sell the law for bribes, or betray the public to curry favor, or hold onto their positions for personal gain, will be punished by the gods, and their misfortunes will extend to their descendants.

Alas! How terrifying!

Hehehe, once such admonitions are posted on the wall, who wouldn't be filled with awe for me and praise my virtue?
But how could Xu Jie possibly know?

His pretentious act had been played not only by Yan Maoqing, but also by officials of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

Now that he's gone to the Imperial Household Department, his first concern is finding a wall where no one has ever written any admonitions...

"..."

Xia Yan felt somewhat uneasy seeing the two talking like this.

He felt that introducing Xu Jie to Yan Maoqing this time seemed to be a mistake.

Although the reason is unknown, Yan Maoqing clearly has some opinion about Xu Jie, otherwise why would he have shown such a strong sense of intimidation right from the start?
Did the two have a past conflict?

Never mind, ignorance is no excuse. I think Yan Maoqing won't hold it against him.

The most pressing question now is whether Yan Maoqing, who has been promoted to Duke of Biguo by the Emperor, will be able to return to the cabinet in the future.
There will probably be a lot of resistance...

If Yan Maoqing cannot enter the cabinet, then Yan Song should still have a chance to be reinstated and enter the cabinet, and may even become the Grand Secretary, since there is no capable person in the cabinet now.

If that's the case, it would contradict my plan to retire and return to my hometown.

Moreover, judging from the frequent interactions between Yan Shifan and Yan Maoqing just now, could it be that Yan Maoqing has reconciled with the Yan family, leaving me as an outsider?

No!

I need to find a way to stir things up as soon as possible. I absolutely cannot let Yan Maoqing get together with the Yan family, otherwise Yan Song will definitely be reinstated and enter the cabinet.

I would rather Yan Song join the cabinet than be allowed to retire and return to my hometown...

……

West Garden.

"Eunuch Huang, could His Majesty really be unwell?"

Yan Maoqing changed into the magnificent crown and robes that had been bestowed upon him along with the title of Duke Biguo, and then rushed to the West Garden without stopping.

Reporting back is easy to discuss.

The key issue was the division of accounts. To prevent Zhu Houcong from defaulting on his debts, Yan Maoqing specially brought a box of account books that had been prepared in advance.

As for whether Zhu Houcong will suddenly pass away, leaving this debt unresolved and unresolved.

Despite Zhu Houcong's poor health, Yan Maoqing was not too worried.

Unless another attempt to assassinate him occurs, Zhu Houcong is relatively long-lived; even with elixirs containing excessive heavy metals, he can live to be sixty.

Moreover, the success rate of assassination plots would inevitably drop sharply after the "Xin Chou Palace Coup," because Zhu Houcong would certainly be extremely cautious in this regard.

"Duke Biguo..."

Upon hearing this, Huang Jin lowered his voice and said calmly,

"This matter must be kept from others, but it cannot be kept from you. In fact, His Majesty is in good health, so Duke Biguo need not worry."

"That's good!"

Yan Maoqing nodded heavily, feeling instantly more energetic.

"This……"

Huang Jin watched this unfold, his eyelids twitching violently.

He had a very bad feeling that this thing emitting blue smoke was very likely going to cause trouble again, otherwise why would it be so energetic?

and so……

After I lead Yan Maoqing inside, I'd better find an excuse to leave as soon as possible!
(End of this chapter)