Why did Emperor Jiajing kill Yan Shifan and leave Yan Song alive?
Let's talk about why Emperor Jiajing wanted Yan Shifan to die. After Yan Shifan was arrested, the Third Chamber initially accused him of corruption, selling officials and titles, amassing wealth and committing crimes. Yan Shifan is really arrogant. With the help of his father Yan Song's power, he controlled the promotion, appointment and dismissal of court officials, clearly marked court positions according to their positions, wantonly sold officials and titles, and amassed countless money. I couldn't let go of the money I found at home, so I dug a cellar in the garden, where antique treasures and gold and silver treasures were buried. Yan Song was specially invited to watch. Yan Song was afraid of being killed and looked surprised, but Yan Shifan disagreed.
In addition, Yan Shifan also accepted a bribe from Zhu Zaihou, Prince of Jiajing. Because Emperor Jiajing always disliked it, he didn't give it to Yu for a month, but confiscated the money of the household department for three years. Yu Wang had no choice but to give 1500 silver to receive the annual gift as usual. Yan Shifan boasted to everyone: "The emperor's son still wants to give me money. Who dares not to honor me? " Greed is beyond measure. When the court confiscated Yan Shifan's property, only 60,000 words were recorded. * * * copied three hundred and two thousand gold, two hundred and two thousand silver, fertile land and beautiful houses.
The insatiable greed is shocking. There are many wives and concubines in Yan Shifan, with 27 wives and concubines recorded in history. He invented the "Beauty Bowl", selected beautiful women to squat on the ground, and prepared to accept Yan Shifan's spit with his mouth. He also has a hobby, that is, every time he shares a room with his wife and concubine, he will clean up the filth with a new white handkerchief and throw it under the bed. At the end of the year, people will count the number of people. "This dirty towel, every time you marry a woman, you have to abandon one, and you have to count it at the end of your life." Yan Shifan's debauchery to what extent. But these are not fatal.
In order to kill Yan's father and son, Xu Jie changed the charge to "rebellion against Japan", accusing him of "gathering people to flee, leading Japan to Nantong, leading North to Shandong, and coordinating with each other". "Rebellion" refers to Yan Shifan's ulterior motive of building a house on a piece of royal land and secretly detaining soldiers. "Communication with the Japanese" means that Yan Shifan colluded with Luo Longwen to communicate with the Japanese and wanted to flee overseas. These two charges are fatal and hit the key of Emperor Jiajing. Emperor Jiajing can tolerate the graft and arrogance of Yan and his son, but he can't tolerate their mistakes and integration with foreign countries. Therefore, Emperor Jiajing killed Yan Shifan. Yan Shifan is the son of Yan Song, and Jiajing killed Yan Shifan. Why did he let Yan Song go?
First, Yan Song was very popular with Emperor Jiajing. One of the characteristics of Yan Song in the Ming Dynasty was that he was only interested in flattery, stealing power and wasting profits. It can be seen that Yan Song was very good at reading Emperor Jiajing's mind and won the favor of Emperor Jiajing. Emperor Jiajing loved to seek immortality and believed in Taoism all his life. He valued Fang Shishao, Tao and others, and gave them high officials and generous salaries. Shao Guanzhi does history; Appoint Tao Wei, Shaofu and Shaobao. He is also superstitious about Dan medicine, collecting Ganoderma lucidum and Xiancao all over the country, refining it into Dan with nectar collected by maids, and exhausting hundreds of maids. The ladies-in-waiting became angry from embarrassment and jointly staged the "Renyin Palace Change", which almost strangled Emperor Jiajing. Yan Song caught this hobby of Emperor Jiajing and catered to it everywhere.
Yan Song writes Green Words well. Celadon is a message that Taoism prayed to heaven when it held a ceremony. Yan Song made great efforts in the writing techniques of Qing Ci, and found a new way from the content. His works of Qing Ci were deeply loved by the emperor, so he was awarded the title of "Prime Minister of Qing Ci". In order to write an excellent article on Qing Ci, Yan Song worked hard to practice calligraphy, and inadvertently achieved his calligraphy attainments. Yan Song wrote the words "Supreme Court" on the plaque in the main hall of Gong Yuan after having obtained the provincial examination in Shuntianfu. Later, Emperor Qianlong was very upset. He opened the imperial examination room, and the treacherous court official's calligraphy hung. What is this? The courtiers were ordered to change, but they were not satisfied with repeated changes.
Therefore, Qianlong personally wrote the imperial book, but there is still a gap compared with Yan Song, so he had to forget about it. Yan Song acted as a mouse of Emperor Jiajing and tried Dan medicine for him. Every time a Taoist refined Dan medicine, Emperor Jiajing would ask someone to try it, and Yan Song was often the best choice. Yan Song, who is over seventy years old, tried every time. Hemorrhoids broke out in winter, and two bowls of blood stasis caused poisoning. Emperor Jiajing specially ordered Taoist priests to make an alchemy, made a fragrant leaf crown, distributed it to ministers, and asked everyone to wear it. At that time, Xia Yan dismissed this: "I don't deserve to be an inhuman minister." But Yan Song not only wears it all day, but also takes pride in it. Everyone says it's a royal treasure, which can turn decay into magic.
Second, Yan Song is the shield of Emperor Jiajing. Yan Song was an assistant minister beside Emperor Jiajing for more than 20 years and became the emperor's shield. Many wrong decisions were made by Emperor Jiajing, but Yan Song did not hesitate to take the blame for Emperor Jiajing.
Shen Lian and Yang Jisheng impeached Yan Song, and listed ten major charges, such as "bribing officials, making friends with people, being jealous of sages, secretly remonstrating officials, and corrupting politics". Even Yan Song's crimes are related to the border security and natural image that Emperor Jiajing feared. Emperor Jiajing was very upset, and finally ordered Shen and Yang to be beheaded, but ministers put the bill on Yan Song. Emperor Jiajing doesn't care about this, as long as he can concentrate on monasticism and ensure that he can "fast" at any time. In fact, it doesn't matter who he records.
And Yan Song can not only provide him with financial support, but also give him full support and block arrows for him at any time. Can Emperor Jiajing not like such people? Emperor Jiajing did not go to court for more than 20 years. He put Yan Song and his son in charge of state affairs, occasionally giving orders by passing notes. During this period, almost all the improper decisions were made by Yan Song. In this regard, Emperor Jiajing is well aware. How could Jiajing be willing to kill such a good courtier? (Reference:
Ming history)