Chapter 19 The Nineteenth Mystery of the White Bones
It is impossible for His Royal Highness King Yu, and it is even more impossible for Yan Song in this case. Although Yan Song hated Qin Tai to the core, Qin Tai was the one who indirectly killed Yan Song's son Yan Shifan, but Yan Song knew it very well. Once he attacks Qin Tai, he will be pushed to a dead end. Yan Song has already gone to the general trend, and some of the capable generals have either been dealt with or turned into subordinates of the opponent. The reason why Yan Song is still the first assistant is that he was not arrested. There are several reasons, first, Yan Song is the minister of Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. As early as when Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi came to the capital to become the emperor, Yan Song put all his bets on this teenage boy. Therefore, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi and Yan Song had a good personal relationship. Some people have said that there are two pairs of emperors and courtiers in Chinese history who have an unusual relationship, the first pair is Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi and the first auxiliary minister Yan Song, and the other pair is the Qianling Emperor Aixinjue Luo Hongli and the pro-noble minister He Shen. It just so happens that Yan Song and He Shen are both big corrupt officials, Yan Song is the first corrupt official in the Ming Dynasty, and He Shen is the first corrupt official in the Qing Dynasty. Second, Yan Song himself has great leadership skills and helped Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi deal with a lot of internal and external troubles. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi has been the emperor for more than 40 years, and Yan Song has handled countless things. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi didn't want to do things too desperately, and ruined the heroes he had set up with his own hands. Third, Yan Song dared to embezzle so unscrupulously, in fact, he had a deep relationship with Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi had long felt that his money was not enough, and when he wanted to ask the household department for money to spend, the officials of the household department always pushed back. Yan Song came up with an idea, and the emperor and the ministers joined forces to sell the official title privately. It is also said that Yan Song was corrupted together with Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. It's just that Yan Song's business became bigger and bigger, and the benefits to Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi did not increase. In fact, all this benefit went into the pockets of Lu Fang and other eunuchs. When Qin Tai was investigating the case in Jiangnan, he found a secret ledger with a record of Yan Song and others' distribution of spoils. All corruption is divided into two ways, and thirty percent is regarded as the "benefit fee" of Yan Song's subordinates, which is privately divided according to the level of position and the size of the function. All the way to the capital Yanfu, one percent of which was to be handed over to Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. This money was collected by Lu Fang on time with Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. Among the other sixty percent, one and a half are for Lu Fang and other ceremonial eunuchs. Half of it is for the stewards of the inner palace, the palace maids and the eunuchs. Half of it was given to some officials in Beijing who were not well-off. It is the cost of Yan Song to buy people's hearts and seek a good reputation. In fact, the money in the hands of Dao Yan Song and Yan Shifan is only about thirty percent at most. That is, because everyone took the money, no one dared to break this situation, let alone come out to make trouble. Only a ruthless person like Qin Tai would break this deadlock.
Yan Song's relationship network was broken, his son was killed, and Yan Song also knew that he was old and had no backer. Is it useful to deal with Qin Tai at this time? Killing a Qin Tai can bring his only son Yan Shifan back to life? No, you can't. Since he couldn't, Yan Song didn't need to deal with Qin Tai at this time. Yan Song now knows his situation, the old master Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi has given up on himself, his old friend Lu Fang can't help him, his old opponent Xu Jie wants to find a chance to deal with him, and his old subordinates want to see his fate. Yan Song is already over eighty years old, and even if Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi doesn't kill him, he won't live long. But Yan Song still has grandchildren, and there are descendants of the Yan family. Once Yan Song is arrested or killed, the descendants of the Yan family may not be able to be saved. For the sake of his descendants, it was too late for him to pretend to be pitiful for his grandson, how could he use his relationship to deal with Qin Tai?
Besides, although Huang Jin had received the benefits of Yan Song, he did not have any big tricks in Yan Song's hands. If Yan Song threatened Huang Jin because of Huang Jin's benefits, Huang Jin didn't have to worry at all. The eunuchs and palace maids who received Yan Song's benefits in the inner palace had seven or eight thousand, if not tenthousand. Now that Yan Song has sunset, not only does he have no chance to turn over, but he will also attract the attention of many forces. Huang Jin would not be stupid enough to help Yan Song do things at this time, let alone deal with Qin Tai for Yan Song.
The last person who could command Huang Jin was Xu Jie. Xu Jie is not only the deputy assistant of the cabinet, but also the first auxiliary minister who will be ironclad in the near future. Xu Jie's personal relationship with Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu is average, but Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu still admires Xu Jie's personality. Xu Jie, a person who pays more attention to personal ethics and honor, is the period when Yan Song was in power, Xu Jie not only did not go along with Yan Song, but also restrained Yan Song's father and son everywhere. Besides, the power of Xu Jie's party has spread all over the government and the opposition, replacing Yan Song's power and becoming the largest party in the Ming Dynasty at that time. Although Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi had already used Gao Gong, the teacher of His Royal Highness King Yu, to acquiesce in Gao Gong to form a new force to contain Xu Jie. However, Xu Jie's power will not fade immediately in the next few years. Unless Xu Jie did something out of the ordinary and offended Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi or the new emperor. But according to Xu Jie's temper and character, this possibility is very small.
In the inner palace, whether it is Chen Hong, who is about to serve as the eunuch of the master of ceremonies, or Huang Jin, Meng Chong, and Ma Cheng, as long as anyone can have a good relationship with Xu Jie, even if he is not the eunuch of the inner palace, he will be the most powerful eunuch. So if Xu Jie asked Huang Jin to do this, Huang Jin would really be able to do it for his future. But the question is, will Xu Jie do this? Do you dare to do that? Can that be done?
The difference between Xu Jie and Yan Song is that there is a clear distinction between public and private, and Yan Song just didn't pay attention to this, which led to the defeat of his own party. Will Xu Jie attack Qin Tai at this time for the sake of personal grievances? As long as you know a little about Xu Jie, you will have the same answer. Xu Jie would not do this, and he would not use this reason to deal with Qin Tai with such a good reputation among the people at this time. Not only will this not be successful, but it will be counterproductive. If Xu Jie did this, not only would he lose the support of the people immediately, but he would also cause some of his subordinates to leave him, and the most terrifying point was to push Qin Tai's reputation to the extreme. At that time, even if Qin Tai is no longer an official, as long as he raises his arms, countless ordinary people will do anything for him.
Xu Jie is not the first assistant yet, even if he is the first assistant, he doesn't dare to do this. Using his power and the status of a foreign minister to collude with his ministers to deal with an official with a very high status in the people. He was not dealing with Qin Tai, but against Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi will definitely remove Xu Jie's all positions as soon as possible, and lock Xu Jie's old pass until he dies, even if he dies, he will not be released. This is a challenge to the imperial power, this is a challenge to his Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, this is looking for his own death. Would Xu Jie be so stupid?
Qin Tai is a good friend of Zhang Juzheng, and Zhang Juzheng is Xu Jie's biggest assistant and protégé. If Xu Jie dealt with Qin Tai, it would be equivalent to breaking with Zhang Juzheng. Zhang Juzheng's future is limitless, he is not only the banner of Xu Jie's party, but also the teacher and confidant of His Royal Highness King Yu, the future emperor. Xu Jie knew very well that his position as the first assistant would be passed to Gao Gong in the future, and after Gao Gong took over, it would be passed to Zhang Juzheng in the future. In other words, everything Xu Jie and Gao Gong did was actually laying a good foundation for Zhang Juzheng. With Zhang Juzheng's age and talent, it is not a problem to be the first assistant for more than ten or twenty years. Will Xu Jie break with his protégé Zhang Juzheng because of a Qin Tai? Besides, Tan Lun, who is also a close confidant of His Royal Highness King Yu, is also a friend of Qin Tai. Once something happens to Qin Tai, Tan Lun will join forces with his teacher Gao Gong and target Xu Jie everywhere. Would Xu Jie be so stupid as to give up the position of the first assistant minister that he had so hard won because of a Qin Tai? Gao Gong and Tan Lun are the cronies of His Royal Highness King Yu, and the combined influence of the two of them is definitely greater than that of Zhang Juzheng, once His Royal Highness King Yu ascends the throne, what will Xu Jie do? In fact, Xu Jie's heart is very uncomfortable, whether Zhang Juzheng is the first assistant or Tan Lun is the first assistant in the future, no one can do anything to Qin Tai. Zhang Juzheng and Tan Lun are both people whose business affairs are greater than their personal feelings, although they usually have different opinions about Qin Tai, but once Qin Tai is in trouble, they will try their best to help Qin Tai. As long as Zhang Juzheng and Tan Lun do not fall at the same time, Qin Tai should be fine.
According to this analysis, it seems that it is impossible for everyone, but things have already happened. Qin Tai finally put the suspicion on Lu Fang and Chen Hong. Lu Fang may not be willing to step down like this, and do it on purpose. Anyway, Lu Fang can't afford to die, and for an old eunuch who has fallen, exile is actually almost the same as death. For his own sake and in order to deal with his enemies, Lu Fang decided to force Qin Tai to get angry. The consequence of making a big fuss in the inner palace is to make all the things that are half-concealed and half-concealed public. Lu Fang was not happy, and it also made his opponent Chen Hong uncomfortable. It's a big deal that everyone will step down together and come up with a new batch of celebrants. If it angers Emperor Jiajing Zhu Houxi, it is good to kill a group of disobedient minions and corrupt officials, and it can be regarded as a funeral for Lu Fang.
Chen Hong is also possible, even if Lu Fang steps down, it doesn't mean that the power is gone. In order to successfully take over the master of ceremonies and become the "ancestor" of the inner palace, he wanted to force Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi to be ruthless. If Lü Fang was killed by the order of Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, it would mean that Lü Fang's power would completely collapse. Otherwise, even if Lu Fang left and left the capital, the forces he left behind would resolutely exist. They will re-elect a leader to come out and continue to oppose Chen Hong. Chen Hong may have guessed the meaning of Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, and felt that Lü Fang was at most exiled. In order to force Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi to kill Lu Fang, Chen Hong is likely to arrange this good show. The purpose is to force Lu Fang or Lu Fang's people to jump out, attract everyone's attention, and at the same time, greatly embarrass Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. Chen Hong knew very well that Emperor Zhu Houxi of Jiajing was a person, and once he got angry, he would be angry with the people around him. It just so happened that Lu Fang was next to Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, and it happened that Lu Fang had something to do, and Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi would vent all his anger on Lu Fang. Lu Fang will definitely die, once Lu Fang is dead, Chen Hong will take over the master of ceremonies as soon as possible, and at the same time eliminate all the forces in Lu Fangzai's inner palace. What a poisonous plan.