When it comes to the Ming Dynasty, we have to mention Jinyiwei and Dongchang, when it comes to these two murderous royal lackey organizations, we have to mention the cabinet that has been suppressed by them, and when it comes to the cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty, we have to mention several iconic figures.

From the beginning of the cabinet to the front of the office, the representative figure is the successive cabinet chiefs. It can also be said that the power of the cabinet chief also represents the status of the cabinet in the eyes of the emperor at that time.

When the emperor trusts or reuses the cabinet, the power in the hands of the cabinet chief and auxiliary will be great. On the contrary, if the head of the cabinet is a former cabinet who is afraid of wolves and tigers, it means that the emperor does not trust this cabinet.

The more they distrust the cabinet and the first assistant of the cabinet, the more Dongchang and Jinyiwei will suppress this cabinet.

On the contrary, if the emperor trusts the cabinet and the cabinet chief, Dongchang and Jinyiwei will not relax their surveillance of the cabinet and the cabinet chief.

Many of the cabinet officials or cabinet chiefs and assistants who were trusted by the emperor were only able to see their personalities clearly through the surveillance of Dongchang and Jinyiwei, which caused the emperor to be disappointed in these cabinet officials.

In other words, the head of the cabinet is the head of a hundred officials, and the official who sits on the head of the cabinet is equivalent to the most glorious moment of his life.

The key is whether the first assistant of this cabinet can be completed and whether he can return to his hometown safely. As long as he can live until retirement, the emperor agrees that he will return to his hometown, which means that the cabinet chief has completed the most important moment of his life.

But how many cabinet ministers will be able to complete it successfully? Yang Tinghe was a minister loyal to the Ming Dynasty, but he was loyal to the Ming Imperial Family and Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao.

It was because he did not owe allegiance to the new emperor Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu in time, and because he regarded the little emperor Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu as a child, which led to his defeat by Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu.

When everyone sympathizes with him and his family after his failure, who will remember Yang Tinghe's arrogance and domineering back then?

Yang Tinghe was born in the cabinet, but in just five years, he replaced Li Dongyang as the first assistant to the cabinet. After becoming the first assistant of the cabinet, Yang Tinghe integrated within the cabinet and suppressed all opposition.

Three years later, the cabinet became the world of Yang Tinghe and one person, and the cabinet only listened to the orders of Yang Tinghe and one person, and no one could command the cabinet except Yang Tinghe.

In addition, at that time, the cabinet mastered important positions such as the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, the left waiter of the military department, the left waiter of the household department, the deputy imperial envoy of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the right waiter of the Ministry of Industry, and the right waiter of the Criminal Department, so it can be said that it also controlled most of the six ministries and nine secretaries at the same time.

Everyone knows very well that Yang Tinghe controlled almost half of the imperial court at that time. There is Yang Ting's personal ability in this, of course, it is also the result of Emperor Zhengde Zhu Houzhao's lack of government affairs.

It was because of Yang Tinghe's strength and autocratic power that Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi had to attack Yang Tinghe.

While sympathizing with Yang Tinghe, later generations had to admire the young Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi's ruthlessness.

However, one person's evaluation is very classic, he said that if Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi didn't attack Yang Tinghe, there would only be three.

First, Yang Tinghe deposed Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi and re-elected an obedient emperor to power, and Yang Tinghe continued to be in power.

Second, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu was trained by Yang Tinghe to be obedient like a puppy, and Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu was a puppet emperor from then on.

Third, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi was killed by Yang Tinghe. Yang Tinghe even wanted to poison his own teacher, and his colleagues for many years would not let go, of course, he would not be polite to the little emperor.

Everyone is right when they think about it, the little emperor is not ruthless, and he really can't deal with Yang Tinghe. No matter how ruthless the little emperor is, he is also a descendant of the royal family, and the orthodox heir to the throne is more justifiable than Yang Ting and this outsider who controls the government.

And this person who defended Emperor Jiajing Zhu Houxi was the later famous Yan Song. Speaking of this Yan Song, everyone immediately remembered some nouns.

What the

"The first corrupt official in the Ming Dynasty",

"The first corrupt official of the Ming Dynasty",

"The biggest pest of the Ming Dynasty",

"The first of the ten culprits that led to the decline of the Ming Dynasty" and so on. There are even descendants who compare Yan Song with the later He Shen, plus Jia Nidao, a traitor in the Southern Song Dynasty, collectively called

"The Three Losers Prime Minister". Everyone said that these three prime ministers at that time not only corrupted and bent the law during their reign, but also caused a disaster and hurt the foundation of the country.

Especially Yan Song is the most famous, almost all the dirty water is poured on Yan Song and Yan Song's family. Is that really the case?

Is Yan Song really so unbearable? If Yan Song was a person who had no ability and was greedy for small gains, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi would not let him be the first assistant of the cabinet, and he would be the first assistant of the cabinet for thirty or forty years.

Regarding Yan Song, he is actually not so unbearable, and later generations have a lot of evaluation of him.

Qin Tai has heard his friends Zhang Juzheng and Tan Yan mention Yan Song many times, and he has also personally experienced the situation when Yan Song was in power, so he has a certain understanding of Yan Song.

First, Yan Song is not a person who does not learn and has no skills. Whether it is Jia Yidao or Yan Song, or the first corrupt official and Shen later, they are not big straw bales.

On the contrary, they are all well-educated people, and the knowledge in their stomachs is no worse than anyone else's. Jia Rudao was born as a champion, wrote well, and his eloquence was a must.

He Shen was not only proficient in various Manchu, Mongolian and Chinese languages, but also worse than the champion at that time. If it weren't for the fact that there was at the time

"Han doesn't point to concubines, and he doesn't point to yuan." If you can't directly participate in the imperial examination, He Shen may be the first champion of the Manchus at that time.

In contrast, Yan Song's knowledge is no less than these two, and Yan Song is proficient in physiognomy and calculation. Otherwise, he would not follow Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu wholeheartedly, and almost dedicated his life to Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi's energy and talent.

If Yan Song's talent is not enough, how can he be the secretary of the Ministry of Rites three times, and he has presided over more than ten scientific examinations before and after.

It is a miracle that he was able to be an official as a lifter and preside over the imperial examinations for decades.

Second, when it comes to Yan Song's autocratic power. In fact, Yan Song is not too arrogant, at least he has not done as much as Yang Tinghe.

After Yang Tinghe first entered the cabinet, he began to fight in the east and west, and then found a way to squeeze out his teacher Li Dongyang and became the first assistant of the cabinet.

After becoming the first assistant of the cabinet, he still did not give up, and Yang Tinghe drove all opposition forces out of the cabinet. After Yan Song was discovered by Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, he served as a temporary cabinet official for three years, and Yan Song not only did not interfere in any cabinet affairs during these three years, but also stayed by Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi's side as an entourage.

Three years later, Yan Song, who was not favored by everyone, was appointed by Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi as the deputy chief examiner of the scientific examination for the first time.

Everyone thought that Yan Song did not have the ability and qualifications to serve as the deputy chief examiner, so Yan Song made an answer sheet, which shocked all the cabinet officials and examiners.

After the imperial examination this time, Yan Song not only played his own banner, but also had his first team. Five years later, when Yan Song's class of students officially became middle- and lower-level officials, Yan Song also became a full member of the cabinet.

Yan Song served as the fourth assistant of the cabinet and concurrently served as the right attendant of the household department, at that time everyone thought that Yan Song would make a fool of himself, and even Zhu Houxi, the Jiajing Emperor, felt that this position was a great challenge to Yan Song.

Unexpectedly, Yan Song became familiar with his business in three months, and after half a year, he rectified the household department and actually controlled the household department.

From then on, Yan Song and Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi almost controlled the household in a practical sense, and no matter who was the head of the household department or the household servant, they could not change.

Before Yan Song served as the first assistant of the cabinet, Yan Song did not really target any cabinet officials.

Not only did he not target Mao alone, but he also had a good relationship with everyone, and everyone said that Yan Song at this time was simply a gentle and elegant gentleman.

After becoming the first assistant of the cabinet, Yan Song had a little more thunderbolt means, but he did not deliberately suppress his opponent.

The so-called arrogance is not actually Yan Song, but his growing son Yan Shifan, Yan Shifan used Yan Song's name to do a lot of things that Yan Song didn't know, which ruined Yan Song's reputation.