Yan Shifan (1513-1565), born in Xinyu, Jiangxi province, was the son of Yan Song, Emperor Jiajing of Ming Dynasty. Instead of passing the imperial examination, he embarked on his official career. Instead, he borrowed his father's light, went to imperial academy to study first, then became an official, and then transferred to Shangbao as a left assistant minister of the Ministry of Industry. It is said that Yan Song is tall and thin, with sparse eyes and a loud and sharp voice, which is very consistent with the image of treacherous court official portrayed in people's minds. However, Yan Shifan looks nothing like his father. He is short and fat, so he is a rich boy, but unfortunately he is blind. Yan Shifan is cunning and clever. He is familiar with current events and China's classical literature. He is also good at reading minds. Yan Shifan is known as the first gifted scholar in Jiajing.
In the twenty-seventh year of Jiajing (1548), when Yan Song was re-appointed as Huiji, he was nearly seventy years old and getting old and weak. At this time, he will be around the emperor day and night, and he has no time and energy to deal with government affairs. If you need a verdict, you should rely on your son. He always said, "I'll discuss it with the children in the East Building before deciding", and even privately asked Fan Shi to directly input the values and draft the tickets for him. The draft ballot paper is an important embodiment of the power of cabinet ministers. It is a reply given by the cabinet after receiving the letter, and then examined and approved by the emperor. Fan Shi's vote proposal can cater to Sejong's wishes, so it has been praised by Sejong many times. Yan Song simply handed over all government affairs to his son, and Fan Shi temporarily "ruled the world".
At that time, Yan and his son controlled the selection and promotion of officials in the DPRK. Officials, big or small, are priced, and regardless of word of mouth and ability, everything is subject to their bribes. Yan Shifan plundered by various means, and his wealth was extremely rich. It is said that Yan Shifan and his wife are going to bury gold and silver in the cellar. Remembering that he relied on his father, he invited Yan Song to watch. Yan Song, dumbfounded, vaguely felt a catastrophe.
On one occasion, Yan Song's adopted son Zhao Wenhua came back from Jiangnan. As a gift to Yan Shifan, he gave each of Yan Shifan's 27 concubines a priceless gold account and a jewel bun. These gifts are too few for Yan Shifan. He is very dissatisfied, which shows how greedy he is. Zhu Zaihou, the third son of Sejong, was supposed to be a prince, but Sejong was not very close to him. So Yan's father and son are also very cold to him. Because there was no order from Yan and his son, the annual gift was not delivered for three years. Finally, the future emperor collected 1520 pieces of silver and gave it to Yan Shifan. Yan Shifan accepted it gladly, so that the Ministry could reissue the annual gift. Yan Shifan often boasted to people: "The emperor's son still wants to give me money. Who dares not give me money? " Yan Shifan's courage is really great to the extreme.
In the 43rd year of Jiajing (1564), Yan Shifan was impeached by Yushi. Sejong was furious and arrested Yan Shifan. The following year, Yan Shifan was beheaded.
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Yan and his son have long been hated by upright people for bribing and bending the law, and people have come forward to impeach them. However, due to the partiality of Emperor Shizong of Ming Dynasty and Yan Song's treachery and cunning, these impeachments not only failed, but those who impeached their father and son in the last chapter were often hit hard, losing their official position and not saying anything, and some even took their lives.
Shen Lian is a security guard. In the thirty-first year of Jiajing (1552), Shangshu impeached Yan Song for "greed and ignorance", recounting his crimes of "being bribed by generals, lax frontier defense", "being gifted by kings, interfering in imperial clan affairs", "seizing the right of imperial censor, corrupting political discipline" and "being jealous of sages". Sejong not only failed to convict Yan Song, but also believed that Shen Lian slandered the minister and ordered Shen Lianting to kill and demote the official. Yan's father and son did not give up. A few years later, they ordered their cronies to look for opportunities to frame them. Shen Lian was beheaded, two of his three sons were killed and one was sent to the border.
Yang Jisheng, the first remonstrator in Ming Dynasty, was also convicted of impeaching Yan Song. In the thirty-second year of Jiajing (1553), Yang Jisheng, then the minister of the Ministry of War, published "Please Punish Thieves and Ministers", which revealed the true face of Yan Song's disaster to the country and people. At the end of the article, he begged the emperor to "listen to the words of the minister and thoroughly investigate the rape of Song Dynasty". Yan Song's guilt in Zhong Shu can't be denied by Yan Song, but Yan Song is wily after all. He is grasping the sentence "or ask the two kings (Yu Wang and King Jing) to face Chen Songge" and framed them for colluding with the two kings. The headstrong Sejong is the most taboo for ministers to oppose him and make friends with his son, for fear of being forced to court. Therefore, he ordered the arrest and imprisonment of Yang Jisheng without asking whether Yan Song's allegations were true. After more than two years in prison, Yang Jisheng was executed in the thirty-fourth year of Jiajing (1555).
After Yan Shifan was captured by Lin Run, it was difficult to convict him. At that time, Yan Shifan sent word that the three divisions who tried themselves would rehabilitate Yang Jisheng and Shen Lian, saying that they would die because of Yan Shifan and others. The Third Division did make the charge a headline, but it was rejected by the clever Xu Jie. It turned out that it was Emperor Jiajing who finally convicted Yang and Shen in those years, and he was by no means alone. However, Jiajing was a somewhat headstrong and extremely face-saving emperor. Seeing these charges, he will definitely not approve, because once approved, it means that Jiajing admits his mistake (causing Yang and Shen to be unjust in prison), which Jiajing cannot tolerate. So, Xu Jie changed three other charges:
First of all, Yan Shifan and Luo Longwen (one of the strict party, the enemy) are best friends, while Luo Longwen colluded with the enemy, and Yan Shifan hung up the hook with the enemy. They gathered pirates, tried to communicate with foreign countries and fled to Japan.
Secondly, Yan Shifan colluded with Jiang Yang thieves, trained private armed forces, and plotted evil.
Finally, he occupied an area and built a house. According to the field investigation, this is a land of kings. It's heinous for Yan Shifan to be so bold as to be in Gai Lou.
Why are these three charges listed? Because Jiajing's most annoying crimes are "crime" and "association with the Japanese"! Xu Jie deserves to be far-sighted and superior. Finally, the third chamber was charged (Xu Jie wrote the complaint in his own hand, not by the judge of the third chamber), and Yan Shifan was found guilty and executed at the same time as Luo Longwen.