Yan Song finished writing and did not send it through the post station. Instead, he had his family retainer, Yan Fu, personally take it down to Jiangnan, instructing him to ensure it was handed to Zhang Juzheng.
He wasn't trying to deceive Zhang Juzheng with this letter. Instead, he sincerely asked Zhang Juzheng to take the lead in organizing the opposition to Zhu Mo. Yan Song not only promised his unconditional trust but would even hand over the entire operation to him, making him his successor, not Yan Shifan. At this point, he didn't even care what happened to Yan Shifan; he only wanted to know if Zhang Juzheng was willing to fight for the sage's doctrine.
Furthermore, his tone was extremely humble, expressing regret for not supporting Zhang Juzheng back then, which allowed the monster Zhu Mo to run rampant, posing a threat to the millennium-old doctrine. Yan Song was making this resolute decision not for any other reason than for his posthumous reputation.
He firmly believed that even if Zhang Juzheng refused, he would ponder carefully and seriously consider the future of the Great Ming: whether to follow Zhu Mo down the dark path or return to the thousand-year-old righteous path with Prince Yu.
As he was thinking,
His son, Yan Shifan, entered the small courtyard with his close confidants.
...
"Madness, absolute madness!"
Yan Shifan cursed, then continued,
"Father, that Zhu Mo is actually chasing after Suo Zha all over the world, issuing some kind of wanted order that has already been sent to the Southeast Asian countries. Xu Jie has completely lost face with this!"
Haha,
Yan Maoqing, Luo Longwen, Zhao Wenhua, Zhang Yu, Shen Chun, and others also burst into laughter.
Zhao Wenhua said, "Young Grand Secretary, isn't Xu Jie supposed to be a clever official? How did he get caught in this? This must feel unpleasant, right? Following our Lord Father, we were always treated with courtesy, never subjected to such humiliation! People are just stubborn; now he's brought this upon himself."
Mmm,
Yan Maoqing gnashed his teeth and said, "That Zhu Mo is simply despicable, so overbearing! The Grand Secretariat asked him to consider that the Franks are a great nation and Ryukyu is a vassal state. Now he's directly driven them into the sea! Will the Franks be appeased by this?"
After a while of discussion, everyone felt that Zhu Mo was becoming increasingly arrogant, a completely different person from the gentle youth they knew.
Luo Longwen sighed,
"Ah, people change... They all say our Lord Father is a powerful minister, but I think Zhu Mo is the overbearing general and the wicked prime minister!"
Yes, yes,
This is how people are...
While everyone was chattering, Yan Shifan noticed Shen Chun had been silent and remembered something. He quickly said,
"Father, Wen Mu has arrived. He came last night and hasn't even settled down yet."
Mmm,
Yan Song nodded, "Sit, sit down..."
He waved his hand, then ordered tea to be served, before slowly asking, "Wen Mu, how are things at Jingdezhen? What have Zhu Mo and Zhang Juzheng been doing?"
This Shen Chun was the supervisor of kilns at Jingdezhen, concurrently serving as the prefect of Raozhou. He was originally from the Wei Suo system. Because they were both from Jiangxi, he met Yan Maoqing, who was purchasing materials in Jingdezhen, while he was in Raozhou. Yan Maoqing then appointed him as the supervisor of kilns, a position he had held for four or five years.
Although he hadn't been a supervisor of kilns for a long time, he was actually the longest-serving. Since the imperial kilns were reclaimed in the ninth year of Jiajing and supervisors of kilns were appointed, there had been a change almost every two years. Shen Chun, by inventing the "official-funded civilian firing" method, had massively plundered the profits of the imperial kilns and implemented a system for reselling substandard products. In just four or five years, he had accumulated considerable wealth for the Yan family.
At this point, Yan Song's question was answered:
"Reporting to Grand Secretary, Young Grand Secretary, Zhu Mo and Zhang Juzheng came to Jingdezhen and did three things. First, they established a trading post in Jiujiang and a porcelain art school in Jingdezhen, bringing foreign buyers of silk to Jiujiang, and then having them purchase some porcelain. Second, both wanted to fire more, but there were disagreements between imperial and civilian kilns. Zhu Mo wanted more from the imperial kilns, while Zhang Juzheng wanted civilian kilns to also fire on behalf of others. Third, Zhu Mo sent thirty to forty thousand indentured laborers from Jiangnan to Jingdezhen to serve as apprentices and potters in the imperial kilns."
Mmm,
Yan Shifan was very pleased and said with a smile, "Old Shen, we're all family, so speak freely. We're not dealing with an imperial censor, so there's no need for so much pretense!"
"Yes."
Shen Chun remained very respectful.
Yan Song smiled and said, "Wen Mu, you are capable... I ask you, what disagreements do Zhu Mo and Zhang Juzheng have? What did they say? Did that Zhu Mo oppose civilian kilns?"
Shen Chun coughed dryly and said,
"I've heard some things, but not everything. Zhu Mo didn't exactly say he wouldn't involve civilian kilns... I recall that when he first came, he even said civilian kilns were good and that we could walk on two legs. Later, after seeing more, he said that 'official-funded civilian firing' was not acceptable and that everything needed to be managed in the future. Zhang Juzheng said that good civilian kilns could be given imperial merchant status to fire on behalf of others legally. Zhu Mo said that imperial merchant status was absolutely out of the question, and other matters could be discussed later... Uh, that's all I heard. Also, there are rumors that Zhu Mo and Zhang Juzheng have failed to reach an agreement several times due to the matter of stealing and selling substandard imperial porcelain..."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell into deep thought—
As the Grand Secretary had said, Zhu Mo and Zhang Juzheng would inevitably fall out sooner or later; it was just a matter of time. When the critical moment arrived, they would surely turn on each other.
Yan Song pondered for a moment and asked again,
"In your opinion, how much does Zhu Mo actually know about porcelain?"
Shen Chun pondered for a moment and replied,
"I estimate he knows about seventy percent... Some potters and old families registered in the artisan registry might have told him something. I am investigating... Uh, also, should we temporarily halt porcelain production?"
Yan Shifan was about to curse, but Yan Song waved his hand to stop him and said gravely,
"No need to investigate... As for porcelain, not only must we continue to sell it, but we must sell more. Let the gates open wider, allowing those vassal princes and meritorious officials to come in. No one should be left out. As for the Bureau of Weaving, everyone should get a larger share, and we will take less..."
Everyone was instantly dumbfounded—
At this critical juncture, why would they want to expand?
However, they all knew that Old Yan Song was the most influential figure of the present time, and his words must have profound meaning. Even if they couldn't understand it immediately, they shouldn't speak rashly. Thus, everyone pondered in silence.
Luo Longwen, being the quickest-witted, immediately grasped the situation and exclaimed,
"Grand Secretary! I understand! Brilliant, truly brilliant..."
The others stared at him. Luo Longwen cleared his throat and explained,
"We were previously scattered by that Zhu Mo. Our two external supporters, Anda and Suo Zha, are both just famous names! Now that the Grand Secretary has swayed Prince Yu, and we are all following His Highness Prince Yu, we will have peace... This is called shifting positions. We must all gather our strength to avoid being completely eradicated by Zhu Mo... And to gather strength, we must bestow favors widely."
Wow!
Hiss!