Lu Fang looked up and saw that Jiajing indeed had a haggard look, with an unprecedented sense of defeat in his expression, something he hadn't seen in forty years.
He felt a pang in his heart, and a wave of desolation swept over him: he was truly old now...
You must know that since the forty years he had known him, Jiajing had been a wise man. No matter how great the storms, he had always been full of confidence. Even if he made a mistake sometimes, he would quickly recover. For example, during the Qiu Luan incident more than ten years ago, he was so enraged that he ordered the corpse to be exhumed and executed, but that was out of passion, not a sense of defeat. Today, however, after reading the secret report, he felt frustrated...?
ID-WU LING SAN 74 LING 7 WU
Lu Fang, who treated him like a brother, immediately understood—
Zhu Mo's preemptive sacrifice to Confucius might have been a guess that the Yan family also intended to sacrifice to Confucius before the Prince Yu... If the Yan family had managed to do so first, the Zhu family would have been caught by treacherous officials, which would have been an extremely serious crisis. It would have been very difficult to take down the Yan faction afterward. And now that the Emperor was old, how much time did he have to contend with the Yan family?
Recalling the captive offering ceremony that day, he felt that Jiajing had made a mistake in his anger. If he had given Yan Song some face at the time, perhaps it would not have come to this?
At this thought, Lu Fang smiled instead and sighed, saying, "Your Majesty, who doesn't get old? Things have ultimately been rectified, perhaps this is heaven's will..."
Heaven's will, heaven's will... Jiajing murmured for a moment and then suddenly smiled, saying, "Yes, heaven's will... Lu Fang, is Yan Song really going to the Altar of Heaven to offer sacrifices to Confucius?"
Lu Fang scoffed and said contemptuously, "Is there any falsehood in that? Zhu Qi and Xu Jiu investigated and found that the Yan family has been coming and going these past few days, and they have secretly colluded. They are just waiting for these days... Your Majesty, should we say something? Tell them not to make a fuss? Offering sacrifices to Confucius at the Altar of Heaven is unheard of. Wouldn't it be better to just go and worship heaven? Why pretend to be mysterious!"
Heh, Jiajing slowly recovered and said lightly, "If they want to embarrass themselves, why are you stopping them?"
He had already read the secret report and knew that Zhu Mo's combination of moves had been executed. The sacrificial essay on "The Great Way of Sacrificing to Confucius" had already spread throughout the capital, and the "Warning Records" were also circulating everywhere. Yan Song's sacrifice to Confucius would be completely meaningless. The only question was: was there any problem with the Great Way of Sacrificing to Confucius? Would such a direct confrontation lead to other unexpected troubles?
Just now, he had been pondering this question—
If Zhu Mo's "Our Dynasty is founded on the Great Way of Yao and Shun" was admitted, what about the system of sages? What would happen to the system of sages? Where would the positions of the officials and gentry be? Wouldn't they revolt?
Thinking of this, he sighed again, "Lu Fang, bring out Zhu Mo's 'Memorial on the Dynasty of Flowing Heavens' again and let me have a look..."
Lu Fang walked as he said, "Your Majesty, the words 'Our Dynasty is founded on the Great Way of Yao and Shun' were acceptable during the time of the founding Emperor... But in my humble opinion, after the Yongle Emperor, it became difficult to speak of... Although the foundation remained the same, the outward appearance must be somewhat different..."
Mm-hmm, Jiajing naturally understood—
The current problem was actually what he had discussed with Zhu Mo in the Feixuan Palace. In his opinion, reaching this point would take several years. First, he would take down the Yan faction, and then he would consider the issue of the Qingliu. But he hadn't expected that the Yan family was so deeply entrenched and their power was so much greater than anticipated, actually forcing their way from the periphery and even daring to spread the prophecy of "Eight Oxen Die Together," which completely pitted the officials, gentry, and the Zhu family against each other. And he was not a founding emperor; he lacked the authority of the founding emperor. If it truly escalated, the outcome was truly unpredictable...
At this moment, as he reread the "Memorial on the Dynasty of Flowing Heavens," he didn't know how he felt. But one thing was clear as never before—
The Yan family colluded with external forces and intended to establish a hegemonic government. This was undeniable! If he had doubted Yan Song's courage before, it was now a fact! Offering sacrifices to Confucius at the Altar of Heaven was tantamount to sacrificing to heaven, wasn't it? A subject sacrificing to heaven meant changing the mandate of heaven, didn't it? The reason Yan Song dared to do this, and the reason Jiajing had underestimated his determination, was ultimately due to a change in external forces.
He casually tossed the memorial aside, slowly stood up, and said leisurely, "Lu Fang, have you seen the Japanese pirates? Do you know why they can never be eradicated?"
Lu Fang had always been in the deep palace with him. Although he read secret reports every day, he had no personal experience with this issue, so he didn't dare to speak rashly. He merely scoffed, "In my humble opinion, firstly, the Portuguese firearms and cannons, as well as the large Portuguese ships, are quite difficult to deal with. Secondly, the profits from maritime trade are also real. I heard from the subordinates that the smuggling is incredible. A few ordinary people pooling together to smuggle a bit of silk can earn hundreds of taels each trip? With such exorbitant profits, naturally, some people will sympathize with the Japanese pirates... Alas, it's human nature."
The two of them were particularly emotional today and chatted very comfortably. It was less like a conversation between a sovereign and a minister, and more like two old men chatting casually. Jiajing enjoyed this healing atmosphere and said calmly, "Yes, that's why the Japanese pirates can never be eradicated... Yan Song is so bold for this reason too... A great change unseen in a thousand years..."
Lu Fang had never thought so deeply. Now that he understood everything, he sighed, "So that's how it is... But if Yan Song defects to the Portuguese ways, wouldn't that be forgetting his ancestors? For thousands of years, we've never heard of China succumbing to foreigners!"
"That's why he wants to erect a memorial archway... Under the guise of sages, he deceives the people of the world..."
"Then we absolutely cannot let him erect this memorial archway!"
"Of course!"
Jiajing walked to the palace doors and pulled them open with both hands. With a creak, a ray of sunlight shone in, and the dim hall was instantly illuminated.
...
Meanwhile, at the Yan residence.
One hundred and thirteen trusted followers, most of them present today, all changed into scholar's robes and were dressed as scholars, laughing cheerfully in the Yan family garden.
Before long, Yan Shifan, supporting the elder Yan Song, also came out. Father and son wore matching blue cloth scholar's robes, which immediately caught everyone's attention.
Many people immediately praised, "Your Excellency is in great spirits today!" "That's natural! Today is a good day!" "This path of the sages can only be led by Your Excellency..." "Yes, the world is chaotic, and at over eighty years old, you still come out to plead for the world..." "The young阁老 is truly filial!" "Filial piety, brotherhood, loyalty, trustworthiness, propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame are all gone. Only Your Excellency can restore the social order and moral teachings!" "We can only do our best. May the sages and ancient teachers protect the Great Ming!" "..."
The crowd chattered endlessly, and their words were deeply moving. The elder Yan Song glared at everyone and slowly said, "Don't all gather here. Go, go, each of you go first..."
Yan Shifan also added, "Go when told to go! Remember, it's spontaneous, and no one has instigated it..."
The crowd laughed heartily and began to leave in small groups.