Yan Shifan

Yan Shifan

Yan Shifan (April 27, 1513 to April 24, 1565), Han nationality, with the name of deqiu, Donglou, and the nickname qinger, was born in Fenyi County, Yuanzhou Prefecture, Jiangxi Province. He was the son of Yan Song, the first assistant in Jiajing Dynasty of Ming Dynasty.

Yan Shifan entered the official career without the imperial examination. In the name of Yan Song, he first studied in the Imperial Academy and then became an official. He was the first official to serve as Shaoqing, Taichang Siqing, the right Minister of the Ministry of work, and the second official to serve as the left Minister of the Ministry of work.

It is said that Yan Song's eyes are sparse and his voice is loud and sharp, which is in line with the image of treacherous officials portrayed in the minds of the people. Yan Shifan's appearance is not similar to his father's. He is cunning and eloquent, familiar with current affairs, familiar with the national code, and quite able to guess other people's minds, so he is known as the first ghost of Jiajing Dynasty.

Life of the characters

Take over government affairs

Yan Shifan was born in Yuanzhou, Jiangxi Province (now Yichun, Jiangxi Province) on March 23, 1513, the eighth year of Zhengde reign of emperor Wuzong of Ming Dynasty.

In 1531, Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty went to the Imperial Academy to study under his father's shadow. He was given the experience of Dushi and Houjun Dufu. Later, he was ruled by shuntianfu in the capital. In 1543, he was promoted to Shaoqing of Shangbao Si. In 1545, he was promoted to Shaoqing of Taichang temple and still in charge of Shangbao Si.

In the 27th year of Jiajing (1548), when Yan Song was the first assistant, he was nearly 70 years old. He was old, frail and mentally tired. In addition, he needed to serve the emperor day and night, so he had no enough energy to deal with government affairs. If there are political issues that need to be decided, they often rely on their son Yan Shifan, who always says that "it will be decided after I have a discussion with the children in the East Tower". In private, they even let Shi fan directly enter the duty and draft the votes on his behalf. It is an important embodiment of the cabinet's power that the cabinet made a reply after receiving the memorial and then examined and approved by the emperor. Most of Shifan's ticket plans catered to Shizong's wishes, so they were praised by Shizong many times.

In the 29th year of Jiajing (1550), Yan Shifan was promoted to minister of Taichang temple. In October, he began to "show sympathy for Songlao and make his son Shifan serve his relatives.". Yan Song simply handed over the government affairs to his son, who was "powerful all over the world" for a while. The next year, he was promoted to the right Minister of the Ministry of industry. In the 33rd year (1554), he was promoted to the left Minister of the Ministry of industry. In August, Emperor Shizong issued an imperial edict to tighten the title of minister of the Ministry of industry of Shifan, and Yan Song was relieved.

fabulously rich

At that time, Yan's father and son controlled the selection and promotion of officials in the court. No matter how big or small an official is, there is a price. Regardless of the official's reputation and ability, everything depends on the official's bribe money. Yan Shifan plundered the wealth of his family by various means. It is said that Yan Shifan and his wife are going to bury the gold and silver in the cellar. Remembering that they all depend on his father, Yan Song is invited to watch them. Yan Song is stunned by the huge amount of gold and silver. He faintly feels that disaster is coming.

Beheaded for a crime

Once, Zhao Wenhua, Yan Song's adopted son, came back from the south of the Yangtze River. The present he gave Yan Shifan was a valuable gold silk tent and a jewelry bun for each of his 27 concubines. Yan Shifan was very dissatisfied with these gifts. It can be seen how greedy he was. Zhu Zaidi, the third son of emperor Shizong, should be the crown prince by law, but emperor Shizong was not very close to him. Therefore, Yan's father and son are also very indifferent to him. As a rule, the annual gift to Yu's mansion was not given to the household for three years because there was no order from Yan's father and son. Finally, the future emperor collected 1500 taels of silver and gave it to Yan Shifan. Yan Shifan accepted it and asked the Ministry of household to reissue it. Yan Shifan often boasted to people: "the son of the son of heaven wants to give me silver, who dares not give me silver?" Yan Shifan's courage is so great.

In 1562, Yan Song lost power, and Yan Shifan was sentenced to exile in Leizhou, Guangdong Province. Unexpectedly, Yan Shifan went back to his hometown without permission and expanded his residence. In 1564, the imperial censor Lin run impeached Yan Shifan for communicating with Japanese pirates and plotting against them. In a rage, Ming Shizong arrested Yan Shifan and put him in prison. At the end of the next year, on March 24, 1565, Yan Shifan and Luo Longwen, the Party member, were executed. Before the execution, they cried and were 53 years old. In April of the next year, Yan Song also died in the tomb. After his death, no one asked him.

Related events

Yan's father and son have long been hated by upright people for their corruption and perversion of the law, and they have been impeached constantly. However, because of Ming Shizong's partiality and faithfulness and Yan Song's cunning, these impeachments did not work. On the contrary, those who impeached their father and son in the last chapter were often hit hard. They lost their official positions, and some even took their lives.

Shen Lian once worked as the royal guards. In 1552, Shangshu impeached Yan Song for being "greedy, stupid and despicable", counting the crimes of "accepting bribes from generals, relaxing border defense", "receiving gifts from Kings, intervening in clan affairs", "taking the power of the censor, corrupting the political discipline" and "jealous of the virtuous and the capable". Shizong not only didn't punish Yan Song, but also thought that it was Shen Lian who slandered the minister and issued an imperial edict to demote him. Yan's father and son did not give up. A few years later, they instigated party members to seek opportunities to frame Shen Lian. Shen Lian was beheaded. His three sons, two of them were killed, and one of them was sent to the frontier.

Yang Jisheng, known as the first minister of direct admonition in Ming Dynasty, was also convicted of impeachment of Yan Song. In 1553, Yang Jisheng, a member of the Ministry of war at that time, published "please kill the thief minister", which revealed Yan Song's true face of bringing disaster to the country and the people. At the end of the memorial, Yang Jisheng begged the emperor to "listen to the words of his ministers and observe the traitors of song". Yan Song couldn't deny the accusation of Yan song played in Shuzhong, but Yan Song was resourceful after all. He caught Yang Jisheng's saying in Shuzhong that "or ask the two kings (King Yu and King Jing) to make them face Chen Song's evil" and falsely accused Yang Jisheng of collusion with the two kings. Shizong, a headstrong emperor, most taboo ministers to make friends with his sons, for fear of being forced into court, so he didn't ask Shuzhong if Yan Song's accusation was true, so he ordered Yang Jisheng to be arrested and jailed. After more than two years in prison, Yang Jisheng was executed in 1555.

After Yan Shifan was captured by the censor Lin run, it was difficult to convict him. At that time, Yan Shifan sent people to spread the news wantonly, saying that his SANFA department had to plead for Yang Jisheng and Shen Lian, saying that Yan Shifan and others were responsible for their death. However, Xu was dismissed as a third-order crime. It turns out that Yan Shifan knew that emperor Jiajing was the one who finally convicted Yang and Shen. Jiajing was a stubborn and face loving emperor. He would not approve these accusations, because once approved, it meant that Jiajing had to admit his mistakes (causing Yang and Shen unjust imprisonment), which Jiajing could not tolerate. Therefore, Xu Jie changed another three charges:

First of all, Yan Shifan and Luo Longwen (one of the Yan party, indeed Japanese pirates) were brothers. When Luo Longwen colluded with Japanese pirates, Yan Shifan was also linked with Japanese pirates. They gathered bandits and tried to communicate with foreign countries and fled to Japan.

Secondly, Yan Shifan colluded with the pirates, trained the private armed forces and plotted against the law.

Finally, he occupied the land to build a house. According to the scene investigation, it was a piece of land with King's spirit. Yan Shifan was so bold that he built a building on it. It was really a heinous crime.

Jiajing's most abhorrent accusations were "offending the superior" and "communicating with the Japanese". So emperor Jiajing ordered Yan Shifan and Luo Longwen to be beheaded. After hearing this, Yan Shifan and Luo Longwen held their heads and cried. Their families asked Yan Shifan to write a suicide note. Yan Shifan was so afraid that he could not write a word. At that time, people in the capital were very happy to hear that Yan Shifan was going to be beheaded. They made an appointment to go to the western city with wine to see Yan Shifan beheaded.

Anecdotes and allusions

Indulge in sound and color

According to the records, there is a performer Jinfeng in Haiyan, who is favored by Yan Shifan because of his masculinity. Without Jinfeng, he has trouble sleeping and eating. After Yan Shifan's death, the legend Ming Feng Ji, which revealed his crime, became popular, and Jin Feng played Yan Shifan. Yan Shifan and Longyang are well known and even written in literary works. In the twelfth floor, there is an article named Cui Ya Lou, which is dedicated to Yan Shifan's ruthlessness in playing with men. He "has always been addicted to men's style. In Beijing, there is not only a beautiful Longyang who has never missed the net, but also a man with a crown and a belt in the lower office. If a young man has a good appearance and is willing to take the stage, he will break the rules and stay in the backyard to meet him." Yan Shifan in Haigong case is a good man.

Although Yan Song is treacherous and cunning, he has only one wife of Ouyang's family. They die hand in hand. Yan Shifan is quite different from his father in this respect. Greed leads to lust, and lust leads to lust. This may not be true for Yan Song, but it is suitable for Yan Shifan. Yan Shifan had 27 wives and concubines, and countless other maids and men's favorites. Yan Shifan was very proud of his extravagant life, singing and dancing around the golden tent with an ivory bed. But he didn't expect that this was one of the reasons why he was most hated by the people. In the Jiajing Dynasty, the South Japanese were captured in the north, and the people were in dire need of livelihood. Yan Shifan's extravagance was of course even more abhorrent.

A unique skill

Yan Shifan, a fat man with a short neck and a fat white body, is just the opposite of his father's "thin and long body" appearance. It is estimated that he inherited his mother's fat white gene.

This "princeling party" has some unique skills. He is cunning, witty, well-informed, familiar with the rules and regulations, familiar with the economic affairs, and energetic, and able to play. Especially good at guessing the emperor's likes and dislikes.

It is said that there is such an interesting story. Emperor Jiajing once passed an imperial edict in the night, asking how to deal with something. It was quite difficult to draw up a ticket. Yan Song discussed with Xu Jie and Li Ben carefully in the duty room. Each of them wrote a post and put forward their opinions. However, after repeated deliberation and revision, they still felt that they were not right and did not dare to copy it clearly. Yan Song

Chinese PinYin : Yan Shi Fan