From Yan Song's last words, we can see that he went to another world with endless grievances, unwillingness and resentment. "Ming History" said: "Song stole politics for 20 years, drowned in evil sons, poisoned the world, and people referred to traitors." Yan Song certainly couldn't have imagined that the stigma of "treacherous court official" he carried not only didn't disappear because of his death, but spread widely, and his name became synonymous with treacherous court official. Related to this, I have to mention Wang Shizhen, a famous historian in Ming Dynasty. Wang Shizhen and Yan Song became enemies, and it is said that there was a case-solving. Wang Shizhen's father was the king who was executed by Sejong. By chance, Wang got a priceless national treasure, The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival. Yan and his son soon learned about it and asked Wang for it. Under the influence of Yan and his son, Wang asked the painter to copy a picture and gave it to Yan Song. Later revealed, Yan Song bears a grudge against it. When the king couldn't keep the border, Yan Song wrote a book to kill him. Because of this bitterness, Wang Shizhen slandered Yan Song in Yan Song Biography, the first record since Jiajing, and Yan Song's reputation plummeted.
1. In the 13th year of Hongwu, regarding Yan Song's "stealing power", Zhu Yuanzhang cancelled the prime minister system that existed in the history of China for more than 500 years. To Ming Chengzu began to form a cabinet, "Ming history? According to official records, the main duties of the cabinet college students are "to present body double, observe the old rules, search questions, approve votes, and allow ordinary politics. "Visible, the cabinet university is not an administrative officer. According to the article "Records since Jiajing" in Volume 58 of the General Catalogue of Sikuquanshu: "When Jiajing took office as the cabinet, the leader was especially responsible for it ... In the middle of Sejong, Xia Yan and Yan Song used things repeatedly, so they became prime ministers and suppressed the six ministers. "This statement is debatable. Sejong was very diligent in the early days of his administration, and he did not go to court since the eighteenth year of Jiajing. Even so, there is no dictatorship of powerful ministers.
"Ming history? According to the Yan Song Biography, after Yan Song was appointed as the meeting record, "Although the emperor was very respectful, he didn't believe his words. He sometimes makes arbitrary decisions or shows similarities and differences in order to kill him. "This shows that although sejong lives in Oita, he is persistent in imperial power. Therefore, it is impossible for Sejong Dynasty to have any "powerful ministers" to "steal the handle". In this regard, other records may also be indirect. Wang Shizhen's "Biography of Cabinet since Jiajing" records: "(Sejong) in his later years, although he did not go to the Imperial Palace, he was constantly consulted; Therefore, although he lives in the abyss of elegance and integrity, he is manipulated by Zhang Chi and his power will not move. "Records of Sejong" calls it "worrying about diplomacy. "Li Weizhen was quoted as saying in Volume 64 of Guoque:" (Sejong) has been alive for decades, and the world is in the palm of his hand, and China and foreign countries are close. Fan Shou said, "I read the imperial edict of Tianxia Temple, and made some changes in Xu Shao's rank. Cloud people say that assistant ministers draft letters well, but there is a big difference. ..... Langan is just like an emperor, and Zhou Zheng is a man! ..... Relaxation, worship and reward are arbitrary. "Yan Song can't steal something, which Yu Shibi can prove. Another example is The Biography of Soldiers, which has been published for four years. Ouyang Bijin (Zuodu Yushi of Duchayuan) and Yan Song are children's in-laws. Song wants to arrange for him to be promoted to the official department minister. After Song's pleading, Sejong only made Ouyang an official minister for half a year. Yan Song has worked so hard to arrange her children's parents-in-law, how can she still talk about managing state affairs and cronyism? From this point of view, it is just groundless to say that Yan Song "stole state affairs"!
2. Relationship between Yan Song and Sejong Sejong is an extremely difficult emperor to serve. Sejong is suspicious, suspicious and murderous. Not only that, he is indifferent to others, but also heartless to his wife and children, maids and servants, so that a group of weak women in the palace want to strangle him. This is the "maid-in-waiting change" that happened in October of the twenty-first year of Jiajing. Zhang Cong, who was highly valued by Sejong because of his "great ceremony", wrote in "Dream in the Spring": "I have counted all cabinet officials, and few can die well. Covert places are easy to be suspected, and the responsibility of endorsement is easy to attract discussion. Not a way to protect each other. " These words mean that the records should take responsibility for the emperor's faults and be willing to be scapegoats. When Xu Jie overthrew Yan Song and was promoted to the position of records, his friend Wang Weizhen once said to him: "Fu Cha and the Prime Minister are the power of officials, and the supreme is the most important. But at present, there are three difficulties: the son of heaven has wisdom, but the ministers can't reach it, but thinking is beneficial and difficult; In the book, the responsibility should be in Si Xu, the gains and losses are important, and the second difficulty is also; Knee talk, courtiers can't smell it, courtiers smell it, far less than I know, and it is difficult to turn around and kiss easily. Those who are in trouble dare not sue, so they are called bitter "(Wang Shicun's Speech Draft 16). It seems that we should look at Yan Song from another angle.
Yan Song served as the records of fifteen years, and it was not easy to get along with a violent and murderous emperor for so long. Sejong's worship of Taoism, praise of metaphysics and dedication of Qing Ci are almost the requirements of being a cabinet minister, so "flattery" is the * * * characteristic of cabinet ministers, and Yan Song is not necessarily more flattering than other cabinet ministers. For example, after the change of maids, Sejong took refuge in Xiyuan, and a fire broke out in Yongshou Palace. Sejong wanted to rebuild the palace. Considering Sejong's long-term neglect of North Korea, Yan Song did not agree to rebuild the palace because it would cost huge wealth. Another cabinet minister, Jeff, urged reconstruction. In this respect, people at that time were "quite good at listening to the correct songs, but they were a little ignorant of the order" (Lu Zheng in Xi 'an 16). Here is the other side of Yan Song's stereotype. The history of the Ming Dynasty? When analyzing the reasons for Sejong's preference for Yan Song, Yan Song said: "Kuang Song can really serve the emperor; Emperor Jian, Song Rou; Emperor arrogance, Song Cheng; The emperor is clever and the song is simple; The emperor is arbitrary and the Song Dynasty is isolated ... The suspect likes to use gentle and charming ministers. " Only in this way can Sejong's bad temper be calmed down, and national affairs will not get worse. Sejong should know this floor very well. Therefore, Sejong also praised Yan Song, such as giving Yan Song the silver seal of "loyalty, diligence and integrity", giving him the title of "six benefits of Han Qiong", offering the title of "Yan Entang" in Xuantang and giving him the title of "Zhong Bi". Even when he was an official, Sejong said in the imperial edict that "Song should be cautious, loyal and cautious", and the treatment after being an official was better than other records. "After he became an official, he still sent Chiyi to help Mi Lu Baishi" (See Records of the World Temple, Volume 22). It shows that Yan Song can serve the victims sincerely, and only by having no second thoughts can he win the kindness of this suspicious monarch. Then, it is inconceivable to say that Yan Song is a traitor.
3. Regarding Yan Song's "killing loyalty", what is "loyalty"? In fact, this is a very complicated and uncertain concept; For a long time, China's philosophy has trained China people's thinking according to the cultural orientation of "dual values", which has made some China people face the complicated reality and history and adopt the value orientation of being either good or evil, being either right or evil, being white or black, being different from ice and charcoal, and being different from water and fire, which often distorts the facts and history. The so-called "killing loyalty" by Yan Song is a bitter historical fruit that China people are still chewing!
After Yan Song joined the cabinet, many ministers impeached him. Some of these ministers were executed and some were dismissed, among which Yang Jisheng, Shen Lian and others were the most influential in history. Shen Lian was a scholar in the seventeenth year of Jiajing. The History of the Ming Dynasty is a biography of "being honest and clean, hating evil as hatred, but rather sparse". There is no record of Shen Lian's talent in the biography. Shen Lian and his boss, Shuai Lu Bing of the Royal Guard, are quite nice, and they are very close to Yan Shifan. Shen Lian is a heavy drinker. "A few people drink the world, and the world abuses customers with wine. This is different. " Obviously, Shen Lian's narrow-minded character is caused by trivial matters. Yan Song once said that Shen Lian was not a good man, but this word reached Shen Lian's ears. Afraid that there was no future, he broke up Yan Song in the first month of the 30th year of Jiajing. Recite the top ten crimes of Song Dynasty in your spare time. Sejong, after reading the memorial, said, "Great anger, court aides, death insurance." Shen Lian is restless in security. He often insults his father and son. I don't know how to be a good person in the local area, and it is also "to win the temper of the Song Dynasty, and the training is also great, and the Japanese and the Song and his sons are together." There are also grass for the people, like Li, Li, Song. If you are drunk, you will gather your children and shoot them. "This kind of' game' doesn't seem to be done by a gentleman. Shen Lian often quarreled with local authorities and was killed by Governor Yang Shun. Those who oppose Yan Song claim that Yan Song ordered Shen Lian to be killed, which is also unfounded in history, and Yang Shun is not a Song Party. Shen Lian listed Yan Song's top ten crimes, while Xu Xuemo thought that "several crimes are false and untrue" (Records of the World Temple (volume 15).
Tan Qian said in "Guo Que": "Shen Chunfu (essence) hated and rebelled against Hu. In the autumn of (1550), he glared at the Yan family, which made him stiff and arrogant. " Immersed in the wilderness, why not be complacent? As for spreading the evil of the imperial city, it is particularly important to ask the sword to sing. "As you can see, Shen Lian's death is entirely caused by his weakness in character, which has nothing to do with loyalty and treachery!
In the twenty-sixth year of Jiajing, Jinshi Yang Jisheng; According to Biography of Ming History, he is quite proficient in Lu studies, but not very good at it. In imperial academy, he was Xu Jie's protege; It's still close to Tang Shunzhi. Yang Jisheng's personality is very similar to that of Shen Lian. Let's quote a letter written to Yang: "The hero of deacon is quite generous, and his inspirational spirit is too strong, but he is not as good as subtle work ..." (Volume 6 of Collected Works of Mr. Jingchuan) This is a hint of Yang's weakness and lack of knowledge.
In the thirty-second year of Jiajing, he published "Please Punish Thieves and Ministers", listing the ten major sins and five major traitors in Song Dynasty. Most of Yang's accusations are empty and unfounded, which is no different from Shen Shu's. If Yan Song didn't govern the country well, Sejong might think it was an allusion to him, because many things were done according to his will; Another example is Shu, which says, "Check the traitors in Song Dynasty, or call two kings, Yu and Jing." This is undoubtedly Sejong's coma. Therefore, "the emperor has been angry because of his retreat ... and then he was imprisoned, so why did he lead two kings?" ..... In prison, it's a hundred sticks, a punishment for conviction. "After going up, Song repeatedly asked for a break, and Sejong repeatedly retained him, saying that Yang" invited reputation to sell straight "and Shu came after him. Sparse writing is very vague, indicating that there is no talent and no knowledge. Therefore, it is absurd to say that he will die or that Song did something about Yang's death.
Another influential figure is Xia Yan. In the twenty-fourth year of Jiajing, after the announcement of the cabinet, the imperial minister once discussed the resumption of Hetao. After arguing, Song Ji said no, so the official department official made a mistake and was recorded in the spring of the twenty-seventh year. This is the year when he was killed. "Ming history? "Yan Chuan Song" said that Song was framed to death through complicated events, while "Ming History? The Biography of Xia Yan said that Song joined forces with Lu Bing, a captain and Cui Yuan. However, Tan Qian believes in Guo Que that "the Gui family () died not of defeat, but of slander and strictness." Visible Yan Song back the blame. In Yan Song's "Playing the Right Road", there are many miscellaneous people who plead for mercy to avoid death, and it is also seen that Song is not necessarily a "malicious" person. Also killed by Sejong was the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War, Wang Xun, governor of Hebei and Liao. Wang Xun is a professional and responsible general. In the spring of the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing, tens of thousands of foreign invaders were temporarily allowed to enter Santun camp, which caused many family members and property losses of Zhonggui and Neiting. It is inevitable that people around these emperors will not complain to Sejong. When investigating this matter, it also led to Wang Xun's neglect of training. So Sejong was furious and criticized "all the generals will be beheaded." "Thirty-seven years, Wang Yao was killed in Xi Shi, at the age of 53! But at the end of the biography, it is alleged that Song was responsible for Wang Xun's death. There is still a public opinion about merits and demerits. "History of the World Temple" said: "Fear the elders, be cautious about serving the country, and be cautious about the battle of Tongzhou. I don't avoid death. I plan to defend the city and save the whole country. The sooner the emperor, the better. Jizhou has been preparing for a long time and it is difficult to rectify. It often breaks down, so it is at the extreme. ┅┅ Huating (Xu Jie) was convicted of Yan Song's crime and returned to kill Wu Mu. This is an evil life of a gentleman. "Tan Qian very much agrees with Zhi Dalun's judgment:" Wang Zhongcheng will die if he sits in Xinjiang, or he will die if he doesn't. "These show that some people want to make Yan Song dirty and give Yan Song a heavy and terrible reputation.
There is a thought-provoking saying in the Record of Original Sin, "However, if you have been in office for a long time, you must be self-reliant and do whatever it takes." After Song Cheng's "Xia Yan", he dared not have a yes or no, and sometimes he found both ways and quoted him directly; Supreme will want to kill, helpless. ..... Then anyone who wants to kill people in the above way will compete in the world. "The secret of Yan Song's loyalty killing lies in his success. Yan Song's notoriety is widely spread, and his novels and legendary operas are indispensable. In view of (modern wonders), Shen Chu's Experience as a Teacher was written in Song Dynasty, and the operas of Song Dynasty, such as Zhao An, A pinch of snow, Zhao, Crazy Drum Officer and A Teacher's Example, were recited repeatedly among the people, confirming Goebbels' famous saying that rumors become "facts" after repeated times.