Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 136 Seizing Power by Imperial Decree (Third Update)
"Brother Donglou! Brother Donglou! I know I was wrong!"

"Brother Donglou! This is an apology! You must accept it!"

"Brother Donglou, shall we drink until we drop at Biyutang tonight?"

Yan Shifan paused for a moment, but ultimately resisted the temptation, gave a proud snort, and turned away.

If the last refusal was somewhat tactful, considering the friendship between classmates, then after the experience of turning against each other, even Lin Daqin became ruthless.

They're arrogant at first and then obsequious later—what kind of people are they!
Of course, Yixin will welcome those who didn't kick someone when they were down recently, as they are at least of good character.

For example, at this moment, Yan Shifan, who had appointed himself as the second-in-command of the Yixin Society, saw Gui Zai and another somewhat unfamiliar figure enter the hall.

Gui Zai, needless to say, had a life-or-death friendship with Guo Xun, the Marquis of Wuding, after the Guozijian case, when he directly confronted Guo Xun's tyranny. After the turmoil of the Yixin Society's disbandment subsided, he was naturally invited to join the society.

Gui Zai went back and specifically consulted Gui E. It is said that the usually stern and unsmiling Second Grand Secretary showed his son a rare gentle smile, telling him not to hesitate and to be bold in joining his classmates' academy!

The other one, however, was rather plain-looking, with an even older-looking face, or rather, he was not young to begin with, as there were already a few gray hairs on his head.

This man is named Su Zhigao, a native of Gu'an County, Shuntian Prefecture. He is 43 years old this year, but he is still studying at the Imperial Academy as a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial civil service examination). He was originally unknown and had a low profile, but now he has become the eighth member of the Yixin Society.

The reason is simple: Su Zhigao has a profound understanding of "Journey to the West". He did not flatter the powerful and belittle the weak, but rather had a calm and indifferent attitude. After the turmoil at the meeting, he was selected and invited to join the association.

Haiyue was unaware that this person would also pass the imperial examination next year and become a third-class Jinshi. He later served as an official for more than 20 years, holding positions such as Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Governor of Liaodong, and Assistance in military affairs. He was an unremarkable figure, but his official rank was not low.

Clearly, his historical knowledge was not yet strong enough to remember every official clearly. Now that Su Zhigao's character had been recognized and his talent had been praised by Lin Daqin, Haiyue, despite not knowing his historical experiences, still selected him to join the association.

There was no other way. Originally, they planned to have a full-fledged team, with each member being either a historical figure or a top scholar. Now that Jiajing had high hopes for the Yixin Society, Haiyue also had to symbolically expand its ranks.

Gui Zai was the seventh member, Su Zhigao was the eighth member, and Yu Dayou was the ninth member.

When this person first joined the association, even Yan Shifan was quite surprised, wondering why they had recruited a martial artist. But when Haiyue took the initiative to mention the Book of Changes, everyone discussed it and discovered that this person was no ordinary martial artist. He was actually a person of great talent, and he had a remarkable understanding of the concept of "conscience is change" in the philosophy of mind.

Yu Dayou was unaware of how significant the benefits of integrating into this circle would be to his future military career—it was, without exaggeration, far more crucial than winning a few battles.

This is why Qi Jiguang wrote poems and essays for civil officials to appreciate, in order to integrate into the circle of scholars, but he was still instantly purged after Zhang Juzheng fell from power.

"Brother Deming! I just read an article, but there are still some parts I don't understand. I hope you can point them out!"

"No, no, Donglou is too modest..."

"Brother Zhifu, I looked at the Ben hexagram, which signifies 'cessation of civilization,' again yesterday, and I still have some doubts!"

"Just do it like this first... then like this... it's not difficult!"

Yan Shifan and Gui Zai were not polite, but they first greeted the relatively unfamiliar Su Zhigao and asked him a difficult academic question. Then they went to the towering Yu Dayou and discussed the Book of Changes with him, thus getting to know each other better.

Finally, everyone stood before the imperial edict bestowed by the emperor, solemnly reverent, and said in unison: "Our minds have returned to righteousness, our hearts are utmost sincere! Loyal!!"

This was a ceremony devised by Haiyue, the head of the association, when everyone gathered together in the first month of the tenth year of the Jiajing reign.

After entering the Imperial College courtyard, which is exclusively for the Isshin-kai members, they would come to the calligraphy and painting bestowed by the Emperor and loudly recite the Isshin-kai's philosophy.

Yan Shifan initially felt somewhat ashamed, wondering if this was going too far.

But when he returned and told his father Yan Song about it, Yan Song was greatly impressed and said that this was the way of a subject, and told him that he must abide by it and never slacken his efforts.

Now that they had finished, the four of them took their places and began organizing the documents.

Haiyue did not hide anything from the members of the Yixin Society.

Everyone already knows that there is a secret society plotting a treasonous act to overthrow the state.

The responsibility of the Yixin Society is to find these thieves while they are studying.

Of course, not everyone is good at this kind of thing, so everyone has a clear division of labor. Haiyue divided the current members into two groups.

One group has no academic burden.

For example, Xu Jie and Zhao Shichun had already passed the imperial examination and were compilers in the Hanlin Academy, achieving great success; Gui Zai did not intend to take the imperial examination but instead followed the path of entering officialdom through his father's influence; Yu Dayou prepared for the military examination, but with his martial arts skills, he obviously did not need to worry about his level being insufficient, as long as it was fair.

These are also regular members of the courtyard.

Even Xu Jie and Zhao Shichun, after completing their compilation work at the Hanlin Academy, often visited Yixintang and enjoyed it immensely. Another group had academic burdens; it was now the first month of the tenth year of the Jiajing reign, and the new imperial examinations were not far off. As a society, they still had to prioritize their studies.

Hai Yue, Hai Rui, Lin Daqin, Yan Shifan, and Su Zhigao were all like this.

However, the last two were a bit special. Yan Shifan was a restless person. Getting him to study quietly was more painful than killing him. He would disappear without a trace in a short while.

Su Zhigao passed the imperial examination early on and has sufficient knowledge, but he has not yet passed the metropolitan examination, which is more or less due to a problem with his mentality.

So the two of them came inside to help out, ostensibly to balance work and rest.

Yan Shifan was the most enthusiastic. He originally thought that after a few years, when Yixin would gradually grow stronger, he, as an elder, would be able to enjoy the benefits. However, he never expected that he would already be able to access the documents of the Six Ministries.

These documents were merely supplementary documents, delivered by a junior eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial. Haiyue specifically stated that this was to investigate secret societies, so only three copies were available for the time being.

The Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Rites.

The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Personnel are easy to understand, since these two ministries are directly related to criminal cases and personnel transfers. The Ministry of Rites seems to be unrelated to these matters, but in reality, since the Great Rites Controversy, the position of the Ministry of Rites has risen accordingly. Not only can the Minister of Rites basically enter the cabinet, but he can also be involved in the affairs of other ministries to a certain extent.

As the son of the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Yan Shifan was the most qualified to speak on this matter.

Knowing his son's temperament, Yan Song rarely mentioned official business at home to avoid him getting into trouble outside. Now, he could openly see the memorials that only his father could review, and Yan Shifan was extremely excited.

'Wow! This is a big deal!'

In his excitement, a memorial from Guangxi caught his eye. Yan Shifan glanced at it, quickly got up, greeted the other three, and hurried toward the school.

Once outside the hall, peering inside, I saw Haiyue sitting in the back row by the window, listening intently to the professor's lecture.

Yan Shifan waited outside for a while until the old doctor slowly left before entering the school.

"Mingwei!"

"Go out and talk."

Upon seeing his expression, Haiyue knew something important had happened. The two left the school and headed towards the dormitory: "What's wrong?"

"The Annamese traitor, Mo Dengyong, is sending an envoy to our Great Ming!"

Yan Shifan handed over a document: "The delegation should have already departed!"

Haiyue wasn't surprised: "Old thief Mo should have reacted by now."

Mo Zhengyong, one of the thirteen bodyguards under Mo Dengyong, was ordered to hunt down the Le family delegation, but he failed. Princess Fanglian, Le Ngoc Anh, still managed to enter the capital and report the internal strife in Annam to the Ming Dynasty, the suzerain state. The Ming court was debating the matter endlessly, and Annam, no matter how far away, should have learned of it by now.

Mo Dengyong had only two choices: either ignore the Ming Dynasty, suppress domestic opposition, and confront the Ming army head-on, or grovel before the Ming Dynasty and beg for investiture, hoping to be made the new King of Annam.

Historically, the Jiajing Emperor used the pretext of Mo Dengyong's usurpation to send Mao Bowen with a large army to press on the border, and together with the old forces of the Later Le Dynasty, he wanted to attack the Mo Dynasty from both sides. Mo Dengyong hurriedly went to Zhennanguan in Guangxi, surrendered the land, handed over the land, household registration, and military equipment of Annam, and promised to be the bulwark of the Ming Dynasty forever.

This was not what Jiajing Emperor actually wanted. He hoped to send troops to reclaim Jiaozhi, but the court could not come up with a practical and effective strategy for sending troops, and the local authorities of Guangdong and Guangxi did not cooperate. In addition, Mo Dengyong ceded territory and begged for mercy, so he had no choice but to accept it. However, he was still unwilling to enfeoff this traitor who murdered the emperor as the King of Annam. Instead, he downgraded Annam to the "Annam Military Governor's Office" and Mo Dengyong to the "Annam Military Governor's Office", which was under the jurisdiction of the Guangxi Provincial Administration Commission of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Mo Dengyong continued to call himself emperor domestically and used the Mo dynasty's reign title, while accepting investiture from the Ming dynasty and nominally becoming a local military and political official in charge of the Ming dynasty's tributary states on the frontier.

That was ten years later in history. At that time, the Mo Dynasty had officially ruled Annam for more than ten years. Now, Mo Dengyong had only been in power for a little over three years, and his foundation was even more unstable. The Ming Dynasty was already sharpening its knives, so you can imagine how panicked the other side was. After this delegation entered the capital, there was going to be a good show to watch.

Haiyue pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "Xu Zisheng has been a compiler at the Hanlin Academy for almost three years, hasn't he?"

Yan Shifan nodded: "Yes!"

Haiyue continued, "Zisheng has always been very concerned about Annam. Many of the views expressed in his previous memorials are not without merit. If he can join the Ministry of Rites, he may be able to contribute to the reception of the diplomatic corps."

"what?"

Yan Shifan shuddered and looked around nervously: "We've already arranged this? This...this won't work."

Haiyue gave him a strange look, and said matter-of-factly, "If the Yixin Society has no real power, how can it be loyal to His Majesty?"

"what!"

Yan Shifan pondered the words repeatedly, feeling completely at ease and wholeheartedly convinced: "These words are excellent! These words are excellent!"

(End of this chapter)