A lot of things happened on this day of rest, so much so that when people heard about it the next day, they felt as if they were in another world.
First, after a small gathering at Yan's residence yesterday afternoon, Zhao Wenhua took the opportunity to enter the West Garden to present the emperor with Baihua wine. Then, the emperor issued a handwritten letter to Yan Song, asking him, "Why don't you let me enjoy this kind of immortal wine and nectar?"
Then, when Yan Song learned that the immortal wine referred to the Hundred Flowers Wine presented by Zhao Wenhua, he flew into a rage and drove Zhao Wenhua out of the Yan residence, breaking off all ties with Zhao Wenhua and severing their father-son relationship.
Then, it was said that in the evening, Yan Song rushed to the Western Garden to apologize and replied to the handwritten message of Emperor Jiajing, saying: "I have never taken medicine in my life. I really don't know why I have lived as long as a dog or a horse." The suspicion between the emperor and his ministers was immediately dispelled;
Later, it was heard that in the evening, Zhao Wenhua bribed the gateman of the Yan residence and was able to enter the Yan residence to ask for an audience with Old Madam Yan. He knelt down before Old Madam Yan and cried bitterly, expressing deep remorse. Seeing this, Old Madam Yan felt pity for Zhao Wenhua and interceded for him in front of Yan Song, so that Yan Song forgave Zhao Wenhua, took back his words of breaking off all ties with Zhao Wenhua, and the past grudges were resolved.
In addition, there is another piece of news, that is, Zhu Ping'an has submitted another impeachment, and the person impeached is the commander of the West City Military Division.
By the way, does Zhu Ping'an have a grudge against the commander of the West City Army? The previous commander of the West City Army, Zhao Daying, was impeached by Zhu Ping'an and beheaded. This commander of the West City Army has only been in office for more than a month and was impeached by Zhu Ping'an again.
Zhu Ping'an's impeachment this time caused a greater impact than the last impeachment of Zhao Daying.
Because Gao Botai, the commander of the West City Army, who was impeached by Zhu Ping'an, had a special relationship with the Yan Mansion, which was much stronger than Zhao Daying's relationship with the Yan Mansion. Gao Botai had an aunt who entered the Yan Mansion several years ago and became Yan Shifan's maid. She got pregnant some time ago and was promoted to aunt by Yan Shifan not long ago. Gao Botai was taken care of by Yan Shifan and became the commander of the West City Army because of his aunt.
In fact, according to past practice, such memorials concerning the Yan Party would not have reached Xiyuan so quickly. However, since it was a day off yesterday, the left and right councilors of the Tongzhengsi were both on holiday at home, and the only person on duty at the Tongzhengsi was a seventh-rank governor who had just been transferred from another place to the Tongzhengsi in the capital through connections. He was not familiar with the complicated relationships in the capital, and did not take the memorial impeaching Gao Botai submitted by Zhu Ping'an seriously. Before leaving the office, he submitted Zhu Ping'an's memorial together with dozens of memorials accumulated at the beginning of this month to Xiyuan.
Coincidentally, Emperor Jiajing, who had drunk Baihua wine yesterday and was full of energy and had not yet released all his energy, reviewed the memorials submitted by the Ministry of Public Administration in the evening.
As a result, Zhu Ping'an's memorial caught the attention of Emperor Jiajing.
Emperor Jiajing had a relatively favorable impression of Zhu Ping'an. From the Zhao Daying case, who killed innocent people and took credit for the crime, to the Taicang theft case, Zhu Ping'an left a deep impression on Emperor Jiajing.
Therefore, Emperor Jiajing attached great importance to Zhu Ping'an's impeachment. Moreover, the military farming in Xuanfu and Datong towns mentioned in Zhu Ping'an's memorial was related to the border defense plan of the Ming Dynasty, so Emperor Jiajing attached even greater importance to it.
When Emperor Jiajing saw that the military farms were occupied by generals, he was furious. No wonder the border guards were always in need of food and military pay, causing me to take out so much gold and silver subsidies from my private treasury. It turned out that these rats were responsible!
Military farming is one of the main expenses for maintaining the frontier army's food and wages. The court allocated land for military farming, which was cultivated by military households and farmers, leaving part of the harvest to the military households and farmers, and the rest was used to support the army. Military farming has always been a system that Emperor Jiajing admired very much, as it can support the army without spending money. But now, there are even such cowardly generals as Gao Botai, who dare to occupy military farms without caring about the lives of the army and military households! He took the military farms for himself! The land has become private, so how can there be any harvest to support the army!
In Xuanfu and Datong, besides Gao Botai mentioned in Zhu Ping'an's memorial, were there any other generals who occupied military farms
What about other places
How much farmland have these rats occupied? !
Emperor Jiajing was immediately furious. Of course, he could not just listen to Zhu Ping'an's one-sided story. After reading the memorial, Emperor Jiajing sent someone to summon Jinyiwei Commander Lu Bing to the West Garden despite the late night. He gave him instructions in person and ordered him to go to Xuanfu and Datong overnight to investigate the matter secretly.
Afterwards, Emperor Jiajing acted swiftly and decisively. He ordered Huang Jin to send the Eastern Depot cavalry to arrest Gao Botai overnight. He put Gao Botai in prison on charges of dereliction of duty, abuse of power and falsely accusing his superiors. After Jinyiwei commander Lu Bing had investigated the occupation of military farms in Datong, Xuanfu and other places, he would interrogate him together with officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Personnel.
This all happened late at night, and by the time people got the news, it was already the next morning.
Yan Song and his son received the news earlier than everyone else. They received the news shortly after Gao Botai was arrested by the Eastern Depot late last night.
"Haha... I didn't expect that Zhu Ping'an, who had already impeached Gao Botai yesterday, could still sit at the same table with me and drink like nothing happened. If I had known, I should have drunk him to death yesterday." Yan Shifan laughed angrily after getting the news.
"Donglou, this is an extraordinary period, you should not cause any trouble. The emperor's handwritten edict, in addition to holding me accountable for the fairy wine, may also be intended to warn me." When Yan Song heard the news that Gao Botai was impeached and imprisoned, he remained calm and did not change his expression. He squinted his eyes, glanced at Yan Shifan, and warned him.
"Dad, don't worry. I saved it. The emperor is still as smart as ever." Yan Shifan nodded and commented on Emperor Jiajing unscrupulously, but was soon glared at by Yan Song. Yan Shifan shrank his neck, and then vented his anger by cursing: "Gao Botai is a stupid idiot. I have long told him that the capital is not like the frontier. If you are an official here, you must put away your frontier military tactics, keep your head down and do your work, and make a fortune quietly... But, haha, he is just like the one in my room, a useless guy..."
"As for Gao Botai's matter, it was all his own fault. But how did Zhu Ping'an know about Gao Botai's occupation of military farms?" Yan Song stroked his beard and asked Yan Shifan.
"I also find this strange." Yan Shifan frowned slightly, then clapped his hands, "I remember that Zhu Ping'an has taken in several hunters from the foot of Yunmeng Mountain in the north, which is not far from Xuanfu Datong. Maybe they have heard about Gao Botai and told Zhu Ping'an."
"Well, that's possible." Yan Song nodded.
"Zhu Ping'an really doesn't take us seriously. As the saying goes, you have to look at the owner before you beat the dog. With Gao Botai's personality, when he learned of Zhu Ping'an's identity in front of the Shuntian Prefecture Prison, he must have told Zhu Ping'an about my relationship. But Zhu Ping'an didn't ask us and directly impeached Gao Botai." Yan Shifan was still brooding over Zhu Ping'an's impeachment of Gao Botai and felt a little embarrassed.
"To be honest, this matter is not Zihou's fault..." Yan Song frowned slightly.
Think about it, a young scholar who became famous at a young age and won the first place in the imperial examination before he reached the age of twenty, was promoted to the fifth rank, but was thrown a stone by a naughty child while practicing calligraphy in the morning by the river. The parents did not beat or scold the naughty child, but asked the parents to discipline him more in a gentle manner. However, the parents, who were sixth-rank officials, tied him up and sent him to Shuntian Prefecture Prison on the charge of being an accomplice to theft. Who could bear this? ! Zhu Ping'an's impeachment was reasonable and understandable.
Yan Shifan also understood this principle, but as the saying goes, when beating a dog, you have to look at the owner first. It was okay last time with Zhao Daying, but why is he doing it again this time? !
"Dad, I know you value talent, but there is a precedent. At Changban Slope, Cao Cao also valued Zhao Yun's talent." Yan Shifan pursed his lips.
"I am not Cao Cao, and Zhu Ping'an is not Zhao Yun..." Yan Song glanced at Yan Shifan, dissatisfied with Yan Shifan comparing him to the treacherous minister Cao Cao.
"Haha, Dad, of course you are not Cao Cao, you are the reincarnation of Zhuge Kongming..." Yan Shifan said with a smile.
"You are so unruly." Yan Song scolded with a smile, and then warned Yan Shifan sternly, "I am old, but I am not confused. I have my own ideas about Zhu Ping'an. You should clean your own ass first."