Chapter 177 The difference between the mortal dynasty and the immortal dynasty, the way of survival of the Yan family, and the secret meeting of all officials!
Hearing Li Chengwu's question, Prince Yu glanced at everyone in the cabinet. At this time, Yan Shifan understood what he meant and stepped forward and said calmly: "The earth dragon turned over, the Huagai Palace collapsed, and the underground river gushed out. It's okay."
The earth dragon turns over and the underground river gushes out?
Upon hearing Yan Shifan's light explanation of this eight-character explanation, the corners of the ministers' mouths could not help but twitch.
Li Chengwu, who asked the question, had an already dark face, which looked even darker in the dim Fengtian Temple Square.
Such a big scene, the strange phenomenon of "dragon sucking water" rising into the sky, was dismissed with just eight words: "earth dragon turning over, underground river gushing out"? Are you kidding me?
Of course, at this moment, not only Li Chengwu and other senior officials from the six ministries were dissatisfied with this answer, but even Zhang Juzheng and others, after hearing Yan Shifan's perfunctory words, tried hard not to laugh out loud.
"This villain Yan Shifan is really arrogant. He doesn't even take this group of people seriously... But having people like him around can solve a lot of unnecessary troubles." Gao Gong nodded secretly.
"My lords," Prince Yu raised his hand with a faint smile on his face, trying to appease Yan Shifan. Then he looked at the ministers and said slowly, "Today, too many things happened, and there were strange phenomena in the sky. I'm sure you are all tired. Go back and rest."
"The court is safe, you can rest assured!"
"Oh, right," Prince Yu suddenly seemed to think of something, and then he said, "Today's incident happened suddenly, and you all stayed up all night. Tomorrow we will discuss politics in Wenhua Hall, so you can come back at noon."
"...This." After hearing this, the ministers wanted to say something, but His Royal Highness Prince Yu had already said this, and it was obvious that he did not want to tell them what had happened in the court.
If they are still entangled at this time, it would mean they are ignorant. As an official for many years, I dare not say anything else, but reading the cues and observing the words and expressions are basic skills.
"Your Highness obeys your order." There was no other way, so everyone could only accept this explanation. "Your Highness, take your leave."
After watching Li Chengwu and other officials leave, Prince Yu and Prince Jing looked at each other, then turned to look at the people in the cabinet. As for the people in the Imperial Household Department, they dispersed after leaving the Huagai Hall.
"You've all worked hard today, so you should rest soon." Prince Yu said, pausing slightly, "The officials will definitely not give up like this. There will be some discussion in the Wenhua Palace tomorrow."
"In addition, it is inevitable that the ministers will associate Daming Xianfu and Daming Xianwu Division with something."
"Although it is inconvenient for the court to explain too much to the people and soldiers, the six ministries and the Inspectorate still need to show their attitude."
As soon as Prince Yu finished speaking, Prince Jing beside him also spoke up: "After all, we are all colleagues in the same court. No matter what, we still have to maintain our dignity."
"We obey your order." Everyone bowed to Prince Yu and Prince Jing and took their leave.
Outside the Fengtian Hall, at the Meridian Gate.
The high-ranking officials of the Six Ministries, the Inspectorate, the Dali Temple, the Tongzhengshisi, the Hanlin Academy, the Imperial Observatory and other court officials who had left gathered together, but at this time, they were divided into three camps.
The first camp is undoubtedly headed by Li Chengwu and other ministers and vice ministers of various ministries who have not yet taken sides in the cabinet.
Prior to this, a large number of people were dealt with in important positions such as the dispute among the three religions and the six ministries' inspectorate, and power underwent a new round of reshuffle. The newly transferred people, headed by Li Chengwu, have not yet taken sides between the Qingliu, the Yan Party, and the New Party.
In the eyes of this group of people, the cabinet can only be the emperor's close ministers and think tank at most. Their main role is to provide opinions and countermeasures to the emperor, as well as to review and draft imperial edicts.
The six ministries are directly responsible to the emperor, and the relationship between the cabinet and the six ministries should be equal at best.
But now, I don’t know since when, after the cabinet gradually came to power, it actually became the one in charge of the six ministries.
It has never been said openly that the cabinet is superior to the six ministries. But before this, many officials still regarded Mr. Zhu as their immediate superior, which is unreasonable!
Therefore, this group of ambitious people want to change this situation and put the six ministries and the cabinet on an equal footing.
The group of people who held this new idea, led by Li Chengwu, were privately called the "Equal Power Faction" in the court!
The second camp is composed of senior officials who had not been dealt with before. Naturally, this group of people had already long since taken sides with the Qingliu and Yandang factions.
Because the New Party represented the military, neither Hu Zongxian nor Wang Chonggu and Yu Dayou took the initiative to win over factions. Therefore, the military officers were roughly divided into the Qingliu, Yandang, and Equal Power factions.
The third camp consists of those with connections who are unanimously ostracized by everyone.
For example: Yan Maoqing, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, Luo Longwen, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Li Zhiyuan, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, are all relatives of the emperor.
After all, no matter how many times the top leaders of the six ministries and the Inspectorate have been dealt with, these three people have always been as steady as a rock and even got promoted all the way.
The reason for this is naturally because Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen are both Yan Song's adopted sons, and are also the confidants of the young cabinet minister Yan Shifan.
As for Li Zhiyuan, he was the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and also the confidant of Zhao Zhenji, Zhao Butang, among the elders in the cabinet.
These three people were not liked by the officials of the Qingliu and Yan party factions who had just stood on the new side, and were even less liked by those who had not stood on the new side, so they were naturally ostracized.
"What do you mean?" Yan Maoqing frowned and looked at Li Chengwu and others, including several officials who had just joined the Yan Ge Lao faction, with dissatisfaction in his eyes.
Luo Longwen, who was standing by, also frowned and said, "We are all colleagues. Is there anything we can't talk about together? Why do you have to exclude us like this? Is this what a gentleman does?"
The fact that the imperial court was very likely connected to the legendary immortal had become a tacitly acknowledged fact in the minds of all officials.
But unfortunately, even though Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen were Yan family's confidants, they were still completely unaware of the matter of cultivating immortals.
Today's strange change happened and was suddenly exposed. All the officials were in a state of confusion and began to make their own calculations in their hearts.
Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen were not stupid. They knew that since the young elder had not told them about cultivating immortals before, it was very likely that he had no intention of telling them and might not tell them in the future.
Therefore, some things must be prepared for both scenarios.
That means we must unite with all the officials right now.
However, they were the ones who were expected to be the first, but they were actually ostracized by all the officials.
They didn't care about being excluded in the past, but today the existence of the immortals has been revealed and the Yan family has no intention of telling them. The only ones they can cooperate with are the officials.
Wouldn't it be like blocking their way if they were suddenly excluded at this time?
Thinking that the legendary immortals might exist, and that even the elders in the cabinet had already obtained the chance to become immortals, Luo Longwen and Yan Maoqing felt their hearts burning, and their whole bodies felt like they were being scratched by cats.
I feel that the little money I had embezzled and the little power I have in my hands are nothing compared to the immortality and destiny!
At this moment, even if they were asked to exchange their entire fortune for a few words of information about Xianyuan, they would be willing to do so.
Unfortunately, there is no way out!
The Yan family was a possible solution, but when they thought of the hot-tempered young cabinet minister Yan Shifan, they immediately gave up the idea.
If the young elder wanted to share some of his immortal fate with them, he would have shared it long ago. If he doesn't share it now, it is clear that he has no intention of telling them.
Going over to find out the news at this time will only backfire.
Who knows, one day, their bodies might appear in a mass grave outside the city, and even their entire family might be implicated.
Both of them are shrewd people. Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen were able to become Yan Song's confidants, so they could naturally understand some things at a glance.
At this time, all the officials must have thought of this.
Therefore, at this moment, these people gathered together, most likely to pool their wisdom and obtain the opportunity to become immortals from the imperial court.
How can we exclude them at this time?
They also want to listen to these people's methods and want to unite all the forces that can be united.
Compared to Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen's unhappiness, Li Zhiyuan on the side was much calmer. He had known about cultivating immortals for a long time, and Zhao Butang had already promised to take him on the path to immortality.
He is no longer the same kind of person as these people.
However, he did not leave at this moment, as it seemed that the imperial court's fate with the immortal could no longer be concealed.
All the officials gathered together at this moment, and they must be thinking about how to obtain the opportunity to become immortals. He felt that he needed to listen here, and then report the officials' ideas to Zhao Butang.
So even though he was ostracized by everyone, he still had the audacity to stay.
"You're not leaving, right?" The Minister of War Li Chengwu was a soldier, a barbarian-like man. He stood up, rolled up his sleeves, and walked towards Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen with a grim smile on his face.
"What do you want to do?" Looking at this barbarian, Yan Maoqing felt panic for no reason and subconsciously took a step back.
Luo Longwen standing by was also very nervous.
Li Chengwu is a tough guy. He wanted to attack the Minister of Revenue Li Zhiyuan in Wenhua Palace before. If it weren't for the sudden change that interrupted his action, he would have beaten the fat guy Li Zhiyuan to a pulp.
At this moment, seeing that this tough guy was about to attack them, Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen were a little panicked.
If he was beaten in front of all the officials, where would his face be?
"Cowards," Li Chengwu looked at the two, and finally set his sights on Li Zhiyuan, saying, "I am the Minister of War, so I will not fight with you idiots. You are losing your dignity!"
After saying that, Li Chengwu turned around and looked at the others behind him, raised his arms, clasped his fists and said, "Everyone, just now, I counted and the drum at the palace gate has been struck five times, and it's past the fifth watch."
"It's past the fifth watch, and the day is almost dawn," Li Chengwu said with a seemingly rough smile on his dark face, "Usually at this time, in another hour, it would be time for the morning court."
"However, His Royal Highness Prince Yu has shown sympathy for us and asked us to come to Wenhua Hall to discuss politics at noon. Thanks to the miraculous rain, I see that you are all too sleepy, so why not go to Li's house and have a chat?"
After hearing what Li Chengwu said, everyone looked at each other and suddenly understood, then nodded in agreement.
They naturally understood that Li Chengwu asked everyone to go to his house in order to discuss what happened today and the matter of the immortals.
At this time, if anyone goes back home to sleep in, it means being kicked out of the next core circle.
Moreover, they had just been nourished by the magical rain and now felt full of energy and not sleepy at all.
Seeing that all the officials agreed, Li Chengwu smiled. Then he waved his hand and strode out of the Meridian Gate with the people from the first and second camps.
Only Li Zhiyuan, Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen were left.
"Asshole!" Yan Maoqing got angry when he saw Li Chengwu and his gang were so blatantly forming their own faction to exclude him and his gang.
Seeing this, Li Zhiyuan sighed inwardly, knowing that it was impossible to obtain any intelligence. He glanced at Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen, whose faces were livid, and then smiled contemptuously, turned around and strode away.
He looked down on these two people who claimed to be the confidants of the Yan Party.
After working hard for the Yan family for many years, even though he had received real benefits, the Yan family never took it to heart.
"The matter of cultivating immortals has now been exposed. Just now, the two princes and the elders in the cabinet did not intend to explain. I must quickly go to Zhao Bu Tang to ask for clarification in case of any changes!"
Thinking of this, Li Zhiyuan hurriedly stepped into his sedan chair, casually told the servant to go to Zhao Butang's residence, and left in a hurry.
"What should we do?" Yan Maoqing looked at Luo Longwen.
Hearing this, Luo Longwen's face was uncertain for a long time, then he gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice: "Go to Yan's house!"
"Will it work?" Yan Maoqing asked uncertainly.
"Even if I have to kneel, I will kneel for a future!" Luo Longwen said, with a look of determination in his eyes.
After saying this, he strode away without paying any attention to Yan Maoqing behind him.
After staring at Luo Longwen's back for a while, Yan Maoqing nodded vigorously and quickly followed. In the thatched house in the Lingtian courtyard of the Yan Mansion.
The three generations of the Yan family, grandparents and grandchildren, also gathered together and began to discuss the next plan.
"Dad, do we need to place some people in the Ming Dynasty's Immortal Martial Division?" Yan Shifan asked first.
Hearing this, Yan Song raised his eyes and said, "Don't even think about the Ming Xianwu Division for now. This group of Xianwu Division people were all trained by Lu Bin himself. It's not an exaggeration to say that they are the Lu Family Army."
Yan Song spoke in a submissive tone, fiddling with the candlelight on the table, and said, "Next, the Immortal Guards will definitely appear before the world, and these Immortal Guards will also be deployed to various places in the army."
"At the same time as the reform begins, the military must also complete a complete replacement with the Immortal Guards."
"You can ask Ruzhen to arrange some young children to help train a group of guards for my Yan family." Yan Song looked at Yan Shifan and said, "Shifan, remember, no matter how fast the court develops in the future or how many armies the Xian Dynasty has, you must never touch the military power. This is the way for my Yan family to survive!"
After saying this, without waiting for Yan Shifan to speak, Yan Song turned his gaze to his grandson Yan Shaoting, who was sitting obediently and listening attentively.
A pair of old eyes stared at his grandson and second son.
"You all must remember that the goal of our Yan family is to become the number one immortal cultivation family in the Ming Dynasty. Our family influence can even reach every corner of the Ming Dynasty."
"But you must remember that my Yan family, no matter what time it is, must take the initiative to leave the emperor with a flaw that can be fatal to my Yan family, or even cause it to be irreparable!"
"Only in this way can the emperor rest assured that my Yan family will always be regarded as a good sword that is handy, easy to use, and will not bite its master!"
"... Dad!" Upon hearing this, Yan Shifan became anxious and was about to say something, but Yan Song raised his hand to interrupt him, "I know what you want to say. You are worried that the emperor will suddenly attack the Yan family one day. By that time, the Yan family will not even have the slightest room to resist..."
"That's right!" Yan Shifan saw that his thoughts were exposed by his father, and immediately said: "Dad, I understand that you do this to reassure the emperor, but you can't really leave yourself a way out, right?"
"You also knew that if Hu Zongxian stayed in the southeast, if the emperor wanted to take action against the Yan family one day, as long as Hu Zongxian did not fall in the southeast coastal area, my Yan family would not fall."
"At least there is someone to rely on, but why is it that after developing a family of immortal cultivation, they are left defenseless?"
In Yan Shifan's opinion, even if the Yan family wants to reassure the emperor, they should at least take precautions, right?
As the saying goes, living with the king is like living with a tiger!
What if one day the emperor does not want the Yan family to continue to survive, or even if the emperor wants to abdicate one day, how can the new emperor tolerate such a huge family as the Yan family when he ascends the throne?
So in Yan Shifan's view, no matter what, he must leave himself a way out.
In the future, the immortal cultivation family will exist for decades, hundreds of years, thousands of years, or even tens of thousands of years. If such a family heritage is destroyed by the imperial court, he will really be unwilling to accept it!
"Heh," Yan Song chuckled after hearing what Yan Shifan said, then turned to look at his grandson Yan Shaoting and said with a smile, "Look, your father is getting anxious again."
Faced with his grandfather's teasing of his father, Yan Shaoting naturally didn't dare to say anything. He could only lower his head and remain silent.
"Shifan," Yan Song sighed and said, "What do you think is the purpose of cultivating immortality?"
Hearing this, Yan Shifan was stunned, but still said: "Cultivating immortals, cultivating immortals is naturally for the purpose of becoming immortals."
"Can one achieve immortality by cultivating immortality?" Yan Song asked again.
"Of course not." Yan Shifan still didn't react, but he was used to his father's way of asking questions. "According to what Eunuch Lu said before, the maximum lifespan of mortals is 100 years. When the cultivation reaches the Qi training stage, the upper limit of lifespan is 150 years. The foundation building stage is 300 years. I don't know about the golden elixir stage yet..."
"It can be seen that each realm has an upper limit on lifespan."
"I'm afraid that only after truly cultivating and becoming an immortal can one achieve true immortality."
"That's right," Yan Song nodded and said, "Let me ask you again, what is the foundation of the Immortal Dynasty?"
"The foundation of cultivating immortals?" Yan Shifan was stunned, but still frowned and said, "This is too general..."
However, before he finished speaking, Yan Song said in a deep voice: "It is the number of people with the highest cultivation!"
"Cultivating immortals is a person's great power concentrated in one body!"
"If there are enough immortals in the Ming Dynasty, then the foundation will naturally accumulate and become deeper and deeper."
"And the true way for my Yan family to survive forever is to become an indispensable part of the imperial court..." Yan Song finished in one breath, staring at Yan Shifan with wide eyes, "Become an immortal!"
"As long as someone from my Yan family becomes an immortal, they can stand at the top together with the royal family and not fall behind. In addition, the Yan family is not greedy for power and will take the initiative to expose the weakness that will be fatal to the court..."
“Then the royal family will never give up the Yan family!”
"And this is the real long-term method!"
After these words were spoken, the thatched hut fell into a brief silence.
After a moment, Yan Shifan shuddered suddenly, and for a moment, his breathing became rapid. After his father Yan Song's reminder, he suddenly felt as if he had suddenly realized something.
Only then did he realize that his thinking had not yet changed from that of an ordinary person, and he had not learned to think from the perspective of an immortal cultivator.
The power of mortals comes from a group of people obeying the will of one person and having one person make the rules.
All under heaven belongs to the king, and all within the four seas are his subjects; this is the essence of the dynasty!
The power of a cultivator comes from himself. As long as your cultivation is strong enough, you can be the one who makes the rules.
An immortal cultivation dynasty is a group of immortal cultivators gathered together and made them submit to one immortal cultivator. On the surface, there may seem to be no changes, but in essence, they have changed.
In the Mortal Dynasty, if anyone is missing, there will always be someone else to take his place!
But if the Immortal Cultivation Dynasty lacks a top cultivator to support the imperial power, it would be a loss for the imperial power. There are not many top cultivators, and if you are an immortal-like being, then you are even more indispensable.
After all, the more advanced one becomes in cultivating immortals, the fewer people can reach the pinnacle.
As long as you are an indispensable existence in this immortal cultivation dynasty, you and the family behind you will also be irreplaceable.
And this is also the reason for developing the immortal cultivation family.
Because even the founder of the family is not sure that he can reach the top, so he has to develop the younger generation of the family.
If someone in the family can reach the top, then with the protection of this top person, the family will be safe.
"Times have changed," Yan Song said in a gentle voice, "We must look at the problem from the perspective of the immortal cultivators and the immortal cultivator families."
"The mortal dynasty's methods may not change much in governing the country, but they are not suitable for saving the family after all."
"Only in the early stage, before the emperor abdicates, the Yan family maintains absolute obedience and develops the family well."
"To forge iron, one must be strong himself!"
"Huh!" Yan Shifan took a deep breath and exhaled, then nodded solemnly and said, "Yes, Dad, I understand..."
"Well," seeing that Yan Shifan understood, Yan Song did not say more about this matter, and changed the subject, saying: "Next, the officials will definitely not give up like this, we have to take action too."
Putting away his thoughts, Yan Shifan raised his eyebrows and said, "Dad, do you mean that we can develop a new faction in the court?"
"Well," Yan Song nodded, and said in a submissive tone, "Since the rectification of the civil service, the six ministries, the Supervisory Office, the Dali Temple, the Hanlin Academy, and the Imperial Observatory have been replaced one after another. Whether it is my Yan family or the Qingliu family, many people have been replaced until the dispute between the three religions. There was another reshuffle."
"Next, you will reform the law, and matters related to cultivating immortals will be gradually relaxed. If nothing unexpected happens, this group of new officials may be granted immortal methods and embark on the path of cultivating immortals."
"After all, the Immortal Dynasty cannot be composed of only the cabinet members."
"As for when the next reshuffle of power under the cabinet will begin, that is unknown."
"One hundred years, one thousand years, or even several thousand years is possible... The development of the Immortal Cultivation Family also requires useful people."
Hearing his father say this, Yan Shifan nodded to show that he understood.
"Knock, knock, knock." At this time, there was a knock on the door of Lingtian Courtyard, followed by a servant shouting, "Master, Minister Yan Maoqing and Minister Luo Longwen want to see you!"
Hearing the servant's shout, Yan Song looked up at Yan Shifan and said, "I guess you are here for today's matter. What do you think?"
"Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen are both useful people," Yan Shifan said hesitantly, "My son means that they can be used. If there are better candidates in the future, the worst that can happen is that they can be discarded."
“Even if I grant him immortality in the future, if he wants to abandon it and send it to a remote place, the spiritual resources are insufficient, and sooner or later he will be nothing more than a pile of dirt…”
"At least these two are used to it now. If someone else were to use it, some things might not be done well."
"Well," Yan Song nodded, "I'm tired, you can handle these."
Seeing this, Yan Shifan winked at his son Yan Shaoting, and then the father and son stood up, bowed, and left the thatched hut.
The residence of the Minister of War, Li Chengwu.
At this time, people from the first camp and the second camp gathered together. Some of them had already sided with the Yan Party, some with the Qingliu Party, and some had been newly transferred to the Six Ministries, the Hanlin Academy, and the Inspectorate.
At this moment, this group of senior officials under the cabinet are holding a secret meeting!
Everyone turned their eyes to Li Chengwu who was sitting at the top.
"Everyone," at this time, Li Chengwu, the Minister of War, still looked like a tough guy, but his temperament had completely changed, "things have changed!"
The words "things have changed" made everyone present look grim.
"Everyone knows why we are gathered here, so I will not waste any more words and get straight to the point!" Li Chengwu clasped his fists to everyone and said, "Today's 'dragon sucking water' phenomenon and the 'Xianlin' that can be said to be a blessing from the gods, everyone has seen it with their own eyes and felt it firsthand."
"Before that, in the 40th year of Jiajing's reign, Yinshan was destroyed, auspicious signs fell from the sky, and the elite Tatars were annihilated. Before that, the shadow of an immortal appeared in the sky," Li Chengwu said in a deep voice:
"This shows that the imperial court had already established contact with the immortals nine years ago, or even earlier, and had obtained the immortal fate."
"All the elders in the cabinet, the scene of walking briskly in the rain today was witnessed by all. Also, the attitude of the two princes towards this matter shows that the court has really concealed the secret of the immortal!"
"I just want to ask you, do you also want to have a chance to be an immortal?"
At this moment, Li Chengwu no longer looked like the rough warrior from before. He was clearly a man who was rough but meticulous.
"Li Bu Tang," the head scholar of the Hanlin Academy, Yang Shoucheng, was a thin old man with deep-set eyes. He cupped his hands and said, "Even if the court has a chance to become immortal, the elders in the cabinet have already obtained this chance. How can we obtain it?"
Upon hearing this, the others also nodded.
Even if the imperial court could really come into contact with immortals, and the emperor and the cabinet elders had already obtained the opportunity to become immortals, this thing would definitely be an absolute secret. How could they obtain it?
However, as everyone looked at Li Chengwu's confident look, they began to feel a little excited.
I hope they can come up with a practical solution.
"..."
(End of this chapter)
