Chapter 205: Gift of treasure, reflection of destiny!
At the end of September in the 52nd year of Jiajing.
The imperial court announced another decree to the world, which immediately caused an uproar and cheers from the people.
"The Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty issued an edict:"
"I have heard that the way of heaven and earth is to value harmony; the governance of a country is based on the safety of the people. Today, our great Ming Dynasty has been blessed with virtue, the country is peaceful and the people are united. We have reached the state of an immortal dynasty. The people live a prosperous life, and the society is stable and harmonious. This is truly a prosperous era."
"However, although the ancient curfew was for preventing accidents and maintaining public order, it was also inconvenient for the people. In view of the fact that the country is now peaceful and the people are safe, and thieves are hiding, I have carefully considered and issued this decree to announce that from now on, the curfew system in the capital and various places will be abolished, so that the people can travel at night without hindrance, and merchants and travelers can travel conveniently, and share the blessings of the Immortal Dynasty."
"For this reason, all prefectures, counties and districts must immediately convey this decree and make it known to everyone. Officials in all places should strengthen night patrols to ensure the safety of the people and protect the order of our Ming Dynasty. Anyone who disobeys this decree will be severely punished according to the law."
"I hope that the people of our Immortal Dynasty will understand this intention, cherish the current prosperity and stability, continue to work diligently, and jointly create the glory of the Immortal Dynasty."
"This is my decree. I will obey it."
The main purpose of Yan Shifan's "Innovation" reform was to break the old dynasty system. It was impossible that it could be completed in just a few years as originally planned.
But it requires transformation from generation to generation!
An imperial examination is nothing more than a test of the feasibility of the national policy of "inspiring innovation".
For the Chinese people living under the old dynasty system, there is no doubt that power and money are their lifelong pursuits.
If we want to make the national policy of "inspiring innovation" feasible and subtly change the people's thinking in the future, we must first find the right path.
There is no doubt that this road is the road to imperial examination!
If the common people wanted to gain power and money, the only way to achieve this goal was through the imperial examination, unless they were born into a family of high-ranking officials.
As long as it is recognized by the imperial examination, the people will also recognize it.
Even lowly merchants, dancers, musicians, and craftsmen could take part in the imperial examinations, and enter the Imperial Academy to teach and receive instruction. These seemed incredible to the vast majority of the people, but as long as the imperial court approved, they would also approve of it!
All things are inferior except reading? Times have changed!
In the Great Ming Dynasty, everything is of top quality, and every profession can produce a top talent!
The implementation of the Ming Dynasty's national policy of "initiating thinking and innovation" is to subtly plant a seed in the hearts of every future generation of the Ming Dynasty that will take root and sprout!
This seed is called "Pride"!
After it takes root and sprouts, it will tell every citizen that you are no less powerful than anyone else, and as long as you are willing to work hard, you will live a superior life. When the Ming Dynasty ushers in the era of cultivating immortals, everyone has the most basic and most solid heart of Taoism to practice against the will of heaven!
Cultivating immortals is a way for living beings to break the laws of nature and regain new life. How can one cultivate immortals if one's heart is weak?
Whether one's faith in Taoism is firm or not is determined by one's living environment, experiences, background, etc. There is a limit to what Jiajing can do, but at least he wants to ensure that the people of the Ming Dynasty will not have their faith in Taoism constrained by the court system.
The people of this generation of the Ming Dynasty can only make limited changes, but Jiajing believes that as generation after generation of people are born, every citizen of the Ming Dynasty is born with a self-important heart!
When every child comes into this world, from the moment he is sensible, his parents and teachers will tell him that he can be an official, the chief minister of the cabinet, or a minister of one of the six ministries; he can cultivate immortality and achieve immortality!
Instead of telling him that only the son of the Prime Minister can be the Prime Minister, and not only the son of a minister can be a minister; people with poor talents cannot practice Taoism, and the descendants of those who practice Taoism cannot practice Taoism.
It doesn't mean you are inferior to others just because your father is a craftsman, and you shouldn't feel inferior because your mother is a dancer.
You are you, and your future will be bright!
When every citizen of the Ming Dynasty, from the day they come into this world, can have a self-important heart, that will be the day when the national policy of "initiating innovation" is truly completed.
As for now, there is still a long way to go. These five years can only be said to have paved the way for reform.
At noon, in the main hall of Yuxi Palace.
The two princes sat under the imperial throne, while Yan Song sat on a small stool reserved for the chief minister of his own cabinet, with the cabinet and the Imperial Household Department on both sides below.
There are no clean figures in the current cabinet.
"Order, Yan Shifan, the Grand Secretary of Wenhua Palace, to concurrently serve as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and Zhao Qiansun to be appointed as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue..."
At this time, in the main hall of Yuxi Palace, Yan Shifan was holding a memorial in his hand, reporting in a rhythmic manner the personnel appointments after the imperial examination.
"Order, Li Zhi, former doctor of the Nanjing Imperial College, is appointed as the Minister of Rites, and Li Wenhua, former deputy minister of the Ministry of Rites, is promoted to assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites."
"Appoint Li Yuanming as the Minister of Personnel, Zhang Xiaoxian as the Vice Minister... Left Censor-in-Chief Zhang Huiyan, a craftsman from Lu, as the Vice Minister of Works..."
"Wang Chonggu, the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, concurrently serves as the Minister of War, Meng, Zhao Mingjing, serves as the Minister of Dali Temple..." Upon hearing this, Prince Yu above slightly raised the corner of his mouth.
Wang Chonggu is a member of the New Party in the cabinet and is his man!
Of course, the Dali Temple was also assigned to his post.
"Order, Yu Dayou, the Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion, concurrently serves as the Minister of Justice, and Li Fayan serves as the Vice Minister of Justice..."
Similarly, a smile appeared in King Jing's eyes when he heard this.
Xu Jie, Li Chengwu and others were kicked out of the cabinet, and the power factions in the court were naturally divided between them and the Yan family.
Just as Yan Shifan read out the list, the Yan family took the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel and the Inspectorate, the remaining Ministry of War and the Dali Temple went to Prince Yu, and the Ministry of Justice went to Prince Jing.
Of course, this is only part of the civilian staff. For example, the three major camps are now all controlled by the New Party.
Although Hu Zongxian, as the Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace, did not hold the six ministries concurrently, he was in charge of the Three Thousand Battalions. Wang Chonggu was in charge of the Five Military Battalions, and finally the Shenji Battalion was under the jurisdiction of King Jing.
Although Hu Zongxian was a new upstart in the court and had great prestige in the army among the New Party, and he was also a disciple of Yan Song, it can be said that the Yan family was sensible enough not to touch the army.
But everyone with a clear mind knew that behind the 3,000-man battalion led by Hu Zongxian stood the Yan family.
But this was the emperor's intention. Hu Zongxian's role was to balance the new upstarts in the army, Wang Chonggu and Yu Dayou. However, the power behind him was too weak and he needed the Yan family.
Only if the Yan family stood behind Hu Zongxian, he would be qualified to form a three-way balance of power with Prince Yu and Prince Jing.
Now everyone in the court knows that in the coming Ming Dynasty, the real protagonists will no longer be civil officials, but military generals!
As for why the Yan family did not touch military power?
The reason is very simple. The Yan family’s rule of survival is to never touch anything that can affect the imperial power.
I won't touch it even if it's just a little bit!
And it is precisely because Yan Song knew that as long as he continued to be so sensible, the emperor would be able to use them with confidence.
In this way, the power of the Yan family can always exist.
"The above are the new personnel appointments for the six ministries. Your Majesty, please make your decision." After Yan Shifan finished reading, he bowed to Jiajing.
"Okay." Jiajing raised his finger slightly.
Jiajing didn't care much about who was appointed to the six ministries. From now on, the salaries of all Ming officials would become spiritual resources. No matter whether it was the two kings or Yan Song, if the political performance of the promoted people did not meet the standards, then they would be the ones who suffered the loss.
Therefore, for the sake of their own political achievements and the family's huge cultivation resources in the future, they will inevitably promote some capable people.
Even more, if the political achievements they are responsible for do not meet the standards, one day they will be kicked out of the core of power in the Ming Dynasty.
The fate of Xu Jie and others told them that even if they were the second batch of immortal cultivators and the high-level combat power of the Ming Dynasty, if they could not benefit the court or did not meet the emperor's requirements...
The only outcome is to exit in disgrace!
To put it bluntly, the reason why Xu Jie and other members of the Qingliu faction were kicked out of the cabinet this time was because of Xu Jie's plan, which failed to meet the emperor's standards.
If he could do a better job, defeat Li Chengwu and protect himself, the emperor would naturally not kick him out.
Therefore, even though they are now at the pinnacle of power in the Ming Dynasty, only they themselves know that being at the pinnacle also has its own frustrations and difficulties.
Standing at the top does not mean you can live in peace. If you are not careful, you will fall from the clouds, or even be doomed!
"I have said before that after the imperial examination, I will predict your destiny and grant you the destiny items." At this time, under the expectant gaze of everyone, Jiajing's face was slightly relaxed, and he said, "I know you are all waiting impatiently, so let's get started without further delay."
Hearing this, even Yan Song, who had always been calm and composed, as if he could face anything with ease, couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat.
As for Yan Shifan and others, their faces were filled with undisguised excitement and excitement!
What the emperor said was right. For them, ever since the Immortal Dynasty was announced to the world, what they have been looking forward to in their hearts is their destiny and their destiny objects.
After all, this thing concerns their immortal path and life and death.
They are now at the pinnacle of power in the Ming Dynasty.
They only need to make the resources of the Ming Dynasty more and more, and then they can use these resources to polish their natal objects, and then let their natal objects feed back to themselves.
"Zhu Zai'ao and Zhu Zaizhen, I will tell you your destiny later," Jiajing looked at Yan Song first, "Lord Yan, you go first."
"I, your humble servant, thank the Emperor." Yan Song did not care that the Emperor did not disclose the destiny of the two kings, but chose to disclose the destiny of himself and others. After all, the Emperor was willing to reveal his destiny to him in advance, which was already a blessing to him. What else could he ask for?
Besides, only a few people present knew about my destiny. Even if it was leaked, what would happen? Would anyone in the Ming Dynasty dare to attack the Prime Minister?
In fact, in the world of cultivating immortals, one's true identity is not easily revealed to others just to make oneself appear more mysterious and reserved, so as to avoid being ambushed by others when fighting in the dangerous world of cultivating immortals.
After all, the world of cultivating immortals is too vast and mysterious, and there are endless mysterious immortal arts, forbidden techniques, and secret techniques.
One day, someone might develop a powerful technique to manipulate one's destiny, so even some powerful Nascent Soul cultivators would not easily show their destiny to others. Even those powerful Sanxian-level cultivators would habitually regard their destiny as their own privacy.
Naturally, a person would not want to reveal his or her privacy to others easily, except for perverts of course.
But there was no such concern in the Ming Dynasty.
First of all, no matter how the future develops, Yan Song and others will definitely be the most powerful group of immortal cultivators at the forefront of the Immortal Dynasty.
Secondly, within the Ming Dynasty, Yan Song and others were immortal officials. As long as Jiajing didn't want to, no one could use their fate to take action against the ministers.
Thirdly, the Great Ming Immortal Dynasty had only just started, and had not yet formed a unique foundation belonging to the world of immortal cultivation. Naturally, such things as one's own destiny would not be treated as private.
"Roar!" As a horrifying tiger roar sounded, everyone saw above the hall a black tiger with bloodshot eyes. It jumped up with extreme greed and roared at everyone.
Black Tiger?!
Everyone was stunned when they saw that Yan Song's real life was actually a black evil tiger.
Then he looked at the old man with a white beard standing in the hall with a hunched back, who looked as if he could be blown down by a gust of wind. The life hidden in his sea of consciousness was so ferocious and terrifying.
But then, everyone thought of Yan Song's various behaviors and methods during his tenure as an official, and combined them with the black tiger in front of them, and for a moment, they felt that it was very appropriate.
Yan Song was a vicious tiger in the Ming Dynasty!
If anyone really regards him as an ordinary old man, he will be eaten until not even a bone is left.
“No wonder…” Among all the people present, the one who was most deeply touched was naturally the young cabinet minister Yan Shifan.
At this time, Yan Shifan looked absentmindedly at the black evil tiger reflected by Jiajing's own life in the hall.
"No wonder, ever since my father started cultivating immortality, his words, actions, and even his eyes can sometimes make me shudder. It turns out that his destiny is such a fierce creature..." Thinking of this, Yan Shifan became curious again, "I wonder what my destiny is?"
"People say that a tiger father will have a dog son. My father's destiny is a ferocious tiger... Could it be that my destiny is also a tiger?" Thinking about it, Yan Shifan couldn't help but become a little nervous.
Well, he is representing his own destiny at the moment and is not powerful. If this is the case, wouldn’t it be a laughing stock?
"Your original body is a black tiger, which belongs to the animal species. It just so happens that I have a young tiger cub here, so I will give it to you..." Jiajing said, and with a wave of his hand, a beast-taming bag appeared.
As a stream of spiritual power was released, the beast-taming bag opened, and a small black tiger about the size of an ordinary tiger jumped out, came to the hall, and looked around curiously.
"The spirit beast needs to recognize its master. You can drip blood on it now to recognize it as your master and complete the master-servant contract."
Hearing Jiajing's words, Yan Song did not dare to neglect and did as he was told. He circulated his spiritual power, forced a drop of blood from his fingertips, and then dripped it onto the head of the young tiger in front of him.
"Buzz!" As blood was forced out of Yan Song's fingertips, Jiajing's will also fell on the young tiger, allowing it to open its mind and take the initiative to complete the master-servant contract with Yan Song.
As if it was born with it, as long as it was a spiritual beast, there was a blood covenant inheritance in its bloodline.
With this blood contract, the spirit beast can sign a master-servant contract with any living being, as if the spirit beast was born to sign a master-servant contract with humans.
It is also because spiritual beasts have this characteristic that the vast majority of cultivators in the world of immortal cultivation will choose spiritual beasts rather than ferocious beasts or rare beasts when looking for mounts or spiritual beasts to protect their sect.
Of course, there are many types of blood contracts.
The most common one is naturally the master-servant contract. Of course, the "master" can be a human or a "beast", depending on the wishes of both parties when signing the contract.
A characteristic of the master-servant contract is that if the master dies, the spirit beast dies, but if the spirit beast dies, the master lives.
It's very unfair, but any cultivator will choose a master-servant contract when looking for a spirit beast. Because only in this way will the spirit beast live and die for the master wholeheartedly.
Of course, this also leads to the fact that most spirit beasts hate human cultivators very much.
Some spirit beasts even resist fiercely when being signed into master-servant contracts in order to avoid the humiliation of becoming someone else's mount, and some even choose to self-destruct.
However, in response to this, many powerful monks have also developed a way to prevent the spirit beasts from self-destructing. What's more, some even go so far as to erase the spirit beasts' will.
In short, in the world of cultivating immortals, there are many descriptions about signing master-servant contracts in the "General Notes on Cultivation". Each one of them is extremely unfair and cruel to spiritual beasts, but very useful to human cultivators!
There is also a companion contract, which is a contract between equals between both parties. The spirit beast is not the master's mount but a fellow Taoist.
If we encounter danger, both sides will live and die together!
Even if one party does not want to die with the fellow Taoist, they can take the initiative to withdraw from the contract without suffering any backlash.
There is another type, which is the "human-pet contract"!
Humans can forcibly sign contracts with spirit beasts. Conversely, some powerful spirit beasts that can transform can naturally be kept as pets by humans, which are often called "human pets."
Compared to some spirit beasts that are fierce and would rather die than surrender, human cultivators are relatively much more docile.
Even if they become "pets", in most cases they will choose to swallow their anger and survive.
This is what makes the spiritual beasts in the world of cultivating immortals feel ashamed. In the eyes of the spiritual beasts, the human race is an evil race.
If a spiritual beast is abducted by humans and signs a master-servant contract, it will be no different from living a life worse than death.
Although the little tiger in front of him is a cub, it has an instinctive rejection of signing a contract in its blood. However, it was captured by Jiajing from the world of immortal cultivation, so it is naturally controlled by its native Ming Dynasty.
Under Jiajing's will, the tiger cub's struggle disappeared instantly.
Then, as if sensing something, the black tiger cub let out a childish tiger roar, jumped, opened its little mouth, and swallowed the drop of Yan Song's blood.
"Boom!" As the master-servant contract was signed, a red light flashed across the young tiger's head, and a mysterious pattern flashed by.
At this moment, looking at the young tiger in front of him, Yan Song suddenly had a strange feeling.
"Yan Song," Jiajing spoke again at this time, "Although you now have your natal item, you have not yet established your foundation, and your primordial spirit has not been born, so naturally there is no divine messenger bound to your natal item."
"Even if your spirit beast reaches the foundation-building stage, it will not help your cultivation at all."
Upon hearing Jiajing's words, Yan Song, Yan Shifan and others were all stunned, but they all reacted soon after.
Lu Fang had already mentioned this point when he explained to them the relationship between their natal sign and their natal objects.
Just now, I was just overwhelmed by the joy of the Emperor revealing my destiny and bestowing my destiny object, and I temporarily forgot about this.
Looking back now, it’s not unacceptable.
"Your Majesty, I am old now. Even though I have been granted immortality by Your Majesty and my family has a spiritual vein, I have enough resources for cultivation," Yan Song said in a gentle and pitiful tone, "but if I want to break through the foundation before my lifespan runs out, there is still little hope."
"Now that the Ming Dynasty has just started, I still have many things to worry about. I can't let go of the court, I can't let go of the country..." As he said this, Yan Song knelt on the ground and said, "I hope Your Majesty will have mercy on me and grant me a way to survive."
Who is Yan Song? He is a very smart person!
How could he not understand that since Jiajing had bestowed the natal objects upon them, how could he not know that it was impossible for him and others to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage before their lifespans ran out during the Qi Refining Stage?
So, he had already anticipated that Jiajing would definitely have a way!
Who among the people present was not experienced and shrewd? Even Yu Dayou, a "new recruit" in the officialdom, heard the hidden meaning behind Yan Song's words.
Suddenly, everyone looked at Jiajing with hope.
Jiajing looked at Yan Song, with satisfaction in his eyes.
Yan Song was indeed useful. He could immediately understand any of my deep meanings without me having to explain them explicitly, and he would take the lead and set an example.
"I do have a way to bind your destiny to your destiny object in advance. You only need to focus on polishing your destiny object, and you can repay it," Jiajing said, hesitating in his tone.
"But I'm afraid you guys are not willing to use this method..."
"Everything we have is given by Your Majesty. No matter what method it is, I am willing to give it a try!" Yan Song spoke immediately.
"..."
Note 1: The titles of the cabinet, in order of honor, are:
Grand Secretary of Huagai Palace (Chief Assistant), Grand Secretary of Jinshen Palace (Second Assistant), Grand Secretary of Wenhua Palace, Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace, Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, Grand Secretary of Dongge, etc. Among them, Huagai Palace was renamed Zhongji Palace in the late Jiajing period, and Jinshen Palace was renamed Jianji Palace in the late Jiajing period. To serve the plot, this book has always used the names before the name change.
Note 2: Generally speaking, the ranking is that the "Palace" is higher than the "Pavilion", that is, the rank of the "Three Palaces" is higher than that of the "Three Pavilions". Among the "Three Pavilions", the status of the Wenyuan Pavilion is usually higher than that of the Dong Pavilion.
However, the specific order depends on the size of power. There are too many elements. To serve the plot, this book adopts the simplest and crudest one, namely the three-palace and three-cabinet system.
(End of this chapter)
