Gossips about Qin Xueshi's inhumanity were still circulating in the capital. Although nothing seemed to happen after that, it still made Zhang Zan, the chief minister of the Ministry of War, very uneasy.
Anyone who knows a little bit about the history of Qin Dewei's struggle cannot feel at ease at this time.
Qin Dewei will definitely not have enough to eat and have nothing to do, just to get a slap in the face for coming to the door, without any other practical benefits.
Therefore, Zhang Dasima also became cautious and even suspended his business of selling officials, and even the customers disappeared.
That day, Zhang Da Sima returned home and was thinking hard when his disciple came to report again.
Zhang Zan was unhappy with his thoughts being interrupted, and scolded his disciples: "I told you I wouldn't see guests! Why are you bothering me again?"
The disciple responded: "It's Master Chengyan of Shangbaosi who is here. He said he is here to help the master solve his problems!"
When he heard that his new ally was Yan Shifan, the young master from Yange's hometown, Zhang Zan ordered the people to be invited in again.
After the guests and hosts had seen each other and sat down, Yan Shifan took the initiative and said to Zhang Dashima: "I have the most experience fighting with Qin Dewei in the whole capital, and I am the only one who understands Qin Dewei best!"
Zhang Zan really wanted to say, could the experience you Yan Shifan mentioned be the experience of being exiled eight thousand miles?
But after thinking about Yan Shifan's father, Zhang Dashima just smiled with high emotional intelligence and encouraged Yan Shifan to continue.
Yan Shifan still attached great importance to Zhang Zan, a newly recruited ally. Firstly, Zhang Zan was in an important position, and secondly, he judged that Zhang Zan had a hidden plot in the palace. This might be a great help.
Therefore, Yan Shifan continued with full confidence: "Qin Dewei is just inducing but not taking action at the moment, and there is absolutely no chance that he will stop here. He is just waiting for the opportunity!
I dare to conclude that this time is the court meeting on February 12th, and Qin Dewei will definitely make trouble at the court meeting!"
Zhang Zan couldn't help but ask: "How will he attack?"
Yan Shifan replied: "There will definitely be people at the court who will criticize you for taking bribes and selling out your position. Qin Dewei's side is very powerful and it will be easy for them to besiege you, so the first priority is to resolve the criticism first!"
Fifteen thousand taels of silver is a big gimmick, but Qin Dewei is very good at creating topics, expanding influence, and then using the situation to bully people!"
Zhang Zan said: "Bribery is unwarranted. At that time, just deny it directly. Your Majesty cannot go to war just because of the rumor."
To put it bluntly, accepting a little money is probably not a heinous crime in the eyes of the emperor. It is not corruption directly from the treasury. Besides, there is also the secret help of Zhang Gong, the chief official of the ceremony.
Yan Shifan said flatly: "No! Denying it directly is not the best strategy! Da Sima must understand that you are not arguing with Qin Dewei, what you both said is for the emperor to hear!
Qin Dewei is very good at guessing the emperor's heart, so he can often take advantage of opportunities in the court!
Your Majesty is suspicious by nature. If you directly argue with Qin Dewei, you may fall into a quagmire and end up in an inexplicable situation!
So you don’t need to argue against Qin Dewei, you just need to let the emperor understand you and fight back against Qin Dewei. This is the way to escape unscathed!"
Zhang Zan was very interested when he heard this, and immediately asked: "I heard earlier that Lord Yan is very resourceful, how can such a plan be implemented?"
Yan Shifan replied confidently: "Does the Chief Sima know that Yujia Yuanfenghao Bank is Qin Dewei's property?
As far as I know, the fifteen thousand taels of silver were eventually moved back to Yuan Feng Hao Bank on Qipan Street!
Therefore, Qin Dewei must have withdrawn this money from the bank first, and he also expected that you dare not accept it, Da Sima, so you dared to come and bluff!
I think we should start from here!
At the court meeting, Da Sima could report to His Majesty that because the border town was short of silver and he heard that Qin Dewei had money from a bank, he jokingly asked the bank to donate silver.
Unexpectedly, because Qin Dewei was dissatisfied with his father's selection of officials, he deliberately quarreled with Da Sima and moved fifteen thousand taels of silver from the bank to the house to cause trouble, which caused rumors to spread."
Zhang Zan was not familiar with Yan Shifan before, so he hesitated deliberately and said: "It is not a gentleman to make such false accusations out of thin air."
Yan Shifan concluded with emotion: "What is frame-up? When dealing with Qin Dewei, you can't be too honest. You have to put aside the facts. If you need to fabricate it, you must fabricate it!"
Anyway, when Qin Dewei and Da Sima were talking about things, there were no outsiders present, so just making up a few words that were half true and half false was enough to make a huge difference."
Zhang Da Sima then struck the case and said: "It's wonderful!"
If interpreted in this way, the nature of the fifteen thousand taels of silver incident has changed. This is not a bribery incident, but a selfish and grudge incident.
Also, if the owner of a bank takes money from the bank casually to fight against others, the reputation of the bank will be damaged.
In this way, Grand Sima Zhang Zan finally slept a little more peacefully. As long as he mastered Qin Dewei's routine and then did the opposite, Qin Dewei didn't seem so scary.
Yan Shifan was also secretly proud that he helped Zhang Zan overcome the difficulties and could start to intervene in the affairs of the Ministry of War in the future.
In the blink of an eye, it was February 12th, and a group of ministers gathered in front of the Wenhua Hall early, chatting in small groups.
Everyone was very motivated this time. After all, from the emperor's mother's death to now, including today, Emperor Jiajing has only gone to court twice in total.
This made everyone very emotional and deeply moved by Emperor Jiajing's filial piety.
Only Qin Dewei, who knew the future well, sighed secretly, and could only say that we should do it and cherish it, and see it once less.
After returning from the southern tour, it would be good for Emperor Jiajing to go to court twice in three years.
Later on, the emperor and his ministers would probably rely on passing small notes to communicate with each other. In this mode, the cabinet guarding the palace would really take advantage.
This is also one of the superficial reasons why the power of the Jiajing Dynasty cabinet has been strengthened unprecedentedly, completely overtaking the six ministries, and the chief minister has become more and more dominant.
As for the underlying reason, Emperor Jiajing consciously strengthened the power of his chief ministers and cabinet in order to achieve control over foreign dynasties.
After all, an emperor who was obsessed with cultivating immortals did not have the energy to directly manage all ministries, courtyards, temples, and prisons, so he centralized power through the cabinet, especially the chief minister.
In the midst of Qin Dewei's imagination about the future, Emperor Jiajing was enthroned in the palace, and all the ministers came to the palace to pay their respects.
After the dance and worship were completed, the classes were divided into groups. Emperor Jiajing announced that February 16th was an auspicious day, and it was scheduled to set off on the southern tour on this day.
The ministers could only complain in their hearts, today is February 12th, why should they just announce that they will set off in four days?
This is very Jiajing, the emperor is so impatient, just get used to it.
Then Emperor Jiajing issued another edict. Today, he will first sort out the recent court affairs and eliminate all unstable factors, and then discuss the affairs of the southern tour.
When it comes to unstable factors, many people have something to say.
Zhang Chao, the Minister of Rites, strode out of the queue and told the emperor: "Recently, Qin Dewei, a bachelor of Zuo Chunfang and a Hanlin scholar, came to the house of Zhang Zan, the Minister of War, carrying 15,000 taels of silver!
He also said in public that Zhang Zan demanded a bribe of fifteen thousand taels, which is really shocking! The news spread all over the capital, and the officials and the people were talking about it, and everyone was suspicious!"
It's coming! It's coming! Most of the officials are not too surprised. Anyone with a little political experience can tell that Qin Dewei will definitely attack Zhang Zan today.
Zhang Chaona, the Minister of Rites, was Qin Dewei's personal teacher, so it was not surprising that he was the main attacker.
At this time, Zhang Zan also came out and said to His Majesty: "I also have something to say about this! Please excuse me!"
Zhang Zan came out to defend himself, which was expected by everyone. Zhang Chao, who had spoken earlier, thought about it and let Zhang Zan speak first.
Zhang Zan then laid out the story of his discussion with Yan Shifan, and counterattacked: "I impeach Qin Dewei for his willful behavior, interference in the selection of officials, and indiscriminate anger, which is disrespectful to the official body and ruins the reputation of the court!"
In this way, Zhang Zan placed the main responsibility entirely on Qin Dewei, and the performance art of ridicule and slap in the face turned into a completely irresponsible and willful act.
The bank did exist, and Qin Dewei did move money from the bank, but he couldn't explain it at all. Originally it was Zhang Zan who couldn't explain it, but it turned out that Qin Dewei couldn't explain it.
This angle of defense was unexpected by everyone. Everyone secretly thought, under the premise that Qin Dewei launched an impeachment attack against Zhang Zan, this result is considered a big reversal?
I don’t know whether the facts are true or not, but Zhang Zan’s interpretation does sound quite similar.
It should be said that although everyone is an old bureaucrat and will not be gullible, Zhang Zan's statement is really in line with Qin Dewei's little overlord persona and temperament.
Zhang Zan secretly glanced at Qin Dewei in the crowd, and saw Qin Dewei's shocked look, and felt reassured.
Zhang Chao, the Minister of Rites who was the first to speak before, sighed, reorganized his words and said: "Zhang Sima of the Ministry of War may have misunderstood. I have no intention of impeaching Zhang Sima."
Hearing this, everyone was puzzled. If you don't want to impeach Zhang Zan, what are you talking about?
Then Zhang Chao loudly told Emperor Jiajing: "I want to impeach Qin Dewei and blackmail the Zhang family of Jianchang Hou for fifteen thousand taels!"
Everyone: ""
I don’t know why, but I feel like I don’t have enough brain power.
Even Zhang Zan, the opponent, was confused and had no idea where to start. What does this have to do with the Zhang family of Jianchang Hou?
But after hearing the two key words "Jianchang Hou Zhang Family" and "fifteen thousand taels", Emperor Jiajing, who was very tight recently, shouted sensitively: "Qin Dewei! Is this possible?"
Finally it was his turn to play. Qin Dewei rushed out of the class and replied:
"It's all a misunderstanding! I'm not extorting money, I'm actually borrowing money from the Zhang family! There are also two copies of the loan document, which can be used as proof!"
Everyone was speechless. If Qin Dewei really lent money to the Zhang family, would the Zhang family be able to ask you to pay it back? What is the difference between borrowing money and blackmailing?
Emperor Jiajing sneered: "Why didn't I know that the Zhang family is so generous to you?"
Qin Dewei quickly explained: "It's not that I have this ability, but Zhang Zan, the Minister of War, has this ability!"
Everyone didn't know how serious this sentence was, but they all felt that the real drama was about to come today.
Zhang Zan still didn't understand Qin Dewei's intentions at all, so he could only scold him: "You are so slanderous!"