Chapter 51 The Emperor Never Changes

The news that Yan's residence was surrounded by the Eastern Depot spread throughout the capital in an instant, like wings. All the righteous people were excited after hearing the news!
"Our emperor has finally seen through the true face of Yan the thief. May God bless the Ming Dynasty!"

Shen Lian excitedly shouted out the anger that had been pent up in his heart for a long time.

Shen Lian was a juren in the tenth year of Jiajing. At that time, Shen Lian's father, Shen Bi, was unhappy at home. As early as when Shen Lian was still young, he ignored his family's dissuasion and insisted on selling his family property for hundreds of taels of gold, traveling around the capital, and vowed not to return home. At this time, Shen Lian went to Beijing to take part in the imperial examination and met his father who had been in poverty for a long time again.

In the eleventh year of the Jiajing reign, he, like many other ambitious candidates who hoped to make a breakthrough in the imperial examination, also wanted to stand out in the imperial examination, pass the exam, bring honor to his family, and return home with his father.

But unfortunately, the intensity of the imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty could almost be described as tragic. Three or four thousand candidates took the exam together, but in the end only two or three hundred were selected as new Jinshi.

So Shen Lian naturally did not have such good luck and he failed the exam.

Shen Bi, who was determined to make a name for himself, felt ashamed to return home with his son Shen Lian when he saw that his son failed the imperial examination.

But as a filial son, how could Shen Lian watch his father wandering alone?
So Shen Lian begged his father to go back to his hometown with him and reunite with his mother.

Shen Bi insisted on not going back, and Shen Lian could not help but wail and cry, and knelt down for a long time.

Shen Bi was finally moved by his son Shen Lian's filial piety and repented. He wept and said, "My son is so filial. What else can I worry about? I can go home now."

After welcoming his father back home, Shen Lian did not blame or neglect his father because of his family's poverty. Instead, he served his father wholeheartedly and entertained him with food and water.

In the 12th year of Jiajing, Shen Lian's mother, Madam Yu, fell ill. Shen Lian stayed by her bedside day and night for three months without taking off his clothes, burning incense and praying to the heavens, hoping that he could be sick instead of his mother. Soon, Madam Yu recovered, and the villagers said that this was because Shen Lian's filial piety moved the heavens.

Therefore, Shen Lian's name as a filial son spread and he became a moral role model in the local area.

In the 17th year of Jiajing, after several years of precipitation, Shen Lian finally passed the imperial examination and was appointed magistrate of Liyang (now in Jiangsu).

During his tenure, Shen Lian was honest and diligent, strictly enforced laws and regulations, fought against the powerful, and protected the good. Many bullies in the county who relied on their power to do evil were killed by Shen Lian's stick. Shen Lian also offended the censor because of his uprightness.

Therefore, in the 22nd year of Jiajing, because Shen Lian was upright and arrogant and disobeyed the censor, Shen Lian was transferred to Chiping (now in Shandong) to serve as a county magistrate.

After taking office, Shen Lian still adhered to his previous style of doing things, being honest and strict, and within just a few months, the case was simple and the people were reconciled. As a result, he was loved by the local people.

Moreover, it was a year of famine, and Shen Lian showed sympathy for the people and requested to open the government warehouse to lend grain to the people, saving them from the dire situation. His love for the people was like the sun and the moon, selfless and without guilt.

At the same time, Shen Lian also personally practiced the Confucian principle of "getting rich first and then educating". On the first and fifteenth days of every month, he personally lectured on the classics to the people, and went to the private schools of children from the folk several times to teach by example.

Shen Lian's various deeds during his tenure won unanimous praise from local people. At that time, there was a saying among the people that "Shen Chiping is as bright as a mirror and as clear as water. He does not reward people's advice, and does not get angry but carries out his orders."

Soon, however, Shen Lian's father passed away. According to etiquette, Shen Lian could no longer serve as an official, so he returned home to observe mourning. In the 26th year of Jiajing, Shen Lian's mourning period was over and he was sent to Qingfeng County (now in Henan) as the county magistrate.

Shen Lian, a Jinshi graduate, spent more than nine years wasting time without any progress. However, he did not become decadent and lazy because of his lack of career prospects. Instead, he worked harder and more diligently, blaming himself and encouraging himself.

During his tenure, he was very kind to the people and won their hearts. Soon his reputation spread to the capital. Jinyiwei Commander Lu Bing heard about Shen Lian's uprightness and wanted to transfer him to Jinyiwei as an experienced officer. When Shen Lian left Qingfeng, the people lined the streets to see him off, cried and tried their best to keep him.

Afterwards, the people of Qingfeng built a shrine for Shen Lian to express their gratitude for his kindness and continued to offer sacrifices to him.

It can be said that although Shen Lian, who had served in the local government for many years, failed to be appreciated by his superiors and thus rose to prominence, his upright official personality and his governing philosophy of serving the people still made him loved and recognized by the people in the places where he served.

Therefore, after being appreciated by Lu Bing and promoted from the civil service ranks to the Jinyiwei, Shen Lian still maintained his upright and fiery personality and could not tolerate any sand in his eyes.

But it is precisely because of his character that he is destined to be unable to be with some people.

Shen Lian was a righteous man who hated evil as if it were his enemy, but his character was quite wild and unrestrained. Whenever he drank, he would stretch out his legs and sit on the ground, looking up at the sky and laughing, enjoying himself, as if no one was around. In addition, Jinyiwei Commander Lu Bing treated him with courtesy. Lu Bing also had a deep friendship with Yan Song and his son, so Shen Lian also drank with Yan Shifan many times. Yan Shifan abused the guests at the table, and Shen Lian felt unfair when he saw this scene, so he stood up to oppose Yan Shifan.

Therefore, Yan Shifan was afraid of Shen Lian, and at the same time, he hated Shen Lian. In addition, the Yan family's arrogance and domineering behavior over the years, as well as their actions of killing loyal people, also made the relationship between Shen Lian and the Yan family very tense.

Therefore, Shen Lian’s biggest wish now is to help Daming eradicate the cancer of the Yan family.

But how easy is this?
To quote a line from Hu Zongxian in "The Ming Dynasty 1566": "No one can push down the people the emperor wants to use, and no one can protect the people the emperor doesn't want to use."

This is the Yan family today.

Emperor Jiajing had just killed Xia Yan and promoted Yan Song to a high position to help him do things. Now many things have not been done yet, and Emperor Jiajing would not so easily throw away Yan Song's white gloves for doing dirty work.

After all, the imperial court now needs a stable political situation. If the prime minister is changed every day and killed, how can the world feel that the Ming Dynasty court is stable?
Therefore, Shen Lian's desire to obtain evidence of the Yan family's crimes and bring down Yan Song can be said to be just wishful thinking.

Emperor Jiajing would not simply view the world in terms of good and evil.

Emperor Jiajing has always had only one view on the world, and that is stability!
As long as it could help him stabilize the situation in the world and help him firmly grasp absolute power, Emperor Jiajing would not hesitate at all even if he used a so-called "traitorous minister" to govern the country.

Because Emperor Jiajing knew too well Yang Tinghe, Xia Yan and other loyal ministers who claimed to be upright. They might be loyal ministers, but they were not necessarily loyal to Emperor Jiajing. Their loyalty might be the so-called morality in their hearts.

Therefore, in order to maintain his power, Emperor Jiajing would never use these people to help him govern the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Shen Lian’s excitement now is just his own self-admiration!
The emperor never changed!
(End of this chapter)

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