Chapter 9 [ Yan Song's historical opportunity and life ups and downs ]-1
Yan Song's historical opportunity and his life's ups and downs have no reason to go through the world, and he sometimes hides himself with carelessness.Plant bamboos and add crane taming paths, buy mountains and talk about reading halls.Open the window, the ancient wood is Xiao Xiao Lai, and the cold flowers are faintly fragrant.Mo Xiao is a savage with few livelihoods, and there are seas everywhere in Zhuo Ying.
Such a good poem is sparse, light, comfortable, and natural. It uses allusions without revealing traces. It is elegant in its simplification, and it is grand in its casualness.The title of this poem is "Dongtang Xincheng", and the author is Yan Song, a famous academician in the Ming Dynasty.However, just like Andy Lau's line in the movie: "Whoever drives a good car must be a good person?" Of course, a person who writes good poems is not necessarily a good person!
Because of the simplification of ideological education, the Chinese people always love the abrupt ancients, and often frame any historical figure as loyalty or traitor or good or bad.Speaking of Yan Song, people will definitely think of a treacherous minister with a big white face, shoulders shrugged, and stalking in Peking Opera.In fact, Yan Song, a real historical figure, is definitely not as simple as being able to distinguish good from bad, loyal and traitorous.Every living individual is absolutely inseparable from the environment of that era. If the "this person" in history is separated from the complex historical relationship, people will actually become a rigid, symbolic and empty name.In fact, the real Master Yan himself has a handsome appearance, a tall body, clear eyebrows, and a loud voice.Nowadays, it is also a "human appearance" that makes people fall in love at first sight.
Yan Song's life, full of ups and downs, deserves a special book.During the reign of Emperor Jiajing, eunuchs almost disappeared.Therefore, when Yan's father and son held power, they were naturally looked at by the people of the time. After losing the right to speak, they became evil from generation to generation and became a great villain.Especially after being exaggerated by operas, story books and storytellers, Master Yan was completely reduced to a tragic role of "a bad smell for thousands of years".
The party disputes caused by name disputes Ming Wuzong is lustful and absurd for so many years, but nothing has been achieved.When he was about to die, he had no son himself, so he had to leave an edict to let his cousin Xingwang Zhu Houcong in Anlu inherit the throne of emperor.This young master was fifteen years old at the time, and he was the only son of Zhu Youzhu, the second son of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty (posthumous title) Xingxian Wang.Since King Xingxian was the younger brother of Emperor Xiaozong, after the death of Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houcong, as a cousin, "brother will last forever", which is also in line with the tradition of emperor succession.
In May of the sixteenth year of Zhengde (1521), Zhu Houcong entered Beijing from Anlu.His biological father, King Xingxian, died early, and only his widowed mother, Jiang Shi, bid farewell to him.Jiang's family is the princess of a feudal clan, and she has never seen any big things in the world.She was very cautious at the time, and told her son: "My son has a heavy responsibility on this trip, so don't talk casually." Zhu Houcong knelt down and replied, "I must follow your teachings."
Zhu Houcong was no different from his cousin Ming Wuzong who succeeded to the throne back then. He received an extremely orthodox Confucian education when he was in the feudal land.Traveling to Liangxiang, he received an official document from the Ministry of Rites, and saw that there was an arrangement for him to enter the palace first as the "Emperor Prince". Zhu Houcong was very unhappy, and replied: "The edict made me the heir emperor, why did such a thing happen again?" Obviously, the ministers of the Ming court wanted him to succeed him as the emperor as the "crown prince".
Of course Zhu Houcong would not be the "son" of his dead cousin Ming Wuzong.Therefore, after arriving in Beijing, this thoughtful young man insisted not to enter the city.The cabinet minister Yang Tinghe still hoped that the "successor emperor" would follow the regulations of the Ministry of Rites, but Zhu Houcong was determined.Since the candidates for the "successor" in the imperial edict of Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty were known all over the world, it was impossible to push another "successor emperor".
Only then did Zhu Houcong agree to enter the city.He entered the palace through the Daming Gate, visited the Zi Palace of the Daxing Emperor (Ming Wuzong), and met the Empress Dowager (Wuzong's biological mother) in the palace, and then went out of the Yufengtian Palace to ascend the throne of the emperor, and changed the next year to the first year of Jiajing. It was Ming Sejong.
After ascension to the throne, as almost all new emperors did symbolically after ascension to the throne, the Ming court issued an edict in the name of the emperor to completely eradicate the maladministration during the Ming Wuzong period. To many domineering civil and military officials.
Ascending to the Nine-Five-Dragon throne, Emperor Jiajing sent people to Anlu to welcome his mother, and at the same time ordered the court officials to discuss how to worship his own biological father, King Xingxian.In the succession edict at that time, there was the phrase "into Fengzong according to the imperial edict".The young emperor, a man of great filial piety, always felt that this sentence obviously meant to make his cousin his son's heir.For this reason, he tried his best to honor his own parents.Modern people may not understand this kind of court etiquette, and many people may think: You little bastard has become the emperor, why are you still thinking about how to make your dead father look good again, is it meaningless!Many contemporary "big Confucians" also ridicule officials who fight to the death for "great etiquette" from time to time, saying that those people are dead-headed, what the little emperor likes to do, and it's none of your business if you like to seal your father as the emperor. It's silly to fight for these "minor details" of birth and family life.No!These things at that time belonged to the "Four Basic Principles" in ancient times, and they were the great scriptures of heaven. If you do not dispute these principles for your courtiers, you are disloyal.That's why the ministers have been fighting so loudly for several years.
University scholar Yang Tinghe and an old man in the officialdom, who are familiar with historical records, said to Mao Cheng, Minister of Rites: "This matter is based on the incidents of King Dingtao in the Han Dynasty and King Pu in the Song Dynasty. Anyone who dares to disagree is a villain and should be punished according to the law!" That is to say, according to the example of the former vassal princes succeeding to the Datong, the new emperor should take Ming Wuzong as the emperor's elder brother, and Ming Wuzong's father Ming Xiaozong (Jiajing's uncle) as the emperor's test.In this way, the new emperor can only use his biological father and mother as his uncle and aunt.In order to make up for the "regret" of King Xingxian's "no heir", the courtiers suggested that Zhu Chongren, the son of King Yi, be adopted as the "son" of the dead King Xingxian to replace the new emperor Jiajing who is now the "son" of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty. In this way, that Zhu Chongren could only call his own father, King Yi, "uncle".
Seeing this "arrangement", the boss of the young Emperor Jiajing was not happy, "How can parents be replaced, let's discuss it!"
More than 60 ministers including Yang Tinghe came to Shuli to remonstrate, hoping that the new emperor would proceed from the overall situation and take into account "natural principles" and "human feelings", and would not listen.
When the new emperor came to the throne, Zhang Cong, a new Jinshi, was an opportunist. He first spread the news through his fellow villager Wang Zan, who was then the minister of the Ministry of Rites, that the new emperor did not inherit the Datong as someone else's "son" The throne is different from that of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty.Yang Tinghe hated Wang Zan's cunning behavior very much, so he appointed officials to impeach him for his faults, and demoted him to Nanjing, where he became the "Minister of Rites".
Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhang Cong was silent for a while.Later, when he heard that the new emperor had asked the Ministry of Rites to discuss the rites of respect for his biological father, he cast stones and asked for directions, and submitted an article in "Da Li Shu", throwing out the issues of "succession" and "succession". There are possibilities:
The imperial court said that the emperor should be called the heir of Dazong, and that Emperor Xiaozong should be called Huangkao, and King Xingxian should be called the emperor's uncle, and the princess should be called the emperor's aunt, but it was stuck (to) the story of King Dingtao of the Han Dynasty and King Pu of the Song Dynasty.Husband Han Ai (Emperor) and Song Ying (Zong) were both pre-appointed as the heirs of the emperor, and they were raised in the palace, which is the latter.Therefore, the theory of Shi Dan and Sima Guang can be applied to him for a while.Today's Emperor Wuzong has been heir to Emperor Xiaozong for sixteen years, compared to collapse, and the courtiers obeyed the ancestor's precepts and issued a will to welcome the emperor into the succession of the Datong. After Mingzhu (Your Majesty) became Xiaozong, it is quite different from those who were established as heirs in advance and raised in the palace.King Fu Xingxian (referring to Emperor Jiajing's biological father) passed away, and he was called the emperor's uncle, and ghosts and gods cannot be doubted.The welcome of the Holy Mother (referring to Emperor Jiajing's birth mother) is also called the emperor's aunt, and she should meet with the courtesy of the emperor and ministers (meaning that if she wants to meet in the name of aunt, Jiajing's birth mother must bow down to Emperor Jiajing), for fear that the son will not have the righteousness of the minister and mother. "Rituals": "The eldest son shall not be the queen"
(Emperor Jiajing is the only eldest son of King Xingxian), King Xingxian only gave birth to the emperor, and he would benefit the world and become a queen, fearing that the son would not have the right to kill his parents.Therefore, it is acceptable for the emperor to respect his relatives in order to inherit Wuzong, but it is not allowed to say that Xiaozong is the heir to severing his relatives.
Or those who say that the great unification is indestructible will succeed Xiaozong?After Wu Zong?The husband line is different from the heir, and it is not necessary for the father to die and the son to establish.After Emperor Wen of Han succeeded Emperor Hui, his younger brother succeeded him; after Emperor Xuan succeeded Emperor Zhao, he succeeded his elder brother and grandson. None of the emperor's examiners can be called unified.The minister said that today's ceremony should not be the capital of the Xingxian King's temple.If Long respects the filial piety of relatives, and makes the mother more precious than the son, and respects the same as the father, then King Xingxian will not lose him as a father, and the Holy Mother will not lose him as a mother.
Seeing Zhang Cong's article, the young emperor who had been depressed for a long time was overjoyed.He has always wanted to do a big job, but after all, he didn't read enough when he was young, and he didn't have a "theoretical" basis.At this point, as if he had found a treasure, the young Emperor Jiajing ordered the eunuch, the supervisor of ceremonies, to send the proposal to the cabinet, and said: "This proposal is in accordance with the precepts of the ancestors. According to ancient rituals, why don't you people have such an idea!"
Seeing this, Yang Tinghe was furious: "How can a scholar know the state!" The cabinet minister immediately returned to the palace with Zhang Cong's letter, trying to explain the facts to the emperor.Emperor Jiajing took the opportunity to read Zhang Cong's Lunshu carefully from beginning to end, and said happily:
"As soon as this theory comes out, the relationship between my father and son will definitely be preserved!" Therefore, he ignored Yang Tinghe's objection, and handed down an order to the cabinet ministers: "What you said, you are all knowledgeable, but the closest relatives are your parents, and now respect your father." For Emperor Xingxian, mother is Empress Xingxian, and grandmother is Empress Dowager Kangshou".
As the chief assistant, Yang Tinghe insisted on the principle very much. He sealed and returned the emperor's edict, and said: "The emperor's filial piety comes from nature. Although the ministers are stupid, don't you know that the latter is the parent in the "Li" and regards the latter as the parents? The offspring are uncles and uncles. Gai not only surrendered to him, but also had a different name. Ministers and others dare not flatter him." Then, several censors and senior officials also remonstrated with Zhang Cong. Because of his narrow-mindedness, he hoped that Emperor Jiajing would "forbid" Zhang Cong and other aggressive people.
Since he had just ascended to the Great Treasure, the young emperor didn't dare to compete with the ministers too much, so he had to ask the Ministry of Rites to continue discussing the matter.
In October, Emperor Jiajing's biological mother Xingxian Princess Jiang went to Tongzhou. Since the name and title were not yet determined, her son became the emperor again.When she heard that the courtiers wanted her son to respect Ming Xiaozong as "Huang Kao", she said angrily, "How dare these people treat my son as someone else's son!" .
Emperor Jiajing burst into tears when he heard this, and rushed into the inner palace to express to the Empress Dowager Zhang, the birth mother of Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty, "willing to abstain from the throne and return to his mother's care."
Seeing that the pressure had played a role, the young emperor said arbitrarily: "My biological father, King Xingxian, should be called Emperor Xingxian, and his biological mother should be called Empress Xingxian", and ordered the ministers to open the middle gate of the Ming Dynasty to welcome his biological mother, Jiang Shi.Of course, Emperor Jiajing also made some concessions, and did not dare to insist on letting his biological mother visit the Taimiao.Originally, the Ming court had an ancestral system: women did not have the ceremony of visiting the Taimiao.
Among the courtiers, such as Huo Tao, the head of the Ministry of War, saw that a new Jinshi like Zhang Cong had been heard by the emperor because of his clever words, and wanted to be flattered and promoted, so he began to go to Shufu and Zhang Cong to play.Seeing this, Emperor Jiajing became increasingly determined to respect his own parents.
The first assistant Yang Tinghe hated such a lucky villain as Zhang Cong, so he was released as the head of the Nanjing Criminal Department.Zhang Cong left in dismay.
Emperor Jiajing made an inch of progress, and after calling his biological father "Emperor Xingxian", he issued an imperial letter, instructing the Ministry of Rites to add the word "Huang" to the titles of Emperor Xingxian and Empress Xingxian.Yang Tinghe and others argued, and Emperor Jiajing brought out Emperor Xiaozong Zhang of the Ming Dynasty, saying that the empress dowager instructed him to do so.Yang Tinghe saw that he could not fight, so he asked himself to leave and return without reporting.In the matter, Zhu Mingyang and more than a hundred officials wrote a chapter to advise, saying that it is not appropriate to add the word "Huang" to the emperor's own parents, and he would not listen.Coincidentally, in the first month of spring in the first year of Jiajing (1522), a fire broke out in Qingning Palace. Yang Tinghe and others said that it was a "warning of God's will". If there is a further move, he issued an edict to call Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty "Huang Kao", Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty Zhang's family is "Holy Mother", and Emperor Xingxian and Empress Xingxian are called "Bensheng Parents" without adding the word "Huang".
One wave just leveled off, and another wave rose again.Just a few days after the imperial court had been silent, the governor of Huguang, the capital censor, urged Emperor Jiajing to designate Emperor Xingxian as "Emperor Xingxian Emperor" when the Yuan Dynasty was changed, and to set up a temple in Da Nei to worship it and sacrifice it to the Son of Heaven. gift.As for Emperor Jiajing's biological mother, Jiang, the word "Xingxian" should no longer be added, and it should be called "a certain empress of the emperor"; Fang Xianfu, a member of the Ministry of officials, also made a statement, urging Emperor Jiajing to "be the successor and not the heir". , Renamed Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty as "Huang Bo" and his biological father Xingxian Emperor as "Huang Kao".
The two of them were separated, but Yang Tingren and others were discouraged and refused to report, hating the two for being troublesome.
In the second year of Jiajing (1523), the adolescent emperor became more assertive. Regardless of the objections of his officials, he used the same "eight strokes" ceremony at the Xingxian Emperor Temple in Anlu.At the end of the year, Gui E and Zhang Cong, who were in charge of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs in Nanjing, made a plan and made a "great gift" again. ".
The minister heard that the ancient emperors were filial to their fathers, and the stories were bright;It has never been heard that the relationship between father and son is abolished, but the one who can serve as the master of heaven and earth and all gods.Today, officials of ceremonies regard the emperor as the queen, and forcefully attach themselves to the end-time story, destroy the rule of Wuzong, and seize the ancestor of Xingxian. Husband Xiaozong has Wuzong as his son, can he be restored as the queen?Wu Zong gave the emperor the divine weapon, but should he not continue his rule?Today, the ministers of the court have not heard of those who are regulated, why?Gai Zi Zhang Cong suggested that the commentator refers to it as a dry advance, so people who are up to the courtesy dare not speak rashly.I secretly thought that the emperor was at the side of the Empress Dowager Xingguo (referring to the birth mother of the Emperor Jiajing), and it was three years since Xingxian Emperor Fu worshiped, but the courtiers are arrogant and self-righteous, so it is!I hope that the emperor will quickly invent the edict, follow the name and test the facts, call Xiaozong the emperor's uncle, Xingxian emperor is the emperor's test, and don't set up a temple in the palace. Certainly.As for the absurdity of the imperial court's proposal, there are those who cannot argue with it, but what he insists on is no more than the ear of King Pu of Song Dynasty.According to Song Chen Fan Chunren told (Song) Yingzong: "Your Majesty received Renzong's edict yesterday, and personally promised to be the son of Renzong. As for the title, you will use the story of the prince, which is different from the successor." The theory of Song Chen is also natural. different.Now that the emperor followed the instructions of his ancestors and entered into the Datong, did he do so by personally inheriting Xiaozong's edict?It is clear that the emperor is not the successor, but the master of the successor.However (calling the emperor) is tested (in) Xingxian Emperor, the mother Xingguo Queen Mother (with the biological mother as the biological mother), who can hold ghosts and gods for hundreds of generations.The minister wanted to ask for it for a long time, but he saw the ignorance of Xi Shu and Fang Xianfu, thinking that the emperor would change it vigilantly for it, and whether there was anything to be said by the minister.So far, it has not been determined by Feng Chen, so why didn't the emperor take a detailed look at it?
The second minister will go up and stop?Therefore, the minister dare not love death, so he reiterated his theory, and recorded the original sparseness of the second minister to hear it.
A series of "loyalty, bravery and self-forgetting" ugly meritorious deeds, every sentence touched Emperor Jiajing's heart.He was overjoyed when he saw it, and said: "This matter is related to the laws of nature, and the ministers of civil and military affairs will discuss it!"
In order to show his determination to pursue his own parents and to secure his position as emperor, Emperor Jiajing dismissed Yang Tinghe, a scholar who had always had trouble with him.Under such circumstances, there were still more than 250 ministers and workers in the court, including Minister of Rites Wang Jun, who signed more than 80 memorials alone or jointly, requesting Emperor Jiajing to act according to the ministry's proposal.On the other hand, on the side of Zhang Cong and Gui E, there are only a few four people who have the same voice.Emperor Jiajing was very angry and endured it for several days.Soon, Zhu Rongcheng, king of Chu, and others, and Nie Nengqian, a thousand household of Jinyiwei, wanted to beg for rewards and beg for officials, so they wrote to agree with Zhang Cong.Emperor Jiajing felt this "support" force, and ordered Gui E and Zhang Cong to come to Beijing from Nanjing.
It was the birthday of Emperor Jiajing's biological mother, Jiang Shi, and Emperor Jiajing held a grand palace banquet, and the wives sent letters of congratulations.Only a few days later, on the birthday of Emperor Wuzong's birth mother Zhang's birthday, Emperor Jiajing was eccentric and decreed that his wife should not enter the palace to congratulate her.This move aroused grievances from the officials in the court, and they went to the court one after another to make admonitions. They were all arrested and sent to prison for torture by Emperor Jiajing.Empress Dowager Zhang is actually very virtuous and kind. In the early days of Emperor Jiajing's entry into the palace, she was fully capable of issuing an edict together with the cabinet ministers to abolish this nephew.
In addition, she is a person who does not come into trouble, and she is not very polite to Emperor Jiajing's biological mother, who is a concubine of a foreign vassal, which arouses the hatred of the current emperor's young master.In the future, Zhang Yanling, the younger brother of Empress Dowager Zhang, was accused of wrongdoing, and he was sentenced to death. Empress Dowager Zhang asked her nephew, the emperor, to spare his brother's life, but she was sternly refused.Not only that, Emperor Jiajing also arrested Zhang Heling, another younger brother of the queen mother, and put him in imperial prison for torture and death.Empress Dowager Zhang was frightened too much, and soon collapsed.Emperor Jiajing ordered to kill her living brother Zhang Yanling.From this, it can be seen that Emperor Jiajing had a very bad nature.At the beginning, Empress Dowager Zhang opposed his entry into the reunification, so the position of emperor was definitely not for him.
In April, Emperor Jiajing ordered that his biological father, Emperor Xingxian, be called "Emperor Bensheng Huang Kao Gongmuxian" and his biological mother "Jinsheng Mother Zhangsheng Empress Dowager".For this reason, Wang Jun, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, begged to go, and Emperor Jiajing would not let him "become an official" for nothing
, After cutting the responsibility, he will be dismissed from office.
Zhang Cong and Gui E, who came from Nanjing, were on the way halfway. After seeing the edict, they came up with a new idea. They believed that the word "Junsheng" in the edict was a conspiracy by the officials of the Ministry of Rites. They pretended to be relatives, but in fact they were alienated. Calling Emperor Jiajing's biological father "Huang Kao" should not be preceded by the word "Bensheng".Emperor Jiajing thought what they said was right, and revised it according to the chapter, removing the word "Bensheng".All the ministers in the court heard that they hated Gui and Zhang for their troublesome villains, and they all threatened to kill them after they entered Beijing.The two scholars heard that after entering Beijing, they pretended to be sick and dared not go out for fear of being beaten in public by the officials.
Qiao Yu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Yang Shen (the son of Yang Tinghe, a scholar), and others all spoke up to persuade Emperor Jiajing to dismiss Zhang Cong and Gui E to quell the "heresy". As a result, the emperor did the opposite. Gui and Gui are Hanlin bachelors, and they are responsible for Qiao Yu, Yang Shen and others.
After Zhang Cong and Gui E got their new official positions, they became more and more unscrupulous, and hurriedly said "big ceremony", there were as many as thirteen items, all of which were adopted by Emperor Jiajing and ordered the officials of the Ministry of Rites to implement them.
Agitated by righteous indignation, Yang Shen said to the officials after he came down to the court: "The country has supported scholars for 150 years, and it is today!" Few people cried loudly and shouted "Emperor Gao" and "Emperor Xiaozong", and their voices reached the inner hall.This caused Emperor Jiajing to be furious, and ordered the eunuch, the supervisor of ceremonies, to record the names of all the ministers in the crying palace, and then ordered Jin Yiwei to arrest them by name. One hundred and forty-three people were imprisoned on the first day, and the remaining eighty Six people are to be punished.After the interrogation, officials below the fifth rank were ordered to be fined with rods, and seventeen people, such as editor Wang Peng, were beaten to death, and Yang Shen and others were banished to a remote place.In October, Emperor Jiajing issued an edict to change the name of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty to "Huangbo Kao", and issued an edict to the world, and planned to move the funeral of his biological father Xingxian Emperor to Beijing. Some officials persuaded "the emperor's soul should not be moved lightly", so it was not moved. Move the dead into Beijing.
It is a pity that Yang Shen was in his early thirties at the time, and this man was Pianpianjia, a young man in troubled times, the number one scholar in the sixth year of Zhengde, and he was only 24 years old when he was elected.Because he led the officials to cry in the palace, after he was beaten with a stick, he was demoted to Yongchangwei, Yunnan under the decree of Emperor Jiajing.Unfortunately, Mr. Yang caught up with the Jiajing Emperor, who lived a long life. He reigned for forty years, and was abandoned in thirty-six years.Master Yang's class lasted for decades, and died in the demolition office in the thirty-eighth year of Jiajing.This great talent who was able to write poems at the age of eleven wrote more than 2,000 poems in his life, and wrote the famous poem review "Sheng'an Shihua".In his rare years, he wanted to go home to visit his relatives and wanted to stay longer in his hometown in Sichuan, but Yang Ye was forcibly taken back to Yunnan by officials of the "Reform Through Labor Bureau". "Poetry": "The more than seventy years of my life have turned white, and the law clearly allows Guixiu. Guixiu has become an old man in Bajiang, and he is so serious that he has been turned into a prisoner in the Dianhai Sea."
Apart from depression and hatred, he died of illness in a foreign land.
In the fourth year of Jiajing (1525), Emperor Jiajing established a "World Temple" for his biological father "Emperor Xingxian" in the palace, and the God of Welcome was located in the Guande Hall.At this time, due to high-pressure opposition, the officials expressed their congratulations and presented "The Music of the Temple of the World".Three years later, "Ming Lun Dadian" was compiled.The instigator, Zhang Cong, was granted the title of Grand Bachelor of Jinshen Hall, and was appointed by the Prince Shaobao, the Prince Taifu, and the Minister of the Ministry of Officials.He usually struggles for decades to become the chief assistant, but because he was the first to discuss the "big ceremony", he rushed to the top of power in six or seven years.
The "Great Etiquette" dispute, if you speak in a bookish way, is actually a contest between the orthodox School of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism and Wang Yangming's "new learning" at that time.The Jiuchen Group, represented by Yang Tinghe and Yang Shen, takes Cheng-Zhu Daoism as its sect, emphasizing "righteous principles", while Wang Yangming's school advocates "natural principles", which should be based on "people's hearts" and "human feelings".
Tilt to pull "Li" toward "Qi".But from the actual point of view at that time, although the theory of the old ministers was rigid and unreasonable, most of them were gentlemen, and they did not seek their own lives; Zhang Cong's faction was close to "love", but most of them were greedy for official titles. A villain, (Wang Yangming was still alive at the time, and Zhang Cong’s Xi Shu, Fang Xianfu, etc. were all his students, but Mr. Wang knew the dangers of officialdom and did not express his position on "great etiquette").As far as the matter is concerned, Zhang Cong made a bad start on the issue of "great etiquette". This person will behave in a good way in the future. He is upright and courageous, honest and self-disciplined. Greedy, did a lot of good things.Therefore, it is extremely difficult for individuals in history to make an absolute distinction between "good" and "bad".
Moreover, Zhang Cong was born in Juren at the time, which always made people mistakenly think that he was a young talent. In fact, the old buddy was almost fifty years old at the time, and he was an unlucky guy who failed seven exams.It is also reasonable for middle-aged intellectuals to take advantage of opportunistic opportunities when they are poor at the end of the day.And that Gui E, who is like him, is also a middle-aged man who has been neglected in the officialdom for many years. He is burning with resentment, and he really wants to fight to get ahead.One thing to explain is that Zhang Cong is a good man, but later he felt that the "cong" in his name was taboo with the emperor's name "houcong", so he asked to change his name.Emperor Jiajing was overjoyed and gave him the name "Fujing" with the word Maogong. Therefore, when reading the history of the Ming Dynasty, I sometimes saw Zhang Fujing, but in fact that person was Zhang Cong.
After explaining the "great etiquette", it's time to talk about Yan Song.
Yan Song's political encounters Yan Song, whose name is Weizhong, and whose name is Jiexi (also known as Mian'an), was born in 1480 (the 16th year of Weihua).This person's family background is mediocre, and it is the ethos of learning in Jiangxi's countryside that makes this poor boy from a commoner background "students who are good at learning can become officials"
, Step by step towards the center of power.
Looking at Yan Song's fortune, in fact, he belongs to the type of "the sky is still full of clouds", and he only became prosperous after the age of sixty.
In the eighteenth year of Hongzhi (1505), Yan Song was admitted to the Hanlin Academy when he was promoted to Jinshi. He was twenty-six years old.Xiao Yan was still at the top of the exam at that time, second in the second class, that is to say, he was the fifth in the group of Jinshi in the Yi Chou Division, with excellent grades and no water at all.Just as he was preparing to do a big job as a reserve echelon of young officials in the imperial court, in the third year of Zhengde (1508), his grandfather passed away.The next year, his mother died of illness.The ancients put filial piety first, and if we don’t take the example of the excellent cadres we preach now, the parents would never see their children who threw themselves into the revolution. According to the etiquette and morality at that time, Yan Song had to go home to mourn for three years.Therefore, Xiao Yan missed many promotion opportunities for nothing.Blessings and misfortunes, the author has already talked about the politics of Emperor Wuzong Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty in the previous chapter. In the first five years, Grand Duke Liu Jin was in charge of politics.Yan Song happened to miss the muddy water, and actually avoided the political struggle and political persecution during the Zhengde Dynasty.Therefore, Yan Song took advantage of the opportunity of mourning to study in his hometown Qianshan, and spent eight or nine years in seclusion, writing poems and writings all day long, which earned him a good reputation.
At that time, Yan Song could be said to be extremely politically wise.Especially during Liu Jin's reign, if he lingers, there will only be two results, one is to fight and be killed, and the other is to join forces, either result is a "miserable"
Character.Moreover, Liu Jin is from Shaanxi, and his confidant Jiao Fang, who is also a scholar in the Ministry of Officials, is from Henan, and he extremely excludes Jiangxi people (Jiao Fang was ridiculed by Jiangxi minister Peng Hua because of his lack of talent and learning, and hated monks and cassocks, so he hated Jiangxi people very much. ), so, Yan Song, who is from Jiangxi, naturally won't have good fruit to eat both sides of the court.
Yan Song entertained himself with poetry and wine in his hometown. He was not a real hermit. He had always maintained a keen sense of politics.In ancient times, officials and officials must have real skills, unlike today's drivers and health doctors who can become general managers and chairman of the board as long as they serve good leaders.The imperial examination determines that if a person wants to be in the officialdom, he must go through ten years (or decades) of hard study, with his head hanging on the beam, and his legs pierced with needles. All of them are full of knowledge before they can enter this circle.There is no real talent, but you just beat your legs and rub your waist to deliver things. You really can't get a black yarn hatband, let alone talk to celebrities.
Who is Yan Song, a great Confucian who knows the past and the present in detail, so his reputation is growing day by day, and he is widely known by everyone.Therefore, he did not re-enter the court until the eleventh year of Zhengde, a few years after the downfall of Liu Jin and Jiao Fang.
At this time, Yan Song was already well-established in the city, he was not in a hurry, and waited for the opportunity.Of course, there are also objective reasons. He has been living in "idle jobs" in places like Nanjing and the Imperial Academy, and he doesn't have many opportunities to get ahead.
In the sixteenth year of Zhengde, Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty passed away, and the Jiajing era of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty came.Soon, there was a dispute caused by "great etiquette". Old officials such as Yang Ting and his father and son were demoted one after another, and the courtiers faced a new reshuffle.After several years of fighting, Emperor Jiajing and Zhang Cong's faction won a complete victory.Therefore, Zhang Cong, Xia Yan and others have to be shown before Yan Song can be connected.
After Zhang Cong and Gui E succeeded, Emperor Jiajing's pursuit of his biological father succeeded in stages, but he did not dare to promote them into the cabinet immediately.Although they are not young, their qualifications are too light, and their prestige is low. The emperor himself is afraid of being refuted by cabinet ministers and officials.At that time, the chief assistant, Fei Hong, was a veteran in the officialdom. On the surface, he was not as sharp-edged as Yang Tinghe, but in his heart he was very contemptuous of Zhang and Gui, and often made troubles secretly.Zhang and Gui held a grudge against each other, so they persuaded Emperor Jiajing to recruit Yang Yiqing, a former important minister, into the cabinet to replace Fei Hong as the chief assistant.Yang Yiqing was the mastermind who planned to kill Grand Duke Liu Jin with the eunuch Zhang Yong back then. He has a good reputation and has been in the cabinet. Emperor Jiajing admired this Lord Yang for a long time when he was a prince. Yang re-entered the cabinet.However, according to the unwritten regulations of the Ming Dynasty government, the chief assistant should generally be selected from the top three at the time of the election. Fei Hong was born in the Zhuang Yuan family and is the current chief assistant. Yang Yiqing immediately pushed him down. .It just so happened that Fei Hong's son was imprisoned for breaking the law in his hometown. Zhang Cong and others seized this "weak spot" and united with several officials to impeach Fei Hong.Fei Hong had no choice but to ask for his resignation. Emperor Jiajing didn't want to see him anyway, so he quickly approved his resignation, so Fei Hong had to leave in despair.
Although Yang Yiqing was grateful to Zhang Cong and Gui E for their recommendation, he and Emperor Jiajing knew that it was impossible for Zhang and Gui to join the cabinet together according to the "Ting Tui" method. The reputation of these two people is indeed very bad. .But at this time, the first assistant is "one of his own people", so things are much easier to handle.Emperor Jiajing successively appointed two people to join the cabinet with "Zhongzhi", ordered Zhang Cong to enter the cabinet as a minister of rites and a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, and ordered Gui E to enter the cabinet as a minister of the Ministry of Officials and a scholar of Wuyingdian.In this way, the two "Great Etiquette" heroes finally became the core "Cabinet Ministers".
All those who entered the officialdom were like hedgehogs huddling together to keep warm in winter, and they would soon sting each other.Yang Yiqing got along with Zhang and Gui for a long time, and because of their differences in handling Nie Nengqian, the commander of Jinyiwei, they formed a dispute, and eventually developed to attack each other in front of the emperor.In contrast, Yang Yiqing was "moral" in the eyes of Emperor Jiajing
The weight of the image is more important, and in a fit of anger, he issued an edict to dismiss Zhang and Gui from their posts.But after all, it was his own "heart and soul", and it didn't take long for Emperor Jiajing to call the two back into the court one after another.Depressed, old man Yang retired angrily, and Lao Jiang finally lost to Xin Cong.
After a sudden blow, Zhang Cong became a lot more "behaved", and became more cautious with Emperor Jiajing, and replaced Yang Yiqing as the "chief assistant".The ass decides the head. The seat of "Prime Minister" is settled. Zhang Cong, who belonged to the "radical faction" before, has changed his former appearance, and follows the principle of conformity in everything, and does not want or need to engage in any grandstanding.Later, Emperor Jiajing became more and more obsessed with Taoism and wanted to engage in "divided sacrifices between heaven and earth". Zhang Cong did not want to be troublesome, and very "cautiously" advised the emperor that there was no need to engage in "divided sacrifices".
Unexpectedly, the waves behind the Yangtze River pushed the waves ahead, and Emperor Xia Yan Shangshu, who served as Shizhong (seven-rank official) in the court, strongly agreed to carry out the "sacrifice of heaven and earth".Zhang Cong is furious when he hears this, and now the roles have been reversed, he has become a conservative like Yang Tinghe in the past.A group of people vented freely, very happy.But they forgot one important thing, Emperor Jiajing and Xia Yan had the same opinion, scolding Xia Yan was actually not giving the emperor face.Sure enough, Emperor Jiajing Lanwen was furious. While throwing Huo Tao into prison, he promoted Xia Yan to a noble rank to show his special favor, and promoted him to a bachelor's degree in an exceptional way.Although this official was not too high, he was able to meet the emperor often, and he belonged to the kind of senior secretary.Xia Yan was dignified and articulate, and when he was giving lectures, he spoke in a blunt and fairy style, which made Emperor Jiajing very happy.
From the perspective of both the government and the opposition, Zhang Cong used to promote "great etiquette" to make troubles, offended countless people, dominated the court situation, joined hands with Gui E to rectify differences, and formed countless problems. In the eyes of many people, his image is smoky. "Black boss".Xia Yan raised his eyebrows and drew his sword out of its sheath. The ignorant man was fearless and dared to challenge the head of the court. Everyone admired his courage to fight Zhang Cong like a lone ranger. "It's actually flattering.
The power of "the masses" is enormous.When Zhang Cong knew what "Small intolerance leads to chaos and big plans", the court's discussions and discussions had become overwhelming, and the old buddies felt that they had lost the favor of the emperor, so they had to resign angrily, retire and go home.This is the 14th year of Jiajing.
Although Zhang Cong resigned, he did not arouse Emperor Jiajing's deep hatred. After all, he was the emperor's most powerful supporter when he first entered the palace.In the 14th year of Jiajing, Zhang Cong was seriously ill, and the emperor sent eunuchs to his home to deliver medicine and medicine from time to time, and gave the emperor himself the "elixir" he usually took.Three or four years later, Zhang Cong finally died of illness in his hometown.Emperor Jiajing mourned when he heard about it, thinking that this courtier was able to "sacrifice (already) his own body" at the beginning, so he named him "Wen Zhong" and bestowed upon him the grand master.
As soon as Zhang Cong left, Zhai Luan, a cabinet minister, was promoted to the first assistant in order.Xia Yan joined the cabinet in the next year, and participated in the maintenance as a minister of the Ministry of Rites and a bachelor of Wuyingdian University.Although Cui Luan and Li Shi ranked ahead of him, Xia Yan was in full swing, and Zhai Luan was a "good old man" in the officialdom like a leather stamp and plasticine. Therefore, Xia Yan was the one who actually presided over the government affairs.
After the "Great Etiquette", Yang Yiqing's administration, Zhang Cong's administration, and Xia Yan's entry into the cabinet, a series of political struggles involved the interests of countless people, sometimes checks and balances, sometimes linkages, and there are many factions and mountains.When a dynasty reaches its peak, the political center will inevitably breed sectarian struggles due to power distribution, quantitative and qualitative changes, and eventually erode the body of the dynasty.
Xia Yan became the actual chief assistant, and he is from Jiangxi (Guixi). Yan Song, who is also a fellow villager, naturally felt the opportunity.In China, fellowship is one of the easiest items in all official relations. "If you learn Wutai dialect, you can carry a foreign knife." Yan Xishan's fellowship "politics" is actually a specific and subtle aspect of Chinese politics for more than two thousand years. By.At this time, Yan Song, after many years of experience in the officialdom, has already condensed the indifference of scholars into snobbery and the softness of "mindfulness of courtiers and concubines".His low eyebrows and smooth eyes, coupled with the friendly accent in the conversations among fellow villagers, made Xia Yan, a stubborn person who rushed straight into the cabinet from a middle-level and lower-level official, fall in love with him at first sight, and deliberately promoted Yan Song.
But it should be noted that it was not Lao Xia who promoted Xiao Yan, but Xiao Xia promoted Lao Yan.Yan Song is Xia Fang's "predecessor" in terms of Jinshi's entry into the department, four subjects earlier than Xia Yan, and of course he entered the official position much earlier.Also, from "Grade"
On the one hand, Yan Song was the fifth Jinshi in that year, and Xia Fang was ranked after more than a hundred in his subject.
In terms of comparison, Xia Yan is much worse than Yan Song.But the opportunities are different, and the fate is different. Yan Song's entry into the official coincided with the Zhengde period, and it was delayed for nearly ten years.Xia Yan hit the "paper tiger" Zhang Cong in his early days, and he won the emperor's family all of a sudden, and the newcomers of the late wave came out on top.
In the seventh year of Jiajing, Yan Song, as the right servant of the Ministry of Rites, was ordered to pay homage to the mausoleum of the emperor's biological father "Xingxian Emperor" in Anlu.The auspicious Emperor Jiajing was overjoyed and promoted him to the Minister of Rites of Nanjing.Although Yan Song himself is not in the political center, he has always had a particularly good impression in Xindi's mind.
Because he admired Yan Song's sincerity and respect for him, Xia Yan got the fellow to Beijing to recommend him as Minister of Rites.听上去是部长级别的官员，其实当时也可有可无的角色，替夏言这个“国务总理”打杂而已。但“打杂”弄不好也出事。嘉靖十七年，严嵩差点惹火上身，激起皇帝的恼怒。这年夏天，嘉靖帝心血来潮，又想让自己生父兴献帝像正式皇帝一样称“宗”，把神位迁入太庙供奉。当然，过场还要做，他就把此事下礼部集议。此时的严嵩精神上还残留些书生正气，知道张璁先前“大礼仪”
之举在朝野留下“媚君要宠”的骂名，但如果明白反对，肯定官帽不保。好歹在官场混了二十多年，严嵩想打马虎眼，上疏言事时模棱两可，与礼部官员议事时也推三阻四，想以“拖”字诀把事情搁置下来。
嘉靖帝眼里不揉沙子，大恼之余，勤奋创作，亲写《明堂或问》一文，遍示群臣，气急败坏地书面质询大臣们“为何朕爹不能入太庙？”
严嵩吓坏了。惶恐揪心地节骨眼，毕竟转舵快，他立即表明自己支持皇帝生父入太庙的立场，并详细考订古制，撰写入庙礼仪的每一个步骤和细节，从优从崇，使得“入庙礼”盛大而隆重，终于博取了嘉靖帝的欢心。
礼成后，严嵩获赐金币，深得皇帝眷宠。一不做，二不休，严嵩又上疏，建议“尊文皇帝称祖（朱棣），献皇帝（嘉靖生父）称宗”，皇帝采纳，朝廷下诏，尊太宗文皇帝朱棣为“成祖”，嘉靖生父献皇帝为“睿宗”，这个王爷生前只是王爷，沾了儿子与严嵩的光，死后得以进入太庙与明朝诸帝一起大吃冷猪肉。
此次以后，严嵩铁定心要以皇帝为指南针，知道所谓的“正直”是不能升官的累赘，“清议”如同凉风吹过后就无用处，惟有皇帝的眷念和呵护才是脚跟立稳朝堂的最佳保险。
嘉靖帝生父神主入太庙大礼后不久，严嵩上奏说天上出现“庆云”，认定是皇帝孝德感动上天。他奋笔疾书，呈上两篇马屁文章《庆云赋》和《大礼告成颂》，嘉靖览之甚悦，命人把两篇文章珍藏于史馆之中，并加严嵩太子少保。不久，严嵩从幸做陪臣参加各种礼仪，获得的赏赐数目已经与几个阁臣一模一样。所以，迎和嘉靖帝追崇其生父，也成为严嵩政治生涯中一个最重要的转折点。
凡人，皆有酸葡萄心理。夏言见严嵩如此受宠，心中很不是滋味，开始对这位老乡疏忌起来。严嵩深知现在还不能与夏言闹翻，事之愈谨，每每置酒，邀夏言宴饮。夏言常不理不睬，有时答应去，严嵩宾客请柬都发齐了，众僚满堂，老夏又忽然推拖有事爽约；好不容易夏大爷亲临一次，“薄暮姑至，三勺一汤，宾主不交一言而去。”让严嵩丢尽了面子。严嵩恨得牙根痒痒，仍旧一脸诚敬，大事小事皆拿给夏方参决。一次，有紧急公文需待夏言批复，恰值这位夏爷有小病在家休养，严嵩屁颠颠亲自把文件送上门去。夏言心情不好，推辞不见。老严颤巍巍派随从在夏言内宅的院子里铺上席子，高捧公文，“跪而读之”。隔窗望见年近花甲的半老头子直腰跪在那为自己朗读文件，弄得夏言心中好不落忍，也觉自己过份了些。同时，他心中踏实下来，觉得自己荐擢的老乡确实一直把自己当恩人，从此不再特别存心刁难、整治他。
严嵩方面，上有帝宠，下有群僚请他办事，连宗藩王爷请恤乞封也要送大笔金宝予他，自然腰杆日硬。同时，他还有个极会走通关节、联络关系的儿子严世藩。小严一时间在府上收钱办事，捞得不亦乐乎。御史、言官们当然不会闲着，纷纷交章弹劾严氏父子纳贿等事。严嵩很会来事，每次为人办某事他都会事先在嘉靖帝前有意无意的透露，所以，皇帝认定诸事严嵩皆关白过，言臣捕风捉影而已，反而更信任老严办事得体，没有事情瞒着自己。实际上，当时的严嵩收钱胃口并不多，几千两银子而已。最“危险”的一次，是共和王死后，其庶子与嫡孙二人争袭王位。共和王庶子乃小老婆所生，暗中送严嵩三千两银子，老严就答应他袭爵。结果，共和王王妃认定嫡系的孙子当承袭，派人入北京大理寺击鼓喊冤。
事情败露后，严嵩忙入见嘉靖帝，“坦白”了自己收受银两的事情。由于严嵩先前干事一直卖力，嘉靖帝很可怜这位能臣一脸惶恐的样子，对他说，“你安心做事好了，不要介意这件事”，明白表示原之不问。
当然，嘉靖皇帝对严嵩的眷宠，绝非仅仅是好印象或者严嵩能依顺已意办事麻利，最最关键之处在于：严嵩擅长撰写嘉靖帝醮祀时必用的“青词”，他是好道的皇帝须臾不可或缺的大能人！
现在的人，如果把“青词”是什么讲给他听，肯定不屑一顾甚至可笑：所谓青词，就是嘉靖帝在拜礼道教“上帝”时表达自己敬崇“心声”的表章，一般用朱笔恭写于青藤纸上，所以叫“青词”。皇帝本人恭读后，礼拜，然后把“青词”
焚烧，以使这些谀谄道教天帝们的表忠心辞语上达天听。虽然“青词”纯属诞妄无聊的东西，但撰写这玩艺要极高的艺术素养和那种类似汉赋骈体长文的功夫，不是一般只读经学文章的文人所能写出的。再者，嘉靖帝本人文化修养极高，又五迷三道地迷信道教，对“青词”要求非常高，绝对是既要有华丽的词藻做形式，也要有深刻的实在语言表达他自己的“心声”。每次醮祀，“青词”均是他一个字一个字拜礼时念出，可称是“字字珠玑”，所以，对大臣们来说，撰写几万字的军国大事建议书，反而不如绞尽脑汗写千把字“青词”给皇帝留下深刻印象。
后世人一说严嵩多坏多谄媚，往往拿“青词”说事，讽刺他是“青词”宰相。
殊不知，就连好称“清正”的夏言本人，起先也是因赞同“天地分祀”、以撰写青词才深得皇帝青睐，当初夏言没这一手，也没有日后入阁的可能。
说起嘉靖帝沉溺道教，还有好大一段可讲。入宫的第二年，嘉靖元年夏天开始，年方十六岁的小皇帝已经开始对寺观佛道等事感兴趣，但他当时的宗教观处于起步阶段，未能定型。转年，有暖殿太监崔文，他本人信道教，便引诱嘉靖帝参观各种道教仪式，声称信道可以长生不老。从此，嘉靖帝开始了他长达四十多年的尊崇道教的路程。他先以乾清宫为“大本营”，不时在宫中建醮，日夜跪拜祈祷，并下令道士训练十数个小太监尽习道教诸仪式，赏赐无算。当时，首辅杨廷和就上疏规谏，不报。“大礼仪”稍稍告一段落后，自嘉靖五年（1526年）起，嘉靖招江西龙虎山道士邵元节入宫，封为“真人”，日夜大兴醮礼。当时的大学士杨一清，曾进言说皇帝不宜在宫内祀天，嘉靖帝稍稍收敛。杨一清致仕后，张璁依承上命，在钦安殿为皇帝建醮，祈祷早生皇子。夏言得进，也正是因为他受任为“醮坛监礼使”，大写“青词”，给嘉靖帝留下深刻印象。嘉靖十五年，宫内大兴隆寺发生火灾，御史以“天变”为由谏劝。为此，嘉靖帝竟然把火灾原因“嫁祸”于佛教僧人，令大兴隆寺僧人还俗，并把明成祖朱棣军师和尚姚广孝的神位从太庙配享中撤出。同时，他又加邵元节道号为“致一真人”，官为二品，岁给高俸，赐田三千亩，并派锦衣卫四十人供其差遣。这位邵元节其实是个气象学家，会观天气，常常假装祈祷得“雨”得“雪”，故为嘉靖帝所重。可巧的是，这一年年底皇帝真有儿子生出，一切又都归功于众人的“醮祀”，邵元节首当其功，官至一品，加授“礼部尚书”衔。崇道的同时，嘉靖帝大肆打击佛教，在皇宫禁城尽撤佛殿，并把宫内数代收藏的金银铜像尽数拆除熔毁，共重一万三千多斤。同时，又下令把“佛首佛牙”之类的“灵物”“舍利”一类的东西尽数从宫内撤毁。本来夏言建议把这些东西在京郊野外找地方一埋了事，嘉靖帝倒有“远见”，表示说：“朕观此类邪秽之物，有智者必避之不及，但小民愚昧，肯定会内心以此为奇异，偷挖出后找地方供奉以招诱百姓献财，不如在京内大道上烧毁，使百姓尽知！”可悲的是，毁佛方面嘉靖帝“唯物主义”得非常到位，结果走向另一个极端，对道教沉迷得不行，以一害易另一害，根本不是什么好事。
可能有人奇怪，怎么大凡皇帝崇道，必毁佛；皇帝崇佛，必毁道。道理很简单，尊道的皇帝身边一群道士“真人”，自然对自己的“传统”竞争对手大肆抨击；尊佛的皇帝，宫内必罗致不少“高僧”“大德”，肯定要“揭发”道教的荒妄。所以，佛道两家，多年来一直没有“和平共处”过。
嘉靖十八年，“真人”邵元节“升天”了，正在裕州巡幸的嘉靖帝闻之“大恸”，敕以官葬，丧仪如伯爵。这位能“呼风唤雨”的特异功能大家，怎么也逃不了一个“死”字。老邵死后，嘉靖帝又招方士陶仲文（又名陶典真）入宫，一心迷崇道教。
严嵩在一心一意讨好嘉靖帝的同时，时刻准备倾陷夏言。夏言有所察觉，就嘱托自己当言官的党羽上章弹劾严嵩。但是，当时的严嵩深为嘉靖帝所信任，御史、言官们越弹劾他，皇帝反而愈信任他，认定老严正是因为他不遗余力站在自己身边，这才惹来言官的攻击。
在喜欢严嵩的同时，夏言越来越让嘉靖帝不待见。这位帝君常在宫内西苑斋居，入值官员进见，皆像道士一样乘马而入，惟独夏言摆谱，每次皆让人抬肩舆把他抬入苑内。嘉靖帝不悦，隐忍未发。同时，嘉靖帝爱戴道士们所戴的香叶巾，就让尚衣局仿制五顶沉水香质地的小冠，赐给夏言和严嵩几位尊显近臣。夏言不识抬举，上密疏表示：“此冠非人臣法服，我不敢当”。这下可把嘉靖帝惹得怒火中烧。反观严嵩，老哥们每每于召对之日，头顶香叶冠，并在上面罩轻纱以示自己对皇帝赐冠的诚敬，使得皇帝龙心大悦。严老头也是老美男子一个，长身挺拔，眉目疏朗，香叶冠那么一带，轻纱那么一飘，举止潇洒，仙风道骨，嘉靖帝看着就舒服。另一方面，夏言身居道辅之位，政事繁多，自然对皇帝交予的“青词”任务就难免有怠慢，不仅词采失色，有时竟然图省事把几年前写过的内容杂揉一下又献上去哄弄皇帝。偏偏这嘉靖帝记性特别好，每篇青词他都亲自朗诵过，见夏言如此敷衍自己，更是气不打一处来。
同时，严嵩又与皇帝身边老道陶仲文关系搞得又密又近，陶老道常在皇帝面前说严嵩的长处以及夏言的短处。为了给皇帝留下深刻印象，二人同时入对时，严嵩常故意惹夏言不高兴，老夏每每勃然，当着嘉靖帝训孙子一样叱责老严。见此状，嘉靖帝心中更是不平。结果，嘉靖二十一年（1542年）夏六月的一天，君臣二人交流融洽之机，嘉靖帝向严嵩询问他对夏言的看法。老严早就等着这一天，卟咚一声跪地，泪如雨下，老脸哆嗦，尽诉夏言种种跋扈欺凌之事（夏言先前与外戚郭勋不和，互相倾轧，也引起嘉靖恼怒），大怒之下，嘉靖帝立刻手写敕令，历数夏言“罪状”，指斥他把持言路，轻慢君上，诏令夏言“落职闲信”，连个“巡视员”差事也不给。一朝首辅，直落为民，夏言可谓丧尽脸面。
夏言一去，严嵩得以礼部尚书、武英殿大学士的身份入阁，时为嘉靖二十一年（1542年）阴历秋八月。花甲老头，终于实现了他人生的“理想”——一人之下，万人之上。
现在的人，读书浮躁，总爱望文生义，以为“大学士”就是当朝“一品”大员了。No!明代自始至终，大学士秩止“正五官”，其官仍以本人所兼的“尚书”一职为重，他们挂牌署衔也是本衔在下，兼衔的尚书官名在上：“某部尚书兼某殿阁大学士”。明初废相后，设内阁大学士，其实当时只是给皇帝当高级笔墨顾问和秘书。由于这些人得在大内授餐，侍天子于殿阁之内，故称“内阁”。
而“内阁”一词真正定型的，出于明成祖之后明仁宗始，“内阁”权力逐渐加重。
最初明朝大学士共“四殿”、“两阁”。四殿者，中极殿大学士（原为华盖殿），建极殿大学士（原为谨身殿），文华殿大学士，武英殿大学士，严嵩即以此名。
西阁者，文渊阁大学士，东阁大学士。
严嵩入阁后，引起很大争议，给事中沈良才和御史童汉臣等人文章劾奏这位新相爷奸险贪污，不堪大任。严嵩以退为进，自己上章求去。嘉靖帝当然不允，手诏百余言慰留，并亲书“忠勤敏达”四个大字赐于严嵩。为示殊宠，嘉靖帝又为严嵩家中藏书楼赐匾曰“琼翰流辉”，道教祈祀阁匾曰“延恩堂”，并加严嵩“太子太傅”，旗帜鲜明地支持这位青词老臣。为了安慰严嵩，嘉靖帝不久又把上章弹劾的童汉臣等人外贬。
花甲翁入阁后，精神亢奋，天天朝夕在内宫西苑简陋的报房值班伺侯皇帝，“未尝一归洗沐”，风中黄叶树，灯下白头人，老严不停奋笔疾书代替皇帝“创作”妄天的青词，达宵不寐。当时的名义首辅是翟銮，但嘉靖帝总是把严嵩当首辅对待，崔銮惟惟而已。很快，严嵩又进吏部尚书、谨身殿大学士、少傅兼太子太师，“组织”大权落于严老头手中，也算是“天道酬勤”吧。
翟銮虽是个木偶，严嵩仍不能容他，嘱心腹言官以其二子有罪弹劾他，老崔竟被削籍而去。这一点，严嵩确实不厚道，刚拗如张璁，激越如夏言，都容得老翟当摆设，轮到严嵩，竟对这个“老实人”也不相容，显然过分。
严嵩入相的这年冬天，嘉靖二十一年（1542年）阴历十月二十一日夜，皇宫中发生了一件骇人听闻的谋弑事件，以宫女杨金英为首的十多名小姑娘，竟然在深夜准备把皇帝勒死，幸亏几个人慌乱之间把绳子结成死节，踏进阴曹半只腿的嘉靖帝才最终得活。对于此事的经过，《明史》中的《后妃传》中简单记叙了几句，《明实录》中也是草草叙述，大概是为尊者讳，不想多说。记载此事最详细的，当属当时任刑部主事的张合。张合文人，退休后着书《宙记》，记载了此事的详细经过：
嘉靖二十一年十月二十一日，奉懿旨（方皇后的命令）：“好生打着问！”
得（逮捕）杨金英，系常在、答应（低级宫婢）供说：“本月十九日，有王、曹侍长（指王嫔、曹妃即端妃，这是方皇后冤枉她，此人因貌美被嘉靖帝宠幸，对谋弑之事根本不知情）在东稍间点灯时分，商（量）说：”咱们下了手罢，强如死在（皇帝）手里！'杨翠英、苏川药、杨玉香、邢翠莲在旁听说，杨玉香就往东稍间去，将细料仪仗花绳解下，总搓一条。至二十二日卯时分，将绳