Yan Shifan wanted to retort a few more words, but Luo Longwen gave him a look. Yan Shifan had no choice but to recite:
"Hark, the lament for Lingbi, regretful of the earth's connection to the heavenly pivot.
Tempered through ten thousand ages, it embraces nature and perfects creation.
...
Behold, the Qingyun nurtures the soul, ascending the碧石 to join the Northern Star.
Strike the qing and drum to pacify the edicts, listen to the autumn waters speak of the morning wind."
Yan Song leaned on the bridge railing, shaking his head and savoring the verses. He felt that this scroll of Qingci truly captured the essence, embodying the imperial majesty that Jiajing so adored.
"Hmm, good, good, truly good... I am at ease now..."
Yan Shifan, Luo Longwen, and Yan Maoqing were also beaming. Yan Shifan said, "Father, our people are now spread throughout the court and the country, and the Emperor trusts you so much, we cannot fall... Those useless scoundrels like Xu, Gao, and Zhang are no match for us!"
Yan Song's expression immediately soured, and his eyes flashed with sharpness. "Silence! They are all Grand Secretaries and assisting ministers, not to be looked down upon!"
Yan Shifan chuckled and said, "Father! They ascend to the Emperor's hall in the morning and become prisoners at dusk. Whether they remain assisting ministers is uncertain... Your son has just thought of one word: Impeach! Their Qingci angered the Emperor so greatly, that is a crime. We must impeach them, impeach them to death!"
Yan Song shot him a disdainful glance and mocked, "How do you propose to impeach them?"
"Father, I will have Elder Luo draft a memorial stating that the Qingci written by Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng are not in accordance with the regulations and fail to comprehend the imperial will. Then, you will issue a cabinet order for the Directorate of Ceremonial to endorse it with red ink. We will then command the Hanlin Academy scholars to each submit a new Qingci, everyone must write one, and pass the test. Those who fail will be impeached!
Finally, we will impeach Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng, stating their failure to guide their subordinates, and that the idle men in the Hanlin Academy do nothing all day but slander the court! If we can find any fault in their Qingci, that would be even better, and we can directly expel Xu Jie or Zhang Juzheng from the cabinet..."
Yan Song pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "What if they write well? Won't you be lifting a rock only to drop it on your own foot?"
Yan Shifan suddenly burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Father, Xu, Gao, Zhang, and the wastrels in the Hanlin Academy, I know their limited knowledge all too well. If they could write well, wouldn't they have done so long ago?"
Luo Longwen chimed in, "My Lord, the more than twenty attendant scholars in the Hanlin Academy, they only have so much knowledge. They read Confucius and Mencius all day, how would they understand Qingci?"
Yan Song closed his eyes and pondered further. He mused: Xu, Gao, and Zhang, in league with Prince Yu, would sooner or later pose a threat to the Yan faction. If one of them could indeed be removed, that would be good. Even if not, it could suppress the arrogance of the pure scholars.
"Fine, fine... If you wish to act, then act. I am eighty years old, and this old life will be given to you to play with sooner or later..."
Yan Song walked ahead shakily, while Yan Shifan, Luo Longwen, and Yan Maoqing exchanged knowing smiles.
...
Meanwhile,
In the grand hall of Prince Yu's mansion, Xu Jie, Zhang Juzheng, and Gao Gong had been in a state of disarray for some time. Prince Yu, already timid, had nearly fainted upon hearing the bad news and had retreated to the inner chambers to rest.
Zhang Juzheng, a renowned prodigy, was completely bewildered. He finally sighed dejectedly, "Grand Secretary Xu, what exactly displeased the Emperor? Haven't you been favored with your Qingci for these past years?"
"Alas, I too am unaware..."
Recalling the rapid clatter of jade bowls from Yuxi Palace, Xu Jie's brow furrowed even deeper, making him appear twenty years older.
Gao Gong, a straightforward man from the Three Commandaries, had been arguing fruitlessly. Frustrated, he blurted out, "Damn it all! What's the big deal if one Qingci isn't written well? Aren't our impeachments of Yan Shifan for corruption true? Qingci, Qingci, I've heard 'Qingci' until my ears are calloused! If we can't write Qingci well, will the sky fall? Hmph, I refuse to believe it!"
Xu Jie, however, shook his head repeatedly. "You, Gao Gong, are a coarse fellow, how would you understand? Our dynasty is a Qingci dynasty. To bring down the Yan Party, Qingci is the first hurdle. If we cannot even pass the first hurdle, what else can we talk about saving the common people? The Emperor's rejection of the memorial today and his negation of the Qingci indicate that the situation is somewhat serious. It's possible the Yan Party will counterattack..."
Just as he was about to advise Gao Gong, he saw four eunuchs approaching in a hurry from outside the door.
The three immediately knelt to receive the imperial decree.
The eunuch announced:
"By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: I sincerely revere Heaven, yet my ministers do not understand Heaven's will. The Qingci submitted are incoherent and lack sincerity in revering Heaven, deeply disappointing Us. Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng are hereby ordered, along with all ministers of the Hanlin Academy, to each compose a scroll of Qingci and submit it within two days as atonement for their transgressions. Thus is the decree!"
"Ah?"
"This..."
Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng were instantly struck with alarm.
"Lack sincerity in revering Heaven?"
"Incoherent?"
"Atonement?"
These words carried significant weight, and all the ministers of the Hanlin Academy were also required to write one? If this wasn't the Yan Party's counterattack, what was it? They had anticipated a counterattack, but they hadn't expected it to come so quickly.
Xu Jie sighed, a wave of fear washing over him. "How could Old Yan Song possibly let this opportunity pass... This Mid-Lower Yuan Festival might be a trial for the pure scholars?"
Realizing that a single misstep could lead to a complete loss, and that their attempt to slay the tiger had instead invited the wrath of the fierce beast, Zhang Juzheng offered a wry smile and said to Gao Gong, "Brother Suqing, didn't you say a scroll of Qingci was no big deal? Look, has the sky fallen now?"
Gao Gong's face had already turned ashen.
...
In the Hanlin Academy,
Zhu Mo, lost in thought, was wiping down the rosewood furniture in the Jīnglǐ Hall, feeling a persistent sense of unease. He had a feeling that something significant had happened today...
As he pondered, hurried footsteps and a cacophony of anxious voices announced the arrival of a large contingent of Hanlin Academicians into the Jīnglǐ Hall.
They gathered in twos and threes, their brows furrowed, scratching their heads, some clasping their heads, others sitting at their desks with writing brushes clamped tightly between their teeth...
"Disaster! The Emperor wants them tomorrow, how can we possibly write them?"
"Qingci? That's a low art! How can we, disciples of the Sages, possibly..."
"Alas... write them! We must write them!"
"Grand Secretary Xu said that we should write whatever we can, as long as we write something. There's no other way..."
"Why is the Emperor asking us to write? Why is he always targeting us good, pure scholars?"
"The Yan Party gorges on corruption and fraud, while we... guarding cold benches. Alas... comparing ourselves to them is enough to make one die of anger!"
"If we write poorly, their parents will carry the blame..."
"What if we write poorly? Will we lose our heads...?"
"..."
The Hanlin Academicians whispered amongst themselves, drawing upon a lifetime of absorbed knowledge. They felt it was a hundred times more arduous than the imperial examinations, especially the heart-pounding anxiety, which was unprecedented.
Upon hearing the word "Qingci," Zhu Mo's heart immediately tensed. "Jiajing ordering the Hanlin Academy to write Qingci? Impossible! This isn't mentioned in books, is it? Has the time for a showdown arrived?"
He thought long and hard, but couldn't recall any major showdowns in the thirty-ninth year of Jiajing. If there were major events in the world, they were the defense against Japanese pirates in the southeast and the resistance against the Tatars in the north. If there was a crisis, it was undoubtedly the financial crisis; the national treasury had long been emptied. Beyond that, there should be nothing else!
Just as he was wondering, a shrill voice called from outside, "Everyone come to Jìnsī Hall! Grand Secretary Xu, Minister Gao, and Grand Tutor Zhang have all arrived. They want us to stay here tonight and write, and we can only leave after we've written and passed the test!"
A wave of shock went through the crowd!
Dozens of Hanlin Academicians were instantly stunned. Their already taut nerves snapped ten times tighter at this display.
"Tsk tsk, are they trying to kill people?"
"Is the Yan Party trying to annihilate us?"
These scholars had never witnessed such a scene, and they immediately drooped their heads in dejection. All the carefully chosen words they had prepared vanished from their minds.
...
Everyone had left, and the Jīnglǐ Hall fell silent.
Zhu Mo finished sweeping and glanced at the verses they had written. As expected, they were all quite ordinary, with few lines that were truly stunning. Some began blandly, others feigned profundity, some were patchwork, and still others were simply nonsensical...
"Alas, are the Hanlin Academicians of the Ming Dynasty really of this caliber...?"
Zhu Mo remembered a television drama he had watched, which mentioned Yan Song and Xu Jie's Qingci. Their writing was far superior to this.
"This Daoist is about to leave. I should at least leave some trace for you..."
Zhu Mo chuckled, picked up his brush, and began to write. However, after just two lines, he forgot the rest of the verse.
Just then, a dinging sound echoed in his ear.
"Detected host writing Qingci, Yun Chao Civilization System activated..."
Yun Chao?
What was this? This was the end of the world, what Yun Chao? Could writing a Qingci truly improve national fortune?
Zhu Mo knew he had been tricked by a blind box system, but he hadn't expected this kind of activation! A civilization system? This was almost finished!
Upon a brief glance, he felt a touch of surprise.
This system was quite complex, encompassing politics, military, economy, society, culture, population, education, religion, science, art... and many other aspects. Furthermore, each section had numerous branches, truly covering all aspects...
And it had several modes, allowing for progression from a declining era, prosperous era, well-governed era, crisis era, dying era, chaotic era, and so on. Once selected, the evolutionary paths were also quite distinct.
Zhu Mo had lived in the Jiajing era for over ten years, so he naturally knew which to choose.
"Then let's choose a crisis era..."
A dinging sound.
[Yun Chao Civilization System is integrating the information data of the host's current era...]