Chapter 238: Household Seized and Exiled, All Property Confiscated

Han dynasty, Chang'an.

Liu Bang inhaled a cold breath: "Good fellows! The son becomes a junior chancellor, the old man becomes the senior chancellor? Damn, the whole family is forming a gang of corrupt officials!"

"They even dare to embezzle the soldiers' pay at the frontier! No wonder they later perished… cough cough, anyway they're no good!"

Ying Zheng's eyes boiled with murderous intent: "Chief minister of the cabinet? Prime minister? I deem them traitors to the state!"

"Those who embezzle military provisions shall be guilty of treason like those who defect before battle! They shall be torn asunder! Eradicate three families! No, eradicate nine families! Their assets shall be seized for war funds, leaving not a single coin!"

"Jiajing? Hmph, a tyrant! To have tolerated such parasites for twenty years!"

Tang dynasty, Zhen Guan era.

Li Shimin slammed the table and rose, his beard bristling: "Scoundrels! Frontier soldiers bleed, yet the silver wages end up in the treacherous chancellor's pocket! How is that any different from aiding the enemy?"

"If I were the soldiers in this matter, I would march troops into the capital, purge the court, and execute the traitors! Emperor Jiajing, utterly foolish!"

Song dynasty.

Zhao Kuangyin shook his head repeatedly: "If the prime minister is like this, how can the nation endure? I would relinquish power over a cup of wine, fearing the martial class's arrogance."

"Observe Yan Song; the disaster of a civil official surpasses that of a warrior!"

"Future generations should cherish virtuous ministers and keep distance from petty men, and must never let power be held by a single person for long!"

Ming dynasty, Hongwu reign.

Nanjing Forbidden City, Fengtian Hall.

A dead silence.

Only Zhu Yuanzhang's heavy breathing sounded, like a bellows being pulled.

He watched the heavenly screen display Yan Song and his son's deeds, the piles of gold and silver like mountains, the inscription "Four who lose at the border, six who supply Yan Song," and his own Zhu family's realm, corroded by this father‑son pair for twenty years!

He seemed to see the frontier soldiers freezing and starving to death, the common folk's wailing as they were plundered, the emptiness of the treasury, and the realm teetering on collapse…

"Ah—!!!"

Zhu Yuanzhang let out a roar unlike any human sound, snatched the sword at his waist, and frantically hacked at the imperial desk!

Wood shavings fluttered!

"Corrupt official! Traitor! Yan Song, may you be killed a thousand times! Yan Shifan!"

"And that unfilial descendant Zhu Houcong! Tyrant! Worthless!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes reddened, "The realm we fought hard to secure is being ruined by these parasites?!"

"They even dare to embezzle frontier provisions! Still six‑tenths! Why don't they just die! Why don't they die!!!"

He spun around sharply, his blood‑red eyes sweeping over the officials in the hall, silent as chilled cicadas, especially the civil officials.

"You all saw it?! You all heard it?! This is what scholars become, this is what scholars who become high officials become! How black their hearts! How poisonous their hands!"

"Let me tell you, in our Hongwu era, anyone who dares to snatch a single copper coin, I'll cut off his hand! If they covet ten taels, I'll skin them alive!"

"If anyone dares to embezzle military provisions, I will annihilate nine families! Hear that clearly?!"

"We will remember, Your Majesty, temper your wrath!"

All the civil and military officials of the court, including Li Shanchang, Xu Da, Liu Bowen and other founding heroes, were so frightened they fell to their knees with a thud, head striking the ground, cold sweat soaking their heavy robes.

They knew the emperor was not joking; he truly harbored murderous intent.

And with the appearance of the heavenly screen, the anti‑corruption campaign of the Hongwu era was bound to become fiercer than ever before.

Empress Ma also wept, pulling Zhu Yuanzhang to advise,

"Zhong Ba, Zhong Ba, calm down, that's a matter for later generations; it hasn't happened yet…"

"It hasn't happened? The heavenly screen said it all! It's about our Ming dynasty!"

Zhu Yuanzhang roared, but he forced himself to restrain his anger, pointing at the heavenly screen and speaking to Zhu Biao and the other princes,

"Biao'er, the fourth son, you all remember Yan Song! Remember how his two fathers ruined the court!"

"If any descendant emperor of our old Zhu family dares to use such a person, if anyone dares to emulate Jiajing's neglect, we… we would crawl out of the grave and choke them to death!"

Zhu Di and the others hurriedly kowtowed: "Your son‑servant will never forget!"

Qing dynasty.

Kangxi's face was also solemn: "The fall of the Ming truly stemmed from Emperor Shenzong (Wanli), while the corrupt policies accumulated under Jiajing."

"Yan Song and his son are a microcosm of the Jiajing era's accumulated corruption. Controlling the key posts, embezzling frontier provisions, they essentially destroyed the Great Wall themselves."

"Our court must not show the slightest leniency toward such parasites. Mingzhu, Suo E Tu, you must reflect upon yourselves."

Mingzhu and Suo E Tu felt a chill in their hearts and promptly agreed.

Ming dynasty, Jiajing year twelve.

Beijing, Yan's residence.

The 53‑year‑old Yan Song, then Right Vice‑Minister of Rites, was ambitious, scheming everywhere, trying to advance further.

He had just meticulously crafted a qingci, preparing to submit it, hoping to gain further favor from the emperor.

His son Yan Shifan, meanwhile, was in the residence plotting with a few confidants how to overthrow political rivals and install his own loyalists.

Suddenly, the heavenly screen appeared, broadcasting their father‑son's next twenty years of "brilliant achievements" and tragic downfall in exhaustive detail to the world!

The qingci in Yan Song's hand floated down, his complexion turning as pale as paper in an instant, his body swaying; if he hadn't grasped the desk, he would have collapsed.

A buzzing filled his mind, leaving only the images and words from the heavenly screen echoing:

Chief aide… selling offices… frontier provisions sixty percent… confiscation… "Tian Shui Ice Mountain Record"… son murdered… begging oneself… starving to death…

"No… this cannot be! Witchcraft! This is witchcraft to deceive the masses!"

"Defamation! It's Xia Yan! It's Xu Jie! It's their trick!"

Yan Song shouted hoarsely, his voice weak and full of terror.

Beside him, Yan Shifan was even more terrified, his face drained of color, his fat body trembling like a winnowing sieve:

"Father! Father! What shall we do? The heavenly screen… the heavenly screen said everything! The emperor… the emperor will certainly know!"

At that moment, the Heavenly Curtain's punishment, disregarding time and space, had already descended.

【In view of Yan Song and his son usurping high positions, their boundless greed and corruption, especially their seizing of border stipends and destabilizing the state, their crimes are overwhelming and impossible to fully record!】

【Now the Heavenly Dao imposes punishment: stripping Yan Song of thirty years of lifespan! Effective immediately!】

A deep gray pillar of light, filled with desolation and the aura of death, fell from the Heavenly Curtain and precisely enveloped Yan Song in the Yan residence.

"Ugh—!"

Yan Song let out a short, painful groan.

His once relatively black hair instantly turned snow‑white and fell out in large clumps.

His previously ruddy face rapidly withered and turned gaunt, wrinkles deep as ravines, his upright body slumped, his eyes quickly grew cloudy and dim, and he had to cling tightly to the table edge just to stand.

In just a few breaths, the 53‑year‑old, prime‑aged, ambitious Yan Song became a sparse‑haired, age‑spotted, near‑death 83‑year‑old old man!

Having thirty years of his yang lifespan stripped away nearly drained all his vitality!

"Father!"

Yan Shifan and the surrounding servants were horrified to the point of panic.

Yan Song slumped in the grandmaster's chair, staring at his own withered, chicken‑claw‑like hands, feeling the pervasive weakness and death‑energy within his body, as boundless fear and despair engulfed him.

It's over, completely over.

The Heavenly Curtain's shortening of lifespan is tantamount to an immediate political death sentence, even a death sentence on his natural life.

Almost simultaneously, urgent horse‑hooves sounded outside the residence, accompanied by a eunuch's sharp voice:

"The imperial edict has arrived! Yan Song, Yan Shifan, receive the edict—!"

The edict's content was as expected: Yan Song was stripped of his office and ordered to return to his hometown for idle residence (in fact, house arrest).

Yan Shifan was sent to the Jinyiwei prison for strict investigation of his crimes.

The Yan residence was immediately sealed, awaiting confiscation!

Emperor Jiajing Zhu Houcong was at this moment refining elixirs in the Western Garden.

He was suspicious by nature, petty and ungracious.

The revelation of the Heavenly Curtain left him both shocked and angry.

What shocked him was Yan Song's future audacity, and what angered him was that he had been deceived for so long.

But he also saw Yan Song's tragic state after the Heavenly Curtain instantly shaved thirty years off his lifespan, realizing the old thief had only days left to live.

"Hmph, the Heavenly Curtain has already punished his lifespan on my behalf; this thief's life is short."

Emperor Jiajing coldly said to the eunuch beside him, Huang Jin,

"Transmit the edict: Yan Song, aged and senile, unfit for duty, shall be stripped of office and ordered to return to his original home in Jiangxi's FenyI, to shut himself in and reflect."

"His son Yan Shifan shall be handed over to the Three Law Offices for strict examination; if any crime is found, punish him severely according to the law!"

"The Yan household's assets shall be examined carefully by the Jinyiwei together with the Ministry of Revenue!"

He did not issue the execution order immediately; first, Yan Song had already been left half‑dead by the Heavenly Curtain's punishment; second, time was needed to deal with the remaining remnants of Yan's faction; third… he felt somewhat guilty, after all, Yan Song had been promoted by his own hand.

But Yan Shifan, this "young chancellor", he would never let go.

When the news spread, Beijing boiled over!

Especially those officials, generals, merchants who had been oppressed and extorted by the Yan father and son, as well as the common folk who heard of the border tragedies, all clapped with delight!

"Heaven has eyes! The Heavenly Curtain opens its eye!"

"Old thief Yan Song! You will have your day too!"

"Thirty years shaved off his lifespan? Fine! Let him taste the feeling of life being worse than death!"

"Yan Shifan is imprisoned! Deserved! Let him be torn to pieces!"

"Confiscate the house! Must confiscate the house! Look at how much of our hard‑earned money this corrupt official has stolen!"

Shortly after, the preliminary results of the Jinyiwei and Ministry of Revenue's confiscation were reported; although not as extensive as the Heavenly Curtain had claimed would happen in twenty years, the gold, silver, and land already uncovered left people astonished.

The entire Yan family's assets were fully confiscated.

Yan Shifan also endured severe torture in prison, confessing a large number of crimes.

In the end he was sentenced to death, publicly executed, to the great satisfaction of the people.

As for Yan Song, on the road back to Jiangxi he was already on the brink of death due to "old age, frailty, and anxiety‑induced illness".

Not long after returning to his hometown in FenyI, he died amid poverty, illness, and the scorn of ten thousand people.

He ended his sinful life more than thirty years earlier than history records.