Great Yan's Emperor: "I Want to Run Away"-Why Are the Officials Telling Me Not to Abdicate?

Hai Rui clearly knew that the root cause of the Great Yan's current state was not just the Grand Secretariat or the Yan Faction. Even if he were to impeach Grand Secretariat Grand Secretariat now, ultimately only one person could make the decisions: the Jiajing.

"The disease has reached its terminal stage; treating the symptoms is useless unless the root cause is addressed. Where does the Great Yan Dynasty's illness lie? You know, I know, everyone knows, but no one dares to touch upon it!"

"I won't submit a memorial like they do. If I'm going to do something, I'll address the root cause!"

"... It seems that Hai Rui is finally going to clash with Jiajing." The Emperor of Great Yan couldn't help but smile at this scene. He admired Hai Rui and despised Jiajing. Now, Hai Rui, this Blades, was finally going to strike at the root of Great Yan's problems, which he was naturally happy to see.

Inside the study, Jiajing is currently talking with Huang Jin, played by Tai He. After Lü Fang left, Huang Jin became the only person he could trust. Although Huang Jin is a little slow-witted, his loyalty is unquestionable.

Now, the lonely Jiajing, under the meticulous care of those he trusted, has also revealed his vulnerable side as a monarch, a rare occurrence.

"Since I was a child, my late father and mother... have all passed away."

"No parents, no brothers... not even a close confidant by your side. Don't be so sure, if there were anyone, it would be Lü Fang... He left, but left you with me; he did right by me."

However, the vulnerability was short-lived. Soon, Jiajing, accompanied by Huang Jin, went to visit the soon-to-be-completed palaces and temples. On the way, they happened to witness Feng Bao being taught a lesson by Chen Hong's men.

Previously, in order to facilitate the power transition Lü Fang and Chen Hong, and to allow Lü Fang to leave the palace under the pretext of guarding the imperial tombs, Jiajing fabricated numerous charges against Lü Fang, and Feng Bao, played by A, was one of the key figures in this Feng Bao.

There was a reason why Jiajing made such a plan. He was playing a game of chess, a game of controlling the fate of these people.

Chen Hong is vengeful. Feng Bao was originally one of Lü Fang's men. Now, because of Lü Fang, Feng Bao has been punished and sent here to be the lowest-ranking slave. Naturally, she is being given special treatment by Chen Hong. However, Feng Bao also knows that none of them dare to kill her.

Feng Bao has now gained the trust of Prince Yu, who will become the emperor of the Great Yan in the future. As long as Prince Yu survives until that day, the highest position in the Directorate of Ceremonial will undoubtedly be his!

When autumn comes, on the eighth day of the ninth month, my flowers will bloom and all other flowers will wither!

Jiajing saw through this, so he silently observed everything, only reminding Huang Jin beside him:

"From now on, don't be so straightforward, and don't argue with Chen Hong to his face. I'm doing this for your own good."

"The person who will be able to kill Chen Hong next... is probably this one."

Jiajing knew that a tyrannical person like Chen Hong would inevitably meet a bad end, which was why he dared to use Chen Hong as a weapon against the officials. But the weapon might also hurt him in the future, and Feng Bao was another weapon that could cut Chen Hong in the future!

The more Feng Bao endures now, the more ruthless he will be when he kills Chen Hong in the future. In turn, he will become the sharpest and most loyal blade under Prince Yu's command! This is Jiajing's plan.

The fates of these insignificant people are all in his hands; he is the god of the Great Yan, holding the future of everyone in his grasp.

However, Jiajing soon saw a group of figures slowly approaching. Without a doubt, these were the officials who had previously decided to come and remonstrate to the death. They had all written their memorials and were ready to impeach the Grand Secretariat and all officials under the emperor!

"What are you trying to do?! Are you planning a rebellion?!"

"In our Great Yan Dynasty, there are no officials who plot rebellion, only officials who die for their principles!"

However, faced with the desperate remonstrance of at least seventy or eighty officials from the capital, even though they were of low rank, such a scene was enough to make the officials of the Great Yan outside the screen, as well as the Emperor of Great Yan himself, feel a sense of suffocation.

"In the history of our Great Yan Dynasty... I'm afraid there has never been such a large number of officials dying in remonstrance before?" The Emperor of Great Yan also seemed somewhat shaken, and couldn't help but wipe away his cold sweat, feeling a little guilty.

Putting aside other matters, if such a large number of officials had died remonstrating during his reign, then without a doubt, he had done something he was extremely wicked and would likely have left a stain on the history of the Great Yan.

Faced with the desperate remonstrances of his officials, any emperor would immediately abandon his original intention. However, the Jiajing in the drama, standing on a high place with Huang Jin, remained completely unmoved by the officials' remonstrances, even displaying a hint of sneer and solemnity, his aura no less imposing than that of the officials!

"If His Majesty is startled here, it will be terrible! This servant must immediately escort Master back to the palace!" Huang Jin was somewhat nervous upon seeing this situation. However, Jiajing, upon hearing this, smiled with a mixture of sarcasm and slight pride:

"A terrifying journey? You've never seen a terrifying journey before!"

"Thirty-five years have passed... Back then, in order to get them to elevate my father to the throne, the number of people involved in that Great Rites Controversy was far greater than this year! Many of them were Grand Secretaries. I single-handedly dealt with two or three hundred people and killed them all!"

"Lü Fang was right beside me at the time, but unfortunately you were still too young."

"Watch carefully, and when you write your historical record for me, include everything you saw today."

"I didn't provoke them... they're the ones who provoked me."

At this moment, Jiajing's tone instantly turned icy and murderous. He, who had treated his officials as servants, was now facing the counterattack of these servants. No one knew what he, as the master, would do to establish his authority.

But at this moment, Wei Yenwu's portrayal of Jiajing, his complete disregard for such a grand remonstrance, and his depiction of the "Great Rites Controversy" that they were unaware of, allowed the officials watching from outside the screen to more directly experience the terrifying nature of this emperor...

"This Great Rites Controversy... perhaps Director Chen Qi should tell me about it." The Emperor of Great Yan murmured to himself, vaguely feeling that this event was something of great reference value to him as well.

"But what exactly does Jiajing want to do? How will he overcome this crisis with such a large-scale mass of suicide remonstrances?"

However, this question was not only on the mind of the emperor, but also in the minds of the ministers. However, with the appearance of Chen Hong, played by Lin Qingyan, in the drama, Jiajing suddenly revealed his answer to everyone present.

Faced with these rebellious servants who are actively provoking their master, the master has only one method to use—to let them know through physical means who is truly in charge of the Great Yan!

Thus, under Jiajing's instruction, Chen Hong became the sharpest blade to defend imperial power. He led a group of palace servants and Inspectorate to confront the officials who had submitted memorials impeaching the Grand Secretariat, and began the most primitive and simple form of suppression from a master to his servants—whipping!

The scene of whipping officials unfolded on the screen, shocking not only the Great Yan Emperor and his officials, but also all the rulers in Ursus, Victoria, and other countries who had received the videotapes from Chen Qi. They were all stunned by this primal scene, which symbolized absolute oppression.

"* Ursus profanity*... I wish I could do something like that. This Jiajing truly holds absolute authority over the country."

Even the notoriously tough Ursus rulers would never commit the act of whipping officials. No matter how many people the Ursus tyrants had killed throughout history, they would never make such a threat—dead people are no longer a threat, but failing to kill someone will sow the seeds of hatred in their hearts. The Ursus emperors have never given anyone the chance to seek revenge.

But now, Jiajing's actions show that he is completely unafraid of these officials harboring resentment; in fact, he is certain that these officials dare not harbor any resentment at all. And this is exactly the state that the Ursus Emperor has always wanted to achieve!

He enslaved the entire world, yet no one dared to complain or speak out. Jiajing, as the emperor of Ursus, pointed out a supreme pursuit that he could only dream of.

PS: Second chapter today! (Another 5k-word long chapter, ah, so tired, going to take a nap...)

Volume 1: Chapter 323: The Great Yan Emperor: I Want to Flee, But My Officials Advise Me Not to Abdicate?

But no matter how much the Ursus Emperor envied Jiajing's almost autocratic imperial power, in the eyes of the officials of the Great Yan, Jiajing's actions were undoubtedly met with widespread condemnation.

Of course, the officials couldn't actually jump into the screen, nor could they personally confront these arrogant servants, Chen Hong played by Lin Qingyan), or even Jiajing himself. But judging from their current indignant demeanor, if they were truly in the situation, they could definitely perform even better than the officials being whipped.

"A tyrannical and incompetent ruler! So cruel and mediocre, your shameful mark on the history books of the Great Yan Jiajing surely be recorded!"

"Even if all the ministers of my Great Yan who dared to remonstrate to the death are whipped to death today, there will still be others to impeach you, Jiajing, tomorrow! My Great Yan will never lack loyal ministers and filial sons!"

"* Great Yan Central Plains vulgarity*! These bastards only know how to take a beating! A bunch of lackeys who rely on their master's power! You are officials! Fight back!"

"Have you all forgotten how our ancestors fought in the imperial court?! What kind of backbone is it to just take a beating! With my temper, I'd kill that Jiajing! Who cares if he's an emperor or a god!"

In the main hall, the officials of the Great Yan who witnessed the scene of their officials being whipped spoke with even more offensiveness. However, the Emperor of Great Yan did not take it too seriously, since they were angry because of Jiajing's absurd behavior, and no one said that they wanted to rebel.

Moreover, what they said wasn't entirely unreasonable. If Jiajing had been so incompetent and tyrannical, and if it were the present-day Great Yan, he would have been drowned in the spittle of all the officials, and there would have been no situation like the one depicted in the drama where officials are whipped.

However, in the drama, Jiajing has theoretically overwhelmed all officials. The "Great Rites Controversy" established his imperial authority. Now, the Great Yan Nation is stretched thin, and its high-level military power is almost completely depleted. Jiajing is also a monarch who will not allow anyone who opposes him to have the opportunity to act. With the Great Yan in his hands, who can defeat him?

It can only be said that if any one of these conditions were missing, Jiajing would not have been able to secure his throne in the Great Yan. This is why the officials of the Great Yan all thought Jiajing was absurd. They lived in a prosperous era, and anyone could easily confront Jiajing. Who would dare to be angry but not act like the officials?

"Your Majesty, I wish to impeach Chen Hong. Please allow me to do so."

Finally, even Huang Jin, played by Tai He, couldn't stand it anymore and said with a bitter expression, "To beat officials without an imperial decree is an act of usurpation!"

"The officials' faults were nothing more than their dissatisfaction with Grand Secretary Xu. They submitted a memorial, and they shouldn't have suffered such a cruel fate."

"... You're too honest."

However, although Jiajing did not directly state his stance, his current actions were all instructing Chen Hong to do so. Jiajing naturally had his own excuses for his actions:

"Their dissatisfaction isn't with Xu Jie, nor with the Grand Secretariat... it's all directed at me."

However, just as Jiajing was saying this, leading everyone to believe that he at least knew he was Jiajing and suspicious, they only heard Jiajing shamelessly say:

"It's simply because I built a few houses for my retirement! Would Yan Song and Yan Shifan dare to do this while they were in power?"

"I used Chen Hong because of his ruthlessness. If I didn't even have Chen Hong now, my Great Yan Dynasty would be thrown into chaos... I had no choice but to do this."

"Lü Fang wouldn't do such a thing... and I don't want him to do it either."

At this point, all the officials present, including the Emperor of Great Yan himself, fully understood why Jiajing had made this move... Jiajing certainly knew that forcing Xu Jie and his group to divert funds from various ministries to build palaces for him was not only because he needed these palaces and Daoist temples, but also a test, a way of "seeing whether the officials would still support him now that the Yan Faction was gone."

Now the results have clearly validated Jiajing's idea. He believed that all of this was caused by the incompetence of the Purists. In the past, his needs were also considerable, and Yan Song was able to provide them while suppressing these voices. They simply obeyed Jiajing and never allowed these unpleasant voices to reach Jiajing's ears.

With Yan Song dead, the Purists faction gained absolute power, and these voices could not be suppressed for even a moment. Therefore, Jiajing had no choice but to use Chen Hong to establish his own authority, so that the officials would continue to be like servants without a voice.

Everything sounded like a test by the monarch to establish his authority, and the conclusion was that his concerns were justified—but the price to be paid for this test was not just the flogging of his officials.

"... But what about the cost? Who should bear the cost? The Grand Secretariat? The officials?"

At this moment, Lin Qingyan, who plays Chen Hong, is also hiding in an inconspicuous corner of the main hall, watching "The Great Yan Dynasty" with several colleagues from the Court of Judicial Review. She dares not stand out, fearing that if she were exposed to the officials, she would be easily beaten to death by the indignant officials.

But now, seeing this scene, Lin Qingyan could no longer suppress the voice in his heart. Having inherited both his master Celestial Master Bai's skills and temperament, Lin Qingyan couldn't help but sadly mutter to himself:

"The Grand Secretariat won't suffer, and the officials will suffer less, but in the end, it's always the common people who suffer the most."

Military supplies for national defense, officials' salaries, disaster relief grain... all the funds crucial to the survival of the Great Yan were used by Jiajing for this test. National defense could be based on defense alone, and officials wouldn't die even if they didn't survive the New Year, but what about the people receiving disaster relief? Who cared about their lives?

The next moment, as if confirming Lin Qingyan's thoughts, Jiajing was whipping his officials, while Hai Rui went to a disaster-stricken county at the foot of the capital. There, they saw the corpses of disaster victims who had frozen or starved to death everywhere under the heavy snow.

Chen Huijie plays Hai Rui, who had received prior notice to come to the county town for disaster relief. Before arriving, Hai Rui was clearly mentally prepared, as were the officials watching.

After all, some of the officials who submitted memorials had said that "one or two thousand starving people have died recently." However, at the time, Zhao Zhenji, played by Ling, refuted this point with great righteousness.

"You're exaggerating! You're spreading alarmist rumors!"

"How could there be so many starving corpses everywhere? Early this morning, the Ministry of Revenue received reports of starving deaths in two counties near the capital. We immediately mobilized military rations and sent people to provide relief. Didn't you know that?"

However, compared to Zhao Zhenji's words, played by Ling, everyone naturally believed the words of the officials in the capital more. But now, seeing this scene... they realized that "starving corpses everywhere" was just a relatively mild way of putting it.

Under the heavy snow, countless corpses of disaster victims lay frozen stiff on the streets. The frozen bodies filled the once spacious streets with no place to step. Only a few minor government officials were collecting the bodies and carrying them away one by one on mats and stretchers.

And what made everyone's pupils tremble even more, as the camera panned, was that place less than fifty meters away... was the county government office.

Under the canopy of the county government office, a local official sat with a brazier radiating heat and a large pot of porridge for disaster relief around him. He himself held a cup of hot tea in his hand, while within a radius of ten meters, there were countless disaster victims who had frozen to death.

At that moment, the four large characters "By Imperial Decree, Disaster Relief" beside the greenhouse seemed so glaring and pungent... inducing anger and shame.

The officials remained silent, and the hall was deathly still. Only Hai Rui, played by Chen Huijie in the drama, finally erupted from his silence when he saw the disaster relief porridge.

"Is this what you call porridge?! It's so watery and thin you can see your reflection in it!"

"Add five more pounds of rice to each pot! Add more rice!!"

At this moment, the roar of Hai Rui, played by Chen Huijie, also carried a hint of imperial might that the officials found familiar—although it was very weak and obviously had not been fully unleashed. But under this imperial might, everyone could feel the anger of the actor playing the role through the screen.

Zhao Zhenji patted his chest and guaranteed that the disaster relief would be provided with military rations, but what has happened now proves that everything Zhao Zhenji promised was just an empty promise...

The grain wasn't gone; the scene in the drama where Hai Rui shouts and gets five jin of rice added to every pot only proves one thing... the military rations were indeed transferred in, but that was all; there was no intention to use them at all.

Clearly, Zhao Zhenji's methods of "persuading" various wealthy provinces to transfer grain, and how he saved the Ministry of Revenue's disaster relief funds, are all sufficient to explain this thoroughly.

In the drama, although Hai Rui was saddened, she still took a series of measures to deal with the situation. After implementing these measures and resolving the so-called problems of the county magistrate who sat idly by and watched the people freeze to death, her first priority was to do everything possible to save the living people.

"Fellow villagers, the porridge will be ready soon."

"Everyone, sit up. If you can stand, stand up. Please don't lie down."

If I lie like this any longer... I really won't be able to get up.

Hai Rui walked through streets littered with the bodies of starving people, repeatedly trying to speak words that could awaken hope in the hearts of the disaster victims. She wanted to save, to save as many people as possible who had not yet frozen to death.

But what was Jiajing doing at this time? His two palaces, built with the lives and blood of countless people, were finally completed, but because of the previous flogging of officials, they were unwilling to submit congratulatory memorials on the day Jiajing moved to his new residence.

Therefore, Jiajing issued an edict of self-reproach... no, it would be more accurate to say that it was an edict of self-reproach in name only, but in reality, a final warning to all officials.

This edict of self-reproach caused Lin Qingyan, the officials, and even the Emperor of Great Yan to experience a surge in blood pressure.

"I sleep on no more than one bed, eat no more than five kinds of food, and wear no more than eight sets of clothes. I would rather not live in the vast palaces and mansions, for I think there is no one in the world who can even stand on a foothold. Therefore, I moved to the Western Garden, seeking only a place to cultivate myself and to shelter from the wind and rain..."

"However, the construction of the Wanshou Palace and Palace of Benevolence and Longevity was met with widespread criticism, and not a single official submitted a congratulatory memorial."

The implication is that even though I, the Jiajing Emperor, have been so frugal and considerate of the people, I am being criticized for building just two palaces. You officials really don't understand the difficulties I face as the emperor.

Since you are so uncooperative, then I will not move. The issues of disaster relief and officials' salaries will be discussed by the Grand Secretariat. I will bring up the matter of moving again when you have resolved these issues and all the officials have submitted their congratulatory memorials.

Undoubtedly, this placed a huge problem on the Grand Secretariat, while Jiajing himself took no responsibility whatsoever. After all, he was so "diligent, frugal, and benevolent towards the people," so what else could he be expected to do? It must be that his subordinates had done a poor job.

"... Jiajing, if in the future, the Great Yan truly has a ruler like you, even if you have committed the greatest disrespect, I will have lightning strike you down, you hypocritical beast."

At this moment, Lin Qingyan's words were no longer concealed and slowly echoed in the hall. Everyone heard her words, but no one said she was "disrespectful." Instead, they all showed expressions of agreement.

The starvation of countless disaster victims before, compared with Jiajing's hypocritical "edict of self-reproach" now, is enough to make anyone with a conscience hate Jiajing to the bone. And for such a monarch, every dignified official of the Great Yan would like to kill him.

Meanwhile, watching the face of Wei Yenwu, who plays Jiajing, on the screen, one can't help but feel a certain amount of anger towards "Jiajing" from the officials—after all, he brought the character to life.

However, the Great Yan Emperor, who was still empathizing with his officials, was unaware that because of this scene, his undisclosed "escape plan" had already begun to go off track... because a very important aspect of this plan was that the officials and the Imperial Guards cooperated with his escape plan.

Now, all the officials know that the Emperor Jiajing in the drama, according to the background, is a descendant of Wei Yenwu Wenyue. The officials also know that Chen Qi's identity as a "Feranmut" and his powers are still unclear, and the "1566" suffix of this drama is the year of the future Great Yan.

Rumors have circulated about whether Chen Qi's powers truly involve "future vision," but no one has confirmed it. However, there's no doubt that the grandeur of the Great Yan Dynasty depicted in "The Great Yan Dynasty 1566" makes the current officials hesitant to gamble that it's all a fabrication...

It's better to believe it's true than not. If the officials lose the bet and it turns out to be true, wouldn't they, as officials of the Great Yan, be seen as sinners against the Great Yan for foreshadowing this eventuality?

The eight dukes of Victoria and the Twin Empresses of Leithania all have the right to speak on this point. They all regard Chen Qi's masterpiece as a "warning," which in a sense means that they acknowledge Chen Qi 'Chen Qi ability and admit that the problems he mentioned do exist.

"No, we can't let this happen, or we'll become sinners against the Great Yan."

"Director Chen Qi's warning must be taken seriously... Regardless of whether this Jiajing Emperor is Duke Wei Wenyue's child, we cannot let him become emperor, otherwise future generations will spit on our tombstones!"

"I've heard rumors that His Majesty didn't want the throne back then and intended to pass it on to the Duke Wei. Now it seems... it's best if the Duke Wei of Wei's lineage never becomes emperor."

The officials all harbored similar thoughts, bowing their heads in silence, yet each wanted to know whether this future would come true...