Yang Jisheng risked his life to impeach Yan Song

After the death of Ming Wuzong, his cousin Zhu Houchuan (pronounced cōng) succeeded to the throne, which became Ming Shizong. When Ming Shizong first came to the throne, he took some political improvements, such as limiting the power of eunuchs, rectifying taxes, and so on. But later, he became superstitious in Taoism and set up an altar in the palace to seek immortality, and gradually stopped interfering in the imperial government. He was able to draft the documents for the worship of the gods and gradually gained the position of chief minister of the cabinet (equivalent to a prime minister).

Yan Song did not have many talents, he only knew how to flatter and please King Sejong. After he became the chief minister, he and his son Yan Shifan together, ganged up on private parties, corrupting the law and doing all sorts of bad things. At that time, some spineless courtiers defected to him, and more than thirty officials became his god-sons. With these minions, he could manipulate the dynasty even more.

When Yan Song was in power, the Tartars (a Mongolian tribe) in the north became powerful and unified the Mongolian ministries, becoming a great threat to the Ming Dynasty. Instead of wanting to strengthen the war effort, Yan Song embezzled the military pay and let the soldiers starve. The Tartar leader, Ita, invaded the interior several times, and the Ming army did not have the strength to resist. In 1550 A.D., Ida led his troops to the outskirts of Beijing. Ming Emperor Shi Zong sent Qiu Luan, a cohort of Yan Song, as the general to lead all the reinforcements to defend the capital. Yan Song was afraid that Qiu Luan would lose the war and instructed him not to resist. As a result, the Tartar soldiers were allowed to take a large number of people, livestock, and belongings near Beijing and returned with a full load. The Ming army near the capital, more than a hundred thousand, but not a single arrow.

After a year, Qiu Luan colluded with Ida again, ready to make peace with the Tartars. This incident aroused the indignation of some upright ministers, especially Yang Jisheng, a foreign minister of the Ministry of War.

Yang Jisheng, a native of Baoding Rongcheng, came from a poor background. When he was seven years old, he lost his mother, and his stepmother treated him badly and sent him to herd cattle. When Yang Jisheng passed by a private school, he saw some children studying in the village and was very envious of them. His brother said, "You are too young to read?" Yang Jisheng replied, "I can herd cattle, but I can't study?" When his father saw that he had the will, he let him study while herding cattle, and he was able to improve quickly. Later on, he took the imperial examination and became a scholar, and was appreciated by many ministers in the capital.

Yang Jisheng is an upright person, see Yan Song, Qiu Luan gang of the loss of power and insult to the country's behavior, how can not stand. He submitted a memorial to Ming Shizong, opposing peace negotiations and hoping that the court would work hard to select generals and train troops to resist Tartar. Ming Shizong looked at the medallion, also a bit moved, but can not afford to Qiu Luan a flirtation, but Yang Jisheng demoted to Didao (now Lintao, Gansu) as the canonical history.

Yang Jisheng to Didao, and not discouraged. A video is a place where ethnic minorities live, the local people can not read and write. When Yang Jisheng arrived there, he selected more than 100 youngsters and hired a teacher to teach them to read and write. The student's families had no money, so Yang Jisheng sold his horse and his wife's clothes to help them. The local people all loved Yang Jisheng and called him "Father Yang".