"Don't come to the old man," Zhang Fan asked Xu Jie to sit down, poured tea for him personally, and said with a smile, "When the old man returned to his hometown, Zhang Fan was in another country and couldn't send him off, so he asked the old man to forgive him,"

"The old man is no longer the head of the cabinet, and he doesn't dare to take the title of cabinet elder anymore," Xu Jie said coldly, he still didn't know what Zhang Fan meant by letting him come to Yangzhou, and he didn't say too much.

Zhang Fan touched a nail, but he knew Xu Jie's personality and didn't care, and continued: "The teacher admires the elder of the pavilion very much, since the elder of the pavilion returned to his hometown, he often mentions the elder of the pavilion in front of me, he always says that the elder of the pavilion teaches all the ways of being an official, which is why he is now,"

"......" Xu Jie listened to his words, and did not answer, he believed that Zhang Fan did not intend to deceive himself, with Zhang Juzheng's personality, this matter is normal, what really touched Xu Jie is that in this era when everyone wants to climb up, he can still have a student who thinks about himself at all times, it is really a fortunate thing.

"I know that there is some gap between Ge Lao and me, but now that Ge Lao is living at home, there is actually no contradiction between the two of us," Zhang Fan didn't know what Xu Jie was thinking, but said, "I don't know if Ge Lao still hates it,"

"Alas......" Xu Jiechang sighed and said, "The old man has never hated you, let alone any resentment, the only difference between you and the old man is the political difference, originally you had just entered the office, it stands to reason that although you were proud of the spring breeze at that time, there is still a world of difference between you and the old man, the old man originally disdained to have any conflict with you, but the old man did not agree with Ju Zheng's point of view, but he didn't want to ruin his good future, especially he was the old man's proud protégé, how could the old man be able to do it, therefore, The old man was angry with you at that time, "Xu Jie said this, which was the truth, but there was also some meaning in these words to please Zhang Fan, after all, Xu Jie still didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing for Zhang Fan to let him come here.

Zhang Fan listened to his words, although he didn't know why Xu Jie's mind suddenly changed, but Zhang Fan was still very relieved in his heart, although Xu Jie's official was indeed a little slippery, but he was also a good official with some achievements, and he was the first to defeat Yan Song, Zhang Fan still admired him very much, thinking of this, Zhang Fan said: "The old man is serious, the kid was also a little young and vigorous at that time, and now he also relies on the emperor's love to have today's status,"

"You don't have to be presumptuous," Xu Jie waved his hand and said, "Although the emperor is quite extravagant on weekdays and doesn't care too much about the government, the emperor's old man appreciates the man's strategy of employing people very much,"

Zhang Fan saw this old man, and he still hadn't forgotten to count Longqing, no wonder he was ordered to do it, thinking of this, Zhang Fan couldn't help but shake his head helplessly.

Xu Jie, however, was one of those who disagreed with his statement, and continued: "Besides, when the old man just returned to his hometown, he also heard about what you did in the Northland, and now you deserve it,"

"Zhang Fan can be so praised by the elder of the pavilion, I am really scared," Zhang Fan hurriedly said.

"Hehe," Xu Jie smiled and said, "It's useless to get the old man's praise, the praise of the Manchu Dynasty is just to make the court recognize you, and the emperor's praise is just to make you proud and rise step by step, only when you get the praise of the people of the world, then it proves that you are really good,"

Zhang Fan didn't understand these truths, but when he first heard them, he couldn't think of why Xu Jie, who had been an official all his life and did not seek clarity, but sought to protect himself, would say such a thing, but Zhang Fan thought about it in a blink of an eye, who has never had a young ambition, maybe Xu Jie put down his burden, but he figured it out.

"Elder Ge really came to his senses," Zhang Fan said.

"What's the use," Xu Jie said self-deprecatingly, "When you find out, you can't do anything about it,"

The two were silent for a while, Xu Jie seemed to come out of his memories, and asked: "What, what is the matter with you letting the old man come to Yangzhou this time, could it be that you still hold a grudge against me, and now that you are in power, you can't retaliate," Xu Jie asked straight to the point.

"The elder of the pavilion said with a smile, Zhang Fan would never do such a thing," Zhang Fan hurriedly said, "Zhang Fan invited the elder pavilion to come this time, and it was also entrusted by the teacher,"

"Juzheng," Xu Jie was a little puzzled, but then he understood.

"Hai Rui is indeed an upright official, and he is also very loved by the people under his jurisdiction, but just like the name he gave himself 'Gangfeng', he is too upright as an official," Zhang Fan said, "It's just that this will naturally offend many people, and now in the court, all kinds of forces abound, among which they are very intertwined, and the slightest carelessness will implicate many people,"

"Hai Rui, as you said, is too upright to be an official," Xu Jie said, "The old man once saved him, not because he admired him, but because he could do what he wanted, those things that used to be the old man's dream, Hai Rui is not the six relatives who do not recognize it, I remember that when His Majesty's quasi-old man returned to his hometown, he also had an excerpt for the old man, but he was pressed down by those imperial histories,"

"Now Gao Gong sees Hai Rui's character, and wants to announce his personal vendetta, and Hai Rui does not shirk, he is now the governor of Yingtian, and he wants to make a strong move on the local land, and now he can be regarded as having the order of the imperial court," Zhang Fan said, "The old family of the pavilion is a large family in Songjiang, and there are a lot of fields and properties under his name, so he naturally bears the brunt,"

"I can't complain about Hai Rui for all this, I really hate me to the bone," Xu Jie said, thinking about it, Xu Jie's high arch was not shallow, not only made him ostracized by the courtiers, but also allowed him to go home to recuperate for nearly a year in the name of recuperation.

"Pavilion Elder, in fact, ......" Zhang Fan said, "Gao Gong is just grasping the pavilion family's middle field too much, why don't Pavilion elders let out some field property, this matter will be solved soon?"

"You don't know," Xu Jie said, his face full of helplessness, "It's not that the old man hasn't thought of this way, it's just that the hired farmers on the fields under my family's name are unwilling,"

"Oh, there are such things," Zhang Fan said strangely, but every farmer always wants to have a piece of his own land, as a hired farmer, he has no land, and he has to pay rent to Xu Jie's family.

"Actually, this matter is very simple," Xu Jie told Zhang Fan the reason, the land was originally to pay taxes, like those landlords who have many fields in their families, and the taxes they pay have become more, but why are there still Haoqiang who want to encroach on a large amount of land, it turns out that in the Ming Dynasty, people with meritorious reputations, especially the fields under the names of scholars, do not have to pay taxes, which makes these people very hard to annex land, and also have to pay a lot of rent for the hired farmers they work for.

Xu Jie's family is also like this, the difference is that since the ancestors of the Xu family, they are very attentive to the hired farmers who work on their fields, but they only symbolically levy a small part of the rent, if Xu Jie's real land is given to them, these hired farmers will not be able to live a good life today, once they all do not agree to do this, Xu Jie also inherited the ancestral teachings, sent mercy, did not send the fields out, and always warned his family that if he is gone, the descendants of the Xu family should also do the same.

Zhang Fan listened to Xu Jie's explanation, and then he understood the whole story, he originally thought that Xu Jie was reluctant to let go of the family's property, but now he admires him very much.

"Ge Lao really always sympathizes with the suffering of the people, Zhang Fan admires," Zhang Fan bowed to Xu Jie very respectfully, and said, "It's just that although Ge Lao is for the benefit of the people, Na Hai Rui doesn't know, and he still wants to investigate and deal with Ge Lao wholeheartedly,"

"I'm afraid that even if Hai Rui knows the truth, he won't open up to me," Xu Jie said helplessly, "You must know that he is also known, to put it simply, he is stunned, as long as he is under the court, he will spare no effort to do things that can benefit the people, but if the court is abandoned for the sake of the people, the old man really doesn't know what he will do,"

"Well, this matter is really troublesome," Zhang Fan didn't have an idea for a while, "Actually, I admire Hai Rui very much, but I don't agree with his approach,"

"Oh, do you have any ideas," Xu Jie asked with interest as he listened to his words.

"Hai Rui is indeed an honest official, and he takes care of the people very much," Zhang Fan said, "However, he can only benefit the people in a corner of his jurisdiction by doing this, but it is useless in the world, originally with his ability, he can be transferred to the capital for so many years, so that more people can benefit, but now he can't see this, just focus on the present, this is not the right way to say that the good intentions,"

"......" Xu Jie listened to Zhang Fan's words, and he also agreed in his heart.

"Now is not the time to talk about this," Zhang Fan said, "The teacher heard about the trouble of the elder in the mirror, and it happened that I was going to come to Jiangnan on a business trip, and deliberately got rid of me to take care of one or two, a few days ago, I asked my factory guards to obstruct Hai Rui's men and horses in every possible way, but now they can't resist it, so I made this decision, let people pick up a few people who can talk to the elder and the son of the elder of the pavilion, so that they can also drag Hai Rui's people for a while,"

"But this is not a long-term solution, what are you going to do," Xu Jie asked, believing that since Zhang Fan had brought him here, he must have a solution.

"I don't have any good solutions," Zhang Fan said with a helpless smile, "But I already have a plan in my heart, the matter of this Yangzhou Mansion is over, I will leave for Yingtian tomorrow and talk to Hai Rui directly,"

"......" Xu Jie didn't know what to say, this was also something that could not be helped, and after a while, Xu Jie opened his mouth and said: "The old man has never thanked anyone, this time I want to thank you,"

"Elder Ge must not," Zhang Fan hurriedly said, "This matter is all thanks to the teacher, if he hadn't told me, even if he wanted to help, there was nothing he could do,"

"Ju Zheng, is he okay," Xu Jie asked, his expression very complicated.

"Elder Ge, please rest assured, the teacher is all right," Zhang Fan said, "Now the teacher is the second assistant of the cabinet, and there is no contradiction with Gao Gong, and there is no trouble for the time being,"

After listening to Zhang Fan's words, Xu Jie was relieved, and then, he finally asked the question that he had been asking suspiciously since he got off the carriage: "I already know the purpose of you asking me to come here, but this place is not like a post house, but like the courtyard of a large family, I don't know ......."

"Hehe," Zhang Fan chuckled twice and replied, "This is my uncle's house, and it is also my hometown," and then, Zhang Fan told Xu Jie all about his return to Yangzhou after recognizing his ancestors.

"It turns out that there is such an opportunity," Xu Jie listened to Zhang Fan's words, and also sighed in his old voice.

"In the past few days, I will have to trouble the elder and the three Linglang to live in my uncle's house," Zhang Fan said, "Tomorrow I will go to Yingtian to talk to Hai Rui in person to see if things can take a turn for the better," Zhang Fan said goodbye to Xu Jie, and was about to leave to let people prepare a room for Xu Jie's father and son.

"Wait," Xu Jie stopped Zhang Fan and said, "Don't be so troublesome, I also want to go and have a good talk with Hai Rui,"