For the sake of the reputation of Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, in order not to involve Yan Song too much, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu made a decision on his own initiative. He ordered that after Yan Shifan's crime was convicted as soon as possible, Yan Shifan's death sentence was announced. Minimize all negative impacts, and don't implicate yourself and Yan Song.

But Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi really did something wrong this time, and the fault was that he ignored a father's love for his son. Yan Song only has one son, Yan Shifan, although Yan Shifan has three sons left to Yan Song, but his grandson cannot replace his son. Yan Song has always had high expectations for his son Yan Shifan, and has cultivated Yan Shifan as his own bloodline and master's dual successor. For an old man in his eighties, his status and wealth are not as good as his own son, let alone his only son. Yan Song thought that Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi would discuss and decide with Yan Song on the issue of dealing with Yan Shifan. Yan Song even thought about exchanging his status and the wealth of his whole family for Yan Shifan's life. However, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi did not discuss with Yan Song, and directly ordered Yan Shifan to be killed. Let Yan Song, an eighty-year-old man, lose his only son at once, Yan Song was hit too hard.

He sheltered his master from the wind and rain for a lifetime, saddled his master before and after his horse for a lifetime, and was finally ruthlessly abandoned by his master, which made Yan Song very disappointed in Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. Yan Song is over eighty years old after all, and he has no ambition in the past when he is old, coupled with the double blow of losing his son and being abandoned by his master, Yan Song's glory days no longer exist.

Although Yan Shifan's case was forcibly and quickly concluded by Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, it does not mean that Xu Jie and others will let Yan Song go. As a hostile force, they will definitely not let go of this best opportunity to target Yan Song and his party. Taking advantage of the fact that Yan Song, the leader of the Yan Party, fell ill, Yan Shifan, the future successor, was dealt with, and the internal chaos was endless, Xu Jie's party began to fight back. One by one, Yan Song's right-hand men were targeted or reported by Xu Jie's party, and gradually pointed the finger at Yan Song himself. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi also knew that Yan Song couldn't keep it, and hinted that Yan Song would bear all the faults and take the blame and resign. But this time Yan Song did not cooperate with Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, in Yan Song's opinion, he had sacrificed his only son for Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, and he and his grandson could no longer sacrifice for Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. For the sake of his own future and the future of his grandson, Yan Song not only did not admit his guilt but also did not step down, and he did not give in to the position of the first assistant of the cabinet, forcing Xu Jie to negotiate conditions with Yan Song in order to be the first assistant of the cabinet.

Xu Jie is also ruthless enough, taking advantage of the small problems of Yan Shifan's two sons, infinitely expanding to their issues related to Yan Shifan's case, once implemented, Yan Song's two grandsons will be beheaded like their father Yan Shifan. In order to keep his two grandsons, Yan Song had to agree to all the conditions of Xu Jie. Unexpectedly, Xu Jie still did not let go of Yan Song, who had already announced his resignation, and after forcing Yan Song's family to hand over all their wealth, they did not allow Yan Song's three grandsons to study for the rest of their lives to gain fame. Yan Song's grandson's failure to obtain fame is equivalent to not being an official, which is equivalent to cutting off the future future of Yan Song's grandson, and it is impossible for the Yan family to target Xu Jie in the future. Xu Jie finally repaid his grievances from two generations of Yan Song and Yan Shifan.

The forces represented by Yan Song's father and son are not only the Yan Party, but also the so-called old party forces. The old party forces, also known as the elites, are mainly composed of local forces and some big gates. They don't care who is the emperor, and it doesn't matter if the Han people are the emperor, as long as their interests are not affected. Once your own power and interests are endangered, even if the other party is the emperor, you have to find a way to pull down the horse, it's better to change the emperor if it's not big, if it doesn't work, you can change the dynasty. So although these people can't be emperors, they don't care about imperial power, in their eyes, they are the emperors of their own territory.

Compared with the old party, the so-called new party is not only weak but also internally disunited. Zhang Juzheng once wanted to pull Qin Tai into the new party, but later Qin Tai said that he would not participate in the party struggle, so Zhang Juzheng gave up. However, Zhang Juzheng once told Qin Tai some internal information about the new party, so that Qin Tai knew some secrets of the new party.

The so-called new party is a scattered force that has been excluded from the old party and is not looked up to by the old party forces. Some large families control the vast majority of resources, but they do not have complete control over all resources. Some forces were deliberately left to the centrist by the emperor, and some resources were created unintentionally. Although these forces are not large, no matter how small the mosquito is, it is still meat, and it is not small to accumulate little by little. Some scholars from small families or from humble backgrounds were squeezed out by the old party forces everywhere after gaining fame and becoming officials. In order to survive, to develop, and to achieve something, gradually these people came together and developed into a force. Xu Jie was not originally from a humble background and was not qualified to become the leader of the New Party, and Zhang Juzheng was also from a wealthy family, so he was not considered a New Party. However, in order to contend with Yan Song, Xu Jie took the initiative to join the New Party, and the New Party also needed the help of high-level officials, so Xu Jie gradually became the leader of the New Party. Xu Jie not only became the leader of the New Party himself, but also developed Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and others, who were also promising and Yan Song, into members of the New Party. In fact, there are not many people who are fundamentally from the New Party, and among Qin Tai's better friends, only Tan Lun is really from a poor background. Tan Lun mentioned to Qin Tai many times what happened when he was a child, Tan Lun's father died early, and Tan Lun's mother raised Tan Lun with her hands. Tan Lun wanted to eat a little meat when he was a child, but he had no choice but to go down to the river to fish it himself. In the winter, I caught a small basket of small fish the size of my finger all day, and fried less than a large bowl. He and his mother pushed me for a long time, and no one was willing to eat. Since then, fried small fish has become Tan Lun's favorite, every time he comes to Qin Tai's house as a guest, Tan Lun only needs a bowl of fried small fish and other things casually.

The old party forces were not too implicated because of the problems of Yan Song and Yan Shifan, and at that time, Xu Jie had to deal with only Yan Song and Yan Shifan's father and son, and he didn't want to completely offend the old party forces. After Yan Song stepped down, although he more or less influenced the old party forces, the old party forces immediately elected a new spokesperson. Because of the relationship between Xu Jie, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, who is now in the limelight, the old party forces have not become the leaders of the cabinet bosses, but the old party forces are still not to be underestimated in the local area.

Emperor Longqing wanted to take back military power and local power, which was a big problem involving the fundamental power of their old party, and of course they had to think about themselves. Hai Rui's defeat is inevitable, and Emperor Longqing has long guessed it, but if Hai Rui doesn't do it, Emperor Longqing has no bottom in his heart. Although Hai Jui failed, it also made the authorities and Zhang Juzheng and others see clearly the eyebrows of the old party's forces. Not only did the old party gain the support of local officials and the military, but some local vassal kings began to side with them. In other words, the emperor could not pass the internal meetings of the imperial family, and some decisions could only be regarded as the emperor's personal behavior. Once the emperor forcibly orders the revocation of power, the old party forces can unite with some members of the imperial family to depose the emperor and replace it with an obedient member of the imperial family who cooperates with the old party forces as emperor. Hai Rui saw this and knew that he was not only used by Emperor Longqing, but also that Emperor Longqing could not offend the people of the old party forces for himself, so Hai Rui was completely disappointed in the officialdom and the imperial court. While Hai Rui was grieving for himself, he thought of Qin Tai, who had the same opportunity as him. Hai Rui knew that Qin Tai was also such a person, and he had also encountered such a problem, so he hoped to convince Qin Tai not to have any illusions about this court and royal family.

Zhan Xiaoxiao couldn't help but think of what his godfather and old drunkard master said: "Power is a good thing, but it is also a bad thing." Power gives people a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that they have never felt before. But it also makes people start to get confused and lose their code of conduct. Yan Song was just a fortune teller back then, and he never thought that he would be in power. When he served as a servant of the ministry, although he had his own personal goals, he had a good heart when punishing corrupt officials. Yan Song also thought about teaching his son Yan Shifan to learn well, but time and energy did not allow it, and finally harmed Yan Shifan. When Yan Song was in power, Xu Jie opened his mouth and closed his mouth about justice and incorruptibility, comparing himself to the embodiment of justice and clear stream. However, Xu Jie, who served as the first assistant of the cabinet for less than a year, has more than doubled the land in his family, and his family is even more arrogant than Yan Song's family at the beginning. Gao Gong, the pioneer of justice, was the only one who dared to reason with Yan Shifan. It can be said that he is a clean official who does not tolerate sand in his eyes, but in order to seize power with Xu Jie, he actually accepted bribes from Yan Song's old party department. In order to squeeze out Xu Jie as the first assistant of the cabinet, Gao Gong actually joined forces with Meng Chong, violating his code of conduct for not associating with eunuchs. It seems that power makes people lose their nature, and I hope Qin Tai will not be like them. If you can't keep a clear head, it is better to persuade Qin Tai to leave the officialdom as soon as possible. There are already too many inactive people in the officialdom, and there is no need for Qin Tai to become an official who goes with the flow. Zhan Xiaoxiao decided to persuade her husband Qin Tai in the end, hoping that Qin Tai would be able to leave this suffocating officialdom environment in time.