Qin Tai didn't know much about Yan Song, but he had heard others mention Yan Song many times. Gao Gong said that Yan Song was the biggest moth of the Ming Dynasty, and all the sins were due to him. Tan Lun said that Yan Song is a cunning officialdom veteran, and a "tumbler" who can't be defeated no matter how he fights. Zhang Juzheng said that Yan Song is a person worth studying. Xu Jie's evaluation of Yan Song is even more special, saying that Yan Song is a person that Xu Jie can't catch up with in his life.

Just when Qin Tai caught the evidence of Yan Shifan's crime and shook the foundation of the Yan Party. Just when Qin Tai handed over the incriminating evidence in his hand to his friend Zhang Juzheng, Zhang Juzheng once sighed and said something that Qin Tai didn't understand at that time. Later, when Qin Tai and Zhang Juzheng were chatting, Zhang Juzheng told Qin Tai the true meaning. Yan Song has been careful all his life, and there is hardly any handle in the hands of outsiders, even if Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi wants to target him, it is not so easy, Yan Song's only weakness is only one, that is, his son Yan Shifan.

Yan Song is middle-aged and proud, and has been in the position of the first assistant of the cabinet for more than 30 years, and has actually controlled the cabinet for nearly 40 years. His ability to cultivate qi and endure has been practiced to the point of perfection. As the spokesperson of Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, Yan Song has never been arrogant and domineering, and he has never used the reputation of Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi to do things for himself openly. Later, after becoming the head of the hundred officials, Yan Song had his own majesty and style, which was not directly related to his character. He uses his prestige and status to suppress his opponents, so that opponents do not dare to compete with him head-on. Therefore, Yan Song is very authoritarian but not overbearing, and it is impossible for anyone to catch Yan Song's mistakes. Yan Song, who has reigned for many years, still abides by his duties as a courtier, and has not maliciously attacked any official of the same dynasty. This is also what Zhang Juzheng admires about Yan Song the most, after anyone reaches Yan Song's age and status, it is impossible for him to restrain himself like Yan Song.

In contrast, Yan Shifan is almost a diametrically opposite appearance than his Laozi Yan Song. Yan Song is erudite but unassuming, but Yan Shifan has been smart and famous all over the world since he was a child. As early as Yan Shifan's youth, he was known to many people because one of his articles was praised by Emperor Zhu Houxi of Jiajing. At that time, there were many people who called them prodigies, but there were not many who really made a name for themselves later, Yan Shifan was one, and the other was Zhang Juzheng. Yan Shifan thought he was great since he was a child, and others were bewitched intentionally or unintentionally, so he was very arrogant and domineering, and he had a posture of no one in sight. At this time, it happened to be the time when Yan Song was working hard to develop his career, so Yan Song did not correct his son Yan Shifan's attitude in time.

I remember that it was when Yan Shifan was thirteen years old, and that year Yan Shifan's father, Yan Song, officially took over as the first assistant of the cabinet. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu summoned Yan Song and Yan Shifan's father and son, and Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu not only praised Yan Shifan on the spot, but also said a half-truth. "Your father is the head of the cabinet of the current dynasty, and your achievements in the future will be no less than your father, and you will be the head of the cabinet in the future." This joke was taken as a hint that the Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi acquiesced to Yan Shifan's replacement of Yan Song in the cabinet in the future. Therefore, everyone is more optimistic about Yan Song and Yan Shifan, and some people even began to arrange the future path for Yan Shifan.

Yan Shifan entered the Guozijian at the age of eighteen, and won the fame as the first place in the Guozijian examination, becoming the first place in the palace examination that year. At the age of 23, he served as a squire in the Ministry of Works, and at the age of 28, he entered the cabinet as a "cabinet walker". When he entered the cabinet, everyone seemed to see that the future cabinet chief assistant must be Yan Shifan's. Whether it is Xu Jie or others, they have to admit this, Yan Song has cultivated a good son. As for Yan Shifan, the title of "Little Pavilion Elder", it was also the first to be called out by Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. Yan Shifan entered the cabinet at the age of twenty-eight, and Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi met Yan Shifan for the first time at a cabinet meeting. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi jokingly called Yan Shifan, the youngest member of the cabinet, "the elder of the small cabinet". Since then, everyone has called Yan Shifan "Little Pavilion Elder", which has become a nickname for Yan Shifan.

"Cabinet Elder" is a special title for official members of the Cabinet, and it is a kind of honorific title given by officials to Cabinet members. After Yan Song served as the first assistant of the cabinet, everyone called Yan Song "Yan Ge Lao". Later, after a long time, everyone omitted the surname and called Yan Song "Ge Lao". Anyone who is called "Ge Lao" in public is only Yan Song. Xu Jie and others cannot be called "Ge Lao", but for example, "Xu Ge Lao" and so on. There is no such term as "Xiaoge Lao", but Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu said it and it became a kind of position, a position that only Yan Shifan used alone, and it can be regarded as a promise given to Yan Shifan by Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu.

After Yan Shifan had this nickname, he felt that his future position was more consolidated, so his temper became more and more domineering. Not only did they focus more on seizing power, but they also began to target hostile forces. He wants to establish his prestige in his own party, and he needs to make his enemies afraid of him. Without any scruples, he began to become more and more bold, and even did something that even his father Yan Song did not dare to do.

Zhang Juzheng once told Qin Tai a few things about Yan Shifan in private, and Qin Tai almost jumped when he heard it. The father of the county lord of Chaoyang passed away, and the county lord of Chaoyang kept filial piety for his father. As soon as he was removed from his service, he was rewarded by the imperial court, and the lord of Chaoyang came to Beijing to accept the reward in person. After the lord of Chaoyang came to Beijing, he did not see Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, and it was Lu Fang, the chief eunuch at that time, who gave the reward order on behalf of Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. When the county lord of Chaoyang was entitled, it happened that Yan Shifan came to contact Lu Fang on behalf of his father Yan Song. Yan Shifan took a fancy to the county lord of Chaoyang at a glance, and Yan Shifan used his identity to approach the county lord of Chaoyang intentionally or unintentionally. The county lord of Chaoyang knew that Yan Shifan was interested in her, but she relied on the fact that she was the county lord and a relative of the emperor, and she was unwilling to have too much contact with people like Yan Shifan. Unexpectedly, this completely annoyed Yan Shifan, and Yan Shifan came to the Chaoyang County Lord's mansion one night. Early the next morning, Yan Shifan left, and the county lord of Chaoyang hanged himself shortly after. Clear-eyed people can also think that Yan Shifan relied on his family's power to occupy the county lord of Chaoyang, and he was not worried that Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi would blame him. As a result, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi really did not deal with this matter, causing Yan Shifan to be even more arrogant.

Yan Shifan fell in love with the daughter of Liu Ping, a former official of the Ministry of Officials, and he asked his subordinates to bring a message to Liu Ping, so that Liu Ping would automatically offer his daughter to himself. Liu Ping was a stubborn old man, of course, he didn't want to, and told the person who came that his daughter had been married. Yan Shifan was not in a hurry at all after knowing this, and Liu Ping's in-laws came to withdraw from the marriage a few days later. Liu Ping knew that Yan Shifan forced his in-laws to do this, so he scolded this weak and incompetent in-law and Yan Shifan, saying that he would never give his daughter to Yan Shifan. As a result, Liu Ping was arrested by Jinyiwei for no reason the next day, and the family was also implicated. Seven days later, after Liu Ping's wife and daughter were tortured and insulted by Yan Shifan, they were sent to the Jiaofang Division as official prostitutes. Liu Ping's only son was castrated and then attacked as a miscellaneous eunuch with no future forever. After Liu Ping learned about it in prison, he bit his tongue and committed suicide. Before he died, he cursed Yan Shifan's family not to die well, and he would not let Yan Shifan go if he was a ghost.

When Yan Shifan was in charge of the Ministry of Engineering, he not only embezzled the project funds, but also did a lot of evil things. When Yan Shifan went to Tongzhou to inspect the project, he saw several family members of boatmen washing clothes by the river. Among them, there was a girl who was very beautiful, and Yan Shifan bullied this girl there without saying a word. Because this girl was disobedient, Yan Shifan was unhappy and unhappy. After Yan Shifan occupied the girl, he actually rewarded the girl to his subordinates. A large group of big men took turns on the field and tortured the girl to death. The people on one side dared to be angry but did not dare to speak, and the girl's parents arrived and hugged the girl's body and cried, and no one dared to stand up and speak for them. Afterwards, the girl's parents went to the yamen, but the yamen did not dare to accept the case, and the girl's parents ran to almost all the yamen, and none of the yamen were willing to take over.

In the autumn of the fortieth year of Jiajing, the Korean envoy came to pay tribute, not only sending countless gold and silver treasures, but also ten of the most beautiful girls. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi couldn't enjoy these beauties because he was old and had to practice Taoism. At the cabinet meeting, it was agreed that these ten girls would be given to the vassal king and the prince respectively. But Yan Shifan didn't have any scruples at all, and stayed in these girls' rooms all day long, comparing himself to a merry emperor. The girls didn't know the truth, and they thought that Yan Shifan was the emperor of the Central Plains, so they did their best to serve Yan Shifan. In the spring of the following year, ten beauties were sent to the palaces of the feudal lords. The vassal kings, who were originally full of joy, found that not only were these beauties not virgins anymore, but several of them were pregnant. Such a blatant "cuckold" to the vassal king, only Yan Shifan dared to do this. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi not only did not get angry after hearing this, but also felt that this Yan Shifan was lustful and bold, and he had his own prestige before. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi was so blatant in protecting Yan Shifan, no one dared to do anything to Yan Shifan. This further fueled Yan Shifan's arrogance, Yan Shifan felt that he was more majestic than several princes, and he didn't take others seriously.