When Qin Tai inadvertently guessed who was the culprit behind the scenes, Qin Tai didn't believe this fact either. After Qin Tai secretly repeatedly scrutinized and confirmed that Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi was really the culprit, he didn't even dare to tell Zhan Xiaoxiao, his wife and assistant. Because the fewer people who know about this matter, the better, and this matter must not be made public. Not only did the people of Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi not believe it, but even the people of the royal family would kill people and kill people. Especially the current Emperor Longqing, he will never allow this kind of thing to get out. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu is not the rightful heir to the throne, if it is rumored that Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu betrayed his official position and committed treason, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu is a sinner and is not qualified to be emperor. If Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi is not qualified to be the emperor, it means that the Longqing Emperor is not qualified to inherit the throne, and the Longqing Emperor will have an unstable position. Emperor Longqing not only wanted to continue to be the emperor himself, but also wanted his children and grandchildren to be emperors forever, and he would never let this happen. If Emperor Longqing knew about Qin Tai's knowledge, Qin Tai would definitely die, and even Qin Tai's entire family would be wiped out, and even Zhang Juzheng and Tan Yan might be wiped out. For everyone's safety and the stability of the world, Qin Tai is reluctant to say it.

However, Qin Tai was completely disappointed in politics and Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi's behavior. The reason why Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi trusted Yan Song was because Yan Song did a lot of things for him that Yan Song was unwilling to do. Therefore, Yan Song's loyalty to Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu is absolutely true, and Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu should fully believe that Yan Song is. However, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi did not fully believe Yan Song, first used Lu Bing to monitor Yan Song, and then used Xu Jie to contain Yan Song, and finally used Yan Shifan to be eager to be the first assistant of the cabinet to frame Yan Song for himself. When Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi used Yan Shifan to betray the country, he thought about letting Yan Song's father and son carry the black pot for themselves. It was at this time that Emperor Jiajing Zhu Houxi had abandoned Yan Song, who was loyal to him, and decided not to let Yan Shifan serve as the future cabinet chief assistant. Yan Song, as the chief butler and financial manager of Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, gave everything for Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, even his own reputation, but Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houyu was not grateful at all, and wanted to frame his son. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi clearly knew Yan Song's loyalty to him, and knew that Yan Shifan was Yan Song's only son and Yan Song's only hope. But he still used Yan Shifan to fight Yan Song, and still wanted to push Yan Song's family into the abyss. If you change the words of ordinary people, this is definitely authentic ingratitude, and kindness will take revenge. No wonder Yan Song later killed Yan Shifan to Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, negated all his achievements, and made him numb to the matter of carrying the black cauldron. No one can withstand this kind of blow. It is not so much that Yan Song is willing to carry the black pot for Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, but in fact, Yan Song is completely disappointed in Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. For the sake of his family, in order to continue to send the blood of the Yan family, he had to compromise with Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. Qin Tai absolutely believed that Yan Song regretted it, if he had known such a result, Yan Song would definitely not die and be loyal to Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. However, I have to admit that Yan Song is the most powerful cabinet chief assistant in the previous cabinets.

Compared with Yan Song, the first assistant of the cabinet, Xu Jie, the first assistant of the cabinet, is much worse. Qin Tai put aside his personal grievances with Xu Jie, and objectively evaluated Xu Jie, and could hardly find any merits. Xu Jie took advantage of Qingliu's dissatisfaction with Yan Song's party and became the only person to contain Yan Song. In fact, all this should be attributed to Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi and Yan Song. If it weren't for Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi's desire to use Xu Jie to contain Yan Song, and Yan Song didn't dare or want to kill Xu Jie, Xu Jie would not have been able to become the second assistant of the cabinet at all, and later succeeded Yan Song as the first assistant of the cabinet. Compared with Yan Song, a senior and political enemy, Xu Jie's comprehensive quality is inferior to Yan Song in many aspects. Xu Jie's knowledge is not as good as Yan Song, and his measurement and courage are not as good as Yan Song. Not to mention the other things, it can be seen that Xu Jie's calculations are in the matter of dealing with Qin Tai. He obviously knew Qin Tai's character, and he also knew that Qin Tai would not target Xu Jie personally, but in order to deal with Qin Tai, Xu Jie did not hesitate to use national resources and personal prestige. Knowing that this was unclear and unfair, and that it was not good for the people and the court, he still insisted on going his own way. Even Zhang Juzheng reminded his teacher Xu Jie many times that Qin Tai is not only a loyal minister but also a capable minister, as long as Qin Tai is not allowed to contact politics, Qin Tai will definitely be able to do things for the court and the people. Zhang Juzheng even used his future to guarantee Qin Tai as the head of the Criminal Department or the procurator of a province, so as to reduce unjust, false and wrongful cases for the people and the imperial court. Unexpectedly, Xu Jie not only did not listen to Zhang Juzheng's advice, but also included Zhang Juzheng in his list of enemies. This led to a disagreement between Zhang Juzheng and his teacher Xu Jie, and finally the two parted ways. Just like Yan Song's evaluation of Xu Jie back then, Xu Jie is a talent, but not a comprehensive talent. Xu Jie can only be an assistant to the first assistant of the cabinet, a second assistant to the cabinet, or one of Liu Deploy, and must not be the first assistant of the cabinet or a feudal official who is in charge alone. The reason is that Xu Jie's selfishness is too heavy, and his desire for power is too heavy, and to a certain extent, Xu Jie is more like Yan Shifan's father, and the tempers of the two of them are very similar.

After Xu Jie came to power as the first assistant of the cabinet, he did not completely take over Yan Song's sphere of influence and the authority of the first assistant of the cabinet. There was no internal unified cabinet, and there was a contradiction between the old party headed by Xu Jiejie and the new party led by Gao Gong. When Xu Jie, as the deputy assistant of the cabinet, did not dare to openly confront Yan Song, the first assistant of the cabinet, but contacted some people behind his back to contain Yan Song. Because of his lack of strength, Xu Jie slandered Yan Song everywhere, saying that Yan Song was a corrupt official and a traitor. He did not hesitate to use this contradiction to cause a clear stream and a righteous young man to deal with Yan Song for him. Xu Jie obviously knew that Yan Song was not so bad and would not poison the young and vigorous scholars, so he regarded himself as the leader of the clear stream. However, after Xu Jie became the first assistant of the cabinet, he was even more greedy than Yan Song, forgetting that he was a representative of justice, and forgetting that he had broken with Yan Song because of his opposition to corruption and buying and selling official positions. Because of this, Gao Gong looked down on Xu Jie, who was inconsistent with the outside and the inside, and had doubts about Xu Jie's ability to govern the country, so Gao Gong dared to publicly call Xu Jie.

Zhang Juzheng was also very disappointed in his teacher Xu Jie, and he had reminded his teacher Xu Jie many times not to follow Yan Song's old path. However, Xu Jie not only didn't listen, but also wanted to replace Zhang Juzheng with other disciples to become the future head of the cabinet. It's not that Zhang Juzheng hasn't helped Xu Jie, nor does he insist on going against Xu Jie, but this is because Xu Jie's own back road has been cut off.

Gao Gong took advantage of Emperor Longqing's complete disappointment with Xu Jie, and squeezed Xu Jie. But Xu Jie did not fail completely, and before leaving the capital, Xu Jie met with Emperor Longqing alone. Xu Jie, as the teacher of Emperor Longqing and the original crown prince, taught his disciple Emperor Longqing for the last time. If Emperor Longqing wants a smooth successor in the future and a smooth handover of the cabinet, he must do three things. First, Zhang Juzheng cannot immediately serve as the first assistant to the cabinet. Because Zhang Juzheng, whether he is old or senior, is not qualified to be the first assistant of the cabinet. There is a need for a transitional figure to serve as the first assistant to the cabinet for the time being. Second, Gao Gong cannot be the first assistant of the cabinet. At least Gao Gong can't be the head of the cabinet in the real sense. Once Gao Gong becomes the first assistant of the cabinet and grasps the actual power, his temper will not easily let Zhang Juzheng take over. Even if Zhang Juzheng's price is equivalent to that of the first assistant of the cabinet, Gao Gong will not easily hand over the position of the first assistant of the cabinet. Therefore, in order for Zhang Juzheng to succeed smoothly in the future, even if Gao Gong becomes the head of the cabinet, he cannot give the actual power of the head of the cabinet to Gao Gong. Third, in addition to Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, Emperor Longqing also had to prepare another candidate for the first assistant of the single-person cabinet. Because it is necessary to prevent Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng from losing both, a third person is needed. Even if Zhang Juzheng becomes the first assistant of the cabinet in the future, this person can also be the second assistant of the cabinet to contain and balance Zhang Juzheng. For the sake of Emperor Longqing, although Gao Gong became the head of the cabinet, he did not get the actual power of the cabinet head and assistant. Emperor Longqing clearly asked Zhang Juzheng to preside over the daily affairs of the cabinet and be responsible for the specific work of the cabinet. Therefore, Zhang Juzheng is the second assistant of the cabinet, but he is doing what only the first assistant of the cabinet can do. Such a cabinet chief assistant is actually just a false name, so Gao Gong's cabinet chief assistant is just an empty shelf.

Zhang Juzheng is the cabinet assistant who presides over the specific work, and he is also the cabinet assistant in the near future, so Zhang Juzheng has to work in the cabinet duty room next to the palace every day. He used a special office room that could only be used by the first few cabinet ministers, and Gao Gong did not dare to have any opinions. Because this is the office specially designated by Emperor Longqing for Zhang Juzheng. Although it is dimly lit and hot in summer and cold in winter, it is more important than anything else in terms of status and symbolism. Every day, countless important military affairs are sent from here, and from here they are sent to the celebrant and the imperial study. Generally speaking, the vast majority of suggestions would be approved by Emperor Longqing. As long as the Longqing Emperor agreed, the eunuch of the celebrant would copy it into the cantata, which became the place where the Longqing Emperor's holy decree was issued. In fact, Zhang Juzheng has already influenced Emperor Longqing's thinking in a practical sense, and has become a clapper in the practical sense of military affairs.

Although Zhang Juzheng is very tired every day, he has an endless heart to spend on various movements. But Zhang Juzheng is used to it and longs for this kind of hardship. Zhang Juzheng seems to have experienced the mood of his teacher Xu Jie, he, like Xu Jie, no longer does it for others, and they can finally decide everything for themselves. They can decide where everything goes and what the future will do according to their own wishes, which is the power and power of the big guys.