The rain kept falling, and the atmosphere was not harmonious...

As soon as Zhang Juzheng showed his power, the young cabinet minister who came to call for an explanation was forcibly suppressed.

When he came to his senses and wanted to save his face, Zhang Juzheng was gone.

The young cabinet minister threw away his umbrella angrily and walked quickly towards his father's residence.

Unless necessary, Lord Xu basically did not enter the Wenyuan Pavilion, and all memorials were sent to Zhilu for approval every day.

If Zhang Juzheng and other three grand secretaries wanted to see him, they had to come to Zhilu.

On this day in the past, Lord Xu would have already read the memorials and started drafting them.

Perhaps it is because rainy days make people feel tired. At this moment, Lord Xu was not sitting at the desk. Instead, he was leaning on a slightly swaying bamboo rocking chair, staring at the spring rain outside the door that was getting heavier and heavier.

Then Xu Fan came in from the rain curtain without an umbrella, with wet shoulders, and the large green gauze hat on his head was deformed by the rain.

Seeing his son's miserable appearance, Xu Jie finally came to his senses.

"How did it become like this?"

"I just went to see Zhang Taiyue." Xu Fan took the Songjiang cotton towel offered by the servant and waved his hand to dismiss him.

"Why are you going to see him?" Xu Jie couldn't help but frown.

"I want to ask him what his real intention is. He actually wants to protect that kid named Zhao!" Xu Fan gritted his teeth and said, "I think he is an ungrateful guy. Father shouldn't have praised him so highly in the first place!"

Before he could finish his words, the two saw a sudden whitening in front of their eyes. When the room returned to darkness again, a loud thunder exploded above their heads.

Xu Fan couldn't help feeling a little uneasy, wondering if God was protecting Zhang Juzheng?

"I heard that the speed of sound is not as fast as lightning..."

But I heard my father suddenly say in a low voice.

"Ah?" Xu Fan was stunned: "What does this mean?"

"I heard this from the kid named Zhao when I was peeing last night." Xu Jie sighed softly, "Yesterday I only saw blinding lightning and deafening thunder, but it hasn't arrived yet."

"Uh..." Xu Fan was a little confused and didn't understand what his father meant.

"Don't provoke Taiyue again." Xu Jie's expression became serious, and he slowly stood up, supporting himself with his arms on the armrests of the rocking chair.

The young cabinet minister quickly helped his father to stand up.

"He is the one I chose to inherit my mantle. Don't always think about standing out. You can't beat him." Xu Jie glanced at him expressionlessly.

"Father." Xu Fan thought, what the hell is wrong with me today? Are you all here to pick on me?

"Now, we are in big trouble."

But Xu Jie's next words made Xu Fan completely sober up.

"Why do you say that, father?"

"Didn't you see yesterday? Li and Chen also spoke for that kid." Then Xu Jie said with a gloomy expression:

“This would have been completely unimaginable in the past.”

"Yes." Xu Fan nodded in agreement and said, "Li Chunfang is understandable, after all, he is the leader of those people. Chen Yiqin's behavior is confusing."

"No need to delve into the reasons." Xu Jie looked at his son with some disappointment and said, "A young cabinet minister once told me that when you are in a high position, there is no need to guess the thoughts of the people below you. There are so many people that you would die of exhaustion and still not be able to guess them all."

"That makes sense." Xu Fan nodded in agreement. He knew his father was talking about Yan Shifan. Back then, the two were in-laws and had very close relationships. "People's hearts are hidden, and it's useless to show loyalty."

"Yeah." Xu Jie slowly walked to the door, stretched out his well-maintained hand, tried the cool rain outside, and couldn't help but smile: "Spring rain is as precious as oil. With this rain, the drought can be alleviated a lot."

"Yes." Xu Fan nodded and couldn't help asking, "Father, you don't know what the people below are thinking, so how can you control them?"

"Just lead them by the nose." Lord Xu withdrew his hand and shook off the raindrops on it.

"That's what my son did." Xu Fan said with a smile.

"No, you are being led by the nose." Xu Jie said mercilessly.

"No." Xu Fan's face suddenly became embarrassed.

"Hasn't the kid surnamed Zhao fooled you enough yesterday?" Xu Jie said, "Although that kid was indeed a bit of a monster."

Xu Fan twitched his lips twice, not wanting to continue the conversation, and said in a muffled voice: "Then what do you think father should do?"

"I think they are too idle. If I find something for them to do, no one will be able to take care of me and think about my position."

Then Lord Xu walked steadily back to his desk, picked up a memorial from the Ministry of War and said, "Take a look."

Xu Fan quickly took it and saw that it was a memorial submitted by Duke Chengguo, which said, "Originally, the Four Tengxiang Guards were under the command of the Imperial Horse Administration, but later due to various reasons, they were handed over to the Beijing Camp for management. Now, your Majesty's guards are stretched to the limit and there is no way to recruit new ones for the time being. The Four Tengxiang Guards can be returned to the Imperial Horse Administration to expand the inner court guards and better protect the emperor's safety."

In addition, Duke Chengguo also suggested that it was too much power for him to command three major camps alone, which was not a long-term solution. He asked Your Majesty to send eunuchs to stay in the camps so that both the inside and outside the camp could feel at ease.

The young cabinet minister read through the entire article at a glance and could not help but spit, "This old farthead is selling his ass cleanly!"

"Do you really think this is his own thought?" Lord Xu glanced at his son.

"Of course not." Xu Fan shook his head decisively and said, "Feng Bao came to the cabinet last time to argue, shouting that the imperial guards were seriously short of soldiers and asked the Ministry of Revenue to allocate money to recruit new soldiers. In the end, he was rebuked by Ma Bu Tang on the spot."

Of course, the young minister did not mention the promise his father made to Eunuch Feng.

"It seems that Eunuch Feng is still very persistent and has set his sights on the Beijing Camp again." Xu Fan sneered and said, "He actually managed to convince Duke Cheng to hand over the Tengxiang Four Guards."

"But it's true. Duke Chengguo doesn't plan to rebel, so what's the point of holding so many soldiers?" Then he snapped the memorial shut and laughed sarcastically, "In the past, you could still eat the empty salary and drink the blood of the soldiers. Now the court can't even make ends meet, and there's no empty salary to eat. It's better to get rid of this big burden and please His Majesty at the same time."

Xu Jie nodded with a relieved look on his face, and asked Xu Fan, "Then how do you think we should draft it?"

"Of course I rejected it!" Xu Fan said without hesitation: "Teng Xiang, Feng Bao, Chen Hong, Meng Chong and a bunch of eunuchs want to be the Eight Tigers of this dynasty, just dream on!"

Xu Jie sighed secretly when he heard this. Xu Fan's strengths were his extensive knowledge and his ability to see the big picture from the details. But when it came to making decisions and taking on the main responsibility, he always lacked that ability.

Well, it's more than a little bit off.

So he was more like a military officer rather than a strategist, and he did not have the talent of a pillar of state like Zhang Juzheng.

'It's a pity that he never believed in evil...'

Lord Xu sighed helplessly.

After forcing Gao Gong to step down, he knew that he must have left a bad impression on the emperor, so he deliberately lived in seclusion in the imperial palace and controlled the government through his son.

Naturally, he also intended to give Xu Fan the opportunity to take charge of things on his own, wanting to see if his son could handle this business.

The result is self-evident...

In fact, Lord Xu had originally planned to give Xu Fan more time, but the attitudes of the three university scholars last night made Lord Xu's increasingly numb nerves suddenly alert.

The wind starts from the tip of the green duckweed and ends among the trees.

He knew that he could no longer let Xu Fan mess around, and he had to take action himself to clean up the situation.

Xu Jie slowly shook his head and said, "No, it's allowed."

ps. Chapter 3, please give me monthly votes and recommendation votes!!