My father is Jiajing

Zhang Juzheng looked back at Xu Fan who was already terrified, but he couldn't help but soften his heart.

After all, over the years, he has been growing up gradually with the help and protection of Xu Jie.

Although Zhang Juzheng and Xu Jie had differences in their later political ideas and ambitions, this did not lead to an irreconcilable political hatred.

Moreover, now that Xu Fan has taken the initiative to come to him, it means that Xu Jie also wants to ease the relationship between him and him.

So when Zhang Juzheng thought of Xu Jie's support and teachings over the years, he really couldn't just stand by and watch the Xu family perish.

After all, humans are not plants or trees, so who can be heartless?
Zhang Juzheng looked at Xu Fan, sighed, and said slowly: "Mr. Lu, do you know why such a big case happened in Jiangnan?"

Xu Fan looked up at Zhang Juzheng blankly, his eyes full of confusion, and he didn't know how to answer Zhang Juzheng's words.

Zhang Juzheng continued, "The imperial court has long been dissatisfied with the continuous reduction of taxes in Jiangnan, but due to the need for political stability, it has always tolerated the situation in Jiangnan and the annexation of land by Jiangnan tyrants."

"But this doesn't mean the court will always tolerate it. In recent years, the court took advantage of the great earthquake in Huazhou to carry out a vigorous reconstruction work in the north."

"Although on the surface it seemed that the imperial court had borrowed 50 million taels of silver to support the post-disaster reconstruction, in the actual reconstruction process, the 50 million taels of silver borrowed by the imperial court was just an introduction."

"Then, in order to earn the 50 million taels of silver for the project, the wealthy merchants also borrowed large sums from banks such as the Northern Construction Bank to complete the reconstruction needs of the court, hoping to gain an advantage, enter several northern provinces, and obtain engineering tasks from the court."

"So, after all this, the reconstruction work in the north seemed to be heavily in debt, but it only took ten years, which was the same as the hundreds of years of development time in Jiangnan. Now the roads in several provinces in the north are not only smooth and flat, but all kinds of new industries are also unprecedentedly developed."

"Not only can the common people live and work in peace and contentment under the new opportunities, but they can also create a steady stream of wealth and taxes for the court. In this way, the original advantages of Jiangnan in the court will be reduced."

"Since Jiangnan has lost these advantages that the imperial court wanted to move against but dared not, do you think the powerful families in Jiangnan can still run rampant like before?"

Zhang Juzheng's words were like a heavy hammer, hitting Xu Fan hard in the chest.

Only at this moment did he understand that the major case in Jiangnan was not caused by problems exposed by the Dong or Qian family.

Rather, the imperial court felt that they were a problem and wanted to deal with them.

When he thought of this, Xu Fan suddenly felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave!

Then I thought of Gao Gong, Hai Rui, Yan Maoqing, and Zhang Juzheng in front of me, who were all airlifted to Nanjing and entrusted with important tasks.

Xu Fan also understood instantly that the person who really wanted to take action in Jiangnan was not Gao Gong, who was eager to achieve political achievements, nor was it Hai Rui, who hated evil and could not tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes.

But it was Prince Yu who was high above and looked down upon all living beings!

Thinking of this, Xu Fan looked at Zhang Juzheng in horror, "Taiyue! What should I do?"

Zhang Juzheng looked at Xu Fan's frightened expression and sighed again, "Mr. Lu, you should not think about saving others now, but how to protect yourself."

After hearing what Zhang Juzheng said, Xu Fan fell into his chair with a pale face. He was really panicked.

Zhang Juzheng stood up and walked to the window. He looked at the clearing scenery outside and whispered, "In the past, the old man was willing to cut off one of his own arms and put the Dong family in front to prevent disaster. Now the fire of the Dong family is about to burn the whole Jiangnan. Lu Qing, think about it carefully. Next, do you want to fight to the end with these land and wealth that you can't bring with you when you are born, or take the initiative to surrender and explain yourself so that the Xu family can have a decent result?"

"Besides, the elder is old now. You don't want his later years to be worse than that of the elder Yan Song, do you? Although the elder Yan passed away with dignity, his son died, and there will be no hope for the future."

After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, he turned to look at Xu Fan and said sincerely, "Lord Lu, do you also want me to experience the tragedy of an old man sending off a young man?"

Xu Fan's lips were trembling. He wanted to say something, but his throat seemed to be blocked. The painful feeling of being unable to speak also tortured his spirit.

Zhang Juzheng walked up to Xu Fan again, patted his shoulder, and said softly: "Autumn in the south of the Yangtze River always comes later than in the north, but you should wear the same amount of clothes as in the north."

When Xu Fan heard what Zhang Juzheng said, he understood that this was Zhang Juzheng giving him the last chance.

If he cannot grasp it, then even if Zhang Juzheng wants to protect the Xu family, he will not be able to save his life.

Xu Fan's tears suddenly flowed from his eyes, his body went limp and he slid off the chair, kneeling on the ground, sobbing, helpless like a child.

Finally, Xu Fan, who had cried enough, could no longer shed a single tear.

He wiped the tears and snot from his face and put on a strong expression again.

Xu Fan said to Zhang Juzheng: "The criminal Xu Fan pays homage to the Minister. The criminal has important details about the Jiangnan case and is here to surrender himself to the Minister. Please read it carefully!"

Zhang Juzheng looked at Xu Fan kneeling in front of him, and listened to what he said, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

He was afraid that Xu Fan would continue to resist and eventually take himself, the Xu family, and Xu Jie with him into the abyss!
Zhang Juzheng patted Xu Fan on the shoulder again, "The elder will be proud of you, and I will promise you that I will do my best to appeal to the prince and His Majesty to ensure that you will not die! To ensure that the Xu family will not be destroyed!"

Xu Fan started to cry again, "Thank you Taiyue."

On the day when Xu Fan was persuaded by Zhang Juzheng and voluntarily surrendered himself.

The Wuxi Gu family has also ushered in a huge change!
The Gu family's ancestral home, which had been as peaceful as ever, was suddenly surrounded by a large number of runners from the Ministry of Justice and the East Factory thugs seconded from Nanjing.

At this moment, Gu Jun, the head of the Gu family, was still practicing calligraphy in the pavilion in the backyard. He used the fine Bozhou wolf-hair brush to write freely on a piece of extremely luxurious Chengxintang Xuan paper used by Emperor Li Houzhu, and wrote the four big characters "Be indifferent to fame and wealth, and have a clear ambition".

"Something serious happened to me!"

Gu An, the Gu family's housekeeper, ran to the outside of the pavilion where Gu Jun was in panic and shouted excitedly.

Gu Jun unhappily placed the wolf-hair brush in his hand on the Song Dynasty Hui inkstone with Su Dongpo's inscription beside him, "How can you yell and shout? If you don't even have a little bit of calmness, how can you accomplish anything?"

After being reprimanded by Gu Jun, Gu An immediately became obedient. He stood outside the pavilion and bowed in shame, saying, "Master, I am right."

Looking at Gu An's attitude of admitting his mistake, Gu Jun couldn't help but smile with satisfaction on his face.

Gu Jun is the younger brother of the censor Gu Yun, but he has no fame or official position, so he stayed in his hometown of Wuxi and became a rich man, managing the huge wealth accumulated by the Gu family for several generations.

Gu Jun has everything he needs nowadays, he just likes the pretentious tone of scholars.

In order to satisfy this psychological need, Gu Jun is willing to spend money.

The four treasures of the study, such as the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone, all have a very long history. For example, this paper was made by Li Houzhu to store palace books. This kind of paper has a frost texture and is thin and uniform from beginning to end. It was highly praised by Li Houzhu, who built a hall to store it.

But after all, time has passed, and the batch of Chengxintang paper made and collected by Li Houzhu has become a rare and exquisite product handed down from generation to generation. But even so, Gu Jun can still afford it and dares to use it.

From this we can see how amazing the Gu family’s wealth is.

If ordinary people, even royal families, heard about this kind of paper, they would probably keep it as a treasure and would not be willing to use it.

But Gu Jun doesn't care, he just wants to use the best!

Gu Jun saw that Gu An was still a little impatient, so he asked calmly, "What happened?"

Gu An hurriedly said excitedly: "Master, it's bad. There are people all outside our house, surrounding our house from front to back and left to right!"

When Gu Jun heard this, he couldn't help but panic.

But he was still trying to stay calm, "Why are you panicking? Are they another group of unruly people who want to resist rent and loans? Our Gu family has been clean for generations, and the rent and interest we collect are the lowest. It would be fine if they don't feel grateful, but why are they surrounding our family again?"

Gu Jun obviously did not realize the seriousness of the problem. He thought that the people surrounding his family were a group of peasants who could not pay the rent for their land or repay their loans, and wanted to negotiate terms to buy time.

Gu Jun was already accustomed to the process for this kind of thing, which was to stabilize them first, and then bribe the leaders who divided them, and then use the power of the Gu family to let the government arrest the troublemakers and make an example of them, and then the Gu family would pretend to waive three months of rent or interest, and that would be all good.

Therefore, Gu Jun was not afraid at all that this group of unruly people would actually rush into the Gu family!

"But, but, but this time it's not the unruly people. It's the government officials!"

Gu An shouted excitedly again outside.

After hearing these words, Gu Jun's hand could not help but tremble. The wolf hair brush that he was about to raise left an extremely ugly ink mark on the snow-white and expensive Chengxintang paper.

Gu Jun said excitedly: "What did you say?!"

Before Gu Jun finished speaking, a team of criminal runners from the Ministry of Justice had already arrived at the inner courtyard.

The leading criminal official took out Zhang Juzheng's handwritten order and said, "We are under the order of the Nanjing Criminal Department to search and confiscate Gu's residence! Gu Jun, you are suspected of colluding with the Qian family to annex the people's land at a low price and murdering the farmers who refused to sell their land. Please come with us!"

After hearing this, Gu Jun panicked and dropped the brush in his hand to the ground. The ink splashed on his snow-white gown, forming an extremely eye-catching stain.

"What?! What did you say? I'm a family man."

Gu Jun became anxious and no longer had the calmness and composure he had when he scolded Gu An.

The leading official from the Ministry of Justice looked at Gu Jun who had lost his composure and gave him a look of extreme contempt. "Gu Jun, do you want me to come over and arrest you, or do you want to come over on your own initiative?"

Gu Jun immediately said, "What are you arresting me for? My brother is an imperial censor and has a great reputation among scholars. Aren't you afraid that my brother will report you?"

Just as the leading official from the Ministry of Justice was about to speak, Zhang Juzheng also appeared here.

Zhang Juzheng looked at Gu Jun with an extremely cold expression and said, "Okay, remember to ask your brother to attend the meeting with me."

When Gu Jun saw Zhang Juzheng appear, he was also frightened and turned pale. He pointed at Zhang Juzheng excitedly and said, "What do you want to do?"

Zhang Juzheng chuckled and took out a letter from his bosom. "This was found in the Qian family. It was a handwritten letter you wrote to Qian Deshun, the head of the Qian family. It clearly stated how to divide the spoils. And this - a copy of the secret account provided by an accountant in your house."

Hearing this, Gu Jun couldn't help but feel his legs go limp and he could hardly stand.

He suddenly remembered something, and a fierce look flashed in his eyes: "I want to see Xu Fan! The elder's family will definitely not sit idly by and watch you confuse right and wrong and bring chaos to Jiangnan!"

Zhang Juzheng laughed loudly: "Gu Jun, are you crazy? You don't know yet? Xu Fan has already set off for Songjiang this morning, saying that his mother is seriously ill."

Then Zhang Juzheng walked closer to Gu Jun, leaned close to Gu Jun's ear, and continued in a low voice, "Do you think Xu Fan really went back to fulfill his filial duty, or did he hear rumors and rush back to destroy the evidence?"

Gu Jun's face turned pale, and suddenly he burst into hysterical laughter.

"Great! What a great Xu Fan! Since he is unkind, don't blame me for being unjust!"

Gu Jun said to Zhang Juzheng excitedly: "Mr. Zhang, I have important clues to report about how the Xu family manipulated the land transactions in Jiangnan in recent years. How do you do it?"

When Zhang Juzheng heard this, his face changed. He had just lied to Gu Jun, but he didn't expect that Gu Jun was so eager to confess the crimes of the Xu family.

It is obvious that if he had not been able to persuade Xu Fan to turn back in time, the Xu family would not only be in a passive position now, but would also be uprooted by people like Gu Jun!
Zhang Juzheng's face turned cold, "Take him away! If you have anything to say, talk slowly in the prison of the Ministry of Justice!"

Gu Jun was taken away by Zhang Juzheng in a quick and decisive manner.

Immediately afterwards, the Eastern Depot operatives conducted a carpet search of the Gu family’s ancestral home.

These people are all professionals who are good at searching houses for evidence. Even the secrets hidden in the cracks between bricks cannot escape their sharp eyes!

Nanjing Governor's Office.

Inside the high-arched study.

Gao Gong put down the case report sent by Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui, and he couldn't help rubbing his temples.

The efficiency of these two people is really dazzling!

Gao Gong was looking at the trees outside the window. Just at this moment, a gust of wind blew, and a slightly yellow leaf fell from the dense green leaves on the treetops and happened to fall on Gao Gong's desk.

Gao Gong looked at the yellowing leaves and couldn't help thinking, "The wind is blowing. Is autumn coming?"

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