Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 102: Fishing Alone with a Golden Hook (Subscription Request)

After Zhang Luan realized his dream of becoming the emperor's father-in-law, he instantly regained his confidence. The next morning, he took his son to find Shen Lu to discuss the primary election in Shuntian Prefecture that afternoon.

It was already the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.

The areas under the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture did not become lively because of the prince's selection of a concubine. It was as if this event did not exist at all and had nothing to do with the people in the market. On the contrary, as the New Year was approaching, people's demand for buying New Year's goods was extremely strong. The streets and alleys of the capital were packed with people. Even Zhang Luan had to sigh at the popularity of the capital.

"Yanling, if your father really becomes the emperor's father-in-law, you will be the emperor's uncle, and our family will be extraordinary... Then we can have whatever we want."

Zhang Luan looked longing, "Think about Uncle Wan's family, they have been prosperous for decades. If my father can be like them, it would be really...tsk tsk. But I don't know if your sister will be favored by then."

Zhang Yanling thought to himself, you stopped me from talking nonsense yesterday, and now you are openly discussing this with me on the street, don’t you feel rude?

But think about it, if someone really heard this, they would probably think it was some madman having hysterics. Combined with Zhang Luan's crazy look like "meeting Zhou Gong in broad daylight", he is no different from a madman.

Zhang Yanling took the initiative to reassure Zhang Luan and nodded, "Yes, Dad, sister will definitely be favored and become the Crown Princess, and will be the Queen in the future... This is God's will, the situation is set!"

Zhang Luan's face was full of joy, and he said happily: "I hope so."

Zhang Yanling thought to himself, your daughter, my elder sister, will be very powerful in the future. She is the only person since ancient times who can make the emperor maintain monogamy. If she uses those PUA methods, won’t her future brother-in-law be obsessed with her?

Just thinking about it makes people look forward to it!
……

……

Just as the Zhang father and son rushed to the Shen family, some people from the Huizhou Guild Hall were also preparing for the prince's selection of a concubine.

Unlike most people who were opposed to it, people from Huizhou were quite enthusiastic about choosing a princess. However, since most of the Huizhou people in Beijing were merchants, their daughters were not qualified to be selected as the Crown Princess in terms of their family background, or they could not be selected even if they participated in the selection. Therefore, their attention was focused on those famous ladies from Huizhou or surrounding prefectures and counties who had certain qualifications and reputation.

This is Shopkeeper Qin.

Ever since he learned that the Emperor wanted to select a concubine for the Crown Prince and that the preliminary selection had to be completed before the New Year, which was equivalent to completing the registration work, Shopkeeper Qin had been running around busy for this and lobbying and winning over many people.

It was also the morning of the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the critical period for selection, and Xu Gong summarized the news he had learned and informed Manager Qin.

"Master, what we can confirm now is that among the families of officials in Huizhou in Beijing, there are five families with young ladies who have come out to participate in the selection. In terms of family background, they are all good, and their families have at least produced scholars. However, in terms of appearance and talents in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, they may not be as good.

"Besides, it is difficult for us to smooth over the relationship this time. We have not yet determined the plan for the primary election. According to past experience, this first step will not consider beauty and appearance, but only family background."

Xu Gong then handed a list to Shopkeeper Qin.

Shopkeeper Qin took it, looked at it carefully, and nodded slightly.

What she meant was that she was quite satisfied with being able to gather these people together.

Xu Gong said: "Although they are all from Huizhou, many of them have not been back to Huizhou for decades, and their relationship with us is relatively distant. In order to establish a relationship with them, I sent them a lot of things, but their attitude towards us is relatively cold."

Shopkeeper Qin nodded and said, "That's true... Even if we are all from Huizhou, we can't work together. But if there is a crown princess from Huizhou, she may have the opportunity to become the queen in the future, which will be of great help to the reputation of our Huizhou officials, gentry and merchants... In the future, even if we need to send gifts, we will know where to send them."

Xu Gong said, "Master, there is one more thing. I have only heard some rumors so far. I wonder if I should tell you or not?"

"explain."

Shopkeeper Qin frowned.

She couldn't understand what Xu Gong needed to be secretive about?
Don’t you know that no matter what rumors you hear, you should report them truthfully?
Xu Gong said in embarrassment: "I heard something. It is said that the young lady of the Xingji Zhang Jiansheng, who had some dealings with us before, will also be participating in the selection of the Crown Princess this time."

"really?"

Shopkeeper Qin opened his mouth slightly, obviously surprised.

"I have only heard about it, so I don't know whether I should tell you or not." Xu Gong said.

Shopkeeper Qin frowned and said, "His daughter was engaged to the son of Sun You, a merchant in Xingji, but it was broken off due to some things. Didn't we send him some dowry later?"

"Yes."

Xu Gong was also very surprised and said hesitantly, "If he really wants to let his daughter choose the Crown Princess, the dowry... would be a bit of a joke. Wouldn't it be like we are... sending a dowry to the East Palace?"

When Xu Gong mentioned this matter, he even felt it was a bit absurd. At that time, he just found an excuse to send gifts to Zhang Luan's mansion. Who knew that his daughter did not intend to marry into any wealthy family at all, but wanted to marry directly into the royal family.

Shopkeeper Qin murmured, "That Lord Li personally visited Zhang's house, and then Zhang Jiansheng asked his daughter to be selected as the Crown Princess. It's not a simple matter at first glance. If the cause and effect are really like this, then Lord Li's visit to Zhang Jiansheng's house is worth pondering."

Xu Gong asked in surprise, "The head of the family said that Lord Li had planned from the beginning to let the young lady of Mr. Zhang's family be chosen as the Crown Princess?"

The more Shopkeeper Qin thought about it, the more he felt that his judgment was correct, and finally said: "From what I know, this girl is both talented and beautiful, and she is also the daughter of a student. She may seem to have a low status, but as Zhang Luan entered the Imperial Academy to study, she is equivalent to the daughter of a student, and her status has been further improved.

"In a marriage between a wealthy family and a noble family, a student is nothing, but if you marry into the Eastern Palace, the status of a student can be said to be a hundred times higher than that of an official family."

Xu Gong nodded and said, "What the headmaster said is true. When choosing a crown princess in our dynasty, we don't choose the daughters of officials. Most of them are from the background of students of the Imperial Academy or students. Of course, there are also those whose ancestors were officials but are now in poverty...

"So, no matter how you look at it, this Zhang Jiansheng meets all the requirements. If he can be secretly helped by the mysterious Lord Li, I'm afraid his chances of being selected will increase greatly."

"but……"

Shopkeeper Qin looked puzzled. "Lord Li has a strong background in the court. Even if he wanted to find someone to be the Crown Princess, why would he give such a great fortune to Zhang Jiansheng, who has no friendship with him?"

"This... I don't understand it either."

Xu Gong certainly couldn't guess it, because no one outside knew what the bond between Li Zisheng and Zhang Luan was.

Xu Gong said, "Do you think it could be... the Senior Officer Shen from the Ministry of Public Administration? Perhaps Senior Officer Shen recommended to Lord Li a long time ago that there was an unmarried lady from a prominent family in Zhang Jiansheng's mansion, who was both talented and beautiful and had the potential to become the Empress. Lord Li was attracted by this and contacted her in advance?"

Shopkeeper Qin said: "Although what you said is reasonable, I think that relying on a girl he has never met, Zhang Jiansheng will never be favored by a great man like Lord Li.

"Do you still remember? The day when Lord Li visited Zhang's house and even gave him a mansion as a gift was the day after the earthquake at Mount Tai, and no one in the market knew about it at the time."

Xu Gong had a look of deep fear on his face: "Master, you are not trying to say... that the earthquake at Mount Tai has something to do with this Zhang Jiansheng, right?"

"Hard to say."

Shopkeeper Qin shook her head, her face full of caution. It was obvious that many things were far beyond her understanding.

"A poor scholar who was previously unknown, who only had a little reputation in the local area due to the residual power of his family, became famous by curing smallpox, and even got the opportunity to study in the Imperial College. As soon as he arrived in the capital, he was able to have close contacts with the powerful Minister Li. Do you dare to say that such a person has no special ability?"

Shopkeeper Qin connected all the things together. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that there must be a major hidden secret. Unfortunately, he couldn't figure it out and was very distressed.

Xu Gong said: "In my opinion, Zhang Jiansheng is not very good at hiding things. He likes to...spread the news everywhere. When we went to his house to visit him, he never even avoided the issue of his relationship with Lord Li. Otherwise...should we send someone to ask him?"

But Shopkeeper Qin shook his head decisively: "It's too late to do anything now... Since the young lady in his house wants to run for the Crown Princess, we should do something."

"What's the matter?" Xu Gong asked.

"Choose dozens of rolls of fine silk and send them over. Didn't he just get a big house? Send a few eloquent maids over to serve him. By the way, let's also give him a beautiful house." Shopkeeper Qin said.

Xu Gong was a little reluctant, and after thinking for a while he asked: "Master, if this is the case, the cost will be too high. If his daughter is not chosen, it will not be worth it."

Shopkeeper Qin smiled and said, "You also said that if you are not selected, what if you are selected? Will it be of any use if you give me gifts then?
"You know that you should make friends with people when you are still young. Fortunately, we already know Zhang Jiansheng, so it is reasonable for us to send him gifts. After all, he has never refused our gifts."

"Okay, I'll take care of it right away. As for the house... we don't have a better house, and even a small house in the capital is worth several hundred taels of silver."

Xu Gong felt a little distressed about this.

Shopkeeper Qin thought about it carefully and said, "The house we give cannot be better than the one given by Minister Li, otherwise it will be criticized. In this case, let's just find a house outside the city, surrounded by mountains and rivers, with beautiful scenery, and treat it as the Zhang Mansion's annex.

"If Zhang Jiansheng is willing to accept it, it means that he has established a good relationship with us. If his daughter is really chosen as the Crown Princess, we will then send her a bigger gift. This will be a hundred or a thousand times better than sending gifts after the fact. This relationship will be solidified."

"Yes, yes, the master is still thoughtful. I have a limited vision and almost missed the big thing."

Xu Gong looked apologetic, "But sir, the interests behind the selection of the Crown Princess are too great, and the selection must be made by the Queen or Queen Mother in the palace, and then the Crown Prince will make the final decision. The chances of the Zhang family's daughter being selected are actually not great... We should place more hope on the daughters of officials from Huizhou."

Shopkeeper Qin sighed, "Sometimes it is better to fish alone than to cast a wide net... Just do as I tell you!"

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(End of this chapter)