Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 109 Young Master's Life (Part )
New Year's Day.

The Zhang family seemed a little deserted, so early that morning, Zhang Luan took Zhang Yanling to Shen Lu's house to pay New Year's greetings.

This time he came, he also intended to borrow the luxurious carriage and the coachman from Zhang Luan's mansion, and also to go out of the city to see the mansion donated by the Hui merchants.

"When you enter the Shen Mansion, you must follow the rules and not lose your composure. If you behave well, your father will give you a big red envelope when you return, so that you will have some spare money on hand that you can spend as you wish."

Zhang Luan seemed very generous, as if he wanted to share some of the benefits with his son so that his son would work hard for him.

Zhang Yanling smiled and joked: "Dad, you are so generous."

Zhang Luan was complacent: "Of course, when has your father ever been stingy with you? Our family will only get better and better in the future, and your father will not treat you and your elder brother unfairly. And as for studying... Who knew that the people in the capital are so xenophobic, including those scholars who come to Beijing from all over the country, they are all snobbish and look down on us. I can't find a suitable teacher for the time being."

"hehe."

Zhang Yanling smiled and didn't respond.

Then the father and son entered Shen Lu's mansion.

Shen Lu was thoughtful and prepared some gifts for the father and son, as well as New Year's money for Zhang Yanling. The amount was not small. One gold leaf was worth five taels of silver. He treated Zhang Yanling as if he were his own child.

"Laizhan, has anyone at your main residence looked for you recently?"

After the New Year greetings and other polite exchanges, Shen Lu couldn't help but pull Zhang Luan to sit down and ask him some detailed questions.

Zhang Luan said, "Ruxue, you know that before I left Xingji, the head of the main house insisted on marrying my daughter to some Jinyiwei commander. I didn't agree, and he came to my house several times to make trouble. I couldn't avoid him. How could I have any contact with him after arriving in Beijing? Why are you asking this? Did he come to cause trouble for you?"

Zhang Luan was not worried at this time.

My daughter has already signed up to run for the position of Crown Princess and has successfully entered the second round of selection. Even if Zhang Yin comes to find her, the selection cannot be stopped just like that.

Shen Lu sighed, "Your officials from Hejian Prefecture have been running around in the capital recently for the Ministry of Personnel's selection at the beginning of the year. Did you know?"

"This one……"

Zhang Luan said in confusion, "I am not an official yet, so this matter has little to do with me, and I am not clear about the situation."

Shen Lu said, "I am just informing you of the current situation... Minister Li admires you. Those people from Hejian Prefecture who are Juren will have the opportunity to gain a foothold in the court in the future, not to mention Jinshi. These people may be beneficial to your future career. You can choose to meet them at the right time."

"What do you mean?"

After all, Zhang Luan had never been an official. Although he had some understanding of officialdom because his family had once produced a governor of Liaodong, he had no idea what the current situation of the officials in Hejian Prefecture was like.

Shen Lu smiled and said, "The officials of Hejian Prefecture have not been given important positions since Minister Chen retired. It is none of his business, and Minister Li has never asked about it before. It is because of you that he has started to pay attention to the officials of Hejian Prefecture... In this case, why don't you just let those people revolve around you?"

"But I...I am not the Crown Princess yet."

Zhang Luan felt helpless.

I'm not even a small official, how can I possibly have a group of officials surrounding me?

Shen Lu said: "No matter whether our niece can be selected in the end, at least you are destined to be an official in the future. I am talking about the position of the Imperial College. Your official career may be smoother than those who are born as Juren...

"Don't think that you are just a student of the Imperial Academy. As long as you have connections in the court, even if you don't even have an official position, others will still obey you...

"Just based on your good relationship with Minister Li, which official in the court dares to ignore your existence?"

Zhang Luan seemed to understand something and smiled, "I see... In the future, if they need anything, just come to me and I will go find Minister Li and help them."

"That's probably it."

Shen Lu nodded and said, "It's not appropriate for you to go directly to Minister Li. You won't be able to handle many situations. Just come to me and I'll introduce you."

……

……

The two talked about borrowing a carriage and the re-selection of the Ministry of Rites in the afternoon. Then the Zhang family father and son rode in the gorgeous carriage borrowed from Shen Lu to go out of the city. The carriage was stable and much better than the two carriages that the Zhang family rented and bought on the way to Beijing.

The driver was driving the carriage in the front, and Zhang Luan in the carriage at the back kept praising the vehicle for being very stable and not shaking the buttocks.

Although you say this, your body is very honest.

Not long after leaving the city, Zhang Luan asked the driver to stop on the pretext of going to the toilet. After the father and son had taken care of their personal hygiene, Zhang Luan took his son and insisted on taking a rest on the side of the road.

"It turns out that the roads in the capital aren't that good."

Zhang Luan touched his aching buttocks and shook his head.

Zhang Yanling asked with a smile: "Dad, are you still afraid of the bumps? Did you say those words to the driver on purpose so that he could tell my uncle?"

Zhang Luan said unhappily, "Hey, do you think I'm not sincere? This carriage is more stable than ours."

Do I need you to say this?
It was obvious that the carriage was worth a lot of money. Not to mention that the body of the carriage had been specially treated for shock absorption, the glittering copper shell alone was eye-catching. In addition, it was decorated with gold brocade and jade shells, making it look jeweled. The wheels were inlaid with rich inscriptions and portraits of people. It was simply an outstanding work of art.

This is not like riding in a car, it's clearly like sitting on a pile of money, so the feeling is naturally very different.

Zhang Yanling looked at the surrounding scenery. At that time, the capital had not yet built an outer city, so the layout seemed very cramped. The houses outside the city that were not protected by city walls all looked dilapidated. They were basically single-story buildings. Two-story buildings could only be seen on the streets of the capital in those days.

Of course, the roads outside the city are indeed much wider than those inside the city. After all, the price of land is different.

"Son, did you hear what your uncle said at his house before? It was about the selection and promotion of officials in Hejian Prefecture... Didn't you say that you are knowledgeable? Please explain to your father carefully what he meant?" Zhang Luan asked.

Zhang Yanling asked back: "What did my uncle say?"

Zhang Luan rolled his eyes and said in dissatisfaction: "I brought you with me because I wanted you to participate in the matter. You didn't focus all your attention on the little girl in the mansion at that time, did you? However, the girls around ten years old in the Shen Mansion are quite pretty."

Zhang Yanling turned his head and gave his old father a cold look.

Now he finally understood why Jin cared so much about the Huizhou merchant sending a maid. It turned out that Zhang Luan was a traditional old lecher. It was not uncommon for him to stare at his own maid without any restraint and want something to happen.

Zhang Yanling asked, "Dad, can we be a little more ambitious?"

"I thought of you as an adult, but I never thought you were still a child." Zhang Luan said with a smile, "But everything has developed just as you planned. Unknowingly, three months have passed, and our family is very different from what it was then. A few months ago, even if I racked my brains, I could not have imagined that we would be so prosperous today."

Zhang Yanling said, "Let's wait until you become the father-in-law of the emperor."

"You are talking nonsense again... Even if your sister really becomes the Crown Princess, I am not the father-in-law of the emperor. Everything has to wait... Oh, forget it. If I continue talking, it will be really disrespectful."

The father and son did not continue to discuss the appointment of local officials.

After getting back on the carriage, the father and son arrived at the outer house that the Huishang had sent them to outside the city. They saw that it was a small courtyard surrounded by houses. Before they could knock on the door, the people inside heard the movement of the carriage outside. A servant in his forties who looked honest and loyal opened the door and greeted them with a smile: "Hello, Master, Second Young Master."

Zhang Luan jumped off the carriage and frowned before he could say anything. He pulled his son over and whispered in Zhang Yanling's ear, "How about... we should dismiss these people... it will cost a lot of money to support so many people."

Zhang Yanling glanced at his old father, as if to say, you just realized that it's easy to hire servants, but difficult to raise them?
Do you really think that once you are given the indenture, you can order them around and have them work diligently for you like slaves and create value for you?
These servants are not just labor machines who only know how to work without expecting any reward. Few of them can truly gain a foothold in the capital city where every inch of land is worth a lot of money by their own efforts, and they all rely on their masters for support.

Eating, drinking, defecating and urinating, aren't you, as the head of the family, responsible for that?

With your current wealth, it’s not easy to support such a large group of people!
You should know that you have no salary at the moment, so you are always living beyond your means.

Zhang Yanling acted like a little master at this time, and ordered the old servant: "Please take us to the house... Didn't you say that this house was given to us? Call everyone in the house out, and let's set the rules first."

"Yes, Second Young Master."

The old servant led the father and son into the courtyard, then turned around to inform people.

Zhang Luan laughed and joked: "Hey, I didn't realize that you were born to be a young master. You are quite stylish."

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(End of this chapter)