Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 114 Strong Opponent (asking for monthly ticket)

At Deng Changen's house, an internal discussion on the selection of a concubine for the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace was also underway.

Ai Yu, the supervisor of Shanglinyuan, personally brought two boxes of silver to Deng Chang'en. Although the boxes were not big, they seemed very heavy. Deng Chang'en seemed a little dissatisfied after taking a look at them.

"Sir Deng, this is three thousand taels of silver given to you by the Shanxi merchants. It is mainly given to you by the Chai family of Fenyang. I hope you can help smooth things over with the selection of the Crown Princess. The Chai family really hopes that their family can produce a Crown Princess."

Ai Yu said with a smile and handed a gift list to Deng Changen.

Deng Chang'en glanced at it casually, then put the gift list on the table beside him and said, "Other matters are easy to deal with, but why are Jin merchants trying to take advantage of the Eastern Palace's selection of concubines?"

Ai Yu said: "Your Excellency may not know that others are indifferent to the selection of the Crown Prince's concubine, especially the court officials, few of whom even discuss it privately.

"But for the merchants in Beijing, this is a very important event. Not only the Shanxi merchants, but also the Huizhou merchants and the Fujian and Zhejiang merchants are very concerned about it."

"Humph."

Deng Changen sneered, "That's right. The Crown Prince is the heir to the throne, and the Crown Princess may very well be the future Queen. If she is chosen, it will be enough to make a family ascend to heaven overnight. Everyone wants to dream of getting rich out of thin air. Marrying the Crown Prince will bring many benefits. Who knows, you may get whatever you want in the future."

Ai Yu laughed and joked: "The only thing that's hard is getting money!"

"That's possible. Since ancient times, power and money have been inseparable. With the help of nobles in the court, the family's business will naturally be more efficient, and money will roll in, right?

"The Chai family has made a very smart plan, but are they qualified to be selected? Will they be blocked at the first step because of their family background?"

Deng Changen asked.

"No, someone has already informed us. There are very few candidates this time, so the qualification screening is not that strict. There are many scholars among the Chai family, and the girl's brother happens to be a scholar, so he can be considered to have a good reputation. In addition, the family of the girl who is to be selected is not involved in the Chai family's business, so it will not have much impact."

Ai Yu enthusiastically explained to Deng Changen.

Deng Changen teased, "You received money, didn't you? You are so dedicated, someone who doesn't know would think it's your daughter who is going to participate in the election!"

"Your Excellency is laughing."

"Leave the silver here, but tell the Chai family that I understand what you mean. I will call you, but whether you can be selected depends on God's will. This matter cannot be decided by me alone...

"If the girl to be selected really has the potential to be the Crown Princess, her chances of being selected will increase greatly. That's roughly what I'll say. For the rest, you can think about it yourself and just keep it vague."

Deng Chang'en is not as "broad-minded" as Li Zisheng. He will never spit out the fat meat that has been put into his mouth. He will first make an excuse for the failure, so that he will not come to trouble me even if it fails.

Let’s just accept our fate!
……

……

Zhang family, new house.

Originally, the courtyard was still under renovation, but Zhang Luan couldn't help but want to move in early. Anyway, the renovation would not affect occupancy. In this era, there was no formaldehyde pollution caused by the messy chemical raw materials in later generations. Especially since this house was given to Li Zisheng by someone, a lot of thought was put into it. Although it was usually not taken care of, the courtyard as a whole was still well maintained.

Zhang Yanling estimated that his adoptive father was afraid that Zhang Yu would not be chosen as the Crown Princess and Li Zisheng would lose trust in him, so he would try every means to get the house back.

He didn't have to ask for it in person, but whenever Shen Lu came to his house and hinted at it, he would have to obediently return the house.

Scholars not only care about their reputation, but are also cunning and always seem to think a few steps ahead of others.

As the saying goes, "If you are not black-hearted, you are not a man."

In that case, we might as well move in as soon as possible and enjoy it. What if Li Zisheng dislikes that someone is already living there and abandons it?
"Look at our mansion. Isn't it magnificent? I, Zhang Zizhan, have worked hard for half my life. Finally, when I am old, I can live in such a mansion in the capital city where every inch of land is worth a lot of money. When his second uncle comes to the capital, I will bring him in to see it. He will be absolutely dumbfounded and speechless!"

Zhang Luan's face was full of pride, and he even walked with a crab step. He was extremely arrogant, with an attitude of being in high spirits and galloping like a horse.

Outsiders would not listen to his bragging, but family members were different. They would listen even if they didn't want to. Once he started bragging, he would never stop.

Behind Zhang Luan, Zhang Heling was carrying large and small bags of things. He had a bitter face and looked at Zhang Yanling, who was carrying only a small bag, with an aggrieved look. He said unhappily, "Dad, why doesn't the second son have to carry things, but I have to carry so much?"

Zhang Luan glanced over and the more he looked at his eldest son, the more he felt that he was an eyesore. He angrily scolded: "If you had half the ability of your brother, your father would not have done this..."

Zhang Luan realized that what he was about to say was still too harsh for a young boy, so he changed his words: "You are already a teenager, but your brother is still a child. Why don't you want to do some work as the eldest brother? Who asked you to move so much at once? Can't you walk a few more times?"

While scolding his son verbally, Zhang Luan didn't think there was anything wrong with not taking anything.

Zhang Luan was very good at being lazy. He would use the excuse that he was a scholar to avoid everything and in the end he would do nothing.

The family moved their belongings to the main hall first. Zhang Heling found a stool and sat down, and began to clamor for water. However, since they were in a hurry to move that day and it was Chinese New Year, where could they get hot water? Jin didn't indulge her eldest son, so she told him to boil water himself. Then Zhang Heling stopped moving.

"It's going to be dark soon, so there's no need to hire a cook. Just cook something and eat it. After all, my daughter has to go to the Crown Princess Selection tomorrow."

Zhang Luan sat upright on the armchair in the middle with a smug look on his face, his eyes fixed on his beloved daughter who had finished the re-selection and was about to enter the "palace selection" stage.

Jin walked into the room, put down the things in her hands, and asked, "Master, since we have moved in, should we let the servants do some work? Why haven't we seen them today?"

Zhang Luan said, "They are all helping to clean up in the backyard... We are all moving things with our family, do you think it's elegant? I specifically asked them not to come out and disturb us...

"We need to meet the servants, so we must dress neatly and presentably, and act like a master, mistress, young master, or young lady. Hurry up and get ready."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Heling jumped up from the stool he was sitting on and shouted, "I will be the eldest young master in the future? Will I have someone to serve me at any time? That would be great..."

"Look at your worthless look."

Zhang Luan cursed, "When your sister becomes the Crown Princess, our family will be ten or a hundred times more prosperous than it is now. By then, we will have no worries about food and clothing, and we will have many servants and live a carefree life."

"Hahaha……"

Zhang Heling had been complaining at first, but when he heard this, he was overjoyed.

At this moment, a middle-aged male servant appeared in front of the main hall and asked in a simple and honest manner, "Master, is it time for the tea and snacks to be delivered?"

The servant's arrival ruined Zhang Luan's glorious image. He asked impatiently, "Old Wang, didn't I tell you not to come over yet?"

This person is Wang Dali, who was appointed by Zhang Luan to be the manager of the family.

Zhang Yanling didn't know whether it was a famous name or not, anyway, people used to call this man Dali. As his name suggests, he was very strong, with thick arms, and it was no problem for him to lift things weighing over a hundred kilograms. Because of this, Wang Dali was ranked last in the "layoff plan" planned by his cheap father Zhang Luan. In addition, Zhang Luan saw that Wang Dali was honest and simple, so he directly let him manage the servants in the house.

It's not because this person is born to be a manager, but Zhang Luan feels that he has just become the master, if the managers under him are too experienced and shrewd, he may not be able to control them, so it is easier to control them by finding a "stupid" person to a high position.

Wang Dali replied respectfully: "The servants in the mansion know that the master will move into the mansion today, and we all want to express our gratitude. The stove has been lit, and the dishes have been bought and prepared."

"Hey, you have a keen eye."

After hearing this, Jin had a very good first impression of Lao Wang.

Zhang Luan glared at Wang Dali and said, "You don't work hard, but just want to flatter. It's true... Alas! But since the cooking has already started, then work hard. Do you need help in the kitchen? Xiaoni, ask your mother to come over and keep an eye on the kitchen. Today is the New Year, let's have something good to eat as a family."

Based on the principle of trusting one's own people, Zhang Luan naturally handed over such a big matter of managing the backyard to his concubine Tang.

Jin was not annoyed after hearing this, but smiled. She had been very dissatisfied with having a maid in the house, but now she had someone to serve her, and she could be a rich lady for a few days. It was a very novel and pleasant experience for her.

(End of this chapter)