Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 146: Wrestling (asking for monthly ticket)

Zhang Luan discussed with Li Zisheng for a long time.

Originally, Li Zisheng wanted to invite Zhang Luan to have a banquet at his house, but Zhang Luan politely declined.

The main reason is that Zhang Luan wants to go back and see his daughter as soon as possible...

In his own words, if he doesn't see him now, it might be difficult to see him again in the future, which made Li Zisheng laugh for a long time. Then Li Zisheng asked Shen Lu to send Zhang Luan back home for him.

Fearing that Zhang Luan would have no carriage to use for his daily travels, Li Zisheng specially gave Zhang Luan a carriage from his own family, and also equipped it with a coachman who could be used at any time.

"Laizhan, this is like seeing the moon after the clouds have been cleared. You have finally made great progress... From the first time I saw you in Tongzhou, I felt that you exuded a strong sense of confidence. I knew that one day you would be successful."

After Shen Lu came out of Li's house, he could no longer hide his excitement and he praised Zhang Luan highly.

If Zhang Luan was only the father of the Crown Princess, or just a nominal Minister of the Honglu Temple or a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who only received a salary, it would not be a big deal.

The key point is, this guy is the father of the future queen and the father-in-law of the Ming Dynasty. If not now, when will he curry favor with him?

Zhang Luan looked ashamed, shook his head and said modestly: "No, no, it was my son who gave me the advice... I just followed the trend."

Shen Lu asked in surprise: "Is it Yanling who planned everything behind the scenes?"

"it's him."

Zhang Luan sighed, "A few months ago, when I was still in Xingji, the whole family was sitting around the dinner table, and Yanling proposed to have his sister come to the capital to choose a crown princess. At the time, I thought he was talking nonsense, but who knew that this would happen step by step... I don't know what to say."

When it came time to give his acceptance speech, Zhang Luan, being an experienced father, knew that the greatest contributor to the Zhang family was actually Zhang Yanling, who had been hiding behind him and giving him advice.

Shen Lu was a little surprised when he heard this, and then he said with emotion: "That's really unexpected... Our nephew looks very smart, but I never thought he could do such a big thing. Look, how about I find a teacher for him and teach him well? He will definitely become a great man in the future!"

"Don't bother to teach me, I will find it for him..."

Zhang Luan thought to himself, I had no power or influence before, so of course I hoped that you could come forward in person and find a teacher for my two children to teach them and answer their questions.

Now that I have risen to a high position in my career and am the brother-in-law of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, how difficult is it for me to find a teacher?

Believe it or not, if I spread the news, all the famous teachers in the capital will want to enter my house?
Besides, my precious son is very capable!
If I were to be seduced away by you, Shen Ruxue, and he were to tell you all his far-sighted plans in the future, wouldn’t I be at a great loss?
Shen Lu smiled and said, "Yes, things are different now... Lai Zhan is now a popular figure in the capital, so it should be easy for him to send his children to school. However, if you have any confusion in the officialdom in the future, and it is not convenient to ask Minister Li, you can come to my house to find me."

Zhang Luan said: "I was just about to say that... I'll have to trouble you when the time comes..."

Shen Lu smiled flatteringly: "Who are we following? Lai Zhan, you are really impressive. In the future, I will do my best to help the prince and gradually consolidate his position as the crown prince. Maybe in the future, we can..."

Shen Lu paused at this point, because if he continued, it might violate taboos. At this moment, he finally found the goal of his life, which was to help the prince ascend the throne smoothly.

By climbing onto the high branch of Zhang Luan, Shen Lu's life had new possibilities.

As for his own abilities and whether he could really help the prince, it didn't seem that important for the time being.

……

……

Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall.

A group of Shanxi merchants were invited that day and sat together waiting for the final result of the selection of the Crown Princess to be announced.

At this time, in the main hall of the guild hall, the representatives of Shanxi merchants in Beijing were discussing countermeasures. "...Everyone, we are just merchants. We usually have some friendships with the officials of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works, but they are basically friendships of interest. We rarely have the opportunity to be involved in major court affairs.

"The only thing is that the Crown Prince's selection of a concubine originated from the people. We have been planning for a long time and have made many efforts to get through many connections. However, due to some things, the selection of a concubine ultimately failed. What a pity..."

The person who spoke was Lu Yuanqi, the head of the Lu family, one of the largest merchants in Shanxi.

He was in his forties, in the prime of his life, with a powerful voice, and his mustache jumped with every breath he took when he spoke, giving people a sense of clanging. However, his square, broad face showed a bit of the cunning of an old fox, which was completely inconsistent with his mighty and domineering style of speaking.

Those who are familiar with his style among Shanxi merchants know that he is decisive and ruthless in front of his peers and businessmen. He strikes when it is time to strike and never shows mercy, but he behaves like a timid villain in front of officials.

As the representative of the Chai family, Chai Zongji, an old man from the Chai family attending the meeting, looked ashamed. He knew that Lu Yuanqi was mocking him, but he was completely helpless.

At this moment, a young man stood up next to Chai Zongjin. It was Chai Meng.

Chai Meng looked around and said loudly, "The daughter of a merchant family has her upper limit determined from birth. If she can't be chosen as the Crown Princess, does she have to blame us, the Chai family?
"If you are unwilling, just send your own women to participate in the election. If you are chosen, we will respect you. Otherwise, don't complain here!"

Being ridiculed in person by a young junior, Lu Yuanqi's face turned red and he almost wanted to rush over and beat him up.

Someone immediately came forward to persuade him: "Master Chai, please say less... We Shanxi merchants adhere to the principle of advancing and retreating together in this matter, so please don't hurt the harmony among our families."

That being said, he was more of a conversation with Lu Yuanqi.

If you can’t persuade the old ones, why not persuade the young ones?
Mr. Lu, even if you want to be unfair to this young man, you must remember his identity... He is a student, which may not be a big deal in an official family, but it is very rare in a merchant family.

Merchants all want their children and nephews to be taught by famous teachers and to try their best to take the imperial examinations, but how many of them can actually pass and pass?

Not to mention that for a young and energetic scholar like Chai Meng, given his age, it is not impossible for him to pass the imperial examination and become an official in the future.

Lu Yuanqi tried his best to suppress his inner anger, lowered his voice and said coldly: "I have sent people to inquire... The reason why the daughter of the Chai family failed to enter the palace selection was because of the personal suppression of Li Zisheng, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat.

"It seems that Lord Li knew that I, a Jin merchant, had followed the path of Eunuch Chen Xi and Master Deng, but failed to become his disciple. That's why he got jealous and decisively tried to stop us, resulting in failure."

Chai Meng asked in confusion: "What does this mean? We just went to see Ai Yu, the supervisor of Shanglin Garden. We didn't even see Deng Chang'en. What does it have to do with Chen Xi, the eunuch in the palace? Don't let others fool you and waste your money in vain, right?"

"shut up!"

Chai Zongjin couldn't stand it any longer and shouted at his nephew, "Stop talking. There are so many seniors here. How can a young boy like you have a chance to speak?"

Chai Meng sat down angrily, holding his head high with a defiant look.

Someone nearby advised: "Since the matter has been resolved, what's the point of worrying about gains and losses now? It would be better to select a few more women from Jin to enter the palace as maids. Perhaps there will be a chance in the future... to gain the emperor's favor..."

This means that the matter of selecting a crown princess seems to be completely hopeless.

Let’s not worry about what happened in the past, and focus on the future!
Lu Yuanqi said: "There is still a glimmer of hope for the prince's selection of a concubine. As far as we know, Huizhou merchants have always had dealings with a student named Zhang from Hejian Prefecture. There is even a doctor named Wang Ji in Huizhou who works for the court with this person. It can be said that the student Zhang has a deep relationship with the Huizhou merchants."

"so what?"

someone asked immediately.

Lu Yuanqi had a confident look on his face: "There are three families that have advanced to the final stage of the Crown Prince's selection of concubines. In addition to the Zhang family, there are also the Wang family and the Song family. Fortunately, the other two families have not been tainted by Huizhou merchants. After I learned the news from the palace last night, I sent people to send generous gifts to those two families.

"One of the two families is from a scholar family, and the other is from a local military commander's family. Neither of them is very rich. No matter who is chosen, as long as we, the Shanxi merchants, have financial support, we can help them gain the favor of the prince. At least so far, we have not lost in the struggle with the Huizhou merchants."

(Ask for a wave of monthly ticket support, thank you!)
(End of this chapter)