Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 195: It's a Rare Thing to Be Confused (asking for monthly tickets)

When Li Zisheng returned home, only Pang Qing was still waiting for him.

"Master Dao, why are you back so soon?"

Pang Qing put on a warm smile and walked forward to greet people warmly - in fact, Pang Qing could basically guess what had happened in the palace.

Li Zisheng unbuttoned the coat he was wearing, took it off and threw it aside, his face full of anger: "Wan'an, that old man, approached me before leaving the palace and mentioned Zhang Laizhan, saying that he had gone to Zhang Laizhan to ask about the elixir... Is he demonstrating to me?"

Pang Qing did not answer but asked: "Would Lord Wan take the initiative to come to you in front of the court officials? Isn't he afraid that the censors will impeach him? Or does he have some ulterior motive?"

Li Zisheng said angrily: "He must have ulterior motives! He actually said in front of me that he wanted to recommend Zhang Laizhan to the court. Now that Zhang Laizhan is the Minister of the Honglu Temple, is he still needed to recommend him? He is too self-indulgent..."

As they were talking, Li Zisheng almost wanted to find something to throw.

Pang Qing asked again, like peeling a thread from an onion: "The Taoist is so angry. Did he offend you or something? Doesn't he know the relationship between you and Zhang Honglu?"

"He said he had a vague idea."

Li Zisheng said with a dark face, "This is what makes me so angry... Where can you slap someone in the face like he did?"

Pang Qing's eyes rolled, as if he had thought of something, and he asked again cautiously: "Maybe... he just wants to share your worries?"

"oh!?"

Li Zisheng put away his anger, frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

Pang Qing smiled and analyzed: "After all, you are a well-known figure in the court, highly valued by His Majesty, and have a great say in court personnel. If His Majesty knew that you were too close to Zhang Honglu, and his identity was extremely special, it would affect your reputation and His Majesty's trust."

"Ah."

Li Zisheng nodded and sighed, "Actually, this is exactly what I'm most worried about... If it weren't for Lai Zhan's great ability, I would have to use him and wouldn't have gone to so much trouble to promote him... I don't want to get too close to him at this critical juncture and arouse your majesty's suspicion."

"That's it... Lord Wan took this into consideration and decided to help you!"

Pang Qing continued to remind.

Li Zisheng was stunned for a moment, then nodded, as if he understood something: "You mean, he saw that I wanted to use Zhang Laizhan, but was afraid of causing displeasure to His Majesty, so he stepped forward and took the initiative to recommend Zhang Laizhan?"

"if not?"

Pang Qing smiled and said, "Even if Zhang Laizhan, the old Taishan of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, is a legitimate student, his qualifications and abilities are still far from enough to serve as an official with a real vacancy in the court.

"If you personally recommend him, others will doubt your relationship with Zhang Laizhan, and there will be criticism throughout the court. After a while, it will reach His Majesty's ears, which will be disadvantageous to you.

"On the contrary, if it was Elder Wan who recommended him, the situation would be very different. Everyone knows who Elder Wan is. Even if there are many doubts, facing Elder Wan's almost unyielding personality, who can do anything to him?"

"It makes sense."

Li Zisheng said, "It seems that I did misunderstand Mr. Wan."

Pang Qing continued, "Deng Chang'en approached Lord Wan to propose the elixir, but Lord Wan went to ask Zhang Honglu for his opinion. In fact, he was looking for an opportunity to get close to you...

"I heard that Zhang Honglu didn't say what would happen after taking the medicine, so Lord Wan automatically made up his mind and immediately decided not to offer the medicine."

After hearing this, Li Zisheng smiled knowingly and said, "This old fox... I guess he wanted me to know about this on purpose. I must have accepted his kindness, and his intentions must be good... But why would he be with Deng Changen at this critical moment?"

Pang Qing said: "Indeed, it is obvious that Lord Wan is trying to show his good will to you... He does this because he doesn't want to get involved with people like Deng Chang'en. After all, he is the Prime Minister of the dynasty, and he is already in the highest position among the officials. There is no room for him to be promoted. If he can show his good will to you, why should you reject him?"

"Right."

Li Zisheng finally understood Wan'an's twists and turns at this time, and couldn't help but smile and said: "Fortunately, I have a military advisor like Bingkun here to talk to me, and my thoughts are clear all of a sudden.

“However, although Zhang Laizhan is a person with great supernatural powers, I actually… don’t really want to create too many promotion channels and opportunities for him.”

Pang Qing smiled and said, "I understand. If he discovers anything about the secrets of heaven in the future, it would be best if he reports it to Your Majesty through you, rather than through someone else."

"Not even Wan'an."

Li Zisheng looked determined and said firmly, "The title of Heavenly Master can only be given to me, otherwise no one will be happy."

……

……

Zhang Mansion.

Zhang Luan returned home and stopped the two brothers Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling who were about to go out, and directly pulled his youngest son to the main hall to discuss things.

"I have already mentioned what you asked me to do to Li Zisheng, but he didn't say anything. I even think he was a little unhappy, but he didn't show it... I really can't figure out his personality."

Zhang Luan said with full of doubt.

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Li Zisheng is most worried that his father's ability to predict the secrets of heaven will be exploited by outsiders, especially those who have the opportunity to reach the ears of the gods, and Wan'an happens to be one of them.

"Think about it, if Wan An took the initiative to show his goodwill to you, father, how could he not be wary at all?"

"Oh, he's afraid that I'll end up with Elder Wan... Is he so petty?"

Zhang Luan was a little skeptical. Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "No matter what, the man who took the credit of my father's ability to see the secrets of heaven was Li Zisheng. In addition to being afraid that my father's ability would be used by others, he was also worried that his impersonation would be known. That is a crime of deceiving the emperor. How could he not be extremely cautious?"

Zhang Luan said with a bitter face: "Alas, I said that God's will is unpredictable... This is related to people's hearts... My father has just entered the court and has no foundation. I can't expect the prince to lend me a helping hand at the critical moment. It's really hard to get off the tiger's back!"

Zhang Yanling said jokingly, "In fact, there is no need to worry at all. Li Zisheng is still relying on you. We have only reached the middle of the bridge and are far from reaching the shore. He can't dismantle the bridge for a while."

"Hey, what else does he need to do for his father? Continue to calculate the secrets of heaven? The next step, won't it be to calculate when Your Majesty will... um... can't say, can't say!"

Since becoming a court official, Zhang Luan has become more tactful in his words and does not dare to speak nonsense even in front of his son.

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Next, he should want to use you, father, to make pills for him."

"what?"

Zhang Luan was shocked.

Zhang Yanling analyzed: "Li Zisheng is not good at refining elixirs, which is exactly the specialty of Deng Changen and Zhao Yuzhi. Your Majesty is not in good health now, so he naturally has no interest in sensual pleasures, but when his health improves, he will definitely think about taking the kind of elixir that can make people vigorous and energetic, and even pursue immortality.

"In Li Zisheng's view, the threat from Deng Changen, Zhao Yuzhi and others always exists. Once the emperor has a need and he cannot meet it, he will soon lose his current transcendent status, and Deng Changen and Zhao Yuzhi will have the opportunity to stand out again. This is a scene he does not want to see no matter what."

Zhang Luan hesitated and said, "But...my father doesn't know how to make an elixir."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "In Li Zisheng's eyes, you understand pharmacology, which is an unparalleled advantage. Using pharmacology to refine pills, as long as it can achieve the effect of strengthening the body, especially when it comes to strengthening... the effect that Deng Changen's pill has..."

"Ah? You mean...that?"

Zhang Luan was shocked again, "But I really can't figure this out."

Zhang Yanling nodded in approval, "That's right, Dad, you have to maintain this stance. If Li Zisheng asks you to make an elixir, you must say you can't do it. Even if he asks you to prepare the medicine, you can't give in easily.

"That's the problem. I've told you before that His Majesty's health will deteriorate this year. If people knew that you, Dad, had prescribed that kind of medicine for His Majesty, a lot of unwarranted blame would be put on you... In that case, why not just stay out of it from the beginning and just stand by and watch."

"understood."

Zhang Luan seemed to understand, but he nodded anyway, "I will not get involved in matters related to the health of the dragon. It is better to be prudent and protect myself."

"That's right! Our every move involves the Crown Prince of the East Palace. In this precarious moment, no matter how cautious you are, Dad, it can't be too much. By the way, Dad, I'm going out today to look at the venue and start my money-making plan. If you have nothing else to do, I'll go first." Zhang Yanling said.

"Don't."

Zhang Luan called his son and said with a smug smile, "Son, Li Zisheng mentioned something to me, saying that the officials from Hejian Prefecture were able to overcome the difficulties smoothly this time because of me, and they were all ranked as excellent in the assessment, which means that they all benefited from me."

"This is a good thing."

Zhang Yanling said with a smile, "Dad, shouldn't you go find our second uncle and show off in front of him? Why are you calling me?"

Zhang Luan was a little embarrassed: "Isn't this... related to Li Zisheng's official position? I heard that his official position is also going to be promoted. He asked me whether he should be promoted to Shangshu or Zuo Shilang. How should I answer?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and replied: "Of course you said that with his achievements, he could be promoted directly to Minister of Rites. What else?"

Zhang Luan asked seriously, "Can he really be promoted to Shangshu?"

"Of course I can't go up!"

Zhang Yanling responded with disdain.

"You little brat...are you teasing me, your father? You're asking me to say this when you can't get promoted?"

Zhang Luan almost broke down after hearing what his son said.

Zhang Yanling said as a matter of course: "Dad, there is a saying that a doctor cannot heal himself... People like Li Zisheng, who are born as alchemists, hate it most when others calculate his fortune clearly. In such an insignificant matter, you should try to curry favor with him and say a few nice words. Sometimes, if the calculation is not accurate, it will make him trust you more."

"Ah? No way? Can it be like this?"

Zhang Luan obviously didn't expect his son to say this.

What is even more unexpected is that it turns out that one does not have to know everything to gain Li Zisheng's respect, sometimes one has to pretend to be confused and hide one's shortcomings.

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "There are many ways to do this, you have to fully understand it. But one thing is for sure, Li Zisheng will be promoted to the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

"But even if he is promoted directly to the position of Shangshu, it won't have any impact on us, right? Think about it, a Taoist priest-born Taichang Temple Minister, being able to handle the affairs of the Silver Platform is already a great honor from His Majesty. He also knows very well that he can't be the prime minister. Even if he concurrently serves as the Shangshu of six ministries, it is just a nominal position, which only represents honor. What else does he want?"

Zhang Luan waved his hand and said, "I know, I know. You little brat, go and do your business. Oh, by the way, do you have any money to spend when you go out to do business? I have more than ten taels in my purse, you can take it with you."

As he spoke, Zhang Luan began to take out the purse from his waist.

Zhang Yanling was not polite and walked forward to grab the purse.

"Dad, why are you so generous now? You just gave me ten taels of silver. You bring a lot with you when you go out."

"You are afraid of being poor. You naturally want to bring more money with you when you go out, just in case of emergency. But you should try to be frugal with your money. This money is for you to use, not for you to squander. Our family is not at that stage yet, and don't let your eldest brother... do anything reckless!"

"I know, Dad. My eldest brother has been very obedient recently. He follows me in doing things. You can relax."

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(End of this chapter)