Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 208 Pattern (Subscription and monthly ticket required)
After seeing Tan Ji off, Zhang Luan looked very proud and arrogant.

After returning, he praised Zhang Yanling: "Son, how can your father say you... Hey, even the eunuch Tan in the palace, who is such a big shot, is so polite to you. It seems that your sister will not suffer any more after marrying into the East Palace."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Dad, you don't know that Tan Ji is just like that. He always smiles and is so kind to everyone."

"Fuck, you don't want to tell your father that he doesn't look at our Zhang family differently, do you?"

Zhang Luan suddenly lost his composure, as if he had suffered a major setback, and even his arrogance was suppressed.

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Dad, now let's think about how to hide this from Liang Fang and not let him know that this matter has anything to do with our Zhang family.

"If Liang Fang gets to know the truth, even if you are the future father-in-law of the emperor, he will not give you the slightest respect and will resort to all kinds of trickery and schemes against you."

Zhang Luan was a little worried when he heard this, and said hesitantly: "As for Qin Ji, I think he is a real man and will not betray us. It's Qin Yun..."

Zhang Yanling nodded: "Dad, you have made great progress in your view of things, not bad, not bad! Don't worry, I will go and say hello to Qin Yun later and tell him not to go out and talk nonsense. However, Qin Yun actually doesn't know why Qin Ji is here, so what if we tell him that he is here to deliver a letter?"

"Sending a letter!?"

Zhang Luan was stunned.

Zhang Yanling said as a matter of course: "The correspondence between the Crown Prince and my sister will sooner or later be known to others... Tan Yun didn't come in to eavesdrop on your conversation, so what could he know?"

"hehe."

Zhang Luan had a slightly bitter smile on his face and looked at his son with complicated eyes, "Why do I feel like you are controlling me everywhere? Every step I take now, I am afraid of making a mistake and bringing disaster to my family. I can only listen to you... It's really weird!
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I have one more question for you. Do we need to meet with Li Zisheng and tell him about this?"

"forget it."

Zhang Yanling shook his head and said, "It's best if only you, me and Tan Ji know about this matter. Even the Crown Prince shouldn't be involved... Just consider it as a favor to Tan Ji!"

Zhang Luan protested in dissatisfaction: "Why? Such a great achievement, are we going to give it up just like that and give it all to Qin Ji?"

Zhang Yanling quickly analyzed the pros and cons: "Dad, we are doing things quietly behind the scenes, and the prince will know it sooner or later. Now this matter is not a credit to us, but a huge disaster.

"As long as His Majesty is in power, no matter how many honors we get, they are nothing but clouds. They have no practical benefit. Only when the Crown Prince takes power in the future can he truly repay us... Do you think that with my sister whispering in his ear, the Crown Prince will not know that all this is done by me?"

"This……"

"In the final analysis, my foundation in the court is not solid, and I have no one to rely on. The prince's glory can't shine on me at all. It's difficult for me to even fight Liang Fang, let alone a powerful official like Li Zisheng."

"Ah."

"Dad, when the crown prince ascends the throne in the future, the Ming Dynasty court will be your stage to perform as you please. I believe that day is not far away!"

"No, you kid, please don't flatter me. I will just be my father-in-law and enjoy your sister's help. I will live a prosperous life for a few days. The stage is yours. At most, your father will lead the way for you and stand in front to protect you from the wind and rain."

……

……

Qin Ji rushed to Duanjing Palace early the next morning and informed the prince of the good news.

Zhu Youtang was also pleasantly surprised after hearing this, and asked with a smile: "My dear, can our people really make it? A telescope? And soap?

"Who was the person you met yesterday? Who was the one who was helping me silently behind the scenes?"

No matter how simple-minded Zhu Youtang was, he didn't want to be a fool who knew nothing.

He wanted to know the reason behind it.

Seeing the prince's happy expression, Qin Ji couldn't help but smile. However, after hearing this question, he shook his head decisively: "Prince, it's not that I don't say some things, nor am I deliberately trying to steal someone's credit. It's just that they are of great importance and may be plotted against later. They are inherently dangerous...so you are not suitable to know."

"Tell me now!"

Zhu Youtang begged, "I promise I won't tell anyone."

Qin Ji still shook his head firmly: "Prince, you are too honest... Facing His Majesty, facing those lecturers in the East Palace, and facing outsiders, you always show your most honest side. This is the charm of your personality, and it is also a huge advantage for you to ensure the position of crown prince. Who among the court officials does not praise you for your simplicity and honesty? You will definitely be a wise and holy ruler in the future.
"In that case, why should I tell you such a serious secret?"

When Zhu Youtang heard this, his eyes dimmed: "I understand, my wife is protecting me. If I knew the reason behind it and my father asked me in person, I would not be able to hide it from him."

Tan Ji said: "If His Majesty asks, you can say that Tan Ji hired someone outside to do it. When the right opportunity comes, I will reveal the secret to the Crown Prince."

Zhu Youtang nodded: "Thanks to you, my old partner, otherwise I would definitely not be able to cope with the conspiracy and calculations that are everywhere."

Qin Ji smiled lovingly and shook his head: "I dare not take credit for it. All this is the result of someone's secret help. At most, I am just responsible for threading the needle.

"I have to say that the person who helped you was very far-sighted. He found me before because he knew that only I would sincerely help the prince and would not have any second thoughts. The prince must remember their kindness and reward them generously in the future."

"My dear, in the future...will I never have the chance to repay them?"

Zhu Youtang was still very worried.

Obviously, he was not sure about the future. One was whether he really had the chance to inherit the throne, and the other was whether he would be betrayed and would have no way to repay the emperor.

"After enduring the darkness, there will always be sunshine. The Ming Dynasty will eventually belong to the prince. I have never doubted this!" Qin Ji smiled and comforted, "Others may betray us along the way, but those who secretly support us... there is no possibility..."

"Why?"

Zhu Youtang looked curious, "My wife always told me that human hearts are hard to predict. Why is she so sure this time?"

Tan Ji burst out laughing.

Should I tell you that it was actually your father-in-law and brother-in-law who were secretly helping you?
Their interests are closely tied to yours, and they share the same honor and disgrace. Who else can they help if not you?
Qin Ji did not answer, but asked, "In a few days, it will be the day to welcome the bride. Is the prince ready?"

"Ok!"

Zhu Youtang's face flushed instantly, his eyes sparkled, and he said excitedly, "I've prepared it a long time ago. I wrote her another letter, which is full of my deep longing for her, but I don't know whether I should send it out. After all, I will be able to see her in person soon."

Tan Ji said: "Prince, please give me the letter. I will pass it on to you later..."

Zhu Youtang had no doubts and thought that Tan Ji would just hand the letter to the people at the Imperial Observatory as he had done before. He immediately said excitedly, "Then I'll leave everything to my wife."

……

……

For two days after separating from Qin Ji, Zhang Yanling was busy making glass.

After adding soda ash, the fired glass products tend to be more transparent. Then through special molding molds, several suitable concave and convex lens materials can be produced from a dozen pieces of glass. The rest is just trimming and polishing.

Zhang Yanling is still exploring the specific manufacturing process himself, and he will not delegate it to others for the time being.

"Second brother, you seem very busy, but I don't know what you are busy with."

Zhang Heling can't sit still, so he goes out whenever he has nothing to do. In name, he goes out to recruit talents and to revitalize the Zhang family, but in fact, he just goes out to have fun.

I didn't see him for most of the day. When he came back in the afternoon, he sat down next to his brother and watched him busying himself there.

Zhang Yanling asked casually, "Brother, did you go to the new workshop to take a look?"

"What's there to see over there? A bunch of people are repairing the pond there, and some of the sheds aren't very solidly built, so there's nothing to see." Zhang Heling said, and finally stood up, leaned forward, and asked, "Is it done?"

"Almost done, almost done. This is the second batch, and the next batch is still being fired inside. It is estimated that ten telescopes will be made by tomorrow morning."

As Zhang Yanling spoke, he picked up another bamboo tube and compared it.

The bamboo tube was specially customized, with fine patterns and textures on it. After all, it was to be used as a tribute, and time was not tight, so some surface decoration was necessary to make it look more luxurious.

Zhang Heling asked, "How much silver can such a thing sell for?"

Zhang Yanling looked up at him, smiled, and said, "This is not for sale. You can't buy it on the market even if you want to. This is the only one in the store. There is no other."

"What's that for?"

Zhang Heling was not informed of the affairs of the Eastern Palace, so he just thought that his brother was making things to make money. However, he did not know that this matter was related to the stability of the position of the crown prince of the Eastern Palace, and even more to the prosperity and wealth of the Zhang family, which was far more important than doing business.

"Brother, why are you asking so many questions? Is the money I gave you enough for you to spend?"

Zhang Yanling deliberately changed the subject.

"Where can I go?"

Zhang Heling immediately stopped asking about the purpose of the telescope and begged with a smug look, "Give me some more... A man always needs money when he is away from home. How about this, you put the silver the Hui merchant gave you here with me?"

Zhang Yanling asked, "Didn't we agree that I would be in charge of the money?"

Zhang Heling frowned, "I am your elder brother, but now I have to borrow money from you even for a meal or a cup of tea. How can I be so respectful as to give you face? We must keep our accounts clearly in the future. Don't just give me some money when you make money, and don't treat me like a beggar."

"Okay, okay."

Zhang Yanling said unhappily, "You will need money in the future, but not now! Instead of nagging me here, why don't you go ask your parents for it? We are in the start-up stage now and need money everywhere. How dare you spend it recklessly? Don't always think about getting something for nothing..."

Zhang Heling sat down again, crossed his legs, and pursed his lips and said, "How am I not working hard? I work hard every day, but I don't know what the hell I'm working for."

Zhang Yanling asked curiously, "Huh? Where did you learn this witty saying?"

"What? What the hell? There's a Tartar from the north out there, a businessman. I heard it from him, it's quite interesting... They came to the capital to sell horses, and it's said that they do a good business." Zhang Heling explained. Zhang Yanling nodded: "Take me to see it later."

Zhang Heling said, "Aren't we doing business with Huizhou merchants? What do those mountain people in the north have to do with our business? Okay, as long as you are willing to pay me, I will take you to see the Tartars, even if I take you to go through fire and water, I will be your brother. Hey, after saying so much, where is the money?"

"Here, here are five cents. Take it and spend it. Just don't disturb me while I'm working!" Zhang Yanling finally couldn't stand his brother's nagging anymore, so he took out a few copper coins from his bosom and stuffed them into Zhang Heling's hand.

Although Zhang Heling thought the money was too little, he still took it and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

……

……

When the Zhang brothers were returning home in the evening, they happened to see the Sun family's carriage leaving.

When Zhang Yanling entered the yard, he saw Zhang Luan rummaging through boxes again. It was obvious that Sun You had come personally this time and had brought a lot of gifts to the family.

"Dad, what are the Sun family doing here?"

Zhang Yanling asked.

Zhang Luan explained the situation: "He saw the right time and thought that I should go home, so he came to visit us... He has been staying in Beijing and has not returned home, so he wants us to take care of him more."

Zhang Heling walked over and sat on the lid of one of the wooden boxes. He said, "Dad, your current position is boring. You don't have to report to the government office every day. You don't even have any subordinates. How can you take care of him? If you really have the ability, why don't you take care of me, your son first?"

Zhang Luan said with a straight face, "You still haven't behaved properly! Go into the room and don't get in the way!"

“It’s strange.”

Zhang Heling asked in surprise, "Are you really too lazy to scold me now? Your youngest son is a son, but your eldest son is not a son, right?"

As he spoke, Zhang Heling saw his father starting to look for something to hit him with, so he immediately wisely fled to the inner courtyard.

After all, he complained that he was hungry on the way back and asked his brother to give him money to buy food. Unfortunately, Zhang Yanling did not indulge his bad habits. Now that he got home, it was right for him to have a good meal first.

Zhang Luan took Zhang Yanling into the main hall and casually ordered, "Tell your mother to take people to put the things away later... I've checked it out, and it's not worth much. The box is big, but there's not much stuff inside."

Zhang Yanling had taken a rough look before. The boxes were filled with food, cloth, and dried goods such as mushrooms, fungus, and bamboo shoots. There was no gold or silver. He asked, "Did the Sun family just come to visit us? Didn't they say anything else?"

"Not at all."

Zhang Luan said, "I have nothing to hide from you... The Sun family still wants to arrange a marriage with us. Of course, it is impossible to marry your sister. They only want to marry their little girl to your eldest brother."

"Ah? Can this still happen?"

Zhang Yanling couldn't help but smile after hearing this.

The Sun family is now really willing to lose face and insist on marrying into the Zhang family. Sun You's methods seem to be unscrupulous.

But think about it, later Sun You, as well as his three sons Sun Bojian, Sun Boqiang and Sun Boyi, were all rewarded by Emperor Hongzhi and ranked among the court officials. Sun Bojian even became a full-time official instead of a salaried one.

If the Sun family really didn't use any tricks at all, that would be absolutely impossible.

The Sun family became prominent because they curry favor with the Zhang family.

"I told him that my son is still young and I don't want to make a marriage contract at this moment... Besides, your sister's marriage with the prince hasn't been finalized yet, so why rush?"

Zhang Luan looked at his youngest son and said, "Yanling, you reminded me of this before. I think it makes sense, so I will do as you say today."

Zhang Yanling asked with a smile: "Dad, do you despise the poor and love the rich?"

Zhang Luan sighed: "In fact, the Sun family is not poor. With the accumulation of wealth over generations, many officials in the court are not as wealthy as their family. After all, they are a well-known gentry in the prosperous area. In the past, we could not look up to them.

"But there has never been any nobleman in his family. It's all because of his good management... I don't ask for anything else. If you and your brother are really going to get married in the future, you should marry a lady from a noble family, right?"

"hehe."

Zhang Yanling laughed non-stop.

Now that my cheap father has become the prince's father-in-law, his vision has become higher.

The criteria for selecting a daughter-in-law was no longer whether she was the daughter of a wealthy family, but rather the famous ladies from the powerful and influential court.

But do you think that the real aristocratic families would look down upon the status of our Zhang family's in-laws?

Zhang Luan sighed, "But... On the other hand, my son, although I am now an official, I am still looked down upon by others. Your uncle introduced me to some officials, but they were only polite to me on the surface and forgot about me the moment they turned around. They didn't take me seriously."

Zhang Yanling smiled and comforted him: "It's like this at the beginning. Once you get a formal title, everything will be fine."

"I, your father, want to, too, but can I really get the title? I don't know when..."

Zhang Luan began to complain again, "My son, your father is also thinking about you and your elder brother. If others look down on you, it will also affect your future marriage with the powerful in the court. You should be careful."

"Okay, Dad, if you want to be prominent in front of others, just say so. Don't push everything onto me and my elder brother... What marriage arrangement? My elder brother is about the same age, and I'm still far away."

Zhang Yanling is not stupid.

Historical experience has told him that the Zhang family does not need to rely on marriage to gain power.

The biggest investment in political marriage has been made, and he doesn't want to be bound by his identity as the king's brother-in-law - I can marry whoever I want, and why should I be tied down by political interests?

joke.

Besides, apart from my sister, the most impressive marriage for the Zhang family is that in the future my daughter may marry someone from the Kong family.

But now that I have full control over this body, this kind of thing will never happen again.

……

……

Liang Fang's residence.

When Liang Fang came back, the family was organizing a general cleaning. Many withered and yellow leaves were blown in by gusts of wind and kept falling into the courtyard, which was a spectacular sight.

"Master, I don't know whose woodshed has collapsed. A lot of leaves have been falling around our house these past few days. Logically, these withered and yellow leaves should have fallen off last autumn."

The servant complained to Liang Fang, "We clean all day long, but we can never finish."

Liang Fang looked at the thick layer of leaves piled in the yard. She was already in a bad mood, and now she was even more furious.

Glancing at Wei Xing who was standing in front of the main hall door, Liang Fang waved at the servants, "Sweep as much as you can until it's all gone. I don't believe it. Is it God who wants to teach me a lesson?"

After saying that, Liang Fang invited Wei Xing into the main hall.

"Eunuch Liang, I have sent someone to send a letter to the south. Shandong has also released the seized tribute. However, no matter how we compare them, we have not seen any treasures that can bring distant scenery closer, nor have we seen any soap... Could it be..."

Wei Xing was very nervous.

Because he knew that whether these two items could be presented as tribute in the future not only affected whether there was still hope for the change of storage, but also concerned the lives and property of him and Liang Fang.

Liang Fang shouted, "Why are you in such a hurry? It will take at least ten days to send a letter from here to Nanjing and Guangdong. Don't you want to give them some time to prepare?"

Wei Xing was anxious: "You don't understand what I mean... Now I'm afraid that these two things are not tributes from below, and there is no way to find them!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Liang Fang was furious. "You mean this thing belongs to the prince, not ours... The person who took credit for it is not the prince, right?"

"This this……"

After being reprimanded in such a way, Wei Xing was speechless.

Liang Fang continued to ask with a cold face: "Have you found out who is behind this?"

Wei Xing said helplessly: "There are only a few people around the prince, it is not difficult to find out, but the East Factory and the Jinyiwei are shirking and refusing to cooperate, saying that it is related to the internal affairs of the royal family, and even the factory and the guards are not convenient to interfere."

"That Wei Tai... is simply courting death! Doesn't he know what happened to Wang Zhi?"

Liang Fang gritted her teeth.

The current commander of the Eastern Depot is Wei Tai, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department. Wei Tai has always been Qin Chang's man, so he will not give face to Liang Fang at all.

Moreover, after Emperor Chenghua abolished the Western Factory, the power of the Eastern Factory was suppressed to a certain extent. This was one of the main reasons why the power of the Factory and Guards declined from the end of the Chenghua period to the Hongzhi period.

"It's most likely Jiang Cong. This guy has many tricks up his sleeve." Wei Xing speculated.

Liang Fang asked back: "Why can't it be Tan Ji?"

Wei Xing thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Even if Qin Ji is loyal to the prince, how can he ruin your plans? He is too mediocre and stupid to be a concern."

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(End of this chapter)