Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 261: Help from a Noble Person (asking for guaranteed monthly ticket)

The inner hall of the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

Zhu Jianshen coughed while reading by lamplight at night, as if the "Journey to the West" in front of him had supreme magic and he could not put it down even when he was not feeling well.

Qin Chang was afraid that Zhu Jianshen's eyesight would be damaged by reading too much, so he quickly added a candlestick, and the room instantly became brighter.

"Cough cough cough..."

Zhu Jianshen had another violent coughing fit, and Qin Chang hurriedly brought the medicine to the dragon bed.

Zhu Jianshen held up his palm to block the bowl of soup, and shook his head, saying, "It's just a slight cold, there's no need to take medicine. My body can still hold on, so tell the people in the Imperial Hospital not to make a fuss."

Qin Chang thought, it’s already like this and you still say it’s not a big deal?

If they don't treat the patients seriously, those people in the Imperial Hospital might not even be able to save their lives.

"I also want to be like the stone monkey in this book, able to do anything. Even if I am not good enough, at least my name can be crossed out from the book of life and death."

Zhu Jianshen couldn't help but sigh when he saw the fascinating plot.

Qin Chang tactfully suggested: "Your Majesty, it's getting late, you should rest. Minister Li has presented a few new scripts."

"What? Li Qing also sent a letter?"

Zhu Jianshen frowned when he heard this.

Perhaps in Zhu Jianshen's eyes, Zisheng was now a model of a loyal and upright minister. How could he possibly send him a script just to curry favor with him?

Qin Chang whispered softly, "Minister Li said that Liang Fang sent this to his house specially... Liang Fang didn't have the opportunity to present it to the palace, so she entrusted it to him. Considering the friendship they had in the past, Minister Li had no choice but to agree to it, but he stated that he had not read the contents above, and it was entirely up to Your Majesty to see whether to adopt it..."

"Why is it Liang Fang again?"

Zhu Jianshen was a little impatient when he heard the name, "This troublemaker...does he think my anger is not strong enough and wants to add fuel to the fire?"

Qin Chang said cautiously: "Perhaps Liang Fang is also doing this out of filial piety."

"I have never said that he is unfilial. If he is really evil, I would have sent him to the imperial mausoleum to serve as the incense burner. Why would I just temporarily ban him from the palace?"

Zhu Jianshen looked annoyed.

Qin Chang thought, even if he committed a heinous crime, he would only be punished to guard the imperial mausoleum? This means that Huai En, who is now guarding the imperial mausoleum, is probably guilty of a heinous crime, right?

"Okay, bring it here and let me see what it is like!"

Zhu Jianshen looked at the few pages of Journey to the West left in his hand, and then asked Tan Chang to hand over the booklet presented by Liang Fang.

When Zhu Jianshen took the thick stack of scripts from Qin Chang and roughly flipped through them, he couldn't help but frowned.

He flipped through several books in succession, read the first two or three pages first, then closed the book and ignored it. Finally, he picked out the one that he had barely been able to read before and glanced at it again. Finally, he glared at it and threw it all to the ground, saying angrily, "Look, what's written on it? It's so messed up that I can't help but complain..."

Qin Chang said: "The storybooks should all be similar... maybe the authors' skills are limited and they can't make the beginning fascinating. Maybe they will get better later on?"

"You don't understand, these can't even be called storybooks!"

Zhu Jianshen said with a dark face, "Does Liang Fang think that I am ignorant and have never seen those old operas? These are all adapted from old plays, without even a slightly novel plot... This is his intention? Pah!"

Qin Chang laughed secretly in his heart.

In fact, before Qin Chang delivered the script to Li Zisheng, he sat down with Li Zisheng and discussed it in detail.

In general, these scripts basically adopted the framework of popular operas of the era and filled them with some stale content, which was simply impossible for the emperor to like.

The two of them hit it off and decided to help Liang Fang, with Li and Qin acting as middlemen.

"Your Majesty, not everyone has a long study experience like Zhang Honglu. Not only is he well-read, but he also has rich experience. Only in this way can he write a satisfactory script." Qin Chang said.

"That's all. Do you have anything else to do?"

Zhu Jianshen didn't seem to want to dwell on Liang Fang's affairs.

After all, no matter what, Liang Fang had once been a favorite of him and Concubine Wan. It would be a bit unreasonable for him to abandon her now that Concubine Wan was gone, so he deliberately changed the subject.

Tan Chang said respectfully: "Yes. It is about Zhu Ji, the commander of the Jinyiwei..."

"What happened to Zhu Ji?"

When Zhu Jianshen heard that the matter concerned the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he temporarily put down the script of "Journey to the West" and looked at Tan Chang with his neck raised, as if with a combative attitude.

Anyone who criticized the Jinyiwei in front of the emperor was considered a provocation.

Qin Chang said cautiously: "Zhu Ji and others were arrested and hid in the Jing army. They were ineffective and missed the deadline. They were impeached. Please remove them from their posts and investigate."

"If you don't manage the household, you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are; if you don't do your job, you don't know how difficult it is to do things. What does the escape of the Jing army have to do with Zhu Ji, who is in charge of the Jinyiwei? How do you plan to make a decision?" Zhu Jianshen asked.

"Well... since it was not completed on time, he should still be convicted, but the sentence cannot be too severe. The cabinet has proposed to fine him three months' salary and then set a deadline for his arrest." Qin Chang said.

"Three months? That's a bit too much. I'll deduct one month's salary."

Zhu Jianshen waved his hand and said, "Let Zhu Ji pursue as many as possible. As for the deadline, it is too arbitrary and useless. Arrange people from Shuntian Prefecture to assist. Let's leave it at that for now."

It seemed that he didn't have much energy to discuss these things. Zhu Jianshen coughed twice, picked up the storybook and continued to read it with relish.

Qin Changben was standing aside, and when he saw that the emperor no longer paid attention to him, he bowed and left.

……

……

The next day.

Liu Ji's residence.

Liu Ji left the cabinet duty room early in the afternoon and returned home because he had an appointment tonight and needed to prepare... Nowadays, ministers in the court are most particular about party differences. Officials from his faction or local officials who want to join him, who come to Beijing to report on their work, have to pay their respects to him, a cabinet minister.

When visiting someone's home, gifts are indispensable. In the Ming Dynasty, there was no such thing as ice or charcoal gifts in winter or summer, but there was the tradition of three festivals and two birthdays.

Liu Ji was not an honest official. He never refused any opportunity to make money.

Liu Ji's carriage stopped in front of his house. As soon as he got out of the carriage with the help of servants, he met Zhu Ji, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who came to visit him.

"General Zhu, you really know how to pick the time... How did you know that I would come back at this time?" Liu Ji invited the man to his yard and asked in a teasing tone as they walked.

During the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, no matter how powerful the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was, he was just a decoration in front of the cabinet ministers, and Liu Ji did not take Zhu Ji seriously at all.

This is also related to the current political environment. The Jinyiwei could not be dispatched to arrest people at will, and they needed the Criminal Department to issue a warrant, so the Jinyiwei offices were always controlled by civil officials. It was not until the late Ming Dynasty that this regulation was gradually relaxed, so that the Jinyiwei could arrest people without notifying the civil officials.

Zhu Ji said respectfully: "I am here to inquire about the impeachment case."

Liu Ji stopped and looked over: "Commander Zhu, are you talking about the missing military officers? Haven't you finished arresting them yet?" "Your Excellency, please understand."

Zhu Ji said helplessly, "It is said that there are only a dozen dead and hidden soldiers, but the actual number is far more than that. Some of them were murdered by others, but they were forced to hide and escape. In the end, they could only find a grave and their bodies were all rotten. How can we report this to the authorities?"

"Ah? Who is so bold?"

Liu Ji asked with a frown.

Zhu Ji was hesitant and refused to speak frankly.

Obviously, it was done by the people in charge of the Jing Army, and it must be related to Liang Fang, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Stables.

Anyway, the job of the Jingjun was a mess. Originally, they had to provide family compensation when someone died, but the other party simply reported him as dead, and not only did they not get any compensation, but they could also directly confiscate his property. This was definitely a great way to make money for the government offices that were short of money and greedy for money.

Although Zhu Ji was the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he did not dare to fight with the eunuchs in power. This was why he came to Liu Ji instead of seeking help from the eunuchs in power.

Liu Ji said: "General Zhu, your case is not a big problem. I heard Eunuch Tan mention it before, and it seems to have been reduced to a small matter."

"What do you mean?"

Zhu Ji became excited when he heard this.

The Jinyiwei are now being suppressed tightly by the Dongchang and the Imperial Stables and are almost suffocating. Zhu Ji is not a man of great talent, and his relationship with the emperor is sometimes close and sometimes distant, so that now when he encounters a case, he has no place to turn for help.

Liu Ji smiled and said, "Let me put it this way. The court originally wanted to focus on investigating your case, but it was because someone put pressure on them... Do you know who it was?"

Zhu Ji lowered his head.

Of course he knew that the person who was most dissatisfied with him at the moment and wanted to use him but couldn't get his help was the leader of the Jing army, Liang Fang.

This time, Liang Fang was also behind the incident.

If Zhu Ji was not punished for his incompetence, he would easily be held accountable by the court for crimes such as the disappearance of the Imperial Stable Supervisor and the concealment of the Jingjun Army and false reporting. Therefore, Zhu Ji was very clear that he was pushed out by Liang Fang to take the blame.

"Fortunately, there is an expert to help."

Liu Ji smiled and said, "You have to know your limits and know when to advance and when to retreat. Your case will be decided in the next two days. I estimate that the most you will get is a three-month salary fine."

"That's fine, that's fine."

For Zhu Ji, just being fined a little in salary and letting the matter go was the best outcome he could accept at the moment.

What else could be done?

Report Liang Fang and others' illegal activities to your superiors?
Unless he's tired of living.

"Anything else?"

Liu Ji could no longer bear it and urged Zhu Ji to leave so as not to affect his plan to make money in the evening.

After all, there is no money to be made from Zhu Ji. He basically came empty-handed several times and only brought a small gift occasionally. He is simply not on the same level as those local officials who are seeking advancement.

Zhu Ji asked curiously, "I would like to ask one more question... I wonder who... is helping us?"

You said that you had help from an expert, but you wouldn't say that this expert was you, right?

Besides, who doesn’t know what kind of person you are, Liu Mianhua?

Will you offend Liang Fang for me?
Go to hell!

Liu Ji glanced at the main hall in front of him and was not prepared to bring Zhu Ji into the hall. He was also afraid that people would know that he had close contact with the commander of the Jinyiwei, so he lowered his voice and said, "The East Palace asked about politics in Wenhua Hall. Did you know about this?"

"Have heard a little bit."

Zhu Ji seemed to have found the direction.

Liu Ji said: "You know, our prince is famous for his kindness and never makes things difficult for his subjects."

"This... could it be that the prince is helping?"

Zhu Ji was very surprised after hearing this.

Am I taking advantage of the prince?
my pleasure!

Liu Ji smiled and said, "I can't explain the extra information to you. Anyway, you have to know your limits... Do you know who is the enemy of the prince?"

Zhu Ji's eyes sparkled.

Isn’t this talking about Liang Fang?
"You can decide for yourself."

Liu Ji finished speaking and waved his hand, "General Zhu, I am a cabinet minister, so it is inconvenient for me to meet with you. If there is nothing else, please... go back first?"

"Yes, I will resign from my humble position first."

Zhu Ji bowed respectfully, then turned around and left tactfully.

……

……

As soon as Zhu Ji walked out of Liu's house, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

He looked up at the azure sky, feeling a little relieved, and said, "I finally made it through."

Before he could get on his horse, he saw Yang Gang, the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, coming hurriedly.

"Commander, I don't know..."

Yang Gang was very anxious.

Because the two leaders of the Jinyiwei who were impeached this time were Zhu Ji and Yang Gang.

It may seem like a small matter, but it involves factional struggles in the court. Those in military positions are most afraid of being dragged into the factional struggles and losing their power, or even becoming cannon fodder.

Zhu Ji nodded: "It's no big deal, it's just a salary deduction."

"Thank God."

Yang Gang seemed very excited when he heard the news.

Zhu Ji whispered, "Fortunately, there is a noble person who helps me. I cannot tell anyone else... It is the prince."

(First update in October, please support me with a guaranteed monthly ticket! Thank you!)

(End of this chapter)