Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 263: The Iron-willed Zhang Honglu (Vote Request)

Zhang Luan is satisfying his desire to be an official.

At first, he was full of energy, reporting to the Honglu Temple on time every day and working all day. However, after a few days, Zhang Luan began to have a headache, and then he felt that being an official was just so-so, far from being as exciting as he had imagined. As soon as he got home that day, he found Zhang Yanling and poured out all his sufferings in the past few days.

"Son, I'm not being hypocritical, it's just that being an official is not easy... I never thought that being a human being is difficult, and even being an official is difficult!"

Zhang Luan said with a bitter face.

Zhang Yanling was a little surprised when he heard this, and then asked: "Dad, have you encountered any trouble? If you encounter difficulties, we should solve them. Once we overcome them, we will have a smooth road ahead... If you just say that being an official is not easy, I can't help you solve the problem."

"Actually, it's not that difficult...it's just that the Honglu Temple..."

Zhang Luan stammered, "After I went in, I didn't see anyone at all. I could only interact with a few people. No one assigned me any tasks. I didn't know who was going to do it, let alone what task I should do. Everyone I asked was polite and courteous, but no one could explain why."

Zhang Yanling laughed when he heard this and said, "Aren't all the government offices in the imperial court pretty much the same? How many people in the court are really doing anything? Aren't they just wasting their time?"

Zhang Luan frowned: "What do you mean?"

Zhang Heling was listening and laughed, "Dad, I think what the second brother means is that these bigwigs in the court are just a bunch of people who are just sitting there doing nothing. You are just there to get by, so why are you taking it so seriously?"

"Fuck you, brat, what do you have to do here?"

Although Zhang Luan was cursing, he actually accepted what his eldest son said in his heart.

Although the eldest son has little knowledge, the Zhang family has always had this attitude towards those in power. Since they cannot become officials, they think that those who are officials are a bunch of scoundrels.

After I got promoted, I turned around and saw that life was exactly the same as what I had imagined when I was at the bottom of society. Isn't that strange?

"But... I want to do something practical!"

Zhang Luan was a little anxious, and said with a sad face, "I already knew what the job of the Honglu Temple was, but now there is no job assigned to me. When I go out and someone asks me what I did, how should I answer?"

Zhang Yanling vaguely knew what his cheap father was worried about, so he smiled and asked, "Dad, do you really care about your official position, or do you care about how much practical work you have done?"

Zhang Luan's face was a little embarrassed: "I care about everything."

Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "I heard that there are many foreigners in Huitong Hall who come to the capital to pay tribute. You can start with them and show your power as the Minister of Honglu Temple."

"Ah? With them..."

Zhang Luan got a headache when he heard this.

There is no trivial matter in diplomacy!
Although there was no such concept in that era, Zhang Luan vaguely felt that he should not make a fool of himself in front of others, especially in front of foreigners.

It would have been bad enough to embarrass himself in the court, but now he has to embarrass himself in front of foreign envoys. How can he be the father-in-law of the emperor in the future?
Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "I heard that there is an envoy from the Kingdom of Mecca named Ali, who is a prince of that country. He came to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute, but was deceived by Wei Juan, the eunuch superintendent of the Guangzhou Maritime Customs, who was the guy who had been collecting rare treasures for Liang Fang... Now this prince Ali is in the capital, but he is being coldly treated and evaded by the government. Why don't you help him?"

"What do you mean?"

Zhang Luan was somewhat unhappy and said worriedly, "Wei Juan is a powerful eunuch and a capable general under Liang Fang... If I help foreigners to impeach him, won't that bring trouble to myself?"

"Father, you are a dignified fourth-rank official in the Ministry of Rites. Would you be afraid of a mere eunuch in charge of the Maritime Customs? He is almost bullying us... The yellow coral was probably sent to Nanjing by him and presented as a tribute by Qian Ning... So you like to repay evil with kindness as an official in the court?"

Zhang Yanling said in an instigative tone.

Zhang Heling widened his eyes and asked, "I think Wei Juan is a bad guy, right?"

Zhang Luan looked at his eldest son and taught him earnestly: "Whether he is bad or not... Who in the court dares to say that he is good? The key is to see what position he holds!
Then he said to Zhang Yanling, "But if it's really as you said, it's not impossible to help that Prince Ali... But I'm afraid that this will cause a conflict with Eunuch Liang... Liang Fang's position in the court is not low. If he sends troops to surround our family, what should we do then?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Crisis is both a danger and an opportunity. How can you achieve great things without taking any risks? Dad, if you want to make a career in the position of the Minister of Honglu Temple, you must dare to face the powerful! Otherwise, how can others think that you are qualified as the Minister of Honglu Temple?"

"What!?"

When Zhang Luan heard this, he felt that he was going to be used as a gun by his son again.

"Father, please put yourself in my shoes and think about it. Under what circumstances would others think that you should not be dismissed if you were a messenger like the Minister of the Ministry of Rites? Even if you are no longer in the court, will others still remember your kindness?"

Zhang Yanling patiently and persuadingly.

Zhang Luan stared at his youngest son blankly for a while before asking, "The situation is pressing. Do I have to impeach the corrupt officials in power so that others will think I am a loyal and upright person?"

"Snapped!"

Zhang Heling slapped his thigh fiercely and said in surprise, "Dad, you are right!"

Zhang Luan picked up the teapot lid on the table and threw it at Zhang Heling, but he missed it on purpose, and it brushed his eldest son's ear and hit the door frame behind him. It fell to the ground with a clang, and he cursed, "You're so jumpy! You scared me!"

Seeing the farce performed by this funny father and son, Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "Dad, calm down, this is actually the truth. We are now in the open... You helped the prince win the emperor's appreciation with the storybook, and the prince also had the opportunity to listen to government affairs in Wenhua Hall. Liang Fang has long regarded us as enemies... There is a cliff behind us, how can we just avoid it?"

"You're not wrong."

Zhang Luan shook his head and said, "Just impeaching Wei Juan, can it bring Liang Fang out? Maybe not."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Why not just ask Prince Ali to change the target of his impeachment from Wei Juan to Liang Fang? Just say that they colluded to extort tribute from foreign envoys."

Zhang Luan asked again: "Will Prince Ali of Tianfang listen to me?"

Zhang Yanling sighed, "This man is now in a state of panic in order to find his brother and to complete his mission as soon as possible to return to the Kingdom of Heaven. He has come all the way to the Ming Dynasty, but returned empty-handed. How can he go back? If you don't help him, no one will. When the time comes, he may even thank you with a generous gift."

"Dad, the second brother is right. Accepting gifts is a good thing. We should do it. The foreign people are very rich. I heard from the second brother that these people travel between Ming Dynasty and the West. The silk, ceramics and tea shipped over there have increased in value several times or even dozens of times. They are very rich. We can make a lot of money by giving them directions."

Zhang Heling joined in.

Zhang Luan frowned and said, "Son, you told me to stay away from Liang Fang before, and now you want me to confront him head-on. Are there so many tricks in the officialdom? If I can't fight well, I might lose my job, but I might even lose my life."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Dad, don't worry. You are now a fourth-rank official, and your relationship with the prince is getting closer and closer. You have Li Zisheng to protect you, and you are appreciated by His Majesty for your contribution. In addition, you have medical skills. Even if Liang Fang knows that you are plotting against him, he can't do anything to you.

"Captain Qin has also rejoined us recently. I have personally asked him to find a few people from the Royal Guards to protect you closely. There will be absolutely no deviation."

"Can this still happen?"

Zhang Luan widened his eyes when he heard this.

Now when you go out, you not only have to bring a coachman and attendants, but also guards?

Or is it produced by Jinyiwei?
Zhang Heling asked in confusion: "Why did Qin Yun come back to live with us? What good does this do for him? Didn't he return to the Imperial Guard before?"

Zhang Yanling said: "He said it was arranged by his uncle, the eunuch Tan Chang who holds the seal of the Imperial Household Department... It seems that Tan Chang also wants to get rid of Liang Fang and make friends with us at the same time.

"After all, please don't worry, Dad. Nowadays, many people are good at taking advantage of others' misfortunes. If they don't take advantage of Liang Fang's illness to kill him, many people will be unable to sleep or eat... Now that you have come forward to help them complete the task, others will think that you are the most loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty."

"Ah."

When Zhang Luan heard this, he couldn't help but straighten his back.

Ever since he became an official, he has loved being complimented by others. Even though he knew his son was just painting a pie in the sky for him, for some reason he felt that what his son said made sense and he wanted to follow it from the bottom of his heart.

"I will go find Prince Ali and ask him to impeach Wei Juan and Liang Fang, and also Wei Xing. After all... I am a staunch minister of remonstrance, and no one can intercede for me."

"An adviser or a traitor?"

Zhang Heling, who was standing by, muttered to himself, and then whispered to his brother, "Second brother, you are amazing. With just a few words, our father is so good!"

……

……

At the residence of Lizi Province, Pang Qing respectfully reported: "Eunuch Wei Tai sent someone to say that His Majesty returned all the scripts Liang Fang presented, and severely reprimanded Liang."

"Humph."

Li Zisheng was writing something in his hand, and said with disdain, "Don't blame me for not helping that old man later... I did help him, but he is the one who should be blamed for his incompetence. His Majesty doesn't like what he wrote, so what can we do? Besides, can Liang Fang cure His Majesty's illness? It's simply embarrassing!"

Pang Qing said, "I heard that the eldest master of the Peng family seemed to be still upset about the previous fight with the Zhang brothers and the defeat he suffered, and he was planning to take revenge."

"Hold him down!"

Li Zisheng said angrily, "The son of a fallen minister, not even a prince or noble, dares to cause trouble under the emperor's feet? If we don't teach him a lesson, he doesn't know how many eyes the horse king has."

……

……

A few days passed in the blink of an eye.

Li House.

Li Zisheng received a special guest that day, the Chief Minister and Grand Secretary Wan'an.

Wan'an still maintained his previous respectful attitude, and behaved like a grandson to Li Zisheng, who was more than 20 years younger than him.

"Lord Wan, there is nothing good to offer you in the mansion. Please have some tea."

Li Zisheng said with a smile.

Wan An took out a memorial from his bosom and said hesitantly, "I came here today not to drink tea, but to discuss an extremely important matter with Li Xianchang... Look, this is a memorial that has just been submitted."

Li Zisheng glanced at it and asked with a smile, "Why would you bother to personally deliver a memorial to me? This is not within my scope of responsibility."

Wan An looked a little solemn: "This memorial is different from the usual ones."

"oh!?"

In fact, Li Zisheng didn't like Wan'an's way of talking, but he still asked seriously, "Is there any strange news among the people, or some auspicious omen in the local area, and you want me to give you some advice?"

Wan An smiled bitterly and said, "That's not the case. It was the newly appointed Minister of the Honglu Temple Zhang Luan, together with the Mecca envoy named Prince Ali, who filed a petition to impeach Liang Fang, the eunuch of the Imperial Horse Administration, and Wei Juan, the eunuch of the Guangzhou Maritime Customs. They said that they had defrauded the envoys of their money, and when they failed to extort bribes, they robbed tribute from the vassal states and presented it to the court. Some of the tribute was also withheld and sold privately, and they did not respect the law."

"puff……"

Li Zisheng almost spit out his tea. "Who?"

Wan An said seriously, "Prince Ali, the envoy of the Kingdom of Mecca, and... Zhang Luan, the Minister of the Honglu Temple. Are you okay?"

Li Zisheng said, "What a Zhang Laizhan, he is always looking for trouble... He just became the Minister of the Honglu Temple and he got involved in this kind of thing. Isn't he just trying to cause trouble for me?"

Hearing this, Wan'an felt particularly friendly. The tone and manner of his speech clearly showed that he treated me as one of his own.

"I also think so. The new Minister of the Honglu Temple, Zhang Luan, probably hasn't even figured out what's going on in the capital, but he rashly comes out to impeach others and is in cahoots with foreign envoys. Isn't this putting the cart before the horse and not distinguishing between relatives and strangers? He should be given a proper warning." Wan'an continued with Li Zisheng's words.

After hearing this, Li Zisheng couldn't help but frown and look at Wan'an.

It seems like you are questioning, I am the only one who can criticize, who do you think you are?
Why do you say bad things about Zhang Laizhan?
Wan An knew how to judge the situation. Seeing that things were not going well, he hurriedly asked, "Do you have any other advice?"

Li Zisheng reached out and took the memorial. He unfolded it and looked at it carefully. He spent half a day reading it and pondered for a long time, but he didn't say a word.

"Master, do you think we should suppress this matter?"

Wan An asked tentatively, "Zhang Laizhan was recommended by you personally. If he were to be ridiculed now, it would be embarrassing for you. Doesn't he know about your relationship with Eunuch Liang?"

Li Zisheng did not answer but asked: "You are the only one who knows the inside story of this matter, don't others know about it?"

"This……"

Wan An looked embarrassed. "I did come to tell you after receiving the memorial, but the news had already spread in Huitongguan. It was said that Zhang Luan, the Minister of Honglu Temple, went to Huitongguan himself and sat down with Prince Ali to discuss the matter without any reservation. Then they jointly submitted the memorial. People said that they were like brothers. It was Prince Ali who sent him out of Huitongguan himself."

"He... is he really that flamboyant?"

Li Zisheng originally thought that Zhang Luan had no political experience and was fooled by others, but after listening to Wan'an's words, he suddenly felt that he might not be aware enough in some aspects.

How could someone as smooth and worldly-wise as Zhang Luan, who had helped him several times and had great wisdom, make such an obviously low-level mistake?
impossible!
It's impossible!

Wan An said: "If we cut off the communication channel now, at least we can ensure that the news will not reach your majesty. But I am afraid that the censors will find out and then impeach him for being so close to a foreigner... It will not be easy to stop him."

Li Zisheng asked coldly, "He is a new minister of the Honglu Temple. Is there anything wrong with him meeting with foreign envoys from the Huitong Hall?"

The Ming Dynasty's Honglu Temple Minister was in charge of the tribute, banquets, gifts, welcoming and seeing off of the four barbarians, as well as the country's funeral ceremonies, the Zhongdu temple, the Taoist and Buddhist registers, and the prohibitions attached to them, etc. He was equivalent to the foreign minister of later generations. It was normal for him to go to the Huitong Hall to meet with diplomatic envoys.

"what?"

When Wan An heard that something was not right, he quickly tried to figure out the deeper meaning of Li Zisheng's change in attitude, and then said, "It didn't disgrace his mission."

Li Zisheng said, "Okay, I know about this matter. I will see how to deal with it first. If you have nothing else to do, please go back. I will visit you another day."

"Very well, very well. It would be a great honor for me if you could come to my house in person. I will be waiting for you at home."

Wan An smiled and bowed, saying goodbye, "I will pretend I don't know about this matter. If you have any further instructions, just send someone to my house to let me know."

……

……

Li Zisheng did not go out to see Wan'an off, but immediately called Pang Qing to his side.

Pang Qing didn't react after hearing this, and asked, "You mean, that Zhang Banxian openly impeached Eunuch Liang? He... is really bold, is this considered... a newborn calf?"

"He... is still considered a calf?"

Li Zisheng rolled his eyes and said, "He is smarter than a monkey. He impeached Liang Fang and is probably planning something big. I can see that this old guy is stubborn and self-willed. He did what he wanted just because I said I would protect him. Doesn't he know to consult with me before doing anything?"

Pang Qing smiled and said, "You also know that he is smart. How could he not guess it? I tell you, you will definitely not agree to let him impeach Eunuch Liang!"

"Alas! So, I don't know what's so clever about him, but every time I can learn some twisted ideas from him, and I have no way to refute them. Go, go, go and call him over quickly."

After Li Zisheng finished speaking, he suddenly thought of something and asked, "He should be in the Honglu Temple at this time, right?"

"It should be... maybe."

Pang Qing was also a little confused.

"Then there's no need to invite him. I'll go see him in person. I want to know what he's up to." Li Zisheng frowned and muttered, "Doesn't he know that even the wisest man can make mistakes? He hasn't even taken office yet. If he miscalculates, he might never be able to recover."

Pang Qing laughed again and said, "He is the father-in-law of the crown prince, why would he want to rise to power?"

Li Zisheng rolled his eyes again: "Thank you for reminding me, as if everyone doesn't know that he is a relative by marriage. Such an arrogant relative by marriage, no one would believe him if he said he had brains."

Pang Qing smiled and said, "But don't you believe it?"

This time, Li Zisheng was too lazy to pay attention to Pang Qing who was deliberately opposing him. He had already changed into casual clothes and was preparing to go into the inner house to hang out with his wives and concubines, but he had to pull himself together and run to see Zhang Luan.

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(End of this chapter)