Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 284 The one who does the work and the one who takes the blame
An hour passed in the blink of an eye.

The play on the stage is coming to an end.

Zhu Jianshen was so absorbed in watching the play that he could not extricate himself, while Li Zisheng left the table temporarily, using the excuse of going to the toilet.

After an incense stick of time passed, when Li Zisheng came back, Zhu Jianshen was gone. He looked around curiously, but did not see any trace of Zhu Jianshen, but saw Qin Chang walking towards him.

"Master Li, you are truly a god."

Qin Chang said with a flattering smile, "Your Majesty has returned to the palace and taken the person away."

"oh!?"

Li Zisheng seemed very curious, "Both plays are over?"

Qin Chang shook his head and said, "I only watched one show, it was indeed exciting. Even my family is curious about what the next show will be."

Li Zisheng looked at the program in his hand and said, "It's called 'The Female Prince Consort'... It's also a folk play. It tells the story of a prefect's daughter who ran away from home to save her husband. After arriving in the capital, she disguised herself as a man to take the imperial examination. She won the first place in the imperial examination and was recruited as a prince consort by the princess. Later, she was adopted as the emperor's adopted daughter. Finally, she got her wish and had a happy marriage."

Qin Chang said: "It sounds very exciting... No wonder His Majesty is so happy today. You know, there are new maids sent into the palace every year, and there are many beautiful ones, but His Majesty never even glances at them. But you, with just a little trick, make His Majesty linger."

"Eunuch Tan laughed."

Li Zisheng bowed and said, "If there is nothing else, I will leave the palace first."

"Don't be anxious. His Majesty hasn't said that you can leave the palace... Otherwise, how about finding a place to stay for the night?" Qin Chang asked.

"That... is also possible."

Although Li Zisheng felt that the effect of today's gift was good, Zhu Jianshen did not give him any substantial reward. At most, he praised him a few words. He felt that the gift was of little return, so he just stayed for one night and saw if there were any unexpected surprises tomorrow morning.

Qin Chang suddenly asked, "Master Li, why are you suddenly interested in the Ministry of Revenue? You even mentioned the border reserve issue, which doesn't seem to be something you should be concerned about."

"Ugh!"

Li Zisheng sighed, "Everyone knows that the court is short of money. Who wouldn't be worried if they care about your majesty and are willing to share your worries? I just wanted to mention it to your majesty after hearing about it."

"is it?"

Qin Chang twitched the corner of his mouth and thought to himself, this is the first time I've heard someone describe the struggle for power and profit in such a refreshing and refined way.

"Eunuch Qin, I may have to rely on you more for matters such as the use of silver in the palace in the future."

Li Zisheng suddenly said with a smile.

"What did you say?"

Tan Chang frowned slightly.

Obviously he didn't understand what Li Zisheng said.

At this moment, Wei Tai came over in a hurry: "Eunuch Qin, His Majesty has summoned you to accompany him."

"His Majesty……"

Qin Chang wanted to ask, "Hasn't Your Majesty already returned to the palace to rest? Why did you summon me?"

"Eunuch Qin, please go first. I'll sit down and have some tea... Hey, His Majesty was here before, so I didn't dare to touch any snacks. I'm hungry now, so I won't disturb you two."

Li Zisheng walked back to his seat as if nothing had happened, sat down and slowly started eating.

……

……

Tan Chang and Wei Tai walked in the direction the emperor left.

"What's going on?" Qin Chang asked.

"I do not know either."

Wei Tai said, "When His Majesty summons you, who can ask questions casually? Won't everything be clear after you see the emperor?"

Qin Chang looked cautious, and couldn't help but think of what Li Zisheng had suddenly said before. He felt like trouble was about to come.

After walking a short distance, they arrived at the gate of the East Six Palaces.

The emperor did not return to the Qianqing Palace tonight, but planned to spend the night in the East Six Palaces. Zhu Jianshen had not yet entered, but was standing at the palace gate. The several female actors who had been brought by the emperor earlier were no longer there, and seemed to have been taken away by the eunuchs for preparation.

If the emperor wants to visit a woman outside the palace, he cannot just find a place to do it. Preliminary preparation is essential.

Qin Chang guessed that perhaps it was because of this that the emperor had the time to see him.

"His Majesty."

Qin Chang hurried over and looked at Zhu Jianshen who was standing there as if admiring the scenery.

Zhu Jianshen turned around and ordered, "Qin Chang, there are tens of thousands of taels of silver. Go and receive them."

"What!?"

Qin Chang looked confused.

Summoning me here just to let me receive the silver?

Or is it a huge sum of tens of thousands of taels of silver?
Where did it come from?

Where to put it after receiving it?

"I don't want to go into details. You'll know after asking Li Qing." Zhu Jianshen said, "Do it as soon as possible. Report back to me when you're done. Don't let outsiders know."

"Yes."

Tan Chang was surprised.

However, Zhu Jianshen just said a few words and walked into the six eastern palaces with a large group of eunuchs and palace maids. Tan Chang stood there, not knowing what to do.

……

……

"Eunuch Tan, what did His Majesty say?"

When Wei Tai came over, he saw Qin Chang standing there, as if he was thinking about something.

Qin Chang turned around and saw Wei Tai looking at him with a puzzled look, so he began to explain the current situation: "His Majesty asked me to contact Li Zisheng, saying that he wanted to receive tens of thousands of taels of silver from him. Li Zisheng also mentioned to me casually before that he would rely on me for silver in the future. It seems that there is something that I don't know."

Wei Tai came forward and whispered, "The East Factory just found out that after Zhang Luan's impeachment of Chuan Fengguan was over, the vacant official positions began to be sold to the public. I heard that many people went to Li Zisheng to make efforts, and he received a lot of money... Could it be related to this incident?"

"Stop talking nonsense."

Qin Chang shouted, "Do you know what you are talking about?"

Wei Tai said helplessly, "How else can we explain that Your Majesty knew about this, but did not punish Li Zisheng, and even gave him the task of recruiting new officials? Nowadays, the court's sale of official positions is almost a semi-open secret. If you still say it has nothing to do with it, who will believe it?"

"call……"

Qin Chang was stunned at first, but then he was relieved, because once Wei Tai said this, it seemed that many things could be reasonably explained.

Wei Tai continued, "When Huai En was here, I heard that he often advised His Majesty in private, and he even sent us away beforehand. We didn't know what it was, and we blamed Huai En for making a fuss. Now it seems that this kind of thing actually existed a long time ago.

"Think about it, Li Zisheng has been impeached by so many people over the years, and Your Majesty knows everything about him, but he has managed to remain standing. Doesn't this just prove that what he has done for Your Majesty is something that others cannot do?"

Tan Chang asked in shock, "You mean, Li Zisheng relied on your majesty's trust to sell official positions and titles, but transferred the money to the inner court?"

"Ah."

Wei Tai said confidently, "Let me guess. The person who received the silver earlier was Liang Fang. After all, he was the one who was responsible for spending the money."

"possible."

Qin Chang sighed, "When Lady Wan was here, who could be more powerful than Liang Fang? He has always been lavish with his money. We thought he spent all the money that was previously saved by the inner court. Now it seems that there is no such a large amount of money in the palace for him to waste."

"Isn't it? Most of it was obtained by Li Zisheng through money-making methods, and then spent by Liang Fang... But now that Liang Fang has lost power, His Majesty has handed this task to you." Wei Tai said. Qin Chang scolded: "Do you think this is a good thing? It will be infamous for thousands of years... So, you go and take care of the money. We don't want to dirty our hands!"

Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you. Since you know that this is a bad job that will ruin your reputation, why do you push it to me? Wei Tai complained in his heart, and said helplessly: "Anyone would avoid doing something that will leave a bad reputation for eternity. It's not that I don't want to help you, but... we can find someone else."

"Who are you looking for? Are you looking for Liang Fang?"

Tan Chang looked unhappy.

You have analyzed so much with me, and even guessed the cause and effect almost accurately. I asked you to do something, but you continue to make excuses. It seems that you don't want to be the chief eunuch anymore.

Wei Tai said: "Let's leave it to the people below. Some people don't care about their reputation. For example..."

"Ke Gong?"

After hearing this hint, Qin Chang immediately knew who was being talked about.

Xiao Jing.

Because Xiao Jing was a man of the fallen eunuch Shang Ming, the governor of the Eastern Depot. Shang Ming lost power and was expelled from the palace, which led to the implicate of all his people. Now Xiao Jing was being ostracized in the palace. Although everyone knew that he had outstanding abilities and was the most qualified person to be appointed as the eunuch in charge of writing in the Imperial Household Department, he just couldn't get the position.

Xiao Jing had even requested more than once to be transferred out of the capital and to serve as a eunuch elsewhere. Apparently, he knew that he could hardly survive in the capital.

Wei Tai nodded: "Kegong is quite capable. We all wanted to keep him before, but we didn't have a good excuse. It just so happens that neither Lord Yin nor I want to do this kind of thing, so let's leave it to him. This way, even if the truth is revealed in the future and His Majesty wants to find someone to take the blame, it won't fall on us."

"Ah."

Qin Chang smiled and nodded, and suddenly felt that Wei Tai was not so disgusting after all.

"Then go ahead and tell me."

Qin Chang warned, "Don't reveal too much to him yet, just let him do what you tell him. After we collect the silver, we'll tell him what happened. Let him be fully responsible for the future contact with Li Zisheng. Even if we know the whole story, we'll pretend we don't know."

……

……

Xiao Jing became the scapegoat for no apparent reason.

He himself was still at a loss as to what to do. Wei Tai had called him over the previous night and assigned him a task, asking him to meet with Li Zisheng. The next morning, he escorted Li Zisheng out of the palace and headed home, where he also discussed the matter of receiving the silver.

Xiao Jing was also a knowledgeable and interesting person, and he didn't ask a single question about the origin of the money.

Palace entrance.

Li Zisheng laughed and said, "I never thought that it would be you, Eunuch Xiao, who would come to ask me for money. I thought Eunuch Tan would come in person."

Xiao Jing said respectfully, "Eunuch Tan is busy with court affairs and may not have extra time. It is appropriate to let us, the younger generation, handle this kind of small matter."

"Then...Eunuch Xiao, do you know what happened to this silver?"

Li Zisheng was determined to drag others into the water.

You took the money I earned from selling official positions, but why is there no one to share the responsibility with me?

It's really disheartening!

Li Zisheng also realized at this time that Qin Chang had no sense of responsibility at all. He knew very well why Qin Chang, who was now the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, had not yet gained the emperor's full trust - this kind of person cared too much about whether his own feathers were clean or not.

The emperor needs people to stand up and take responsibility for him at any time, but Qin Chang and Wei Tai, as slaves, just hide behind. What would you think if you were the master?
Xiao Jing shook his head and said, "I don't want to ask any more questions."

"Actually... I should still ask."

Li Zisheng sighed, "But since Eunuch Xiao doesn't want to listen, let's talk about it next time."

Xiao Jing breathed a sigh of relief.

He was not a fool. When he knew he had to come out to receive the silver from Li Zisheng, he knew that it was all stolen silver. As for where it came from, he didn't care at all. He just wanted to complete the task and go back to report as soon as possible.

The two continued to walk towards the carriage. Li Zisheng suddenly stopped and asked, "Eunuch Xiao, I am not very familiar with the affairs of the inner court now. Can you tell me who is in charge of the construction of the inner court now?"

"This……"

Xiao Jing frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, "I'm not too sure. Logically, the Internal Affairs Bureau should be in charge of it."

Li Zisheng asked, "But why did I hear that recently all the construction affairs of the inner court were handled by Liang Fang, the eunuch?"

Xiao Jing smiled and said, "You may not know that many things in the inner court are actually led by the Imperial Horse Administration."

Li Zisheng nodded slightly: "I see. This is not a good idea. It is easy to cause problems if power is concentrated in one person's hands. Okay, let's do this. Let's get things done first."

……

……

The capital, southern suburbs.

Zhang Luan and his two sons rode in a horse-drawn carriage out of the city and headed south along the main road, as if they were enjoying a spring outing, leisurely and comfortable.

The Zhang family's convoy, consisting of four carriages, finally stopped at the foot of a mountain. After the father and his two sons got off the carriages, they were surrounded by servants and walked towards the Buddhist temple that was being built on the mountainside in front.

Zhang Heling had long been attracted by the hustle and bustle on the mountain, so he took Chang Shun and two servants and ran to the back of Wanhe Temple where a crowd of people were burning incense and praying.

"You are still young, don't run around everywhere. It would be bad if people thought you were a street scoundrel and came to the mountains to visit young girls and wives."

Zhang Luan reminded his eldest son.

It was already the end of March, and the Buddha's Bathing Festival on April 8th was not far away.

Going to Buddhist temples to burn incense had become a must for common people in the capital by the middle of the Ming Dynasty. Even many people who did not believe in Buddhism would organize some Buddhist worship activities on this day.

Zhang Luan pointed at the crowd on the mountain and said with disdain: "Look, these are the people who don't burn incense on weekdays and come to pray at the last minute. Look at your father, he is a pious man and never does anything disrespectful to ghosts and gods, so he is so calm and unhurried."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Dad, isn't it because mom believes in Buddhism that you believe in it? You always say in front of mom that believing in Buddhism is not good, and you always tell me and my elder brother that people should not talk about strange things. Why are you lying in front of the Buddha today?"

"What else can you do besides sabotage?"

Zhang Luan rolled his eyes at his younger son and stopped arguing with him to avoid getting offended in vain.

Zhang Luan then looked around and sighed, "This capital city is different from other places. Any Buddhist temple has such a strong incense. Look at the incense... It brings in a lot of money every year. The Buddhist temple is so big and is still being repaired. If I were the abbot of this temple, I would definitely change the golden statue of the Buddha every year."

Zhang Yanling asked mysteriously, "Dad, do you know why this temple is so popular?"

"What?"

Zhang Luan looked at his son curiously.

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Because in the past few years, the Queen Mother has come to Wanhe Temple to burn incense several times, and this year the Queen Mother will be promoted to a higher position, so she will probably come here in person on the Buddha Bathing Festival. Ordinary people are not eligible to burn incense on that day, so they all want to rush in to get a taste of the nobility."

Zhang Luan was surprised and said: "You know a lot, kid."

Zhang Yanling pointed to the Buddhist temple under construction and said, "The building over there was built with money allocated by the Imperial Household. The people from the Imperial Household Department are responsible for supervising the construction, and the Ministry of Works will also send people to check from time to time. Just to slightly repair such a temple, it costs about 20,000 taels of silver, which is not cheap."

"is it?"

Zhang Luan frowned and asked, "I heard that building a mansion in the city can be done with less than one thousand taels of silver. But building a Buddhist temple, which is just a few ancillary buildings and not very grand, requires 20,000 taels of silver? How can we say that the emperor is rich..."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Dad, you don't understand the ins and outs of this. The court allocated 20,000 taels of silver, and the people in charge of repairing the Buddhist temple also collected money from the public. I don't know the exact amount, but I heard that there are quite a few people who responded, and if a certain amount is reached, it can be written on the Buddhist certificate and hung next to the golden statue in the back hall of Wanhe Temple."

"There is such a good thing? How much money do I have to donate to be listed?"

When Zhang Luan heard this, he thought it was a really great way to spend little money, especially since the Zhang family believed in Buddhism. He and his wife had not had a good relationship recently. If he donated some money, he could put his whole family's names on the list. When he went back and told his wife about it, wouldn't Jin be so happy?
Zhang Yanling said, "Dad, don't worry. If you donate this money, it will most likely be pocketed by someone else and will not be used to repair the temple... Let's put it this way, in fact, it will cost less than 4,000 taels of silver to repair this temple."

"What?"

Zhang Luan was completely confused when he heard this.

"Dad, let's not talk about anything else for now. Let's go in and finish burning incense. Then we can give an explanation to mom when we return. I will explain the situation to you in detail when we return."

Zhang Yanling seemed to be deliberately keeping the secret and took his old father into Wanhe Temple for an on-site inspection.

(End of this chapter)