Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 311 I have a quick temper (asking for monthly tickets)
Inside the Wenhua Hall.

After a day of teaching, when it was time to get off work in the afternoon, Xie Qian started to have people clean up. Once the place was clean again, he would take his group away.

Zhu Youtang returned to Duanjing Hall surrounded by Tan Ji and others, while Xie Qian organized the teaching plans at hand, greeted his colleagues, and just walked out of Wenhua Hall when he saw Tan Chang smiling at him.

"Mr. Tan Yin."

Xie Qian hurried over to greet him.

As an official of the Hanlin system, Xie Qian knew that he would have many opportunities to interact with Tan Chang in the future. If he was qualified to join the cabinet in the future, his interactions with Tan Chang would only become more frequent.

Qin Chang took the initiative to greet him, smiled and bowed: "Thank you, Mr., it's been a long time."

"Don't dare to take it seriously."

Xie Qian hurriedly returned the greeting.

Qin Chang said, "It is like this. I am here to pass on a message to His Majesty. You will have an additional lecturer for your group. He is Zhang Luan, the Minister of the Honglu Temple, the historian of the Hanlin Academy, and the Prince's Groom of the Zhanshi Palace."

Xie Qian frowned and asked, "Why do we need to add a lecturer for no reason? Or..."

"You are a former student of the Imperial Academy, right?"

Qin Chang responded with a smile, "This is your Majesty's oral order. Previously, Zhang Honglu has done a lot of impressive things, especially in the reconstruction of Wanhe Temple, he assisted the prince very well, and he has made great achievements in teaching the prince. Your Majesty has a keen eye for talent and has made an exception to promote him, giving him the opportunity to contribute to the lecture class in the East Palace."

Xie Qian said in embarrassment: "But... the people in the East Palace lecture class usually have clear division of labor in the courses they teach. If we add someone in at random, I don't know what task we should assign him. By the way, what subject does he specialize in?"

As a lecturer in the Eastern Palace, every one of them needs to have a special subject of his or her own.

Some are proficient in the Four Books, some are familiar with the Five Classics, and there are people who have read and studied the classics, history, and collections of literature. It is equivalent to dividing the Chinese class into various small items. The content of each person's lectures is basically fixed. If you add a lecturer at random, you need to share part of the lecture content, which is equivalent to infringing on the interests of others.

It would be fine if it was an ordinary Hanlin lecturer who came from a legitimate Jinshi degree, but who would be willing to give teaching work to a person like Zhang Luan who has connections but no talent himself?
To say that a gentleman who is not even a juren is misleading young students is an understatement. But for not being able to teach the prince well, it is no exaggeration to say that he is bringing disaster to the country and the people.

Qin Chang smiled and said, "Your Majesty has said before that Zhang Honglu does not need to be responsible for daily teaching. After all, he has things to do, and Your Majesty is still waiting to see his written lectures. Your Majesty means that when he needs to assist the Crown Prince with his work, he can be allowed to enter the palace.

"Mr. Xie, you are the leader of this group of lecturers. It would be best if you were in charge of arranging the schedule. You can just let him enter the palace two or three times a month at most."

"Two or three times?"

Xie Qian frowned.

He was a little confused about this request.

The emperor appointed Zhang Luan as a lecturer, which can be understood as the emperor's intention to let his son gain more experience and let Zhang Luan help the prince do some practical work.

But why was Zhang Luan not allowed to enter the palace frequently?

Is this an attempt to take advantage of their strengths while also guarding against the opponent?

Qin Chang said: "I've brought this to you. You will be fully responsible from now on. I'm going back home first."

"Mr. Qin Yin, please stay."

Xie Qian quickly stopped Qin Chang and asked curiously, "Has Zhang Luan been notified? How did he respond?"

"Wouldn't it be better for you to tell him? He has been assigned to your class, and you are his immediate superior. He is new here, so you should let him learn more and figure out how to be a good lecturer. If there are any points he doesn't understand, you may as well give him more guidance."

Qin Chang didn't want to say more after saying this, so he bowed and left.

……

……

On the way out of the palace, Xie Qian was worried and Wang Ao came over to him.

"What does Eunuch Tan want to see you about?"

Wang Ao was the second-in-command in Xie Qian's class, so he was more concerned about Xie Qian's every move when he was teaching in Wenhua Hall.

Among the lectures in the Eastern Palace, Liu Jian and Li Dongyang are unique. Previously, this class was led by Li Dongyang, and Wang Ao would not express his opinions casually.

Ever since Li Dongyang was in mourning, Xie Qian began to lead this class. According to the rules, Wang Ao was obliged to assist Xie Qian in completing the task at hand.

Xie Qian said with a dark face: "There is one more person joining the lecture class, it's Zhang Laizhan."

"Who?"

Wang Ao asked in surprise, "But he is the prince's father-in-law?"

"Who else could it be if not him? It was His Majesty who personally ordered him to take on the job of the Prince's groom in the Zhanshi Mansion and assign him to our group in the Eastern Palace.

"Originally, the people who were giving lectures in the East Palace were doing their own jobs and not interfering with each other. Suddenly, someone was inserted in. I don't know what the higher-ups mean. They also said that he can only enter the palace two or three times a month."

While Xie Qian was speaking, he was also thinking about the reasons behind this matter.

Wang Ao said, "There are many people who serve as daily lecturers nowadays, but we are the only ones who are actually responsible for teaching the prince. Most of the Hanlin scholars have never participated in the teaching. Your Majesty does not ask about the arrangements of daily affairs."

"Ah."

Xie Qian nodded.

Wang Ao said, "It was said that Minister Ni also served as a lecturer before. I thought that Your Majesty would supervise the prince's teaching more. Who knew that up to now, Minister Ni has only been responsible for his own work and has not participated in the affairs here."

Xie Qian shook his head: "Zhang Laizhan is different... His Majesty asked him to come to the East Palace. Even if he doesn't show up often, we have to be careful... He may have a secret mission."

Wang Ao nodded slightly, then asked, "So... Yu Qiao, do you think that Zhang Laizhan is the spy that His Majesty has planted in the Eastern Palace?"

"Jizhi, you are exaggerating. What do you mean by spy? ... Your Majesty wants to monitor our every word and action. Does he need to arrange extra personnel? The eunuchs around the crown prince, the guards in Wenhua Palace, and the historians in charge of recording, which one of them cannot report to me?"

Xie Qian couldn't help but shook his head and smiled bitterly. From what Wang Ao said, it seemed that the lecturers of the Eastern Palace were on guard against the emperor, and the emperor didn't trust them either...

Wang Ao asked, "Who arranged for Zhang Laizhan to attend the lectures in the East Palace? Is his purpose really to assist the Crown Prince in his duties? Besides attending lectures on a daily basis, what other duties does the Crown Prince have to do?"

"Um!?"

Xie Qian seemed inspired.

If you don't understand the emperor's purpose in arranging Zhang Luan to join the lecture class in the Eastern Palace, then think about who Zhang Luan's backers are and what the needs of Zhang Luan's backers are, and you will understand.

"Could it be that Your Majesty wants Zhang Laizhan to make some comments and participate in the daily affairs of the Crown Prince when he is in Wenhua Palace?"

Xie Qian analyzed.

"I don't think things are that simple." Wang Ao said, "Yu Qiao, since the person has been assigned to our group, you'd better go and meet Zhang Laizhan in person. There were rumors earlier that Liang Fang and Wei Xing were expelled from the capital, and it was Zhang Laizhan who was behind it. Things may not be simple."

"it is good."

Xie Qian finally made up his mind and said, "I will definitely go to the museum to see him in the next two days."

……

……

Xie Qian's idea was to go to the Hanlin Academy to meet Zhang Luan when he was not on duty and ask about the situation in person.

But when he asked his colleagues in the Hanlin Academy and learned that Zhang Luan rarely showed up in the Hanlin Academy, he felt that the prince's father-in-law was a little too arbitrary in his official duties...

Others were proud to work in the Hanlin Academy, but Zhang Luan seemed to avoid going to the Hanlin Academy on purpose. He was the kind of person who worked for three days and rested for two days.

There was no other choice, Xie Qian could only visit Zhang’s house in person.

That day, Xie Qian came to the door of Zhang's house, handed in a visiting card, and waited in the carriage for a long time before Zhang Luan came out to greet him.

Xie Qian looked at the skinny old man in front of him and didn't think Zhang Luan had any great talent. This guy looked more like a sour scholar who mingled in the market. He was very particular about the pomp and circumstance in his words and deeds, but in fact, he was the kind of person who talked a lot but rarely said a single word of truth.

But when he entered the house, sat in the main hall of the Zhang family, and chatted with Zhang Luan for a few words, Xie Qian's impression of Zhang Luan immediately changed.

First of all, the first one.

When Zhang Luan spoke, he didn't even use a single "zhihuzheya" (words that refer to people with different social skills) and sounded like he had no professional skills, but he was not pedantic at all and was very easy to get along with.

"Thank you, Yude. I am actually very confused about the matter of teaching in the Eastern Palace. I don't know how to complete my mission. I have submitted a petition to transfer to another place, but I have not received a reply yet."

Zhang Luan seemed very embarrassed.

Xie Qian was the Right Instructor of the Right Spring Office of the Zhanshi Palace, and the Hanlin Academy and the Zhanshi Palace were one and the same, so they held concurrent posts in both.

Although Zhang Luan was a newcomer, his position as the Prince's Groom was actually of the same rank as Xie Qian, both of whom were of the fifth rank.

Of course, the Hanlin Academy is fundamentally different from other government offices. Seniority is very important here. It clearly ranks who comes first and who comes later. Of course, if the official position is one level higher, that is another matter.

The official positions of the two were not actually equal, because Zhang Luan also served as the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and his official rank was much higher than Xie Qian's... But in the lecture class in the Eastern Palace, Xie Qian was the superior leader, and he, Zhang Luan, was the subordinate and had to obey orders.

Xie Qian asked: "Then... why did you get this job?"

“I don’t understand it either.”

Zhang Luan explained, "It is said that Jiang Cong, the attendant of the Crown Prince, came to my house. I told him that there was something fishy about the reconstruction of Wanhe Temple. Someone passed old materials as new ones and passed inferior materials as good ones to make a profit. Who knew that after hearing about it, His Royal Highness went to find the Queen Mother and reported the matter. After that... a big change happened in the court."

Xie Qian stared in astonishment: "Is this really your doing?"

Zhang Luan’s words scared Xie Qian.

Liang Fang was able to be forced to step down in such a short time. Everyone thought that it was Liang Fang's fault that he angered the emperor, and it had nothing to do with the ministers below.

Only now did he realize that the instigator of all this was actually the unknown father-in-law of the prince in front of him.

Zhang Luan said, "I have a quick temper. When I hear something, I can't stand it for a moment and report it immediately. It's also because of him... I really don't have any connections."

Xie Qian was speechless after hearing this.

If someone says this, they are definitely trying to show off or brag.

But Zhang Luan said this...

It sounds like bragging, but if you think about it carefully... Zhang Luan really does act according to this principle.

First, he impeached a group of powerful officials in the court, but lost the position of Minister of the Honglu Temple that he had obtained, and then he went to stir up trouble with the crown prince, and actually brought down the arrogant Liang Fang? !
This is really fearless.

Xie Qian thought, you said you have a quick temper, I can't help but believe it.

Zhang Luan said: "After this happened, in order to allow the Queen Mother to successfully complete the Buddha worship before the Buddha Bathing Festival, the court found me and asked me to assist the Crown Prince in rebuilding the temple? After successfully completing this matter... I got this job..."

"But it's been more than half a month."

Xie Qian reminded me, don’t you think there is something wrong with what you said?
You made contributions in the reconstruction of Wanhe Temple, but that is all in the past. What does it have to do with your current promotion to the Eastern Palace lecturer?
Zhang Luan asked: "Is there any other reason?"

Xie Qian was speechless for a moment.

Xie Qian didn't even know whether the emperor was sick or not, let alone what disease the emperor had. He didn't understand what happened behind the scenes, and of course he wouldn't associate Zhang Luan's promotion with the emperor's illness.

Thinking carefully about what Qin Chang said to him, the only explanation is...

Zhang Luan was appointed to teach in the Eastern Palace precisely because the reconstruction of the Wanhe Temple was done to the emperor's liking, and there was no other reason.

(It’s the end of the month, please give me a monthly ticket, thank you!)
(End of this chapter)