Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 392 I Hate My Father

In order to study how to cure the emperor's illness, Wang Ji has been working day and night for the past few days.

Unfortunately, it didn't have any effect.

Because once liver disease developed into liver cancer, it was beyond his ability to cure in this era when herbal medicine was the main treatment.

In later times, even though Western medicine had become very advanced, patients with advanced liver cancer were still almost certain to die.

At the same time, Wang Ji became more and more impressed with the medicine used by Zhang Luan. It was really inferior in every aspect. It was meaningless to compete with him. He could only admit defeat and follow Zhang Luan's instructions.

"Mr. Zhang, how do you think His Majesty's condition will develop?" Wang Ji came to visit Zhang Luan in person that day and expressed to Zhang Luan that he was powerless to treat the emperor's illness.

Zhang Luan asked, "What do you think?"

Wang Ji sighed and shook his head, as if he had something to say but couldn't find the words to say.

Zhang Luan said, "We are here to discuss the patient's condition, not to criticize the government or His Majesty himself... Just go ahead and talk... Just start, and I'll fill you in on the rest."

What I mean is that you are just an ordinary medical officer who has just been recruited into the Imperial Medical Service and has no power in the capital. How can you still want to get information out of me?

If you don't give some constructive advice, don't expect others to open up to you.

"Before coming to the capital, I already knew the general condition of His Majesty, but after personally taking his pulse and studying the case, I realized that everything was out of control. I'm afraid His Majesty... won't be able to hold on for too much longer." Wang Ji said with a sigh.

Zhang Luan asked: "Then from your perspective, how long can it last?"

Wang Ji said, "It will probably be at most a year or two... What do you think, Mr. Zhang?"

"will not!"

Zhang Luan shook his head and said, "Maybe it will only last for one or two months, or even shorter."

"what!?"

Wang Ji was shocked.

It was indeed like throwing a brick to attract jade, or throwing a stone to test the water. His words brought out the truest thoughts in Zhang Luan's mind.

Zhang Luan asked: "Then you say, this is impossible to happen?"

Wang Ji sighed, "Your Majesty's condition may only develop in this way... What else can we say? If even an outstanding doctor like Mr. Zhang makes such a judgment, it is probably difficult for others to say anything else.

"If someone could really make a difference, it would be unprecedented!"

Hearing this, Zhang Luan couldn't help but wonder, is my son so powerful?

It's okay that the little guy has a lot of fancy ideas in his head, but he can understand the emperor's condition so thoroughly without even seeing him in person? This is incredible!
"Do your best and leave the rest to fate."

Zhang Luan said with a heavy face, "If we try our best, we will not disappoint His Majesty and the court's trust, and we will also be worthy of our conscience."

"Yes."

Wang Ji stood up, bowed, and left.

……

……

"What on earth does this person want to do?"

Zhang Luan stood in front of his house and watched Wang Ji's carriage leave.

He muttered quietly.

Zhang Yanling appeared behind his old father and asked, "What did he say to you?"

"He didn't say anything, just asked me a few questions tentatively... I told him that Your Majesty's illness would only last for one or two months at most." Zhang Luan said.

Zhang Yanling laughed and joked: "I am just testing your attitude, Dad. You really tell me the truth."

Zhang Luan shook his head and said, "You still call that telling the truth? You told me that His Majesty's condition has become extremely serious and he may not last for a few more days."

Zhang Yanling chuckled and said, "Dad, you should tell him then."

"I……"

Zhang Luan was speechless.

Zhang Yanling continued: "From what I have seen, after this ordeal, Your Majesty will develop more serious symptoms, probably equivalent to the condition of Concubine Wan after the New Year..."

"Ah!? You...say it again!"

Zhang Luan said with a look of shock on his face, "You...you kid, don't scare me...Wan Fei didn't live for many days after the New Year."

"Ten days."

Zhang Yanling said sternly, "That's long. Your Majesty is no longer able to support himself. He still has the strength to speak now, but he will probably fall into a coma in a few days."

"you……"

Zhang Luan swallowed his saliva and asked hesitantly, "Are you sure you fainted? You didn't want to punish me before you fainted, did you?"

Zhang Yanling asked with a smile: "Dad, are you worried?"

"You kid, you can still laugh now? You really are not afraid of death!"

Zhang Luan scolded him, and hurriedly urged, "Hurry up and tell me!"

Zhang Yanling said: "When liver disease develops to a certain stage, coma is inevitable, and the mind will become very confused, unable to judge numbers and logic... To put it bluntly, even if the eyes are open and can speak, it will be like an old confused person, speaking incoherently."

Zhang Luan asked nervously, "Then...will someone take advantage of this opportunity to push His Majesty to change the crown prince?"

"I do not know."

Zhang Yanling shook his head and said, "But... Father, don't you think about it? Can such a major event as changing the crown prince be accomplished just by your Majesty saying something when you are confused? Don't you need to discuss it with the ministers in front of the palace and make it public?"

Zhang Luan said with a bitter face: "But... I think that a will or something like that might be enough... I also heard that when Emperor Taizu of Song passed on the throne, he just sent someone out to pass on the message that whoever entered the palace first would become the emperor. Isn't that always the case?"

Zhang Yanling didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said, "Dad, you've watched too many plays... Do you think the current crown prince and the young prince who was just named Prince Xing have the ability to directly control the military power of the capital?" Zhang Luan said, "The problem is... Prince Xing has Consort Chen standing behind him... No, it's Consort Shao now, and the two cabinet ministers. If those meritorious officials stand on their side..."

"Deposing the eldest and enthroning the youngest, and doing it after the emperor's death, relying only on a will, who do you think would dare to risk the wrath of the world?"

Zhang Yanling said, "When your majesty was sober, the crown prince rarely showed up in front of the ministers, and others were not familiar with him. The replacement of the crown prince was not completed. Dad, you think that the emperor is terminally ill and can't speak a coherent word, and it can be completed with just an unknown edict... Then you think the emperor and his ministers of the Ming Dynasty are too foolish."

Zhang Luan said: "Then... can I rest assured?"

"What does it mean to sleep soundly?"

Zhang Yanling rolled his eyes at his cheap father and said, "Now is the critical moment... We must stand up and help the prince plan and accomplish great things! Aren't the biggest troubles still with Elder Wan and Elder Liu? Dad, you can finally show your face now!"

"What do you mean?"

Zhang Luan asked in surprise.

"You can go to the Taichang Temple to show off your status as the Minister of the Taichang Temple, and go to the Hanlin Academy to satisfy your desire to be a Hanlin Scholar... Dad, you need to interact more with the ministers in the court!"

Zhang Yanling seemed very persistent and said loudly, "You, you must remember that you are now the prince's father-in-law, representing the prince's face and interests! When His Majesty was terminally ill, you did everything you could to help the prince ascend to the throne. Even if His Majesty knew, he would not blame you!"

"Don't blame me?"

Zhang Luan was dumbfounded and extremely shocked.

Zhang Yanling said with certainty, "As a father, seeing that several of his sons might compete for the inheritance, and now the eldest son's father-in-law has stepped forward to help calm people's hearts and avoid the possibility of civil unrest due to family discord, do you have the heart to blame him?"

"This one……"

Zhang Luan was unable to answer for a moment, and after a long while he said, "You can't compare it that way, my son. After all, this is the court, not a trivial matter of one family or another."

Zhang Yanling said unhappily, "Isn't this a family affair of the royal family? Besides, why did the emperor use you recently and trust you so much, giving you so many powers? Think about it, you have responsibilities in the Honglu Temple, Taichang Temple, Hanlin Academy and Wujun Dudufu. What kind of honor is this? Isn't it just for you to step forward at the critical moment?
"Dad, please don't say that you still want to be a coward at this time. Wouldn't all the personalities I spent so much effort to create for you be in vain?"

"Okay, okay, kid, I'll just listen to you, right?"

Zhang Luan said helplessly, "First there was your sister, and now there is you. They are all troublesome... Alas, am I not just a future in-law? I am being forced to do this...

"In fact, at best I just want to enjoy wealth and glory, and live a more carefree life. I have never thought about having power over the government. Do I have that ability? Don't glare at me. If you glare at me again, I won't leave!"

……

……

I hate that my father is not as good as steel.

Zhang Yanling had expected this.

After all, Zhang Luan was a low-profile figure in history. Just think about how much Emperor Hongzhi valued his father.

The Zhang family can be said to be the most favored in-laws so far!
Unfortunately, the Zhang family had no talented people, and in the end the emperor's trust was wasted. But even so, the two incompetent sons of the Zhang family still enjoyed great success during the reigns of Hongzhi and Zhengde.

This all depends on a good foundation.

What Zhang Yanling needs to do now is to consolidate his family's foundation better than in history. As for whether Zhang Luan has ambitions, that is not important.

The key point is that after Emperor Hongzhi ascended the throne, Zhang Luan was pushed forward. By then, no matter whether Zhang Luan was a tiger or not, others would have to treat him as one and make him unable to get off the tiger. He had to be pushed to the front to protect the new emperor from wind and rain. This was enough.

It was past the twilight hour in the afternoon, and Zhang Luan was still outside demonstrating his style as an official who was both civil and military, and had not returned home in time, so Shen Lu came to visit him.

"Uncle, do you have anything to do with my father?"

Zhang Yanling, who came out to entertain the guests on behalf of the Zhang family, asked.

Shen Lu asked curiously, "Where is your father? Is he refining medicine? I heard that he has been busy making medicine for Your Majesty and has no time for other things."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "No, he went to the Taichang Temple to sit in the court this morning. It is said that he will go to the Hanlin Academy in the afternoon to walk around and unite his colleagues... After all, he has just been promoted to the Bachelor of Imperial Tutoring, and he still needs the recognition of the Hanlin Academy."

"he……"

Shen Lu originally wanted to ask, aren’t all those official positions held by your father honorary?

But then I thought that Zhang Luanling’s position was really different from others.

There was a real vacancy for Zhang Luan, but he just didn't go to perform the duties because he had no time to treat the emperor's illness... As for why he suddenly had the time and energy to take over the position, he didn't quite understand.

You, Zhang Laizhan, would not ignore the important matter of treating the emperor for the sake of immediate petty gains, right?
Zhang Yanling said, "Uncle, my father has been very busy recently and has no time to visit you. Please forgive me! My father actually has some social matters that he has no time to take care of. If you have time, how about helping him?"

"Humanity and worldliness?"

Shen Lu was a little confused.

Zhang Luan didn't make many friends in the capital, and not many people even came to visit him on their own initiative. At most, officials from Hejian Prefecture came to visit him.

What kind of human relationships need to be dealt with?

Zhang Yanling leaned forward and whispered, "Before, Duke Yingguo, Duke Baoguo and others bought some tributes from my father, and later there were some personal exchanges... What a pity, because my father was too busy, he didn't complete the subsequent maintenance of the relationship, what a pity!"

"This...isn't it good to just go and meet casually?"

Shen Lu asked hesitantly, "These people have extraordinary status in the court!"

"It's because it's so important that we need to maintain a good relationship with you."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "If something happens in the court, someone has to go meet them and discuss things with them. Do you think it's appropriate for my father to go?"

Shen Lu asked in surprise: "Did your father tell you this?"

"Yes."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "My father has known all about the affairs of the court for a long time. He also predicted that a big change is likely to happen... in the next few days. There may be some confusion... someone needs to come out... to manage the situation. Could this person be you, uncle?"

Shen Lu thought to himself, I believed your lies!
Are you trying to encourage me to "do big things"?

But why...

Why did I suddenly feel so excited for no reason after hearing this?

(End of this chapter)