Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 429 Special Reception

Zhang Yanling knew exactly where Ming Maoling was.

Historically, this matter was a decision made jointly by Ni Yue and Li Hua.

The choice of where an emperor's mausoleum is located will not become the focus of attention in the court. After all, this is something that "professionals" do, and those who don't know the business will not get involved casually.

But because of the existence of Zhang Luan, a "great expert", and because some people need to use some means to rectify the officialdom, it seems that they can do something about the location selection of the previous emperor's mausoleum.

After Zhang Luan had a brief meeting with his son, he was picked up by a carriage sent by the Li family.

With great lack of confidence, Zhang Luan followed Li Zisheng's carriage team out of the capital, and then met up with the official convoys of the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory.

In order to avoid being influenced by Li Zisheng, Zhang Luan chose to ride in the carriage alone. On the way, he asked Chang Shun, who was brought by him to drive the carriage, to see if there was any Feng Shui treasure land outside the capital... Unfortunately, Chang Shun's family business only dealt with the living, and had not yet expanded to the dead.

Even if there is a business involving this, the job of a human trafficker is just to arrange ghost marriages for people.

But the emperor doesn't need this thing.

As for asking him to choose the burial site for the deceased Zhu Jianshen, that really put Chang Shun in a difficult position. Later, Zhang Luan's endless questions almost made Chang Shun depressed. When he heard similar questions again, he simply chose to remain silent and pretend to be deaf and dumb.

The convoy traveled for more than an hour.

Li Zisheng specially found a place to stop, which happened to be a busy market town. He said he wanted to get off the car to get some fresh air and have lunch, but in fact, Li Zisheng just wanted to test Zhang Luan's attitude.

"Come on, let's eat something before we go."

Li Zisheng, who got off the carriage first, stopped Zhang Luan's carriage and said, "This trip out of the city will be very hard. But it's rare that the prince trusts you and asks you to choose the mausoleum for His Majesty. You should be good at this, right?"

Zhang Luan lifted the car curtain and jumped out.

After standing firm, he looked around and saw that it was unfamiliar. Zhang Luan immediately shook his head and said, "I have seldom been out of the capital since I came here at the end of last year. I am really unfamiliar with the place, especially the area in the north of the city. I have never studied it before."

“Shouldn’t there be any need for special research?”

Li Zisheng glanced at the government convoy moving further and further away in front of him, and deliberately lowered his voice, "Let me remind you, there will be at least two or three alternative plans. You can ask Ni Yue which one he wants to choose, and then you can pick one from the other two, go against him, and then be stubborn."

"Why?"

Zhang Luan was surprised.

How is this different from what my son said?
But if you think about it carefully, it seems to fit the main theme. It sounds like they are all against Ni Yue and using this incident to establish their authority.

Li Zisheng raised his eyebrows and asked meaningfully, "You still don't know what Ni Yue's position is, right?"

This time Zhang Luan just shook his head.

"How could you not have any impression?"

Li Zisheng said dissatisfiedly, "Others may not know, and they all think he is from the Eastern Palace, but have you ever thought about why he suddenly proposed to His Majesty at that critical moment to let the Crown Prince attend court in Wenhua Hall?"

Zhang Luan suddenly remembered something and nodded slightly: "That is to say, Ni Yue is not loyal to the Crown Prince."

Li Zisheng said: "How arrogant were Liang Fang and Wei Xing at that time? In addition, Wan An, Liu Jie and others assisted them, and Deng Changen and Zhao Yuzhi echoed them from afar. Under that situation, everyone would have selfish thoughts in their hearts. It is absolutely understandable that they wanted to make great contributions to China in the Changchu Operation.

"I guess Ni Yue is in the same group as Deng Chang'en and Wan'an. He just concealed it well. At that time, Your Majesty agreed to his advice, and he hid his true intentions in time and didn't reveal his true intentions."

"Then why did he target me?"

Zhang Luan looked like he was humbly seeking advice.

"Laizhan, it's a bit too much for you to act like this in front of me."

Li Zisheng said unhappily, "In many things before, I had to rely on your guidance to understand the truth. Now you actually expect me to wake you up?"

"This one……"

Zhang Luan was so embarrassed.

Wherever I can point you out, it was my son who was giving the advice behind the scenes.

Now that he won’t tell me, I can only rely on you.

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "But since you asked, I'll treat it as an assessment, then I'll be frank... People like Ni Yue are actually bureaucrats who value seniority the most. Will he take you seriously?"

Zhang Luan sighed, "In fact, I already knew that those people looked down on me."

"But you can also look down on them."

Li Zisheng said, "These self-righteous guys think that just because they are Jinshi and have been lecturers in the East Palace for a few days, they can make decisions about the world's affairs?
"This court is a society of personal relationships. They themselves are forming cliques for personal gain, but they attack others at will in the name of party unity and attacking dissidents. So this Ni Yue must be taught a lesson."

Zhang Luan hesitated and said, "I'm afraid it's not that easy, right? We're just choosing a tomb of a former emperor. Is it really that difficult?"

"You can't say that."

Li Zisheng said, "The late emperor is the late emperor, but the crown prince has not yet ascended the throne, so the late emperor is still the current emperor. You should call him that after a few days... In fact, I am just giving you a reminder. It doesn't matter what you say in front of others, unless someone is specifically picking on you."

Zhang Luan almost wanted to roll his eyes.

It's clearly you who is finding fault with me, and I heard others say the same thing.

Li Zisheng said again: "I am loyal to His Majesty and the Crown Prince... Let me tell you this, others may not know what the positions and inclinations of these people in the court are, but I know them all.

"Just talking about Ni Yue, he actually looks down on everyone in the Hanlin Academy... He might want to suppress you to show off his reputation so that he can move up in the ranking of Hanlin Academy officials, or he might want to get into the cabinet, or be promoted to the position of Left Vice Minister, and then pave the way for becoming a minister."

"Is there such a thing?"

Zhang Luan was surprised.

I treated Ni Yue as a target, but it turns out that Ni Yue also treated me as prey?

Li Zisheng said with a smile: "The people in the court are not as sincere as they used to be. You can listen to me. Remember, if you want to find fault with him, you must say something good or bad... As for the Feng Shui theory, as long as it is correct and can make sense, you can interpret the rest as you like."

"Oh."

Zhang Luan nodded.

Li Zisheng leaned over again and whispered, "I don't know how many days it will take to return to Beijing after this trip. Come with me tonight to a nearby place and I'll take you to have some fun." "What?"

Zhang Luan was surprised.

We are here to choose a mausoleum for the late emperor. You, the most loyal minister of the present time, think of yourself as the royal family's number one lackey, and yet you want to take me out to have fun at this time?

Li Zisheng knew how to please the emperor, and said with a smile: "I know that you are resigning from the court in order to retreat and gain some practical benefits.

"I don't mind it. I just want you to have a good relationship with me... Tonight... you will know how happy you are when you get there."

……

……

First day out of town.

They just visited two designated mausoleum sites, and it was not until almost sunset that they arrived at their final destination.

Except for a few tombs, the rest of the Ming Tombs are basically located in the area around Tianshou Mountain in the northwest of the city. It seems not far from the capital and the road is relatively flat. However, due to the winding road and the poor shock absorption of the carriage, Zhang Luan had a lot of trouble along the way.

"Are we almost at Juyong Pass?"

Zhang Luan looked at the towering mountains ahead and asked curiously.

"hehe."

Li Zisheng smiled but said nothing.

Zhang Luan stood at the foot of the mountain and saw the pretty nice scenery ahead. He was in high spirits for a while, but after walking around the mountain, he was out of breath, his legs and hands were weak, and he was exhausted.

Li Zisheng still walked briskly, obviously very used to this kind of job that required active legs and feet.

"Laizhan, you can't do it. You need to practice more in the future." Li Zisheng said with a smile, "From the bottom of the mountain, the mountain is not big, but it takes a lot of effort to walk around it."

Zhang Luan looked around and saw only deep mountains and dense forests. He immediately tilted his head and asked, "Where are Ni Yue and Li Hua?"

"They're over there."

Li Zisheng pointed to the opposite ridge and said, "See? They are hiding far away because they want to bypass you and decide the location of His Majesty's mausoleum on their own... You don't have to pay attention to them today. It won't be too late to deal with them tomorrow."

"Today... ignore them?"

Zhang Luan was very curious.

I came here with them to choose the site. Even if they intend to avoid me, I have to show that I am the boss. I have to meet with them and have a brief discussion, right?

Li Zisheng laughed and said, "You don't understand this, do you? If you wait for them to choose a place and wait for you to nod and report it together before causing trouble for them, then you are overthinking it. They have many ways to shirk responsibility and perfunctorily make things difficult for you to find fault with...

"In fact, there is no need to go through so much trouble. Just drag it out with them for two or three days. When they can't stand it anymore, they will naturally sit down and talk to you."

"This……"

Zhang Luan thought to himself, what a damn place! You actually want me to stay here for two or three days?
Li Zisheng smiled again and said, "In fact, you can report the location you have chosen in advance and give them a piece of information. After all, the prince nominally listened to you and Ni Yue, but in fact, he only listened to you. By the time Ni Yue reacted, you had already reported the matter and even decided on the address of the mausoleum. Then you can only wait and see how angry they are."

Zhang Luan bowed and said, "Thank you for your advice."

Li Zisheng pointed to the village at the foot of the mountain and said, "There is a place over there with very good accommodation conditions. I have already arranged it with someone in advance. You can go with me later."

"there……"

Zhang Luan thought, this couldn't be the place you told me to have fun at night, right?

Li Zisheng said, "It's getting late. It's not realistic to finish watching the whole thing today. Let's go first... Let's go."

"Then they..."

Zhang Luan pointed to the direction where Ni Yue and others were.

Li Zisheng sneered, "Why do you care about them? Who has the time to let me arrange their food and lodging... You will come with me later, and it is better to keep a low profile... Let's find a place to change our clothes and wear something simple, like a wealthy businessman who came here to escape the summer heat. After entering the yard, just listen to me, and I will make arrangements for you."

……

……

Li Zisheng had extensive interpersonal relationships, and more importantly, when he really wanted to curry favor with Zhang Luan, he would spend much more than when he bribed Zhang Luan.

In order to win over Zhang Luan, he gave him a house and beautiful women, and often took Zhang Luan to his house to drink with beautiful women as his companions.

This time he entrusted his entire fortune and life to Zhang Luan, and he felt that Zhang Luan was a little "unreasonable" now, so he must use some unconventional means to tie Zhang Luan up tightly. He also knew that Zhang Luan was not greedy for money but lustful, so he had to arrange everything, right?
Ever since.

Zhang Luan was brought by Li Zisheng into a village with about a hundred households. After entering, he found a manor of a wealthy family. It was like "a different world" inside.

"I helped to get the families of several convicted officials from Jiangnan out of their homes. They were originally placed somewhere else, but since you happened to be leaving the city today, I brought them here."

Li Zisheng explained the situation with a smile.

Only then did Zhang Luan realize that today's program was truly extraordinary.

Different from the past when the partners of his sexual intercourse were directly actors or dancers, the people he was going to meet today, although they were also musicians, had extraordinary backgrounds.

They were all from good families and were ladies from prominent families, which was something he could only dream of but could not achieve when he was a sour scholar.

Zhang Luan hesitated and said, "Isn't this bad?"

Li Zisheng said: "What's wrong with that? If I am convicted, the result will be no different from theirs. If this person is convicted, the whole family will suffer. The male members are fine...but the female members...Alas! Every family will be displaced.

"What you saw today were the women of two families. I specially grouped them together because they are related. As for their specific identities and backgrounds, I will not give you detailed information... I will give them to you. You can go and ask and identify them yourself...

"You and I are in our own courtyards. After tonight, you can ignore it and just leave. Or you can take the person away and settle him down... Remember to come out early tomorrow morning, and then you and I can go up the mountain together.

"Nothing is left unsaid. Tomorrow, you and I must not talk about what happened tonight in front of others..."

(End of this chapter)