Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 432 Internal strife
While Zhang Luan and Li Zisheng were secretly planning, Ni Yue and Li Hua were also planning how to plot against Zhang Luan.

Ni Yue has no plans to touch Li Zisheng for the time being, because he knows that he is in trouble and is afraid of revenge from Li Zisheng... Dealing with Zhang Luan might be easier, and the purpose is not to bring Zhang Luan down in one go, but to show that he and a communication official like Zhang Luan are irreconcilable, which can help him quickly integrate into the core circle of lecturers in the Eastern Palace.

"Minister Ni, you are already the Right Minister of the Ministry of Rites. In a few years, you will be able to take charge of a ministry on your own. However, I am a lowly official with little influence and I dare not touch such matters."

Li Hua seemed very timid.

After all, Zhang Luan is the emperor's father-in-law and the Minister of Taichang Temple. How dare he, a director of the Imperial Observatory, go against Zhang Luan?
Are you tired of living?
Ni Yue said, "We are only accusing him of dereliction of duty. What's the big deal? Besides, the cause of the late emperor's death remains a mystery. We are just mentioning it in passing. Even if no one in the court investigates, many people will think that what we said makes sense. Have you forgotten that I once stated the position of the crown prince and allowed him to hold court in the Wenhua Palace?"

"This one……"

Li Hua sighed, "That time you really were... daring to be the first in the world, and many people praised you as a loyal minister, but this time is different."

Ni Yue pointed at the empty mountain and said in a mocking tone: "Look, what time is it now? Where are Zhang Laizhan and Li Zisheng now? The prince asked them to choose the location of the imperial mausoleum. Did they put any effort into it? If we report the selected address, the prince will definitely look at you with new eyes."

Li Hua thought to himself, I don’t seek to achieve anything meritorious in this matter, I just hope to avoid making any mistakes.

"Now that Minister Zhou of the Ministry of Rites has resigned several times, the situation in the court is turbulent and will soon spread to other government offices. By then, your Imperial Observatory will also be involved."

Seeing that soft tactics didn't work, Ni Yue resorted to threats.

You don't listen to me, don't come with me to impeach Zhang Luan? Sorry, I'm going to take action against you!

Li Hua asked cautiously: "Then...would it be safer if we impeach Li Shangshu of the Yintai Division? After all, he has no connections with the Crown Prince..."

"No."

Ni Yue said, "It's best to let someone else handle Li Zisheng's affairs... After all, Li Zisheng is interfering in the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel, and people from the Ministry of Personnel have to report to the higher authorities. If you or I interfere, it would be an act of usurpation."

Li Hua thought, are there so many requirements for impeaching someone?

Could it be that you, Minister Ni, knew that Li Zisheng was in decline, but you still didn't dare to deal with him? Those bold words you said to me before were actually meant to make fun of me?

"In the next two days, Zhang Laizhan may come to you and me to discuss this matter. Let's not make it easy for him and let him explore on his own... There is no need to discuss it with him when submitting the memorial. Once the impeachment memorial is submitted, the rest will be left to those loyal and righteous people in the court to complete."

Ni Yue thought, if we take action this time, won’t we push Zhang Luan into the abyss?

He is a relative of the emperor, so the lecturers of the Eastern Palace will definitely not stand on his side. Wan'an and other sycophants will not stand on his side due to the pressure of public opinion. In the end, I can suppress him and show my upright character. Then the position of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites will almost fall on me.

……

……

With Li Zisheng's help, Zhang Luan could move much faster than his opponents.

That morning, memorials were sent out regarding the site selection of the imperial mausoleum, as well as impeachment of Ni Yue and Li Hua for occupying positions without doing anything.

At lunch, facing a table full of food and wine, Zhang Luan said with emotion while enjoying his meal: "Minister Li, you said that the prince sent us out of the city to work together, but we each did our own thing and there has been no communication at all. If I submit an impeachment petition and it gets to the prince's ears, isn't it... not good?"

Li Zisheng stood up and poured wine for Zhang Luan. He smiled and said, "Instead of worrying about this, you might as well think about whether the location you chose is really a good place for Feng Shui."

Zhang Luan asked curiously, "Has Minister Li not considered this? Minister Li seems to be proficient in geomancy and Xuankong techniques, right?"

"Why should I interfere when someone as powerful as you is here to choose the site? You decide where to go."

Li Zisheng said, "Relax, I am definitely not shirking my responsibility. No matter what, you and I are on the same side. Otherwise, I would not have signed the impeachment memorial together."

Zhang Luan was somewhat worried: "I feel uneasy about impeaching someone suddenly without any evidence."

Li Zisheng said, "Do you think that the people in the court are really speaking the truth when they criticize each other? The so-called good and evil are actually just a matter of one thought. If he thinks you are good, then you are good. If he thinks you are bad, then you are bad. No matter where a disaster occurs, someone has to be found to take the blame, saying that it was caused by someone's bad behavior... Hey, you have to believe in evil."

"If there is any disaster in the Ming Dynasty now..."

What Zhang Luan meant to ask was, will it be my fault?
Li Zisheng said with a smile: "If there really is a disaster, doesn't it just prove that your impeachment is correct? In terms of understanding celestial phenomena and changes, who is better than you? Come on, come on, drink some wine."

Zhang Luan hesitated for a moment, then said, "We have to go for a walk in the mountains this afternoon anyway."

"Okay, I'll go for a walk in the mountains with you this afternoon."

Li Zisheng seemed very relaxed, "But let's come back early tonight... I didn't rest well last night, so I have to get a good sleep tonight. We are not in a hurry to go back to the city tomorrow. The earliest we can go back is the day after tomorrow...

"Let's hold them back, otherwise those guys will really think we didn't do anything."

……

……

At noon that day, Li Zisheng and Zhang Luan went back to their rooms to take a nap.

After all, I was too tired last night, so I could take this opportunity to catch up on some sleep.

At the same time, Ni Yue and Li Hua on the mountain were working diligently and were sweating profusely, while Zhang Luan and Li Zisheng were sleeping soundly. They were fanned by fans and given iced drinks to cool off. They didn't even have to eat seasonal fruits themselves. With just a slight signal, someone would peel them and bring them to their mouths.

What a carefree life.

The two got up in the afternoon and were walking up the mountain surrounded by a crowd of people. At that time, an urgent item had been delivered to the capital and came into Wei Tai's hands.

After Wei Tai read it, he was very surprised. He immediately handed it to Qin Chang and asked, "Eunuch Qin, what do you think this means?"

Qin Chang quickly read through it and asked in surprise, "Your Majesty asked a few people to choose a site for your mausoleum, how come there is an impeachment so soon? Are they... having an internal conflict?"

"Infighting?"

Wei Tai read the memorial again and shook his head, saying, "Now only Li Zisheng and Zhang Luan have impeached Ni Yue and Li Hua. I don't know how Ni Yue and Li Hua will react... But judging from the situation, it seems a bit unpleasant. They have only been out of the city for one day, but they are already so incompatible?" Tan Chang said, "That's normal. Perhaps Li Zisheng and Zhang Luan have never considered Ni Yue one of their own, and Ni Yue's inclinations are a mystery."

Wei Tai asked, "Doesn't he call himself a clean official? He made great efforts to get the Crown Prince the opportunity to hear cases in the Eastern Palace. At that time, His Majesty transferred him to the Eastern Palace as a lecturer, which was a great honor. I heard that the Crown Prince also relied on him a lot later."

Qin Chang shook his head and said, "On the surface, it is true, but in reality, it is still unclear. Even if both parties are valued by the prince, there is still a difference in closeness... In other words, does the prince trust Zhang Luan more, or Ni Yue more?"

Wei Tai said: "Of course it has to be Zhang Luan."

"Isn't that it?"

Qin Chang said, "So this matter will ultimately have to be decided by the Crown Prince himself to see if he believes Zhang Luan's memorial. But the site selection... is a bit too quick. I wonder if the place chosen this time is in line with Feng Shui?"

Wei Tai frowned and asked, "Since they took the initiative to impeach Ni Yue and Li Hua, it means that this address was chosen after consultation between Zhang Luan and Li Zisheng. The two of them..."

Tan Chang asked, "Do you think these two are not qualified to choose the site for the imperial mausoleum?"

Wei Tai smiled bitterly and said, "We should listen to Li Hua's opinion, right? After all, he is the director of the Imperial Observatory."

"hehe."

Qin Chang smiled and said, "If you want to say what the chief of the Imperial Observatory can do, Li Zi Province can basically do it all. If the chief of the Imperial Observatory can't do it, Li Zi Province can also take on all of it...

"As long as Li Zisheng helps Zhang Luan, there will be no escape from this matter. Believe me, the chosen address is probably a good feng shui treasure land, and no one can find fault with it."

……

……

On the mountain.

Ni Yue and Li Hua ran around to several places exhausted and were sitting under a big tree to rest.

They saw a group of people from the opposite side holding parasols and carrying two sedan chairs appear in front of them.

"Stop, stop..."

Zhang Luan, who was sitting on one of the sedan chairs, felt embarrassed when he saw Ni Yue and Li Hua right in front of him.

Others worked hard without him having to run errands, and not only was he carried up by others, but he also went to impeach those who worked hard. He really couldn't bear it.

You have to show that you are a person who gets things done!
Ni Yue frowned when he saw this, supported himself with his hands and stood up, then stepped forward and questioned: "Zhang Taichang, the prince asked you to choose the location of the imperial mausoleum for His Majesty, but you only showed up today, what does this mean?"

"I……"

Zhang Luan looked embarrassed.

Li Zisheng, who followed Zhang Luan down from the sedan chair, said with a smile, "Minister Ni is laughing...Minister Zhang has been busy these past two days, and has walked all over the mountains. Hasn't he already selected several places and is ready to report?"

Zhang Luan looked back and thought, haven't we already reported it? But he immediately realized that he wanted to confuse Ni Yue and Li Hua and prevent them from figuring out what he was doing.

"Humph!"

Ni Yue snorted coldly and asked, "Did you choose them like this?"

"Huh? You're not right."

Li Zisheng sneered and said, "You rely on your own two feet to walk around and search for places, that's your business. We save a little manpower in order to go to more places and farther places. It's not like we didn't pay the people we hired... We are doing the same work, why do we have to distinguish between high and low?"

When Li Hua heard this, he thought, is Master Li angry?

He did not dare to offend Li Zisheng, so he quickly said, "Calm down, everyone. Why don't you go to the cliff in front? There is a spring there. The water is very sweet... The sun is shining brightly. Can we drink some water to cool down?"

"That's not necessary."

Li Zisheng said, "We are so busy working that we don't have time to drink water... People who don't know the truth may think we are slacking off here... Oh, by the way, we have already selected a location, how about you take a look?"

"Have you chosen a location?"

Ni Yue frowned.

He thought that Li Zisheng and Zhang Luan on the opposite side were just bragging, saying that they had done the job, but in fact they were just fooling around.

Can you actually come up with an address now?
"What? Don't you want to see it?"

Li Zisheng said, "If you don't want to read it, forget it. We'll report it later."

"Li Yintai, although you hold the title of Shangshu, in terms of official position, there is no essential difference between you and us. It's better to speak more kindly." Ni Yue said tit for tat.

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "No, I am also a person who follows the rules. Zhang Taichang, can you tell me about the location?"

"it is good."

Zhang Luan then announced in public the location of the Maoling Mausoleum that his son had chosen for him.

Li Hua was surprised after hearing this.

He had noticed this place before and thought it was very good at the time, but he had not had time to explain it to Ni Yue in detail, and this place was not included in the sites previously reported.

Actually... it was discovered by these two people in front of me and reported it first?
(End of this chapter)