Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 440 No need for parties involved (asking for monthly ticket)
The day Zhu Youtang ascended the throne was set on August 12.

On the eleventh day, everything was normal at the Zhang Mansion, but someone from the palace came, and it was the eunuch Wei Tai, who held the seal of the Imperial Household Department, who came in person to announce the imperial decree, granting Zhang Heling, the eldest son of the Zhang family, the rank of a thousand-householder of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and asked him to go to the Embroidered Uniform Guard office to perform his duties.

Zhang Luan went out personally to greet Wei Tai.

Then he respectfully saw Wei Tai off.

Zhang Heling held the imperial edict issued to him, looking confused: "Haven't I already been a captain of the Imperial Guard? Why is it happening again?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Congratulations, big brother. Last time, the late emperor gave you a salary as a thousand households of the Jinyiwei, which was an honorary title. You only received a salary but no real power.

"But this time my brother-in-law has given you a real position. You can go to the Jinyiwei Yamen to take up the post now. From now on, you can go out and show off your power as a captain of the Jinyiwei. No one will dare to mess with you!"

"Ah? Can this still happen?"

Zhang Heling was delighted at first, then he frowned and said, "But the problem is... I don't want to work."

Jin came over upon hearing the voice, snatched the imperial edict from her son's hand, looked at it and pouted, "It is said that the new emperor will reward his meritorious officials when he ascends the throne, but how come he just gave him a rank of Jinyiwei? Didn't he say that he would also confer a title of nobility?"

Facing a group of family members who were greedy for power, Zhang Yanling had to patiently explain: "Mother, according to reason, we have to wait for a month after my brother-in-law ascends the throne before we can appoint a queen. At that time, I will give my father a position in the Five Military Commander's Office, which is a nominal military title. Then I can give you a higher imperial decree.

"But... Mother, my father is now an official in the court and occupies a high position. If you ask him, he is absolutely unwilling to give up his current civil service position in exchange for the honorary title of the Five Military Commander's Office."

"I won't ask him. Whoever wants to ask can ask."

When Jin heard her son mention her husband, her face showed anger.

Obviously, it was impossible for Zhang Luan to keep his affair secret from his wife.

Every time he came home, Zhang Luan's mental and physical state were not good. Jin obviously felt that her husband was perfunctory towards her, and naturally knew that Zhang Luan had someone else outside.

As a result, certain conflicts are inevitable in the family.

Of course, the brothers Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling had no right to interfere in this kind of conflict, as it was a matter of the previous generation. Since ancient times, the grudges between elders in Chinese families would not allow the younger generation to get involved because of issues of filial piety, righteousness, and etiquette.

Zhang Heling said, "Second brother, tell me, I have to be an official, right? In fact, I think it's good to be given an honorary title. I don't have to work and I can get a salary. Why do you want me to be a captain of the Jinyiwei? I don't want to go to the government office every day. It's too tiring!"

Zhang Yanling said: "Brother, can we be more ambitious? You are the real commander of the Jinyiwei, how many people dream of it?
"But generally speaking, you are young and have no experience as an official, so they won't really assign you to lead a battalion of 1,000 households. There must be another purpose for assigning you this task.

"As for how to perform your duties and be a good commander of the Imperial Guard, can't I teach you?"

"But... to be an official in the imperial court, I have to obey the instructions of my superiors. I can't stand it." Zhang Heling said with a bitter face, "I want to be rich and famous, but I don't want to work for myself."

Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "Brother, if you want to have real power, you need people to work for you. You said that you have a thousand subordinates following you all day long and being driven by you. In the future, all officials will be polite to you when they meet you. Even the princes and nobles will be cautious with you, and there will be all kinds of cases for you to investigate. Don't you think it's not good?"

"is it?"

Zhang Heling's eyes widened, and he asked in doubt, "Didn't you tell me before that the capital is under the feet of the emperor, the best place, and there are ruthless people everywhere, so I should avoid getting into trouble? So, am I more ruthless than them now?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Whether he is ruthless or not depends on the situation...When you become a captain of the Jinyiwei, you will know."

"Okay, I'll give it a try first. If it works, I'll keep doing it. If it doesn't, I'll just stay at home and not go to the government office, just pretending it never happened."

Zhang Heling finally accepted his new identity.

His face began to show the joy of promotion.

……

……

Zhang Mansion, inner hall.

After Zhang Luan saw Wei Tai off, he came back and saw Zhang Yanling coming into the room. He said worriedly, "The crown prince will ascend the throne tomorrow and said that everything should be kept simple. He also said that my position as the Minister of the Honglu Temple has been appointed to someone else, and I can no longer hold the position of Minister of the Taichang Temple. I can only keep the title of President of the Hanlin Academy and the title of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. In other words, I can't do anything I want to do now."

Zhang Yanling nodded to show his understanding.

Before, Zhang Luan was the chief official of the Honglu Temple and the Taichang Temple. Regardless of whether he could get the job done or not, at least he had a group of people under him to work for him.

Moreover, these two yamen have certain real power and considerable influence in the court.

Now he has become the president of the Hanlin Academy, and he seems to have a higher position, and is more noble and powerful.

But the problem was that the Hanlin Academy was a government office with little money, and the things it did were basically empty talk. The officials there were all arrogant and self-righteous, so how could they look down on Zhang Luan, who was born as a tribute student? So every time Zhang Luan went to the Hanlin Academy, he basically came with high hopes but returned with disappointment, which was very speechless.

For Zhang Luan, getting promoted now is equivalent to losing his job.

Zhang Luan then continued, "I'm arranging a position for your elder brother as a captain of the Imperial Guards, probably to make me feel more balanced...but I don't know what the prince is thinking. Do I need a captain of the Imperial Guards?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Dad, I heard that the people sent by the court to survey the site of the imperial mausoleum at Tianshou Mountain returned early this morning. They have probably submitted the first report to the crown prince by now."

"So fast?"

Zhang Luan took a deep breath and asked worriedly, "Is the place you chose suitable? Have you ever conducted an on-site inspection? How dare you choose blindly?"

Zhang Yanling said, "I don't know if it will work, but the prince will definitely stand firmly on your side. Dad, it's time for a head-on confrontation."

Zhang Luan perked up and asked, "Does that mean that your father will go to the palace to confront them right away?" "No need."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Even if there is a confrontation, it will probably be done invisibly. Dad, you just need to wait at home. I guess the people in the palace are already working on it. This matter will most likely be settled before tomorrow's coronation ceremony."

Zhang Luan shook his head and said, "I don't believe it... In the past, if the court didn't take ten days or half a month to handle any matter, it would be unworthy of the official uniform. Can things be handled so efficiently now?

"Besides, it's just a matter of choosing a location for a grave. What's there to argue about? How big of a problem can it be? We will definitely make plans after the crown prince ascends the throne tomorrow."

"Dad, just wait and see."

Zhang Yanling responded with a smile, as if he was very sure of his judgment.

……

……

Just as Zhang Yanling expected.

The people sent by the emperor to Tianshou Mountain to investigate the site selection for the imperial mausoleum have returned and made a comparison between the two sites reported by Zhang Luan and Ni Yue. Without knowing which one was chosen by whom, it was like opening a blind box. They explained their reasons in detail and submitted them.

Because this matter was promoted by Huai En, it was actually the first major thing Huai En did after returning to the court.

Therefore, this matter was also reported to the prince by Huai En.

The prince then ordered Ni Yue and Li Hua to be summoned into the palace, but did not call Zhang Luan.

When Ni Yue and Li Hua arrived outside the Wenhua Palace, Li Hua seemed very nervous and asked, "Minister Ni, why aren't we going to the Qianqing Palace? Why can't we see Minister Zhang?"

Ni Yue said: "I have already asked when I entered the palace. This time the prince only summoned you and me, which means that no matter who it is, they will think that your location is better.

"Don't say anything for now, just wait patiently."

After waiting for a while, the three big bosses of Silijian, Wei Tai, Huai En and Qin Chang, all arrived.

The three of them first entered the Wenhua Hall. Not long after, Tan Chang came out and told the two of them to come in for an audience.

"See His Highness the Crown Prince."

Ni Yue bowed respectfully.

Zhu Youtang said, "Mr. Ni, there are many things to say, so I won't say much... You should first take a look at the results of the field survey of Tianshou Mountain by others. Huai Daban, you take it to him for review."

"Yes."

Huai En then handed over a memorial to Ni Yue in which many investigators listed the reasons for the site selection.

After Ni Yue saw it, he was overwhelmed.

Obviously, this memorial looks very professional, but in fact it only mentions Feng Shui theories, and many of the contents are far-fetched.

Ni Yue said, "Your Majesty, I have been investigating with Li Jianzheng of the Imperial Observatory since I arrived at Tianshou Mountain. I have not been slacking off during the investigation. After the results of the investigation were obtained, they were immediately reported to the court."

Huai En asked, "Why don't you discuss this with Li Yintai and Zhang Xueshi who are going with you?"

"The two of them..."

Ni Yue got angry when he mentioned this matter. "They haven't shown up since they arrived at Tianshou Mountain. It is said that they found a place to rest in the cool of summer due to the hot weather. They showed up for the first time in the afternoon of the second day and refused to sit down and discuss with us."

Huai En said, "But that's not what Mr. Zhang said in his memorial... He said that after you arrived at Tianshou Mountain, you deliberately didn't give him a chance to discuss things, and you were stubborn and self-willed, repeatedly delaying the site selection, and deliberately choosing a bad place to get away with it."

"False accusation!"

Ni Yue said, "He is just talking nonsense! Your Highness, you are wise and powerful, and you will definitely be able to detect the truth behind it."

Zhu Youtang actually didn't know much about Feng Shui. He also wanted to be a good guy and didn't want to make things difficult for Ni Yue, so he didn't say anything and gave the right to speak to Huai En.

Huai En is not someone who can be easily fooled. It can be said that even if Wan An, Liu Ji and others are added together, they may not be his opponents, let alone a mere Ni Yue?

You are a person who once openly helped the prince to gain the opportunity to attend court in Wenhua Palace, but in fact you were secretly making trouble to anger the emperor and make him think of changing the crown prince. How could such a conspiracy be hidden from a thousand-year-old fox like me?
You are still a little inexperienced!

But Huai En would not express his inclination right away, but just said in a matter-of-fact manner: "Logically speaking, you should believe Minister Ni, after all, you are also an old man in the court. But what you said is really unreasonable, because the memorial impeaching you by Zhang Xueshi was sent back to the capital the day after you arrived at Tianshou Mountain. And your and Li Hua's memorials arrived two days later."

Ni Yue frowned and said, "He is the first to complain."

Huai En said, "Okay, even if it's as you said, the problem is that now we have sent many people to investigate, and they all said that the location of the imperial mausoleum chosen by Master Zhang is more in line with Feng Shui, and is the only choice for the imperial mausoleum. It is very consistent with your majesty's birth date, etc. How do you explain this?"

Ni Yue gritted his teeth and said, "Impossible!"

"look by youself."

Huai En said, "There are a lot of things listed above, but everyone says that the address chosen by Master Zhang is better. Don't you have any doubts about this?
"Minister Ni, you must give a reasonable explanation!
"Why did Master Zhang submit his memorial two days before you did? He had already chosen the location of the imperial mausoleum, and everyone thought that the place he chose was better. But your memorial was submitted two days late, and you blame Master Zhang for being negligent in his work, and the location you chose was not satisfactory?"

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(End of this chapter)