Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 444: The First Court Meeting (asking for monthly tickets!)

Later in the night.

Zhang Luan had just fallen asleep and was having a sweet dream when there was a knock on the door.

Zhang Luan woke up in a daze, feeling a little irritated... He was not particular about his bed. After venting all his energy on the beauty, he could fall asleep as long as he was given a pillow.

With the soft and fragrant jade in his arms and the smoothness within his reach, he should have been enjoying himself, but unfortunately the knocking on the door never stopped. Helplessly, Zhang Luan got up from the bed, put on some clothes casually, walked to the door and opened it.

"Minister Li?"

Zhang Luan looked curiously at Li Zisheng who was standing at the door.

Li Zisheng said, "It's getting late, we have to go."

Zhang Luan looked at the sky and said in embarrassment: "We are leaving now? But I am..."

"Come and see, you can come back later when you have time." Li Zisheng said, "But we must enter the city when the gates open at dawn, after all, we have to attend the court meeting early in the morning. Today is the first court meeting after the new emperor ascended the throne, and the matters discussed are related to your vital interests. How can you linger here?"

"I……"

Zhang Luan was speechless for a moment.

You brought me all the way out of the capital to have some fun, and I thought you had arranged everything for me.

I can even stay here for several days without going out, just as happy as when I was choosing the mausoleum for the late emperor in Tianshou Mountain.

And now you tell me that you have to go back to the city so early in the morning?

"Don't complain about the hassle."

Li Zisheng said sternly, "You can ignore other things, but this is the first time the new emperor has convened a court meeting since he ascended the throne, and you must attend.

"There was no discussion after the coronation ceremony yesterday, so there must be something concerning you today. Let's wait and see. Come on, the carriage is ready."

Zhang Luan looked back.

Although the room was dark, he was reluctant to leave.

Finally, he reluctantly went into the room to put on his clothes, tidied himself up, and came out to wash up before leaving in the carriage with Li Zisheng.

……

……

"Laizhan, the beautiful concubine of Peng Mianfu who accompanied you last night was a gift from Liang Fang."

In the carriage, Li Zisheng made some comments, "It is said that Liang Fang spent a lot of money to persuade the young master of the cabinet to harm you."

"is it?"

Zhang Luan was drowsy and didn't want to listen to Li Zisheng's nonsense at all.

Li Zisheng added: "This time Peng Hua will most likely be held accountable later... Peng Hua is a cautious person. I have come into contact with him many times. He is cunning and hard to deal with."

"Oh."

Zhang Luan continued to lean on the soft pillow and doze off with his eyes closed.

"It seems like you didn't get much sleep last night... After court is over, go back home and have a good sleep."

Li Zisheng said, "I told you last night to drink less, and to just try it out during the bedtime, and not to indulge in pleasure, but you ended up... Oh!"

Zhang Luan opened his eyes and said listlessly, "Minister Li, you seem to be talking nonstop, so you must have had a good rest..."

Li Zisheng said helplessly: "I have long been indifferent to this kind of thing... Do you think that I, a Taoist, would be so greedy for temporary pleasure like you?
"But as for monopolizing power... no matter how much you achieve after the new emperor ascends the throne, I'm afraid you can't compare to what I did back then."

Zhang Luan thought to himself, what does it mean that a hero never brags about his past achievements?

Aren't you also in a desperate situation now, and have to be tied to the same boat with me in order to survive?

Why are you acting so high and mighty in front of me?

"Time is very tight. After entering the city, we have to rush to the palace gate immediately." Li Zisheng said.

Zhang Luan hurriedly said, "Minister Li, can you let me go back to your residence? I didn't see my son when I went back yesterday. I want to discuss some things with him before I go back to the palace."

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "Why, you only trust your son and not me... Is that so? I never asked you before, who is your son's teacher? He has a wide range of views, I wonder who taught him so well? Or are you hiding something from me?"

"I do not know."

Seeing Li Zisheng's suspicious expression, Zhang Luan said quickly, "I really don't know... Anyway, that kid is very smart, and his words and actions are always hard to figure out... Sometimes he just reminds me a little, and I can figure things out. Otherwise... Oh!"

Li Zisheng said: "Then you have to train your little son well. Oh, by the way, Lai Zhan, recently... there are so many women around you... well, I haven't seen any movement?"

"What's the noise?"

Zhang Luan asked curiously.

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "Is there any sign of having a baby?"

Zhang Luan looked embarrassed and shook his head, "Never."

"There's something wrong with you."

Li Zisheng was surprised and said, "You are not that old at this age. Could it be that you have indulged in sensual pleasures too much and your body has become a little weaker? Otherwise, you should have grown older."

Zhang Luan thought to himself, it’s a good thing it’s dark here so you can’t see the embarrassment on my face.

At this moment, Zhang Luan clearly felt the anger on his face, but he still defended himself stiffly: "I'm fine, I'm in great shape, otherwise I wouldn't have lasted so long last night... But some things are really hard to explain."

"hehe."

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "Perhaps you feel that two sons are enough and you don't plan to have any more? That's right, with such a good daughter and such a good son, what else can you ask for? If I were you, I would wake up smiling even when I was asleep."

Zhang Luan thought to himself, I just want to lie down and take a nap right now.

Really, they said they were giving me a chance to indulge in sensual pleasures, but they woke me up in the middle of the night and insisted that I go to the palace to attend a court meeting. Speaking of which, among all the civil and military officials in the court, I am probably the one with the worst physical condition who is qualified to attend the court meeting.

"There really isn't enough time... so why don't you just go back to the mansion and walk around."

Li Zisheng said, "Come with me to the palace. I have something to tell you on the way... I will not be with you at the court meeting today. We have to keep a distance and pretend in front of others. This may help preserve your reputation."

……

……

Fengtian Gate.

early morning.

As the first court meeting after the new emperor ascended the throne, not many people attended. For example, the middle and low-level officials of the Hanlin Academy did not attend. However, almost all the civil officials of the fifth rank and above in Beijing, as well as meritorious officials and military generals, came.

Zhang Luan attended court meetings as the president of the Hanlin Academy. Among the civil officials, he ranked after several ministers, second only to the left vice minister, and on the same level as the right vice minister.

Therefore, Li Zisheng, who held the title of Shangshu, stood in front of Zhang Luan.

Zhu Youtang arrived at daybreak.

This made the ministers present feel that they might not have a good life in the future. They would have to attend the court meeting every day, rain or shine...

Like during the Chenghua Dynasty, there were only a few court sessions throughout the year, and every time they were held, it was close to noon... Going to the yamen could be delayed or leave could be requested... This kind of idling life is gone forever!

Next to the new emperor Zhu Youtang stood the three most senior eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department, namely Wei Tai, Qin Chang and Huai En.

After a brief opening ceremony, the court meeting officially began.

Wei Tai first read out a series of imperial edicts, which involved the personnel changes in the court in recent times, especially the dismissal of monks and Taoists in Beijing, sending some foreign monks back to their hometowns, and driving Taoists out of the capital.

Then the decision to abolish the officials in charge of communication was announced.

At the end, Wei Tai also read out a major case in public, which was about Deng Changen, Zhao Yuzhi and others who misled the late emperor and disrupted the government.

After hearing this set of explanations, Li Zisheng was scared to death.

Because Li Zisheng knew that at the moment he had neither military power nor the emperor's trust... In general, he was a lamb to be slaughtered. If the emperor really wanted to issue an imperial edict to execute him, he would have to come out to thank him and then surrender.

When Wei Tai was reading the imperial edict, many people turned their eyes to Li Zisheng, wondering in their hearts, if he wanted to punish the treacherous ministers, why didn't he solve the biggest scourge?

We suffered a lot from him in the beginning, and we were manipulated by him in terms of promotion and transfer of official positions. Until now, many officials have been transferred to other places or even have to stay at home unemployed.

The chaos in the court was largely caused by this man.

Wei Tai finally said, "After the late emperor passed away, the number of impeachments and attacks on old officials has increased day by day, and many of them have no real evidence. Your Majesty has decided to put this matter aside. All the impeachments made by the censors will be recorded. Those who have not been impeached yet... will be put aside for now and sorted out after some time."

The implication.

You are now forming a faction to attack those who are different from you. You are attacking each other too fiercely, making everyone feel insecure.

Regardless of whether it is reasonable or not, you will first impeach those who you don't like. Even if they are officials who seem to be very upright, as long as you think they are not in the same group with you, you will at least accuse them of "blocking the channels of speech."

As a result of all this, the court has become a mess. It would have been fine if we hadn't mentioned it before, but now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, it's a new dynasty and a new atmosphere. You can't do whatever you want anymore.

Li Zisheng felt a little relieved when he heard this.

Does this mean... that my difficulties have been overcome for the time being?

There were so many memorials impeaching me, but the emperor asked everyone to put them aside for the time being and did not punish me. Does that mean that I can get away with it safely?
Feng Guan, the Minister of the Dali Temple, stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, the censors in the court are impeaching each other to correct the atmosphere of the court, and we should not stop them. Otherwise, treacherous people will harm the government... Just looking at the current court, there are treacherous people who have occupied high positions for a long time, and they must be eradicated."

The spearhead was directed at Li Zisheng.

Previously, many ministers had submitted memorials to impeach Li Zisheng, but to no avail, and Li Zisheng was not included in the emperor's list of punishments.

Now the emperor says that no new impeachments will be allowed.

That seemed to mean that Li Zisheng could escape sanctions and continue to stay in the court and abuse his power.

For the ministers in the court, especially those who had been bullied by Li Zisheng, now that they had finally got the chance, how could they not bring down Li Zisheng in front of the emperor?
What is the overall situation and what is stability first... they just don't care.

In the previous dynasty, we couldn’t see the emperor, and our messages couldn’t be conveyed to him, as all channels of communication were controlled by Li Zisheng.

Now that we finally have the chance, how can we let Li Zisheng continue to be an accomplice to the evil?
Wei Tai warned: "Didn't you hear what your majesty said? Right now, we should prioritize the late emperor's funeral and not escalate the situation... We can talk about everything after the court situation stabilizes."

Feng Guan retreated reluctantly.

Wan An stepped out decisively, intentionally leading the conversation to a new topic: "Your Majesty, now that you have ascended the throne, the reign title should be decided. I have listed several reign titles, please decide."

It is customary for an emperor to change the reign title after he ascends the throne.

This is the first court meeting after the new emperor ascended the throne, and it is reasonable to decide on the reign title in a timely manner.

Wan'an's move was also to warn Feng Guan and others that no matter how much you look down on Li Zisheng, or look down on me, Wan'an, at least there are more important "state affairs" that need to be discussed now.

Isn't it more important to stabilize the country's destiny than to bring down a few so-called treacherous ministers?

Huai En stood up and said loudly: "Your Majesty has determined the reign title for next year, which is Hongzhi. Next year will be the first year of Hongzhi."

Everyone present was caught off guard.

When it comes to the matter of the reign title, shouldn't the ministers at the court cite extensive references and discuss it extensively?

How did he become the sole decision maker?

However, the final decision still has to be made by the emperor himself. After all, this concerns whether his future reign will be permanent, so he can decide whatever he wants.

"There is no need to discuss the matter further."

Huai En said, "In addition, the location of the late emperor's mausoleum has been decided, and it is officially named Maoling. Construction will start today, with Zhu Yong, the Duke of Baoguo, as the admiral, Huang Shun, the eunuch of the Internal Affairs Bureau, and Li Liang, the eunuch of the Imperial Horse Bureau, as supervisors, and Chen Zheng, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, in charge of the construction. The construction period is three months, and during this period, the Xuan Palace must be completed so that the late emperor can be buried in style!"

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(End of this chapter)