Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 466 Protection Fees

After Xie Qian returned to the Hanlin Academy, he always felt guilty.

Whenever he thought of Zhang Luan, he would sigh and couldn't hide his depressed mood. With his talkative personality, it was difficult for him to keep things to himself.

Wang Ao came in to deliver the lecture case. Seeing Xie Qian sitting there with a wooden expression, he approached and said with a smile, "Yu Qiao, do you feel regretful that you can't go to Wenhua Hall to give lectures every day like before? In fact, we are all the same... The crown prince suddenly became the king, and we are all a little uncomfortable with the change in our status."

"hehe."

Xie Qian smiled but said nothing.

At present, the Hanlin Academy is filled with a cheerful and joyful atmosphere, which can be said to have swept away the tense and depressing atmosphere at the end of the Chenghua period.

This is mainly because most of the Hanlin officials feel that they have finally made it. The prince has finally become the emperor after all the hard work, and they, a group of Eastern Palace lecturers, have also achieved their goals and can finally hold their heads up high and no longer be oppressed by the treacherous officials in the court. Now the sun is rising in the east, and the scene is prosperous.

Xie Qian shook his head and said, "Alas, I am worried about Zhang Laizhan's matter."

"Ah? Zhang Laizhan? What happened to him?"

Wang Ao was very surprised.

Although Zhang Luan is nominally the head of the Hanlin Academy, in reality no one takes Zhang Luan seriously.

In the officialdom, seniority is the most important thing.

In addition to being the father-in-law of the young emperor, Zhang Laizhan was also involved in several major events at the end of the Chenghua period. Apart from this, what else is special about him?
You are just a scholar, you haven't even been a student for a few days, let alone passed the imperial examination, yet you want to act like a big shot in the Hanlin Academy?
Who gave you the courage?

If it weren't for the fact that Zhang Luan was the emperor's relative by marriage and they wanted to save face for the current emperor, all the Hanlin officials would have impeached him to death just like those messenger officials.

"He's all right."

Xie Qian said gloomily, "It is precisely because he has done nothing that I feel that he will not stay in the Hanlin Academy for long, let alone be a good minister of the Ministry of Revenue... I went to talk to Liu Xueshi about this matter before, and he told me that this is roughly what he meant."

Then, Xie Qian told Liu Jian the truth about his previous conversation as if it were a casual chat.

Wang Ao nodded after listening to it: "In fact, what Liu Xueshi said is not wrong. If Zhang Laizhan cannot make achievements in the Ministry of Revenue, he will not be able to stay. There is no need for the censors to impeach him. Just tell him and he may take the initiative to resign to His Majesty. If it really comes to that, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you, Yu Qiao..."

Speaking of this, Wang Ao couldn't help but smile.

He suddenly understood why Liu Jian said this to Xie Qian.

Because Xie Qian himself had a good relationship with Zhang Luan, and was one of the few people in the Hanlin Academy who had a friendship with Zhang Luan.

Xie Qian said: "I am not worried about telling him about this, but I feel sorry for Lai Zhan. Tsk... I really don't know where to start."

Wang Ao frowned, obviously not understanding Xie Qian's worries: "Yu Qiao, do you really think Zhang Laizhan is capable of handling the affairs of the court? In fact, what Liu Xueshi said was right, right?"

"how to say?"

Xie Qian said, "I haven't known Lai Zhan for a long time, and we even have very few opportunities to sit down and talk. But for some reason, I always feel that he is kind and genuine, open-minded, and not hypocritical at all, which makes people want to interact with him.

"You said that with his character, he could have been a non-confrontational person in the court, but he insisted on rushing forward to escort the crown prince to the throne, and thus gained the trust of the two emperors who entrusted him with important tasks. Is this his fault?"

Wang Ao said: "This... I don't know."

Obviously Wang Ao did not expect Xie Qian to have such a high opinion of Zhang Luan.

Xie Qian said again: "Perhaps if Zhang Laizhan stayed in the Ministry of Rites, he could be a quiet and inactive official, and no one would say anything to him. Unfortunately, Your Majesty was too eager for success and arranged him to the Ministry of Revenue. I'm afraid... it will be difficult for him to achieve anything in a short period of time. In the end, not only did he lose his position as the Minister of Rites, he also didn't stay in the position for long, and he even lost his position as the President of the Hanlin Academy."

Wang Ao smiled and comforted him: "Your Majesty will definitely not dismiss Lai Zhan's position completely. I think he will retain his position in the Hanlin Academy. If he returns to the academy, I don't mind sitting and discussing with him, editing books together, and organizing documents, to help the scholars of the world. You can also help him when the time comes, Yu Qiao."

Xie Qian shook his head and said, "You think too much. If he retires from the position of the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, how can he remain in the ranks of civil officials? I'm afraid he will be sent to serve in the Five Military Commandery. When we see him again in the future, we can only regard him as a relative of the Ming Dynasty. It's a pity."

……

……

Wang Ao never expected that with Zhang Luan's background, he could still make friends in the court, and they were true friends who only cared about him.

At this time, Zhang Luan had no idea that this was a huge political crisis for him.

He was waiting at home for Li Zisheng to send him a woman. He was looking forward to it very much, but in the end, there was no response after waiting for several days.

Zhang Luan's complaints gradually increased.

Finally, even the food cooked by the new chef didn't seem to be delicious anymore. When he saw Zhang Yanling coming to his temporary residence in the suburbs of the south of the city, he complained to his son: "Son, do you think Li Zisheng was lying to me? Did he even forget about that incident?"

Zhang Yanling said, "I haven't forgotten... Li Zisheng may cheat anyone, but he will never cheat you... He still has to rely on you to protect his life and property... Dad, you should be more calm when encountering things. You should give him a few days to prepare carefully, right? Oh, by the way, the money I have collected for you and the money given by Li Zisheng are all ready. You can go to the court to talk about this matter tomorrow morning."

"Oh."

Zhang Luan asked casually, "How many are there in total?"

Zhang Yanling took out a list and handed it to Zhang Luan: "I have written it down clearly for you. There are also certain rules for the format of the memorial. You just need to copy it."

"Damn, you really thought it through... You've prepared everything? Tsk tsk, and it looks pretty good. Finally, your father didn't raise you in vain!"

Zhang Luan held the memorial in his hand, looking very pleased with it. He said with great joy, "It's so neat, why should I copy it? I can just use your original manuscript."

Zhang Yanling said unhappily: "Dad, do we still have any shame?"

"Hasn't my old face been completely lost in front of you?"

Zhang Luan seemed to understand his situation and made fun of his son. Then he comforted him, "But you are right. I am a shameless father, but you have to protect your dignity... Then I will copy a copy and submit it."

"Ah."

Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "If you bring it up in public at the court, the effect will be better." Zhang Luan smiled and said, "Twenty-three thousand five hundred taels of high-quality silver... Tsk tsk, such a large sum of money is unparalleled. I am paying tribute to the court. If I had this silver in my hands, how much could I do? Son, did you pay for all the silver?"

"No, there is also sponsorship from Huizhou merchants."

Zhang Yanling said, "It's equivalent to the protection fee they pay."

Zhang Luan said: "If it was really given by those merchants, then this number is not enough... Just over 20,000 taels, and you want to buy peace and quiet? You are overthinking it!"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Dad, you are really not satisfied! This money can make you a good start in the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. In the future, Huizhou merchants will inevitably provide you with more... I guess Li Zisheng will probably help you raise money."

"I haven't seen him for several days. Do you think he will really be prepared?"

Zhang Luan frowned.

Zhang Yanling said confidently: "Li Zisheng is definitely a man who can get things done, otherwise he wouldn't have been so successful in the Chenghua Dynasty... and in the matter of sending silver, he must have wanted to show off his amazing ability to make money so that His Majesty would look at him with new eyes...

"You gave him a stage to perform. If he doesn't show any reaction, how can he still stay in the court?"

"Then...it all depends on his performance!"

Zhang Luan said viciously, "If the amount is less, I won't even look at it!"

……

……

That night.

Just when Zhang Luan was leisurely copying memorials in his study, turning around from time to time to say a few words to his son, someone came from outside to report that Li Zisheng had come to visit him in person.

Zhang Luan hurried out. Seeing his son trying to catch up, he held out his hand to stop him. "Son, you know I have something between adults to discuss with Li Zisheng. Would you like to step aside for a while? I absolutely don't mean to distrust you... It's just that it's not easy to talk about this in front of him."

Zhang Yanling suddenly realized: "I see, it's a woman's thing... Then I'll go back to my room first, call me if you need anything!"

"My son understands your father's thoughts."

Because of some things, Zhang Luan has completely stopped pretending in front of his son.

Then he went to the door, but saw Li Zisheng had already come in, but there was no sign of Pang Qing.

Zhang Luan was embarrassed to say what he was thinking right away, so he could only pretend to be polite. After exchanging greetings, he invited Li Zisheng to the main hall, and the host and guest sat down respectively.

Seeing that Li Zisheng was reluctant to get to the point, Zhang Luan asked first, "Why is Mr. Pang not here?"

"What about Mr. Pang? You think too highly of him! You can call him Lao Pang, or Bingkun." Li Zisheng curled his lips.

Zhang Luan smiled bitterly and said, "We have known each other for a long time. Do we still care about how we address each other?"

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "Laizhan, I know that you have become the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. His Majesty is indeed in some difficulties. I think the inner court is in a tight spot right now. What I can do is to try my best to raise some money for you, which can be regarded as doing something practical for the new emperor. Here is the gift list, take a look."

"This……"

As Zhang Luan reached out to take it, he was thinking, why don’t you tell me about women right away?

"This is the ladder for your promotion. If you don't obey the crowd, who dares to say that you are suitable for the position of the Minister of Revenue?" Li Zisheng smiled, as if he had helped Zhang Luan a lot. "It's about 50,000 taels of silver, which was temporarily collected. Many people contributed. You must take care of them when you come back."

Zhang Luan thought to himself, wow, this is what you call protection money!

If you want to avoid disaster, the prerequisite is to spend money to avoid disaster!
Each family collected money and gave it to Li Zisheng, who then passed it to Zhang Luan and gave it to the emperor.

In this way, the emperor would feel embarrassed to punish those incompetent officials.

Zhang Luan thought, isn't this a return to the bad policies of the Chenghua period?
Am I an accomplice to the evil?
Li Zisheng asked, "Why? Do you think it's too little?"

"No no."

Zhang Luan quickly shook his head and said, "This silver...what do I need to get from His Majesty? Is there no other way or method other than taking care of them?"

"Haha."

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "You are already the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, there is no need to be so evasive when speaking... Just ask directly and I will answer you.

"This money is actually more of an attitude. You don't have to care about them, and they even have to accept your favor... If you really ask Your Majesty to favor them, maybe they will take advantage of you."

Zhang Luan asked in surprise: "How could this happen?"

Li Zisheng did not answer this question. He seemed to suddenly remember something, and quickly took out another thing and handed it to Zhang Luan.

Zhang Luan took it, looked at it, and asked curiously, "Key?"

"Yes, it is the key."

Li Zisheng said, "Everything has been arranged for you... The house is in the south of the city near Chongwenmen. Although the area is full of good and bad people, there are also several large houses. When you go there, it's best to keep a low profile to avoid being seen by the people from the East Factory and the Jinyiwei... Oh, look at my pig brain. Now the people from the factory and the Jinyiwei have to consider your face and will definitely not send anyone to follow or investigate you."

"what!?"

Only then did Zhang Luan realize that the imperial court was truly treacherous.

Will court officials be followed and investigated?

Li Zisheng continued, "Everything inside and outside the house has been arranged, just open the door and go in, the people inside will arrange everything for you to be comfortable.

"But Lai Zhan, I have to remind you that these women have complicated backgrounds. Their husbands or fathers are all people who are at the center of controversy. They themselves have problems because they were spoiled. You must be clear when you send them away. It's best to be like the dew before the dawn. Don't take it seriously."

(End of this chapter)