Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 47: Rumor
Li Zisheng reported the disaster to the emperor. Although the emperor did not praise him openly, he made his rival Deng Changen lose face, highlighting his style as the number one charlatan in the Ming Dynasty, and he was very proud of himself for a while.

That day he was at home tending to flowers and birds when he was told that the cabinet minister Liu Ji was here to ask for a meeting. Li Zisheng had no choice but to calm down and come out to meet him.

Liu Ji was a Jinshi in the 13th year of Zhengtong. He participated in the compilation of classics such as "General History of the World", "Unified History of the Ming Dynasty", "Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong", and "Wenhua Daxun". He lectured on classics and history to Emperor Yingzong and the current emperor Zhu Jianshen, and had extremely rich experience.

In the 11th year of Chenghua, Liu Ji entered the cabinet. At that time, the emperor had neglected government affairs. The cabinet ministers and ministers of various ministries were all insignificant and did not do their jobs. Soon, people began to say that "the three cabinet ministers were made of paper and the six ministers were made of clay". Among the "three cabinet ministers", Liu Wei was slightly more capable than Wan'an and Liu Ji. He once scolded Wan'an for being "shameless and betraying the country". Wan'an and Liu Ji then joined forces to frame Liu Wei, but pretended to rescue him on the surface. Last September, Liu Wei was forced to retire, and the positions of Wan'an and Liu Ji in the court became more stable.

Liu Ji had a square face that looked honest and loyal. He was usually serious and looked mature wherever he went. But when he saw Li Zisheng, his face was as bright as a flower. He bowed and said:
"I have met Master Li... I have heard that the Master knows the will of heaven and can even predict earthquakes. After hearing this, I feel deeply that the Master is very accomplished, so I have come here to congratulate him."

"What did you say?"

Li Zisheng frowned when he heard this.

In terms of official position, Liu Ji was the second assistant of the cabinet, which was much higher in rank than Li Zisheng's Tongzhengshi. After all, Li Zisheng's position as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites was a nominal position and not a real vacancy.

But in terms of status in the court, Liu Ji was far inferior to Li Zisheng.

Because although Li Zisheng was only the Minister of Public Security at the time, he was doing the job of the Minister of Personnel. The appointment of official positions of all ranks in the court basically had to go through Li Zisheng, and the appointment of officials in the court could be decided by Li Zisheng alone.

Liu Ji heard that day that Li Zisheng had done something very amazing. He actually dared to predict an earthquake, and he even gave the time, place and number of times. He thought that there had been no one before and there would probably be no one after him. So he came to curry favor with him and flatter him, but he ended up flattering the wrong person.

Liu Ji asked in confusion: "Is there anything wrong with the rumor?"

Li Zisheng was shocked and asked, "How did you know this?"

Obviously, Li Zisheng did not want this matter to spread. In his opinion, reporting to the emperor was nothing big, because the news would only spread in a small circle, and he could easily deal with it later regardless of whether the Ningxia earthquake occurred or not.

The more people know about it, the bigger the incident becomes and the easier it is to fail.

Liu Ji said: "In the past two days, the court has been discussing this matter. Whenever the ministers mention it, they are amazed. There are so many Taoist priests in the world, but it is rare to see someone like Minister Li who is responsible, courageous, and has such magical powers.

"Minister Li, I also want to know how you calculated that an earthquake would occur in Ningxia, thousands of miles away? Could it be that... you really have the ability to predict the future?"

Li Zisheng gritted his teeth and said, "It must be Deng who is stirring up trouble."

"what!?"

When Liu Ji heard that Li Zisheng's answer was irrelevant, he could not help but ask in surprise, "Could it be that the rumor is untrue? Someone is talking nonsense on behalf of Minister Li? That would be really..."

Li Zisheng looked annoyed and said, "I did mention to Your Majesty that there would be an earthquake in Ningxia, but the situation is not as simple as you heard. The reasons behind it are not clear at the moment."

"That's really..."

With Liu Ji's long experience in officialdom and his understanding of the ways of the world, he could probably see that Li Zisheng had no confidence at all about the Ningxia earthquake, and was probably just making it up to gain attention in front of the emperor. However, someone with ulterior motives deliberately spread the story to make a big fuss and put Li Zisheng in a bad situation.

Li Zisheng asked with a dark face, "Does Elder Liu have any connections in the northwest?"

Liu Ji immediately understood that Li Zisheng wanted to drag him into the fraud, and hurriedly said: "No, no, I have always been an official in the central government and never formed a party. Naturally, I don’t have many students or old friends. As for the northwest, there is no one available.

"As for Ningxia... Oh, if there really is an earthquake, it will definitely be a big deal. Since the court knows about the disaster, it should have responded in advance and notified the local government to prepare for earthquake prevention and disaster relief. I have other things to do, so please forgive me for not being able to stay for long... Goodbye, goodbye."

…………

In the capital, inside Chongwenmen, Huizhou Trading House.

Manager Qin arrived in a carriage, and after meeting the manager of the trading house, she moved into a private house not far from the trading house.

The house looks inconspicuous from the outside, but it is a different world once you go inside. Even though it is the coldest time of the year, you can still see stretches of green in the courtyard, with pavilions, towers, rockery and strange rocks.

"Boss, this is a piece of rare stone that was just transported from Huangshan. It cost a lot of manpower and material resources. This is also to make you feel at home even in the capital. There are also bamboos and orchids sent by the Song family outside Zhumen. Many of them are newly added scenery. Please take a look."

The people in charge of the capital were very respectful to Manager Qin, but Manager Qin didn't want to study the flowers and plants in the yard.

Then Manager Qin called Xu Gong in.

"Boss, I've sent people to inquire about it, but we haven't found out where Mr. Zhang lives yet. But logically, he should live near the Imperial College in the north of the city... I heard that he has a close relationship with Shen Jingli from the Yintaisi, and his trip to Beijing this time was also guided by Shen Jingli." Xu Gong said.

Shopkeeper Qin nodded thoughtfully and said, "Although the official positions of the Silver Office are low, their connections in the court should not be underestimated."

Xu Gong said: "That's right. These past two days, it's been widely rumored in the capital that Li Shilang of the Silver Bureau predicted in front of the emperor that there would be an earthquake in Ningxia on the night of Bingzi this month. The court and the public were shocked by it. Now everyone is discussing it and speculating whether there will really be an earthquake at that time..."

"Oh? Is there such a thing?"

Shopkeeper Qin frowned. "Talking nonsense about an earthquake is risky with little reward. Only those scoundrels who want to stand out would do such a thing. It really shouldn't come from a big shot like Minister Li."

Xu Gong was also puzzled: "This matter is very strange. It is said that your Majesty asked the Taoist priests around him whether there will be disasters in the future, and Minister Li reported it like this."

Shopkeeper Qin pondered for a long time before whispering, "It may be related to the Crown Prince of the East Palace."

Xu Gong was somewhat surprised: "Could it be that Your Majesty wants to..."

Shopkeeper Qin interrupted Xu Gong and said, "It is not appropriate for us to discuss matters concerning the royal family, but since that Minister Li dared to speak out in front of His Majesty, I think this matter is certain... For now, let's find the residence of Zhang Jiansheng and pay him a visit. By the way, how is Mr. Wang doing?"

"The message has already been delivered."

Xu Gong said, "According to the informant, Mr. Wang was sure that Mr. Zhang was a swindler in the market. His actions were just to attract attention and had nothing to do with medical skills. However, the news of Xingji's great success in preventing and treating smallpox has been reported back to Huizhou. Even merchants in Huizhou would stop by Xingji to plant medicine on their way north. Mr. Wang was shocked and had to set off north again."

Shopkeeper Qin said, "Now even the imperial court has begun to take it seriously. I'm afraid Mr. Wang's previous judgment was wrong... I didn't expect that the Wang family, who have been practicing medicine for generations, would also make mistakes!"

Xu Gong said: "Even if Mr. Wang arrives in the capital, how can we communicate with Mr. Zhang?"

Shopkeeper Qin shook his head and said, "No matter what, we must get the prescription for preventing and treating smallpox, so that smallpox will no longer be prevalent in the Ming Dynasty and benefit all the people in the world. This will show the broad-mindedness of the gentry of Huizhou in saving the world and serving the people. Hurry up and find out where Zhang Jiansheng lives. We must present him with a gift so that he can live in peace in the capital."

"Yes."

Xu Gong said, "Our people are still looking around, and we estimate that there will be news in the next two days."

(End of this chapter)