Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 479 Human nature
After Zhu Youtang had a private meeting with Zhang Luan and his son, he left first. As for Zhang Yu, he would stay in Zhang's house temporarily and would be brought back to the palace before sunset.

"Your Majesty, Madam Zhang has asked the Queen to come to the palace to see her daughter more often in the future. What do you think...?"

Huai En was like a good old man at this time, and took the initiative to speak well of the Zhang family.

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "It's natural for a mother to miss her daughter. Is there anything wrong with that? Huai Daban, I don't quite understand. Do you need to ask me for permission for such a trivial matter?"

Huai En quickly explained: "The palace is strictly guarded, and we must have your permission, Your Majesty."

"Since it does not violate the ancestral rules, it is actually a very simple matter... I have told my father-in-law before that he can come to the palace to see the queen frequently in the future. Now that my mother-in-law has come to the palace, I think it should be more in line with the rules, right?"

Zhu Youtang seemed quite disapproving.

The palace is my home. My mother-in-law wants to come home to visit my wife. It is a natural thing and no one can stop her.

Huai En couldn't help feeling ashamed.

I thought to myself, it was not easy for the empress's family members in every dynasty to enter the palace, but for you it is just an ordinary matter. It seems that your relationship with the Zhang family is really special. It seems that the importance I attach to the Zhang family has reached a new level.

But then I thought, this is probably only the case when the emperor and empress are newly married and in love. But men are fickle, especially emperors. Don't you see how much Tang Xuanzong Li Longji doted on Concubine Wu Hui? In the blink of an eye, he fell in love with his daughter-in-law, and finally caused a human tragedy.

We don’t believe that the Zhang family can always maintain its prosperity!
But...even if this happens in the future, I think the current queen will be spoiled and behave inappropriately, right? It seems that I have to observe her carefully in the future!

"By the way, Huai Daban, go tell the ministers, the ministers of each ministry, and the chiefs of the three judicial departments that I plan to summon them to the Qianqing Palace tomorrow."

Zhu Youtang thought of his conversation with his brother-in-law and couldn't help but give orders.

Huai En said hesitantly: "Your Majesty, although there are precedents for the inner court to summon ministers, it must be when there is an important matter that the convention is broken. Otherwise, it is always inappropriate to meet with ministers in private."

Zhu Youtang frowned: "Doesn't the emperor often summon his subjects to the Qianqing Palace?"

"This……"

Huai'en thought that the late emperor really liked to summon ministers in the past, but after the incident of Wan'an "shouting long live the emperor", the emperor basically stopped summoning court officials in the inner court. It was only in the past two years because of some things that he occasionally met with Li Zisheng, Wan'an and other close ministers.

Your father didn't even hold a court meeting, but summoned you to the inner court?
"Logically speaking, we should be able to meet each other..."

Seeing that the emperor was displeased, Huai En could only temporarily change his words, "It would be a good thing to increase the channels of communication between the monarch and his subjects."

"Kai Daitomo, I actually think so too... What's wrong with meeting with the ministers more often and listening to their opinions? Maybe it will become a routine in the future!"

Zhu Youtang looked calm and said with a smile, "Besides, I do have something important to discuss with them tomorrow. It's about the case of Liang Fang, Peng Hua and others."

Huai En asked in surprise: "Hasn't the case been decided? Your Majesty, the death penalty has been sentenced before, and the case has been reported to the three judicial departments. We are just waiting for your final decision."

Zhu Youtang shook his head and said, "But I always feel that there are still some points worth discussing in this case... I will wait until I meet those important officials tomorrow and listen to their opinions."

Huai En was startled.

With his political awareness, he obviously realized that this matter was related to the emperor's recent meeting with Zhang Luan.

Huai En immediately thought that His Majesty was still too lenient.

I was asked before if I could pardon these people?

I clearly told you that it was not allowed at the time, but now you turn around and want to use the inner court discussion method to save these people's lives?

Huai En really wanted to ask Zhu Youtang, Peng Hua is fine, but Liang Fang had harmed you before, and might even be the murderer of your mother. Why can you be so free and easy after becoming the emperor and even ignore the hatred?

"Then your majesty, will you summon Mr. Zhang tomorrow?"

Wynn asked tentatively.

Since it is very likely that Zhang Luan instigated the emperor to summon ministers to the inner court, should Zhang Luan also be carried to attend the meeting?
Zhu Youtang frowned and asked with a dark face: "Huai Daban, are you kidding me?"

"No, I dare not..."

Huai En quickly bowed his head and admitted his mistake.

"Yes, I also think you are a sensible person. My father-in-law is injured like this now, and you still want him to attend the inner court meeting tomorrow?"

Zhu Youtang's expression then softened, and he smiled bitterly and shook his head, "My father-in-law never wants to argue about anything, and he always says what he wants to say. Talking to him about something always makes me feel relaxed, and I feel happy both physically and mentally now.

"Okay, Huai Daban, hurry up and notify the people who will be summoned tomorrow. It would be best if you can also ask a few people from the Ministry of Justice to attend the meeting. As for who to invite, it's up to you to decide.

"I am tired, I will go back to the palace to rest for a while."

"Yes."

Huai En quickly leaned forward to receive the order.

……

……

Zhu Youtang returned to the palace first in the imperial carriage.

Huai En followed behind, thinking about something in his mind, and he couldn't help sighing later.

"Eunuch Huai?"

Qin Chang quickly followed and saluted Huai'en respectfully.

Wynn nodded.

Although Wei Tai is still at the top of the Imperial Household Department today, Huai En is obviously the most powerful eunuch, and Wei Tai, who should have been ranked first, has almost no presence.

Huai'en then introduced to Tan Chang the new situation that the emperor would summon court officials to the inner court tomorrow.

Qin Chang asked in surprise: "What happened? Do you need to summon important officials to the inner court? Is it about the selection of a site for the imperial mausoleum?"

"No." Huai En shook his head, "It's because of the cases of Liang Fang, Peng Hua and others."

"Huh? Haven't they already been sentenced to death? Why do we still need to discuss this?"

Qin Chang was very surprised.

In fact, killing Liang Fang was something that most of the emerging forces in the inner court supported.

Although Liang Fang, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Stables, was not a perpetrator of all evil, he held most of the power in the inner court in his hands. From income to construction expenses, almost all links were firmly controlled by Liang Fang. What's worse, he used the Imperial Stables to interfere in the affairs of the Imperial Household Department, making the eunuchs in the palace miserable.

Now that they finally have the chance to kill Liang Fang, they all feel that they must eradicate the problem completely.

Huai En sighed, "Your Majesty is still too lenient and doesn't want to cause any more killings."

Qin Chang was startled and asked again, "Are you still going to make excuses for Deng Changen, Zhao Yuzhi and the like?"

"This one……"

Wynn shook his head.

Qin Chang asked again: "Eunuch Huai, don't you know His Majesty's character best? He always discusses many things with you alone and never tells us. Why is he still telling you..."

What this means is that since you have the greatest trust from the emperor, you should shoulder the greatest responsibility.

If there is anything, you should tell us instead of keeping it to yourself.

Huai En sighed, "To be honest, when I returned to Beijing this time, I found that the prince had changed a lot. He seemed to be much more profound than what I had seen and heard before... Especially when it comes to dealing with court affairs, he seems to be more at ease, and his generous character is truly a model of a benevolent monarch."

"Haha. You are right."

Tan Chang shook his head and smiled bitterly.

You've said all the flattery, what else can I say?
Does that mean I disagree with your point of view?

Isn’t this making yourself unhappy?
Huai En said: "From our perspective, this matter is probably related to Zhang Guozhang, a rising new noble in the court. Before His Majesty ascended the throne, he went through a lot of things, and I heard that he helped resolve them all."

Qin Chang sighed, "You are right... When Liang Fang acted recklessly, who in the court dared to be his enemy? But that scholar Zhang is really... Tsk tsk, I have never seen someone as stubborn as him. But when I interact with him, I always feel that he is a simple and honest elder with an easy-going personality and a smile at all times."

"Is it possible that he is just pretending to be nice in front of others?"

Huai En looked at Qin Chang carefully.

It seems like you are asking, you guys usually have the most contact with him, so you should know him better. If he is good at disguising himself, shouldn't you have found out long ago?

Qin Chang said: "In fact, the Empress Dowager once mentioned that our father-in-law is always honest in major matters, but he is also careless in minor matters and makes many mistakes. Or... he is always laughing and joking, but once it comes to his daughter and son-in-law... that is, our Majesty and the Queen, he really dares to risk his life."

"in this case……"

Huai En said helplessly, "It's a good thing."

Then he frowned even more deeply, "Then what reason does Zhang Guozhang have to intercede for Liang Fang, Peng Hua and others? After all, these people were ruined by him personally..."

Qin Chang said: "I think it is unlikely that this is what he said."

"how to say?"

Wynn asked curiously.

Qin Chang leaned over and whispered, "You don't mention leading the East Factory now. I don't know the temperament of our new father-in-law. He... can't move his legs when he sees a woman, so Li Zisheng tried every means to send him women, including many women of the people involved in this case. Why should he intercede for these people now?"

"Hmm... So, everything is still up to your Majesty?"

Huai En seemed to understand something, and nodded slightly, "According to our guess, there will probably be no progress in the inner court tomorrow. At most, the case will be sent back to go through the process again, and finally a death sentence will be imposed. Letting these people die has actually become a consensus between the government and the opposition, and it cannot be changed."

Tan Chang smiled and said, "So even if it was Zhang Guozhang's suggestion, it was actually just a perfunctory response to Your Majesty, right?"

Huai En said, "You mean, Zhang Guozhang obviously felt that this case could not be overturned, and he himself did not want to overturn the case for the sake of women, so he brought up the excuse of summoning the inner court to evade Your Majesty?"

"This... is hard to say, hard to say!"

Tan Chang shook his head and smiled bitterly.

I was thinking, Huai'en, you are fearless and yet you are so confident in criticizing the father-in-law of the emperor?
He is not an ordinary father-in-law of the emperor. He holds power and, most importantly, has the absolute trust of the emperor.

If you dare to offend us, we can't afford to offend you.

According to the rules of all dynasties, whoever is close to the emperor and has the emperor's trust will be the most powerful official in the court. Even if he is only a vice minister now, his authority is much greater than that of the prime minister and the minister.

Take the cabinet chief minister Wan'an for example. How difficult is it for him to see the emperor? But Zhang Luan, on the other hand, was lying at home, and the emperor came to visit him obediently. There is no comparison between the two, right?

Huai En said: "As long as Zhang Guozhang's attitude on this matter is ambiguous, there is nothing wrong with it... I just want to let His Majesty know that even if the inner court summons him, there will be no new results..."

"You have to tell me."

Qin Chang was also a hands-off boss. He smiled and said, "Many things can only be useful if you tell us in person. We are all insignificant little people, and our ability to handle things is far inferior to yours. It's good that we don't cause trouble for you. I heard that Eunuch Wei Tai has asked His Majesty to transfer him to build Maoling..."

"Why is this so?"

Huai En said quickly: "Why is it so! In fact, we came back this time just to assist the new king to take the throne smoothly, not to seize power. However, we are old now, and there is nothing wrong with going home to enjoy our old age."

Tan Chang smiled and said, "Your character has been praised by most people in the court. Who doesn't know what kind of person you are? Even if you want to train him, you should train him more... Old men in the palace like Tan Ji, the eunuch Tan... Speaking of which, his temperament is very similar to yours. We... are all old!"

Huai En said: "Yan laughed."

Although he said this, Huai En was actually thinking that it was time to train a qualified successor for the Imperial Household Department.

Judging from the current situation, if I leave, no one in the Imperial Household Department will be able to defeat this Zhang Guozhang!

(End of this chapter)