Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 521

Li House.

Early in the morning, Li Zisheng dressed in his official uniform and prepared to go to court.

When walking towards the palace gate, Li Zisheng was very excited because he would appear in the court with Zhang Luan that day. Previously, one of them was injured and the other was sick. It didn't matter whether they were pretending or not. What mattered was that Li Zisheng wanted people to know that he had coordinated with Zhang Luan before returning to the court.

That's what a good brother is!

No matter what we do, we keep in step.

"Master Dao, aren't you afraid of being embarrassed by the ministers at the court?"

When Pang Qing saw Li Zisheng off, he couldn't help but ask a question.

Li Zisheng asked back with a smile: "What do you know? With Lai Zhan here, those who don't like me will have to behave themselves... With His Majesty's support, why should I be afraid of them?"

Pang Qingxin said, you are not afraid yet?

A few days ago, you were so scared that you had to pretend to be sick and stay at home to avoid going out. Have you forgotten who was discouraged and hopeless about your future, sighing and groaning all day long?
Now that you have established a good relationship with Zhang Guozhang and your future is secured, do you feel so confident?

"By the way, have the people from the Shuiqing Squad in Jiangnan arrived in the capital? Didn't I ask you to send someone to the south to tell them to come over as soon as possible?"

Li Zisheng asked.

Pang Qing said: "We have sent people to urge them. They have been on the road for the first half of the month and are expected to reach the capital soon."

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "That's good. I'll invite Lai Zhan to watch a good show tomorrow."

Pang Qing said helplessly: "It's just a Shuiqing class, I'm afraid it doesn't suit Zhang Guozhang's appetite, right?"

"What do you know? The owner of the Shuiqing Troupe is a powerful figure. The female characters he chooses are all beautiful and intelligent. They don't seem to be trained from a young age, but every one of them who comes out of his hands is well-received and popular. It is precisely because of this that the Shuiqing Troupe is very famous in Yingtian Prefecture."

Li Zisheng was very pleased with himself.

Pang Qing said: "The last time they went north to the capital was two years ago."

"Yes, two years have passed in the blink of an eye." Li Zisheng said with a smile, "I wonder if the Feiyun sisters are still in the Shuiqing class. If they are still there, hehe..."

"what?"

Pang Qing asked in confusion: "You even remember the names of the actors in the troupe?"

"What's this?"

Li Zisheng said, "Since ancient times, people have listened to and watched operas, or drank tea with actors, or even spent a good night together. Who hasn't done that? Not to mention that I once had great power in the court, even if I was just a local official, could they still go against my will? I'm not doing this for myself this time, but for Lai Zhan. Who made him like this?"

"It's different..."

"What's the difference? Even if Lai Zhan likes the convicted woman, he can't marry her to live with him. I can't just wait for the court officials to be convicted every day and use my connections to find him a wife, right? People need to have some romance. I still don't understand what's so good about women who live in seclusion. If you want to be able to handle situations, you have to be someone like Qi Niang or someone from the Shuiqing Troupe..."

Li Zisheng said this, looked up at the sky, shook his head and said, "Let's go, if we don't go now, we'll be late for the court. Hurry up and hurry them up, don't wait until I lose power and the Shuiqing Squadron hasn't arrived in the capital, then all the painstaking arrangements will be in vain!"

Pang Qing said quickly: "That won't happen. If they are late, we will have to teach them a lesson... They can't even afford to offend those officials in Nanjing who were released, let alone you? I think they understand this themselves, and they are rushing to the capital at night..."

At this time, Li Zisheng had already entered the carriage. Hearing what Pang Qing said, he opened the curtain and said with a smile: "I don't think they can afford to offend you. But at this critical moment, you should not shout for war and killing. If it is really too late, just give them a small punishment and a big warning. Don't make me look so unkind... I am an official, not a deadly demon."

……

……

Forbidden City.

The court meeting that day was held in the Fengtian Hall.

Also because the weather was cold and there was a strong wind that day, and it looked like it was going to rain, the court meeting was temporarily moved from the square in front of the palace to a place with roofs.

In the court, Zhang Luan, leaning on a cane, stood behind the six ministers, smiling from time to time at those who cast their attention on him... He was the most watched person in the whole audience, and everyone was curious about how he walked step by step to the Fengtian Hall with an injured leg.

Previously, Zhang Luan’s colleagues in the Honglu Temple, Taichang Temple, Hanlin Academy, Ministry of Rites, and his brother-in-law Xu Qiong had all come to greet him.

Zhang Luan responded politely one by one, without being overbearing or keeping people at a distance. At this moment, he was more like a humble old man sitting at the entrance of the village, and even had a unique temperament of being honest and straightforward, which made people unconsciously approachable.

At the court meeting that day, there was another person who attracted attention. It was Li Zisheng, who had not attended court for a long time and was different from the others. The two seemed to have integrated into the group of civil and military officials, but in fact, they were out of tune with the surrounding environment. Now even the followers who once attached themselves to Li Zisheng would automatically avoid his sight when they saw him.

The former glory of Lizi Province no longer exists.

With the arrival of the emperor, the court meeting officially began.

After Zhu Youtang and his subjects finished their formalities, he looked at Zhang Luan with concern and asked, "Father-in-law, your injury hasn't healed yet, why are you here for the court meeting so soon?"

Zhang Luan was about to move out of the class with his crutches.

Zhu Youtang quickly dissuaded him: "Father-in-law, you don't have to move, just stand where you are and talk... Since you are not feeling well, don't worry about those empty formalities."

Zhang Luan stopped and bowed, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. My injury is no longer serious. I will try to attend court as much as possible in the future to serve the court."

Liu Ji sighed when he heard this: "An official like Zhang Guozhang who cares about the court is truly a role model for us. I just wonder... when will Zhang Guozhang be able to go to the Ministry of Revenue to perform his duties? I heard that during the time you were recovering from your injury, the Ministry of Revenue had a lot of official business piled up, and it has not been resolved yet."

"Come on, come on."

Zhang Luan glanced at Liu Ji and thought, what's wrong with you?

Could it be that he became arrogant after becoming the Prime Minister?

The reason I went to court was to give myself a sense of existence. Did I have to work in the Ministry of Revenue and handle official business? Sorry, that's not what I like to do at all!

If I were to become an official, I would only want to be an idle one, preferably one who would just eat and wait for death all day long, and only be called upon to participate in major events... I would only be responsible for doing specific things, and not for the daily affairs of the yamen, which was in line with my free and unrestrained personality.

Zhu Youtang nodded with satisfaction: "Father-in-law is loyal to the emperor and the country, and deserves praise, but your injury has not healed yet, so you really shouldn't work too hard... Father-in-law, you have been working hard recently."

"Don't dare take it!"

Zhang Luan saluted and said, "These are all things I should do. Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."

Everyone around was very curious.

Haven’t you, Zhang Luan, been staying at home recuperating from your injuries?

What did you do to make the emperor think that you are working hard?

Is it a hard job to stay at home all day after getting injured?
You are injured and you are justified?

Or did the emperor treat your situation as an industrial injury?
Zhu Youtang waved his hand and said, "Let's stop talking nonsense and start the court meeting... Huai Daban, if there is anything important, please summarize it first."

"Yes."

Huai En came out and said loudly, "Your Majesty, what I want to say now may be related to the task that Minister Zhang is responsible for... The autumn grain harvest in various places this year has basically been collected, and taxes are being transported to the capital one after another. A lot of grain will also be sent to the northwest, and the situation of grain withdrawal this year is not optimistic."

Zhu Youtang asked: "Is it because of too many natural and man-made disasters?"

Huai En shook his head and said, "Generally speaking, the weather is good everywhere, but there are occasional floods along the Yellow River in the Central Plains."

"Ah."

Zhu Youtang nodded and said, "I heard that there have been many floods in the past two years due to the Yellow River bursting its banks, and many people have been displaced... Didn't they say they were going to change the route? Is there any progress?"

"This one……"

Huai En seemed very embarrassed, but he still spoke loudly to let the civil and military officials present know how difficult the court is now. "The cost of river engineering is huge. With the current stock of money and grain in the treasury, it is difficult to support such a huge expenditure. As for the diversion of the Yellow River... there are many plans, but no conclusion has been reached yet."

Zhu Youtang seemed to understand something and looked around at the officials present: "My fellow officials, please pay attention to this matter. I will ask for detailed countermeasures later."

"According to the order."

Everyone present understood that the young emperor could not suddenly bring up a topic for discussion, and he had to give his ministers some time to prepare so that he could speak meaningfully.

This also shows that the new emperor is more benevolent and will give people leeway.

Huai En added: "In addition, the expenses of the northwest border this year are greater than in previous years. The Tatars have not made any unusual moves in the past few years, but since the second half of this year, there have been reports of Tatars invading the border and disturbing the people in many places in the northwest. Please dispatch a general officer to the northwest to supervise military and political affairs and try to stop the Tatars' ambition to invade the border."

(End of this chapter)