Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 547 The Power Behind

Not long after Zhang Yanling saw Qin Zhao off, the carriage that Zhang Luan was riding in slowly stopped at the gate.

"Be careful, my leg is still injured... Oh, do you want me to fall again?" Zhang Luan complained a lot when he got off the carriage.

When Zhang Yanling heard that his old father was coming, he just walked out of the door and saw Zhang Luan teaching the people working below.

He didn't lose his temper in front of others.

When they entered the courtyard and were in a private setting, Zhang Yanling complained, "Dad, why do you have to argue with people who do things? Their main task is to work, not to serve you... You come in and start shouting and yelling, isn't that a bit too overbearing?"

"Oh, you can't even say a few words? If I don't make my attitude clear, I'm afraid they won't be able to tell the difference between the main and the subordinate... Hey, I'm disciplining the people below you, and you're not happy?"

Zhang Luan yelled, "I know you are kind-hearted and love to win people's hearts, so you will play the villain and I will play the villain... Why, as the head of the Zhang family, my words don't count?"

Zhang Yanling rolled his eyes upon hearing this and shook his head, "Dad, you have so many heretical theories."

"Alright, alright, let's get back to the point... I'm here to make a closing statement with you regarding the case... Here, I've got all the files back for you, so you can sort them out... Start now, I'll be waiting for you here, and I'll leave as soon as you're done, so I won't interfere with your work!"

After saying that, Zhang Luan sat down on the chair with a carefree look, and his sidelong glance seemed to say, "You work, and I'll watch you. When you're done, I'll sign your writing with my name and present it to the emperor tomorrow."

Zhang Yanling pouted: "Dad, you are too shameless, aren't you?"

"How am I shameless? Oh, when you order me around for no reason, do you have any shame? Don't forget, you are the son and I am the father. How can a son order his father around in this world?"

Zhang Luan angrily said, "Isn't it because of you that I chose to be this worthless official? It makes me restless every day and I can't even sleep well... So, you have to take responsibility to the end..."

"Ugh!"

Zhang Yanling was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Faced with such a shameless old father, he had no choice but to sort things out for him.

"By the way, I went to the Northern Pacification Office today and almost ran into Zhang Shanji."

Seeing his youngest son starting to get busy and others unable to sit still, Zhang Luan spoke to himself.

"What? Zhang Shanji was not sentenced to death. Are you sad, Dad?"

Zhang Yanling explained, "Dad, unless an official who is a Jinshi is guilty of heinous crimes, the punishment is basically just dismissal. Don't worry about those trivial things."

"No, I already knew what to do with him. How could I think too much?"

Zhang Luan shook his head and continued, "I just heard that he tried to commit suicide in the imperial prison, but he didn't die, which caused the Jinyiwei to be busy and nervous... Alas, if one day in the future, I also end up like him, I don't know...whether I will be willing to do that last thing!"

"Dad, why are you thinking about these things?"

Zhang Yanling knew that persuasion was useless. The more he tried to persuade the old man, the more excited he became. He simply mocked him, "I, your son, am well versed in the art of prophecy and know how to avoid disaster and seek good fortune. I will persuade you to take the right path, and our family will only get better and better! But if you, your father, do not listen to my advice and insist on going against me, you may end up in trouble..."

Seeing Zhang Luan's face flushed as he was about to refute, Zhang Yanling quickly said, "Dad, you staying here will affect my writing... You should go home first, and I will send it to you when I finish writing, so that you won't be bored here and talk nonsense to disturb my thoughts...

"I won't see you off, goodbye..."

……

……

Zhang Luan was troubled by the incident of Zhang Shanji hanging himself in prison and his mental state had been not very good.

He felt relieved as his youngest son helped him with the things at hand. Moreover, he didn't want to go home after being driven away by his son, so he ran to visit Li Zisheng's mansion immediately. When he saw the host, he still looked unhappy.

"Laizhan, I've had the backyard cleaned up... From now on, we'll use it as a place for you and me to eat and discuss things... Let's go to other places less often in the future. Places with a lot of people are crowded and difficult to control."

Li Zisheng suggested as soon as he arrived.

"Oh."

Zhang Luan responded at first, then asked in surprise, "Why do we have to do it in your house instead of a more secret courtyard?"

Li Zisheng laughed and said, "Do you think I deliberately invited you to my house to strengthen my own prestige? Wrong, absolutely wrong! Let me put it this way, I have extensive connections in the East Factory and the Jinyiwei, and no one dares to watch my house casually... and I have arranged people around my house to watch it twelve hours a day... It is absolutely safe for you to come here."

"What!?"

Zhang Luan was extremely surprised.

He used to think that Li Zisheng was just a frivolous Taoist priest, but now he knows that Li Zisheng's arrangements in politics and life are very comprehensive. His political awareness is far beyond his imagination.

Li Zisheng sighed, "Let me put it this way. Unless His Majesty cannot tolerate me and wants to drive me away, or directly imprison me or sentence me to death, I am not afraid of these people in the capital now, even if he is a commander of the Jinyiwei, or an official at the level of a minister or a minister."

"This……"

Zhang Luan seemed speechless.

He was thinking, aren’t you, Li Zisheng, a little too blindly confident?
The Grand Secretary will not harm you, but aren't you afraid of the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?
They represent the emperor's face outside, but they won't reason with you.

As a scholar, I still feel frightened when I think of the tragic conditions in the imperial prison.

Li Zisheng invited Zhang Luan to sit down, poured wine for him, and said with a smile: "You think I am bragging, right? Or do you think that I am just a minister of public administration now, and even the position of minister is just an empty title, and I have no ability to call the wind and rain at all?"

"No no……"

Zhang Luan smiled apologetically, "Minister Li has always been very strong, I've known this for a long time!"

"Haha, strong..."

Li Zisheng shook his head and smiled, "What you said is not accurate enough. In fact, anyone who has been a powerful official will understand that the skills and connections you have involve all aspects of the court. I not only have people in the six ministries and the three judicial departments, but also in the factory guards, and their ranks are not low... Even the commander of the Jinyiwei, Zhu Ji, has to curry favor with me and give me gifts, because I hold something that is disadvantageous to him.

"Besides that, I know better than anyone who among the Jinyiwei has done something dirty, who can be used by me, who will tip me off... who loves money and is willing to favor and shield suspects for money."

"This...you know all of this? No way?"

Zhang Luan seemed very surprised.

I thought to myself, you are no longer a powerful official, you are simply a nosy person.

Li Zisheng said: "A powerful official must do this step, so that he can put his mind at ease and sleep peacefully. You don't know that asking the people below to help you investigate the situation will consume a huge amount of energy...

"Do you think Pang Bingkun would keep me around if he bickered with me all the time and made me angry? He may be taking some upright paths, and his methods may not be as good as those of an ordinary official in Shuntian Prefecture, but in secret... let's put it this way, there is no one better than him in the capital."

Zhang Luan suddenly realized: "So that's it."

Li Zisheng laughed again and said, "Don't disbelieve me. Bingkun actually knows his limits. He knows better than anyone where to advance and where to retreat... I am like this. If I doubt someone, I won't employ him. If I employ someone, I won't doubt him. As long as I trust someone, I will entrust my life and property to him. I told Bingkun that if one day I lose power, you should not waste your talent. It is absolutely right to follow Zhang Guozhang!"

"Ah...don't...my temple is too small..."

Zhang Luan stammered.

"Don't be modest. You have a great temple here, and you have an even more powerful person at home... your youngest son, who is quite capable... Fortunately, he is not my opponent, otherwise, with his ability alone, Bingkun and I might be in big trouble."

Li Zisheng suddenly expressed his emotion.

Zhang Luan was very surprised and was stunned for a long time before asking, "He...isn't that possible?"

Li Zisheng smiled faintly and said, "Only someone like me who has a lot of experience knows how powerful your son is... I know that your second son is very cautious when he goes out. He always brings people with him and is protected by the Jinyiwei... Fortunately, not many people know what he is doing now, and he always hides behind you. Otherwise, he would still be very dangerous..."

"Danger?"

Zhang Luan was somewhat suspicious and asked, "Are you saying that someone wants to harm Yanling?"

"Oh, Lai Zhan, you should have known that capable people always need to be cautious and take every step carefully... But you and your son are both outliers. Take you for example, you dared to go against Liang Fang before you gained power and created a huge hole. You are really brave."

Li Zisheng sighed for a moment, and then continued, "But now that I think about it, you can actually be considered to be a mastermind. You first gained my support, and then used the late emperor's trust to make Liang Fang timid. But... don't do this next time...

"You have to know that any person who holds real power in the capital has some forces behind him that are invisible to the public and may threaten your life."

Zhang Luan smiled bitterly and said, "Minister Li, there is no need to be vague. I know that if you block someone's way, they will retaliate sooner or later... This is also the fundamental reason why our whole family is always surrounded by people when we go out... We are afraid of death!"

"Haha, who isn't afraid of death? Am I not the same?"

Li Zisheng said, "Come, come, have a drink... I don't have anything good to offer you in my house, so let's watch a play and talk about things tonight... Let's talk about the river works. I have made some progress here, so I'll tell you about it. You can report it to His Majesty later."

"That's a good feeling, please!"

Zhang Luan quickly picked up the wine glass, clinked it with Li Zisheng, and drank it all in one gulp.

(End of this chapter)