Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 548 I am your Bingkun
After three rounds of drinks, the topic finally turned to Zhang Shanji.

Li Zisheng put down his wine glass and shook his head, saying, "This kind of person is actually very hypocritical. The reason why he doesn't have to die doesn't mean that he is innocent. It can only be said that our Majesty is merciful. In addition, the relationship between him and Deng Changen is not to the point of being his running dog and working for him. At most, he is paid to do things for him, which is a fair deal..."

Zhang Luan said: "I also know that Zhang Shanji is not a good person, but if he died like this... Oh, when I think about it, I am afraid that one day in the future the same thing will happen to me again, which would be too tragic..."

Li Zisheng sneered, "Why, you just gained power, and you're already thinking about the day when you'll lose it? Isn't that a little too early? You should be thinking about how to make yourself more powerful, pave the way for yourself, and strive to move up... Why think so much?"

Zhang Luan thought to himself, isn't it my youngest son who is scaring me?

He said he had calculated that according to the normal development trajectory, when he grew old, he would be in prison with his brother waiting to be beheaded.

Doesn’t this remind me of the Zhang family’s tragic future?
It doesn’t matter whether I live or die, but the prosperity of the Zhang family cannot be interrupted, especially not at the hands of my two sons!

"By the way, what crime was Zhang Shanji convicted of?"

Li Zisheng asked casually.

"Dismiss him."

Zhang Luan replied, "I didn't pay much attention... I was wondering before, since he wasn't sentenced to death, he wanted to interrogate him because I went to the Northern Pacification Office and he felt embarrassed, so he committed suicide?"

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "At least this person knows propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame. As for those thick-skinned people, even if they used to be honest officials, after being exposed for their greed and crimes of openly soliciting bribes and embezzling public funds, they still pretend to be iron-willed scholars and pretend in front of others. Such people are even more speechless."

"This……"

Zhang Luan thought to himself, your focus, Li Zisheng, is really different from that of ordinary people.

Li Zisheng said: "Laizhan, Bingkun once told me that when Deng Changen and Liang Fang teamed up to deal with you, they wanted to use the censors to impeach you. In fact, they wanted to frame you and put you in a situation of disloyalty, unfilial piety, unkindness and injustice, and Zhang Shanji was involved.

"This person also wanted to impeach me, saying that I went against the will of the emperor and deceived the people with lies. As a result, you predicted all the secrets of heaven, leaving them helpless and all their accusations collapsed..."

"Huh? Is there such a thing?"

Zhang Luan asked in surprise, "Why isn't it listed on the case file?"

Li Zisheng waved his hands and said, "This kind of private transaction is not recorded in the records, so how can anyone admit it? However, this matter is not only known by the parties involved. There are a lot of followers and servants, as well as the maids and old women who served them, all of whom are witnesses. So even though Deng Changen has passed away, there are still people who spread the news... So, I think Zhang Shanji should not be kept."

"What!?"

Zhang Luan frowned when he heard this. Is he going to kill someone in revenge?
Li Zisheng said: "The evil that Zhang Shanji did was to work for the treacherous officials. Of course, you can also say that I, Li, am not a good person. It is only natural for him to impeach me, but as a censor, he originally relied on currying favor with the treacherous officials to get to the top, and he also showed his integrity to the outside world. He also worked for the treacherous officials in the court to impeach and suppress political enemies, and he succeeded frequently. This is also the fundamental reason why Liang Fang was so powerful in the court in the past few years. It is really against the way of a minister."

Zhang Luan was surprised and said, "I thought he was implicated just because he gave a gift to Deng Chang'en... So the real situation is so complicated?"

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "Given his crimes, he won't be sentenced to death. Some of the cases can be exiled if someone uncovers them. I'll make arrangements for him then... What do you think?"

"What are the arrangements?"

Zhang Luan asked in confusion.

"Laizhan, you don't have to pretend to be confused in front of me... Zhang Shanji's wives and concubines are all famous beauties, I don't believe you don't covet them!"

Li Zisheng said with a smile, “I want to help you become a powerful official now…just treat me as Bingkun, who is here to give you advice.

"But before that, you must first have the mentality of a powerful official and be as ruthless as possible. You must not tolerate anyone who offends you. Maybe sometimes you can pretend to be kind and righteous and give off a false impression of kindness to others, but most of the time you must make people fear you so that they dare not touch your tiger's whiskers lightly!"

"..."

Zhang Luan was speechless after hearing this.

He thought to himself, I was just expressing my feelings about Zhang Shanji's suicide, do you have to go to so much trouble to "instruct" me?
Li Zisheng said, "Just like Zhang Shanji, he offended me, I want to retaliate, that's not a big deal. But if he offended you, and you pretended nothing happened, stood by and watched, or even showed him extra mercy just for his little trick of committing suicide, that's really unnecessary."

Zhang Luan frowned and asked, "Do you mean that I have to kick someone when he's down?" "What do you mean by kicking someone when he's down? I'm just making an impartial decision."

Li Zisheng said, "Think about it, if he offends you and you ignore him, won't others follow suit? We must kill the chicken to scare the monkey, and nip all unfavorable factors in the bud!

"Okay, you don't have to worry about this. I'll show you how I do it... Next I'll send his case to the Ministry of Justice and arrange for someone to re-examine it and uncover more of his past. There will be plenty of evidence and witnesses, so he won't be able to argue. By then, sparing his life will be considered a mercy... When the time comes, all his family members will be confiscated, and I'll send his beautiful wife and concubines to you."

"No, no, no, I don't mean that."

Zhang Luan was shocked.

Just now I was worried that if I lost power in the future, I would be manipulated by those in power at that time.

And you, Li Zisheng, immediately performed it vividly in front of me?
You're trying to scare me, aren't you?
Li Zisheng seemed to be confused and said with a smile: "The officialdom has always been like this. What do you think the Ming Dynasty's Jiaofangsi does? Where do you think the servants in the cabinet and the minister's mansion come from? The emperors of all dynasties would casually reward the families of some convicted officials to their close ministers as a token of preferential treatment... You can't treat them as ordinary people. They were convicted and exiled, and they deserved it."

Zhang Luan said hesitantly, "But...but...how can my wife and children not be implicated in this crime?"

Li Zisheng said: "Laizhan, this is what you did wrong... When you were in power, did you benefit your wife and children? As a family member, did you enjoy the benefits brought by your husband or father's official position?

"If so, why did the officials say that their wives and children should not be implicated after they committed a crime? The laws of the Ming Dynasty are still very strict. What should be done should be done. You don't need to be merciful and pity him... In the end, Zhang Shanji's case must be judged impartially without favoritism."

"Not very good, not very good."

Zhang Luan murmured to himself, seeming to be unable to bear it.

But when it comes to Zhang Shanji, he simply chooses to remain silent.

I felt a little more at ease at this moment.

It turns out that in addition to the crimes listed in the case file, Zhang Shanji also secretly slandered me, trying to ruin my reputation and bring me complete failure before I could rise?
When you heard that I was going to interrogate you, and you committed suicide out of guilt, that would mean that you knew what propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame were, and there was no need for me to feel sorry for you.

"Laizhan, do you know what the government and the public are most concerned about right now?"

Li Zisheng changed the question and asked.

Zhang Luan asked back: "Is it about the Yellow River works?"

Li Zisheng smiled and shook his head: "Your Majesty has not even brought that matter up for public discussion at the court, so how could it possibly cause such a huge stir? In fact, what the court is most concerned about right now is the replacement of the six ministers, and the formation of new factions and new forces."

"This one……"

Zhang Luan shook his head and said, "I haven't heard that His Majesty is going to replace anyone recently..."

Li Zisheng smiled bitterly and said, "Anyone can choose not to change, but the Minister of Personnel Li Yu must be changed."

"what!?"

Zhang Luan's eyes widened, and he asked in surprise, "He didn't tell you... ahem, just pretend I didn't say anything..."

"Look, you are not the kind of person who pretends to be ignorant when you know the truth... Even you have heard from outsiders that Li Yu and I are very close, and that he is just a puppet of mine, and he does whatever I tell him to do... You think Your Majesty has heard of this rumor? Now that you think about it, can Li Yu not be replaced?"

Li Zisheng asked with a smile.

Zhang Luan thought to himself, Li Zisheng, you are really frank.

You can say such things with a smile?
The mind is really strong!

You are awesome!
No wonder you have been able to hold power for so many years. It seems that when it comes to employing people in the court, no one can compare to you.

(End of this chapter)