Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 608: The Responsibility of the Father-in-law

In front of Fengtian Hall.

When the ministers heard the little emperor's words, they were all thinking in their hearts.

Who do you look down on?
Whatever Zhang Luan can do, we can do too!

Just give us the same powers!
As for why Zhang Luan would spend money to work while we are still complaining about being poor and waiting for the court to pay us salaries, it is all because of the different levels of trust you have in us.

Otherwise, please try to hand over the financial power of the court to us!
We will definitely do better than him by then.

Zhang Luan looked reluctant and said, "I accept your order."

Now even Wang Shu couldn't say anything.

Although Wang Shu was a rather picky person, he was still reasonable. For example, when he was in Nanjing, he looked down on Qian Neng, the eunuch who was guarding Nanjing at the time, and even felt that Qian Neng was in cahoots with Liang Fang, and might be incompatible with him.

But the actual situation was that Qian Neng was very capable and managed the affairs of the capital in an orderly manner, so the two of them actually got along quite well.

Zhu Youtang said: "Two days ago, some scholars in the capital made irresponsible comments on state affairs and even openly attacked the residence of the father-in-law of the emperor, which caused an extremely bad impact and was very hateful!
"I hope to raise enough money and food for the court through my father-in-law to ensure that the soldiers on the northwest front can receive their salaries on time... What do you think about this?"

The ministers present suddenly realized it.

The emperor has gone in circles.

Perhaps the emperor knew that the court officials were planning to focus their fire on Zhang Luan today and make it difficult for Zhang Luan to survive in the court, so he made a preemptive move.

That is to assign a financial task to Zhang Luan, and then classify the previous incident of scholars and "common people" attacking Zhang's workshop as a financial issue. It can even be said that Zhang Luan did business in order to raise money and food for the court.

In this way, the person who went to make trouble lost his sense of justice, and Zhang Luan instantly turned from an alleged assaulter into a victim.

However, the censors were still eager to try.

In their view, they should not give up the attack easily just because the emperor found an excuse for Zhang Luan.

At this time, Liu Ji, who was always very good at adapting to the situation, came out and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, from what I have seen, it is very common for scholars in the capital to discuss state affairs. Especially after you ascended the throne, in restaurants, teahouses and even on the streets, scholars discuss state affairs all the time and everywhere. It has reached the point of being unscrupulous and must be regulated and punished.

"After all, Emperor Taizu established a rule that ordinary scholars cannot discuss court affairs. This is the law and cannot be violated."

When the Confucian officials present heard this, they secretly cursed Liu Ji for being cunning.

But no matter what, Liu Ji was right.

The rules were established by Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty himself. From the Imperial College to the county school, the court engraved a horizontal stele and placed it to the left of the Minglun Hall to warn students of their words and deeds and strictly control their public opinion.

The Twelve School Rules and Prohibitions stipulate:
Everyone can speak out about the benefits and harms of the world, but students are not allowed to speak out easily; students are not allowed to make suggestions on the benefits and harms of the military and civilians; if there are any matters concerning the benefits and harms of the military and civilians, the relevant officials, wise men in the wild, ambitious warriors, simple farmers, merchants and craftsmen can all speak out. Everyone should not stop them, but students are not allowed to do so.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty strictly prevented scholars from participating in politics. They could not break the established laws just because the current emperor became closer to scholars after ascending the throne.

Zhu Youtang said with a serious face: "Yes, I have asked someone to investigate this matter. If it is found that there are indeed scholars who make irresponsible comments on state affairs, or even openly attack the residences of important officials in the court, a few people will be taken as examples to kill their prestige, so as to ensure that those who come after them can abide by the rules."

Liu Ji said quickly, "Your Majesty is wise. This will not only not hurt the scholars' sincere desire to serve the country, but also allow them to abide by the rules and study hard. This is the best result at the moment. It depends on who is the leader and whether he has other purposes. We should punish him so that we can serve as a warning to others."

Wang Shu questioned: "Lord Liu, what do you mean by this? Do you want to kill someone to set things right?"

"I didn't mean that."

Liu Ji hurriedly shook his head, "This is just a metaphor. Imprisoning him for a few days or imposing some punishment can achieve the purpose of killing one person to warn the rest... Why do we have to kill people? Minister Wang, is this your first day of school? Do you still want to argue with me?"

Wang Shu glanced at him and stopped talking.

Zhu Youtang said, "It's not a capital crime, but we can't continue to condone it. I didn't know about it before, but now that I know about it, if I sit back and do nothing, it would be against the rules set by our ancestors. As for the truth of the dispute, we have to wait and see the results of the investigation."

Huai En came out and said respectfully, "Your Majesty has sent the eunuch Tan Ji Tan to supervise and handle this case. The Jinyiwei will cooperate in the investigation."

When Liu Ji heard this, he realized that the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, and he quickly stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to ask for permission to work with Eunuch Tan to handle this case and severely punish those involved."

When those who knew the situation heard this, they immediately became angry.

Although Minister Du did not say it explicitly, we all know that he was instructed by you to find those scholars in Beijing to attack the Zhang family workshop. Now Minister Du was inexplicably taken away by the Jinyiwei, and now you advocate severe punishment for those involved in the case?
Are you planning to turn against us?

Zhu Youtang looked around and asked, "What do you think?"

No one said a word.

Previously, when scholars caused trouble at Zhang's workshop and were beaten, the imperial censors felt that there would be almost no surprises in this case and that the blame must be on Zhang Luan. They were also prepared to impeach Zhang Luan and even fight to the death with the emperor and his former favorite.

But now the emperor has taken the initiative to propose a thorough investigation of the case, and has also stated that those scholars are making irresponsible comments on state affairs. Doesn't this mean that the outcome of a case that we haven't even brought up yet has already been determined?

"Father-in-law, what do you think?"

Zhu Youtang looked towards Zhang Luan.

Zhang Luan glanced at Liu Ji, feeling unhappy. He said, "Lord Liu is so busy with his official duties, how can he have time to deal with such a small matter? Just a group of inexplicable guys came to my house to make trouble and had quarrels and fights with my people. Do you need the Prime Minister to come forward to investigate and verify this?"

Liu Ji retorted: "Minister Zhang, what you said is wrong... There is no trivial matter in the royal family. You are the father-in-law of the emperor, and this is a big matter. If outsiders attack your property, it means they are openly opposing Your Majesty and the laws of the court. They must be severely punished..."

The ministers present were stunned.

Just by hearing this, they realized that this villain Liu Ji had completely sided with the emperor. Even before joining the special task force, he had already followed the emperor's wishes and set the final tone for the case.

And Liu Ji said this probably to make the emperor and Zhang Luan feel that he was more suitable to join the "special task force"?
Zhang Luan didn't take it seriously after hearing this, and muttered, "What a hypocrite."

"Minister Zhang, what did you say?"

Liu Ji was still making an impassioned speech when he suddenly heard Zhang Luan say something. He didn't hear it clearly for a moment, so he asked quickly.

Zhu Youtang said at the right time: "Lord Liu, you are usually very busy. Now there are only you and Mr. Xu in the cabinet. You don't have time to draft an imperial edict. You should ignore this matter. "In my opinion, this matter must be investigated by an impartial official. Originally, it would be most appropriate to let Minister Wang of the Ministry of Personnel investigate, but I think there is a better candidate, that is the new Left Censor-in-Chief Ma Wensheng. Do you have any objections this time?"

Ma Wensheng walked out from the queue of officials.

Ma Wensheng's prestige in the court was relatively high.

But his situation was the same as Wang Shu's. They both returned to the court after the new emperor ascended the throne. They spent a relatively short time at the central government and lacked opportunities to practice and accumulate prestige.

After all, as the highest official of the Censorate, if he wants to achieve results, he must first win the support of the people, and the prerequisite for winning the support of the people is to be fair and complete the tasks assigned by the emperor.

"Since no one objects, let Mr. Ma take charge of this matter."

Zhu Youtang made the final decision.

Ma Wensheng bowed respectfully: "I accept your order."

The ministers present, especially the censors who disliked Zhang Luan, were determined to settle accounts with Zhang Luan and had even prepared a joint memorial.

However, due to unexpected changes, the established procedures could not be carried out.

Now the emperor has not set a tone, he just asks people to investigate.

And the emperor doesn't seem to be that partial to Zhang Luan...

After all, if they really want to show favoritism, they can just let Qin Ji and the Jinyiwei be responsible for investigating the case, and they can just find a scoundrel from the foreign officials to join in, or even hand it over to Zhang Luan and let Zhang Luan investigate himself.

Later, the Prime Minister Liu Ji, who showed his loyalty, was not appointed. Instead, Ma Wensheng, a big shot in the Censorate who was unanimously favored by Confucian officials, was chosen to participate in the case as a foreign minister. Doesn't this mean that the emperor also wants a reputation for fairness and impartiality?

In this case, it seems that there is no need to be so urgent to impeach Zhang Luan.

You can definitely wait and see.

Of course, in addition to impeaching Zhang Luan, they also have a very important thing to do.

At this time, Zhu Youtang spoke first, as if to block the group of people's words, and said loudly: "This time, there is a shortage on the northwest front, and food is given priority. After all, people need to fill their stomachs first.

"In addition to food, clothing is also very important."

Some people present instantly felt that the emperor's purpose in bringing up this topic was not simple.

"With the help of my father-in-law's family, I have woven a large amount of cotton cloth in the palace. We have already sent a batch to the northwest front. I hope it will arrive in time so that the soldiers can have clothes to keep warm."

Zhu Youtang said, “Someone told me before that if this batch of cloth is just transported to the northwest like this, it is very likely that it will not be distributed to the frontline soldiers. Some people will deduct and embezzle it. Even if it is distributed... only a few people will be able to get it to fool the court.

"So, this time I plan to send someone to the northwest as a special envoy to ensure that this batch of clothing can be delivered to all soldiers in a timely manner."

When the ministers heard this, many of them were shouting in their hearts, what kind of hard work is this? It would probably take three or four months to go back and forth, and it would probably be spring or summer before they could return in one piece.

but……

It would be better to let Zhang Luan go. If he makes the trip, he will most likely die on the way given the bitterly cold environment of the northwest, so there's no need for him to come back and trouble others.

"Has anyone volunteered?"

Zhu Youtang asked.

Zhang Luan was not polite at all and stepped out to say, "Your Majesty, I am willing to go."

Zhu Youtang asked, "Did you forget, father-in-law? You still have to raise money and food in the capital, so why are you going to the northwest?"

The ministers present were all wondering, what kind of status do those who can attend the court meeting have? Choosing people from among us is obviously embarrassing us!
The Northwest is a bitterly cold place, and given the disaster this year, anyone who goes there would be an idiot.

Zhang Luan looked around and said bluntly: "My fellow officials, at this time, when you are serving the court and taking responsibility for the soldiers in the northwest, why are you all running away? Volunteer!"

It's a pity that no one paid attention to him.

Even those middle and lower-level censors, who did not hold high positions here, did not speak out.

Zhang Luan looked around and said, "Since that's the case, Your Majesty, I would like to recommend someone."

"explain."

Zhu Youtang said.

"He is Li Shangshu, the former Minister of the Silver Bureau. Now he is only in charge of the Shanglin Garden and the Imperial Observatory. It is really... a waste of talent. Why not let him go to the northwest front?"

Zhang Luan said, "He also wants to serve the court and your majesty!"

After hearing this, the ministers present felt disdainful of Li Zisheng in their hearts.

But everyone was thinking, this is a good idea.

Drive Li Zisheng to the northwest and let him suffer a little. It would be best if he died in the northwest.

Even if he was lucky enough to survive, after leaving the capital, Zhang Luan would be without his right-hand man and he would not be able to cause any trouble in the future.

As for him raising money and food for the court...

Judging from the scandal that broke out in the Ministry of Revenue before, both the Beijing Warehouse and the Tongzhou Warehouse are experiencing a shortage of grain. It is estimated that this plan will be ruined sooner or later!

If he fails to complete his mission and is found guilty of condoning his family members' evil deeds by General Ma, we won't even need to impeach him, as he will be too embarrassed to stay in the court.

(End of this chapter)