Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 610: An Exile and a Good Job

Upon learning that Li Zisheng was looking for someone to help Zhang Luan raise money and food, Xiao Jing finally felt relieved and hurried back to the palace to report to the emperor.

Probably even Xiao Jing knew that no matter how bad Li Zisheng's reputation was, no one in the court was more knowledgeable than Li Zisheng when it came to matters such as money, food, and connections. Whether Zhang Luan interacted with Li Zisheng or not was only related to his reputation, but the improvement in work efficiency it brought was real.

From this point of view, Zhang Luan has a very good vision.

At least Zhang Luan knew what he lacked and what he did not lack.

What Zhang Luan lacked were the connections and networks to accomplish things, but what he had in abundance was reputation... Anyway, his reputation was already so bad. If a relative of the emperor still cared about his reputation, and didn't associate with this person or that person, and deliberately kept his distance from everyone, then Zhang Luan would have an even harder time in the court.

As soon as Xiao Jing left, Li Zisheng immediately invited Zhang Luan to another hall and set a full table for him.

"I'm not here to eat for free."

Zhang Luan waved his hand.

Li Zisheng smiled without saying anything, took out something and handed it to Zhang Luan.

Zhang Luan didn't open it immediately and asked, "What is this...?"

Li Zisheng asked: "Don't you want to know who is targeting you?"

Zhang Luan said, "Isn't it Prime Minister Liu Ji and Minister of Justice Du Ming? Du Ming was taken away by the Royal Guards today, and I don't know what his situation is like..."

"I used to know about the Jinyiwei, but now, how can I know?"

Li Zisheng shook his head and said, "Neither of the two people you mentioned is a concern. Liu Mianhua is a very sinister person, but he neither has the support of His Majesty nor the respect of the Confucian officials. He is just a clown in the court with an empty name. As for Du Ming... Alas! These people have real abilities, but it's a pity that they are in the wrong era."

Zhang Luan asked curiously, "Why?"

Li Zisheng said: "Do you think Du Ming and his people are incompetent? It's a pity that they were wrong to serve as ministers in the last years of the previous emperor. Many times they had to go with the flow. Once they were involved in something, they couldn't get rid of it... No matter how capable you are, once your reputation is ruined, it will be difficult for you to achieve anything."

"I have little contact with Du Ming, so I don't know how capable he is." Zhang Luan said, "But I think that someone who can pass the imperial examination and become a high-ranking official at the level of Shangshu must be a leader among the scholars in the world."

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "Take a good look at the list I gave you. Your biggest enemy right now is included on it... It's Ma Wensheng, who was ordered to investigate your family's case today."

"he?"

Zhang Luan frowned upon hearing this and asked curiously, "This man just came from Nanjing and has only been in the court for a few days. Should I... worry about him?"

Li Zisheng said, "You, is this contempt for the enemy? Ma Wensheng, like Wang Shu, has been in the court for many years and is upright... In other words, these upright officials are just claiming to be upright as a way to survive. Don't judge whether they are hypocritical or say one thing and do another. At least they rely on this to become officials and have risen to the top, leaving a good reputation in the court and the public."

Zhang Luan asked: "Then how do I become an official?"

"I'm a straight-talker, I won't bend."

Li Zisheng rolled his eyes at him and said, "Others try to be as hypocritical as possible in official circles and never trust their true feelings. But what about you? Alas! But then again, you are truly sincere, and some people can never pretend to be so."

Zhang Luan smiled and asked, "How did you figure that out?"

Li Zisheng said: "Because you don't hide when you encounter trouble... Just like what happened to me, if it were an ordinary person, they would be good not to add insult to injury, and would even help? They would definitely stay away from me!
"Okay, let's not talk about anything else. I'll just talk about this Ma Wensheng. You have to be careful. After he became the Left Censor-in-Chief, he did several big things in succession. He is very experienced in restricting people like us."

Zhang Luan asked curiously: "Oh? What did he do?"

"Alas, you should pay more attention to the affairs of the court, otherwise the trouble will come from within. You can't just sit there and surrender, right?"

Li Zisheng was quite helpless and said, "After Ma Wensheng took office, he began to urge the imperial censors to indiscriminately expel many of the alchemists left by the previous emperor in the capital, especially those who knew geomancy and divination. He also issued a number of regulations in succession to strictly restrict the behavior of the nobles, so that the current style of the Censorate is a bit... like a vicious dog, biting anyone it sees."

Zhang Luan was stunned and asked, "So, if Your Majesty lets him investigate my family's case, wouldn't that be very disadvantageous to me?"

"Indeed! I suspect he was pushed out by Huai En to embarrass you!"

After Li Zisheng finished his analysis, he continued, "Look at this list. It's mainly people from the Censorate, but there are also some people scattered throughout the court. They may become hidden dangers that hinder your progress in the future."

"I do not watch."

Zhang Luan waved his hand and said, "Don't act like I'm going to do something to them... I know who is against me, even if I have a prejudice, I will definitely target them in the future. Isn't this suppressing dissidents?"

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "I just wanted to let you know who is hostile to you, but I didn't ask you to deliberately target anyone. Why do you care so much?"

Zhang Luan said: "Didn't I tell you that I will remember anyone who looks down on me and has a prejudice against me. No matter what happens in the future, I will definitely not treat him well. I may even say bad things about him in front of Your Majesty to affect his promotion, etc. Isn't that the same as suppressing dissidents?
"Minister Li, I appreciate your kindness, but I am very casual about my position. Even if someone really wants to criticize me, let them come and do it. At worst, I will resign."

"Hey, you're really open-minded."

Li Zisheng smiled bitterly and said, "Okay, if you don't want to see it, I won't force you. But you should want to know which people are beneficial to you, right?"

Zhang Luan shook his head and said, "I still don't want to know. Anyone who wants to get close to me must be the kind of person who is good at flattering and taking advantage of opportunities. The motives of these people in interacting with me are not pure. I don't want to get too entangled with them."

"Hey."

Li Zisheng pretended to be angry and scolded with a smile: "You really are such a fool. You can say it in both positive and negative ways. It seems that you just want to be a lonely person in the court, right?"

Zhang Luan waved his hand and said, "Drink, drink."

Li Zisheng sighed and said, "Yes, with your temper, there are indeed too few people in the court who can interact with you. That is, when we first met, you and I were not like we are now. At that time, I was condescending... Hey, maybe it is because of this that I can chat with you. I feel very honored for this, haha."

"hehe."

Zhang Luan smiled in agreement, but his smile was ugly. Li Zisheng picked up the wine pot and prepared to add more wine to Zhang Luan, but Zhang Luan reached out and snatched it away. He poured a cup for Li Zisheng first, then filled his own cup, and apologized: "Li Shangshu, no matter what, this time it was me who made you suffer in the northwest for several months. I have to punish myself with three cups as an apology."

"It doesn't have to be this way."

Li Zisheng smiled and shook his head, then raised his chin and asked mysteriously, "Oh, by the way, Lai Zhan, do you know who is going with me to the northwest to entertain the troops this time?"

"Bing-kun?"

Zhang Luan asked curiously.

"He won't go... I don't need him for the trip to the northwest, so I'll leave him in the capital to help you contact people and raise money and food."

Li Zisheng prompted, "I mean the people in the palace."

Zhang Luan was startled, and suddenly remembered what his son said. He became agitated and could not calm down for a while. He asked curiously, "Who is it?"

Li Zisheng said seriously: "It is Eunuch Tan Chang."

"he!?"

Zhang Luan was dumbfounded and said in disbelief, "Isn't Qin Chang the eunuch in charge of the East Factory? Why would he abandon his important mission and follow you to the northwest? I wonder what the meaning is?"

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "It's obvious that he was exiled to the northwest by His Majesty... I guess His Majesty felt that he was not qualified for the current job, so he was transferred away from the capital to accompany me to distribute relief to the northwest border troops and their families."

Zhang Luan apologized: "He was exiled, so you..."

"My situation is different from his."

Li Ziluo showed some pride and said, "You helped me get this opportunity. Don't think I'm just pretending to be happy in front of you. I'm really happy to go to the northwest. It would be best if you have prepared all the river works when I come back. I can pack my bags and go to Henan to repair the river."

Zhang Luan asked, "Isn't it hard?"

Li Zisheng said unhappily, "When you helped me get the job in the northwest, didn't you ever think about this?"

"I was..."

Zhang Luan looked helpless, and said, "I just got excited and thought that someone should take the responsibility, and then I thought that Minister Li had nothing to do recently, so..."

"You are right. I have been very idle recently. Look, I don't even have the qualifications to attend court anymore."

Li Zisheng sighed.

Zhang Luan was puzzled: "Are you not qualified or are you deliberately not going so that you can stay at home and have some free time?"

Li Zisheng sighed, "Do you think I am still the Minister of Public Administration? I only hold the title of Minister now, but in terms of duties, I am not as good as the Supervisor of Shanglin Garden and the Imperial Observatory.

"If you don't have power, others won't take you seriously. Do you think I'm not anxious? As a former powerful official, once you lose your real power and are left with only an empty shell, it is very likely that... you will suffer a backlash. Look at Ma Wensheng, he keeps a close eye on me every day, waiting for revenge."

"What revenge?"

Zhang Luan asked with a confused look on his face.

"Do you really not know or are you pretending to be confused?"

Li Zisheng picked up the wine pot, added a glass for Zhang Luan, and then replied: "At the beginning, I squeezed Luo Jing, Min Gui, Ma Wensheng, and Yang Shousui out of the central government, arranged for them to do idle jobs, or sent them to Nanjing to serve as officials. At that time, Ma Wensheng kept submitting memorials to criticize me. I knew everything but I just didn't get angry. Now he has finally returned to Beijing and become the chief censor as he wished, and he is not looking for an opportunity to take revenge?"

When Zhang Luan heard this, he thought, it seems that my association with you has also put me on Ma Wensheng’s revenge list!
If I had known this would happen, should I have stayed away from you? Then I wouldn't have been targeted by these so-called loyal ministers!

"Laizhan, you didn't read the list yourself, so don't blame me for not reminding you. This group of people may attack you at any time." Li Zisheng said with a gloating look.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Luan immediately picked up the folded paper on the table and put it into his arms.

Li Zisheng smiled and asked, "Don't you want to watch it?"

Zhang Luan said shamelessly: "I won't read it. Take it home and show it to my son. That kid has a lot of tricks. Let him remember it first, so that when he encounters problems in the future, he can give me some advice."

"You really are..."

After hearing this, Li Zisheng seemed to be defeated by Zhang Luan's shamelessness. He smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "Forget it, let's not talk about these unpleasant things. Let's drink a few more cups... I don't have many good days left in Beijing. I will have to travel around and work hard. Speaking of which, I should prepare some things to keep warm as we are heading west this time."

Zhang Luan said, "By the way, my son learned that you were going to the northwest and said he wanted to give you a gift."

"What?"

Li Zisheng asked curiously, "Does our nephew still remember me?"

Zhang Luan frowned and asked, "Why do you look like this when you mention him? It seems like you have become more lively?"

I was thinking, is this a sign of disdain for me? Is this a sign of preparation for my son's future rise in the imperial court?

Next time you give gifts, don’t give them to me, but to my son instead?
Li Zisheng smiled and said, "My eldest nephew is very smart and I like him very much. When I heard that he wanted to give me a gift, I was naturally happy."

"He said it was a cotton coat, made of some kind of fur inside, probably similar to mink fur." ​​Zhang Luan said, "Anyway, he likes to tinker with those things. I told him that your family doesn't lack warm clothes, and he said he just wanted to show his appreciation, so I let him do it. I'll have someone send it to you later."

(End of this chapter)