Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 613: Being a cabinet minister is not impossible

When Pang Qing went to Zhang's house to ask to see Zhang Luan, Zhang Luan was meeting with Tan Ji.

Qin Ji is now in charge of the Eastern Depot, and even he himself is not quite used to this change in identity. Moreover, his mentality is surprisingly similar to Zhang Luan's, and he wants to hide whenever anything happens.

This time, he came to urge Zhang Luan to complete the task of raising money and grain as instructed by the emperor as soon as possible, and also to inform Zhang Luan of the progress of the case in the manner of a "good guy".

"Eunuch Qin, I am the party involved in the case. You just come to my house and tell me this. Isn't it a bit..."

Zhang Luan seemed very embarrassed.

Qin Ji smiled and said, "You are too polite... His Majesty has already said that he will give you justice. Listen, His Majesty has clearly stated that this justice is for you. Doesn't this already explain the result?"

"Oh, Eunuch Tan, I heard that you always uphold justice. We can't be partial."

Zhang Luan said pretentiously.

Qin Ji looked embarrassed after hearing this.

Okay.

The emperor ordered me to support you, but you are still pretending to be a good person here?
Are we the ones who do the bad things in our relationship?
The problem is, I don’t know how the Crown Prince, who was once very kind and upright, suddenly became a paranoid maniac who protects his wife and father-in-law. This is exactly what I can’t figure out.

Based on my previous understanding of the prince, he attaches great importance to etiquette and rules, and insists on procedural justice. He will definitely not help his relatives instead of the right people.

But the problem is...

The reality of the emperor protecting his own people is exactly what is happening to you, the Zhang family.

As an old man who is about to die, what can I do when faced with the little emperor whose temperament changes rapidly?
Then we have no choice but to adapt to the local customs and do what they tell us!
Zhang Luan saw that Qin Ji was a little bit unable to respond, and immediately said apologetically: "I also know that you, Eunuch Qin, are in a difficult situation. In your heart, you must want to uphold justice, but you can't disobey His Majesty's orders... How about this, you go back and tell His Majesty that if my son and I were really wrong, then punish us. Or we can each be punished with fifty lashes, so that both sides can be taught a lesson and reconcile. What do you think?"

Qin Ji asked with a bitter face: "Mr. Zhang, why didn't you think about peace before the fight? Isn't it too late to say this now?"

Zhang Luan said helplessly: "Isn't it because I wasn't there at the time? If I were there, I would definitely persuade them to coexist peacefully and live in peace with each other."

Qin Ji shook his head and said, "You are wrong... That's right, the Jinyiwei has already captured many of the relevant people. According to their confessions, they were indeed manipulated by others and insisted on causing trouble in your property. It would be best if they were beaten up to prove your Zhang family's bad reputation of bullying the people.

"So, whether you were there or not, the result would not have changed. And...if you were there, things might have been even worse."

"what!?"

Zhang Luan was stunned for a long time before he said with a look of fear, "I never thought that there would be such unruly people under the emperor's feet. The law can't even deter them... Then I can only rely on you, Eunuch Qin, to deal with them!"

Qin Ji quickly waved his hand and said, "Don't say that. I cannot be above the law. I am just following the rules. And... I will obey your majesty's orders."

"Yes, yes, we all obeyed orders."

Zhang Luan patted his chest and said, "Please rest assured, Eunuch Tan. I have already found a way to raise money and grain. Li Zisheng introduced me to a few people who will help me complete it... I have already met two of them, and they are now out in the field. It can be seen that they are really capable."

Qin Ji asked curiously, "You can do it by yourself, why do you have to ask for help? Even if you did, why did you tell others about it? Wouldn't it be better to take all the credit?"

Zhang Luan said, "Since others are willing to help, I have no reason to refuse, and even less reason to take credit for myself... I have handed this matter over to my son Yanling. He is very capable, and I heard that Huishang will help him, so it shouldn't be difficult. I just wonder if Huishang's case will also be...dismissed this time?"

Tan Ji quickly agreed: "All cases involving Huizhou merchants have been cleared... The accusation was originally fabricated. It was probably because there was a large-scale deficit in the granaries of the capital recently, and officials could not even pay their salaries, which led to the exploitation of merchants."

Zhang Luan sighed, "We can't just target merchants just because they have some money in their pockets, right? The court is short of money and food, so we have to find ways to raise it. How can we just slaughter a fat sheep? This sheep is not ours."

Qin Ji said: "I can't help it. This is just a little bit of the willfulness of power. It is also a bad habit that has been cultivated since ancient times. I'm sorry to make you laugh."

"This is not funny at all."

Zhang Luan shook his head and said, "It's better not to treat me as a fat sheep to be slaughtered. By the way, Eunuch Tan, I heard that another Eunuch Tan, Tan Chang, was transferred to the northwest to entertain the troops? What's going on with him? Can you tell me about it?"

"..."

Tan Ji was speechless for a moment.

I thought to myself, I have always thought that you, Zhang Laizhan, like to stir up trouble out of nothing, and now I think that you are hopeless.

Whatever.

Who made you His Majesty's father-in-law?

If you let me talk, then I will just talk casually!

……

……

At the backyard gate, Zhang Yanling listened to Pang Qing's story.

"Second Young Master, do you think Du Ming should be helped?"

Pang Qing asked with a smile.

Zhang Yanling asked back, "From what Butler Pang said, it seems that some people think they should help, but when it comes to me, I won't help them, right?"

"what?"

Pang Qing was shocked.

I thought to myself, the child in front of me could actually tell from just one sentence of mine that I had discussed with the Taoist priest about who was more stingy between him and his father.

What kind of talent is this?
Zhang Yanling acted as if nothing had happened, and continued, "We in the Zhang family never kill people. We only fight back when others bully us. We have never taken the initiative to attack, even Liang Fang, who was our irreconcilable enemy at the beginning, is no exception."

Pang Qing quickly complimented him: "Yes, the people in your house have always won people over with virtue. I admire you, I admire you."

But in my heart, I was thinking, you are the master, whatever you say is right, I just need to agree with you. Zhang Yanling said: "Butler Pang, from the tone of your words, it seems perfunctory."

"Hey, Second Young Master, how far do you want me to go before you're satisfied?" Pang Qing said helplessly, "So, Minister Du, are you ready to help?"

"We still have to listen to my father. If he says to help, then he will help. If he doesn't want to...wait, what should we help him with? Help him leave the court as soon as possible?"

Zhang Yanling asked in confusion, "He offended our Zhang family, so he resigned from his position. Isn't this a natural thing? The only thing we need to worry about is whether people will think that our Zhang family is ostracizing loyal people."

"Probably not."

Pang Qing shook his head.

Zhang Yanling asked, "Do you mean... that others wouldn't say that, or that Du Ming doesn't deserve the name of a loyal and good person?"

Pang Qing smiled bitterly and said, "Second Young Master, I am just here to pass on a message. I can't answer you if you ask me...Whether to help that Minister Du is your Zhang family's private matter, and my Taoist master can't help him. But I think there are still benefits in this..."

"Stop."

Zhang Yanling raised his hand and said, "Whether we help or not, we are not doing it for any benefit. Helping is out of morality, and not helping is out of reason. After all, Du Mingxian colluded with Liu Ji and plotted against our Zhang family first, and we are lucky that we didn't add insult to injury. He is the most important official in charge of the country's prisons, but he broke the law knowingly. Isn't this hateful?"

Pang Qing nodded: "In this matter, I also think that Minister Du has stretched his hand too far."

Zhang Yanling said, "Then I will discuss this with my father. If he is really not angry, I will talk to His Majesty on his behalf to see if he can retire and return home as soon as possible. But my father is..."

"Your father is very easy to talk to."

Pang Qing smiled and said, "This is what the Taoist Master told me. Although I have reservations, I still have to listen to my Taoist Master."

"you are right."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "We should analyze each case individually. My father is not always a good person. There are always some things that he is not so easy to talk to."

……

……

When the father and son met again, they each found a chair and sat down, both looking a little tired.

"My son, what exactly did we come to the capital for? There are so many troubles, but we haven't seen any benefits." Zhang Luan said, "Let's take today for example. You are going to receive Pang Bingkun, and I will go to receive Qin Houfang... We are so dedicated to His Majesty and the court, but what do we get? The people in the court don't even say a nice word, but only attack us!"

Zhang Yanling asked, "Dad, haven't you been to your Red Mansion recently?"

"What Red Mansion?"

Zhang Luan was bewildered.

Zhang Yanling rolled his eyes at him and said, "How do you think our family got everything we have now? Just relying on your status as the father-in-law of the emperor? In fact, you have already seen that among your many identities, the status of the father-in-law of the emperor is the least valuable and the easiest to be criticized."

Zhang Luan shook his head repeatedly: "Hey, I don't agree with what you said. Isn't the root of all this that your father has obtained because I am the father-in-law of the emperor?
"If it weren't for your sister marrying the crown prince, would I have had the opportunity to serve as an official in the court? Would I have been valued by the two emperors? Of course... you also played a big role, and your father has never denied this."

Zhang Yanling did not comment and continued to ask: "Did you ask Tan Ji about Du Ming and Liu Ji?"

"I'm too lazy to ask."

Zhang Luan swung his sleeves and said, "Why bother thinking about it? You said you would help, so I will help. At most, I will run errands for you, go to the palace to meet your brother-in-law, and lobby Du Ming to let him withdraw safely. If you think Du Ming has gone too far, he should have a miserable end for the rest of his life, then I will sow discord between them and make sure he is imprisoned. He will be skinned alive if he doesn't die!"

Zhang Yanling said, "Dad, haven't you been quite opinionated recently? Why are you suddenly so hypocritical, acting as if you will obey me in everything?"

Zhang Luan said unhappily, "When did I not listen to you? Come on, tell me more!"

Zhang Yanling rolled his eyes when he heard this and retorted unhappily: "Then I told you to come home and sleep every night, did you come back?"

"This... let's talk about it later."

Zhang Luan's aura weakened instantly.

Zhang Yanling said: "The sooner Du Ming's matter is dealt with, the better. I think he should be allowed to retire sooner, or even be given a good reputation for retirement, so that he can get out sooner and leave the capital, a place of trouble."

"Just...let him go so easily?"

Zhang Luan asked in confusion.

"The instigator is Liu Ji. If we want to deal with him, we must make Liu Ji uncomfortable first. The sooner Du Ming leaves, the better. At least Liu Ji's minions will be cut off." Zhang Yanling said.

"You make it sound so easy." Zhang Luan said, "He is the Prime Minister and Grand Secretary. If you want to deal with him, isn't it like scratching an itch through a shoe? How can he have any real feelings?"

Zhang Yanling asked mockingly, "Then may I ask, father, what was the fate of the previous Prime Minister? When you said that it was just scratching an itch, did Wan'an also say the same thing as you did, not caring at all?"

Zhang Luan smiled and said, "I thought you were going to put Liu Ji in jail. I was wondering, is there a chance? It turns out you just want him to step down from the court like Wan An... How boring is that?"

"Yeah, it's boring."

Zhang Yanling said, "But, Dad, do you know why Liu Ji wants to deal with you? Isn't it because he is afraid that you will join the cabinet? As the saying goes, what the enemy fears most is what you should do most right now...Shouldn't you be a little more enterprising and become a cabinet minister?"

Zhang Luan quickly refused: "No, no, I don't want to go to the cabinet every day to draft bills, otherwise it will be difficult to have a quiet life, it's too tiring."

Zhang Yanling teased, "Dad, life is a mess no matter where you are. When you were working in the Honglu Temple, did you ever think that one day you would become a minister and you would be able to cheat and not even go to the government office? Just like your mentality now... Have you ever thought that in the future you will be a minister, but you will rarely even set foot in Wenyuan Pavilion?"

"I……"

Zhang Luan was not annoyed at all by his son's retort. After thinking for a while, he nodded and said, "If I don't have to report to work, it's not impossible for me to be a cabinet minister."

(End of this chapter)