Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 624: Going out is difficult

Li Zisheng, Qin Chang and his party finally arrived at Datong Town.

Datong Town was first established in the first month of the third year of Hongwu. It was one of the earliest military towns established among the nine borders. By the end of Chenghua, the town had eight guards, seven offices, and 583 forts under its jurisdiction. It started from Yajiao Mountain in the west and ended at Yanghe in the east, with a border length of more than 640 miles. It built a three-dimensional Great Wall defense system to protect the capital.

After entering Datong City, Governor Zuo Yu came to greet him personally.

Qin Chang didn't seem to care much about this mission. After meeting him, he just exchanged a few words of greeting and went to the inn to rest.

Li Zisheng invited Zuo Yu to the side and said, "Zuo Zhongcheng, may I ask, what is the current situation around Datong?

"I am on this trip under the order of the Emperor, carrying cloth and other cold-weather items to distribute to various places in the northwest border. So far, I have only visited Xuanfu and Datong Town, and I have only been halfway to Datong Town. It is still a long way from completing the mission. I am so worried!"

Zuo Yu said with a sad face: "Minister Li, this matter is not up to us. The Tatars have repeatedly invaded our borders. This year, there have been hundreds of robberies in Datong alone. It has become commonplace.

"In fact, not only the northwest, but also Liaodong... the situation is not much better. Just now, news came that Zhou Jun, the deputy commander of Liaodong's Kaiyuan Division, and Xu Zhen, the assistant commander, were sentenced to death for failing to defend against the enemy. However, after their colleagues pleaded for them and Your Majesty showed mercy, they have now been demoted and retained."

"Oh."

Li Zisheng nodded in relief, then asked, "So how is Datong doing in resisting the bandits' aggression now? When can we be guaranteed to reach Pianguan safely?"

Going west from Xuanfu, you will first reach Datong City. From Datong, going west, the next stop is Piantou Pass.

Zuo Yu looked embarrassed and said, "Actually, we can leave anytime, but the journey is a bit difficult... Because the guards are on high alert, Datong City is also ready to support the border fortresses that have issued warnings at any time, so we can't send a large force to cooperate. If we want to stop the bandits, I'm afraid we have to wait until the bandits at several checkpoints are completely repelled."

Li Zisheng said with a bitter face: "The emperor's errand is important. If there is no other way, we have to go despite the difficulties. The clothes and fabrics must be distributed to the soldiers on the front line to show the emperor's grace and boost the morale of the soldiers."

"clear."

Zuo Yu nodded and said, "If Minister Li is really anxious, I will ask Eunuch Lan to come over and discuss with you how to deal with the current crisis."

"That……"

Li Zisheng's face looked extremely ugly.

At the moment, Zuo Yu obviously did not want to make any effort to protect Li Zisheng's team on their journey westward. Instead, he shirked his responsibilities and prepared to let the garrison eunuch come to contact them.

Li Zisheng thought to himself, I came to the northwest on the emperor's order to deliver something, do I have to take care of those eunuchs along the way?

When did the official environment in Northwest China become so bad?

After he said goodbye to Zuo Yu, he changed his mind and felt a little sad. He thought to himself, could this situation be caused by me?
Selling official positions and titles!

When the emperor was short of money, he handed over the power of personnel to Li Zisheng, implying that he could use his brain to think about it. From then on, the arrangement of official positions did not consider whether they were capable or not, nor did they care about their moral character. As long as the money was in place, the other party's wishes would be satisfied. There were hundreds of official positions in the northwest, all of which corresponded to a certain price code. Li Zisheng earned nearly 200,000 taels of silver for Emperor Chenghua in Sanbian and Xuanda alone, which may have sown the seeds of disaster.

Alas, the fire that I lit back then is now burning myself. This is really retribution in this life!
……

……

That night, Li Zisheng went to meet Qin Chang.

At this time, Tan Chang had already met Lan Hui, the eunuch in charge of Datong.

Li Zisheng entered Tan Chang's room.

Tan Chang was lying on a recliner, leisurely sipping tea. Seeing Li Zisheng coming in a hurry, he became a little impatient and asked, "You must be tired from the journey, Minister Li, why don't you take a good rest and recover your energy?"

Li Zisheng said with a bitter face: "I don't know when I can leave... I'd better get things settled first. Eunuch Tan, have you met with Eunuch Lan? What did he say?"

"Nothing of the kind."

Tan Chang shook his head.

Li Zisheng asked in surprise: "You didn't ask when we can leave? Then we have to find out how much Datong can do to ensure that our imperial mission can be completed smoothly, right?"

Qin Chang said: "We did ask about this... Lan replied that the snow disaster was most serious in Guyuan and Ningxia, followed by Yansui and its surrounding areas.

"In fact, even if the Tatars hadn't invaded our border, the roads would still be very difficult to travel after we passed Datong Town. Many roads through the canyons are threatened by avalanches. In order to ensure the safety of our personnel and facilitate our subsequent journey, it wouldn't be too late to set off after the ice and snow have completely melted."

"Ah? Then we have to wait until after the New Year to make the trip?"

Li Zisheng asked in surprise.

Tan Chang was a little impatient and waved his hand, saying, "Minister Li, we can't afford any losses... Besides, the court is now raising money and food, and will catch up with us later. When that happens, let Datong Town send soldiers to help us go west together. Wouldn't that be more convenient and faster?"

"How long do we have to wait?"

Li Zisheng was anxious. "Speaking of which, we have already wasted quite a bit of time since we came out of Juyong Pass. If we continue to delay for a long time, we will definitely not be able to complete the imperial mission within the deadline."

Qin Chang asked in surprise: "Minister Li, how come I remember that His Majesty did not force us to deliver the things before a certain date?
"The northwest stretches for thousands of miles from east to west. The journey is long, and many situations are beyond our ability to predict before we set out from the capital. Didn't you report the situation earlier?"

"I did report it, but I didn't complain that I couldn't complete the task. I just explained the current situation and said I would do my best to overcome the difficulties and complete the task as soon as possible."

Lizi Provincial Road.

Qin Chang rolled his eyes when he heard this, and turned his head to say: "Li Shangshu has a semi-immortal body, so he can easily deal with various difficulties, but we can't.

"How about Minister Li think of a way, especially using your connections in the northwest border to help you transport the goods through Pianguan? I heard that the journey from Pianguan to Yansui is long but peaceful. But the section in Datong is relatively prosperous, and the Tartars are more ferocious in looting. We really have no way to deal with it."

Li Zisheng got angry when he heard this.

After all, you, Qin Chang, were once the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, and you have not been demoted to the lowest position until now. You are still a eunuch in charge of writing, right?

This is an existence second only to the Inner Prime Minister!
You actually openly tried to shirk responsibility and procrastinate with me in Xuanda, and you are really good at it!
Your purpose is not to make me fail to complete the task and leave me with nothing to report back to, right?

Since your political future is bleak now, Qin Chang, you want to drag me into it?

No, I will never let you succeed.

……

……

After Li Zisheng returned to his room, he immediately rushed to the desk and began to write a memorial, and even asked Zhang Luan for help in the form of a private letter.

Although he didn't know what Zhang Luan could do to help him, he felt that he had to inform Zhang Luan of his situation in advance, so that he wouldn't be tricked by Huai En and others. After Qin Chang sent Li Zisheng away, he soon learned from his entourage that Li Zisheng wrote letters to the capital every day.

"This Taoist priest Li is used to using his connections. He never stops wherever he goes."

Qin Chang sneered and said, "I thought that this northwest area would be like the capital, where he could just stomp his feet and a bunch of people would serve him?

"This place is barren and the living conditions are extremely poor. Who would do something that is not part of their job? And he wants the local military garrison to send troops to escort him west? Even the soldiers we have transferred from the Beijing camp to escort supplies are unwilling to continue moving forward during this chaotic time."

The attendant said, "What you said is true, and now the people below also said that it would be great if they could stay in Datong for the New Year. It won't be too late to set off in the spring.

"Anyway, those fabrics and clothes can be distributed to the front-line soldiers. The officers and soldiers in the northwest, from top to bottom, will surely be grateful to Your Majesty.

"A set of military uniforms and a set of bedding can be worn for decades. What's the big deal about missing one winter?"

Qin Chang glanced back at his attendant and said, "That's not the way to say it. I didn't mean to make things difficult for Li Zisheng, but the current conditions don't allow me to take risks. But why is he reporting to the capital every day? No, no, we can't let him talk to himself. Bring paper and pen, we have to write a memorial too, especially a detailed description of the foreign disturbances around Datong. Perhaps Your Majesty will leave me in the northwest and let me lead the army?"

The attendant asked with a smile, "Just like Wang Zhi and Eunuch Wang back then?"

When Qin Chang heard this, he immediately flew into a rage and shouted, "Give me an example, but give me a good one! Can our family be compared to that Wang Zhi?"

"Yes Yes Yes."

The attendant flattered, "Eunuch Tan is a man of foresight. All the soldiers in the northwest look up to you, waiting for you to lead them to defeat the foreign barbarians and pacify the border."

"Alright, alright, stop talking too much and stop showing off your flattery in front of me."

Qin Chang was already in a bad mood.

When things are going smoothly and you are successful in the officialdom, flattering words will definitely add icing on the cake.

Now that he was down and out, these flatteries sounded particularly harsh.

……

……

The twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month.

It was the big day of Zhu Jianshen’s funeral.

The capital was bustling with activity. The emperor personally carried his father's coffin out of the Deshengmen gate of the capital.

Originally, he planned to go to Tianshou Mountain in person, but when he was near the city gate, he was stopped by Huai En and others.

After some heated debate, Zhu Youtang realized that he should focus on state affairs and stay in the central government. He had to climb up the city wall and watch the coffin procession leave from the gate tower, wiping his tears constantly.

Zhang Luan came out from the stairs, holding something like a question book in his hand.

Huai En went over to stop him and asked in a low voice: "Zhang Guozhang, do you have something to talk to His Majesty about? His Majesty is in a bad mood at the moment. If you have anything to say, you should wait until you return to the palace."

Zhang Luan was a little annoyed and said, "I just received news that the Tartars are harassing the border in the areas around Datong in the northwest. Even the cloth sent to the three borders cannot continue to go to Pianguan. This means that your majesty's intentions cannot be conveyed to the soldiers on the northwest front in time. I am so anxious... I want to talk to your majesty about this matter."

Huai En said helplessly: "Your Majesty has known about this matter a long time ago."

Zhang Luan frowned when he heard this and asked, "Knowing is one thing, but do you have a solution? We can't just watch the bandits run rampant and do nothing, right?"

Huai En asked curiously, "Zhang Guozhang, don't you have any foresight? His Majesty is very sad about the death of the late emperor. If you go and talk to him now, will His Majesty be able to calm down and deal with state affairs? Let's wait a while.

"We are not asking you to delay for a few days. Can't you just wait for a few hours? Besides, if you really have any insightful ideas, you can just speak at the court meeting tomorrow."

"This……"

Zhang Luan looked at the emperor's son-in-law not far away.

At this time, Zhu Youtang was sobbing and wiping tears under the comfort of Qin Ji.

Zhang Luan wondered, was Qin Ji helping or was he deliberately causing trouble?
Don’t you know that some things get worse the more you try to persuade them?

"Okay, let's talk about it when I go to the palace to see the emperor... Please let him know that I have been here, and that I will go to the palace in the afternoon to discuss this matter with His Majesty." Zhang Luan said.

"it is good."

Huai En stopped trying to stop him and watched Zhang Luan turn around and go downstairs.

You, Zhang Luan, came here for serious business. If I keep trying to stop you, it would make me look like a treacherous minister who is blocking the Emperor's sight and hearing.

……

……

When Zhang Luan came down from the city gate tower, Xu Qiong and Shen Lu came over from the other side.

"Laizhan, I have already found someone to do what you asked me to do. I can submit the memorial before the New Year."

Xu Qiong said after bowing.

Zhang Luan asked: "Is it about your Majesty's biological mother, the Queen Mother?"

Xu Qiong nodded and said, "That's it. It concerns the great principles of human relations, so I dare not neglect it. But are you sure that His Majesty wants someone to report this matter before the late emperor is buried?"

Zhang Luan asked in surprise: "I wonder what the explanation is? Is there anyone in the court who opposes this and thinks it's not the right time?"

"There is nothing wrong with the Queen Mother and the late Emperor being buried together, but now... it has been a long time since such a situation has occurred. This... is actually not a good precedent."

Xu Qiong explains the current situation from the perspective of an etiquette expert.

Zhang Luan thought for a moment and asked, "Is there no precedent for the emperor's biological mother to be buried together with the previous emperor?"

Shen Lu on the side quickly explained: "Laizhan, don't worry, don't you think about it, our Grand Empress Dowager is still... ahem. Speaking of which, go back and check it out before you say this.

"By the way, aren't you and the Grand Empress Dowager your relatives? In fact, wouldn't it be better to let the Grand Empress Dowager come forward to talk about this matter?"

(End of this chapter)