Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 639 My Family

New Year's Eve.

Zhang Luan brought his youngest son into the palace.

There was no need to wait until after the Chinese New Year to pay New Year's greetings, because Zhang Luan had to visit the palace before the Chinese New Year. After all, the owners of the Forbidden City were his son-in-law and daughter, plus a close "eldest aunt". He also had to take care of the feelings of the concubines in the palace, and even had to send gifts to Queen Mother Wang...

After all, Zhang Luan is very knowledgeable about the ways of the world.

In other words, apart from being good at dealing with human relationships, the current Zhang Guo-father doesn't know much about other things.

He first went into the palace to meet Emperor Zhu Youtang.

Zhu Youtang specially dismissed everyone except Zhang's father and son, and expressed his feelings first: "...Father-in-law, Yanling, I have asked someone to prepare lunch at noon today, and the queen also asked you to come over. After the meal, there are some New Year's expenses, which will be sent to your home."

Zhang Luan humbly said, "How can I trouble Your Majesty?"

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "We are all family, there is no need to be so formal. I heard that my father-in-law brought a lot of things with him when he entered the palace this time."

"Yeah."

Zhang Luan said, "This time, it was Eunuch Chen Xi who helped bring it into the palace. It will be distributed one by one according to the list. The Grand Empress Dowager, the Queen Mother, and the Concubine Dowager will all have a copy. In addition, this kid also brought a blueprint of what he said was a firearm. He plans to make some after the New Year. He'll tell you later."

Zhu Youtang smiled and praised, "Yanling is thoughtful. I still have the drawings of the spinning machine and loom from last time. I have asked someone to make some more copies and I am also planning to send some craftsmen to Nanjing to make them. In the future, all weaving factories around Jiangning will use these new machines."

Zhang Luan said: "As long as it doesn't cause trouble to the court."

"How can it cause trouble?"

Zhu Youtang said, "Father-in-law, please take a seat. I just happen to have something to tell you."

Zhang Yanling asked, "Your Majesty, do you need me to step aside?"

"Need not."

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "You'd better listen. It has something to do with your father's official position."

"Oh."

Zhang Yanling turned his head and glanced at Zhang Luan.

Zhang Luan's expression looked somewhat unnatural.

Because in his mind, he had reached the end of his career as an official and had no intention of being promoted any further. In particular, he was afraid of being boycotted by the civil official system, so he was not very enthusiastic about promotion.

……

……

The three men sat on each side, and even Zhang Yanling had a seat.

Zhu Youtang said, "When I went to Qingning Palace to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager yesterday, she specifically asked me why my father-in-law is still only the Right Vice Minister, and that he was only transferred from the Ministry of Rites during the previous emperor's time to the Ministry of Revenue. She also said that if this continues, my father-in-law will not be able to show his true strength, and asked me to arrange for my father-in-law to join the cabinet as soon as possible."

Zhang Luan was so frightened that he almost trembled when he heard this, and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please do not mention the matter of entering the cabinet again. With my background and ability, I am a million miles away from being a cabinet minister."

Zhu Youtang shook his head and said, "Father-in-law, you are already a bachelor of imperial studies and you are also in charge of the Imperial Academy. What's wrong with you joining the cabinet? I mentioned this to Huai Daban, and he said that if you can serve as a bachelor of the Imperial Academy and join the cabinet to participate in the affairs of the cabinet, you don't have to work in the cabinet every day, but you can be ranked higher than those who join the cabinet later. Isn't this good?"

"what?"

When Zhang Luan heard this, his eyes lit up and he thought to himself, what a thoughtful person.

The emperor knows that I don’t like being an official and is also aware that I am lazy, so he gave me the title of cabinet minister, but I don’t have to go to work every day. This son-in-law... is really hard to find even with a lantern!

Zhu Youtang said, "It was originally discussed in the Hanyuan before the New Year that Mr. Liu Jian would join the cabinet, and the matter was almost settled. But the Empress Dowager said that if you, father-in-law, are ranked below Mr. Liu, it will be inconvenient for you to do anything in the future."

"No inconvenience."

Zhang Luan said gratefully, "I think as long as I can do things for the court, I don't need to care about my official position. Even if I have no official position... As long as Your Majesty has an order, I will do my best."

Zhu Youtang said: "But we can't mistreat our own family members."

Zhang Luan was even more moved after listening to this.

It turns out that my son-in-law doesn't want me to suffer any loss...

However, Li Zisheng was not a cabinet minister. In the end, he was just a part-time Minister of Rites. But that did not affect his position as the most powerful minister in the late Chenghua period.

Official positions are not important. The most important thing is that my son-in-law trusts me and treats me as his own.

Zhu Youtang said: "This matter will be done directly after the New Year. Father-in-law, do you have any objection?"

"It's not right, it's not right."

Zhang Luan seemed very persistent. "I really have no intention of joining the cabinet. Besides, I am currently being criticized by others for recommending civil officials and military generals to transport food and military supplies to the northwest. People also say that I am presumptuous. It is even more inappropriate to mention this now."

"is it?"

Zhu Youtang looked at Zhang Yanling, raised his hand and said, "Yanling, you tell me."

Zhang Yanling shook his head and said, "I'm just a kid, I don't understand anything..."

Zhang Luan interrupted his younger son and scolded him, "Why are you acting so childish here? His Majesty asks you a question, so you should answer it properly! Also, you are being so rude in front of His Majesty, and you have no manners at all."

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "Father-in-law, don't blame Yanling. I told him before that he didn't need to be restrained in front of his brother-in-law... Yanling, if you have any ideas, just say it directly, don't be so formal with me."

"Oh, if that's what my brother-in-law asks, I'll just say it straight." Zhang Yanling was no longer polite and said, "Since my father said that he is being criticized, it is indeed not suitable for him to take a further step in his official position at this time...why not wait until the controversy is over before making a decision?"

Zhang Luan asked: "What's the dispute? Explain it clearly..."

Zhu Youtang hurriedly said, "Father-in-law, please don't interrupt me. I think I understand. Yanling seems to mean that after Zhu Yong and Li Zisheng have successfully transported the grain and cloth to the northwest, and you have also collected the remaining grain, we can talk about your joining the cabinet." Zhang Yanling grinned and said, "Brother-in-law, this is what I mean. Otherwise, if you directly promote my father when the court is the most controversial, it will not only attract opposition from the ministers and cause a lot of quarrels in the court, but also people will say that you are nepotism. It is really unnecessary.

"Besides...my father is a man of few desires and has no aspirations for an official position."

Zhang Luan said with a dark face: "Yanling, why are you talking so unpleasantly... Your father doesn't have any aspirations, but you have them, okay?"

When Zhu Youtang saw the father and son bickering, which seemed to have no manners at all, envy appeared on his face.

Because this was something he didn't even dare to think about.

I wanted it before but couldn't get it, and I won't have the chance to achieve it in the future, but I can always feel that no matter what the father and son say, they both reflect a strong father-son affection.

Instead, he stood there, like an outsider.

Zhu Youtang said, "What Yanling said makes sense. If you insist on letting your father-in-law join the cabinet at this time, it would seem too deliberate. Father-in-law, you don't know that the debate was very intense during the court meeting three days ago. I was so scared that I didn't know what to say. Alas, I really don't understand why those civil officials have such a big prejudice against you."

"Your Majesty, the prejudice in people's hearts is like a mountain, and it is difficult to change it in a short time. Please don't force it. What if I don't join the cabinet? I will still serve Your Majesty."

Zhang Luan said, "Besides, I don't know much about military affairs, and I don't know what the results of Li Zisheng and Zhu Yong's trip to the northwest will be... Well, as long as nothing goes wrong, it'll be good..."

Zhu Youtang shook his head: "No! We can't wrong an honest man!"

Zhang Luan thought to himself, “Oh damn”, how come my son-in-law is even more stubborn than me?

"Father-in-law, you have done a lot, so you should be promoted. Also, I have just taken charge of government affairs, and I don't understand many things. There are many times when I really need your advice."

Zhu Youtang said firmly, "Let's put this matter aside for now. I estimate that there will be a result soon after the New Year. As for Mr. Liu's entry into the cabinet, let's put it on hold for now."

Zhang Luan declined again: "It's really not my business, so what if I let Liu Xueshi enter the cabinet first?"

Zhu Youtang shook his head, "I'm afraid that the Empress Dowager will be very unhappy... It is necessary for the Empress Dowager and I to help my father-in-law join the cabinet. Let's just leave it at that. By the way, Yanling, didn't you say you had some drawings?"

Zhu Youtang changed the subject at the right time.

"Yes."

Zhang Yanling said, "Not only do we have the blueprints, but we also have the finished products that were produced as trial products... I want to invite my brother-in-law to watch the live-fire drill when I have time."

"What are you looking at?"

Zhang Luan frowned and questioned, "You don't want His Majesty to watch you fiddling with those bottles and jars, do you? The smell of some of these things... is too pungent! Your Majesty, don't listen to his nonsense. I don't know what this kid is fiddling with."

Zhu Youtang was looking at the drawings that Zhang Yanling handed over.

Zhu Youtang pointed at the picture and said, "Father-in-law, this looks like a cannon..."

Zhang Yanling smiled and replied, "That's right. This is a kind of thing that is not so airtight, but can be quickly replaced. It can be called a shotgun."

"With this weapon, when the border troops fight the Tatars in the future, they can launch a covering attack on them from a long distance, thereby breaking up the momentum of the Tatar cavalry's collective charge."

“It looks quite interesting.”

Zhu Youtang asked, "Then...what about this kind of weapon?"

"This is a new type of fire gun. It is a modified version of the magic gun and magic cannon. It can be fired by striking flint and fire paper to complete the firing of ammunition. It is also called a muzzle-loading smoothbore gun. It has a longer range than the current magic gun and magic cannon, is more accurate in shooting, has a faster loading speed, and is easier and quicker to operate. One soldier can complete the loading and firing."

Zhang Yanling actively promoted his military products.

Zhu Youtang asked: "What is this powder?"

"This is a new gunpowder."

Zhang Yanling said, "But it has not been successfully prepared yet. Once the ratio is determined, its power will be much greater than the current gunpowder.

"In addition, there is also a plan to improve the firearms equipped by the Ming border troops. The main purpose is to reduce the weight of the firearms and increase the airtightness to ensure the accuracy of the firing and reduce the possibility of explosion..."

After listening to this, Zhu Youtang raised his head and asked with a smile: "Yanling, where did you learn all this? It seems that you have a lot of skills."

Zhang Yanling said: "I don't know how this came up in my mind, and I don't know if it will work, so I showed it to my brother-in-law. If my brother-in-law thinks it's not good, then I won't do it..."

"No, try it first, maybe it will work?"

Zhu Youtang didn't care whether the brother-in-law in front of him was a monster or not.

In his opinion, his brother-in-law is a member of his own family, his wife's biological brother. In terms of actual relationship, his brother-in-law is probably closer to him than his half-brothers. At least his brother-in-law only cares about him instead of thinking about how to usurp the power in his hands.

He is a person who is very particular about the closeness and distance between people.

"Then find a place and let's try it later... Remember to cover up and don't let outsiders see any clues." Zhu Youtang said with a smile, "I will disguise myself and leave the palace, and I'm afraid I will bring Huai Daiban and others with me."

Zhang Luan hurriedly stopped him: "Your Majesty, this is just a child's toy, you don't need to mobilize so many troops, right?"

Then he looked at his youngest son and scolded him, "Yanling, don't do anything rash. Firearms are very dangerous. If you let His Majesty go... can you ensure that nothing will happen?"

Zhang Yanling said, "I didn't let my brother-in-law get close, so he can just watch from a distance. Only after actual testing can we know whether the new firearm works or not."

"Ah."

Zhu Youtang nodded and said, "If it is really useful, then we should make some. Father was also a little worried about the aging of the military equipment in the Beijing camp. He was afraid that the foreign barbarians would make some reckless moves and it would be difficult to suppress the Tatars with these things left by our ancestors.

"In the past, Taizu and Chengzu completely crushed the Tartars on the grasslands, but in recent years it seems that our advantage is no longer there. I guess it has something to do with the aging of firearms."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Dad, I said that my brother-in-law has a broad mind and will realize that these are good things... Then I will demonstrate them to my brother-in-law and make him look at me with new eyes. Hey."

(End of this chapter)