Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 659: Time and fate
Outside the door of Zhang Luan's house, Liu Ji, still in shock, looked around and found that the yard was extremely quiet, without even a servant to serve. He immediately asked:
"So, your father is recuperating in such a secluded courtyard not for the convenience of seeing me, but because he has a disease that can infect others, so he has no choice but to do this?"

"This one……"

Zhang Yanling said with embarrassment, "I don't know what my father is thinking, but he arranged it this way, and my family can only do it!"

Is Zhang Luan recuperating here because he is afraid of infecting his family?

Or was it to fool Liu Ji?
wrong!
Big mistake!

Although this place belongs to the inner courtyard, it is right next to the gate to the back garden, so it is easy to sneak out of the house.

It was obvious that the old man didn't want his wife and children to bother him, so living in this courtyard made it convenient for him to slip away at any time and go to his outer house to "recuperate."

Liu Ji asked with concern: "Didn't your father come to the palace a few days ago?"

"Yes."

Zhang Yanling said, "I don't know why, but after leaving the palace, my father's condition suddenly worsened."

Liu Ji nodded and explained this phenomenon: "The palace is a place where dragon energy is connected. It's okay to go there occasionally, but going in and out frequently, especially running to the inner garden of the palace, is definitely not something that ordinary people can enjoy. So it's better not to get involved in karma unless it's necessary."

Zhang Yanling thought, are you trying to prevent Zhang Daguo from often going to the emperor to give instructions, so you are making false threats?

"gone."

Liu Ji said, "It would be best to find an imperial physician to examine your father later... Oh, by the way, besides your father himself, have you found other imperial physicians to come to the mansion to see the patient?"

Zhang Yanling said: "My father doesn't believe others. He said that this disease is not serious and he can solve it himself."

He wouldn't say that a royal physician had been there, as that would make it seem more authentic.

If Zhang Luan was really pretending to be sick, he would have sought out famous doctors, especially imperial physicians, to diagnose him. But now, he doesn't look like he is sick, but he looks more like he is sick.

"How can this be done?"

Liu Ji said, "We need to ask the imperial physician to come and take a look. Even if your father's medical skills are very good, it is still a good idea to listen to other people's opinions. Lai Zhan is really too concerned about his reputation and not his life!"

After saying this, Liu Ji immediately said goodbye, as if he was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would be infected with the disease.

……

……

"gone?"

When Zhang Luan saw his son come into the room, he was already preparing to put on his shoes and go to bed.

Zhang Yanling asked, "You're not pretending anymore?"

"What are you pretending for? Your father is really sick!"

Zhang Luan scolded his youngest son and then explained, "But I don't know why, after seeing that bastard, I suddenly felt much calmer. My son, you are capable of comforting your father."

Zhang Yanling asked, "Do you want to call Doctor Wang to come and treat you?"

"Isn't it enough to have you?"

Zhang Luan said, "I'm going out for a while today, so I'll leave the house to you! Don't run out all the time if you don't have anything to do. You are our family's military advisor. When your father is away, you have to take the initiative to take responsibility, understand?"

……

……

Guanhe.

This is the river that was later called Pianguan River. It is a tributary of the Yellow River. It is connected to Yajiao Mountain in the east and the Yellow River in the west. Piantou Pass stands at the westernmost part of Guanhe River.

The Pianguan Chronicles describes it as follows: "Xuan Da covers the capital, and Piantou covers the whole of Jin."

Piantou Pass is one of the three outer passes along with Ningwu Pass and Yanmen Pass. After the construction of the pass city in the 23rd year of Hongwu, there were records of its construction during the Xuande and Tianshun periods of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the first year of Hongzhi in the current year, and later in the sixth year of Jiajing and the Longqing period.

In the first year of the Hongzhi reign, the Tatars invaded the border, causing partial damage to Pianguan. The local military garrison urgently allocated personnel to carry out repair and reinforcement work.

At this time, Li Zisheng and his party did not station at Piantou Pass, but continued to move north after passing Yajiao Mountain, preparing to use the dangerous pass to resist the Tatars' southward invasion according to the advice given by Zhang Luan.

Qin Chang holds a different view on this.

After camping on the north side of Yajiao Mountain at night, Qin Chang went directly into Li Zisheng's tent to inquire about the march. He did this because he saw that Li Zisheng was conspiring with Qianhu Wang Fangduo and had been isolating him.

"Minister Li, even if you are promoted to the position of military commander now, you have to wait for the arrival of the Duke of Baoguo with his troops. You are not going to enter Pianguan now, but are going to lead the troops north by yourself. This is considered a rash march, right? We only have a few people under our command. You don't want to use this to resist the enemy, and completely ignore the lives of the soldiers?"

Tan Chang was very angry.

I supported you before, but the problem is that you don't take me, the military supervisor, seriously! After all, I am also a eunuch guarding Ningxia, and I plan to take root in the northwest in the future.

But I can't accompany you to do anything stupid.

Li Zisheng said, "Eunuch Qin, calm down first. Let me ask you, we have finally transferred the troops from Jingping Qianhu Suo here. If we enter Pianguan, who do you think we can mobilize with the military orders in our hands? Don't let these soldiers under our command be blocked at Pianguan and unable to go anywhere."

Qin Chang shook his head and said, "But it's really too risky for you to do this."

Li Zisheng smiled slightly when he heard this, and handed the letter from Zhang Luan, which was handed over in the name of the emperor, to Qin Chang for review.

After reading the letter carefully, Qin Chang was shocked and asked, "Do you trust Zhang Guozhang so much?"

"Eunuch Tan, if we don't trust Zhang Guozhang right now, who else should we trust?"

Li Zisheng asked back, "Do you believe that Eunuch Huai will help us in the capital?"

Tan Chang remained silent.

Li Zisheng said, "To put it bluntly, even if Eunuch Huai didn't participate in your previous hostility with Zhang Guozhang, he was at least aware of it, and even secretly gave you advice, right?"

"Minister Li, you are overreaching..." Tan Chang said angrily, "I am not an enemy of anyone. Everything I do is for the good of the court."

"Okay, Mr. Tan, what you said is fair and square, so let me ask you a more practical question... Do you want to stand with Huai En or with Zhang Guozhang now?"

Li Zisheng asked.

Qin Chang instantly felt the anger rising to his head.

Didn’t we agree not to talk about factions and personal prejudices?

Why are you getting worse?
Let me choose a side?
Li Zisheng seemed to have no expectation that Qin Chang could give an answer, and immediately added: "Look, Zhang Guozhang doesn't have any followers in the court, and even I am not considered a member of his faction."

"You don't count?"

Qin Chang looked over with a mischievous look.

"Of course not!"

Li Zisheng said confidently: "I serve the court, not someone."

Qin Chang thought about it and found nothing wrong with what he said. After all, that was how he had just lied to Li Zisheng.

"Eunuch Qin, are you still afraid that Father-in-law Zhang will have fewer opponents in the court in the future? Which civil servant who was born as a lecturer in the Eastern Palace would regard him as his own? Who among the upright officials in the court would think that he, who was born as a foreign relative, is qualified to inquire about the decision-making of the court?" Li Zisheng asked questions in a rapid succession.

Tan Chang said: "Minister Li, officials do not care who is their own and who is an outsider. Please do not use short-sightedness to judge others' foresight."

Li Zisheng did not argue with Tan Chang, and said with a smile: "By the way, Eunuch Tan, why do you think Zhang Guozhang risked being criticized to give us such a hint, telling us when, where and from where the Tatars would come?"

"This……"

Qin Chang was unable to answer for a moment.

"Eunuch Tan, do you think that if Zhang Guozhang was not sure, he would do this in vain?"

Li Zisheng had a confident smile on his face and said loudly, "Don't forget the earthquake at Mount Tai, and don't forget the strange natural disaster before Lady Wan passed away. Who else can foresee the opportunity and create an opportunity for you and me to make achievements, except for Zhang Guozhang?"

Qin Chang said: "Minister Li, you are a Taoist priest, can't you calculate it yourself? Why do you have to listen to others?"

"We know our own business. Our cultivation is too shallow to predict the secrets of the heavens... We can't do it ourselves, but you don't want us to listen to the opinions of those with more cultivation?"

Li Zisheng looked indifferent.

"You really are..."

Tan Chang seemed speechless.

But his expression also showed that Li Zisheng's reasons had convinced him.

Li Zisheng added fuel to the fire: "The key is that His Majesty also believes in Zhang Guozhang... Tell me, if we don't follow Zhang Guozhang's advice and make preparations in advance, then no matter whether the Tatars come or not, what will His Majesty think? Isn't the blame all on us? Do we have any choice now?"

Qin Chang nodded and said, "That's right. Now it seems that Zhang Guozhang is pointing out the way forward for us, but in fact, it is His Majesty who has arranged a way out for us."

"Eunuch Tan, that's a good idea."

Li Zisheng complimented with a smile.

Tan Chang was somewhat speechless and shook his head, saying, "But with so few people..."

Li Zisheng said: "We have about 1,200 servants escorting the cloth, more than 400 soldiers following us, and Captain Wang has brought more than 700 men and horses."

Qin Chang shook his head and said, "Even if we add up all those who are not soldiers, there are only 2,000 people in total. Do you dare to confront the Tatars head-on?"

"Eunuch Qin, you have to adapt to the situation when fighting."

Li Zisheng said, "When we reach the front pass, we will most likely get another group of soldiers, probably about 400 to 500 people. Then we will hide the cloth in the nearest fortress and lead the soldiers out of the pass..."

"What? You're going to leave the city again?"

Qin Chang thought Li Zisheng was crazy and tried to dissuade him, "We can understand using the pass to defend against foreign invaders, but how can you lead troops out of the pass?"

Li Zisheng said, "Can you hold the pass? We have to take the initiative to attack! Zhang Guozhang has told us the time and place of the Tartars' attack, and we are still waiting inside the city gate? Isn't that asking for humiliation?"

Qin Chang said: "But with the limited number of people we have..."

Li Zisheng sighed, "Don't always emphasize that we have fewer soldiers. Even if we have fewer, we are the elite of the Beijing Camp, and we have a lot of magic spears and magic guns. Look at the border troops of Captain Wang, do they have as many livestock as we have brought?"

"This……"

Qin Chang questioned, "No matter how many animals there are, they have never been on the battlefield. Soldiers who have not been tempered by the fire of war are not good at fighting... War is never about who has more animals."

Li Zisheng said: "All is fair in war. The Tartars will never think that we will set up an ambush at the border. We will wait for an opportunity and hide somewhere. It would be best if we could surprise them at night. The Tartars will never think that we already know their marching movements and will capture them in one fell swoop."

Qin Chang was originally somewhat looking forward to it.

But after listening to Li Zisheng's words, he clearly felt that Li Zisheng was playing with fire and began to back down.

Li Zisheng sighed, "Eunuch Tan, I have no way out. If I don't get military merit this time, I will no longer have a place in the court. I believe your situation is similar. Don't you want to... give it a try?
"In the past, our troops would rush after the Tartars had looted. This time, we have made careful preparations and ambushed them in advance. Even though our troops are fewer in number...but..."

Qin Chang said, "Minister Li, please don't say anything. Now that we are here, we should make the best of it. Is there any way out for us? We can't let the emperor down."

"Yes, yes, yes. Even if we die, we are heroes."

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "I will never bring shame to the Ming Dynasty."

Qin Chang thought to himself, Li Zisheng, you are really working hard for fame and fortune.

But come to think of it, an opportunist like you who thinks he's been lucky all his life must feel like he's got some bad luck this time. Poor me, Qin, who has been well-behaved for half his life, but now I'm old and I have to try my luck with you, Li Zisheng?
It’s really...it’s fate.

(End of this chapter)