Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 675: Together in the same boat
When Qin Chang was woken up and met up with Li Zisheng, he heard the news that the troops were about to be transferred to Piantou Pass.

"Were we going to march overnight?"

Tan Chang asked nervously.

"Yes."

Li Zisheng said, "Our army is mainly composed of soldiers from the Beijing Camp, Datong and local garrison troops. I have already informed them in advance and will tell the reinforcements coming from Pianguan to follow us... just in time to lead the way."

Tan Chang said, "I have already submitted the memorial of commendation. I expect the Censor-in-Chief will come to the army soon. Then he may accuse us of deserting the battlefield."

Li Zisheng smiled bitterly and said, "Eunuch Tan, this is why Zhang Guozhang doesn't want to be an official in the court... No matter how well you do, there will always be people who find fault with you. It's simply inexplicable."

"hehe."

Upon hearing this, Qin Chang couldn't help but shook his head and smiled bitterly.

He thought to himself, from what you said, I was the one who specifically found fault with Zhang Guozhang?

Li Zisheng continued, "Right now, we have to make sure that we keep the credit we have earned. Fortunately, someone in the court speaks for us, so we don't have to worry too much... What do you think, will Eunuch Huai support us or stand against us?"

Qin Chang said, "Lord Li, isn't it inappropriate for you to say these things at this critical moment? Aren't you afraid that it will get to Eunuch Huai's ears and cause trouble?"

"What am I afraid of? My reputation is not good to begin with. Everyone regards me as a criminal of the Ming Dynasty. It is unnecessary for me to be cautious..."

Li Zisheng sneered, "I just want you, Eunuch Qin, to recognize the current situation and know who in the court can speak for us and who will side with those nitpicking guys."

The muscles on Qin Chang's face twitched slightly.

Obviously, Li Zisheng's words touched Tan Chang's heart. He smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying helplessly: "Do we still have any choice now? Alas, it's really sad to think about it. We are just following the order to go to the northwest. In the future, we may have to stay in Ningxia and Gansu for a long time to guard a place.

"However, if someone can help to say a few good words to His Majesty, perhaps I can return to the capital in my lifetime..."

"Haha."

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "How difficult is that? As long as Eunuch Qin puts himself in Zhang Guozhang's camp, his comeback is just around the corner... Don't say I'm harming you. Even if you don't want to get on the same boat with us, the problem is that you are already on the boat, and it's far from time to jump off. We have to stick together and face the storm together."

"Yes Yes."

No matter how reluctant Qin Chang was, he had no choice but to agree at this time.

Because even he, who had always opposed external relatives abusing their power, could see that the only person who could help him and Li Zisheng at this time was the father-in-law Zhang Luan.

Apart from Zhang Luan, who else would be truly realistic and selfless enough to speak up for them?
……

……

The report of victory has been sent to the capital at an emergency speed of 800 miles.

Duke Baoguo Zhu Yongye led the troops of the Beijing camp and was on his way to Piantou Pass in an emergency.

Li Zisheng and Qin Chang, with a ragtag army formed by the merger of several units, prepared to defend the Piantou Pass line, because Zhang Luan's letter had indicated that the Tatars' next target would most likely be Piantou Pass, and they had to do their best to guard against the Tatars' destruction of the pass and ensure that the pass was not lost.

And in the capital.

At this time, Zhang Luan was recuperating at home.

He said he was recuperating, but in fact he just stayed at home during the day pretending to be there, ready to respond to all kinds of people who came to visit him. As soon as it got dark, he ran out and no one could be seen.

When Zhang Yanling went to diagnose his old father, he couldn't help but sigh: "Even a good person can't stand your torture...Are you really not afraid of losing your life..."

Zhang Luan immediately pulled his hand back upon hearing this, not allowing his son to continue taking his pulse. He sternly scolded him, "Who said before that your father was fine? If it weren't for someone, your father would be so passive now, not daring to show up in public? Humph, if something happens to me, I'll go find that person to settle the score."

Zhang Yanling said helplessly: "Alas, this person is so unlucky. In addition to helping others find a future, he also has to ensure that the person does not have any health problems when he is so extravagant. This is simply an unprovoked disaster."

"Hey."

Zhang Luan said, "Isn't it a good thing for you that your father doesn't go out? You are the boss of our family now. I see that you have managed everything in an orderly manner, which is good.

"Anyway, I don't have the energy to work hard for my father recently. I just want to take care of him in his old age. No matter how big the matter is, I will wait until after the first month of the lunar year to think about it."

Zhang Yanling looked unhappy: "After the first month of the year, are you still going to say we'll talk about it after spring? Humph, people who like to shirk responsibility will always find all kinds of excuses to exonerate themselves. Dad, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you recuperate like you're working in the yamen. You recuperate during the day and then sneak out to have fun at night. Even a body of iron can't stand it!" "I, your father, also wants to go out during the day and have a normal schedule, but I'm afraid... that someone will see me and say I'm faking illness. There's really nothing I can do..." Zhang Luan actually looked embarrassed.

Zhang Yanling didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Dad, do you really think that others don't know that you are pretending to be sick?"

Zhang Luan scolded, "You are to blame for forcing me to get involved in military and political affairs. You don't know what Qin Ji said when he came to visit me a few days ago... Hey, my goodness, the court has almost piled up a small mountain of impeachment memorials against me. Fortunately, the emperor is my son-in-law. If it were any other official, he would have been in trouble!"

……

……

In the Qianqing Palace.

Another batch of memorials were sent to the emperor, and Huai En specifically picked out some memorials impeaching Zhang Luan and put them aside.

The general meaning is, Your Majesty, no matter how much you trust your father-in-law, don't you have to listen to the voice of the people occasionally?

Zhu Youtang soon discovered these memorials, but turned a deaf ear to them. He pushed the memorials aside and said to Tan Ji, "My dear, please help me reply to these... I will not listen to any of the cabinet's proposals, just reject them directly."

Qin Ji glanced at Huai En and suggested, "Your Majesty, if you don't want to face the memorial, you can just keep it in your pocket. There's no need to refute it."

Zhu Youtang said: "I only have this one father-in-law. Let alone that everything he did was right, even if he did something wrong, should he be attacked by everyone? Where are the humanities, ethics, filial piety, righteousness and laws? It is totally unreasonable!"

"what!?"

Qin Ji never imagined that the emperor would elevate the matter before his eyes to the level of etiquette and law.

Huai En remained silent.

Tan Ji wanted to wait for Huai En to speak, but he waited in vain, so he could only continue the conversation himself: "Perhaps in the eyes of the ministers, the stability of the court is the most important."

Zhu Youtang's face was full of gloom, and he shook his head and said, "I think when my father was alive, whenever there was an invasion by foreign races, he basically did not discuss it with the court, but directly sent people to fight, and achieved good results, ensuring the stability of the border, and incidentally also hitting the Jurchens, Tatars and other foreign races.

"How come it's my turn to make the decision now? I just adopted my father-in-law's strategy to resist the Tatars, but I'm being criticized by so many people? Are you bullying me because I'm young and easy to talk to, right?"

"Your Majesty, perhaps the ministers feel that it is not appropriate to start a war at this time."

Tan Ji said cautiously.

Zhu Youtang frowned and asked, "When is the right time to use military force against foreign tribes? When they invade, they won't reason with you. The time and place are not decided by us... If we don't listen to my father-in-law, will those ministers have a good plan to deal with it? Not necessarily!"

"This……"

Qin Ji felt like he was about to become autistic.

At the moment, Qin Ji had no other choice but to follow the emperor's instructions and begin drafting a red-lettered comment to refute the ministers' impeachment of Zhang Luan.

After Qin Ji calmed down, Huai En said to Zhu Youtang, "Your Majesty, I just received a report from the northwest, saying that Li Zi Province has mobilized a thousand households in Datong Town to go to Pianguan. This is a cross-regional mobilization of troops without the permission of the court, which is an act of usurpation..."

Zhu Youtang asked curiously, "Are the troops in Datong willing to obey Li Zisheng's orders?"

"That's... yes." Huai En said, "Li Zisheng mobilized troops without authorization in the name of resisting the invasion of the Tatars. If he... has other intentions, I'm afraid... it will cause unrest in the area. Perhaps we need to correct the military and political malpractices in the northwest immediately to prevent others from taking similar actions and undermining the dignity of the court."

Qin Ji was secretly surprised when he heard this.

I thought to myself that you are really good at reporting to the eunuch.

Seemingly selfless, he pointed out the shortcomings of the military and political system in the northwest, that is, when powerful people arrived at the local area, they could mobilize troops with a seemingly reasonable purpose, and this loophole should be plugged in time to prevent unexpected changes, but in fact he was attacking Li Zisheng in an indirect way.

Once Li Zisheng is successfully overthrown, wouldn't it be a blow to Zhang Luan's arrogance and a heavy blow to the foreign relatives' party?
Zhu Youtang hesitated for a moment, but shook his head decisively: "If Li Zisheng can gain the support of the soldiers on the northwest front without a military order, then there must be something wrong with some decisions made by the court. And I sent Li Zisheng to the northwest on official business and gave him the title of Chief Censor, so it is reasonable to mobilize troops in this name."

Huai En suggested: "We should send someone to investigate in detail."

"no need."

Zhu Youtang waved his hand and said, "When this battle is over, everyone will have their own opinion."

(End of this chapter)