Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 680 Kindness in Sickness

In the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youtang sat there with a dull expression, his eyes slightly narrowed, his head lowered and raised from time to time, like a chick pecking at rice. Looking at his listless appearance, it was obvious that he had no energy to review the memorials.

Seeing Zhang Yanling coming, Zhu Youtang tried to open his eyes wide, smiled and nodded as a greeting, then he stood up, pulled his brother-in-law to the edge of the couch, sat down, put his hand on him, and waited to take his pulse.

After a series of diagnostic methods, Zhang Yanling had a basic understanding of Zhu Youtang's condition, and then he said: "Brother-in-law's illness should be caused by infection with cold."

Zhu Youtang said, "I caught a cold before the New Year, and it has been intermittent, but it hasn't gotten better. It's gotten worse in the past few days, I keep coughing, and my head feels dizzy."

"It's a low-grade fever, and my throat is a little inflamed..."

Zhang Yanling said, "I have anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and cough medicines here. You should feel much better after taking them. My brother-in-law is not feeling well and it is really not suitable for him to work. It would be best if he could take a day off."

Tan Ji asked quickly, "Will your majesty recover after a day's rest?"

Zhang Yanling said: "Major symptoms such as nasal congestion, cough and even body aches can be basically alleviated, but it will take a few more days to fully recover."

Zhu Youtang said helplessly: "It's just a cold, not worth mentioning. In fact, I used to get sick a few times every winter. It's nothing serious."

Zhang Yanling looked at the cold inner hall of the Qianqing Palace and shook his head, saying, "I will rebuild a heating system in the palace later so that my brother-in-law can feel better and not get sick from the cold."

"Renovation?"

Zhu Youtang seemed a little confused about the new term uttered by his brother-in-law.

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "It's just using a large boiler to heat water, and then using pipes to heat the building... Brother-in-law, don't worry, I'll talk to Eunuch Chen from the Imperial Household Department. From now on, as long as there's heating in the room, it will feel like spring all year round."

Qin Ji quickly dissuaded him: "Second Master, this will cost a lot of money... The treasury is tight now, we should save money!"

Zhang Yanling said: "My brother-in-law is the king of a country. If he gets sick because of the cold in winter, it will not only affect the approval and formulation of national policies, but also make the subjects worry, which is not conducive to the stability of the country... Some money should be spent, and we should not lose the big picture for the small."

"No need, Yanling."

Zhu Youtang waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, I'm fine."

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "This expense does not need to be paid from the treasury. I will find someone outside to raise funds."

Tan Ji said: "Your Majesty can understand the good intentions of the Second Young Master, but if someone wants to do their part to reduce the burden on the court and donate money, wouldn't it be good to use it to purchase grain?"

"That's different."

Zhang Yanling said, "Some people only want to be loyal to His Majesty, but they may not be loyal to the country."

"what?"

Qin Ji looked confused and seemed unable to understand the logical relationship.

Isn't being loyal to the emperor the same as being loyal to the country?

Zhu Youtang pondered for a moment and asked, "They only want to give me the wealth and goods, not to give them to the court for nothing... Yanling, is this what you want to say?"

"Yes."

Zhang Yanling nodded.

Zhu Youtang smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I feel that there are many human relationships inside and outside the court, which makes people hard to guard against...Does it really have to be so complicated?"

Qin Ji finally understood and said in a soothing tone: "Your Majesty, people in the world always have their own thoughts, but since someone wants to be loyal to you, it's okay to use him."

It seems that even Qin Ji felt that the emperor's life was too hard. He was freezing in the Qianqing Palace in the middle of winter and even got sick from the cold. How unreliable is that?
Zhu Youtang said, "Isn't it a bad idea to abuse the people's money like this? When you give gifts to others, you must ask for something. If I accept their donations, does that mean I have to repay them?"

After these words were spoken, not to mention Zhang Yanling, even Qin Ji felt that it was not easy for our Majesty.

Have you considered such a deep-seated issue?
Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Brother-in-law is right to worry. We cannot give them money, but we can tilt some policies towards them, so that they can earn money while helping us. It is mutually beneficial. And what they care about most right now is actually the exchange of salt permits."

Zhu Youtang's face suddenly became serious, and he resisted: "If they are asking for salt permits, then I won't spend their money..." Zhang Yanling shook his head and said: "Brother-in-law, don't worry, salt permits are sold according to normal procedures. They just want to spend money to buy peace of mind. They are mainly afraid that the court policy will change, which will bring them unbearable losses.

"Just like the previous collapse of the salt administration, it was mostly due to the occupation of the powerful, but the court could only investigate the malpractices of the salt administration and target the merchants. Even after my brother-in-law ascended the throne, there were still cases of officials setting up checkpoints to seize and harass salt merchants."

"Oh."

Zhu Youtang seemed to understand but not quite.

Tan Ji said: "Second Master, why are you speaking for those merchants?"

Zhang Yanling could tell that no matter how approachable Qin Ji seemed on the surface, he had a huge sense of superiority. He thought that serving the royal family made him naturally superior and looked down on the lower class merchants.

Zhang Yanling said: "The prosperity of commerce can bring prosperity to the Ming Dynasty's economy. What I think is that we can't suppress the development of commerce as we did in the past. Although it is true that emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce is correct at certain times, if we want social progress, we have to rely on these merchants."

Zhu Youtang said: "Yanling, what you said is different from what the teacher usually teaches. It is probably because you are in a different position... These are things that the teacher cannot teach."

"Brother-in-law, I'm not speaking for those merchants." Zhang Yanling said, "I just think that if we rely solely on the court's own resources, it is really difficult to accomplish some things. Just like this time when we were visiting the northwest, the gap in money and food was really too big, and sometimes we had to take some unconventional means."

Qin Ji said: "But... even if we don't give those merchants benefits, they will still pay us donations, right?"

"Eunuch Qin, merchants value profit. It doesn't mean that we have to subcontract some projects to them or purchase something from them in order for them to feel profitable. What they care more about is that the court's policies are impartial. To put it bluntly, they are actually just paying protection fees." Zhang Yanling said.

"what?"

Qin Ji felt uncomfortable when he heard such harsh words.

Don't you need to be careful when speaking in front of the emperor?
Protection fees?
Such plain and harsh words are really not suitable to be said in front of the emperor.

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "Yanling, you speak very vividly and vividly, and people can understand it at once. But we are all citizens of the Ming Dynasty, and I will treat you all equally."

“Brother-in-law, it’s good that you treat everyone equally, but the people below won’t.”

Zhang Yanling patiently explained, "What those merchants fear most is a change in the court's policies. Whenever there is any disturbance, they are all like frightened birds, especially the merchants in Beijing. They are worried that the court will suddenly change its policy, and they are also worried that brokers with powerful backgrounds will come out to plunder. They are also worried that their business will be taken away by their peers. They also have to compete head-on with merchants from other factions, especially the merchants in Beijing."

Zhu Youtang said: "Yanling, no matter how reasonable your words are, you should not be too concerned about business. You should learn from your father and care about the world. You should still study more."

Zhang Yanling thought to himself that this brother-in-law was indeed taught by a pedantic scholar, and he would still have a psychological resistance to things that were unorthodox.

It won’t work overnight; it has to be done gradually.

After all, weren't those deep-rooted ideas of yours also taught to you bit by bit by others?

Zhang Yanling asked, "Then brother-in-law...are you going to use it or not?"

"If you really have to use it." Zhu Youtang thought about it carefully and pointed in the direction of Kunning Palace, "Finish it for your sister first. It doesn't matter for me."

Hearing this, even Qin Ji felt embarrassed.

He has fallen ill so many times in a row, but he still wants to leave good things to his wife, completely disregarding his own safety. What kind of thing is this?
Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Since we are going to do it, then we should do it all. Not only Kunning Palace and Qianqing Palace, but also Qingning Palace, Renshou Palace and other places. We can't be partial to some and neglect others."

"Wouldn't it be... too extravagant and wasteful?"

Zhu Youtang, who had always been frugal, naturally felt distressed when he heard this.

"This isn't the imperial treasury money, so don't worry about extravagance. This renovation project should be pushed forward immediately and can't be delayed any further."

Zhang Yanling said.

Qin Ji was very surprised: "The first month of the year is almost over, aren't you going to wait until the middle of the year?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "As long as His Majesty gives his approval, it won't take long to complete the supporting facilities. However, some places need to be renovated, and the layout of the existing palaces may be changed."

(End of this chapter)