Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 688: It's Hard to Distinguish Merits and Demerits (Second Update, Please Vote)

After Shen Lu was sent away, Zhang Luan, who was addicted to pretending to be sick, could neither lie down nor sit still.

"Yanling, I'm going to go find Butler Pang. Please help me at home. If anyone comes to visit again..."

Zhang Luan said excitedly while sorting his clothes. Perhaps he felt that he had something good to gain, so he couldn't wait to leave home and meet Pang Qing.

Zhang Yanling laughed when he heard this, then shook his head and said, "Dad, there is something I didn't tell you just now. Pang Qing will be leaving the capital soon."

"What do you mean?"

Zhang Luan asked in confusion.

Zhang Yanling replied: "Butler Pang must go to the Yellow River in advance to help Li Zisheng build relationships and pave the way for the river construction. When it comes to the allocation of money, grain and manpower, he must communicate with the local government. Many things that are not suitable for Li Zisheng to do must be done by him in secret."

Zhang Luan said indifferently: "It doesn't matter whether Pang Qingli leaves Beijing or not. I just want to find out what gift Li Zisheng wants to give me..."

"Then you can ask again at another time. There is really no need to rush."

After Zhang Yanling finished speaking, he turned around and walked out.

Zhang Luan hurriedly asked, "Father hasn't left yet, where are you going?"

Zhang Yanling said, "Didn't we agree before that Dad would stay at home to recuperate during the day? There will definitely be a lot of guests visiting today, so even if you don't meet them in person, you have to stay at home.

"There are so many people out there secretly watching our family. How can you go out now? It's best to stay at home for the next few days. You can do anything, but you can't go out."

Zhang Luan protested: "What can I do at home? Do you want to suffocate me to death?"

Zhang Yanling frowned and said, "Otherwise, you should go out in the middle of the night and don't come back these days! In any case, don't hang around in front of our house. The war in the northwest is far from over, and you can't rest easy."

"Then... it won't fail, right?"

Zhang Luan suddenly asked nervously.

When his son told him that something was very unfavorable, he instinctively thought that his son had calculated some secret but was just not willing to tell him directly.

"It is possible."

Zhang Yanling said solemnly, "With Li Zisheng's ability, it wouldn't be too difficult for him to win once by taking advantage of the situation. But if he were to guard a place and face a Tatar army that far outnumbers his own, do you think he could still stabilize the morale of the army and even lead it to victory?"

Zhang Luan seemed to have suddenly realized something and nodded repeatedly: "Ah, yes, yes, yes, even if we won by chance before, we can't take it lightly. It was just a coincidence! Without your advice beforehand, without the cooperation of time, place and people, what would Li Zisheng do? Then what's next..."

Zhang Yanling said: "It's a good opportunity for you to see the cruel ecology of the Ming Dynasty court, and let you know how good people are driven crazy. Even meritorious officials can be said to be criminals. It's a good eye-opener..."

"what?"

Zhang Luan looked confused.

Zhang Yanling smiled and reminded: "Think about Wang Weining back then. He had made outstanding contributions and was almost invincible since he led the army. However, because he stood on the wrong side and was implicated by Wang Zhi, no one stood up to speak for him when he was questioned. Some people even took advantage of his misfortune. How sad is that?

"Your current situation is similar to that of Li Zisheng. Even if they haven't taken action against you yet, as long as they think you are a traitor, they will find fault with you no matter what you have done.

"If you still don't know how to behave at this moment and give others excuses, will they let you go? If Li Zisheng hadn't helped me this time, based on the intensity of the attacks on you by the ministers in the court, do you really think that your brother-in-law, who has just ascended the throne and whose position is not stable, can protect you?"

Zhang Luan said, "Even if what you said makes sense! If you knew it was so dangerous, why did you let your father get involved in military affairs? What was your purpose?"

Zhang Yanling said, "If you don't take part in the border military affairs, you will never have the chance to get involved in military power. If you don't get involved in military power, you can only be a Confucian official. Even if you enter the Five Military Command, you will be no different from those civil officials. How can you talk about settling down and making a living?"

"Oh." Zhang Luan seemed to understand something and nodded, "I see. If our Zhang family wants to maintain a stable position in the court in the future, we must take into account the interests of all parties and become an indispensable person in the court.

"So, officials who come from the Hanyuan, even if they eventually become prime ministers, are still just civil officials. I can't become like them, but should think about how to suppress them, right?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Dad, you finally got it!"

"Okay you."

Zhang Luan rolled his eyes at his son and said, "You are extremely treacherous. When you enter the court in the future, you will have a hard time...Which minister in the court is easy to deal with?"

"Don't we still have a sister and brother-in-law?"

Zhang Yanling smiled.

Zhang Luan pursed his lips and said, "Do you expect that your status as the emperor's uncle can protect you for the rest of your life? Didn't you say that you calculated that your later years would be miserable, and you would spend your days in prison counting the days? You should make a change now, don't you understand?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "No matter what, my brother-in-law can help me. I have no doubt about this. As long as my brother-in-law is in power, and as long as what I do is beneficial to the Ming Dynasty in his eyes, I will be successful in everything I do, and the same goes for you, Dad.

"So, the most important thing to do now is to extend my brother-in-law's life as much as possible, and to have my sister give birth to more sons. This way, the power of our Zhang family can be maintained, and I don't have to worry about the predicted thing happening again."

Zhang Luan nodded in agreement: "Then why are you still hesitating? Hurry up and take care of your brother-in-law. The happiness of our whole family depends on your brother-in-law... You don't have to worry about your father's affairs. I naturally know what to do... Go and do your own thing!"

……

……

Room for the Supervisor of Ceremonies.

Several senior eunuchs sat down to discuss military affairs, especially the approval of the memorial reporting victory in the northwest and the next military moves.

"Eunuchs, His Majesty is urging us. It's almost time to light the lamps. If we don't go now, we will be delayed." The steward of the study was urging at the door.

Qin Ji looked anxious and worried.

In his opinion, the emperor could not be left waiting. Since no good solution had been thought of for the time being, he would just leave it as it is. It would be the same if he discussed it in front of the emperor.

Huai En said in a deep voice: "I have already told Your Majesty that for major military matters, we must listen to opinions from all sides. I learned that the cabinet minister Xu Pu has gone to see Ma Wensheng, the general secretary, to ask him for countermeasures. I am also waiting to see how he will draft the bill before I can make the corresponding red-ink comments."

"The problem is that the cabinet's proposal has not arrived yet... If it doesn't come, we will just wait here and not go to see the emperor. Wouldn't that be disrespectful?"

Xiao Jing asked.

Huai En frowned and glanced at Xiao Jing.

Xiao Jing looked away guiltily and dared not say another word.

Huai En said, "Li Zisheng and Tan Chang reported victory from the northwest, but a different version of the story was reported from Pianguan. It said that Li Zisheng mobilized troops without authorization, which involved the use of troops outside the pass. These have not been consulted with the court, so we need to consider them carefully."

Qin Ji said: "As the saying goes, a general is not subject to orders from his master when he is away from home. I think Li Zisheng's actions are understandable and should not be blamed."

Huai En said coldly: "You can say that we won, but this battle indirectly caused the Tatars to gather in the direction of Pianguan. If we don't deal with it well, the Tatars will retaliate wildly. Given the current situation of Pianguan, can we defend it? Once it is lost, who will be held responsible?"

*********
Here comes the second update. Please support me with your monthly pass! Thank you so much!

(End of this chapter)