Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 701 Testing
Huai En took the initiative to visit.

When he arrived at Zhang's house, he only saw Zhang Heling.

"Uncle, has your father's condition improved?"

Wynn asked.

"what?"

Zhang Heling was wearing the uniform of a Jinyiwei captain. Hearing this, he couldn't help but widen his eyes and asked, "Is my father sick? How come I didn't know?"

Huai En smiled when he heard this.

I thought to myself, you are really honest.

He is much cuter than your brother whose scheming is deeper than that of a fox.

It's no big deal that you opened your mouth, but you're selling out your father and your brother right away!
So your father was pretending to be sick?
Haha!

Huai En asked with a smile: "Can I go in and pay my respects to your father?"

Zhang Heling shook his head: "My father is not at home."

"Um!?"

Wynn was a little confused for a moment.

How can you pretend to be sick so carelessly?
When you are sick, everyone says that you, Zhang Luan, never leave the house, but it turns out that you are not at home?
Going out and not coming back?
"Eunuch Huai, how about this? I'll get someone to notify my second brother and have him tell you." Zhang Heling said, and without caring whether Huai En agreed or not, he walked towards the door without caring about etiquette, still complaining loudly, "What a hassle... looking for trouble!"

It had been a long time since anyone dared to talk to him like this, and Huai En was a little confused for a moment.

The eunuch who was following him hurriedly advised: "Eunuch Huai, please calm down. Uncle Zhang may have made an unintentional mistake."

Huai En laughed dumbly when he heard this, and asked after a while: "Am I angry?"

The young eunuch then realized that he had spoken out of turn, and quickly lowered his head, not daring to say anything more.

In his opinion, people are pointing at you and scolding you, and you are just a young boy. So what even if he is the emperor's uncle?
No matter how great the king's uncle is, can he be as great as you, the prime minister?
You have such a good temper!

This shows that you don't even bother to argue with him!

……

……

Zhang Yanling was called back by Zhang Heling.

When he arrived at the door of his house, he saw Zhang Heling sitting there, with Chang Shun on one side and two unfamiliar young men on the other side, listening to Zhang Heling talking.

"Brother, why aren't you in there with the guests? Has Eunuch Huai left?"

Zhang Yanling asked.

"No, I'm still inside."

Zhang Heling asked, "You know these two, right?"

Zhang Yanling asked doubtfully, "I wonder if they are...?"

"This is Old Hu, and that is Little Hu. They are brothers from an official family in the capital. They are both currently serving in the Imperial Guard. They are very loyal and know all the good places to eat and have fun in the capital."

Zhang Heling introduced.

The two young men with the surname Hu stood up and saluted Zhang Yanling respectfully, looking very honored.

Zhang Yanling then realized that the two were both Beijing-born and dandy young men, or second-generation officials.

However, if he was not born into a noble family, there would be only one possibility, that is, his family had a certain background, and during the Chenghua period, he bribed Li Zisheng, Liang Fang and others to get the opportunity to work in the Jinyiwei and eat public food.

Even though the era name has been changed, the problem of redundant staff in Ming Dynasty's Jinyiwei and other government offices is still very serious.

This added a lot of burden to the court's finances.

Zhang Heling said, "Second Brother, these two are quite capable and have a good relationship with me. I heard that the Jinyiwei will have an assessment recently. They said that only those who do well in the exam will stay, and those who do not do well will be eliminated. You have to help them."

Zhang Yanling asked with a smile: "Really? How come I didn't know about this? This is your Jinyiwei's internal affairs, how can I know the inside story?"

"Eh, you don't know that either?"

Zhang Heling was also surprised, and then he sighed, "I told you that you can't know everything. Old Hu, Little Hu, you all heard it, isn't it said that our Zhang family knows everything about the court? Alas, now even my own official position may not be kept."

The older brother quickly said, "It's no different to be able to follow the two uncles of the emperor and serve them at their service."

Just by looking at the brothers' appearance, Zhang Yanling knew that they were very materialistic.

But they also seem to understand the rules of the world of fame and fortune very well... Whether it is currying favor with the powerful or seeking profit and avoiding harm, at least these two people have good vision.

Joining Zhang Heling seemed to be a very correct choice at the moment. After all, as the authorities, no one dared to be sure what the Zhang family's position in the court would be in the future.

These two brothers really followed the right person and found Zhang Heling, a "potential stock".

"Then follow me from now on." Zhang Heling patted his chest and said, "You two are old Beijingers, so give me more advice in the future. I usually ask Chang Shun a lot, but he only knows about the people and things at the bottom, and he is at a loss when it comes to high-end things. With you two here, I can get to know more people who share the same interests... I don't have any other advantages, but I am good at making friends!"

……

……

Zhang Mansion.

Main hall.

Zhang Yanling, the actual head of the Zhang family, the in-laws' family, personally came out to receive Huai'en.

Huai En sat there with a smile on his face and a cup of tea in his hand. He seemed calm and unhurried, but in fact he wanted to use some means to test Zhang Yanling more.

No matter how talented and cunning Zhang Yanling had shown in front of others before, at least in Huai En's opinion, it was not difficult to deal with a twelve-year-old boy, or he could always find a flaw.

"My father is seriously ill and can only recuperate in a relatively quiet place for the time being. He has not been at home these days." Zhang Yanling explained.

Huai En asked in surprise: "Is your father really sick?"

"Yes."

Zhang Yanling said with emotion, "After the Chinese New Year, my illness has been recurring. Now it has worsened and is at the point where no medicine can cure it. I can only rely on my unique secret technique to prolong my life.

"From my father's point of view, it may be because he saw through and revealed the secrets of heaven, and was punished by heaven. This is why he needs to find another place to recuperate. He really can't see people anymore."

This can also be considered a reasonable excuse Zhang Yanling found for his old father not being at home.

Is my father suffering from a common illness?

That's because he was punished by heaven for revealing the secret, but wasn't it all for the Ming Dynasty and the emperor?

Therefore, if my father wants to recover from his illness now, he can’t just recuperate at home as usual. He needs to find a place to “rest quietly” and he cannot be disturbed by anyone, especially no one can ask him any secrets.

Huai En said: "It's just recuperation, do I have to be quiet?"

Zhang Yanling looked at Huai En without saying a word, but his eyes revealed a strong disdain.

It seems like he is asking, if he were at home, wouldn’t you be disturbing him and not be conducive to his improvement?
My father was a man who planned ahead and had already taken this into account.

Huai En said: "But when it comes to court affairs, I still have to rely on your father."

Zhang Yanling shook his head with a regretful expression and said, "Eunuch Huai, it's not that my father doesn't want to help, it's just that he's unable to do so. Tell me, has he had a single day of leisure since His Majesty ascended the throne?"

Huai Enben was thinking, just look at Zhang Laizhan's lazy attitude, and you still say he is busy?
But when I think about it carefully, it seems that Zhang Luan has really done a lot of practical things.

First, he defeated the old forces such as Wan'an, and helped the emperor eliminate Liang Fang, Deng Chang'en and other former treacherous ministers. Later, he helped the emperor raise money and grain to build the imperial mausoleum, and helped the emperor to build a textile factory. After the New Year, he also helped the emperor reform the salt policy. Later, he planned the war in the northwest...

On the surface, he didn't seem to do anything, but when he turned around, he found that Zhang Luan was actually one of the busiest people in the Ming Dynasty.

If you just don't do things in front of others, it will appear that you are slacking off, but in fact you are doing a lot of things in secret?
Zhang Yanling said, "Eunuch Huai, if you have any questions, just tell me. If it is a matter of great importance and my father must be involved, I will tell him and he will do his best."

"I dare not, I dare not." Huai En sighed, "Now your father is ill because of leaking the secrets of heaven. If I trouble him again, I am afraid..."

Zhang Yanling looked a little sad and said, "My father has always said that as long as he can serve the court and His Majesty, it is worth it even if he makes some sacrifices."

"sacrifice?"

Wynn frowned.

Zhang Yanling said: "I will not stop until I die..."

"..."

Huai En suddenly felt that the boy in front of him was also very good at shouting slogans.

But it is also possible that Zhang Luan is used to putting on airs in front of his son, which is why the young man has so many tricks up his sleeve.

"Your Majesty will be in court tomorrow, and we need to make proper arrangements for the defense of the area around Piantou Pass. I wanted to ask your father's opinion, since he is... seriously ill, but I wonder what your uncle thinks about this?"

Wynn asked.

Zhang Yanling looked curious and asked, "Shouldn't we ask the Ministry of War, or someone who has experience as a governor in the northwest? I heard that Ma Zongxian, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, seems to be very knowledgeable about this."

"Ok?"

Wynn frowned slightly.

His reaction was genuine.

Obviously he didn't know that Zhang Yanling was eavesdropping on the inner court's political discussions in the Qianqing Palace.

This made him very confused as to why Zhang Yanling mentioned Ma Wensheng alone.

Just when he was stunned, he had no idea that Zhang Yanling had inadvertently discovered his true identity.

(End of this chapter)