Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 783 No More Use
Ye Qi and Zhang Luan parted on bad terms.

Shen Lu was quite embarrassed. He saw Zhang Luan to the door, then shamelessly returned, only to find Zhang Luan still sitting there sulking.

"Lai Zhan, I really didn't mean to make things difficult for you."

Shen Lu stepped forward, explaining with a bitter face, "He originally told me that he wanted to seek your advice on how to be an official, thinking it would help cultivate your reputation... Since even a renowned scholar like Ye Qi has come to ask for your advice, wouldn't that make you seem even more competent as an official? Who would have thought that he would..."

Zhang Luan raised his hand and said, "Ru Xue, stop talking. Of course I know you wouldn't deliberately embarrass me; it wouldn't do you any good."

Shen Lu nodded helplessly.

Clearly, Shen Lu was nothing in the court. If it weren't for his kinship with the Zhang family, who would take him, a mere scholar, seriously?
Therefore, no matter what the outcome, his initial intention in doing everything was always to help Zhang Luan.

Sometimes his political thinking wasn't very sophisticated, and coupled with Ye Qi's ill intentions, he ended up getting screwed over badly.

"Ugh!"

Zhang Luan sighed and said, "It's not that I don't want to help him, it's just that I can't raise too much money. Perhaps I went a bit too far just now! How about this, you tell him later that if he really wants to find someone to help him, he should go directly to my son. I believe Yanling will have a way."

Shen Lu shook his head and smiled bitterly.

Thinking to myself, even if everything you said is true, Ye Qi won't believe you, much less shamelessly ask a child for advice.

It's one thing if he can't compare to you, Zhang Luan, since you are nominally the head of the Hanlin Academy. He can just admit defeat. But if he can't even compare to a teenager, how can he face being an official in the future?
“Ru Xue, these past few days, Pang Bingkun has been asking me to help Minister Li raise money, and I’m already quite bothered by it.”

Zhang Luan instructed Shen Lu, "The reason I moved here early was simply to find some peace and quiet for a few days, but you've ruined my mood. You must remember, don't come looking for me unless it's something serious. If you really run into trouble, go to Yanling first; he'll definitely have a way to solve your problems."

……

……

For the next two days, no one came to visit, and Zhang Luan truly managed to keep quiet.

However, as the weather warmed up day by day, he became restless. He had no interest in his wife at home, so he went to a villa full of beautiful flowers inside Chongwen Gate and stayed there for two days.

But then he finally realized something and felt it was essential to see his son.

Perhaps he hadn't seen Zhang Yanling much lately, which made him feel insecure, or perhaps he was just bored and wanted to find some sense of existence through his son.

As a result, he sent people to inquire for a long time and searched everywhere. It wasn't until the afternoon of the next day that he finally found Zhang Yanling in a workshop outside the city, where he was leading more than ten craftsmen to calibrate the sights of cannons.

"My son, come here."

Zhang Luan saw his son fiddling with the cannon and, fearing it might explode, dared not get too close, waving to him from afar.

Zhang Yanling turned his head and saw it was his adoptive father. He put down what he was doing, wiped his hands with the towel the craftsman handed him, took off his heavy work clothes, and then went out to greet him, asking, "Dad, are you having troubles again?"

"I just came to see you."

Zhang Luan invited Zhang Yanling to the next room, and after they sat down, he asked, "Your brother-in-law said earlier that he wanted to go out of the city to watch the artillery display... Is it over yet?"

Zhang Yanling asked, "Father, how many days have you not gone out?"

"Going out is common, but it is true that I have not been involved in court affairs for a long time."

Zhang Luan said contentedly, "Closing my eyes is quite comfortable."

"Why sleep so much before death, when you'll have plenty of time to sleep after you die... Dad, aren't you being a little too lazy?"

Seeing Zhang Luan's unfriendly expression, Zhang Yanling had no choice but to say, "These past two days I submitted a memorial to my brother-in-law, arguing for the necessity of going to sea to explore new continents, and also to plunder a large amount of treasure and resources from overseas. My brother-in-law thinks it's a good idea and is studying its feasibility in the palace. As for the cannon exercise, it should be sometime next month."

Zhang Luan asked in surprise, "What? You suggested to His Majesty that the seas be opened?"

Zhang Yanling explained with a smile: "It's not really opening up the seas. It's just that the imperial court sent people overseas to explore and see if the Eastern Sheng Shenzhou, Western Niu Hezhou, Northern Ju Luzhou, and Southern Zhanzhou mentioned in my previous book actually exist."

"If those continents are truly unclaimed, as long as we occupy them, they can provide a continuous source of wealth for the Ming Dynasty. As far as I know, those lands have many novel crops. If we can bring them to the Chinese mainland and cultivate them, grain production will surely increase dramatically. At that time, the country will be prosperous and the people will be strong. Wouldn't the Ming Dynasty then experience a golden age like the Zhenguan, Kaiyuan, and Tianbao eras of the Tang Dynasty?"

"Ah, how much more silver will that cost?"

Zhang Luan blurted out the question almost immediately.

Clearly, what Lao Zhang cares about most is spending money.

In his view, you not only have to help me raise funds for the Nine Border Army, but also help Lizi Province raise funds for river management, and also allocate additional funds to cast cannons. Now, you also have to build seagoing vessels. You need a lot of money everywhere.

Do you really think the imperial court is run by our family?

Zhang Yanling said, "It will naturally cost a lot of money, but we can barely manage... Actually, it's not difficult to fulfill the court's wish to send people to explore the sea. First, build two ships, go out to sea and explore. As long as a new continent is discovered, we can bring back a large amount of wealth. Then we can use these resources to expand the scale of the shipyard."

"Alright, you decide for yourself."

Zhang Luan asked, "Now tell me, how well have you raised the money my father needs?"

Zhang Yanling asked in surprise, "Father, do you need money? You didn't tell me beforehand..."

Zhang Luan said angrily, "I have temporarily stepped down as Vice Minister of Revenue because of the money issue and have chosen to take sick leave at home... Even Ye Qi, who succeeded me, came to my residence to criticize me... Do you know how much I have suffered? I heard that Ye Qi only came to visit our residence because you instructed him to?"

Zhang Yanling shrugged and said, "My uncle from the Shen family came to see me a few days ago, asking if I could help Minister Ye, or introduce him to you so that he could speak directly with you. So I told him that you might appear at the official residence bestowed by His Majesty at some point, and I knew nothing about what happened after that."

"You really didn't know?"

Zhang Luan clearly didn't believe it.

His son always displayed his omnipotent talents in front of him, making him feel that his every move might be controlled by his son.

Zhang Yanling shrugged and said, "Minister Ye is looking for you simply to find out where he can get the money. Since ancient times, whenever an official wants money, he either has to get it from the imperial treasury or plunder it from the people. Trying to ask someone for it or borrow it back is almost impossible."

"That……"

Zhang Luan asked in confusion, "How did your family manage to do that?"

“Actually, Father, our methods can also be categorized as robbery,” Zhang Yanling said. “No one would willingly give away their own money for nothing… Don’t you think that makes sense?”

Zhang Luan frowned and asked, "So, from the beginning until now, we've been robbing other people's money and giving it to your brother-in-law to spend?"

Zhang Yanling laughed and said, "That's roughly it. Think about it, our business profits come from the people, so why would those Huizhou and Shanxi merchants give us money for nothing? Isn't it because we monopolize certain industries, forcing them to send their own money over in exchange for our protection?"

Zhang Luan said, "Huh? You call this robbery?"

“Giving something unwillingly is called robbery! We just didn't use force, that is, we didn't resort to violence! But that doesn't stop us from using our power and resources to force them to cooperate with us,” Zhang Yanling patiently explained. “Ye Qi doesn't have these resources and channels, so the only way he could think of was to resort to brute force. But now that my brother-in-law has just ascended the throne, will he allow him to act recklessly? So he had no other choice…”

Zhang Luan nodded and said, "To seize money and provisions from others without resorting to force requires unconventional methods. The question is, why doesn't he allocate funds from the imperial treasury?"

Zhang Yanling retorted, "Then why didn't you allocate funds and grain from the Ministry of Revenue to help my brother-in-law, instead of raising the money yourself?"

"You mean, those officials not only didn't help their father, but they also refused to lend a hand to Ye Qi, is that right?"

Zhang Luan nodded in relief, understanding, and said, "I finally understand. Their goal isn't to restrict me, but to restrict your brother-in-law! So no matter who does things for your brother-in-law, the result is the same: they'll give you neither money nor your life."

Zhang Yanling smiled and nodded.

It basically means, "It's good that you understand this."

In the eyes of the court officials, no matter how powerful Zhang Laizhan was, he was just a subject, and it seemed unrealistic for him to plot to usurp the throne.

However, if the emperor liked to spend money recklessly, always indulging in unrealistic dreams and squandering the Ming Dynasty's treasury, that would be absolutely unacceptable in the eyes of the civil officials.

Those civil officials wouldn't admit it outwardly, but they all agreed on it in their hearts.

An uncontrollable monarch is far more dangerous than an uncontrollable minister.

But what if this happens?
Then they would create all sorts of accidents, such as drowning. For example, Zhu Houzhao and Zhu Youxiao were both originally strong and healthy, but once they caught a cold, the Imperial Hospital would intervene, and their lives would be out of their own hands.

Zhang Yanling stood up and said, "Father, is there anything else? If not, let's each go about our own business."

Zhang Luan quickly said, "Hurry up and help your father gather some money! No matter what, your father needs to give Pang Bingkun an explanation, otherwise I will have no face to show anyone."

"no need."

Zhang Yanling waved his hand confidently and said, "If there's anything, let him come to me. I've already sent someone to speak to him... Father, you should just focus on recovering these days."

"You don't need me anymore?"

Zhang Luan was surprised.

The once arrogant father in front of his son, the vanguard who charged into battle and bore the brunt of others' firepower, one day I said I was tired of it and wanted to take a break for a while, and then really no one came to bother me or ask me for favors.

Only one weird competitor came to my door to annoy me?
Zhang Yanling asked curiously, "Dad, didn't you say you were tired? Wouldn't it be better to let you rest more? I just recently discovered that I can actually do a lot of things myself, so I don't want to trouble you!"

Hearing this, Zhang Luan felt a great sense of loss.

He had been complaining and saying he was tired, as if he didn't want to be an official, and that was indeed the case...

But now that he doesn't have to worry about anything, he feels like, "Have I really fallen out of favor?"
Losing his son's help seemed to be equivalent to losing his means of survival. If his son could handle everything on his own, what would the Zhang family need a father who caused trouble everywhere?
"No, I want to pave the way for you and build more bridges for you so that you can make progress in the future." Zhang Luan patted his chest and expressed his commitment to his son, acting like a benevolent father.

Zhang Yanling hesitated and said, "But... you're on sick leave now, what can you do? This was the result of discussions between your brother-in-law and the ministers, to let you rest at home, but... you voluntarily returned to court?"

"Can't you?"

Zhang Luan asked curiously.

"hehe."

Zhang Yanling laughed and said, "Father, don't worry. Even if I personally take charge, your status won't change much. You'll still be the father-in-law of the Ming Dynasty and the Marquis of Shouning. Aren't you still in charge of family matters?"

Zhang Luan said unhappily, "Hey, what kind of talk is that? I'm just trying to help you! Do you think I'm helping myself? Why aren't you grateful? You child..."

Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "Father, I appreciate your kindness. But even if you want to return to the court, you should wait until Ye Qi has made things completely messy and others feel that the court really can't do without you before you come back... At that time, my son and I will join forces to achieve great things."

Zhang Luan's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Can we really join forces, father and son? It sounds like a good idea... But don't let your father be the only one charging ahead and getting attacked by the civil officials... How about this, you take the lead and I'll protect you from behind?"

"Ah."

Zhang Yanling nodded with a smile.

In my heart, I was thinking, "It's good enough that you're not sabotaging me. Your many bad habits have brought huge trouble to our family. Don't you realize that?"

……

……

Zhu Youcheng has left the palace.

This time, he missed his wife, Qin Ji, who had been with him since childhood, but he didn't want to trouble her to enter the palace, so he personally left the palace to visit her at the Qin residence.

Because this trip was very low-key, very few people knew about it. When he arrived at the gate of Qin Ji's residence in plain clothes, Zhang Luan's carriage had just stopped.

The father-in-law and son-in-law had arranged this in advance to visit an old friend and see if there was anything they could do to help—it was a private matter and not related to official business.

"Father-in-law, has your condition improved recently?"

After getting out of the car, Zhu Youcheng asked with concern.

Zhang Luan bowed and said, "Your Majesty has gone to great lengths. I feel much better, but I am not able to exert myself for the time being."

While saying this, Zhang Luan was thinking to himself, "My good son-in-law, the father-in-law you see as so capable is about to become an ordinary person."

Who told my son to decide to take over and abandon his old man?

The two stepped forward.

The Imperial Guards had already knocked on the door beforehand, and now the door had been opened from the inside.

Because Zhu Youcheng had given instructions that there was no need for Qin Ji to come out to greet him personally, the only people who greeted him at the door were the old woman who had followed Qin Ji for half her life and two old servants.

"Greetings, Holy Lord."

Qin Ji's family was terrified of Zhu Youcheng's arrival, because they never imagined that one day they would be hosting the emperor.

Especially considering that Qin Ji had already retired and was enjoying his retirement, and that his senility was becoming increasingly severe, even leading to various physical ailments, and that he was likely to die soon.

Zhu Youcheng waved his hand and said, "No need to be so polite, old woman. I've come to see my husband. I've also brought the Emperor's father-in-law with me... The Emperor's father-in-law's medical skills are very advanced, and he may be able to provide some necessary help to alleviate my husband's condition."

Hearing this, Zhang Luan felt a little ashamed, thinking to himself, "You can only rely on your brother-in-law; I can't do it!"
(End of this chapter)