Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 881 The Unpredictable Prophet
After inspecting the troops, Li Zisheng first had a private conversation with Wang Shouren, and then followed Qin Yun to inspect the Ming army camp in the valley before leaving arrogantly with his men.

Afterwards, Wang Shouren and Qin Yun's two groups returned to their respective camps to rest and prepare for the upcoming decisive battle.

"Brother Wang, what did Li Zisheng say to you?"

Zhu Hui seemed very curious. Before they even returned to their camp and started walking down the mountain with his horse, he couldn't wait to ask.

"Just everyday trifles."

Wang Shouren remained calm and composed when he answered.

Zhu Hui glanced at him sideways, as if to say, "Who are you trying to fool?"

Li Zisheng was the most notorious and treacherous minister of the previous dynasty. Would he talk to you about such nonsense when he was bored?

Wang Shouren didn't even turn his head to look at Zhu Hui, and said to himself, "To be honest, I can't see through this person... But considering his pretentious manner and his flamboyant style, don't you think he's just going through the motions? He's a cunning villain with a performative personality!"

"this……?"

Zhu Hui thought about it carefully and suddenly realized that Wang Shouren probably wasn't lying to him.

Li Zisheng always had a high and mighty attitude in public, giving people the feeling that he was a living god who was not accustomed to worldly affairs. Even if he had a few words with Wang Shouren in private, what meaningful things could they have said?
Perhaps it was because Wang Shouren's father was a Hanlin scholar of the time, and Wang Shouren was appreciated by Wang Yue, the governor of the three border regions, that Li Zisheng regarded him highly.

This was mainly because, apart from Wang Shouren, who was a scholar, everyone else present was a typical military man, so there was nothing for Li Zisheng to talk about.

"That Minister Li speaks one way to one person and another way to another; don't take it too seriously."

Zhu Hui comforted him.

"Ah."

Wang Shouren simply responded with a faint "yes".

But in truth, his mind was already in turmoil, because what Li Zisheng had just said to him had indeed shocked him.

……

……

When Li Zisheng returned to his camp, Pang Qing followed from behind.

Back in the central command tent, Pang Qing first explained the current situation to Li Zisheng: "The Tatars are now severely divided. Many tribes have been forced or taken the initiative to align themselves with us. Especially after last night's battle, the Tatars are now caught in a predicament of internal strife. None of them know who the traitor is. They are all on edge."

Li Zisheng said happily, "That's great. That's exactly what we want—they fight like dogs, which saves us a lot of trouble."

“I have already given orders to all the commanders of a thousand and a hundred to do a good job in the next defensive work,” Pang Qing said. “The Second Young Master has also sent a letter expressing his praise for our timely arrival to provide assistance.”

Li Zisheng said with delight, "Really? Nephew Yanling, you don't blame me for coming here to steal his credit, do you? He alone could have pacified the grasslands, and adding my troops would have been a bit of a letdown."

Pang Qing asked, puzzled, "With reinforcements arriving, his chances of winning have increased even more. Why would the Second Young Master nitpick and blame you for this?"

Li Zisheng rolled his eyes and said, "Huo Qubing dared to sweep across the grasslands with only a few hundred men, making unparalleled contributions that future generations will admire."

"And my nephew is no less capable than Huo Qubing, shouldn't he at least leave a glorious mark on history? I'm afraid my unauthorized decision might interfere with his plans..."

"Master Dao, you don't need to belittle yourself."

Pang Qing said helplessly, "It seems that the Second Young Master has no complaints about this."

"That's fine, that's fine."

Li Zisheng said happily, "You've already spoken to your subordinates, right? If everything is arranged properly, I won't need to go in person."

Pang Qing said, "You can rest assured about that. I always handle things meticulously and won't make any mistakes. However, Daoist, why did you talk to that pale-faced scholar for so long earlier? Isn't he just relying on his father being a Hanlin scholar, using his father's influence to gain some fame through Wang Yue's favor? In my opinion, he doesn't seem to be very knowledgeable in military strategy, and he even appears arrogant." "What do you know?"

Li Zisheng frowned and rebuked, "This person is on the list of key talents that Nephew Yanling has compiled. I heard about him half a year ago..."

"What? Six months ago?"

Pang Qing was taken aback upon hearing this. "Half a year ago, you seemed to be in Xuzhou managing the river, right? Where did you see that?"

"That was... a year and a half ago?"

Li Zisheng tried his best to recall, his face full of reminiscence.

"..."

Pang Qing was speechless for a moment.

So you're here to play the role of a Monday morning quarterback?
I just pointed out that you couldn't possibly have known about this person's existence six months ago, and you're already pushing the date back?

What about fooling the ghost?

Li Zisheng gave him a cold look, his tone unfriendly, "What, you don't believe me when I say I've heard this boy's name before?"

Pang Qing shrugged, meaning if you can justify your actions, that's fine with me, I can't interfere.

Li Zisheng said, "The Zhang family father and son are both incredibly shrewd and calculating. They foresaw the existence of such a formidable figure, which would help them pacify the grasslands. Is there anything strange about that?"

Isn't that strange?

Pang Qing suppressed the urge to refute and casually asked.

"To others, it's astonishing, but to Lai Zhan and Yan Ling, it's just an everyday occurrence, nothing to worry about."

Li Zisheng wore a matter-of-fact expression on his face, looking leisurely and wistful. “Wang Shouren is the son of Wang Hua. I never thought that this young man, who is not even a Juren, would become the number one figure in the Ming Dynasty. But Lai Zhan and Yanling would not lie. I have indeed heard of this person’s name, and it was my nephew Yanling who told me about it himself.”

Pang Qing said, "Even if it was mentioned, so what? Even if you know that Wang Shouren will make a name for himself in the future, do you still have to try to get close to him? Will he be able to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar? Even if he makes some contributions by secretly leaving the pass to join the army, will his father let him become a military household in the future? That's impossible!"

“So what if they’re military households? They still take the imperial examinations, don’t they?” Li Zisheng pouted. “Besides, if there’s a chance to get a hereditary title, who wouldn’t want to be a military household? It’s a family of nobles for generations… Look at that Zhu Dongyang, he’s about my age, and he’s so arrogant in front of me…”

Pang Qing thought to himself, "Judging from Zhu Hui's behavior in front of you today, can you call that arrogant?"

They're practically fawning over you to the heavens!

“In the future, I will also obtain a title,” Li Zisheng said excitedly, “and it will be obtained through military merit, openly and honestly, so that we can see who will dare to look down on me in the future.”

Pang Qing asked, "Could it be... that you, Daoist, wish to become the second Wang Weining?"

"What do you mean by 'the second Wang Weining'... I am who I am, this is Guanshan, and from now on I will be called Li Guanshan!"

Li Zisheng was very dissatisfied with Pang Qing's statement and said coldly, "Right now, as long as I help my nephew Yanling to pacify the Tatars, I am destined to have a great place in history... In addition to my previous contributions to river management, what's wrong with being granted a title?"
"From now on, Lai Zhan and I will both be meritorious officials of the Ming Dynasty. We can sit together and eat wine, drink tea, and watch plays whenever we have free time. Even when we are old, we can still discuss important matters of the court. How delightful that would be..."

Pang Qing almost vomited blood.

Are you bringing your beautiful dreams to the battlefield?
What have you experienced before?
What makes your expectations for your later years so outrageous?

He actually thought of having drinks and watching a play with Zhang Laizhan?
Do you still want to admire beautiful women and find other women together?

Is that Master Li, whom I know?

I've never seen you care so much about worldly matters before!

(End of this chapter)