Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 317 Speaking the truth while drunk
That evening, Xie Qian met with Liu Jian to coordinate the course progress of the two classes of lecturers, and also talked to Liu Jian about the new lecturer Zhang Luan.

After listening to Xie Qian's words, Liu Jian frowned and advised in a deep voice: "Yu Qiao, you'd better stay away from such people."

Xie Qian said: "It was arranged by the higher-ups to have him serve in the Eastern Palace, and he didn't do anything out of the ordinary in the Wenhua Palace. I think this man has neither great knowledge nor great ambitions, but he speaks in a carefree and unrestrained manner, and he is a person worth associating with."

"Huh? You think highly of him."

Liu Jian joked.

Xie Qian smiled.

I thought to myself, I've already said that he doesn't have much knowledge or ambition, and you still think I think highly of him?

May I ask how you know it is not low?

Liu Jian continued, "As a relative of the emperor, the Ming Dynasty does not allow such people to interfere in politics. Even in the Five Military Commands, most of them are sinecures. When have you ever seen a relative of the emperor lead troops to war?"

"In the first few dynasties, there were quite a few..."

Xie Qian is a chatterbox and now he wants to argue with Liu Jian.

Liu Jian frowned, "That's because they had to make contributions first, and then they could get married. Since ancient times, the interference of foreign relatives in government affairs has led to constant chaos in the court. Now, Your Majesty can obviously abandon him, but he insists on transferring him to a key government office to interfere with the operation of government affairs. This is not distinguishing between the primary and the secondary."

Xie Qian was startled.

Hearing this, it seemed like he was blaming the emperor, but it also seemed like he was angry at the emperor for not fighting for his position, and that Zhang Luan had nothing to do with it.

Xie Qian quickly looked around and found that there was no one else, so he said cautiously: "This statement is biased. At least Zhang Laizhan is not an unlearned person. Moreover, he dared to confront the treacherous officials in the court head-on, which is worthy of being a loyal and remonstrant minister."

Liu Jian looked at Xie Qian with some confusion: "You actually speak for him?"

"I……"

Xie Qian was quite embarrassed. He probably felt that Liu Jian was reminding him that we, the Hanlin lecturers, had better speak and act in unison, and you cannot act on your own.

As things stand, I am the head of the lecturers and you must listen to me in everything.

Xie Qian asked, "May I ask, Brother Xixian, how should I get along with Zhang Laizhan in the future? He is in my group after all. Although he doesn't often come to the East Palace, I still see him every now and then. I won't assign him a teaching job, but it doesn't seem like he is going to teach the crown prince."

Liu Jian asked in surprise: "What is his purpose in entering the Eastern Palace?"

"do not know."

Xie Qian shook his head and said, "This matter is very likely instructed by His Majesty."

Liu Jian became more and more curious: "Why did your majesty allow a relative who was a former student to interfere in the affairs of the Eastern Palace?"

"Where should I go?"

Xie Qian shook his head helplessly and said, "I've been thinking about this too. Don't you think that there are enough lecturers in the East Palace? In terms of knowledge, the best teachers in the world are all here, right? Is there anything that we can't match?"

Liu Jian frowned.

Obviously, even if they, the Hanlin scholars, were not capable of doing many things, he did not want to admit it.

We are the prince's teachers, responsible for all aspects of his life. Do you think we are not good enough? Please point out the shortcomings and find someone better.

"I think that's probably the prince's personality."

Xie Qian said, "The prince has been weak and cowardly since he was young, and has no desire to advance. However, when dealing with Liang Fang and other treacherous people, the prince, with the help of Zhang Laizhan, took every step carefully and even resolutely attacked. Now that I think about it, this is not like the prince's style at all. Could it be because of this that Your Majesty allowed Zhang Laizhan to enter the Eastern Palace?"

Liu Jian asked coldly, "Are you trying to say that we can't give the Crown Prince the courage to confront the treacherous officials in the court head-on?"

"Ah? That's not what I meant..."

Xie Qian quickly denied it.

But I was thinking in my heart, this is actually what I meant.

We can teach the prince everything except courage. Even we ourselves don't dare to go against the treacherous officials in the court. How can we teach the prince?

Moreover, Zhang Laizhan was extremely courageous in this matter. The key point was that he completely destroyed Liang Fang and Wei Xing's party, and even had a direct conflict with Li Zisheng... If it were us...

Liu Jian said: "Then teach the prince recently, talk more about history books and historical materials, use the past to illustrate the present, and let the prince understand the principle of being close to the wise and staying away from the villains."

Xie Qian thought, what can this teach us?
It sounds very effective, but in fact it is just talk. Look at Zhang Laizhan, who conspired with the prince to defeat Liang Fang and greatly consolidated the positions of the gentlemen in the Eastern Palace. Who among us lecturers can do such a thing?

"okay."

Liu Jian waved his hand and said, "Let's put aside the matter about Zhang Laizhan for now. Just don't get too close to him."

Xie Qian thought, you say this because you know the gap, right?
Fortunately, I mentioned Zhang Laizhan's ability. If I hadn't said that, I'm afraid you wouldn't even look at him next time and offend him unknowingly. You said that he was a future father-in-law of the emperor who was born as a student of the Imperial Academy, and he didn't offend us, so why should we be so defensive?

Shouldn't our target be the treacherous officials like Li Zisheng in the court, as well as the mediocre people like Wan'an and Liu Ji who are occupying the toilet but not doing anything?

……

……

Li Zisheng was the Minister of Rites of Jin Dynasty.

Although it was only a part-time job, it meant that he was promoted to a second-rank official and would enjoy the salary and treatment of a second-rank official in the future. When he went out, people would respectfully address him as Minister Li, and he would be on equal footing with anyone in the court.

To celebrate, Li Zisheng held a banquet at his own house and invited many court officials, most of whom were civil officials from the six ministries.

Among the ministers were the full-time Minister of Rites Zhou Hongmo and the Minister of Personnel Li Yu. In addition, even the Prime Minister Wan'an came in person to congratulate. Xu Qiong, who was recently promoted by Li Zisheng to the capital as the Right Vice Minister of Personnel, was also at the main table. It can be said that the house was packed with guests.

But Li Zisheng was vaguely disappointed because he didn't invite Zhang Luan, and he always felt that something was missing.

But he also knew that he and Zhang Luan were in conflict, so he couldn't openly call him to his house, otherwise the emperor would soon know that he and Zhang Luan were playing a double game... Although it is not clear whether the emperor really knew it. After all, when it comes to prescribing medicine for the emperor, I am afraid that even Zhu Jianshen realized that the famous doctor behind him is most likely Zhang Luan.

Wait until the banquet is over.

Li Zisheng specially asked someone to prepare a carriage, brought two jars of good wine, and took Pang Qing to Zhang Luan's mansion in person to show his respect for Zhang Luan.

When Zhang Luan saw Li Zisheng, who looked drunk and walked unsteadily, appear at the back door of his house, he couldn't help but feel a little surprised and puzzled.

"Have someone carry the stuff down."

Li Zisheng greeted.

Zhang Luan saw someone carrying down three large wooden boxes, followed by servants holding wine jars.

"Be gentle, don't hurt him, or you'll lose your life."

Pang Qing was still there directing the servants to do things.

"Come and see."

Li Zisheng went up to him and put his hand on Zhang Luan's shoulder, with a close attitude: "I don't know why, but when I see you, I feel particularly at ease. I feel that there is nothing in the world that you, Zhang Laizhan, can't accomplish.

"Today I am hosting a banquet at my house to celebrate my promotion to Minister of Rites... Who brought this to me? It was you, come and see."

"I don't deserve it. I feel ashamed to not deserve it!" Zhang Luan said quickly and modestly.

"No, no, no, it's you."

Li Zisheng said drunkenly, "Let's go in and talk. How about you prepare two side dishes?"

"Okay, I'll have someone prepare it."

Zhang Luan felt very embarrassed.

How nice it would be if you hosted a banquet for others at your home?

Or just invite me over, it would be nice to eat and drink here.

I don't have any delicacies like abalone, shark's fin, bird's nest, or fish in my house. We even have very little chicken, duck, or fish. Yet you insist on coming to my house for dinner and even say that you are showing respect to me. Is that really okay?
"Look what I brought you."

Li Zisheng called people to the yard, and before they entered the back room, he asked them to open the wooden box.

Zhang Luan leaned over to take a look and was immediately dumbfounded.

Inside were the three yellow corals that Li Zisheng had told him about before, and the one that had been given to him was also inside, and it was the largest one.

"You just sell it well. Whether you can sell it or not, I will cover the loss for you."

Li Zisheng said under the influence of alcohol, "Don't worry, no matter what happens, I can guarantee that you won't suffer any loss. Just listen to me..."

When Li Zisheng was moved, he sat on a big rock beside the stone path, crossed his legs, and talked without caring about his image at all.

Zhang Luan quickly called out, "Minister Li, how about we go in and talk?"

"It's nice here, cool."

Li Zisheng looked around and suddenly asked in confusion, "Hey, isn't this my backyard? I remember being here before."

Pang Qing came forward and said with a wry smile, "Master Dao, you are drunk and shouldn't come to the Laizhan residence at this time... How about we go into the room and talk?"

Li Zisheng stiffened his neck and said, "Go away, how could I be drunk? If I said I was here, then I must have been here."

Pang Qing reminded him, "Have you forgotten? You personally gave this courtyard to Zhang Hanlin. Haven't you been here before?"

"Oh, I see."

Li Zisheng finally realized that this courtyard was once his own. He looked at Zhang Luan with a smile and asked, "Laizhan, are you satisfied with this courtyard? I will give you a bigger one later.

"The capital is a place where every inch of land is worth a lot of money. When I first arrived, I didn't even have a good place to live. Everyone looked at me coldly. They all said that you, a stinky Taoist priest, relied on your strange and lewd skills to win the favor of His Majesty, and it won't be long before you fall out of favor.

"Humph, who dares to talk to me like this now?"

Pang Qing helped Li Zisheng walk into the room and agreed, "Yes, yes, no one dares to say anything."

Li Zisheng said, "Move aside, you bastard. I'm talking to Lai Zhan, what does it have to do with you? You're the only one who keeps nagging. What do you mean by honest advice is unpleasant to the ear? You're just a chatterbox... I'll have someone sew your mouth shut sooner or later."

Zhang Luan, who was standing next to him, felt uncomfortable after hearing this.

Is this hinting something to me?

Pointing fingers at mulberry trees and scolding huai trees?

"Laizhan, let me tell you, His Majesty is seriously ill now, and in the future perhaps...something unexpected will happen. Let me tell you...we can't...I tell you..."

At this moment, Li Zisheng couldn't even speak coherently.

Pang Qing said quickly, "Please forgive me, Zhang Hanlin. There are too many guests in the mansion today. Everyone came to toast, so I drank a few more glasses. But he has always remembered your contribution and came here to celebrate your promotion with you."

Zhang Luan smiled and said, "It is my great honor."

"Look, Lai Zhan is not only good at doing things, but also good at being a good person. You should learn from him!"

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "Laizhan, let me tell you, if I have any good things in the future, I will have half and you will have the other half. Don't you believe me? When I go back, I will have someone send you money!"

(End of this chapter)