Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 335 The authorities are obsessed with it
Zhang Luan came in person. There was nothing to worry about anyway. He came to discuss countermeasures with Li Zisheng regarding the sale of tribute.

The things brought from the palace were too many and too diverse, making them difficult to sell.

When Zhang Luan found it difficult to find a way out, he immediately remembered that his son had reminded him that Li Zisheng would help him with sales issues, so he shamelessly came to his house.

Anyway, Li Zisheng had already visited him openly before, and he felt that he should show that he had the support of someone in the court, so he came.

Before coming here, he asked his son for his opinion and got a positive answer, so he feels at ease now.

"Mr. Zhang, you came at a really bad time."

Pang Qing, who came to greet him, said with a smile.

Zhang Luan had already stepped into the doorway, but he stopped when he heard this and asked in surprise, "Why? Is it inconvenient? Minister Li is not at home?"

"No, he is."

Pang Qing said, "But the Taoist priest went to the palace today, and after he came back, he seemed to have many things he hadn't figured out, so he is currently... shutting himself in... um..."

Retreat and practice?
Zhang Luan was full of doubts. He glanced at Pang Qing and asked inquiringly, "Isn't it time for me to come down? Should I say goodbye now?"

"No need."

Pang Qing said hurriedly, "The Taoist has instructed that you can come anytime and be a guest of honor at any time. But you have to wait in the flower hall for a while. After the Taoist opens the door, I will go and inform you immediately... I hope you don't mind."

"It's okay, it's okay. It's nothing to wait."

Zhang Luan doesn't mind this.

It was a great honor for him to come to see Li Zisheng and be received and met by the host. After all, Li Zisheng's status in the court today was absolutely outstanding.

If it were an ordinary person, he would definitely not be able to pass the gatekeeper, but he went straight into the house. What else is there to be dissatisfied about?
……

……

It was almost dark when Li Zisheng finally walked out of the main hall, looking a little haggard.

Pang Qing went over to tell him about Zhang Luan's visit, but Li Zisheng flicked his sleeves and said, "Are you kidding me? You come to bother me in the toilet?"

"Master, it's Zhang Honglu who has come to our house in person and is waiting for you in the front hall."

Pang Qing said aggrievedly.

"Is Lai Zhan here?"

Li Zisheng showed a slight smile on his face, but then avoided the question. After thinking for a while, he said, "Is it really okay for me to go see him now?"

Pang Qing asked in surprise: "What's wrong with that? Do you really want to confront the prince?"

Li Zisheng shook his head: "That won't happen. His Majesty doesn't intend for me to go against the Crown Prince... Let me go to the toilet first, you go and tell him, I'll be back later."

……

……

After Li Zisheng finished his work, he put on a relaxed look and ran to see Zhang Luan.

The two chatted in the flower hall. Li Zisheng also sent some good tea and wine, as well as a few pieces of silk for Zhang Luan to take back.

"How can this be so embarrassing?" Zhang Luan said.

Li Zisheng said with a smile: "Laizhan, you sold yellow coral before and it was very good. Even His Majesty praised you. This is a reward for you."

Zhang Luan said: "Isn't this all thanks to your support, Minister Li? Right now I will..."

"you……"

Li Zisheng means, what have you been doing recently?

Zhang Luan said helplessly: "This batch of tribute is too much, I can't handle it all... For example, there are many dignitaries in the court, and I can't visit them one by one, so until now... I have only sold a few items."

Pang Qing laughed and teased: "Mr. Zhang, don't you have a way to sell it together?"

"that……"

Zhang Luan was not sure what to answer.

Li Zisheng laughed and said, "Taking shortcuts is never the right way. Take the mirror and the tribute for example. How many people can afford them?
"Everyone in the world knows that tributes and mirrors are treasures, and they are also known to be priceless, but who would really give up everything for these things?"

Pang Qing said: "It still depends on whether the family is wealthy. Some people, even if they have money, dare not spend it lavishly, for fear that people will know that they are corrupt and law-breaking."

Zhang Luan nodded hurriedly in agreement: "That makes sense. But... after all, His Majesty has given me a job. If I can't sell it..."

Li Zisheng said: "How about this, come and see, I will show you a way and give you a handwritten letter, then you can go to the mansion of Lord Wan to ask. How about that?
"And Uncle Wan Guo's house, do you know where the gate is?"

"Is it the first uncle or the third uncle?"

Zhang Luan asked.

"Go take a look, I'll introduce you to some of these people. They're good at spending money, and you'll know how deep their background is after you go there. They're not afraid of expensive things, they're afraid of not having good stuff."

Li Zisheng said, "You go back first, I will send you the letter later."

"Thank you, thank you very much."

Zhang Luan stood up and bowed to express his gratitude.

Because he could hear that Li Zisheng wanted to see him off.

……

……

Li Zisheng did not personally see Zhang Luan off, but asked Pang Qing to do it instead.

After Zhang Luan left, Pang Qing returned to the flower hall and saw that the depressed look on Li Zisheng's face had suddenly cleared up.

"Master Dao, what are you doing?"

Pang Qing asked.

Li Zisheng said: "I finally figured it out. Your Majesty has dug a big hole for me!"

"..."

Pang Qing was speechless for a while.

You thought about it for a long time, even without eating or drinking, and came to this conclusion?

Li Zisheng stared at Pang Qing and asked, "Which side do you think His Majesty wants me to stand on, the Crown Prince or the Fourth Prince?" "This..."

Pang Qing asked tentatively, "It shouldn't be the Fourth Prince, right?"

"Yes, you are right."

Li Zisheng said, "Your Majesty wants me to stand firmly on the side of the Crown Prince, and after the Crown Prince ascends the throne, he wants me to protect Concubine Shao and her son. Is that right?"

"Ah."

Pang Qing nodded.

There was still some doubt in his expression, and he wanted to ask, what exactly do you want to say?
Aren’t these all superficial things?
Li Zisheng sneered and asked, "Then what do you think, His Majesty wants Wan'an and Liu Ji to stand on?"

"what?"

Pang Qing was shocked and asked, "Shouldn't they stand on the side of the prince?"

Li Zisheng asked in return: "Do you think that after the crown prince ascends the throne, he will be able to tolerate foolish and incompetent people like Wan'an and Liu Ji? Or do you think that they have a good reputation among the civil officials and are capable officials who can govern the country and maintain peace?"

Pang Qing said: "Your Majesty, you don't want them to... go against the will of heaven, do you?"

"What is God's will?"

Li Zisheng sneered and asked, "Whether the crown prince ascends the throne or the fourth prince ascends the throne, what does it have to do with His Majesty? After all, they are both his sons...

"Since ancient times, victors are kings and losers are bandits. Whoever accomplishes something is God's will! Tell me, between Emperor Jing and the late emperor, who is God's will? Emperor Jing turned the tide, was appointed as regent and ascended the throne, and saved the Ming Dynasty from danger. But when he was ill, the late emperor, who had brought shame to the Ming Dynasty in the Battle of Tumu, overthrew his regime. Is this God's will?"

Pang Qing nodded and said, "Now it seems that the late emperor is the orthodox of Taoism, but if Emperor Jing had continued his bloodline, future generations might not think so."

"You're right. The authorities are the most confused."

Li Zisheng said, "As the authorities, we don't need to judge whether the Crown Prince or the Fourth Prince is the legitimate heir of the Ming Dynasty, because they are both legitimate.

"Your Majesty wants me to stand on the side of the Crown Prince to protect Concubine Shao and her son, and it is very likely that the pressure to turn against the Crown Prince will be put on Wan An and Liu Ji.

"Alas, your majesty has set up a grand plan!"

After listening to Li Zisheng's words, Pang Qing had a feeling in his heart.

The Taoist is crazy.

What's the big picture? I'm protecting you from turning against me...

Pang Qing naturally did not take Li Zisheng's words to heart. He just thought that Li Zisheng felt that he was surrounded by enemies and regarded everyone as a potential opponent.

Pang Qing didn't pay much attention to Li Zisheng's weird words afterwards.

In the next few days, the court and the country were at peace. However, Li Zisheng went to Zhang Luan's house again, brought back a prescription, sent it to the palace, and told the emperor that he needed two prescriptions at the same time for conditioning... For a time, the Imperial Hospital was only responsible for taking the emperor's pulse every day, as if treating illnesses had nothing to do with them.

That day, Li Zisheng went to the Tongzhengshisi Yamen early in the morning and called Shen Lu out alone. The two of them sat in the outer hall of the Tongzhengshisi. People were coming and going here, but Li Zisheng didn't seem to avoid others at all and was only focused on chatting with Shen Lu.

"Ruxue, there is a son in Laizhan's mansion named Yanling. Do you know him?"

Li Zisheng asked.

Shen Lu replied respectfully, "Of course I know. Lai Zhan has two sons. The youngest is very smart and often makes shocking remarks in front of others."

Li Zisheng asked with a smile: "Then do you know what happened to their family before? Has this child always been like this?"

Shen Lu said with difficulty: "When Lai Zhan was in Xingji, I didn't exchange many letters with him. It has been more than ten years since we last met. I received his letter and went to Tongzhou to meet him. I met his family and only then saw his children. Speaking of which... it was all because I didn't care enough about him before."

"Oh."

Li Zisheng said, "Who would have thought that Xingji, a mere place with hidden dragons and crouching tigers, could have such a person with great magical powers. Ruxue, do you know who Laizhan learned his art from?"

Shen Lu asked, "Master Li, are you going to ask who he studied with?"

Li Zisheng was somewhat helpless. In fact, what he wanted to ask was not about Zhang Luan's experience of studying hard in the past. Even if Zhang Luan had been a disciple of the prime minister in his early years, what did it have to do with him?
I only care about where he learned those skills of geomancy and divination. He can even predict the secrets of heaven accurately. He can even predict earthquakes thousands of miles away a few days in advance just by counting on his fingers.

Li Zisheng said with a straight face: "You should know that this is not what I am talking about."

"This……"

Shen Lu immediately thought that he was the one who facilitated the initial communication between Zhang Luan and Li Zisheng, and the key point was the prediction of the two earthquakes.

"Master Li, are you asking him about his ability to divine the mysteries of the universe?"

Shen Lu asked.

"Ah."

Li Zisheng smiled and nodded, "Has he ever mentioned this to you before?"

Shen Lu shook his head and said, "Not a single word was mentioned."

Li Zisheng looked very embarrassed and said, "Then why don't you talk to him about this topic? His ability can't have come out of thin air, right?

"I have speculated on celestial phenomena with him before, and I have personally witnessed his method of predicting the secrets of the heavens. I know that he has a famous teacher behind him, so I want to know who he learned from."

Shen Lu started thinking, if you have any questions, wouldn’t it be better to ask Zhang Laizhan directly?
In the beginning, I was the one who brought you together, but in the end, didn't you throw me, the matchmaker, aside?
Why don't you ask him now, but ask me instead?
Got a conflict?

Shen Lu said: "Then I can... talk to him about this matter later."

"oops."

Li Zisheng sighed, "Ruxue, you know that His Majesty is seriously ill, right?"

"I...I don't know!"

Shen Lu was shocked.

Is this something that a low-level official like me should know?
Li Zisheng said: "Now that you know, you should understand why I care so much about this matter, right?"

Shen Lu hesitated and said, "You...you can go ask Lai Zhan."

"Is it really okay for me to just ask him about His Majesty?"

Li Zisheng said, "I don't want Lai Zhan to be involved in this matter. If we can find the person behind Lai Zhan and talk to him face to face, that would be a good idea."

"Oh."

Shen Lu obviously didn't quite believe what Li Zisheng said.

You talked to Zhang Laizhan about so many things, but this is the only thing he refused to answer? Or do you want to dump Zhang Laizhan and go it alone?
When Zhang Laizhan and I were so close that we wore the same pants, he never thought of me at all.

Why do you suddenly think of me now?
There must be a conspiracy behind this, we must be on guard!
(End of this chapter)