Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 46 Adding fuel to the fire
The Ming History: Favored Officials states:

"At first, just over a month after the emperor took the throne, he ordered the eunuchs to convey his imperial edict and appointed Gong as the deputy envoy of the Wensiyuan. Since then, there has been a continuous succession of people, with the names of hundreds of people being passed on at one time. At that time, they were called the officials who passed on the imperial edict. Thousands of civil and military officials, monks and Taoists were blessed by the emperor's grace... Chang En, a native of Linjiang, was promoted by the eunuch Chen Xijin... and because he was knowledgeable in alchemy, he was promoted to the Minister of Rites."

The general idea is that a few months after Emperor Chenghua ascended the throne, he promoted many officials. Thousands of people were promoted from common people to high positions. Among them was a Taoist named Chang En, who won the favor of Emperor Chenghua with his magic and was promoted to the position of Taichang Qing. The Chang En here refers to Deng Chang En, a big figure who is almost on par with Li Zisheng in front of the emperor.

That morning, Deng Chang'en waited outside the Qianqing Palace for nearly an hour but was not summoned by the emperor. He became suspicious and happened to see the eunuch Tan Chang, the seal-holder eunuch of the Silijian, and the eunuch Wei Tai, the pen-holder, walking out of the Qianqing Palace. He hurried forward to greet them and salute.

"I greet the two eunuchs."

Qin Chang stopped and looked at Deng Changen for a few times, then asked curiously, "Why hasn't Mr. Deng left yet?"

Deng Chang'en replied somewhat depressedly: "I am waiting for His Majesty to summon me. I dare not be negligent in the slightest. No one has come out to tell me to leave the palace."

Qin Chang smiled and said, "Your Majesty has gone to the inner courtyard. I don't think he will summon you. Mr. Deng, please go back."

After saying this, Qin Chang went straight to the duty room of the Imperial Household Department.

Deng Chang'en hurried forward a few steps, wanting to catch up with Qin Chang and ask him clearly, but was stopped by Wei Tai.

"Mr. Deng, what is this for?"

Wei Tai blocked the way, but Qin Chang in front had no intention of stopping and continued to move forward.

Deng Chang'en looked anxious, and wanted to push the eunuch away, but he could only say respectfully: "I have something to report to your majesty regarding the evolution of the mysteries of heaven... Your majesty asked very urgently before, and I was afraid of delaying your majesty's important matters, so I dared not leave the forbidden palace without permission."

Wei Tai glanced at Qin Chang's back, then smiled and said to Deng Chang'en: "No need, His Majesty will not ask again, Mr. Deng can leave the palace without worry."

"This is……"

Deng Chang'en looked puzzled.

The emperor had been asking about disasters recently. He studied them painstakingly and finally saw a clue from the changes in the sky. He planned a perfect excuse and entered the palace excitedly. But when the time came, he couldn't even see the emperor. It was like all his painstaking preparations were wasted.

He was very unwilling.

Wei Tai said, "Things have their priorities. Your Majesty asked about the disaster that was about to happen in Daming before, and Mr. Li has already reported it. Your Majesty is worried and doesn't want to listen to other suggestions."

Deng Chang'en asked in confusion, "Is there anything special about what Minister Li reported? Why did you listen to him instead of me?"

Wei Tai smiled and said, "Because Mr. Li reported that on the night of Bingzi, there will be earthquakes in Ningxia, and three times in a row. No matter how you report it, will it be more accurate than this disaster prediction?"

Deng Chang'en was stunned when he heard this. He was stunned for a long time before he asked in confusion, "Since ancient times, there have been people who reported star changes and disasters, but there has never been such a report to confirm an earthquake in a certain place... Isn't this just talking nonsense and deceiving the emperor?"

Wei Tai hurriedly said, "Mr. Deng, please be careful with your words. Be careful with your words... It hasn't happened yet, how can you make groundless comments? This is really aimless..."

"Please forgive my mistake."

Deng Chang'en hurriedly bowed, "But such words are too absurd and cannot be believed."

Wei Tai smiled and said, "Whether you believe it or not will depend on what happens. It's too early to talk about this now... If Mr. Deng really has a brilliant idea, you can report it at another time. His Majesty is not meeting him now because he is thinking about you... If you can't surpass Mr. Li with shocking words, even if you meet His Majesty, you will probably be rejected."

"I……"

Deng Changen suddenly felt weak.

Recently, he has firmly suppressed Li Zisheng, and his voice in front of the emperor has gradually increased. He didn't want to be counterattacked by the other party today, which was really unacceptable. ...

……

Deng Chang'en left the palace and returned to the Taichang Temple. He saw Ai Yu, the left supervisor of Shanglinyuan, who was also a messenger, waiting for him. He flicked his sleeves and said, "What are you doing here?"

Ai Yu originally helped Deng Chang'en study astrology and celestial changes, waiting for Deng Chang'en to return from an audience with the emperor and reward him.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they met, Deng Chang'en suddenly drove him away, which made him very confused for a moment.

"Sir, what are you doing...?"

Ai Yu knew at a glance that Deng Changen had hit a wall in the palace.

Deng Chang'en sat down, sulking, and said after a long while, "Don't waste your time... Li Zisheng reported to His Majesty that there will be an earthquake in Ningxia on the night of Bingzi. The details are so detailed, and the time and place are all specified. Your Majesty won't listen to anything we report now."

Ai Yu opened his mouth wide and said in shock: "Earthquake? This is a big deal. Regardless of whether it really happened or not, wouldn't this argument alone destroy the grand plan that Your Majesty has been planning for a long time?"

Deng Chang'en sneered: "Now everyone in the palace knows that His Majesty intends to depose the Crown Prince. He is afraid that a disaster will happen, so he asks us for help. Li Zisheng openly violated the will of the emperor. Isn't it considered to be helping the Crown Prince? He is simply seeking death!"

"It was Empress Wan's idea to depose the Crown Prince, and Your Majesty has always obeyed Empress Wan's orders..."

The more Ai Yu thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He shook his head repeatedly, "Minister Li has always been known for his ability to guess the emperor's intentions. How could he make such a low-level mistake?"

Deng Changen said angrily, "Do you really believe Li's nonsense? Since ancient times, even those who claim to be able to understand the will of heaven have never dared to talk nonsense about earthquakes, let alone talking nonsense in front of the emperor! What is Li's basis? Isn't he afraid of following in Jixiao's footsteps?"

Ji Xiao was a famous monk in the Ming Dynasty. With the help of eunuch Liang Fang, he gained the trust of Emperor Chenghua with his secret skills and was given the title of Imperial Master. He could be said to be the most favored person in front of the emperor. However, he was impeached by the censors because of disasters and other things. Although the emperor did not punish him, he still sent him back to his hometown to retire.

Ai Yu tried to analyze: "Master Deng, do you think this is the case? He dared to report the earthquake as a disaster because he was sure that the local authorities would not dare to offend him and waited for the local government to make a false report."

"impossible?"

Deng Changen shook his head: "If this kind of thing gets out of hand, it won't stand up to investigation."

Ai Yu said confidently, "Perhaps he thinks that this matter will not be spread outside, so the situation will not easily escalate... After a period of time, at most His Majesty will send someone to investigate privately. He only needs to give a heads up in advance to deceive His Majesty and let the matter go?"

"Then he has a really vicious mind."

Deng Changen was so angry that he slammed the table.

Ai Yu said quickly: "So for now, we can't keep things hidden. It's best to..."

Deng Chang'en seemed to understand something and frowned, "You mean, we should make a big fuss about him predicting an earthquake in Ningxia, which is against the will of the world, so that everyone knows about it?"

"Ah."

Ai Yu nodded heavily.

Deng Chang'en's eyes showed a ruthless look, he smiled coldly and said: "That's great, since he wants to be the Li Banxian that everyone admires and suppress me in everything, then I will give him a push.

"Humph, I didn't bother with him about the past, but he really treats me like a soft persimmon? I want to see who is the hard one and who is the soft one!"

(End of this chapter)