Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 75: Bribing with male beauty?
Luoyang, the capital of Henan.

The flower beds are full of flowers and lush grass.

In the corridor, Yuan Shu and Zhang Yu were sitting at a table between them, on which tea was boiling.

Zhang Yu looked respectful and poured tea for Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu leaned slightly on the table and said, "I have heard about Wang Yuzhou's affairs. Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong framed Wang Yuzhou for corruption and false accusations. Their intentions are clear and they want to kill Wang Yuzhou. It may not be easy to rescue him now."

Yuan Shu picked up the teacup and blew away the hot air. He said, "Your father-in-law and Envoy Wang are both upright, and their conflicts with the eunuchs are too deep. When the Yellow Turbans rose up, all the party members in the country were pardoned, and many famous people in the Central Plains were promoted. Your father-in-law was the governor of Hongnong, and he should have been re-employed, but because of Zhang Rang's meddling, he was not hired."

Zhang Yu put down the pot of soup and said, "You two are of such temperament that you always feel sorry for not being able to punish the eunuchs and support the country."

Yuan Shu took a sip of the sweet tea and said, "During the Dou family rebellion, Your Majesty was able to take power because you protected the eunuchs, so Your Majesty thought that the eunuchs were your wings. The two kings want to hurt Your Majesty's wings, how can Your Majesty turn a blind eye?"

Yuan Shu sighed and said, "The nobles want to rule the world with Your Majesty, but Your Majesty is unwilling to rule the world with the nobles."

Zhang Yu remained silent. The struggle among the gentry, eunuchs and external relatives lasted for most of the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The demands of the gentry were simple: to develop their own family power and share the world with the emperor. However, due to the source of their power, eunuchs had to rely on the emperor. Foreign relatives were similar to eunuchs, and their power actually came from the emperor, but because they were foreign relatives, they had the power to depose and enthrone the emperor.

The gentry was not a collective. When either the maternal relatives or the eunuchs became powerful, the gentry would climb up and choose to depend on the maternal relatives or eunuchs in order to get promoted. When the power of the maternal relatives or eunuchs affected the exercise of the imperial power, the imperial power would support the other party to help him control the government.

Compared to the Zhang family of Yunzhong, the Wang family of Qi County is a prominent family in Bingzhou. However, looking at the whole world, the Wang family of Qi County is only of average level.

As a member of the aristocratic group, Wang Yun needed to establish an object of struggle in order to win the appreciation of the upper echelons of the aristocratic class, whether for his ideals or for promotion.

Yuan Shu did not say much at the time, but he pointed out Wang Yun's situation. Wang Yun's attempt to overthrow Zhang Rang actually offended Liu Hong, because it was not in Liu Hong's interest. Wang Yun's impeachment of Zhang Rang was doomed to be futile.

As for why Liu Hong detained Wang Yun twice, perhaps he had no intention of killing Wang Yun at first, but Zhang Rang instigated Liu Hong to think of killing Wang Yun. If we want to rescue Wang Yun now, we still need to make Liu Hong change his mind.

Zhang Yu had a headache. Historically, Wang Yun should have been released, but he had no idea how. At the same time, how to build up his reputation after learning that Wang Yun would be released was another problem.

Moreover, Zhang Yu had another doubt. He was not sure that Wang Yun would be released. After all, he had heard about the butterfly effect. If Wang Yun fell, he would lose his support in the officialdom. Now he had to do something.

After a moment's hesitation, Zhang Yu asked, "Forgive me for being slow-witted, but could you give me some pointers?"

Yuan Shu drank the contents of the cup in one gulp and said, "When Envoy Wang was imprisoned before, he was saved by a joint petition signed by the three ministers He, Yang, and Yuan. Now that Envoy Wang is imprisoned again, the three ministers will submit another petition. In order to save your official position, it is better to wait for the news of the petition."

Zhang Yu resisted the urge to roll his eyes. How could he not know that the three ministers had jointly submitted a petition to save Wang Yun?
But since the Three Lords had saved him once, Zhang Rang would definitely be careful the second time and would not let anyone succeed. Today, he was servile and listened patiently to Yuan Shu's nonsense. After a lot of twists and turns, he was asked to go back and wait for news. He really had the desire to overthrow Yuan Shu.

Zhang Yu picked up the jar of honey water on the table and poured it into Yuan Shu's cup.

Seeing Zhang Yu pouring honey water for him, Yuan Shu looked pleased. He picked up the cup, drank the honey water, and breathed a sigh of enjoyment.

"Honey water is truly a treasure in the world!" Yuan Shu exclaimed.

Seeing Yuan Shu loving honey water so much, Zhang Yu thought to himself: "Drink more, so that one day there will be no more to drink!"

Perhaps it was because of the honey water that Yuan Shu seemed to remember something and asked, "Does Ji'an know Madam Cheng?"

"I've heard a little bit about it. I'd like to hear Mr. Yuan's advice!" Zhang Yu said after pondering for a moment.

The Madam Cheng mentioned by Yuan Shu was the mother of Emperor Ling of Han, Liu Hong.

A "fu mu" was a woman in ancient times who was responsible for tutoring and caring for aristocratic children, similar to a nanny.

Because Emperor Ling of Han was born in a poor marquis family, he was very fond of his relatives. As Liu Hong's tutor, Madam Cheng enjoyed an extraordinary status in the court due to Liu Hong's favor. Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, He Jin and others had to show some respect to Madam Cheng when they saw her.

Cui Lie was appointed as Si Tu, and was able to buy the position of one of the Three Dukes at a super low price of five million coins, which was a way to smooth things over with Madam Cheng.

When Zhang Yu was an official in the Shangshutai, Cui Lie's buying of an official position was a hot topic. After all, no one expected that Cui Lie, who was well-known in Hebei, would spend money to buy the position of one of the Three Dukes.

Yuan Shu looked at Zhang Yu's handsome face, smiled strangely, and said, "Madam Cheng is your majesty's tutor. If Ji An can please Madam Cheng, even if Envoy Wang cannot be reinstated, it will not be difficult for him to be released from prison. Zhang Rang is your majesty's confidant, and he absolutely does not want to offend Madam Cheng."

Zhang Yu thought for a moment and asked, "What else?"

Yuan Shu stood up from the corridor, walked in his clogs, and said, "Envoy Wang has a great reputation. If we can get him to moderate his words and write a letter to Zhang Rang to admit his fault, and then have the three ministers write a letter to persuade him, Envoy Wang may be able to escape unscathed."

Zhang Yu, who was following behind Yuan Shu, couldn't help but frown. Asking Wang Yun to bow down to Zhang Rang would be harder than climbing to the sky. Yuan Shu's idea was really unreliable.

It was probably time for a nap. Yuan Shu yawned and said, "I have already informed the court officials. If Ji'an tells his name, he can visit Envoy Wang."

"Thank you, Mr. Yuan, for your guidance!" Zhang Yu bowed and said. "No need to be polite!"

"Please excuse me!"

"good!"

Zhang Yu walked out of Yuan Shu's mansion, looked back at the door lintel, exhaled a long breath, and readjusted his mentality. Anyone who wants to achieve great things cannot avoid being humble.

At this time, Wang Gai, Wang Chen, Guo Tu, Cheng Pu and others had already sat down in the lobby. They had different expressions. Some were anxious, pacing back and forth; some were depressed and heavy-hearted.

"Jian is back!"

After a while, they saw Zhang Yu entering the hall, and everyone was cheered up.

"What did the Yin of Henan say?" Wang Gai stepped forward first and asked anxiously.

Seeing the crowd gathering over, Zhang Yu pressed his hands down, signaling everyone not to worry, and said.

"The Henan Yin said that although the envoy is in prison now, the three ministers will continue to submit petitions to see if they can rescue him. However, since he has been imprisoned for the second time, it is obvious that Zhang Rang wants to harm him, so we need to make other plans." Zhang Yu said.

"Has the Henan Yin pointed out the way?" Wang Gai asked.

"Have!"

Zhang Yu pondered for a moment and said, "Mr. Yuan said that Madam Cheng, your Majesty's mother, might be able to help. Let me pay a visit to Madam Cheng to see if she can help."

"Let Ji'an visit Madam Cheng?"

Wang Gai looked surprised, but he quickly reacted and said, "Wait a minute, there's no need to rush to visit Madam Cheng."

"Why?" Guo Tu asked.

Wang Chen coughed and said, "Madam Cheng is lustful and greedy for money, and has many male lovers in her mansion. If we ask Madam Cheng to help Envoy Wang, it will definitely offend Zhang Rang. Money and property may not be enough to sway his heart, so we have to use two methods at the same time and bribe him with male beauty."

Hearing this, Zhang Yu was stunned for a moment, thinking back to the weird smile Yuan Shu showed him when he talked about Madam Cheng. He realized that if he asked Madam Cheng to do something for him, there was a high probability that she would take advantage of him.

"cough~"

Guo Tu coughed to cover up his embarrassment and said, "Mrs. Cheng is not available for the time being, what should I do now?"

Zhang Yu said, "Mr. Yuan has already informed the Supreme Court, so we can go visit the envoy first."

"So now we can only wait for news from the Three Lords?" Cheng Pu asked.

"I'm afraid this is the only way!" Wang Gai said bitterly.

Zhang Yu gathered his thoughts and said, "Zhang Rang has been wanting to harm you for a long time. Now, the only people who can help you out are the officials in the court and Madam Cheng. Madam Cheng is not available for the time being, so we can only wait for news from you officials. Unless ~"

"Unless what?" Wang Chen asked.

Zhang Yu paused and said, "Unless the envoy apologizes to Zhang Rang and sees if he can calm down, the other three ministers may be able to get the envoy off the hook if they write a petition to persuade him!"

"I'm afraid it's difficult to succeed!"

Wang Chen said, "Uncle sees Zhang Rang as an enemy. Given his character, how could he agree?"

"Why not give it a try for now!"

Wang Gai was thinking in a complicated way, and said, "Lord Yang sent a letter to my father before, advising him to be patient. But because it was difficult to see my father, the letter was left at home. Now that I have the help of the governor of Henan, I can go to the court to visit my father, so why not ask him about it."

"Can!"

Zhang Yu thought for a long time and said, "In this case, please ask my cousin and Gongze to follow me to the court to visit the envoy. My brother, Bosong and Demou will stay at the mansion and wait for news from you gentlemen."

"promise!"

"it is good!"

"Jiangzuo Yice": "Madam Cheng was the mother of Emperor Ling of Han. She was favored by the emperor, but she was arrogant and extravagant. The officials in the court feared her and often selected beautiful young men to serve as his attendants. ... Emperor Shenwu was a great man with a handsome face. Madam Cheng had been watching Shenwu for a long time..."

(End of this chapter)