Top Scholar

Chapter 571 The Backer is in Action

Zhu Houzhao has indeed made rapid progress and has truly seen through Su Lu's thoughts.

This was a test for Su Lu. If the emperor chose to return the money to the nobles, he would choose the safe route in the future.

Without the full support of Duke Xiao of Qin, how could Shang Yang's reforms have been possible?

Without Emperor Shenzong's full support, how could Wang Anshi's reforms have been possible?
Even so, the former still failed despite his success, and the latter failed at the last minute. Without the full support of a determined emperor, what would have been the point of all their efforts?
If one could raise some money for the Ming Dynasty to help it overcome its current difficulties, then one would be worthy of the emperor's favor and have done something for the country and its people. Then one could comfortably enjoy the glory and peace of being a top scholar for the rest of one's life.

Anyway, the Ming Dynasty is still a long way from falling, so why bother worrying about those grandsons?
But the emperor chose to take a more difficult path, and he had no choice but to accompany him...

"Your Majesty is wise. I am indeed reluctant to part with those five million taels," Su Lu said respectfully. "But I also do not wish to cause Your Majesty any trouble!"

"What, are you worried that I can't withstand the pressure?" Zhu Houzhao snorted and said proudly, "When I was fifteen, I withstood the pressure from the entire court and protected my eldest and second wives. I also withstood the pressure from the Empress Dowager and dealt with my maternal uncle. No one in the world can withstand pressure better than me!"

"Your Majesty is truly a ruler who can withstand pressure," Su Lu quickly praised, adding, "Your Majesty, I will certainly help you plan how to use these five million taels of silver wisely!"

“That’s right. Rather than letting five million taels of silver become dead money, we might as well spend it.” Zhu Houzhao nodded and smiled. “You need to step away from the investigation and focus your energy on turning this money into my money as soon as possible. Also, help me plan how to spend this money.”

"I've never been this rich in my entire life!" Zhu Houzhao said with a self-deprecating laugh, "I don't even know how to spend so much money all at once."

"Yes," Su Lu hurriedly replied respectfully.

~~
British Duchy.

The nobles were shocked to hear the devastating news of the temple's raid. Today, they finally came to their senses and hurriedly sought advice from the Duke of England.

Among the leaders were Duke Dingguo, Xu Guangzuo, and Zhu Lin, son of Duke Chengguo, Zhu Fu… When Zhu Fu was stationed in Nanjing, he was in charge of the Duke Chengguo’s mansion.

There were also Marquis Guo Xun of Wuding and Marquis Chen Xuan of Taining. Although they were not dukes, they were top-ranking marquises who would live as long as the state. These people could basically represent the nobles of Beijing.

Duke Dingguo, Xu Guangzuo, sat to the right of Duke Yingguo, looking anxious. "My lord, what should we do?"

His family has deposited over 500,000 taels of silver in Zhihua Temple and also invested a lot of land. How could they not be anxious?

The Duke of England lifted his heavy eyelids, looking completely bewildered: "Huh? What are you talking about?"

His eldest grandson, Zhang Lun, quickly explained, "Please forgive me, uncles and elder brothers. My grandfather has been unwell lately and has been suffering from severe tinnitus."

"Cough cough..." As if to verify his grandson's words, the Duke of England coughed painfully.

Xu Guangzuo had no choice but to raise his voice and repeat, "Did you hear me now?!"

"Oh, I heard you right." The Duke of England nodded slightly and said, "The Emperor confiscated your ancestral temple?"

“Yes.” Xu Guangzuo and the others nodded hurriedly, about to lament their losses, when Zhang Mao said quietly, “It’s better than having your house ransacked, isn’t it?”

"Ah, this..." The dukes and marquises were speechless.

Marquis Guo Xun of Wuding was rather tough. He said in a low voice, "My lord, your family's Dagongde Temple has also been confiscated. I'm afraid the money and land stored there will never be recovered!"

"Oh dear, that's not appropriate!" The Duke of England then glared at him, straightened his back, and stopped coughing.

He then said to Xu Guangzuo, "Go and beg Eunuch Liu first. You can use my name. If he doesn't agree, I will go to the Emperor."

"Alright, that's exactly what I've been waiting for!" Xu Guangzuo quickly agreed. "I'll go scout ahead first, and if things don't go well, I'll trouble you, sir, to take action... How could I ask you, the commander, to step in right away?"

"Alright, alright." The Duke of England nodded, then coughed violently again. He quickly took the large pill from his grandson and performed a demonstration of swallowing it raw without water in front of everyone.

Seeing this, the nobles were all speechless for him... so they all got up to take their leave. They were already being generous by agreeing to cover for him; they couldn't ask for more.

~~
After leaving the Duke of England's mansion, the nobles stood beneath the large iron lion and briefly discussed their next move...

Zhu Lin leaned closer to Guo Xun and whispered, "Don't just sit there, go visit the neighbor across the street."

Guo Xun was taken aback: "My house across the street? The Su Zhuangyuan Mansion? What would a martial artist like me want with that young Zhuangyuan? To play chess or compose poetry?"

Zhu Lin lowered his voice and said, "My aunt said that Scholar Su is no ordinary person. Even my uncle has to ask him for help when he needs something."

His aunt was none other than Madam Zhu, Li Dongyang's second wife...

Guo Xun and the others were incredulous: "That kid has only been an official for a few days, how can his words carry any weight?"

“Go ahead,” Xu Guangzuo advised from the side. “Who cares how many days he’s been an official? This top scholar is enjoying the Emperor’s favor! Other ministers don’t even get to see the Emperor once a year, but he sees the Emperor’s face every day. Maybe a single word from him will have an effect.” “Yes,” Marquis Taining nodded in agreement. “We should worship all the gods we can right now. Who knows which one will grant our wish?”

Guo Xun was finally persuaded and nodded, saying, "Alright, I'll go take a look."

The nobles had made their decision and then mounted their horses and went off.

~~
On the other side, inside the British Duke's mansion.

Zhang Mao is currently testing his eldest grandson, Zhang Lun.

His later years were somewhat similar to those of the founding emperor... Although he had many children, his eldest son died young, and according to the primogeniture system, his title was inherited by Zhang Lun after his death.

While it may not be as dire as the Taizu Emperor's situation, where his children and grandchildren turned against each other, leading to the Jingnan Rebellion, careful guidance is still necessary to ensure the stable succession of the Duke's title.

Don't think that everything will be fine just because it is hereditary. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, more than 20 dukes have been granted hereditary titles, but how many families are still continuing the lineage?

"Grandpa's testing you: if the Duke of Yiguo and his men fail to deal with Eunuch Liu, should I go to the Emperor?" Zhang Mao asked.

Zhang Lun thought about it carefully and replied, "Since Grandpa said he would go, then of course we should go."

“Wrong.” The Duke of England shook his head, then deliberately coughed a few times. “When that time really comes, Grandpa will be ‘sick’ and unable to move. Who do you think Grandpa was faking those coughs and wheezing just now? It was just to set the stage for him to pretend to be sick when the time comes.”

Zhang Lun asked, puzzled, "Grandpa, why is that?"

"My grandfather inherited the title for sixty years, serving five emperors, and never dared to offend any of them. Even now, in his final moments, he cannot disobey the current emperor. If he were to truly touch the dragon's scales, his descendants would suffer as well." The Duke of Ying sighed, speaking earnestly:

"Besides, if I go to see the Emperor now, he will definitely know my purpose. If he refuses to see me, our Zhang family's unique favor with the Emperor will be lost."

"Then why did Grandpa ask the Duke of Dingguo and the others to beg Eunuch Liu?" Zhang Lun asked again, puzzled.

“Nonsense,” the Duke of England rolled his eyes at his grandson helplessly. This generation is worse than the last, what can we do? “Of course it would be great if we could get the money and land back.”

"What if they can't get it back?" Zhang Lun pressed.

“Grandson,” the Duke of England said earnestly, “remember this: of the two words, ‘wealth’ and ‘nobility’, although ‘wealth’ comes first, ‘nobility’ is the foundation. As long as ‘nobility’ remains, even if you are poor for a while, you can become rich again.”

He paused, then emphasized, “But if you lose the word ‘expensive,’ no matter how rich you are, you’re just food that others can pick at will! Grandpa always tells you to be thrifty and manage the household well, not because he’s stingy, but because he’s afraid you won’t be used to a poor life. Besides, our British mansion will never fall to the point of starving.”

“But Grandpa, our family is really going to starve… All the money in the house has been lent to the temple by my uncles,” Zhang Lun said timidly.

You might say he's stupid, but he's not stupid at all. He even knows a bit about his uncles' tricks... Since his uncles can't inherit the titles, of course they want to empty the house as much as possible to enrich themselves at the expense of the public.

"Damn it!" The Duke of England finally lost his temper and cursed vehemently, "Ignore those good-for-nothings, let them starve!"

~~
The raid on the temple affected not only top nobles, but also relatives of the emperor and second-tier nobles.

They usually lingered around the Zhang brothers, but now they hurriedly gathered at the Shouning Marquis's residence, hoping that this old imperial uncle could intercede with his nephew and at least salvage some of the losses.

But everyone waited in the hall for a long time, their tea turned white and their urine turned yellow, but they still didn't see Zhang Heling's face.

Finally, only his son came out to deliver a message, looking apologetic: "Uncles and elders, my father is currently under imperial decree to reflect on his mistakes at home, and it is truly inconvenient for him to receive guests..."

He paused, then relayed Zhang Heling's words: "My father said that we dare not offend the Emperor any further. If we get involved in these matters again, we'll probably have to go to Fengyang to keep my uncle company."

Upon hearing this, the assembled nobles and relatives of the emperor had no choice but to leave dejectedly...

At the same time, the three Grand Princesses Renhe, Yongkang, and Deqing also went to the palace together to find Empress Dowager Zhang, pleading with her: "Sister-in-law, you have to step in and take care of this matter! At least help us get our life savings back."

The three of them were Emperor Xiaozong's sisters, so they called Empress Dowager Zhang "sister-in-law".

Empress Dowager Zhang was on a diet, which caused hormonal imbalances, making her seem like she was going through premature menopause. Upon hearing this, she frowned and snapped, "I don't care! And you all better give up!"

“Sister-in-law, the Emperor is your son. If you don’t care, who will? We aunts can’t interfere either,” the three imperial aunts said, forcing themselves to speak.

"Stop it now!" Empress Dowager Zhang roared. "Can't you see that one of my brothers has already been assigned a post, and the other is being confined to his room to reflect on his mistakes?! You should be grateful that your whole families are still together and your sons and grandsons haven't been arrested yet! If you keep causing trouble, you'll all end up with my brothers!"

The three eldest princesses were severely scolded by the Empress Dowager. Knowing that their sister-in-law was determined not to get involved in this mess again, they had no choice but to quickly change their tune and appease the Empress Dowager.

After the Empress Dowager calmed down, the three eldest princesses reluctantly took their leave.

(End of this chapter)