Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 437: Mr. Zhang, the Unambitious Scholar
Several people involved in the case, including Li Zisheng, have been temporarily laid off and need to wait at home for the outcome of the case before they can return to their duties.

But Zhang Luan listened to his son's advice and went to the Hanlin Academy to show his face.

Normally, there were no important tasks in the Hanlin Academy. In addition, after Zhang Luan was promoted to the president of the Hanlin Academy, he had not formally met with his colleagues, so he took this opportunity to take a walk around and see the attitude of those arrogant Hanlin officials towards him.

"Laizhan, why are you here?"

When Xie Qian heard that Zhang Luan had arrived at the Hanlin Academy, he hurried out to greet him.

The two of them were old acquaintances after all, so Xie Qian felt it necessary to give Zhang Luan a hand.

After all, Zhang Luan was an intruder and seemed to be completely ignorant of the rules.

Zhang Luan explained: "Thank you Hanlin, I am working in the Hanlin Academy. It is not good to be slack in government affairs for a long time. Come over here while you are free."

Xie Qian shrugged, quite helpless: "You are in the center of the storm right now, there is really no need for you to come out. The crown prince's coronation ceremony will be held in a few days. Even if you need to talk about your friendship with your colleagues, you can wait until then..."

"I really can't stay idle."

Zhang Luan sighed.

Xie Qian couldn't help but smile when he heard this.

Although Zhang Luan has no qualifications in the Hanlin Academy, he is a genuinely honest and kind person. At first glance, you can tell that he is the type of person who is more suitable to be a friend than a colleague.

Too many people in the court were utilitarian, and Xie Qian didn't like them very much. On the contrary, Zhang Luan was refreshing, and he felt that he could get to know him because he could see sincerity in Zhang Luan that others did not have.

"What exactly is going on with the site survey of the Tianshou Mountain Imperial Mausoleum?"

Xie Qian invited the man to an office in the Hanlin Academy. After the two sat down, Xie Qian asked as if he was chatting casually.

Zhang Luan said with a distressed look on his face: "I still don't understand why I had to quarrel with Minister Ni to such an extent."

"But I heard that it was Ni Yue who came to see you and impeached Li Zisheng together." Xie Qian went straight to the crux of the problem.

Zhang Luan said helplessly, "It's Ni Yue who refuses to cooperate. He always makes excuses when discussing things with me. Although he helped the Crown Prince in Wenhua Palace before, I still don't understand his purpose at that time... Since I feel that he is deliberately shirking his responsibilities and even deliberately causing trouble for me, then I can understand if I appeal to the higher-ups, right?"

Xie Qian thought to himself, you can explain the reasons for impeaching your colleagues so uprightly and in such a novel way, I feel that you are a unique person.

"So was my impeachment right or wrong?" Zhang Luan asked.

Xie Qian shook his head and said, "I can't answer you about this matter...Hasn't the prince sent people to investigate? I think there will be results soon..."

“I didn’t really take it to heart.”

Zhang Luan smiled and said, "Thank you, Hanlin. Let me put it this way. Until now, I don't know why I entered the Hanlin Academy system as an official... It seems that just having the title of bachelor is not enough to serve here. No one takes me seriously!"

Xie Qian smiled and said, "You hit the nail on the head. In the Hanlin Academy, the rank of an official is certainly important, but more importantly, it depends on one's character and conduct. It's easy to tell who has more experience and who has stronger abilities."

Zhang Luan said helplessly: "I am of low birth and lack the qualifications, so I know I am not qualified for the job of the Imperial Academy. Perhaps the Governor's Office is more suitable for me. So I have submitted a petition to resign."

"Ah."

Xie Qian said, "You are right to do this, but this is an extraordinary period, and the prince may still need you. Even if you want to step down, you have to get through this period first."

After hearing this, Xie Qian already regarded Zhang Luan as "one of his own".

After all, it is very rare to find someone like Zhang Luan who speaks so frankly, does not form cliques in the court, and does not seem to have any political ambitions.

Xie Qian also noticed that Zhang Luan was close to Li Zisheng, but in fact, in the eyes of ordinary Hanlin scholars, Li Zisheng was not a treacherous and evil person.

Besides, Li Zisheng is now on the decline, and everyone knows that after the new emperor ascends the throne, he will definitely take action against former treacherous ministers like Li Zisheng. Therefore, those who are willing to get close to Li Zisheng now are either fools or people like Zhang Luan who have no ambition for the future.

"Laizhan, you still have to be careful." Xie Qian consoled him, "Li Zisheng is a Taoist priest after all, and his ability is not high. He has controlled the government for a long time and offended many people. This year, many people will submit petitions to impeach him, and he is approaching you... maybe with bad intentions."

It was because Xie Qian trusted Zhang Luan that he gave him advice.

Liu Jian and others would not say such things explicitly. Only a down-to-earth person like Xie Qian would explain the interests involved to Zhang Luan.

Zhang Luan said helplessly, "After all, Minister Li and I have known each other for a long time. He has been helping my daughter since she was a candidate for the Crown Princess. He is deeply involved... Do you think it is necessary to cut ties with him now? Even he himself said that no one has been around him recently. As for me... I am very open-minded about everything. It is actually good for me to get closer to him and let each other use each other."

Xie Qian rolled his eyes at Zhang Luan and shook his head, saying, "Since you want to be an official, you should get closer to the clean people. Li Zisheng is not a good person after all."

"hehe."

Zhang Luan thought.

It doesn’t matter whether he is a good person or not, the key is that we have similar interests.

Just like this time when I went to Tianshou Mountain with him to choose the site for the imperial mausoleum, it was a perfect match. He also gave me a considerable bribe, which made me feel that it was really worth making friends with him.

Even when it comes to cooperating with him, not even my son could pull me back, so how could you, Xie Yuqiao, do that?
Just save it!
No one can stop my old and restless heart.

Power is not important, but the beautiful women and wine behind power are what I pursue all my life, and I will never regret it until I die.

…………

Zhang Luan didn't stay in the Hanlin Academy for too long. He took a quick tour with Xie Qian and then said goodbye and left.

After everyone left, Xie Qian wanted to go and edit a book, but was called over by Liu Jian.

"Yu Qiao, how are you going to meet Zhang Laizhan now?"

Liu Jian expressed his dissatisfaction with Xie Qian's actions.

We all regarded Zhang Luan as a dissident who needed to be eliminated, but you still wanted to get close to him? Could it be that you, Xie Yuqiao, wanted to stand with the enemy and have the best of both worlds?

Xie Qian said: "I think Lai Zhan is a good person."

Liu Jian shook his head and said, "Who cares what he's thinking? The key is that he's a relative by marriage. In the Ming Dynasty, relatives by marriage are not allowed to interfere in politics. This has been a long-standing consensus, especially since the crown prince has just come of age and there is only one crown princess. If relatives by marriage interfere in politics in the future and even affect the peace of the court, we will be the sinners of the Ming Dynasty."

"It's not that serious, is it?" Xie Qian frowned.

I can't even catch such a big bucket of shit.

I just spoke a few words to Zhang Luan, and I became a sinner of the Ming Dynasty?
"Why? Don't you think Zhang Laizhan is ambitious?"

Liu Jian said, "He has been in the court for only half a year, and he has been promoted to such a high position. Isn't that enough to prove the problem? Moreover, he has a lot of contacts with Li Zisheng, Deng Changen and others, which shows that he is an ambitious person who will do anything to achieve his goals."

Xie Qian said: "But, the matter of him joining the cabinet was only a rumor. He himself declined the offer. How can we blame him?"

Liu Jian said: "The problem is that the Queen Mother seems to have high hopes for him, which involves the taboo of the inner palace interfering in government affairs."

Xie Qian thought to himself "I'll go", this is both the external relatives interfering in government affairs and the inner palace interfering in government affairs. It seems that the father-in-law of the emperor and the empress dowager cannot ask about the affairs of the new emperor's enthronement?
Am I not too tired to be a minister?

We had to guard against the powerful abusing their power, guard against treacherous villains coming to power, and maintain the right path... But the problem was that no matter how hard we tried, we didn't achieve any results during the Chenghua period.

What? The new emperor hasn’t even ascended the throne yet, but we have to keep a firm control over his future behavior and make him act according to the rules we set?

Isn’t this too overbearing?
Liu Jian said again: "The crown prince will ascend the throne soon, and there will definitely be endless arguments over who will enter the cabinet. Now that we have unanimously recommended Minister Xu to join the cabinet, this matter cannot be debated, and we must not give Zhang Laizhan the opportunity to cause trouble."

"Isn't this just right?" Xie Qian said, "I'll go and test Zhang Laizhan's attitude. If I find that he has the ambition to make progress, I can come back and tell him."

Liu Jian heard it.

You, Xie Qian, are actually willing to risk your life and bear the infamy to get close to the treacherous minister and relative Zhang Luan? Act as our spy?

Xie Qian said again: "After all, he is the president of the academy. Although the title is not worthy of the title, I have to receive him when he comes. Otherwise, others will think that the people in the Hanlin Academy do not follow the rules.

"There are too many despicable officials in this court, and this one is not bad... Even I myself don't know why I insist on staying in the court. Brother Liu, let me handle this matter. You can handle the affairs of the Hanlin Academy with peace of mind, and don't worry about my future. At worst, I can retire and return home..."

……

……

The Northern Pacification Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Tan Chang, the supervisor of the Eastern Depot, came to meet with Zhu Ji, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and also to inquire about the interrogation of Deng Chang'en, Zhao Yuzhi and others.

Zhu Ji dismissed his men and stepped forward to whisper, "Eunuch Tan, Deng Changen and other treacherous people have accused many of the most reputable officials in the court of not only accepting bribes, but also offering bribes and committing corruption and abuse of power, and they have provided some evidence."

"Ugh!"

Qin Chang sighed and said, "In the early years, there were some chaos in the court. It is said that the great waves will wash away the sands, but if you don't follow the trend and want to stay out of trouble, it is absolutely impossible.

"It's impossible for the Crown Prince to be so petty as to single out everyone... He only needs to find a few people with bad reputations and use them as scapegoats."

Zhu Ji said: "But... there are officials involved... in the current situation..."

"Who?"

Tan Chang asked with a frown.

"It is Ni Yue, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites."

Zhu Ji said, "It is said that he had received 500 taels of silver from Deng Changen, and also received a golden Buddha statue from the cabinet minister Wan'an, who asked him to fight for the prince's right to ask questions in the Wenhua Palace... and also said..."

"What else can you say?"

Qin Chang attached great importance to this.

Zhu Ji no longer planned to board Wan An's pirate ship, and said bluntly: "It is said that Liang Fang and Wei Xing also sent him a large amount of treasure when they were in Beijing, but even Deng Chang'en didn't know the specific means, but he knew that this happened."

Qin Changyi raised his hand and said, "This matter is of great importance. It is understandable that people in the court have dealings with treacherous people, and it cannot be stopped, but after all, it involves the crown prince, so we have to be cautious.

"The matter of the site selection for the imperial mausoleum is currently pending, so don't act rashly for now! As for this matter... just leave it as an unknown matter for now, and wait and see how things develop in the future."

(End of this chapter)