Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 797 I Too Had My Days

Shortly after Zhu Youcheng left the military factory, Wang Yue came to receive a new batch of training equipment.

Wang Yue originally wanted to meet the emperor, but this time the Hongzhi Emperor did not intend to speak with him. In Zhu Youcheng's view, it was best to keep a certain distance from Wang Yue and let his brother-in-law convey his message.

It all stemmed from Zhu Youcheng's excessive shyness.

The introverted and autistic Emperor Hongzhi was somewhat unaccustomed to Wang Yue, a renowned general of the time who exuded a murderous aura. During their last conversation, he barely managed to stay calm, and after experiencing it once, he didn't want to go through it again...

Wang Yue was not an official in the court and was never seen at regular court meetings, so he was relatively unfamiliar to the emperor. Moreover, he did not behave like a cautious court official and always tried to curry favor with the emperor. As a result, his enthusiasm scared off Emperor Hongzhi, and in the end, Zhu Youcheng had to ask his brother-in-law to deal with Wang Yue on his behalf.

"Your Highness, this batch of training equipment has arrived. Within the next two months, the officers and soldiers must fully understand it and initially form combat capability," Zhang Yanling said.

Wang Yue asked, "If the officers and soldiers encounter any inconveniences during training, please point out areas for improvement, I wonder..."

Zhang Yanling smiled but did not answer.

The future direction of firearms development does not require the opinions of the current Ming Dynasty officials and soldiers. It is not that Zhang Yanling is particularly stubborn, but rather that he understands the history of firearms development better than anyone else.

Firearms will inevitably develop in the direction of range, rate of fire and accuracy. As for whether firearms are easy to use, it depends entirely on these prerequisites.

If someone feels that the firearms they improved are not working well, or that there are problems when firing them... then it must be the user's own problem.

In the early stages of development, it is difficult for a mass-produced firearm to be all-encompassing and adaptable to everyone; the soldiers must adapt to it on their own.

On the contrary, Zhang Yanling only needs to transform the weapons existing in his memory bank from imagination into blueprints, and then from blueprints into actual products, and then use them in actual combat.

Zhang Yanling said, "Your Highness should explain the advantages of the new firearms to the officers and soldiers, so that the army is full of confidence in victory. Right now, you are mostly training officers of various ranks. Once they have gained experience, you can pass it on to the soldiers. Once the new army is fully formed, we will be able to fight tough battles."

"Yes Yes."

Wang Yue was very sensible and obsequious.

You don't need to explain too much to me, and I won't ask any more questions, since I have no power or influence now anyway.

Although neither of us are officials now, you have the power to speak directly with the emperor, so you are my superior and I am your subordinate.

Zhang Yanling continued, “What Your Majesty wants is for the Ming army to be able to take the initiative to attack the grasslands one day, instead of being afraid of the enemy and hiding in the nine border fortresses to fight defensive counterattacks.”

"Moreover, once our army launches an attack, it will surely advance rapidly and directly into the grasslands. Prince, you need not worry about the waste of manpower and resources or the harm to the country and the people. In the next two years, we will vigorously promote the reform of the government and strive to accumulate the money, grain and materials needed to pacify the grasslands as soon as possible."

Wang Yue said, "If we really have to go beyond the Great Wall to fight, the cost will be enormous."

“You don’t need to worry about that at all,” Zhang Yanling said with a smile. “If we have good firearms, training 5,000 men will be enough to make them as effective as 50,000. In fact, this force will not need to fear any of the Tatar battle formations. Facing 50,000 or even 500,000 with only 5,000 men will be an overwhelming victory.”

“The Tatars don’t have that many men.”

Wang Yue shook his head.

Zhang Yanling laughed and said, "We can't fight a hundred people by ourselves, can we?"

Wang Yue frowned slightly, increasingly unable to understand where the young man's confidence came from. Could it be blind confidence stemming from never having been on the battlefield?

However, the firearms equipped by the new army are so powerful that it seems that achieving the objective is not impossible.

You must understand that confidence alone cannot achieve great things!

What exactly made Zhang Yanling gain the emperor's absolute trust... and how was he able to build such a large "family business" on his own without any help from the court?
Everything is a mystery!
……

……

Zhang Luan has been promoted.

He was not promoted directly to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, but was instead transferred to Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.

This transfer was completely unexpected by the court officials, who all opposed it... After all, Zhang Luan had only been in the court for a little over a year, and it would have been good enough to give him the position of Right Vice Minister. Suddenly promoting him to Left Vice Minister was really unreasonable.

But compared to when Zhang Luan was in the Ministry of Revenue, he was practically the chief steward of the Ming Dynasty, with all expenditures passing through his hands, many people felt liberated after being transferred to the Ministry of War.

After all, Zhang Luan had no actual experience in leading troops and was a military novice, so he might not have any foresight or wisdom.

Instead, transferring him from his "area of ​​expertise" to an extremely unfamiliar environment seems to make it easier to sideline Zhang Luan.

After all, the Left Vice Minister of the Ming Dynasty often couldn't manage things, and what urgent matters could the Ministry of War possibly have to do now? It was nothing more than checking the inventory of military equipment in various places, involving the mobilization of local military officers, and coordinating some matters with the Five Military Commissions... It was a busy department, but even if it did a lot of practical work, it was hard to know exactly what it was doing.

At least after the emperor conveyed his message, the Ministry of Personnel expressed its support, and the cabinet did not raise any objections. Even though some officials in the court still submitted memorials criticizing him, Zhang Luan was still promoted smoothly.

Zhang Luan was promoted to Vice Minister of War, and soon rumors spread like wildfire in the capital that he was going to the northwest to lead troops.

Many people even believe that this matter is basically a done deal, otherwise why would the emperor make such an arrangement?

Zhang Luan, as the person involved, didn't take it too seriously. He just went to the Ministry of War and then, like a habitual offender, took advantage of the opportunity to go out to find a place to eat at noon to sneak home. He then went straight into his own courtyard and didn't make a sound for the next two days.

He didn't even attend court, seemingly refusing to have any contact with the court officials.

Afterwards, everyone in the Ministry of War thought that something had happened to Zhang Luan, and they went to Zhang's residence to test him many times before they found out that Zhang Luan was actually "recuperating from an illness." By this time, it seemed that everyone knew that Zhang Luan was just making excuses to be lazy and was not necessarily really sick.

The Ministry of War suddenly had a vacancy, and with no one to do the work, it immediately became stretched thin.

After all, the Ministry of War is different from the Ministry of Revenue. It has countless affairs, including the selection and appointment of military officers, army training, border defense, horse administration, postal service, and management of military supplies and equipment. It was not easy for them to adapt to someone suddenly abandoning their post. This caused the Ministry of War to be very anxious at first. They went to Zhang Luan's residence many times under the pretext of visiting him in the hospital, trying to get him to return to the court and handle official business as soon as possible.

However, after visiting several times, people learned that Zhang Luan always refused to see guests, and it was even uncertain whether he was at home or not. People gradually realized that perhaps the emperor's arrangement for the emperor's father-in-law to go to the Ministry of War was not necessarily to have Zhang Luan manage the affairs of the Ministry of War, but perhaps he just wanted to plant a mole in the Ministry of War so that he could launch a major purge of the original officials at any time.

As for the specific methods used to prank someone, no one knows for the time being.

The Ministry of Revenue has already been thoroughly wrecked by Zhang Luan, and now everyone in the Ministry of War, from top to bottom, feels a sense of insecurity.

Just when the court and the public were completely baffled by Zhang Luan's promotion, the court suddenly issued salaries... paying out all the backlog from the previous years at once, just like Ye Qi's achievements in the Ministry of Revenue.

Only a few people knew that this payroll was entirely due to the salt tax reform completed by Zhang Luan in the Ministry of Revenue... and after the first quarter, the national finances had greatly improved. Finally, the emperor took pity on the officials and gave them a large sum of money in one go, so they no longer had to borrow money to make ends meet.

……

……

The news that Zhang Luan had been transferred to the Ministry of War as the Left Vice Minister quickly reached Xuzhou.

Pang Qing personally led the message to the river embankment and met Li Zisheng, who had been guarding the embankment for more than twenty days during the flood season.

At this moment, Li Zisheng was disheveled and had no air of otherworldly grace about him. He looked more like an ordinary old man doing farm work, exuding a sense of desolation in his later years.

It seemed that only the scarlet official robes worn by Li Zisheng truly revealed his illustrious status, telling the world of his past glory. "Lai Zhan's promotion to Left Vice Minister is to be expected," Li Zisheng said. "I myself am a Minister... Lai Zhan is highly regarded by His Majesty, so what's wrong with him being promoted to Vice Minister?"

Pang Qing shook his head and said, "Can your Minister be the same as an ordinary Minister?"

This precisely hit Li Zi Province's weak spot.

At this time, Li Zisheng was only holding on by the title of Minister, as if everything he did was to make himself more like a Minister of the Ming Dynasty and to shoulder the responsibilities of a Minister.

Now Pang Qing tells him that he is just a messenger official, and with the late emperor gone, his status is gone, and he will never be respected again.

As for your position as Minister... it's nothing more than the title of Minister of Rites attached to the position of Commissioner of the Court of State Affairs.

You are neither the Commissioner of the Court of State Affairs nor the powerful and influential courtier you once were; you are merely an old Taoist priest who has been banished to do manual labor.

Li Zisheng said, "You really know how to talk. You're telling me Lai Zhan got promoted just to mock me? Come to think of it, Lai Zhan is already a cabinet minister; his promotion to minister is only a matter of time..."

“As a cabinet minister, he is destined to concurrently serve as a minister in the future. I am not as good as him now, but I was once as valued and trusted as Lai Zhan... I was once glorious.”

Upon hearing this, Pang Qing nodded silently.

Li Zisheng was right about this. His power at the end of the Chenghua era was such that even the Minister of Personnel had to take a backseat. He was even able to withstand the pressure and become one of the key ministers entrusted by the late emperor on his deathbed, which shows his level of competence.

Pang Qing said, "A true hero doesn't dwell on past glories."

Upon hearing this, Li Zisheng was furious and chased Pang Qing along the riverbank, kicking him for a long time as if he were doing drills.

The local people on the embankment were curiously observing the usually gentle and refined high-ranking official chasing after him and acting uncontrollably. They thought it was some kind of farce and couldn't help but sigh inwardly: What a good official he is, actually getting along so well with us common folk!
……

……

After a long time.

Li Zisheng called Pang Qing to a nearby thatched hut. Inside, there was a wooden bed with thatched floor and bamboo mat on top, a table and two stools near the door, and nothing else.

Seeing this scene, Pang Qing said with heartache, "Master Dao, you've suffered these past few days. Since Zhang Guozhang said there won't be any major disaster this year, why don't you go down to the riverbank?"

Li Zisheng said, "Do you think I'm here suffering for nothing, eating simple meals?"

"Is not it?"

Pang Qing wondered, "Could this place be a hidden paradise? Could it be that you built a thatched hut in this conspicuous spot to put on a show for others, only staying here temporarily, while actually having a large mansion near the riverbank where beautiful women and fine wine serve you, allowing you to indulge in revelry every night? And then, after eating and drinking your fill and working yourself to the bone, you come here to catch up on sleep during the day?"

"Of course!"

Li Zisheng nodded and said, "I really am frugal and simple, staying here day and night, sharing the joys and sorrows with the people."

"..."

Pang Qing seemed speechless.

Are you kidding me?

With your pampered lifestyle, can you really stand in this godforsaken place?

Li Zisheng sighed, "It's true that I've been on the riverbank the whole time, but I'm still very particular about what I eat. It may seem like I live and eat with the people on the riverbank, but even if there's no abalone, sea cucumber, or shark fin, it's still quite easy to have some meat. I eat chicken, duck, fish, and meat almost every day."

"..."

Pang Qing remained silent.

As a high-ranking official of the Ming Dynasty, you came up to the river embankment just to get the treatment of eating chicken, duck, fish and meat?
What kind of life did you live before?
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe it as a life of luxury!

What kind of life are we living now?
If you don't donate the money you have to build river embankments, how many livestock farms could you build? You could eat chicken, duck, fish, and meat for several lifetimes and still not finish it all!
Li Zisheng exclaimed, "These days are truly fulfilling... Bingkun, look at me, how have I changed?"

Pang Qing looked Li Zisheng up and down, then asked, puzzled, "Which aspect are you referring to?"

"Haha, don't you think I look much more energetic?"

Li Zisheng looked smug, as if he were introducing his success story: "Just eating less won't help; it's the work that really makes you energetic. Before, I felt like I had a lot of flab on my stomach and was weak and listless. Now look at me, I'm so strong and fit! I haven't felt this healthy in years."

Pang Qing asked in confusion, "Aren't you a Taoist priest? You used to be educated, so when did you start comparing your strength with a laborer? Taoist priest, what suffering have you endured that you don't want to talk about, and are you deliberately putting on a brave face in front of others?"

"What kind of talk is that?" Li Zisheng frowned. "Bingkun, I'm telling you, you have absolutely no class! You can't stand to see me do well, can you?"

Pang Qing said helplessly, "When we meet again this time, I feel that you have aged a lot, and you have more wrinkles on your face."

Li Zisheng said, “I’m almost fifty years old, of course I’m like this. I’m even older than Lai Zhan! He’s sickly all the time, but look at me, when have I ever been sick? It’s said that internal cultivation alone is not enough, you also need external cultivation, and you need to exercise constantly, so that your energy and spirit can be lifted. I’ve had many insights lately.”

"..."

Pang Qing thought to himself, "What kind of spirit of finding joy in hardship is it that allows you to have such a profound understanding?"
"Move aside a bit."

Li Zisheng suddenly said, "Don't sit next to my bed. You're covered in mud, and I need to sleep tonight."

Pang Qing said, "You should go down to the riverbank and rest for a few days... Or how about this, let me stay here for a few days in your place?"

Li Zisheng rolled her eyes at him but didn't say anything.

He plopped down on the table and opened the food box that was laid out on top.

Just when Pang Qing thought it was just simple food, he was surprised to find that it was actually high-quality vegetarian dishes, which looked very exquisite and seemed to be made by a very skilled chef.

"Want something to eat?"

Li Zisheng greeted him.

"this……?"

Pang Qing looked puzzled; this portion wasn't enough for two people.

Li Zisheng said, “Today is a vegetarian meal. It’s not good to eat it continuously or too much. It’s okay to eat it occasionally. You can help me share the burden!”
"You are quite adept at social skills and your words are very touching, but you only have a superficial understanding of officialdom and pretend to know what you don't."

Pang Qing asked curiously, "So... you're just putting on an act in front of others?"

"Cut the nonsense."

Li Zisheng said irritably, "After you finish eating, I'll take you for a walk along the riverbank, and you'll understand then."

(End of this chapter)