Chapter 572: Honest Officials and Good Reputations
Li Zisheng invited Zhang Luan to the backyard, and then someone served a few simple side dishes and some drinks.

There were five dishes in total, including sliced ​​salted duck eggs, sweet and sour spare ribs, steamed chicken, boiled prawns and crystal pork knuckle, plus kelp and duck soup, and several small plates filled with fried broad beans, peas, soybeans, pine nuts and other dried fruits. Zhang Luan took a look and thought, this is much more shabby than the food and wine I prepared before, why did you have to ask me to come over for dinner?

“Come and have a few bites, then we’ll say goodbye.”

Li Zisheng greeted.

Zhang Luan was extremely curious: “Does Minister Li have anything else to do tonight?”

Li Zisheng smiled and said, “You are the one who has something to do. I don’t want to disturb you.”

“Uh?”

Zhang Luan became more and more confused.

Li Zisheng said, “Haven’t you figured it out? Bingkun has already sent a carriage to pick you up. They’ll be here. When you leave tomorrow morning, just close the door. You don’t have to worry about the rest. Unlike last time, this time I won’t even give you three days. It’ll be tonight.”

“what?”

Zhang Luan’s expression became extremely strange, even a little ashamed.

Even if Li Zisheng didn’t explain it clearly, he basically understood what was going on.

Li Zisheng said: “It’s not that I don’t want to help you and buy more time. It’s because this censor is different from ordinary ministers. He has offended too many people in the court and attracted too much attention. As a result, this matter has still attracted the attention of the world…”

“This…I don’t quite understand.”

Zhang Luan was really confused this time.

Li Zisheng thought he knew everything, but in fact his head was full of question marks.

Even if I’m playing guessing games, you have to at least tell me the general direction, right?

Li Zisheng poured Zhang Luan a glass of wine and said with a smile, “Let’s talk about Zhang Shanji. Before, everyone thought he was an honest official. But after he was arrested and brought to justice, it was revealed that he was very close to Liang Fang, Deng Changen and others. Only then did people gradually know that he had used all means to get an official position over the years.”

“Uh…really?”

Zhang Luan seemed unconvinced.

Li Zisheng asked curiously, “Didn’t you handle this case yourself? Don’t you know about it?”

Zhang Luan shook his head: “I thought his crime was not serious and he would be given a light sentence!”

“hehe.”

Li Zisheng smiled until his eyes narrowed into slits. “Guess how he ended up falling? It was because he had frequent contacts with the eunuch Gao Ying, and was exposed… Gao Ying hanged himself because of this incident. Now Zhang Shanji couldn’t escape even if he wanted to.”

“Gao Ying? Who is that?”

Zhang Luan seemed very surprised.

I thought to myself, is this a case you supervised, or am I the one who specifically handled it?
Why don’t I know anything you said?
Li Zisheng smiled and said, “Gao Ying is not as prominent as Liang Fang and Wei Xing in the palace, but he is not a small figure either. During the time of the previous emperor, he presented many strange and erotic techniques to the emperor, all of which were appreciated by His Majesty. In particular, he likes to interact with Wan’an. Whenever he talks about the art of sex, it will resonate with Wan’an.

“It is said that because of this, Zhang Shanji formed a small circle with Wan An, Gao Ying and even Deng Changen.”

“What? Is this matter related to Wan’an?”

Zhang Luan was like an outsider, with only questions to talk about.

“Yes, that’s because Wan’an is the Prime Minister after all, and His Majesty has asked him to retire and return home, so the fire has not burned him for the time being… Speaking of which, who says that the minister who retired and returned home is definitely safe? Isn’t there Peng Hua in front of him? It all depends on the severity of the crime.”

Li Zisheng said meaningfully.

Zhang Luan was somewhat surprised: “Although Lord Wan has been doing nothing in his position over the past few years, but the Jinyiwei did not seem to find many bad deeds after a thorough investigation!”

“Tsk, this is just a superficial statement. Why do you think such a result was found? Because Jinyiwei commander Zhu Ji was also flirting with Wan An, Zhu Ji dared to investigate Wan An in depth? Isn’t he afraid that the investigation will affect himself?” Li Zisheng obviously knew a lot and casually revealed another inside story.

Zhang Luan took a deep breath and said in shock: “So, Zhu Ji is not a good guy after all?”

Li Zisheng said with a smile: “Laizhan, being a good official in the court is not determined by whether you are corrupt, take bribes, bully men and women, or form cliques for personal gain. Who would care about this as an emperor? Your greed for money and beauty will instead give you a weakness, making it easier for the emperor to take advantage of you.”

“Uh……”

Zhang Luan looked ashamed and thought, are you talking about me?
Li Zisheng said, “Just like the late emperor, do you think he didn’t know what Liang Fang did? Or did he not know that I was changing positions? In fact, all of this was tacitly approved or even instructed by the late emperor. It was not until he got tired of you that he used these reasons to round up all the people he disliked… Liang Fang was also neglected and exiled because he lied many times and offended the emperor.”

Zhang Luan was stunned for a long time before he said, “But… honest officials can always gain a good reputation…”

Li Zisheng shook his head and said, “Laizhan, who do you think is truly honest and upright among these ministers and officials in the court? Every year, they accept several thousand or several hundred taels of silver. Sometimes, they don’t just give him money. If someone gives him a valuable ancient painting, saying it’s for his collection, or offers some money for painting or writing, who can say anything?
“Even Xu Pu, who just entered the cabinet, do you think he is not greedy? Last winter, he asked someone to send me a jade horse, which is still in my storeroom.”

“What? Xu Pu also gave you a gift?”

Zhang Luan looked extremely shocked.

“It’s just a matter of reciprocity… This kind of private gift giving will never be recorded in any books. Those who write history books, if they say you are a loyal minister, you are a loyal minister. If they say you are virtuous, you are virtuous. But if you go against his wishes, he will say you are a great traitor and you won’t even have room to refute.”

Li Zisheng said, “Back to the question of Zhang Shanji, before he was imprisoned, how many people knew what he was like? Everyone thought he was an upright, poor and self-disciplined censor who existed to uphold justice… What happened? Isn’t he being condemned by everyone now?”

Zhang Luan said somewhat frustratedly: “Ah, no wonder he wanted to commit suicide in prison.”

“Yes, you think he committed suicide in prison because he was afraid of seeing you and was ashamed to see people? But in fact, he was afraid of being judged and people knowing about his bad deeds, so he wanted to die.”

Li Zisheng shook his head and said, “But he is thinking too much. It is not easy to live, and sometimes it is even harder to die. With such a good target standing there, how much firepower can it attract from the ministers? How can they give up so easily?”

Zhang Luan bowed and said, “Listening to your words is worth ten years of reading. Minister Li, thank you for your advice.”

“Hey, you’re being polite to me.”

Li Zisheng smiled and said, “Laizhan, I have to make it clear to you that Zhang Shanji has offended countless people because he has been a censor in the past few years. He once impeached the local lords for occupying the people’s land, and thus offended several lords.

“Those people couldn’t do anything to him at first, but now, everyone is pushing him down… Hehe, the women sent here tonight, no matter how old they are, will be given away as rewards to the lords of the various fiefdoms. This is why I said that we can only keep them until tomorrow morning at most.”

Zhang Luan stared in astonishment, “Can it be like this?” Li Zisheng said, “What’s the big deal? Last year, there were hundreds or even thousands of servants and maids granted by the court to officials and ministers in Beijing alone. You will have some too. But your situation is different from theirs. You’d better not give people a chance to talk about you. So, as the old saying goes, dew is best. Once this is done, when the sun rises tomorrow, it will be as if nothing had happened… not a single leaf will get on you!”

“Oh.”

Zhang Luan felt helpless.

Is this a disguised form of exploiting me?
“Laizhan, do you still remember that I told you why His Majesty asked you to inquire about the cases of Liang Fang and Peng Hua?” Li Zisheng started a new topic.

Zhang Luan thought for a moment and answered: “Is it to make people afraid of me?”

“Yes, it seems that you are quite politically sensitive!”

Li Zisheng nodded and said, “There are many people in the court who are wary of you, and there are even more people who don’t like you… Who said that our emperor is not scheming? He asked you to do it, and it seems that most of the time you are just going through the motions, and even play the role of a good person to pardon those people’s crimes, but in fact, isn’t it a warning to the ministers in the court that if you can deal with these people today, you can turn your guns against them later?”

Zhang Luan shook his head and said, “They haven’t done anything wrong, so what are you afraid of?”

Li Zisheng laughed, “That’s exactly what I said. If they don’t offend the emperor, they are all honest and upright officials. But once the emperor decides to investigate, the guards will go all out and find clues. Zhang Shanji is a good example…Bingkun is the same. How come he hasn’t come back after being gone for so long?”

“No rush, no rush.”

Zhang Luan said casually.

Li Zisheng laughed and pointed at Zhang Luan, saying, “We can only stay until tomorrow morning. Are you really not in a hurry? Come and see. I am not afraid of anything else, but I am afraid that your body cannot bear it. There are many beautiful women among Zhang Shanji’s concubines.

“Well, let’s drink less and eat more. I can’t find someone to remake your meal before sunrise tomorrow morning… Someone, come!”

As they were talking, a maid immediately came into the room.

“It’s freezing cold, bring a brazier.”

Li Zisheng ordered, “Oh, by the way, have the beddings in the room been fumigated with spices? Is the hot water ready? Prepare everything that needs to be prepared. When this master leaves tomorrow morning, no one is allowed to disturb him. If anyone dares to gossip about her… I will make sure she never has the chance to taste saltiness in her life… Go, go.”

“Yes.”

The maid turned pale and left.

Zhang Luan asked curiously, “Can’t taste the saltiness? How do you mean that?”

Li Zisheng rolled his eyes at him and said, “Why do you always ask about these trivial matters? These are words used to scare people, to cut off their tongues!
“Okay, eat a few more bites and conserve your energy so that you can release your endless energy tonight!”

……

……

When Pang Qing came back, it was already very late.

Li Zisheng immediately called the person over and gave him a good scolding.

“You are sincere, right? You were going to send him away tomorrow morning, but why are you taking so long?”

Li Zisheng said angrily.

Pang Qing looked aggrieved: “Because of a small matter, I was delayed… After all, it was already night, and there were few people from the yamen to the prison, and we had to go through the procedures. Now many yamen in the Ministry of Justice have changed their personnel, so it’s very troublesome.”

“Too.”

Li Zisheng looked at Zhang Luan helplessly, smiled bitterly and said, “Laizhan, as the lower-level officials in the court are replaced by new ones, my influence will become smaller and smaller. You will have to build up your power in the future.”

“Not in a hurry.”

Zhang Luan responded casually.

Li Zisheng shook his head and said, “Alas, you have such a lukewarm personality. You can be an official, but not a powerful official. I have to go to court tomorrow morning. I’m leaving first.”

Zhang Luan’s eyes widened as he asked, “You have to go to court, so why don’t I have to?”

Li Zisheng rolled his eyes at him, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: “Laizhan, when did you go to court recently? You had to go early tomorrow morning, you’re really torturing yourself, right?”

“This one……”

Zhang Luan felt a little embarrassed.

“Is there a roster?”

Li Zisheng asked.

Pang Qing then took a list and whispered something in Li Zisheng’s ear.

Li Zisheng smiled, looked at Zhang Luan and said, “Laizhan, how is your fortune lately?”

“what?”

Zhang Luan looked puzzled.

Li Zisheng then handed the list to Zhang Luan. After reading it, Zhang Luan was still a little confused.

Li Zisheng said: “It’s nothing but a piece of skin, it doesn’t matter…Okay, I’ll leave this to you. Bingkun and I will go first. Remember, don’t reveal your identity!”

Zhang Luan asked: “Then tomorrow morning…”

“A carriage will come to pick us up no later than noon,” Li Zisheng said, “Don’t ask others to do it, Bingkun. You will still be in charge of this matter tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

Pang Qing quickly bowed and accepted the order.

(End of this chapter)