Chapter 577: Righteousness

Supervisor of Ceremonies.

When most people had left, Qin Chang deliberately sent Xiao Jing, who was sorting documents there, away to give him and Huai En a chance to be alone.

Huai En had long noticed that Qin Chang’s attitude today was unusual, but he did not expose it. After everyone had left, he saw Qin Chang coming over and asked, “Is there anything wrong?”

Qin Chang took out a letter-like thing from his arms. It was wrinkled and obviously had been handled by countless people. He handed it to Huai En carefully: “Take a look.”

Huai En was a shrewd man, so he would not just look at a letter of unknown origin. He did not even reach out to take it, but asked directly, “What is this?”

“It is a letter Liang Fang wrote to Li Zisheng, discussing with him the plan to change the reserve, asking Li Zisheng to help secretly, and proposing many plans. It can be said to be very detailed.”

Qin Chang said cautiously, “This is also evidence that the East Factory discovered recently.”

Huai En shook his head and said, “Did you discover it recently, or did you discover it a long time ago but just kept it under wraps and refused to bring it out?”

After saying that, he symbolically took the letter but did not open it immediately. As soon as he let go of it, the letter fell on the table, but he did not reach out to take it.

Qin Chang was stunned for a moment, then explained: “You also know that Li Zisheng has always regarded himself as a great contributor to supporting the new emperor to ascend the throne, which is the only way to maintain his current identity and status… But the problem is that although there is evidence of guilt now, this letter was only written unilaterally by Liang Fang to Li Zisheng, and Li Zisheng did not reply to the letter, and later Li Zisheng did not act according to the agreement in the letter.

“If you don’t take a look at it yourself, how can you know whether it is necessary to report it to His Majesty?”

Huai En grasped the crux of the matter as soon as he heard it, and said with a smile: “No matter whether Li Zisheng finally follows the contents of the letter, as long as this letter is handed over to His Majesty and His Majesty knows about this, then His Majesty’s trust in Li Zisheng will be gone.”

“This……”

Qin Chang did not answer this question directly.

Huai En said: “The past grievances between Liang Fang and Li Zisheng are known to everyone in the court… Liang Fang’s downfall was the result of the joint efforts of Zhang Guozhang and Li Zisheng… Therefore, it is indeed a bit far-fetched to say that Liang and Li conspired to promote the change of crown prince.”

At this point, Huai En could only pick up the letter from the desk and open it to take a closer look.

Obviously, Huai En also “knows the rules”.

Qin Chang took out the letter and told him the general content, but he deliberately did not read it, which was equivalent to not intending to report it to the emperor through him… But when Qin Chang reported the matter himself, when the emperor asked for his opinion, he acted confused and ignorant, and the emperor would feel alienated.

Huai En knew very well that he was being forced by Qin Chang to read the letter.

After reading every word, Huai En sighed and said, “Liang Fang only said that Li Zisheng should build momentum in the court and cheer for Prince Xing, but he did not mention any alliance between him and Li Zisheng… It is too far-fetched to sue Li Zisheng with this letter or to investigate him directly.”

Qin Chang was unwilling to give in and asked, “Does that mean we won’t report it?”

“Eh? What do you think? If I say I won’t report it, will you really not report it?”

Huai En frowned when he heard this.

Obviously, Huai En had some doubts about Qin Chang since the last time Qin Chang helped him find Zhang Luan to treat his illness. However, the original intention of this matter was, after all, Qin Chang’s apparent good intentions, so he was embarrassed to turn his face against him directly.

But this time it was different.

Qin Chang obviously intended to use Huai’en to deal with Li Zisheng.

Qin Chang said respectfully: “I will obey you in everything…”

Huai En smiled and shook his head: “Tell me, are you targeting Li Zisheng, or the person standing behind Li Zisheng? From what I know about you, even if Li Zisheng is bad to the core, you can’t have such a strong ambition… This is totally unlike your usual style.”

“This……”

Qin Chang looked very embarrassed, shook his head and sighed, “Eunuch Huai, do you have to say it clearly?”

Huai En smiled faintly and asked, “Why did you come to me if you didn’t tell me clearly?”

Qin Chang gritted his teeth, as if he had made a great decision, and said with his neck stiff, “Then I’ll make it clear… Don’t we need to consider the situation of the court after you leave?”

“Please tell me more about this.”

Huai En looked cautious and did not express his opinion immediately.

“You are still alive now. The reputation of a man is like the shadow of a tree. Zhang Guozhang can only keep a low profile and pretend that he never competes with others and keeps to his duty. But if you are gone…”

“Don’t say you’re gone, just say I’m dead!”

Huai En raised his hand.

“Yes, yes, if you are buried in peace, and Zhang Guozhang enters the cabinet and becomes the prime minister, or even the chief minister, who can compete with him with the few people in the Imperial Household Department now?
“Now, His Majesty will consult you and him first when he has something to do. After you leave, whose opinion will His Majesty listen to first when he encounters something?”

Qin Chang looked aggrieved.

“Understandable!”

Huai En nodded slightly, and then asked: “So, you want to use the connection between Liang Fang and Li Zisheng to cause trouble, so that Zhang Guozhang will not be able to gain a foothold in the court?”

Qin Chang quickly explained: “What do you mean he can’t gain a foothold? After all, that gentleman is the father of the Queen, and he is also the real relative of the Ming Dynasty and the future top minister. We can narrow his path, but we can’t make him completely independent! He will still have to be in the court in the future. The only difference is that he has changed from a civil official to a military general, that’s all.”

Huai En looked calm and continued, “Even if this Zhang Guozhang is only a relative in the future, as long as His Majesty calls him into the palace from time to time to ask for his opinion and directly skips the court meeting, even if you can lead the Silijian, can you stop it?”

“This……”

Qin Chang hesitated for a moment and said, “It seems that you, Eunuch Huai, have also considered this matter in detail. I think that even if this is true, it is better than letting him directly become the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty and let him legitimately control every aspect of the court… If he only gives advice to Your Majesty in private and exists as an aide, it is not certain that he can have much impact on the overall situation of the court.”

Wynn nodded and asked meaningfully, “It seems that you are quite honest in doing things, but you are targeting people, not things, right?”

“Yeah… eh?”

Qin Changgang thought Huai En was praising him, but when he thought about it carefully, how could this be a compliment?

It’s clearly a mockery of him!
Is it the person, not the matter?
Doesn’t that just mean that no matter whether what Zhang Luan did was good or bad, he must deny everything he did just because of his status as a relative by marriage?
Huai En asked with a smile: “Then tell me, regarding this letter and Li Zisheng, what are you going to do next?”

Qin Chang collected his thoughts and replied, “We still have to report it to His Majesty, let him know about Li Zisheng’s double-faced face, and then tell him the truth about his previous corruption and abuse of power, so that His Majesty can make the decision. I think this is also what I should do as the governor of the East Factory, right?”

“That’s right. You are the commander of the East Factory. If you encounter an official in the court doing something that violates the principles and laws, you cannot conceal it just because of his status. You should let His Majesty know no matter what.”

Huai En paused here, and then asked again curiously, “Then how are you going to spread this fire to Zhang Guozhang?”

Tan Chang said confidently, “As long as Li Zisheng gets into trouble, Zhang Guozhang will definitely not sit idly by, given his good relationship with him. He will definitely go around for Li Zisheng.” Huai En frowned and asked, “Is that all?”

Tan Chang said, “There is also Zhang Yanling, the son of Zhang Luan, who used the palace maids to weave cloth, disrupting the cloth market in the capital, bullying and dominating the market, and even causing the royal family to compete with the people for profits, bringing shame to the royal family. He can be impeached as well.”

“Oh, you’re not even going to let the young master of the Zhang family go? It seems like you’re well prepared.”

Wynn said meaningfully.

“wrong.”

Qin Chang shook his head and said, “This matter was initiated by Liu Ji from the cabinet, not by me.”

“Liu Ji? What was he thinking? He actually took the initiative to get involved in the affairs of the inner palace?”

Wynn asked.

“In fact… his idea coincides with mine. Neither of us wants Zhang Luan to join the cabinet. We don’t want to watch Zhang Luan disrupt the government as a relative of the emperor!

“Zhang Luan only looks honest on the surface. Considering that the person he associates with is a Taoist priest who is widely recognized as treacherous like Li Zisheng, we can be sure that he has no bottom line in doing things. In the future, what he does may be even worse than Li Zisheng.

“When Duke Zhou was afraid of rumors, Wang Mang was humble and courteous… It’s just that he has not yet come to power, so he deliberately shows a humble attitude!”

Qin Chang continued to defend his actions, “All I did was not out of selfishness, but for the future of the Ming Dynasty… Eunuch Huai, I used to hope that you would be able to completely suppress him, but now… Alas! Just thinking about it makes me sad.”

Huai En laughed: “Do you think that when I was not in the court, you and Wei Tai couldn’t defeat Zhang Guozhang together, so if I died, you think you can’t win, so you will take the initiative to pull him down?”

“This……”

After hearing this, Qin Chang felt that Huai En was exposing his shortcomings and was embarrassed to respond.

“All right!”

Huai En shook his head and said, “Just pretend I don’t know about this matter. You can do whatever you want. As for whether to report it to His Majesty, it’s all up to you…

“Of course, it’s time to check how much Li Zisheng was involved in pushing for the change of reserve, or… at least he knew about it but didn’t report it! I think Zhang Guozhang, who is knowledgeable, has no reason to side with someone who… once intended to harm his daughter and son-in-law, right?”

“Yes Yes.”

Qin Chang understood the key points of Huai En’s words, and showed an expression of confidence, and said with a smile: “As the saying goes, hit the snake at its weakest point. Since Zhang Guozhang’s weakness is Li Zisheng, we will only attack Li Zisheng for the time being, and don’t rush to involve Zhang Guozhang for the time being…

“After successfully removing the thorn in Li Zisheng’s side and clipping Zhang Guozhang’s wings, we will proceed to the next step. Don’t worry, I can still grasp this measure accurately and will not disappoint you!”

……

……

Zhang Luan continued to stay at home pretending to be sick.

It was just a slight cold, but Zhang Luan insisted on saying that his illness was very serious. In fact, it was just an excuse for not going to court or the Ministry of Revenue or the Hanlin Academy. Then he stayed at home and did not go out. For two days, he stayed in the villa leisurely, watching dances and listening to music, and did not go anywhere.

Occasionally, he would take out the storybooks and plays written by his son to have a look for some fun.

That afternoon, Pang Qing suddenly came to visit.

“Mr. Pang, what good place is Li Shangshu going to? Have you arranged it for me?” Zhang Luan said with anticipation and excitement, “Speaking of which, in order to prepare for this sudden good thing, I have been staying at home for the past two days, resting my energy… keeping a low profile!”

“I’m not here for this…”

Pang Qing explained first, then said impatiently with a sad face: “Mr. Zhang, something terrible has happened. The Taoist has been imprisoned… You must lend a helping hand no matter what!”

“What!?”

Zhang Luan was shocked. He stood up suddenly and asked anxiously, “When did it happen? Why was Minister Li arrested? What happened? Tell me quickly!”

Pang Qing was like an ant on a hot pot, and said hurriedly: “I don’t know the specific situation, and now I don’t even have a place to ask…

“It was the Jinyiwei Commander Zhu Ji who personally went to the Yintaisi Yamen to arrest the person. He didn’t put the shackles on him, but just asked the Taoist to go back and question him… He had just left for about half an hour…

“I also heard the news when I was working outside the city. I was so frightened at the time that I quickly asked people about the situation but got no clue. So I had no choice but to ask you for help?”

“Alas, I have been ill at home these past two days, and I really don’t know anything about what is going on outside… How about this, you wait a moment, I will call my youngest son back to discuss it with you.”

Zhang Luan is not stupid at all.

Li Zisheng was actually thrown directly into the imperial prison. This must be a serious matter.

If he didn’t consult his youngest son now and rashly went to inquire about the news or even got involved, he would be easily taken advantage of.

“Ah, yes, yes, yes, we must ask the Second Young Master to come out and help us to think about this carefully!”

Even Pang Qing seemed to think that Zhang Luan’s current handling strategy was quite reliable.

At least something is actually being figured out.

Asking Zhang Yanling for advice seems to be the best way to deal with the situation at the moment.

Then Zhang Luan went out and gave an order, asking Chang Shun to go find his youngest son Zhang Yanling immediately.

“Mr. Pang, were there any clues before this happened?” Zhang Luan asked, “I mean, was there really no news at all beforehand?”

“Indeed, no… The Taoist was taken away directly at the gate of the government office. Many people saw it with their own eyes.” Pang Qing smiled bitterly, “The Taoist has been very diligent in his work recently, and has not delayed any of the court affairs.”

Zhang Luan hesitated and said, “Could it be related to the Cabinet Prime Minister Liu Ji? Minister Li analyzed it before and said that it might be Liu Ji who was secretly plotting against me. I didn’t expect that guy was also plotting against Minister Li at the same time?”

“Liu Ji?”

Pang Qing seemed very surprised.

Zhang Luan remembered something and slapped his thigh. He said, “Oh, by the way, there is also the Minister of Justice Du Ming. These people have ulterior motives and may be in the same group…”

(End of this chapter)