The banquet was extremely joyful. At the banquet, the princes ruthlessly laughed at the faces of the officials in the outer court that day, mocking Zhong Zhong for looking like a mangy dog lying on the snow. At the same time, they also praised Zhang Yanling's ability.
It was like celebrating a huge victory. Indeed, this was a victory. The nobles could start a new round of asking for land rewards from the emperor, and the civil servants in the outer court could no longer quibble.
blocked.
Perhaps, some things are not what Zhang Yanling wants. For example, nobles will be able to seize land and merge acres more easily from now on, and everything will become crazier. This will put many people into a bad situation. For the Ming Dynasty,
It is not a good thing. However, if you want to get something, you must pay a price, and this may be a kind of price. Besides, Zhang Yanling will not put some moral shackles on himself. Even if there is no such thing as annexing land,
With this incident at hand, will the nobles give up their crazy pursuit of benefits? Of course not. Even if there is no such incident, these vampires will try their best to grab the benefits wherever they are. I just did something that made them feel more confident.
It's just a matter of peace of mind.
Everything about this banquet was perfect. For Zhang Yanling, the one fly in the ointment was that he did not see Xu Wanyi's reaction when he found out about it. He did not have much affection for the little princess of the Xu family who was about to become his wife.
Even with disgust. She despised herself so much and felt that she was worthless. After this incident, I wonder what Xu Wanyi would think. Zhang Yanling wanted to know her reaction.
However, Zhang Yanling soon felt that she was a little naive. Since it was just a transaction without emotion, why should he care about her reaction? Her reaction was not important to him, because she was no longer in his eyes.
As for Ru Qing, he would be happy to show off in front of her and let Ru Qing praise him with a smile. However, where is Ru Qing?
Thinking of Tan Ruqing, Zhang Yanling's originally high mood suddenly became dull.
…
The day after the banquet at Duke Dingguo's mansion, Zhang Yanling finally waited for the emperor's summons. This time it was not a family gathering along the lines of Queen Zhang, but a serious summons.
In the past, when the Zhang brothers entered the palace, they either met Empress Zhang, or Empress Zhang sent eunuch Zhang Zhong from Kunning Palace to invite them. But this time, it was the eunuch from Qianqing Palace who came to invite Zhang Yanling into the palace. The meeting place was also in Qianqing.
The Qing Palace, not the Kunning Palace. Perhaps a casual person would not understand the difference, but Zhang Yanling understood the difference.
That meant one thing. In the eyes of the emperor, this time he was summoned not as Queen Zhang's brother or brother-in-law, but as a marquis, a distinguished relative who had made meritorious service in relief work.
Zhang Yanling knew that in the emperor's mind, her image and status had actually changed.
If before, the emperor's attitude towards Zhang Yanling was still based on Empress Zhang's face, then from now on, the emperor will treat Zhang Yanling as a relative who can share his worries and can make him satisfied.
.
To put it bluntly, it is a true respect.
Zhang Yanling knew the significance of this interview, and of course he attached great importance to it. And he wanted to achieve some goals in this interview, which was by no means a reward for land interests, but a real official position. He needed to take this step,
Relief efforts are the stepping stone to this step.
In the imperial study room of Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youtang sat behind the desk and watched Zhang Yanling come quickly. Zhang Yanling bowed respectfully, but this time Zhu Youtang did not let him be free like a family like before. He stood up, but sat upright and allowed him to salute.
"Give me a seat!" After the ceremony, Zhu Youtang said in a deep voice with a smile on his face.
The young eunuch brought a chair over, Zhang Yanling thanked him and sat down.
"Marquis Jianchang, do you know why I called you here?" Zhu Youtang asked with a smile.
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "Of course I am not discussing military and state affairs with you. I guess the emperor is here to reward me for the relief work."
Zhu Youtang laughed and said: "You are very direct, for fear that I will not reward you. Are you waiting for me to call you into the palace every day these days and wait for the reward?"
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "That's not true. I have had a good rest at home these past few days. I don't dare to think about awards. I am sharing the emperor's worries and doing my duty. How dare you ask for any reward? Besides, the emperor has already shown great favor to my brothers from the Zhang family, and I am very satisfied that I have enough food and clothing."
"Oh?" Zhu Youtang said in surprise: "You mean, you don't need anything? Are you telling the truth? You spent a lot of money and food on relief. I heard that you spent a lot of money and you don't have food at home. We spent thousands of stones to help the people, but we almost lost everything. Isn’t that right?”
Zhang Yanling smiled and waved his hands and said: "What happened? I did spend a lot of money and food, but it won't lead to bankruptcy. It's just that I can no longer spend money lavishly. Your Majesty, don't listen to other people's nonsense. I can live a good life." Go down."
Zhu Youtang nodded and said: "I have ordered the Ministry of Accounts to make up for the money and food you spent. You can't ask for your own money for the relief expenses. Besides, you will get married next spring, and you will have to spend a lot of money. .It can’t be too shabby.”
Zhang Yanling bowed and said, "Thank you for your consideration, Your Majesty. I would be disrespectful to you."
Zhu Youtang said: "Besides that, if you want anything else, just tell me. I am a person who distinguishes rewards and punishments. This time has nothing to do with your identity. It is entirely because of your merits in providing relief. I want to reward you. I like it. If you get that piece of land, tell me and I will give it to you."
Zhu Youtang spoke directly. In fact, he didn't need to beat around the bush with his two brothers-in-law. They had been very direct when asking for land before. This time, Zhu Youtang was ready for Zhang Yanling to open his mouth. Zhang Yanling said that he didn't want rewards. , he didn’t take it seriously.
"Your Majesty, I really don't want a reward. I said that relieving the victims is my spontaneous act. It is an act from the heart to share the emperor's worries. It is not for the sake of reward. If I want a reward, I can just speak to the emperor directly. , why do you need to ask the emperor for help through relief for the people? That is not my original intention." Zhang Yanling said solemnly.
Zhu Youtang looked at Zhang Yanling, who looked sincere and not polite. Zhu Youtang felt that he had underestimated Zhang Yanling again. Maybe Zhang Yanling had really changed and was no longer the same Zhang Yanling.
"You really don't want a reward? I'm not kidding you. You should be rewarded for your merit. This is what you deserve, and others won't say anything about you. You don't have to worry about others saying that you took credit." Zhu Youtang said in a deep voice.
Zhang Yanling thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, I am serious. My original intention is to relieve the Emperor's worries and help the people. Getting rewards is not my original intention."
Zhu Youtang nodded and smiled: "I am naturally very pleased that you can think so. I also respect your thoughts, otherwise it would be like I would be insulting your original intention by giving you a reward. However, if I don't reward you with anything,
, are people saying that I don’t know the rewards and punishments? I dismissed Zhong Zhong from his post because he failed to provide relief. That is punishment. You have done a great job in providing relief, so don’t I have nothing to express? Those who follow you in providing relief, shouldn’t I also do the same?
No one can be rewarded? Don’t they dare to accept the reward? The foreign minister Xu Gao of the Ministry of Industry you mentioned, I also plan to reward him and promote him, so can’t I do the same? "