Linxia

Chapter 196, Complete Victory

Leave from Xixiang Hutong.

Zhang Yide was supported by servants. He was injured and grimaced. Passersby pointed and talked about him.

This made his bad mood even worse.

"Master, let's find a pharmacy to treat your injuries first."

"No, go back! Go back immediately!" Zhang Yide gritted his teeth.

Faced with Fang Lin's humiliation, he only wanted revenge at this moment and couldn't wait a moment. Compared with this, the pain in his body could be endured.

Behind this, there is actually more fear. Just like the harsh words he said before, he has no confidence in his heart. Therefore, now that peace talks have failed and relations have fallen out, he must let his family know as soon as possible... Otherwise, the Zhang family will be in danger!

However, it may not be smooth sailing. As Huai'an is Fang Lin's home ground, it is still possible to create some trouble for Zhang Yide, delay his departure, and let the Zhang family know the news later.

……

Zhang Yide was blocked and anxiously waiting to return. During this time, Fang Lin had already taken action.

On that day, Fang Lin went to see Prefect Pu and Master Ou for a discussion. Then a letter was sent to Yingtian and passed on to Han Yuanjing; two letters were sent to the capital through official channels and delivered to Emperor Hongtai and Dong Zugao respectively.

……

Yingtian.

Last year, there were floods in the Jianghuai area, and many wealthy families encroached on farmland. Han Yuanjing was investigating the "strange fields" in Yingtian, and now it has come to the final stage, and he is ready to close the net.

It was at this time that he received a letter from Master Ou: "The Zhang family... is going too far!"

Heaven, Earth, the Emperor, Parents, and Teachers, Master Ou also took good care of him when he was young. It can be said that without Master Ou, he would not be what he is today. Needless to say, he has feelings for Master Ou. This time, Master Ou wrote to him, saying that Fang Lin was bullied and the Zhang family wanted to kill him. He also knew that Fang Lin had saved his life in the past. In this case, how could he remain indifferent and stand by?
"It just so happens that the Zhang family is not clean either. This time, I will use the Zhang family to open a gap." Han Yuanjing was ready to kill two birds with one stone and handle both official and personal matters at the same time.

——It is true that he is impartial and just, but he is not stubborn and inflexible. Otherwise he would not have reached his current position.

Afterwards, Han Yuanjing wrote a memorial to the court, presenting the evidence of the Zhang family's plundering and converting civilian land into unauthorized land, as well as Zhang Shiyan's testimony of providing shelter.

As for Zhang Yide's elder brother Zhang Yihao, Zhang's father, for the sake of his eldest son's future, intended for him to keep himself clean and not get involved in all these messes. He has a good reputation. Han Yuanjing has a bottom line and will not frame him.

……

Capital.

When Dong Zugao received Fang Lin's letter, he felt that it was not safe to just respond, so he went to find his mentor, the Minister of Personnel Tao Chengbi.

The next day, Han Yuanjing impeached the Zhang family for the illegal field incident. Dong Zugao followed suit and wrote a letter requesting severe punishment. The Zhang family’s political enemies also followed suit, and it ended with Zhang Shiyan being dismissed from office.

However, because the crime was not too serious, Zhang Shiyan basically took it upon himself. Although there was collective punishment in this era, Zhang Yide's elder brother Zhang Yihao was not implicated. At most, it would affect his future career, but would not cause him to lose his job.

Dong Zugao knew very well that if he failed to kill the snake, he would suffer from it instead. He was just about to do something else, but a few days later, he received the news that Zhang Yihao had retired.

Zhang Yihao is only in his twenties, which is the prime age for him. But now he is "retiring". It's such a joke!

Dong Zugao thought that this could only be the work of his teacher Tao Chengbi, so he paid him a visit to express his gratitude and asked how he did it.

"It's very simple. I have added this person to the retirement list." Tao Chengbi stroked his beard and smiled.

“So that’s how it is.” Dong Zugao thought of a cabinet minister who had used this trick before. He added the name of a political enemy to the execution list, but put it at the end, taking advantage of the emperor’s habit of not reading the imperial edict carefully, and eventually getting rid of the political enemy.

Tao Chengbi knew Dong Zugao was wrong, and pointed at him and said with a smile: "How could I fool Your Majesty for a small censor and leave such a big hidden danger? I put this person at the front, Your Majesty can easily see it..."

The subtext is that this was His Majesty's own intention, and I just handed over a raft.

In fact, it is.

Emperor Hongtai was displeased with Zhang Yihao because of what happened at the court meeting that day. Fang Lin wrote another letter, telling about his experience with Zhang Yide. His firm stance made Emperor Hongtai have a good impression of him... With this alternating feeling of dislike and joy, someone happened to offer an opportunity, and Emperor Hongtai took advantage of it.

"In fact, His Majesty has already made note of this person. Even if this incident had not happened, Zhang Yihao would not have lived long. This also shows how much favor Your Majesty has bestowed on your brother."

Tao Chengbi sighed, "Of course, the other side was ruthless and wanted to kill people, and you were just fighting back... The ministers did not stop this matter for the sake of your Majesty, this old man, and you."

……

in the palace.

Emperor Hongtai is writing a letter to Fang Lin.

He admired the other party's firm stance, irreconcilable with the Zhang family, and unwilling to give in. This time, they jointly targeted the Zhang family, and the experience of being in the "same trench" made him feel special.

Of course, even so, it was still not enough for Emperor Hongtai to "condescend" and take the initiative to write a letter to Fang Lin.

A bigger reason is that Emperor Hongtai has run out of books to read. He has read the first part of "Journey to the West" and now he has finished reading "The Romance of the Gods". He is running out of books!
Having said that, Emperor Hongtai himself practiced Taoism, and he found this kind of novel about gods and demons with Taoist thoughts very much to his liking and he liked it very much.

How much do you like it?

Emperor Hongtai has been dreaming about the plot in the book recently. On impulse, he even wanted to create a new pseudonym and write a preface for "The Investiture of the Gods", but he gave up after thinking it over.

——If he is exposed, he will just be scolded by the ministers and treat it as a fly buzzing in his ear. But Fang Lin cannot do that. If he goes back on his word like this, the ministers will not be able to target him as the emperor, and will definitely target Fang Lin, impeaching him for seducing the emperor and calling for his death.

"Chen Daban also found other people's novels about gods and demons for me, but they were boring to read."

Emperor Hongtai sighed and continued writing. He felt that writing letters was quite difficult. Because of his reservedness as an emperor, he couldn't express his likes and ideas directly. He had to hide many things. He hoped Fang Lin could understand. The gist of this letter was: I have finished reading "The Investiture of the Gods". It is quite good, especially some of the Taoist concepts in it. As a master of alchemy, I also have some experience in this. We can exchange some ideas in the future. I will also reward you with some of the golden pills I made. After eating them, you will be in high spirits and can do better in creation.

——In the early years of Hongtai, Emperor Hongtai's main job was the emperor, and he worked part-time as an alchemist; now, he is the main alchemist and part-time emperor. Emperor Hongtai has always been very proud of his alchemy skills. He regards the golden elixir he refines as his lifeblood and rarely gives it to others. This time, he was able to give it to Fang Lin, which shows how much favor Fang Lin has from the emperor. However, facing Emperor Hongtai's invitation to take drugs, Fang Lin may not dare to accept it.

Then it was: I have also resolved the Zhang family's issue. Please do not stop updating because of this little thing. It is not worth wasting your time on it. I have never seen your talent in popular novels before. You should focus on creating popular novels while you are still young, write more and update more, give back to readers, make more money, and leave your name in history...

——Speaking of which, Emperor Hongtai is worthy of being an emperor. It is his instinct to make promises and pump up enthusiasm!
Finally, after you finish writing the second part of "Journey to the West" and "Investiture of the Gods", please send it to me as soon as possible. I can check for omissions and correct you a few things to avoid this incident from happening again.

——Yes, Emperor Hongtai gave up the idea of ​​writing a preface to The Investiture of the Gods under a pseudonym, but now he wants to polish The Investiture of the Gods. Of course, he knows his own limitations and won't make any changes. He just supplements some Taoist concepts in the book to make it more comprehensive. Also, Emperor Hongtai thinks Fang Lin's opening poem in the first part of The Investiture of the Gods is really rubbish, so he decided to give Fang Lin some pointers to satisfy his desire to write.

However, Emperor Hongtai was worried that if he directly said "your setting poem is shit", it would irritate Fang Lin, making him hesitant to write again and affecting the quality of his work. That's why he used the excuse of "checking for omissions and correcting a few things to prevent this incident from happening again."

By the way, Emperor Hongtai also had good intentions. As an emperor, when did he ever consider other people's feelings, speak tactfully, or beat around the bush? It was Fang Lin. The concubines in the harem had never made him so attentive!
……

Zhang family.

The time was slightly advanced. After much hardship, Zhang Yide finally returned to Yingtian and brought back the news. The Zhang family contacted their connections and took emergency action to find something to hold against Fang Lin, but they were stuck at the first step.

Fang Lin's position as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was a nominal one. As he was not in the officialdom, many officialdom flaws did not exist and there was nothing to impeach him for. At the same time, as he was not in the officialdom, he had fewer enemies and no fundamental conflicts of interest. In addition, with the emperor's great favor, no one would want to take action and put Fang Lin to death.

Originally, for people like this who are not in the officialdom, the best method would be to find some minor officials, frame them with charges, and attack them with trumped-up charges. However, Fang Lin has a good network of contacts, Huai'an is Fang Lin's base camp, and Emperor Hongtai is watching him, so this trick cannot be used. Therefore, the Zhang family faced Fang Lin like a hedgehog covered with thorns, and they had no idea where to start.

The Zhang family was stuck, but Fang Lin didn't hold back and took action on his side. Han Yuanjing's impeachment kicked off the campaign against the Zhang family. After Dong Zugao, the political enemies of the Zhang family also began to fight. Unexpectedly, the people from the Fan family in the court in Huai'an also took action. In the end, Zhang Shiyan, the Minister of Rites of Yingtian, was dismissed from office; then, Tao Chengbi, Dong Zugao's teacher and the Minister of Personnel, made a series of moves, and Emperor Hongtai cooperated tacitly to force Zhang Yihao to retire.

Under Fang Lin's thundering and decisive action, Emperor Hong Tai was also worried that it would affect Fang Lin's writing, causing him to see the time for the second part of "Journey to the West" and "Investiture of the Gods" postponed, so he paid attention to this matter, and the process passed very quickly.

The capital is some distance away from Yingtian, but the results have already been received today.

When Zhang Shiyan was dismissed from office, the Zhang family suffered heavy losses and lost the present; when Zhang Yihao was forced to retire, the Zhang family lost the future.

The sky has fallen on the Zhang family!

As the saying goes, "When a person leaves, the tea gets cold." What's more, the Zhang family, which was attacked by foreign enemies and declined... no, "fell"? The interests that they originally occupied were coveted by a group of wolves and tigers, and they began to spit them out one after another.

Even the clan members who originally depended on Zhang Shiyan's lineage began to retaliate. In the past, we were in glory and could benefit from you and get advantages, so naturally everything was fine. But now you have fallen to the ground and are worse than a chicken, and you still want us to obey you. How is that possible?

The reality is that because of interests, people within these families may be more ruthless than outsiders when they start fighting.

To make matters worse, at this time, Zhang Yide got into trouble.

In the past, before popular novels became popular, Zhang Yide had no talent for the imperial examinations. He was playful and lustful, and he often competed with others for favors. It was also common for him to bully some young masters whose backgrounds were not as good as his own. Once, he even beat someone so badly that he almost died. He also used some means to force himself to take several concubines...

It was when the popular novel boom came that Zhang Yide shifted his focus to writing novels and became more restrained.

In the past, the Zhang family was powerful and these were not a problem, but now, they have faced a backlash.

Zhang Yide was thrown into prison and died of illness in prison not long after.

……

This day.

Fang Lin received letters from the capital and Yingtian, and saw that Zhang Shiyan was dismissed from office, Zhang Yihao retired, and Zhang Yide was arrested.

"The big thing is settled!"

These days, he has been paying attention to the news of the Zhang family, and now he finally relaxes a little.

After reading the letters from Dong Zugao and Yingtian, he looked at the letter from Emperor Hongtai, a thick letter, which he had to open after bathing and changing clothes to show solemnity according to the etiquette of that era.

"Your Majesty gave me the golden elixir, invited me to take drugs, and write diligently? And also gave me empty promises and encouraged me to do so?"

Fang Lin didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You are an emperor, and you would do anything to read books, right?"

"Finally, the revised Taoist concepts and setting poems in the first part of Investiture of the Gods are quite good, which makes the quality of the work even better."

He nodded slightly: "Although Emperor Hongtai's changes are bad, I have to say it's good against my conscience, but it would be best if it could be improved."

"Speaking of which, having the emperor work for me for free is something that is unique in the world."

However, even so, Fang Lin was determined not to update the manuscript so quickly in the future, so as not to let Emperor Hong Tai easily get his...book.

First, there are not many books left, and not many books to write. It would be bad if he ran out of ideas early. Second, the relationship between people requires a tug of war. If Emperor Hongtai can PUA him, can't he keep trying to please Emperor Hongtai?
Fang Lin plans to use some small tricks and means to gradually become the "little goblin" that Emperor Hongtai cannot do without, and he will be unable to stop and will not give up easily.

……

As the Zhang family was defeated, some of the news spread, causing a huge disturbance in Huai'an City.

People knew that the book "Journey to the West" had a preface written by Emperor Hongtai himself, which pushed the craze for Journey to the West to its peak.

Fang Lin's victory over the Zhang family also meant the victory of the 'Huai'an Popular Fiction Guild' over the 'Yingtian Popular Fiction Guild', making Huai'an a veritable popular fiction center in the south. The huge interests behind it made Fang Lin gain unprecedented prestige in the guild.

Recently, booksellers in the city have come to visit him with gifts, and they all flatter him in different ways, with words like "wiser than Zhuge Liang, more resourceful than Jia Xu", "planning in the tent, winning battles thousands of miles away", which made him tired of hearing them.

The big families in the city were most concerned about Fang Lin's defeat of the Zhang family. This powerful deterrent made them extremely fearful.

……

(End of this chapter)