Chapter 298: A Long Conversation Between Teacher and Father-in-Law, Family Troubles

“If it weren’t for your last remark, which pleased the Emperor’s temper and also allowed Minister Xia to gain some insight into your thoughts, given that old minister’s personality, he would likely have immediately classified you among the sycophants!”
Although his status had changed from teacher to father-in-law, Du Zhen and Zhang Yue still spoke in their usual tone. Seeing Zhang Yue fill his teacup, he gladly raised it and took a sip before continuing, “Emperor Taizu imposed a ban on sea travel because at that time the country was just being stabilized, with pirates along the coast frequently causing trouble. Our Great Ming was still in the process of rebuilding, and moreover, remnants of Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen were sailing abroad. The attitudes of Western countries were also uncertain, so that’s why the ban was imposed. Now, the situation has changed. No foreign country can rival Great Ming, nor do they have a fleet as powerful as ours. The current situation is indeed different from before.”
Since the previous emperor had clearly instructed him to read The Analects and take notes, to be submitted for review, Zhang Yue didn’t want to show Du Zhen the drafts in advance, lest the capricious Zhu Di threaten them by claiming they were colluding. So, hearing Du Zhen say that the situation really had changed, he felt quite excited.
“Teacher… does your father-in-law mean the Emperor might actually lift the ban?”
Du Zhen was also unaccustomed to being called “father-in-law” by Zhang Yue. Hearing this change, he almost coughed. He quickly shook his head and said, “There’s no way it’ll happen so soon! In fact, if we’re talking about lifting the ban, sending expeditions to the West already counts as doing so. But to truly change the ancestral laws would surely spark countless discussions. The Emperor would also need to consult with his ministers first, which would take a lot of time. Fortunately, since ascending the throne, the Emperor has rebuilt canals and moved the capital to Beijing, having done many things that deviate from traditional practices. So, it’s indeed possible for him to override opposition. But don’t get too excited yet. If this succeeds, you’ll likely not get any credit—it will be purely the Emperor’s own decision.”
Seeing Zhang Yue’s eyes light up without any sign of displeasure, he felt secretly satisfied—this kind of thing was more of a hassle than a merit. It was enough to offer suggestions for the emperor to consider.

Since the sea ban was established by Emperor Taizu, ending it now could only be proposed by Zhu Di, who would need to muster the same determination he showed when moving the capital to Beijing. Although Du Zhen had only been in office for three years, he had spent a long time observing Emperor Zhu Di. When Jiaozhi rebelled, he fought; when the Mongols caused trouble, he fought; and against the Japanese pirates along the coast, he responded with firmness, even holding the Japanese accountable. Zhu Di was certainly decisive, but the only concern was that if the national treasury was full, the emperor’s warlike nature might flare up again.

Zhang Yue didn’t notice Du Zhen’s deep thoughts. He naturally didn’t expect credit for himself—in fact, proposing such a suggestion and not being condemned was already a great success. If he hadn’t come up with a seemingly legitimate reason, just the word “business” alone might have sufficed to keep the suggestion shelved or even earned him reprimand. Now he understood that throughout history, any action required a justifiable pretext.

Though not worried about Zhang Yue, Du Zhen still warned, “You can’t hide the fire with paper. Although Minister Xia isn’t one to stir up trouble, even if the emperor forbids discussing this matter, if it comes up in court discussions later, someone will surely expose you as the instigator. If the emperor suppresses opposition as he did when moving the capital, those censors eager for fame will likely turn their attention to you.”

“Thank you, father-in-law, for the reminder. I’ve thought of that too. But when faced with problems, one just has to find a way to deal with them. Besides, isn’t one considered an official only if they face accusations from censors?”

Since a bride couldn’t return to her parents’ home freely after her wedding return, Zhang Yue originally planned to bring Du Wan along when visiting today. But Du Wan reminded him instead, so he had to go alone. That day, Du Zhen wasn’t on duty in the palace. By the time the father-in-law and son-in-law finished talking, it was already noon. Mingdi took the opportunity to come in and asked with a smile, “My wife said that since you’re here today, you should stay for lunch before leaving. The kitchen has already prepared it.”

Du Zhen, who had no strong objections, nodded upon hearing this. “That’s good. Just have lunch before leaving. Your teacher’s wife… my wife must have prepared some home-cooked dishes that you like and are warm to the stomach.”

As soon as he finished speaking, someone else knocked on the door curtain and entered—It was Moyu. After bowing, he glanced at Zhang Yue first, then said carefully, “Master, a few of the elders from our family have come again. Hearing that you’re here, they said they wanted to meet you and brought up those previous words… saying that after all, we’re all family…”

The mention of “family patriarch” immediately reminded Zhang Yue of the Sun family members who had come to the wedding before. Sun Fengjia was polite in speech, but he turned out to be Sun Lianggan’s father, which shocked Zhang Yue greatly. As for Sun Fengwei, he kept emphasizing his status as an uncle, and his attitude was truly distasteful. Hearing now that the Du family also had a family patriarch, Zhang Yue recalled Du Wan mentioning old childhood stories on their wedding night and quickly asked, “Father-in-law, is it some relative from your hometown causing you trouble?”
“It’s not really a trouble. They’ve helped a lot with Wan’s dowry this time. In fact, I owe them a favor,” Du Zhen explained what had happened before, then sent Mo Yu outside to invite the guests to the flower hall for a chat. He then instructed Mingdi, “Go tell the wife that we might need to keep a few more people for lunch, so let the kitchen prepare more food.”
Although he had heard Du Wan mention that many relatives and friends had helped contribute to the dowry, it was only on their way to the flower hall that Zhang Yue learned that most of the generous dowry items, aside from gold and silver jewelry, were thanks to these relatives who had come from afar. Though he guessed it was out of opportunism, such was life after all, and he wasn’t surprised. So when he entered the flower hall and saw those Du family relatives greeting him warmly, he couldn’t help but return their smiles.
“This is your third uncle, this is your fifth uncle, and this is your sixth brother…”
Facing his own family members, even Du Zhen couldn’t be too cold. Introducing them one by one was somewhat troublesome. He naturally knew these relatives were usually opportunistic, and their generosity this time probably had ulterior motives. But knowing that didn’t mean he could abandon his own family ties. He couldn’t simply treat them coldly either. So when he saw them fawning over Zhang Yue, he couldn’t help but frown again and sigh inwardly.
Zhang Yue had already seen the large number of branches of the Zhang family at their wedding banquet, so facing such a group now was no problem for him. A few words of his were enough to delight everyone. After seating the guests according to their roles, he refused to sit down instead staying by Du Zhen’s side, allowing him to observe everyone’s expressions clearly.
Sitting in the first seat on the left, the short and chubby middle-aged man whom Zhang Yue had to address as his third uncle was smiling broadly and saying, “We’ve been here several times already. Who would have thought we’d happen to meet your son-in-law today? What great luck! Your daughter’s marriage is splendid, with a handsome groom and a beautiful bride—everyone is happy to see it.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Zhang Yue. Seeing that his expression remained unchanged, he became even more restless. “I know you, Fourth Brother, have always disliked owing favors. To be honest, those wooden items we added weren’t something we could prepare in just a short time. Before we prepared them, we encountered a merchant who happened to want to sell them, so we bought them all at a very low cost—almost for nothing. I heard that the Zhang family plans to reopen a family school in Beijing, and several of our families have young people who want to try taking the imperial examinations, so…”

As soon as he said those words, Du Zhen’s brows immediately furrowed. He spoke bluntly, “I myself worked as a tutor at the Zhang family school for several years. The quality there varies greatly—it’s not a good place to study. Since the Jiangnan region is such a fertile ground for learning, why would they go the extra distance? It would be a shame if they wasted time doing so.”

Hearing this, not only were the Du family members speechless, but even Zhang Yue was stunned. Du Zhen certainly understood social nuances, but knowing Zhang Yue’s temperament, he spoke without any restraint. The problem was, for those who didn’t know the situation, it must have been terrifying. It was clear that these people wanted their nephews to study, but more likely, they wanted to use this as an opportunity to build relationships. So he cut off Du Zhen’s words and readily agreed.

With his agreement, everyone was overjoyed. Du Huang, the only younger member among them, smiled and said, “Since Beijing will become the capital in the future, the clan head wants his nephews to see the world. We will ask Fourth Uncle and Brother-in-law for your continued guidance. We’ve already found a house and acquired some land. Fifth Uncle and I will take care of it and ensure they are properly disciplined.”

These people refused to stay for dinner anyway. After the conversation, Du Zhen and Zhang Yue escorted them out through the second gate. Upon returning, Du Zhen rebuked him, “Although they are all my relatives, why did you have to agree to their requests? If you agree to this today, who knows if they won’t demand more tomorrow? It’s not that I’m criticizing my own clan members, but most of them really have an insatiable nature. If you agreed out of respect for me, there’s no need—next time, I’ll go and reject them myself.”

“Does my father-in-law think I’m the kind of person who makes promises carelessly?” Zhang Yue listened to Du Zhen’s admonitions until they returned to the study, after which he smiled and said, “I already reported to my grandmother that if it were to be like the clan school in Kaifeng back then, it would be better not to establish one at all. Now that we’ve set it up, we need to thoroughly train those children who have always been spoiled. We’ve taken them in, and if they turn out to be good for nothing in the future, we can simply send them away without anyone having anything to say.”
“Do you mean to produce more Jinshi in the clan school?”
“Father-in-law, you’re joking. If becoming a Jinshi were really that easy, no one would spend their whole lives trying. Many members of the Zhang family’s branch have already moved to the capital, some even bringing relatives who rely on them for support. These idle youths might not cause problems in Kaifeng, but in Beijing, if left uncontrolled, who knows what disasters they might cause? The same goes for your distant nephews—rather than letting them tarnish your reputation later, it’s better to find a place to discipline them properly.”
While the father-in-law and son were talking, several people over there got into the carriage, all in high spirits. Du Huang, who had just turned thirty, slapped his thigh happily and said, “This time, a bad situation has turned into a good one! Thanks to Third Uncle’s wisdom! We were forced to come to the capital to bring gifts, but now we can attach ourselves to a powerful ally!”
“Who’s as smart as the Fourth? Who would have thought that he would give up his official position, travel around for a while, and still manage to make a comeback—like even managing to get out of the Jinyiwei this time? It’s good we came. Otherwise, if those ships had really been seized, that would have been true misfortune. No matter how high one’s rank, how much money can they have compared to the profits from a trip to Japan? If one’s source of income is cut off and they risk losing their head, that’s no joke!”