Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather

On June 18, Yu Tonghai and Sun Chengcai took the fleet back to Tenglongwei Pier.

Before they docked, Yang Zhengshan received the news and came to the dock again.

"Sir!" Yu Tonghai and Sun Cheng saw Yang Zhengshan and quickly saluted with clasped fists.

"What happened?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

Yu Tonghai glanced at the ship behind him and said, "Sir, let's go back to the camp first!"

Yang Zhengshan also noticed that there was an unfamiliar ship in the fleet. It was a Haicang ship. Although it was very similar to Tenglongwei's Haicang ship, there were still many differences in details. Yang Zhengshan recognized it at a glance. That's not their ship.

"Okay!" Yang Zhengshan nodded and returned to the naval camp with Yu Tonghai and Sun Cheng.

The camp here is the navy's training ground and the Yamen of Tenglong Vanguard. However, because Yang Zhengshan has been in the Acropolis, Tenglong Vanguard's Yamen is particularly simple.

In the main hall, Yang Zhengshan was sitting on the main seat. When the tea was served, he asked: "What happened?"

Yu Tonghai and Sun Cheng glanced at each other and said helplessly: "The Li Sheng Dynasty has been destroyed!"

"What?" Yang Zhengshan looked stunned.

The Li Sheng Dynasty was destroyed!

This~~

"Destroyed by the rebels?"

Yang Zhengshan remembered that Sun Cheng had mentioned before that there was a rebellion within the Li Sheng Dynasty.

"Sir, yes, the original Li royal family has been driven out of the royal capital, and the current Li Sheng royal capital has been occupied by rebels. It is said that the Li royal family has fled to the snowfields in the north." Sun Cheng said.

The land of snowfield, which is the north of Fuzhou, is the area north of the original territory of the Hu tribe in the East China Sea.

If the Li Sheng Dynasty came to Darong by land, they would have to take a detour through the snowfields.

The land of snowfields is not a good place. It is just cold all year round. The key is that there are many wild beasts and Hu tribes.

The Hu tribe is Darong's collective name for the northern foreign tribes. In fact, they are also divided into many ethnic groups.

The Hu tribe in the snowfield has nothing to do with the Donghai Hu tribe or the Ulliang Hu tribe. They are completely different ethnic groups.

The Hu tribe in the snowfield are more barbaric and cruel, and their strength is not weak.

The harsh environment made their survival more difficult, but it also made them undergo more training and created many martial arts experts.

Yes, although they are barbaric and cruel, they are not uncivilized savages.

In fact, the land of snowfield is very big, and there are many powerful forces there.

Yang Zhengshan frowned. He didn't care about the current situation of the Li Sheng Dynasty. What he cared about was whether the trade was successful.

"Then what? The regime changes and they reject our trade?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

"No, not only did they not refuse, they also wanted to expand trade with us!" Sun Cheng shook his head.

"Expand trade!" Yang Zhengshan narrowed his eyes, "So the ship that came back with you wants to cooperate with us?"

"Well, they want more goods!" Sun Cheng said.

Yang Zhengshan fell into deep thought. If he just wanted to expand trade, this would not be a bad thing.

Whoever you trade with is not a transaction, as long as you can make money.

As for the rest~

This involves the Li royal family. All the kings of the Li Sheng Dynasty were canonized by Emperor Darong. Since the founding of Darong, the Li Sheng Dynasty has become a vassal state of Darong.

‘Titian herdsmen, descendants of Yongchang. ’

This was the canonization of the Li family by Taizu Dayong.

For more than three hundred years, the Li Sheng Dynasty has regarded Dayong as its suzerain state, paying tribute three times a year almost without interruption.

Even in addition to three regular tributes, the Li Sheng Dynasty also paid tribute to Da Rong in the names of envoys to express gratitude, envoys to report, envoys to offer incense and comfort to Chen, envoys to offer congratulations, envoys to present, and escort envoys.

It can be said that the Li Sheng Dynasty is the subsidiary dynasty that has the closest connection with Dayong. Similarly, Dayong has always regarded the Li Sheng Dynasty as his younger brother and has helped the Li Sheng Dynasty to prevent foreign invasions many times.

But now that the Li royal family has taken away the royal capital by the rebels, I don't know what the attitude of Da Rong Chaotang is.

Should he help the Li family regain the throne, or can he appoint a new king?

Yang Zhengshan stroked his beard and pondered for a long time. This issue involved many things, including the interests of the great country, the attitude of the emperor, and the thoughts and ideas of the ministers. It would take a long time to make a decision.

The question before him now is whether to cooperate with the rebels of the Li Sheng Dynasty?

From the perspective of making money, it is of course cooperation. A dynasty that has just completed the transition of kingship must be in a stage where everything is waiting for improvement. There must be many business opportunities, and the benefits that can be earned will be immeasurable.

But if you look at this issue from the perspective of the court's interests, it may require more consideration.

Yang Zhengshan thought about it for a moment and said to Yu Tonghai and Sun Cheng: "You go back first and compile a file of what you saw and heard in the Li Sheng Dynasty and the situation in the Li Sheng Dynasty. I will meet the envoy from the Li Sheng Dynasty first! "

"Here!" Yu Tonghai and Sun Cheng responded and then left.

Afterwards, Yang Zhengshan sent someone to invite the envoy from the rebels of the Li Sheng Dynasty.

A man in his forties, his appearance was nothing special, but his demeanor was calm and composed.

"Cui Hongtao, the left counselor of Li Sheng's parliamentary government, pays homage to the general!" Cui Hongtao saluted with clasped fists without humility.

The highest institution in the court of King Li Sheng is the Council of Government, which is very similar to the cabinet of Dae Young. The Council of Government includes the Left and Right Councillors, who are of the first rank. The Left and Right Contributors are of the first rank, followed by the Left and Right Counsellor and Sheren of the second rank.

Below the Council of Government are the six ministries, the Seongjeongwon and other government offices.

Cui Hongtao is the Left Counselor of the second rank, which is higher in rank than Yang Zhengshan. Yang Zhengshan is only the General Dingguo of the second rank, and it is a nominal position, while his actual position is the Commander of the Tenglong Guard of the third rank.

In addition, the military officer of Dae Young has a high rank, so neither the General Dingguo of the second rank nor the Commander of the Guard of the third rank can be ranked in the court.

In comparison, Cui Hongtao, the Left Counselor of the second rank, is a relatively important position in the court of King Li Sheng.

But the Li Sheng Dynasty was a vassal state of Dayong. Although the two countries had a close relationship and recognized each other's fame and official positions, a vassal state was a vassal state. The officials of the Li Sheng Dynasty naturally could not be based on the rank of the Li Sheng Dynasty in Dayong.

More importantly, Cui Hongtao was not an official of the Li Sheng Dynasty. He was an official of the rebels. Although the rebels had occupied the Li Sheng Dynasty, as long as Dayong did not recognize their legitimacy, they were just rebels and could not replace the Li royal family.

Yang Zhengshan sat in the main seat and looked at Cui Hongtao calmly.

Daring to come to see him alone showed that Cui Hongtao was very courageous.

And looking at his calm attitude, it also proved that he was not a simple person.

"Who is your master?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

Master!

This title is actually not appropriate.

The monarch and the minister are not the master and servant. Whether it is Dayong or the Li Sheng Dynasty, the relationship between the monarch and the minister is a cooperative relationship. Although the monarch also has a bit of the meaning of the master, it is more of a subordinate relationship, not a master and servant.

Cui Hongtao did not point out the mistake in Yang Zhengshan's words, but said in a clear voice: "My master is Silla Jin Shangjun."

The Jin surname is a big surname in the Li Sheng Dynasty, and the Silla Jin family is a powerful family in the Li Sheng Dynasty. If the Silla Jin family overthrew the Li royal family, it is not impossible.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, "What deal do you want to make with us?"

"We need a lot of goods, including a lot of cotton cloth, food, medicinal materials, fur, porcelain, etc.! In return, we are willing to trade with iron ore!" Cui Hongtao stood in place and said loudly.

Yang Zhengshan's eyes flashed.

Iron ore?

Are you sure you are not setting a trap for me?

I am a commander of the Wei Division, and you ask me for a lot of iron ore. Aren't you trying to kill me?

Although the yamen at all levels of the garrison can forge weapons and armor by themselves, they cannot privately mine or trade iron ore. The reason is very simple. After all, the garrison is a military organization and must need weapons and armor. The weapons and armor forged by the court are generally given to the imperial army or the border army, and rarely to the garrison yamen in various places. Therefore, if the garrison wants to get weapons and armor, it can only make them by itself.

The garrison can forge weapons and armor, but it needs the higher-level yamen to allocate iron ore.

Iron ore is the means by which the court controls the number of weapons and armor in the garrison.

Yang Zhengshan can do any business, but he must not buy or sell iron ore. Even if Tenglongwei needs a lot of iron ore now, he still cannot buy iron ore from other places.

This is a taboo, which is more taboo than salt trading.

Getting involved in salt trading may just be to make money, but getting involved in iron ore trading may be ill-intentioned, with bad intentions, and intending to rebel.

If civil officials get involved in iron ore trading, it is not a big problem, but military officials are absolutely not allowed to get involved.

Yang Zhengshan said calmly: "Besides iron ore, what else can you trade with?"

Cui Hongtao was silent for a while, and said: "Gold and silver ore!"

"..."

Yang Zhengshan was a little speechless.

So they can only trade with ore!

But think about it, Li Sheng Dynasty really doesn't have anything special that Dayong needs.

What Li Sheng Dynasty has, Liaodong basically has. From the perspective of trade alone, Li Sheng Dynasty's trade demand for Dayong is much greater than Dayong's trade demand for Li Sheng Dynasty.

"Go down and rest first, I will consider this matter carefully!"

"General, I can promise on behalf of the Lord that as long as the general is willing to trade with us, we will definitely give the general a generous reward!" Cui Hongtao promised.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly and served tea to see him off.

When Cui Hongtao walked out of the hall, Yang Zhengshan looked up at his back.

It seems that the Jin rebels are in urgent need of commercial goods from Dayong, otherwise the other party would not make such a guarantee, let alone take out gold and silver ore for trading.

It also shows that the situation of the Lisheng Dynasty is not very good. The other party urgently needs cotton cloth, food and other necessary survival supplies. Obviously, this is because the chaotic situation has caused the entire Lisheng Dynasty to fall into a shortage of supplies.

After the Silla Jin family took control of the Lisheng Dynasty, they must first restore people's livelihood, stabilize the situation, clear the influence of the Li royal family, and then completely control the entire dynasty and establish a new regime.

However, Yang Zhengshan is very curious about the current situation of the Li royal family. Have they really fled to the snowy land? Will they come to Da Rong for help from the snowy land?