Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather

Afterwards, Yang Zhengshan followed Eunuch Chen to the imperial study in Taiji Hall.

In the study, Emperor Chengping had changed into loose clothes and was leaning on a soft couch reading a memorial.

"Your Majesty, I, Yang Zhengshan, pay my respects to you!" Yang Zhengshan said with a fist.

"No need to be polite! Sit down and talk." Emperor Chengping waved his hand casually.

Eunuch Chen brought a small stool, and Yang Zhengshan thanked him before sitting on it.

Emperor Chengping put down the memorial, looked at Yang Zhengshan and asked, "Why did you let Yang Chengzhi serve as the deputy general of Chongshan Town North Road!"

Yang Zhengshan was startled and was about to stand up to answer, but Emperor Chengping held his hand, "Just sit down and talk!"

"Next, I plan to develop Fuzhou, and I don't trust anyone else!" Yang Zhengshan sat down and replied.

"Oh! How to open Fuzhou?" Emperor Chengping asked with interest.

Yang Zhengshan replied honestly: "Fuzhou has fertile fields for thousands of miles. Although many military households and civilians have moved there in recent years, there are still not many cultivated fields!"

"From Heiyun Mountain to the seashore, the land is rich in water and fertile. If it can be fully cultivated, it can feed millions of people!"

This is what he had thought of a long time ago.

The land around Fuzhou City is fertile black soil. The former Donghai Hu people were not good at farming, and even if they occupied this fertile black land, they did not know how to cultivate and plant.

Now that Yang Zhengshan is in charge of Chongshan Town, he naturally wants to make use of this fertile black land.

In fact, the north of Chongshan Town has rich resources, such as the black soil around Fuzhou City, the herbs and furs in Heiyun Mountain, and the grasslands on both sides of Songyuan River.

In comparison, the original Chongshan Town is much poorer.

If Yang Zhengshan wants to develop Chongshan Town, he must make use of the resources in the north of Chongshan Town.

Reclamation, animal husbandry, herbal planting and fur hunting, etc., can all become the pillar industries of Chongshan Town.

"Yang Mingzhi is your son!"

"I recommend people regardless of their kinship. Mingzhi is the most capable of my three sons!" Yang Zhengshan said frankly.

He did not include Mingzhao here, after all, Mingzhao is only five years old now.

Emperor Chengping nodded, and a smile appeared on his old face.

"Then why did you recommend Han Cheng, Zhang Yuanwu, Wu Chongzhe and Yu Tonghai to serve as the commanders of the Tenglong Four Guards?" Emperor Chengping continued to ask.

Yang Zhengshan explained: "Yu Tonghai is the only one who can lead the Tenglong Guard Navy. In terms of navy training and command, I am far inferior to Lord Yu Tonghai!"

"Wu Chongzhe is familiar with the affairs of Tenglong Guard and can take charge of the salt fields and maritime trade of Tenglong Guard. I kept him in Tenglong Guard because I don't want Tenglong Guard to decline!"

"Han Cheng is a steady and thoughtful person. Although he doesn't know much about Tenglong Guard, he and Wu Chongzhe have worked together for many years. The two can cooperate with each other and will not have any gaps!"

"Zhang Yuanwu has made contributions in the battle with Songzhou City and should be promoted. I think he is quite capable, so I plan to let him go to Tenglong Guard!"

Emperor Chengping nodded while listening.

He didn't know much about these people, and he knew a little about Yu Tonghai. After all, he arranged Yu Tonghai to Tenglong Guard.

Now after listening to Yang Zhengshan's explanation, he understood the original intention of Yang Zhengshan's arrangement.

In the final analysis, Yang Zhengshan just wanted to ensure that Tenglongwei could continue to prosper, rather than decline after he left.

This was out of Yang Zhengshan's public spirit, not for personal gain.

Then Emperor Chengping asked many more questions, and Yang Zhengshan explained them one by one.

As Yang Zhengshan explained, Emperor Chengping's attitude became more and more gentle.

"You have considered it very carefully. I am relieved to hand over Chongshan Town to you!"

"This is my responsibility, I dare not take credit!" Yang Zhengshan said.

Emperor Chengping looked at Yang Zhengshan with approval, "The prince has not arranged a mansion for you yet!"

"Uh, no!" Yang Zhengshan was startled. He did not expect Emperor Chengping to suddenly change the subject.

· "Then the mansion of Marquis Wuxin will be awarded to you. It happens that Marquis Wuxin has 8,000 acres of granted land outside the capital, which will also be awarded to you!" said Emperor Chengping.

Yang Zhengshan stood up and thanked him, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your reward!"

Marquis Wuxin is finished!

If the mansion and the land granted to him were taken away, he would definitely lose his title, and his family might even be affected.

However, this had nothing to do with Yang Zhengshan. He got a mansion and 8,000 acres of land granted to him, which was a lot of money.

You should know that the ancestors of Wuxin Marquis were also dukes, but because of the inheritance from generation to generation, he has now become a second-class marquis. Although the title has been lowered, the mansion of Wuxin Marquis is of the standard of a duke's mansion.

A mansion alone is worth a million gold.

Emperor Chengping really values ​​Yang Zhengshan, otherwise he would never give this mansion to Yang Zhengshan.

The two chatted for half an hour, and Emperor Chengping was a little tired, so he let Yang Zhengshan leave.

When Yang Zhengshan walked out of the imperial city, there was a complex emotion in his eyes.

Emperor Chengping really appreciated and trusted him.

This touched Yang Zhengshan, who was not interested in the old emperor.

In Yang Zhengshan's opinion, the old emperor is also a human being. He has never had any loyalty to the old emperor. But when he met Emperor Chengping today, he suddenly felt that Emperor Chengping was a very charismatic person, which made him unconsciously respect Emperor Chengping a little more.

Many people have helped him along the way.

Zhou Lan, Zhao Yuan, Liu Yuanfu, Wang Bin, Liang Chu, etc.

Yang Zhengshan is a grateful person, so he has never forgotten those who helped him.

And now, the Emperor Chengping trusted him so much and appreciated him so much, which made him feel a little grateful to the Emperor Chengping.

The Emperor Chengping did not remove his marquisate, but also granted him a mansion and fertile land, and also agreed to the proposal he had submitted before.

This is different from the crown prince's title of marquis. The crown prince just used him and used him as a pawn.

However, the Emperor Chengping recognized his ability and supported his proposal out of consideration for state affairs.

"The ancients said that a scholar will die for his confidant! Today, I finally understand this feeling!"

Yang Zhengshan said in his heart.

...

When Yang Zhengshan walked out of the imperial city, it meant that the struggle for the throne in the court had come to an end.

However, in the morning court the next day, Yang Zhengshan finally saw the final outcome of this farce.

As the newly promoted Marquis of Jing'an, Yang Zhengshan was also qualified to attend the court.

In the morning court, the Emperor Chengping issued three imperial edicts in a row.

The first imperial edict abolished the position of the crown prince, conferred him the title of Prince An, and made him a vassal in Nanyun Lu'an Prefecture, and he was to leave the capital to be a vassal on the same day.

Once this edict was issued, it meant that the crown prince had completely lost the qualification to compete for the throne, and being a vassal in Nanyun Lu'an Prefecture also meant that he had lost all possibilities of turning the tables.

Nanyun Province is the southern border of Darong, and Lu'an Prefecture is the southern border of Darong.

Being a vassal in Nanyun Lu'an Prefecture is no different from being exiled to the border.

The second imperial edict was that Prince Gong was a vassal, and he was with the crown prince, no, now Prince An. Unlike Prince An, Emperor Chengping did not punish Prince Gong severely, but only made him a vassal, without any intention of punishing him.

From this point, it can be seen that Emperor Chengping did not taboo the fight between the princes. He did not hate the princes using various means to compete for the throne, but he hated incompetent people.

The crown prince was demoted because of his incompetence, and Prince Gong lost the opportunity to inherit the throne because he was too reckless.

The last imperial edict was to enthrone Prince Cheng as the crown prince. There was no cover-up or any taboo. Emperor Chengping directly enthrone Prince Cheng as the crown prince.

When the third imperial edict was read, Prince Cheng immediately stepped forward to express his gratitude.

Looking at the radiant and solemn Prince Cheng, Yang Zhengshan was amazed.

Although they both fought against the crown prince, Prince Gong ended up as a vassal, while Prince Cheng won the crown prince position. There must be something unknown to everyone.

Not only Yang Zhengshan, but all the civil and military officials in the court were surprised.

In fact, there were traces of Prince Cheng's victory.

First of all, Emperor Chengping was dissatisfied with the crown prince from the beginning to the end. Otherwise, he would not have asked Prince Gong and Prince Cheng to observe the government while he asked the crown prince to supervise the country.

If he was really satisfied with the crown prince, there would be no need to do these things.

Emperor Chengping pretended to be sick this time to recuperate, which was actually a test for the crown prince. Unfortunately, the crown prince did not pass the test.

In the early days of the regent, the prince made many stupid moves, disregarding state affairs, and only wanted to compete with Prince Gong and Prince Cheng. This is obviously not the mind of a monarch.

Later, the prince forced Prince Gong and Prince Cheng to take risky moves and attack the palace. The prince did not stabilize the situation in the court, but made the situation in the court worse and worse.

In this way, Emperor Chengping was naturally more dissatisfied with the prince.

Secondly, Prince Cheng has always been very measured in this fight. What he did most was to add fuel to the flames and use Prince Gong as a gun.

It was his idea that Prince Gong offered a reward for Yang Zhengshan in Shanhe Tower.

When Prince Gong wanted to attack the palace, he asked people to open the Xuanping Gate in the outer city of Kyoto.

So he was Prince Gong's accomplice, but he never personally took action.

Everything was done by Prince Gong, but he could get out of it.

On the surface, he was cynical, but in fact he was full of bad water.

But Emperor Chengping liked Prince Cheng like this.

In the end, he did not let Miss Yueru do it.

In fact, Miss Yueru is not a person, but a code name.

Prince Gong thought Miss Yueru was the prince's personal maid, and the prince also knew that the maid was Prince Cheng's.

However, they did not know that Miss Yueru was the code name of four people, including a maid, a eunuch, and two guards, all of whom were people around the prince.

The maid was just a knife on the surface, and the real killer was actually the eunuch.

This killer was planted by Prince Cheng ten years ago.

If he wanted to murder the prince, the prince would not be able to escape.

But he finally chose to give up.

Not because of brotherhood, but because Emperor Chengping did not want to see them killing each other.

Prince Cheng knew Emperor Chengping's character very well. Emperor Chengping could tolerate their fighting in the court, but would never tolerate them killing each other.

It was because he saw this clearly that he chose to give up.

But there is also the most important point, which is also the key to Prince Cheng's victory.

That is, Prince Cheng reported the plan of the prince and Prince Gong to Emperor Chengping yesterday.

He naturally did not meet Emperor Chengping, but this did not prevent him from submitting the memorial to Emperor Chengping.

The prince wanted to punish Prince Gong and Prince Cheng by offering a reward for Yang Zhengshan during the ceremony of conferring nobility.

Prince Gong wanted to take advantage of the ceremony of conferring nobility to raise troops and attack the palace.

Prince Cheng had known all this and reported it to Emperor Chengping in advance.

Emperor Chengping liked obedient people the most, and this incident hit Emperor Chengping's soft spot, making him more satisfied with Prince Cheng.

Therefore, Prince Cheng became the final winner.

The three imperial edicts announced that all the civil and military officials in the court understood that the dispute over the princes was completely over, but this did not mean that the matter was over.

In the following days, many civil and military officials in the court were demoted and punished.

Marquis Wuxin was sentenced to death for his crimes, and his title was taken away and his property was confiscated.

Duke Changguo was demoted to the second-class duke, and the crown prince Sun Jizong was deprived of his title for not being strict with his children. The second son of Duke Changguo was granted the title of crown prince.

Marquis Xuanping Zhang Ao was dismissed from his post as the commander of the Guyong Camp for allowing the soldiers of the Ganyong Camp to enter the city from the Xuanping Gate.

However, Zhang Ao was a man of King Cheng, and although he was dismissed now, everyone knew that Zhang Ao had a bright future.

A group of military officers in the Ganyong Camp were either dismissed or removed from office.

In addition, more than 20 civil and military ministers in the court were implicated and exiled from the capital.

However, these had nothing to do with Yang Zhengshan. Yang Zhengshan's only concern was the punishment of Su Gan, Marquis Jingyuan.

Unfortunately, Su Gan, Marquis Jingyuan, was not deeply involved this time, and his punishment was only a salary deduction.

Of course, Su Gan is now just an idle marquis, and the decline of the Marquis Jingyuan Mansion cannot be changed.

In contrast, Yang Zhengshan, the Marquis of Jing'an, became the new upstart in Kyoto.