Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather

As soon as Yang Zhengshan finished writing the letter, Zhou Lan and Wang Bin came to his tent together.

Wang Bin sat beside Yang Zhengshan, picked up a tea bowl, shook his sleeves, took out a wine pot from somewhere, and poured a glass of wine for Yang Zhengshan.

"Try it!"

He winked at Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan was stunned, looking at him and Zhou Lan in a strange way.

Drinking is prohibited in the army, where did these two guys get the wine!

Wang Bin ignored Yang Zhengshan who was stunned, and poured another glass of wine for himself and Zhou Lan, while Zhou Lan took out a bag of beef jerky and put it on the table.

"Where did you get this from?" Yang Zhengshan smelled the wine, it was still good wine.

"The reward from the Marquis!" Wang Bin laughed.

Yang Zhengshan suddenly realized that he said that it was not easy to get wine in the army, but if there was no wine in the army, there must be some in Fushan City.

"Come on, drink one!" Zhou Lan picked up the tea bowl and drank it up generously.

Yang Zhengshan didn't care about military law, he raised his head and drank it in one gulp.

This wine is sweet and mellow, and the aftertaste is actually a little sweet.

"It's worthy of being called pear blossom wine, it's really a good wine!"

Wang Bin laughed.

"Pear blossom wine!" Yang Zhengshan raised his eyebrows and thought the wine was good.

Zhou Lan smiled and said, "Pear blossom wine is a fine wine of the Hu people. This pear blossom is not the flower of the pear tree, but the snow that falls in the coldest time of winter. Every winter, the Hu people will collect snow after the heavy snow to make wine. Every time the heavy snow is more than one foot thick, so this wine is also called one foot snow!"

After Zhou Lan finished speaking, he raised his head again and drank a glass of wine.

Yang Zhengshan smacked his lips and savored the mellowness of the pear blossom wine carefully.

This is different from the wine he brewed himself. The wine he brewed was mixed with spiritual spring water and many medicinal materials. It has many peculiarities in terms of efficacy, but in terms of taste, it is indeed much worse.

However, he was also improving his winemaking process. Winemaking is a technical job. Yang Zhengshan wanted to make a good wine with special effects and good taste, so he had to work hard.

The three of them chatted while drinking, and the atmosphere seemed leisurely and comfortable.

Suddenly, Wang Bin said, "What do you think we can get this time?"

Although he asked you, his eyes were always on Zhou Lan.

Reward!

Zhou Lan, who was familiar with the court, naturally knew more about this matter.

Zhou Lan first glanced at him, thought for a while, and then said, "Don't have too much hope."

Yang Zhengshan's expression moved slightly, and he also understood what the two were talking about.

Wang Bin was not asking about ordinary rewards, but about military merits.

Fighting thousands of miles and expanding the territory for Darong, such achievements, it is not impossible to think about being awarded a title.

"Why?" Wang Bin asked with some disappointment.

Zhou Lan shook her head slightly and said, "Although our dynasty has the practice of conferring titles for military merit, since your majesty ascended the throne, no one has ever been granted a title except for the royal family!"

"Your majesty has always been wary of the nobles. Although he has made use of many nobles in the court, he has never granted or promoted them. Instead, he has stripped and demoted them many times!"

"In fact, it is not difficult to guess your majesty's thoughts. There are more than a hundred nobles in our Darong. Except for the Changping Marquis Mansion, most of them have been conferred titles in the past two hundred years."

"The most conferred titles was during the chaos a hundred years ago!"

Speaking of this, Zhou Lan lowered his voice, "Da Rong After the rebellion, Emperor Dezong issued a general amnesty and granted titles to two dukes, seven marquises and eighty-three earls. "

"The late emperor was very dissatisfied with this, so after he ascended the throne, he only granted titles to the royal family. When it came to your majesty, he also continued the late emperor's will and only granted titles to the royal family!"

"Although we have expanded the territory for the court and solved the northeastern border troubles for the court this time, you and I both know that the Hu tribe in the East Sea is just a minor disease, and the north is a bitter and cold place."

"These are not enough to change your majesty's mind, and the ministers in the court will also obstruct the granting of titles!"

Zhou Lan spoke slowly, and Yang Zhengshan only understood half of what he heard. Now he has a deeper understanding of the court, but he is rarely in the court, and his understanding of many things is still superficial.

As for the affairs of Emperor Chengping and the late emperor, he knew nothing.

Zhou Lan said that the late emperor was dissatisfied with the large number of titles bestowed by Emperor Dezong on the nobles. This kind of thing is not known to ordinary people, and even many adults in the court are probably not aware of it. Only the nobles and aristocratic families like the Ningguo Mansion, which have been passed down for a hundred years and have been in the court for a long time, can understand it.

"That's a pity!" Wang Bin felt even more disappointed.

Before, he just wanted to be promoted, but as the results of the war became greater and greater, and they gained more and more military merits, he thought about being conferred a title.

Yang Zhengshan did not consider the matter of being conferred a title. He is still just a garrison, far from being conferred a title.

Compared with being conferred a title, he thinks he should be more realistic and consider where he will be promoted next.

Promotion is certain, there is no doubt about this.

With his military merits, it would be unreasonable if the court did not promote him.

But how many levels to promote is a problem.

He is currently serving as the garrison commander of Songzhou Guard. If he is promoted again, he may become the commander of a guard, or serve as the deputy commander or deputy commander of the Duzhi.

That is, the third rank or the second rank, and it is almost impossible to be promoted higher.

However, the most important thing is not the rank, but whether he can serve in other official positions.

In Darong, military officers of guards who do not serve as garrison officers have little chance of promotion. At most, they can be promoted within the guards.

Only those who serve as garrison officers have the opportunity to gain military merits and have more opportunities for promotion.

Just like Yang Zhengshan, he was first the commander of the Songzhou Guard and then the garrison of Anyuan City. However, in terms of authority and status, the official position of the Anyuan City garrison was more important than that of the commander of the Songzhou Guard.

It was precisely because he was a garrison in Anyuan City that he had the opportunity to go on an expedition. However, like Tan Jingtai, he did not have the opportunity to go on an expedition. He could only deal with farming matters in the guard station, and also assisted the general and shogunate in logistical tasks.

Yang Zhengshan wanted to ask Zhou Lan what he thought about his next official position, but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them again.

By now, Zhou Lan could no longer help him arrange official positions.

If you want to help him move, you have to move in Kyoto. The yamen that need to move are not only the Central Military Governor's Office, but also the Ministry of War.

Maybe Zhou Lan wouldn't refuse to help, but it would definitely be troublesome.

It's better to take a look at the situation now. If you don't like it after the reward is issued, it won't be too late to invite Zhou Lan or others to participate.

However, Yang Zhengshan did not expect that Zhou Lan would bring it up despite him not mentioning it.

"I will definitely go back to Kyoto when I get back, and I want you to take over as Jianning Guards General!" Zhou Lan looked at Yang Zhengshan with his eyes flashing.

She had this idea, firstly, because she believed in Yang Zhengshan, and believed that Yang Zhengshan would not let her efforts in the past few years go to waste, and would not let his Jianningwei become a puddle of mud again.

The second reason is that she wants to help Yang Zhengshan again and let Yang Zhengshan take a further step. This should be the last place where she can help Yang Zhengshan in the officialdom.

If she still wants to help Yang Zhengshan in the officialdom in the future, she can only rely on Ning Guo Gongfu, and relying on Ning Guo Gongfu alone may not necessarily be able to help Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan put down his cup and looked at her, thoughtfully, "If I go back to Jianningwei, Jianningwei may need major changes!"

"What big change?"

"Try to transfer as many of the Yang family's children as possible!" Yang Zhengshan said.

Zhou Lan understood what he meant after thinking for a moment.

Today's Jianning Guard, no, it shouldn't be Jianning Guard, it should be the various battalions, guards, and city guards under Zhou Lan's jurisdiction, etc. There are too many children of the Yang family.

These children of the Yang family are now middle and low-level officials. If Yang Zhengshan passes by, then the question arises, should the surname of Zhongshan Road in Chongshan Town be Yang?

When Zhou Lan was here, Yang Zhengshan could place Yang's children as much as he could, but if he became the Jianning Guards General, then he would not be able to place Yang's children at will.

The reason is simple, he cannot let his army become his own private army.

The court would not allow any general to do this.

Generals can cultivate cronies and use their own people to form personal guards, but if they wantonly exclude dissidents and install their own people, that would be a big mistake.

What do you want to do?

Want to raise a private army?

Or do you want to support your troops and respect yourself?

Although Yang Zhengshan did not have such an idea, the emperor and the Dukes in the court might not necessarily trust him.

Therefore, if he serves as the Jianning Guards General, he must let the Yang family's children leave as much as possible. This does not mean that one cannot be kept, but try not to exceed ten.

In fact, there are now more than forty Yang children under Zhou Lan's command, more than those under Yang Zhengshan.

The reason for this is that many of the Yang family's children have gone to join Yang Mingzhi, Yang Mingwu, Yang Chengze and others in the past two years.

Of course, there are also those who come to seek refuge with Yang Zhengshan, but those who seek refuge with him are all recommended by Yang Zhengxiang.

The people recommended by Yang Zhengxiang are all relatively talented people.

"I will try my best to transfer them away!" Zhou Lan agreed with Yang Zhengshan's idea and said.

Yang Zhengshan smiled and said: "You can also take them to Kyoto. Although they can't help you much, they are still worthy of your trust!"

As more and more Yang's children joined the army, Yang Zhengshan had long wanted to disperse the Yang's children.

It is not a good thing for so many people to get together. It is easy to give people a hand, disperse, and go their own way. Their future may be hindered, but in the big waves, those who are truly capable and capable can still come forward.

Zhou Lan smiled and said, "Then I want to take Yang Mingzhi away!"

"Uh!" Yang Zhengshan was a little annoyed, "It's better to stay Mingzhi. His cultivation has been a bit slack in the past few years. I want to keep him by my side to encourage him for a while!"

What he said is not false. Now Yang Mingzhi also has the fourth level of acquired cultivation, but compared with Yang Mingcheng, he has fallen behind.

Not long ago, Yang Mingcheng broke through to the sixth level of the acquired world. The two brothers started from the same starting point, but now there is a two-level gap.

Even Yang Minghao has caught up with Yang Mingzhi, and now he is on the fourth level of the day after tomorrow.

The reason for this is that firstly, it is difficult for Yang Mingzhi to get nourishment from the spiritual spring water after leaving Yang Zhengshan, and secondly, because Yang Mingzhi is with Zhou Lan and is busy with official duties all day long, so he will definitely slack off in his cultivation.

"Then let Mingwu and Chengze follow me to Kyoto! Well, Zhao Yuan will also go back, and let him take Chengxu with him then! The three of them are enough!"

Zhou Lan is a good person. Although she values ​​Yang Mingzhi the most, Yang Mingwu and Yang Chengze are not bad either. It is enough to have these two people around to help.

Besides, Kyoto is the home court of Ning Guo Gongfu, so she has no shortage of people in Kyoto.