Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather

The next night, Yang Zhengshan received Wu Zheng's report.

In the study, Yang Zhengshan looked at Wu Zheng with interest, "How is the situation?"

"Hehe, I went to see it myself. Zhou Ningwei was beaten naked. Many people around saw it, and many people called out his identity!" Wu Zheng smiled sinisterly.

It must be said that Liu Dashan is still very reliable. Not only did he wait for Zhou Ningwei to take off his clothes before catching him, but he also arranged for someone to shout out Zhou Ningwei's identity outside.

If he didn't shout out his identity, few ordinary people would know that this was Zhou Ningwei, but this shout was different. Just wait and see. When the sun comes out tomorrow, this matter will spread throughout Kyoto and become the topic of conversation for countless people after dinner.

"Very good!" Yang Zhengshan nodded with satisfaction, and then ordered: "Wait a minute!"

He bent over his desk and found a memorial and started writing.

Dare to impeach me!

Humph, I will impeach you too!

This old man was born in poverty, but he has a mansion and many wives and concubines. He is obviously a corrupt official.

As for the evidence of corruption and bribery, do I need evidence to impeach him?

Besides, do you really think that Emperor Yanping doesn't know who the corrupt officials are?

The Secret Guards are not just for show, especially in Kyoto, where they are really omnipresent.

Ask the Secret Guards whether Zhou Ningwei is a corrupt official, and they will definitely be able to produce evidence.

"Tomorrow morning, submit this memorial to the memorial office immediately!"

"Yes!" Wu Zheng took the memorial and laughed.

...

The next day, the Imperial Study Room in the Imperial City.

Emperor Yanping couldn't help laughing at the memorial submitted by Yang Zhengshan.

"Why is your majesty so happy?" Zhang Mingzhong, who was standing by and serving, asked softly.

Zhang Mingzhong was previously the eunuch guarding Chongshan Town, but two years ago, Emperor Yanping transferred him back to Kyoto and entered the Silijian, where he served as the eunuch holding the pen and supervising the Imperial Guard Division.

Of course, this is also what Chen Zhongshu meant. It is obvious that Chen Zhongshu intends to train Zhang Mingzhong as his successor.

Before going to Chongshan Town, Zhang Mingzhong served Emperor Chengping in front of the emperor. At that time, he was a person valued by Chen Zhongshu. Later, Zhang Mingzhong went to Chongshan Town as the eunuch, which was also specially arranged by Emperor Chengping and Chen Zhongshu.

Now Zhang Mingzhong can be regarded as a complete meritorious service, so he was chosen by Chen Zhongshu as his successor.

And all kinds of performances in Chongshan Town have proved that Zhang Mingzhong is a person who knows the general situation, knows how to advance and retreat, and knows the importance. In the past two years, Zhang Mingzhong has gradually been recognized by Emperor Yanping.

"Come, take a look, haha, Jing'an Hou is angry!" Emperor Yanping threw the memorial to Zhang Mingzhong and laughed.

Zhang Mingzhong opened the memorial, glanced at it, and his eyes fell on the last sentence, 'I think this inspector Zhou is a corrupt official. It is better for your majesty to investigate him, and the money seized can also enrich the national treasury! ’

He smiled, "It's also Zhou Ningwei's fault that he dared to provoke Jing'an Hou. He seems to have forgotten that Jing'an Hou is a fierce god who has killed countless people!"

Emperor Yanping shook his head slightly, "I think Jing'an Hou should be blamed. In the past few years, Jing'an Hou has been secluded and rarely goes out. He is unwilling to even attend the morning court. This makes people forget his might."

Emperor Yanping is full of complaints about Yang Zhengshan. He naturally knows Yang Zhengshan's ability, and he naturally wants to use Yang Zhengshan.

Chongshan Town is not easy to arrange, but other border towns can still be arranged. Even if you don't want to go to the border town, the Imperial Guard can also be used.

It's not that he didn't mention these to Yang Zhengshan, but Yang Zhengshan is now only willing to guard the martial arts pavilion and has no intention of anything else, which makes him feel very uncomfortable.

But he can't do anything about Yang Zhengshan. A congenital warrior is a congenital warrior, and even the emperor can't force a congenital warrior.

Zhang Mingzhong naturally knows what Emperor Yanping is thinking, but this is not something he can interrupt at will.

"Your Majesty, do you approve Marquis Jing'an's proposal?"

Emperor Yanping waved his hand indifferently, "You go ask the Secret Guards. If there is evidence, then investigate!"

It's just a city inspector, not worth his attention.

"Yes!"

Zhang Mingzhong accepted the order and slowly left the imperial study.

Just as he walked out of the imperial study, Chen Zhongshu just came over.

"Godfather!" Zhang Mingzhong bowed and called.

Chen Zhongshu nodded slightly and looked at the memorial in his hand, "What's the matter?"

"Marquis Jing'an is dissatisfied with Zhou Ningwei, and your majesty asked his son to investigate him!" Zhang Mingzhong said respectfully.

Godfather and godson are the most common relationships among the eunuchs in the imperial city, but Chen Zhongshu used to be called the ancestor.

"Then you go and do it, go early and come back early!"

Chen Zhongshu gave instructions, then entered the imperial study and came to the imperial desk.

Emperor Yanping was still dealing with memorials in the court. Chen Zhongshu bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, the matter of the Weaving Bureau has been investigated!"

"What's the problem?"

"There is no big problem with the Weaving Bureau, but many silk merchants in Jiangnan have many problems!" Chen Zhongshu said.

Emperor Yanping looked up at him, and Chen Zhongshu explained, "In the past two years, because the silk production of the Weaving Bureau has been increasing, more and more raw silk has been needed, which has caused the price of raw silk in Jiangnan to rise again and again, causing many silk merchants in Jiangnan to be dissatisfied!"

The Weaving Bureau is dedicated to manufacturing silk fabrics for the palace, but the Weaving Bureau also provides silk fabrics for tribute trade.

If it were just these, the Weaving Bureau would not affect the price of raw silk in Jiangnan, but because of the establishment of the Imperial Merchants Bureau and the intervention of the six major imperial merchants in the tribute trade, the scale of the tribute trade has become larger and larger.

In order to complete the orders of the Imperial Merchants Bureau, the Weaving Bureau had to purchase raw silk in large quantities, which led to the increasing price of raw silk in Jiangnan.

However, there is a lot of silk in the folks of Jiangnan, and they also need a lot of raw silk. The increase in the price of raw silk will naturally affect their interests.

"So they colluded with the pirates and burned the weaving workshop in Yuzhou?" Emperor Yanping asked gloomily.

Chen Zhongshu said: "Not only because of this, in addition to the price of raw silk, they are also dissatisfied with the Imperial Merchants Bureau's intervention in the silk trade!"

"Some time ago, the Imperial Merchants Bureau and the Jialuo Dynasty negotiated a large order of 500,000 pieces of silk and 8 million taels of silver. The Jialuo Dynasty used to purchase silk from the Jiangnan Maritime Customs Bureau, but because of the intervention of the Imperial Merchants Bureau, the silk merchants in Jiangnan lost such a large order."

The Jialuo Dynasty is located in the south of Dayong and does not border Dayong. If you go by land, you need to cross several dynasties to reach Dayong, but if you go by sea, you can go directly south by boat for thousands of miles to reach the Jialuo Dynasty.

The Jialuo Dynasty was also a dynasty with developed maritime trade. They liked to buy various specialties from Dayong and transport them to the far west for sale.

Dayong's silk fabrics were one of their favorite commodities.

Emperor Yanping knew about the big order from the Imperial Merchants' Office. He was very happy at the time because he could earn at least 4 million taels of silver from the order. He didn't expect that this matter would become a disaster for Yuzhou.

However, he still couldn't understand why the silk merchants in Jiangnan dared to collude with pirates to attack Yuzhou City.

Don't they know that the court will be furious and will investigate the matter thoroughly?

Are they really not afraid of death?

A group of silk merchants alone want to challenge the majesty of the court?

"Leave these to the Secret Guards. No matter who is involved in this matter, it must be investigated thoroughly!" Emperor Yanping's eyes showed a cold light, and he couldn't wait to raise the butcher knife.

Involving the Imperial Merchants' Office and the Weaving Bureau, this is something he feels intolerable.

You have to know that the Imperial Merchants Department is now the money bag for him and the court. Last year, the silver earned by the Imperial Merchants Department exceeded 20 million taels, which is twice as much as the tax silver collected by the court.

How could he tolerate someone destroying the business of the Imperial Merchants Department?

"I obey your order!" Chen Zhongshu replied.

...

After Zhang Mingzhong conveyed the order of Emperor Yanping to the Secret Guard, the Secret Guard immediately found Zhou Ningwei's file.

Although the official rank of an imperial censor like Zhou Ningwei is not high, the Secret Guard still pays some attention to him because he has the power to supervise all officials.

As for the officials and dignitaries in Kyoto, the Secret Guard has set up special files to record them, including their origins, resumes, some information that needs attention, etc.

In fact, the Secret Guard knows whether there are corrupt officials in the court, and Emperor Yanping knows it very well.

But if the water is too clear, there will be no fish. Both Emperor Chengping and Emperor Yanping know that corrupt officials cannot be killed completely, so they don't think about killing corrupt officials.

Moreover, some people and some things cannot really be divided into black and white.

For example, festival gifts are the most common thing for officials to send festival gifts, and some people send very expensive gifts. Not only in the officialdom, but also in the folk, they attach great importance to giving festival gifts. This is a custom, and even the court cannot prohibit it.

So some things are not that the court does not want to do, but that they cannot do it.

Zhou Ningwei was born in poverty, but now he lives a life of luxury, which shows that he is quite accomplished in making money.

Although the Secret Guard did not pay special attention to Zhou Ningwei, there are still many cases of Zhou Ningwei's bribery and corruption in the recorded files.

There is no need for Zhang Mingzhong to make special arrangements. The Secret Guard took Zhou Ningwei down on the same day.

When a large number of Secret Guards surrounded the Zhou family mansion and took Zhou Ningwei back to the Secret Guard's prison, Kyoto caused a small fluctuation.

Most people don't know what happened, but some people know why.

Shuntian Prefecture, in the study.

When Zhen Shijie learned about this, he couldn't help but shook his head, "This idiot, why did he mess with Jing'an Hou when he could mess with anyone else? He really thinks Jing'an Hou is made of mud!"

He knew Yang Zhengshan very well. Although he had not dealt with Yang Zhengshan in these years, he had always been paying attention to Yang Zhengshan.

Back then, Pingyuan Province investigated and dealt with many members of the Zhen family. Zhen Shijie had thought about helping them, but in the end he chose to ignore it.

One reason was that the matter was too much of a fuss in the court, and the other was that it involved Yang Zhengshan.

"Go and find Zhen Yangshi. I need her help with something?" Zhen Shijie thought for a while, called a follower and ordered.

"Zhen Yangshi? The master is talking about the person in charge of the Imperial Merchants Department?" The follower asked carefully.

Zhen Shijie nodded, "That's her. I remember she has a mansion in Kyoto! Ask her if she is in Kyoto. If not, send her a letter to see when she can come to Kyoto!"

"Yes!" the follower replied.

Zhen Yang was born in the Zhen family of Yanzhou, and was also a member of the Zhen clan. According to the seniority, Zhen Yang had to call Zhen Shijie uncle.

However, the Zhen clan was too large, and Zhen Shijie didn't want to care about the clan's affairs, so he hadn't met Zhen Yang in these years.

On the contrary, Zhen Yang would send a gift every year and festival, and didn't forget him as an elder.

In the past, he looked down on Zhen Yang, but now he thinks he should get to know Zhen Yang more.

…

Although Yang Zhengshan was angry with Zhou Ningwei, the fool, he actually didn't take Zhou Ningwei to heart. After learning that Zhou Ningwei had been captured by the Secret Guard, he put the matter behind him.

At the end of April, Yang Zhengshan went to the Worship Court to receive this year's salary, a Zhenyuan Pill.

The Imperial Hospital was a little lazy this year. In previous years, the Zhenyuan Pill was refined in March, but this year it was delayed until the end of April.

After getting the Zhenyuan Pill, Yang Zhengshan hid in the Lingquan space and took the Zhenyuan Pill.

In the simple house, Yang Zhengshan lay on the soft couch with his eyes slightly closed, his mind immersed in the circulation of the true qi in his body.

After the Zhenyuan Pill entered his abdomen, Yang Zhengshan immediately felt a large amount of true qi growing in the acupuncture points in his body, and the true qi entered the meridians and circulated rapidly.

As the true qi circulated, he felt his body expanding, but the swelling feeling only lasted for more than an hour and then disappeared.

When he opened his eyes, the effect of the Zhenyuan Pill had worn off.

Coming down from the couch, Yang Zhengshan stretched out his hand and a green grass immediately emerged from his palm.

The grass was lifelike, and even the veins on the leaves were clearly visible.

However, Yang Zhengshan still shook his head slightly, "It's still not good enough, it's too far away, ah~~"

This was the third Zhenyuan Pill he had taken, which was equivalent to an increase of nine years of cultivation. With the three years of cultivation, it means that he has increased his cultivation by twelve years in these three years.

However, the cultivation of innate warriors is not calculated by years. The Zhenyuan Pill only improves the accumulation of innate true qi.

The accumulation of innate true qi can only allow him to quickly pass the stable period of innate entry and enter the level of controlling qi, but if he wants to reach the realm of subtlety, he still needs to practice carefully.

Yang Zhengshan walked out of the house and looked at the eight spiritual plants next to the courtyard, and a bright smile suddenly appeared on his face.

Eight spiritual plants, four three-yellow plums, two star yuan fruits, and two ice heart fruits.

The largest of them is the Sanhuang plum, which is now more than ten feet tall. Under normal circumstances, it takes twelve years for the Sanhuang plum to bear fruit, but in the Lingquan space, the growth rate of the Sanhuang plum is much faster. Yang Zhengshan estimates that this Sanhuang plum may bear fruit this year.

Calculating the time, this largest Sanhuang plum has been planted for six years.

It takes thirty years for the Xingyuan fruit to bear fruit. Even if it grows faster in the Lingquan space, it will take at least ten years.

As for the Bingxin fruit, Yang Zhengshan looked at the two Bingxin fruit trees that looked like pear trees, and his eyes were full of joy, because the Bingxin fruit actually bloomed this year.

Bingxin fruit bears fruit every three years, and only eighteen fruits are produced each time. Yang Zhengshan never expected that Bingxin fruit can bear fruit after only three years of growth.

But that's not right. It grows for three years in the Lingquan space, so it may take five or six years in the outside world.

Anyway, no matter what, Bingxin fruit will definitely bear fruit this year.

One Bingxin fruit can be refined into one Yugu Bingxin pill. He refined one Yugu Bingxin pill out of the three Bingxin fruits Xue Qiaoer gave him before, and he ate that Yugu Bingxin pill himself.

Well, the effect is that his skin is more tender and looks younger. It also has the effect of cleansing the meridians, but this effect is not very effective for him.

Because he became younger, Yu Qingyi was curious for a long time, and Yang Zhengshan didn't have the nerve to tell Yu Qingyi the truth.

He is an old man, what does he want to be young!

If Yu Qingyi knew, she would definitely blame him for not letting her enjoy such a good thing.

Women, as a matter of fact, have some obsession with appearance.

Especially now that Yu Qingyi is not young anymore, she is already in her forties. Although she still looks like she is in her early thirties, Yu Qingyi still feels a little uncomfortable with her old age.

If she can refine the Yugu Bingxin pill again, Yu Qingyi will definitely be very happy.

However, Yu Qingyi should be about to break through the innate realm, which is estimated to be a matter of one or two years.

Three years, three three yellow plums, Yang Zhengshan gave one to Yu Qingyi, one to Ding Qiu, and one to Yang Mingcheng.

Ding Qiu and Yang Mingcheng's cultivation had both reached the half-step innate state, but it was a pity that Yu Qingyi still could not break through the innate state.