Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather

Wu Zhan stayed in the mansion of Duke Xingguo for three days, and then Qu Changkong personally escorted him out of the city. He not only gave him a three-yellow plum, but also collected a lot of good things from the four brothers who accompanied him.

After leaving Nanhua City, the five people rushed all the way to Kyoto as if they were running for their lives.

Damn, this Duke Xingguo is too scary. He is so good at changing his face and using coercion and inducement. Wu Zhan is really scared.

To say that he is afraid of death, that's not the case, but facing the Duke Xingguo is more terrifying than letting him go to the battlefield and face countless enemy chieftains.

The journey was supposed to take a month, but the five people ran back to Kyoto in less than half a month.

When Yang Zhengshan looked at Wu Zhan and others who were exhausted, he couldn't help asking, "If this matter is not urgent, why are you in such a hurry to come back?"

Wu Zhan opened his bag and put the jade box in front of Yang Zhengshan, "My Lord, help me!"

Yang Zhengshan first looked at the three yellow plums in the jade box, then looked at Wu Zhan, "What's going on?"

Wu Zhan smiled bitterly and told the whole story in detail.

"My Lord, can Miss Wanqing and the prince succeed?"

Yang Zhengshan couldn't help laughing after listening to it, "This Xingguo Duke is interesting!"

"My Lord, if the lady and the prince don't succeed, then Xingguo Duke will probably take my life!" Wu Zhan wanted to cry.

Qu Changkong is a living devil, too scary, even though half a month has passed, Wu Zhan is still scared.

"Tell me about Qu Shaogong's situation first!" Yang Zhengshan said slowly.

Wu Zhan was a little hesitant, he was thinking whether he should really say a few good words for Qu Shaogong.

Yang Zhengshan looked at him with a smile, "Tell the truth!"

Wu Zhan almost jumped up when he saw Yang Zhengshan's eyes.

No way!

It's okay for Qu Changkong to scare me, but how can you scare me, Lord?

This look, damn, is no less than that of Qu Changkong!

"We bribed two servants of the Duke of Xingguo's Mansion. They said that Qu Shaogong was quite well-behaved and didn't have any maids around him. However, it is said that two cousins ​​who grew up with Princess Nanhua have always been interested in Qu Shaogong." He said honestly.

Yang Zhengshan nodded with satisfaction. It was not difficult to tell whether Qu Shaogong was good or bad. The situation in Nanjiang Town was unclear, but Wu Zheng knew clearly about Qu Shaogong's performance in Kyoto for more than half a year.

"You are so old, you are not scared at all! How dare Qu Changkong do anything to you?" Yang Zhengshan looked at Wu Zhan with some amusement.

Wu Zhan had a sad face, "My Lord, the Duke of Xingguo is a congenital warrior after all!"

Yang Zhengshan smiled, "So what, isn't Qu Shaogong still in Kyoto!"

Will Qu Changkong dare to harm Wu Zhan?

Not necessarily!

But what is certain is that Qu Changkong will not easily make enemies with Yang Zhengshan.

Qu Shaogong is his biggest concern.

"Okay, you guys go down and rest!"

Wu Zhan was still a little worried, "Then Miss Wanqing's marriage!"

"Don't worry, the queen has already acted as a matchmaker, and it's time to discuss marriage for them next." Yang Zhengshan said unhappily.

Wu Zhan let out a long breath, "That's good, that's good!"

After catching his breath, he said goodbye, "Then I'll go down first!"

"Take this away, since it's given to you by the Duke of Xingguo, you can keep it. This year's Sanhuang plums will be given to Wu Zheng!" Yang Zhengshan said.

Wu Zhan heard this and smiled, "Thank you, Lord!"

Yang Zhengshan said to the other four people, "Keep the things given to you, and go to Lu Shou to get a jar of Baicao Wine later!"

The four of them were all smiling, "Thank you, Lord!"

Two of these four were former disciples of the Tianqing Sword Sect, and the first batch of guards trained by the Yang family. Yang Zhengshan would naturally not treat them unfairly.

…

In the imperial city, in the imperial study.

Wang Zhongzhi has returned to Jiangnan. He personally led a team to Jiangnan to investigate the case of silk merchants colluding with pirates. It took more than two months, and now it has finally been investigated.

Emperor Yanping sat in front of the desk, looking at the memorial presented by Wang Zhongzhi while listening to Wang Zhongzhi's story.

"Sixteen silk merchants in Jiangnan, spread across nine prefectures and four states, all colluded with pirates. The disaster in Yuzhou this time was caused by seven silk merchants in Haizhou, Songjiang, Suzhou, and Hangzhou, colluding with the pirate Yan Wushang!"

"In the past ten years, Jiangnan silk merchants, together with officials from the Jiangnan Maritime Customs, colluded with Yan Wushang to operate silk trade in the southeastern sea area. Their trade scope includes the six major dynasties in the south, and the annual trade volume reaches tens of millions of taels of silver."

"Silk merchants provide the source of goods, officials from the Maritime Customs help with customs clearance and exemption of taxes, and the pirate Yan Wushang is responsible for shipping."

"The reason why they attacked Yuzhou this time is that they don't want the Imperial Merchants to complete the silk trade with the Ghani Dynasty."

Wang Zhongzhi said slowly.

After listening to the story, Emperor Yanping asked, "What about Xingyuemen? Didn't you say that Xingyuemen was also involved?"

Wang Zhongzhi bowed slightly and replied, "Yan Wushang has another identity. He is the seal protector of Xingyuemen. Originally, the silk merchants in Jiangnan just wanted to disrupt the silk trade between the Imperial Merchants and the Ghani Dynasty, but Yan Wushang led nearly 10,000 pirates to attack Yuzhou City. He should have been instructed by Xingyuemen."

After speaking, he handed another memorial to Emperor Yanping, "Your Majesty, this is information about Xingyuemen!"

"According to the investigation of the Secret Guard, the Xingyue Sect has four flags of the army, with more than 3,000 large and small ships and 20,000 sailors. In addition, the Xingyue Sect also controls a large number of pirates in the southeastern sea area, and Yan Wushang's pirate group is just one of them."

"In recent years, Shangwu Temple has been attacking Qixingtang. Xingyue Sect has fought with Shangwu Temple many times, but in our Darong territory, they have always been defeated!"

"This time they attacked Yuzhou City, it is very likely because Shangwu Temple cleared out Qixingtang."

Emperor Yanping looked at the memorial in his hand, his face became more gloomy.

For the forces in the southeastern sea area, Darong has always held the attitude of not interfering with others.

Because the navy is Darong's shortcoming, Darong's court has always put manpower and material resources on the nine border towns, resulting in Darong's navy having almost no deterrent power in the sea area.

And the pirates in the southeastern sea area are as numerous as stars. In Darong's eyes, all forces in the southeastern sea area can be called pirates.

"Xingyuemen!"

Emperor Yanping's eyes flashed with ferocity. He could ignore other forces in the southeastern sea area, but he had to destroy the Xingyuemen.

In the past, Xingyuemen supported Qixingtang to make trouble in Darong, and now it is instructing pirates to attack Yuzhou.

If Darong still swallows its anger this time, then in the future, all forces in the southeastern sea area will think that Darong is weak and can be bullied.

And now is different from the past. Darong could only barely maintain the nine border towns in the past, but now Darong's court is not short of money. Darong has the ability to fight a big battle in the southeastern sea area to boost Darong's national prestige.

"Mingzhong, summon the cabinet assistants, the six ministers, the left censor, the Dali Temple, the Duke of Ningguo, the Duke of Rongguo, the Marquis of Changping, and the Marquis of Jianchang to come to discuss matters!" said Emperor Yanping.

Zhang Mingzhong bowed and responded: "Yes!"

About half an hour later, a group of summoned ministers came to the side hall of Taiji Hall.

Emperor Yanping brought Wang Zhongzhi to the side hall, and the ministers bowed and said, "Your Majesty!"

"No need to be polite, everyone!"

"Wang Zhongzhi, tell us about Jiangnan again!"

Wang Zhongzhi stepped forward and stood in front of the ministers to tell them the whole story again.

When he finished, the ministers all showed ugly expressions on their faces.

"Your Majesty, this matter must be thoroughly investigated. Not only the Maritime Customs, but I'm afraid that the Jiangnan Provincial Administration and the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner are also involved!" Song Yuange was the first to speak up.

What he was concerned about was the officials involved in the Jiangnan officialdom. As for the Xingyuemen incident, that was not his focus.

Zhou Yunsong next to him lowered his head and glanced at him, with no emotion on his old face.

The Jiangnan Provincial Administration and the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner were both his disciples. Song Yuange was stabbing him in the back.

Emperor Yanping looked at Wang Zhongzhi, who shook his head slightly, "Your Majesty, the time is still short. The Secret Guard has only investigated the officials of the Jiangnan Maritime Customs. As for whether other officials are involved, the Secret Guard has not found evidence yet!"

Although the Secret Guard is powerful, it is not omnipotent. It is not easy to understand the situation of Jiangnan silk merchants and the Maritime Customs in just two months. As for the others, it is difficult to find out by secret investigation.

Emperor Yanping nodded slightly. The Xingyue Sect must be destroyed, and the officialdom in Jiangnan must be purged. The silk trade of tens of millions of taels every year, if the Maritime Customs can collect taxes according to the regulations, it can collect at least one million taels of tax.

This is just the silk trade. Jiangnan is the most developed area of ​​​​Darong commerce and the most prosperous area of ​​​​maritime trade.

The Maritime Customs must not only do things in the silk trade, but also the trade of other industries, and it is estimated that they have also embezzled a lot of money.

"Investigate, no matter who is involved, investigate thoroughly!"

"This case is mainly handled by the Censorate, with the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple co-organizing, and the Secret Guard and the Shangwu Temple assisting!"

Emperor Yanping has already prepared to raise the butcher knife. The Jiangnan Maritime Customs is involved in taxes of up to millions of taels of silver. However, in recent years, the tax silver paid by the Jiangnan Maritime Customs is even less than that of the Liaoan Maritime Customs.

The Liaoan Maritime Customs is responsible for the maritime trade in the Liaohai area. The main source of tax is the Tenglong Guard. However, the maritime trade tax set by Yang Zhengshan for the Tenglong Guard was much lower than that of other Maritime Customs.

But even so, the tax silver of the Jiangnan Maritime Customs is even less than that of the Liaoan Maritime Customs. It is conceivable that the Jiangnan Maritime Customs has embezzled a lot of tax silver in this.

And this matter is definitely not something that a Maritime Customs can withstand. There must be other officials involved behind this, and maybe even officials in Kyoto are involved.

Emperor Yanping's eyes fell on Zhou Yunsong, who lowered his head and said nothing.

He naturally understood what Emperor Yanping suspected, but he really had no involvement in this matter.

Now, for him, the more he said, the more mistakes he made. It would be better for him to say nothing and take the initiative to avoid suspicion.

Guan Wenshuo, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Wei Rong, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Yan Ruishu, the Minister of the Dali Temple, as well as Wang Zhongzhi and Zhang Luan, heard the words and hurriedly stepped out and responded: "Your Highness obeys your order!"

Emperor Yanping nodded and said, "The disaster in Yuzhou was caused by Xingyuemen. This time, the court must not tolerate Xingyuemen anymore. I want to destroy Xingyuemen!"

"Do you have any objections, my dear ministers?"

"Your Majesty is wise!" said the ministers.

"Then do you have any suggestions, my dear ministers?" asked Emperor Yanping.

The ministers fell into deep thought, and then Ningguo Duke Zhou Mao stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, if you want to encircle and suppress Xingyuemen, you must send out the navy, and at present, only the five navy guards of Tenglong Qianwei, Jinhaiwei, Haizhou Zuowei, Quanhaiwei, and Leizhouwei can be of great use!"

"It's just that Xingyuemen is powerful in the southeastern sea area. If it's just these five navy, I'm afraid it won't be able to wipe out Xingyuemen!"

Darong's navy is a shortcoming, and now Dayong's most powerful navy is Tenglong Vanguard. Although Tenglong Vanguard has been in existence for less than ten years, it now has the power to deter Dayong's northeastern sea area.

As for the other four guards, Jinhai Guard is the navy that protects Kyoto and can be used, while the other three guards can barely be used.

Zhou Mao is familiar with all the armies of Dayong, and these are the only navy that can be used in the short term.

"Don't we have other navy available in Dayong?" Emperor Yanping frowned and said dissatisfiedly.

Zhou Mao fell into silence. Duke Rong Duan Rui thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, Jiujiang Navy may also be used!"

"Jiujiang Navy is an inland navy, I'm afraid it can't gallop on the sea!" Zhou Mao said again.

In fact, the Jiujiang Navy is also an elite force, and the Jiujiang Navy has five guards in front, back, left, right and center, with more than 20,000 soldiers. Its main responsibility is to guard the waters of the three provinces of Bashu, Yungui and Jiangnan.

But the problem is that the Jiujiang Navy is an inland navy and has never experienced a naval battle. Moreover, their warships are relatively small, and there are no large Fu ships. The warships are mainly small and medium-sized sentry ships and bird ships.

If the Jiujiang Navy is allowed to go to sea for battle, it must be equipped with large Fu ships.

Liang Chu also said: "I think it is not impossible. The Jiujiang Navy can go to sea with a little training, but the warships may need to be supplemented!"

Zhou Mao glanced at Changping Hou. This is what you said. You will be responsible if there is a problem.

Liang Chu also glanced at him. Old Duke, this is also a helpless thing. You can't form a navy now, and His Majesty is angry. It's better to come up with something at this time.

The two of them were arguing with each other. Zhou Mao probably understood Liang Chu's idea and kept silent.