Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather

"Qinghua Prefecture Prefect!" Yang Mingcheng said.

Yang Zhengshan frowned even more deeply. Qinghua Prefecture Prefect was a fourth-rank official, which should be considered a promotion for Lu Wenyuan.

But this obviously did not fit the official career that Lu Wenyuan should take.

It was not impossible to be sent out to supervise the affairs of the Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. This was the normal situation.

Although the rank of being sent out to be a prefect was improved, it was actually a promotion in name only.

It would be difficult for Lu Wenyuan to return to Beijing in the future.

"Where is the letter?"

"In the study in the front yard!" Yang Mingcheng said.

Yang Zhengshan said something to Yu Qingyi, and then went to the study in the front yard with Yang Mingcheng.

Yang Mingcheng found the letter left by Lu Wenyuan and gave it to Yang Zhengshan. After reading it, Yang Zhengshan's expression eased a little.

Lu Wenyuan took the initiative to propose to be sent out, and it was the result of his own arrangement for himself through his connections.

As for the reason, he didn't want to get involved in the struggle in the court, so he simply sent himself out.

However, there were reasons why he wanted to be sent out. One was that he didn't want to participate in the struggle in the court, and the other was that he was isolated.

The factional struggle in the court became more and more intense, and many neutral factions were forced to be involved.

Lu Wenyuan didn't want to participate in the factional struggle in the court, but some things were not something he didn't want to do. Sitting in that position, many things were out of his control.

Not participating means being unsociable, and being unsociable will be isolated.

In desperation, Lu Wenyuan could only choose to leave the court.

In this regard, Yang Zhengshan was also very helpless. He didn't have much way to deal with the factional struggle in the court.

As a noble, he could keep himself out of trouble, but he couldn't influence the situation in the court.

It would be good for Lu Wenyuan to go to Qinghua Prefecture. Qinghua Prefecture is in Liaodong. He can fully display his talents in Qinghua Prefecture, and governing a place is also a kind of training.

Yang Zhengshan always felt that there was something wrong with the promotion path of the central officials in the Darong court. Without any experience in local office, he was in a high position in the center. Can such a prime minister manage the country well?

"Are there any other letters?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

"Yes!" Yang Mingcheng took out a large pile of letters and handed them to Yang Zhengshan.

"My second and third brothers have written to me. I have replied to them. They are all fine in Chongshan Town. Well, my third brother's wife is pregnant again and is expected to give birth at this time."

"My second brother also said that there seems to be another coup in the Li Sheng Dynasty. Jin Shangjun died suddenly and his son inherited the throne. However, the current ruler of the Li Sheng Dynasty is a minister named Chen!"

Yang Mingcheng said slowly.

Yang Zhengshan checked the letters one by one.

He will have another grandson or granddaughter. He counted in his mind that he now has six grandsons and six granddaughters.

Yang Mingcheng has four children, Yang Mingzhi also has four children, and Yang Minghao also had four children before. Now Yang Minghao has surpassed him and will soon have five children.

"By the way, there is a letter from the Duke of Xingguo's Mansion. Wanqing is also pregnant!" Yang Mingcheng grinned.

"So fast?" Yang Zhengshan was surprised.

"Well, the letter just came last month, and it should be four months now!" Yang Mingcheng said.

Yang Zhengshan calculated, which means that Yang Wanqing was pregnant two months after getting married, which is really fast.

This is a good thing. The Qu family has few people. Whether Yang Wanqing's pregnancy is a son or a daughter, it is very rare for the Qu family.

It is estimated that the Qu family will worship Yang Wanqing as an aunt at this time.

"Prepare some herbal wine and royal honey to send over!" Yang Zhengshan said.

"There is no royal honey at home!" Yang Mingcheng said.

Yang Zhengshan said, "I still have some in my warehouse. You can go get some tomorrow."

A powerful minister appeared in the Li Sheng Dynasty, and it seems that the situation of the Silla Jin family is not very good.

He looked at Yang Mingzhi's letter and fell into deep thought.

The power change of the Li Sheng Dynasty has nothing to do with Dayong. Dayong does not care about the life and death of the Li Sheng Dynasty, a subsidiary dynasty.

However, the changes in the Li Sheng Dynasty may affect the sea trade of Fuzhou and Tenglongwei, which is why Yang Mingzhi wrote a letter to explain this matter.

There must be something wrong with Jin Shangjun's sudden death, because Jin Shangjun is an innate warrior, and he must have died an unnatural death.

Yang Zhengshan pondered for a while, and then wrote a letter back to Yang Mingzhi, asking him to pay more attention to the situation of the Li Sheng Dynasty.

Yang Zhengshan can ignore who is in power in the Li Sheng Dynasty, but if it affects the sea trade of Fuzhou and Tenglongwei, Yang Zhengshan will have to intervene.

Fuzhou is Yang Mingzhi's base, and Tenglongwei is one of his bases. As Liaodong's maritime trade becomes more and more prosperous, the influence of the Lisheng Dynasty on Liaodong's maritime trade is also increasing.

It can be said that the Lisheng Dynasty is one of the most important markets and sources of goods for Fuzhou and Tenglongwei, and its importance is even higher than that of the Desheng Dynasty.

After writing the reply, Yang Zhengshan opened the other letters and checked them one by one.

There are many letters with very diverse contents, and there are quite a few people who wrote to him.

Lin Zhan wrote to him saying that the situation in Yuzhou has stabilized, and he plans to develop maritime trade in Yuzhou and also plans to develop Yuzhou's silk weaving industry.

He wrote a lot, but it was not an important matter, just normal greetings and inquiries.

Zhou Lan also wrote to him, talking about the development of Chongshan Town. The West Route Dinghuwei of Chongshan Town has been built, and Luo Feiyu serves as the Lieutenant General of the West Route Dinghuwei.

The Wula clan of the Wulianghu tribe harassed Dinghuwei many times, but they were all repelled by Dinghuwei.

Yang Zhengshan read and replied until he saw the last letter.

The last letter was written by Wang Bin from Beiyuan Town.

Wang Bin has been the deputy general in Beiyuan Town for more than ten years, but he has never made a breakthrough. Instead, he has been constrained by many things.

The main reason is that Duan Qifeng, the general of Beiyuan Town, has become more and more powerful, and the entire Beiyuan Town has almost become Duan Qifeng's one-man show.

In addition, Duan Qifeng broke through to the innate realm a year ago and became an innate warrior, which also made his reputation in Beiyuan Town reach its peak.

Yang Zhengshan frowned slightly at this. This Duan Qifeng seemed to be acting too recklessly.

In fact, the most powerful nobles and generals in the court of Darong today are not Yang Zhengshan. Although Yang Zhengshan has great military exploits, the foundation of Jing'an Marquis Mansion is too shallow, far less powerful than those old nobles.

For example, Duke Shou, although this old Duke is a relative, he is very powerful and has a deep experience. He has a great influence in the western border town of Darong.

Another example is the Rongguo Mansion. After the decline of the Ningguo Mansion, the Rongguo Mansion became the leader of the noble group. Now Duan Qifeng has become a congenital warrior, making up for the last shortcoming of the Rongguo Mansion.

Although the Ningguo Mansion, the Changping Marquis Mansion, the Jianchang Marquis Mansion, etc., these nobles are usually not prominent, but in fact they all have considerable power.

Take Jianchang Marquis Zhang Luan for example. Zhang Luan himself is a congenital warrior. Now he is in charge of the Shangwu Temple. His position in the court is even higher than Yang Zhengshan.

In short, there is a powerful force behind these nobles.

In comparison, although the strength of the Yang family is strong enough, its power is far less than these old nobles.

Yang Zhengshan thought about it and wrote a reply to Wang Bin.

He felt that since Wang Bin was not happy in Beiyuan Town, he would leave Beiyuan Town and come to Kyoto to work as an idle position.

Wang Bin is not young anymore. He is already over 60 years old. There is no need to stay in Beiyuan Town and suffer.

However, Yang Zhengshan didn't know that Wang Bin was in big trouble at this time.

Beiyuan Town, Tieyuanwei City.

Wang Bin sat in the study with a pale face, staring at the blank fold on the desk in a daze.

After the destruction of the Donghai Hu tribe, he was promoted from the lieutenant general of Songzhouwei in Chongshan Town to the deputy general of Beiyuan Town. He thought he could make a great contribution in Beiyuan Town, but after arriving in Beiyuan Town, he found that his idea was too simple.

Beiyuan Town was almost made into an iron bucket by Duan Qifeng. All the generals from top to bottom followed Duan Qifeng's lead. As an outsider who had just arrived, he could not get Duan Qifeng's trust or respect from his subordinates.

At first, he wanted to take the initiative to surrender to Duan Qifeng. After all, Duan Qifeng was his superior, and it was not wrong for him to follow Duan Qifeng's wishes.

But later he found that he was wrong again. Although Duan Qifeng did not make things difficult for him, he would not value him much. In order to prevent him from competing for military power, he even restricted his various powers.

Later, he also wanted to fight with Duan Qifeng and take back the power that should belong to him. As a deputy general, he should at least have the power to lead the reinforcement camp and should be in charge of the military and political affairs of the army. However, the power was in the hands of Duan Qifeng. He had no ability to compete for power from Duan Qifeng. Instead, he angered Duan Qifeng, causing Duan Qifeng to become more dissatisfied with him.

In this way, more than ten years have passed, and his situation has become more and more embarrassing. Now, he, the deputy general, only controls one guard, that is, the Iron Wing Guard.

Moreover, the Iron Wing Guard is extremely poor. The general's mansion does not give food or money, and he himself has no ability to develop the Iron Wing Guard, which makes the Iron Wing Guard even poorer now.

The Iron Wing Guard is more like a prison drawn by Duan Qifeng for him, making him completely unable to show his fists and feet.

Half a month ago, a small group of Hu cavalry from the Wulianghu tribe invaded the Iron Wing Guard and burned, killed and looted. Although he fought hard, the Iron Wing Guard still suffered heavy casualties.

Not only did the casualties suffer heavy losses, but a large number of military households in Tieyuanwei were abducted by the Wulianghu tribe. The number of military households, which was not sufficient to begin with, is now less than 30%.

For a great defeat, he, the deputy general, must bear the responsibility.

Wang Bin now feels like he is at the end of his rope.

Just as Wang Bin was stunned, Wang Sheng walked out of the door with a sullen face, holding a long knife in his hand.

"Dad!"

"What's wrong?" Wang Bin came back to his senses.

"Look at this!" Wang Sheng put the long knife in his hand on the desk.

Wang Bin looked at the long sword and asked in confusion: "Isn't this the standard long sword in the army? What's the problem?"

Wang Sheng's face was extremely ugly. He lowered his voice and said solemnly: "Dad, this is the long sword used by the Hu cavalry! We don't have many such long swords in the Iron Wing Guard, but this time we got hundreds of them from the Hu cavalry!"

Standard long swords are very long swords in the army. They are generally made by the local guards themselves. However, the Iron Wing Guards do not have the ability to forge weapons. They have neither iron mines nor enough craftsmen, so the soldiers of the Iron Wing Guards use old weapons.

Wang Bin stood up suddenly and picked up the long sword to observe it carefully.

Wang Sheng added: "I checked it out. The long swords we got this time are all new. The forging time is no more than one year. It is impossible that the Hu cavalry seized them from the soldiers."

"So?" Wang Bin asked with deep eyes.

"Someone sold the weapons to the Wuliang Hu tribe!" Wang Sheng said.

Wang Bin stroked the blade, and the cold touch made his heart become cold.

Selling military equipment to the Wulianghu tribe is a crime punishable by genocide.

He couldn't believe that someone dared to do such a thing, but he had to believe it because the facts were right in front of him.

"Dad, should we report to the court?" Wang Sheng asked in a low voice.

Wang Bin took a deep breath, "Let me think about it!"

His thoughts were very confused at this time.

Who sold the military equipment to the Wulianghu tribe?

Those who dared to do so must not be ordinary soldiers or ordinary military officers.

Because ordinary military officers can't do it at all. First of all, it's forging. It's difficult for ordinary guards to forge large quantities of weapons and armor. Even if it's a guard commander, it's difficult to forge large quantities of weapons and armor.

Military officers who can forge weapons and armor in large quantities are at least military officers above the rank of lieutenant general.

There are eight lieutenant generals in Beiyuan Town, and these eight lieutenant generals are all Duan Qifeng's confidants. Is Duan Qifeng also involved?

Wang Bin didn't dare to think about it.

If Duan Qifeng sold the military equipment to the Wulianghu tribe, what was his purpose?

Raise the enemy and respect yourself!

These four words emerged in Wang Bin's mind.

At the same time, some things in the past gradually surfaced in his mind.

The battle between Beiyuan Town and the Wulianghu tribe has lasted for more than ten years. Some small-scale battles break out almost every year. The small ones are dozens of scouts meeting in the wild, and the large ones are Hu cavalry invading the border to plunder the military households of the guard.

Over the past ten years, the two sides have fought countless times, but it seems that there has never been a large-scale battle.

"Food, tea, salt and iron!" Wang Bin's heart trembled violently.

Perhaps the weapons are just the tip of the iceberg, and the real horror is still hidden under the water.

No wonder Duan Qifeng is unwilling to use him, and no wonder the eight lieutenants of Beiyuan Town are all Duan Qifeng's confidants.

"Dad, Dad~~" Wang Sheng couldn't help calling when he saw Wang Bin silent for a long time.

Wang Bin came back to his senses and exhaled heavily.

"How many people know about this?"

Wang Sheng was stunned, "Many people have seen these long swords!"

Wang Bin nodded slightly, and didn't say anything more, but took up the pen to write.

"You should take your entourage to Kyoto immediately. Remember to ride as fast as possible. The faster the better!"

"After arriving in Kyoto, go to Jing'an Hou first and give this memorial and this letter to Jing'an Hou!"

He wrote a memorial and a letter and handed them to Wang Sheng. Wang Sheng took them and said in a deep voice: "Dad, is there any danger?"

"Don't think too much. Go to Kyoto now!" Wang Bin said.

Wang Sheng hesitated for a moment, quickly put away the memorial and letter, and said: "Dad, take care of yourself!"

"Well! Go!" Wang Bin nodded.

Wang Bin then called a few entourages and rode away from Tieyuanwei at full speed.