Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

The ministers, upon hearing this, couldn't help but laugh.

"Lord Yang, please!" Lu Baishu also liked to join in the excitement and invited Yang Zhenshan to come forward.

"Ahem, I haven't been to court for a long time, and I'm not quite used to it, making you laugh, haha~~"

Yang Zhenshan smiled awkwardly, repeatedly bowing to the Military Officers in the hall.

He had just taken his place beside Liang Chu when he heard a eunuch shout: "His Majesty has arrived!"

The ministers quickly silenced themselves, solemnly awaiting Emperor Yanping's entrance to the hall.

After Emperor Yanping entered, there was a series of bows, followed by the commencement of the usual proceedings, with ministers presenting their memorials.

Most of the content during the morning court was actually pre-discussed, and the ministers' presentations were just part of the process, making things known to all.

For about an hour, it was all trivial matters, and Yang Zhenshan was nearly falling asleep.

This was why he was reluctant to attend morning court.

Most matters discussed in the court had nothing to do with him; attending was like being a pillar beside it, standing there without anything to do.

Just as Yang Zhenshan was lost in thoughts, Liang Chu beside him nudged him.

"What's wrong?" Yang Zhenshan came back to his senses.

"Aren't you supposed to present a memorial?" Liang Chu's beard quivered as he tried to hold back his laughter.

Yang Zhenshan's loud exclamation of "What's wrong" made everyone in the hall hear him.

All eyes turned towards him.

"Oh, Marquis Jing'an has also come to the morning court!" Emperor Yanping exclaimed with surprise.

Your Majesty, better you hadn't said anything!

Yang Zhenshan suddenly felt like an employee caught slacking off by the boss.

But his skin was thick; being caught didn't bother him.

He stepped out from the line, pulled out his memorial, and respectfully said: "Your Majesty, your servant has a memorial to present!"

Emperor Yanping's lips curled slightly; he glanced at Zhou Yunsong, then back at Yang Zhenshan, and said with a smile: "Proceed!"

The events that unfolded yesterday at the Ministry of Personnel had already spread; Emperor Yanping naturally received the news.

In fact, he had seen Yang Zhenshan earlier, just pretended not to.

He was looking forward to watching the drama unfold.

Indeed!

Yang Zhenshan impeaching the Ministry of Personnel—wasn't this a grand drama?

Standing among the civil official ranks, Zhao Gongqing, seeing Yang Zhenshan step forward, felt both gloomy and helpless, but he had prepared himself to ask for punishment.

As soon as Yang Zhenshan finished presenting his memorial, he would immediately step forward to ask for punishment.

But what Yang Zhenshan said next completely stunned him.

"This servant impeaches the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Personnel, Zhou Yunsong, for lax supervision, poor oversight, allowing Ministry officials to sell offices and ranks, usurping power, forming cliques for selfish ends, failing their duties."

Yang Zhenshan spoke clearly.

Before he had even finished, the hall plunged into silence; only his voice echoed.

The civil and military officials looked at him incredulously.

Even several Cabinet officials and Duan Rui and Zhou Mao could not help but turn to look at him.

Selling offices and forming cliques for selfish ends!

Such serious accusations!

Perhaps there were indeed such issues within the Ministry of Personnel, but who in the entire assembly would dare to explicitly confront this?

Zhou Yunsong's eyes were narrowly open, but his hands trembled slightly, showing his extremely unsettled mind.

Zhao Gongqing stared at Yang Zhenshan, dumbfounded, and even wondered if he was dreaming.

It was just a minor position in the Martial Arts Pavilion, right?

Why impeach Elder Zhou because of reassigning Bao Lang back to the Ministry?

He couldn't understand, couldn't figure it out!

Liang Chu looked at Yang Zhenshan, eyes flickering, but his lips curved with a hint of a smile.

And Emperor Yanping, sitting on the dragon throne, squinted at Yang Zhenshan, his expression becoming even more serene.

After Yang Zhenshan finished speaking, he glanced at Zhou Yunsong in front of him, then stretched out his hand to submit his memorial.

Impeaching the Ministry of Personnel?

What a joke!

Impeaching the Ministry of Personnel is impeaching whom? There must be a target for impeachment!

Clearly, Zhao Gongqing shouldn't be the target of his impeachment, only Zhou Yunsong is worthy of him coming early in the morning to impeach.

He always strikes where it hurts the most, either the heart or the neck, aiming not to kill you but to scare you to death.

Petty squabbles are obviously not his style.

Since he wants to cause a fuss, let it be a big one; if he wishes to stir the muddy waters of the court, then he must put in his utmost effort, otherwise, does he consider himself, Marquis Jing'an, to be a freeloader?

Zhang Mingzhong walked over, took the memorial from Yang Zhenshan's hand, and presented it to Emperor Yanping, who opened the memorial, glanced at it, and then closed it.

The memorial actually had little content, apart from mentioning the matters concerning Sun Anyang and Bao Lang, the rest was fabricated by Yang Zhenshan, as he hadn't conducted an actual investigation and had no evidence.

"Elder Zhou, do you have anything to say?" Emperor Yanping looked towards Zhou Yunsong, who was resting with his eyes closed.

Zhou Yunsong opened his eyes, slowly stepped out of line and said: "This old official is guilty, please punish me, Your Majesty!"

He was straightforward, openly admitting his guilt.

"Oh? State your crimes," Emperor Yanping asked.

Zhou Yunsong replied, "This official has lax control over his subordinates, leading to certain officials in the Ministry of Personnel becoming muddled by greed, indulging in bribery and bending the law! This old official has failed your gracious favor!"

Yang Zhenshan heard this and sneered disdainfully in his heart.

Admitting only to lax control over his subordinates, does that mean he denies all other crimes?

Indeed, how could Zhou Yunsong admit to forming cliques for personal gain?

This old cunning fellow, mentioning that 'certain officials' in the Ministry of Personnel were muddled, that 'certain' is very interesting.

Although the Ministry of Personnel is Zhou Yunsong's stronghold, not all its officials are his people. Zhou Yunsong could just push out a few scapegoats, and then his crime of lax control would not be established.

Zhou Yunsong could even use this to eliminate his opponents and kick out the outsiders from the Ministry of Personnel.

However, this matter will definitely not end so simply; the real drama is yet to come.

Yang Zhenshan glanced at Song Yuange next to Zhou Yunsong.

Old chap, I've passed you the knife, it's up to you to do the killing now!

Emperor Yanping then looked towards Yang Zhenshan and said, "Venerable Yang, how do you think Elder Zhou should be dealt with?"

This question was also very delicate, although it appeared that he was soliciting Yang Zhenshan's opinion, Emperor Yanping referred to Zhou Yunsong as Elder Zhou, is the implication not clear?

Yang Zhenshan smartly said, "Everything is up to Your Majesty!"

A trace of amusement flashed in Emperor Yanping's eyes, yet he spoke in an even tone, "Elder Zhou has lax control over his subordinates, he must be punished; the officials of the Ministry of Personnel accepting bribes must be thoroughly investigated!"

"Elder Zhou is dismissed from his position as the Crown Prince's Tutor, with his salary deducted for half a year!"

"The Imperial Examination Hall should strictly investigate the officials from the Ministry of Personnel!"

Upon hearing this, Left Imperial Censor Guan Wenshuo immediately stepped forward and responded, "Your servant obeys the decree!"

Yang Zhenshan, with his head lowered and mouth curled, thought that Emperor Yanping was trying to smooth things over!

This punishment was neither painful nor itchy for Zhou Yunsong, showing absolutely no actual intention.

Zhou Yunsong holds five official titles as Deputy Chancellor in the Cabinet, Chief of Staff in the Ministry of Personnel, Crown Prince's Tutor, Grand Tutor, and Senior Scholar in the Wenhua Palace.

Out of these, Deputy Chancellor in the Cabinet and Chief of Staff in the Ministry of Personnel are actual power positions, Grand Tutor and Crown Prince's Tutor are honorary titles, and Senior Scholar is usually part of the Deputy Chancellor package.

The Grand Tutor, holding the Standard First Rank, implies being the Emperor's tutor, whereas the Crown Prince's Tutor holds the Secondary First Rank, implying being the Crown Prince's tutor. These honorary titles merely showcase the official's merit and status without actual power.

Although being referred to as tutors to the Emperor and Crown Prince, they are merely nominal, and even the Crown Prince does not need to present the Disciple's salutation to Zhou Yunsong.

Thus, dismissing Zhou Yunsong from the position of Crown Prince's Tutor had no actual impact on him.

As for the salary deduction, it had even less impact. How many officials in Da Rong rely on their official salary for sustenance?

"His Majesty is wise!" Yang Zhenshan praised.

Since smoothing things over is the approach, Yang Zhenshan had no expectation that Emperor Yanping would treat Zhou Yunsong harshly. He had done what he needed to do; by stirring things up with this issue, the rest was out of his hands.

After saying this, Yang Zhenshan stepped back into the line.

However, after stepping back, he continued to glance at Song Yuange with his peripheral vision, but Song Yuange showed no reaction, looking completely unconcerned as if all of this had nothing to do with him.

"Alright, court is dismissed!"

Emperor Yanping stood up and walked towards the Imperial Study Room, but once he entered, he could no longer hide the smile on his face.

"Hehe, interesting, interesting, Marquis Jing'an's strike must have stunned quite a few people!"

Beside him, Chen Zhongshu furrowed his brows but said nothing.

He felt that the intense struggle in the court was not beneficial, but as an inner court official close to the Emperor, he was used to speaking cautiously.

He pondered over his words when the Emperor asked him to speak; when the Emperor asked him not to speak, he would not utter an extra word.