Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

"What tea! I'm not in the mood for tea right now." Yang Zhenshan glared discontentedly, then instructed Li Chang behind him: "Go get a chair for me, I will sit here and wait!"

Li Chang didn't waste words, directly fetched a chair from a nearby room.

Yang Zhenshan sat down with an air of authority in the courtyard of the Ministry of Personnel.

Zhao Gongqing really had no way to handle him and could only hurry off to arrange for an inquiry into the matter.

Selling official positions and titles!

These words might sound severe, but every single official in the Ministry of Personnel has not refrained from raking in Silver.

When external officials return to the Capital City to report on their duties, which one of them isn't bleeding money through connections? Without Silver, they could only wait for vacancies in the Capital City.

Yang Zhenshan was long aware of the Ministry of Personnel's conduct, but such matters should have been none of his concern; he had no desire to bother with these messy issues.

However, the matter of Sun Anyang truly disgusted him, and if he did not make a big scene today, who knows what the Ministry of Personnel might do next.

Before, they dared to transfer Bao Lang; tomorrow, they might dare to transfer Hong Yanfeng and Wan Shu, perhaps even Jiang He in the future.

Transferred is transferred, if Bao Lang and others were promoted, Yang Zhenshan would indeed be delighted.

But the problem is, the Ministry of Personnel should not assign a bunch of messy people into the Martial Arts Pavilion.

Soon, Zhao Gongqing returned, his face full of apologetic smiles, "Marquis, it was an oversight of my subordinates, such a filthy incident has occurred!"

"The matter has been thoroughly investigated; it was handled by the head of the Wenxuan Bureau, Li Quan. Rest assured, Marquis, I will certainly punish this person severely!"

Yang Zhenshan looked at him, finding a scapegoat, huh!

Forget it, Yang Zhenshan glanced at the officials around who were enjoying the spectacle and couldn't be bothered to probe into the depths of the Ministry of Personnel.

He wasn't here to fight corruption in the Ministry of Personnel; he was here to be defiant.

"Where is Bao Lang?"

"Uh, Mr. Bao has been transferred back to the Ministry of Justice!"

"In what position?"

"Still as a judge." Zhao Gongqing said somewhat awkwardly.

Yang Zhenshan glared fiercely, "Mr. Bao has been diligent and devoted in the Martial Arts Pavilion, yet not only is he not promoted, he's even demoted? Is this how your Ministry of Personnel handles matters?"

The judge of the Ministry of Justice is a Standard seventh rank, while the deputy director of the Martial Arts Pavilion is a Secondary Sixth Rank.

When Bao Lang moved from the Ministry of Justice to the Martial Arts Pavilion, it was a promotion, but now transferring Bao Lang back to the Ministry and still as a judge?

Suddenly Yang Zhenshan felt he might have overestimated the Ministry of Personnel's baseline.

It was blatant disregard for even the basic rules.

Initially, Yang Zhenshan thought of letting it go, but now he couldn't just leave it at that.

The reason is simple; Bao Lang is his subordinate. If Bao Lang is suppressed and he, as a superior, does not stand up for him, where would he place his face?

The Ministry of Personnel dares to act this way, truly disregarding him as Marquis Jing'an.

"Marquis, please calm your anger, please calm your anger!" Zhao Gongqing continued with a face full of appeasement.

Yang Zhenshan snorted, "I'm very angry right now!"

"See you at the early court tomorrow!"

Saying so, he left abruptly.

Damn it, a bunch of good-for-nothing officials, if I don't make a scene, you all don't know the meaning of tyranny!

Zhao Gongqing watched Yang Zhenshan's departing figure, his face alternating between red and white.

At this moment, he was full of anger, angered by Yang Zhenshan's unreasonable tyranny, and angered by the chaos caused by his subordinates in the Ministry.

Yang Zhenshan is not holding any significant position now, but at the beginning of the year he had just won a significant battle and was thus made a First-class Marquis.

But the officials of the Ministry dared to mess things up under his command.

Frankly, Zhao Gongqing wished he could kill those brainless idiots.

However, he is after all the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, with Zhou Yunsong absent, he must uphold the dignity and interests of the Ministry, some matters he could not delve into.

"Quick, send a message to the elder statesman, never mind, I should go there myself!" Zhao Gongqing couldn't care about anything else and went directly to the Imperial City to find Zhou Yunsong.

It was already evening by the time Yang Zhenshan returned to the Marquis Mansion, and the sky had already darkened.

Yang Zhenshan went straight to the study and flamboyantly wrote a memorial.

He decided to seize the opportunity to make a big fuss and stir up the muddy waters of the Da Rong Court.

Indeed, Qu Changkong's prophecy had come true, as things were out of his control.

The political struggle among the civil servants at the court was becoming increasingly unscrupulous, forcing Lu Wenquan to leave Capital City. Furthermore, someone even dared to suppress the officials from the Martial Arts Pavilion.

The demotion and reassignment of Bao Lang to the Ministry of Justice was a form of suppression.

If Yang Zhenshan didn't stand up today, then anyone might come to trouble him in the future.

It's worth noting that Yang Zhenshan had many old connections from Chongshan Town to Liaodong, deeply entwined with both civil and military officials.

Lu Wenquan and Lin Zhan had the closest relationship with him, but don't forget that the Yang family had some less obvious connections in the bureaucracy.

For instance, Zheng Xiao, who is currently the governor of Liaodong, governs the affairs of Ping Yuan and Liao Yuan provinces, supervising the salt industry and Market Shipping Department.

In fact, Zheng Xiao inherited Liu Yuanfu's political capital, and many of Liu Yuanfu's former students now follow Zheng Xiao's lead.

Yang Zhenshan was already close to Zheng Xiao, and their families were also related by marriage, as Lin Zhan's wife was Zheng Xiao's younger daughter.

Apart from Zheng Xiao, another civil servant close to Yang Zhenshan was Pang Tang, who had been serving as the governor of Chongshan Town for nearly a decade and had been the leader of the clustered civil officials there.

However, both Zheng Xiao and Pang Tang were far from the Capital City, hence they were not involved in the court disputes.

But not being involved doesn't mean they were not affected.

One could see from the officials under Pang Tang and Zheng Xiao; their promotions had been nearly non-existent in recent years.

Even now, Zheng Xiao is only an Assistant Imperial Censor at the Imperial Examination Hall. His position as governor is significantly lesser than that of Pang Tang. While Pang Tang could intervene in all military and political affairs of Chongshan Town, Zheng Xiao, as the governor of Liaodong, could only handle the salt industry and Market Shipping Department and had no authority over military and political affairs.

If one were to delineate factions, Yang Zhenshan, Pang Tang, and Zheng Xiao would all be considered part of the Liaodong System. Zheng Xiao is a bit peculiar because he inherited Liu Yuanfu's political capital and theoretically should hold a significant standing in the Imperial Examination Hall, but Zheng Xiao's career has not been smooth in recent years, revolving only around Liaodong.

Yang Zhenshan needs to look after not just the Martial Arts Pavilion, but also for individuals like Pang Tang and Zheng Xiao, acting as their spokesperson at court.

However, the officials at various court departments were becoming increasingly unscrupulous, refusing promotions and demotions where due, which is the main reason Yang Zhenshan needed to stir the court's murky waters.

If it was just about seeking justice for Bao Lang, then simply reassigning Bao Lang back to the Martial Arts Pavilion would suffice. However, Yang Zhenshan represents the interests of both the officials and military generals from Chongshan Town and Liaodong. Even if Yang Zhenshan was reluctant to involve himself in court disputes, he had no choice but to engage.

Unless he was willing to completely sever ties with the Liaodong System, cutting off from the officials and military generals of Chongshan Town and Liaodong, he must fight for the due benefits of the Liaodong System.

Especially the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War, managing promotions and punishments of civil and military officials respectively, Yang Zhenshan must make his stance clear.

The Ministry of War is not so hard to deal with, as Yang Zhenshan is more frequently involved with them and the officials of the Ministry of War are quite familiar with him.

But the Ministry of Personnel is different, as Yang Zhenshan has almost never dealt with it.

So, this time Yang Zhenshan wanted to strike the Ministry of Personnel hard, letting them know that Marquis Jing'an is not to be messed with and they should not trouble him without cause.

...

Night fell at the Zhou family residence.

As Zhou Yunsong just returned from the Imperial City to his residence, he saw Zhao Gongqing sitting in the hall.

"Gongqing, why are you here?" Zhou Yunsong asked with some surprise.

Zhou Yunsong was also no longer young, in two years he would be seventy, but he was still quite robust and spirited.

Compared to him, Song Yuange was older, now seventy-four years old and frail. He had caught a cold a few days ago and was currently recuperating at home.

"Lord, today Marquis Jing'an went to the Ministry of Personnel~~"

Zhao Gongqing didn't beat around the bush and directly reported today's events, "My lord, in tomorrow's early court session, Marquis Jing'an will definitely impeach the Ministry of Personnel, what should we do?"

Zhou Yunsong sat down, warming his cold hands with a hot tea bowl, and said, "You weren't involved, right?"

"Lord, don't make fun of your student. I'm so busy every day, I don't have the energy to deal with these matters!" Zhao Gongqing replied with a bitter smile.

It's not that he was shirking responsibility; although Zhou Yunsong holds the title of Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Personnel, his main efforts were concentrated in the Cabinet, leaving much of the Ministry of Personnel's affairs to Assistant Ministers.

Though Zhao Gongqing did not hold the official rank of Chief, he wielded its power.

Being just a Secondary Sixth-Rank official at the Martial Arts Pavilion wasn't something that warranted his personal attention.