Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 357: Chapter 344: The Emperor is Seriously Ill, the Crown Prince Supervises the Nation

A few days later, Qingxia returned from Liao’an Prefecture, bringing news about the eldest daughter of the Zheng family.

Zheng Xiao’s eldest daughter, named Zheng Xinnian, is fifteen years old this year, with a gentle personality, belonging to the type of well-bred young lady who seldom steps out of her home, and also has a very delicate appearance. Most importantly, she is not yet betrothed.

Having obtained this accurate information, Yang Zhenshan no longer hesitated and personally wrote a letter to send to Zheng Xiao.

Zheng Xiao had met Lin Zhan before; Lin Zhan was a student of Liu Zhe. When Zheng Xiao visited the Yang family, he had seen Lin Zhan, and when Liu Zhe left Liaodong, he also took Lin Zhan to visit him in Liao’an Prefecture.

However, all these events took place four years ago, so upon receiving the letter from Yang Zhenshan, he requested to meet Lin Zhan.

It’s not unreasonable for a father-in-law to examine his future son-in-law.

Naturally, Yang Zhenshan saw no reason to refuse, allowing Lin Zhan to make a trip to Liao’an Prefecture.

After arriving in Liao’an Prefecture, Lin Zhan was first examined by Zheng Xiao and then arranged to meet with Zheng Xinnian.

Yang Zhenshan did not know the specifics of the meeting, but by the time Lin Zhan returned, Zheng Xiao had already agreed to the marriage.

Next came the logical discussions of marriage arrangements.

While the Yang family and the Zheng family were in marriage negotiations, inside the Yangxin Palace of the Imperial City in the Capital.

It was just dawn, the dim light still unable to penetrate the doors and windows, instead, the flickering candlelight illuminated the room clearly.

Emperor Chengping lay on the bed, his face sallow, breathing weak.

Chen and a group of servants attended by the bedside.

”Your Majesty, Your Majesty~~” Chen gently called out.

Emperor Chengping struggled to open his eyes, staring blankly at Chen for a long time before regaining his senses, ”Decree that, starting today, the Crown Prince will oversee the state affairs, and Prince Gong and Prince Cheng are to observe politics at court!”

”Your old servant understands, I will draft the decree now!” Chen responded.

”Chen, the Imperial Physician Sun Yuanshi has arrived!” a young eunuch outside softly said.

Chen looked again at Emperor Chengping, who had once more fallen into a slumber, slowly straightened himself up, and walked to the door to nod slightly at Sun Yuanshi, saying, ”Thank you for your trouble, Master Sun!”

”Not at all!” Sun Yuanshi glanced at the bed inside the bedroom and bowed slightly in response.

”I will go issue the decree now, I leave this place in your care, Master Sun!”

After speaking, Chen slowly left the Yangxin Palace, heading towards the Taiji Palace, his steps quickening and his expression growing increasingly pale as he neared the Taiji Palace.

By the time he entered, sweat covered his forehead, and his breathing became rapid.

At this moment, all the civil and military officials had already gathered inside the Taiji Palace, waiting for Emperor Chengping to come to court.

The time for court had already passed, and all the officials felt something was amiss, but they patiently waited.

Only when Chen appeared with the imperial decree did the officials learn that Emperor Chengping was ill and unable to attend court.

If Emperor Chengping was simply too ill to attend court, the officials wouldn’t be too concerned. In recent years, Emperor Chengping’s health had declined, occasionally suffering from colds or minor illnesses, often leading to court sessions being canceled; the officials had grown accustomed to this.

But now that Emperor Chengping had appointed the Crown Prince to oversee state affairs, did this mean his health had reached a critical point?

”Chen, can we see His Majesty now?”

After Chen had delivered the decree, Grand Secretary Li Siyuan stepped forward to ask.

Chen glanced at several cabinet members, his voice a bit hoarse, ”Imperial Physician Sun Yuanshi is currently treating His Majesty. All the cabinet members may wait at the Wenhua Palace now, and if His Majesty summons, I will inform you all to see His Majesty!”

The ministers looked at each other, and for a moment, no one spoke. Chen did not say more, carrying the imperial decree as he left the Taiji Palace, next to issue decrees to the Crown Prince, Prince Gong, and Prince Cheng.

Inside the hall, Liu Yuanfu watched Chen’s departing figure, deep in thought.

Duke Ning Zhou Mao also glanced briefly.

The ministers began to whisper among themselves again, some worried, some harboring ulterior motives, and some silently observing everything around them.

Left Imperial Censor Guan Wenshuo nudged Liu Yuanfu, whispering, ”Elder, is His Majesty very ill?”

Liu Yuanfu glanced at him, still composed, and said, ”Be cautious with your words!”

Although the Left and Right Imperial Censors are of the same rank, in Da Rong, it has always been customary for the left positions to be senior. For instance, the Imperial Examination Hall is managed by the Left Imperial Censor, while the Right Imperial Censor is often dispatched as a governor or head of the government office.

Liu Yuanfu is an exception in the Imperial Examination Hall; he had also been dispatched as a governor before but was later dismissed and returned home. Subsequently, Emperor Chengping reinstated him, restoring his title as Right Imperial Censor, but did not dare to send him out again, for a simple reason: this old man was too troublesome.

Emperor Chengping originally thought that by letting him stay in the Imperial Examination Hall, he would behave more docilely, but unexpectedly, this old man confronted him directly in court.

In his annoyance, Emperor Chengping sent him directly to Chongshan Town, to Yinghe Castle.

Later, a situation arose in the Imperial Examination Hall, and the previous Left Imperial Censor was dismissed and sacked by Emperor Chengping. The Imperial Examination Hall needed someone to take charge, which led to Liu Yuanfu’s reinstatement.

After Liu Yuanfu returned to the Capital, it was probably because he had aged, his temper not as fiery as before.

So, in recent years, Emperor Chengping found him more agreeable, but considering his previous offenses, Emperor Chengping was definitely not going to promote him again, so he remained in hisposition as Right Imperial Censor.

Within the Imperial Examination Hall, although Guan Wenshuo was technically above Liu Yuanfu, in reality, Guan was not yet fifty years old and was considered junior to Liu Yuanfu. Hence, he respected Liu Yuanfu’s opinions on many matters.

Hearing Liu Yuanfu’s warning, Guan Wenshuo quickly straightened up, holding his tongue.

Meanwhile, the leading cabinet ministers in front also kept silent, as though they had all fallen asleep.

After about two hours, the Crown Prince, Prince Cheng, and Prince Gong arrived together.

The Crown Prince entered the palace hall, his face filled with solemnity and worry, and so were Prince Cheng and Prince Gong, but everyone understood that these individuals definitely had numerous concerns on their minds.

Actually, in recent years, Emperor Chengping had been allowing the Crown Prince and the two princes to observe state affairs. Although they were not allowed to intervene in specific governmental tasks, he had been fostering their understanding and handling of political matters.

The three men arrived, and the morning court proceeded as usual, but everyone’s minds were not really on the state affairs, so the court session disbanded quickly.

Following the morning court, news of Emperor Chengping’s severe illness and coma spread throughout the Capital City, causing all kinds of information and rumors to wildly circulate.

The news quickly spread out of the Capital City to various regions of Da Rong.

In a common residence in the South District of the Capital City...

Wu Zheng also received the news of Emperor Chengping’s severe illness. He somberly asked his subordinate, ”Is the news confirmed?”

”It’s been confirmed, the news is true!”

Wu Zheng took a deep breath, ”Send this information back immediately, the master definitely needs it!”

”Should I personally go back?”

The subordinate standing in front of him was also from the Sky Blue Sword Sect and was his junior. Over the years, they had stayed in the Capital City gathering various sorts of information. Although most of it was useless to Yang Zhenshan, he still had them remain in the Capital City.

Moreover, Yang Zhenshan had increased their investment, deploying over two hundred people to the Capital City and investing tens of thousands of taels of Silver.

Through years of operations, Wu Zheng and others were no longer limited to obtaining superficial information; they could now gather some relatively covert information, especially the slight movements in the court, which they could grasp in real-time.

”No, you cannot go back. There might be significant events occurring soon, we must stay in the Capital City to monitor the situation!”

Wu Zheng said gravely, ”Arrange for two people to send the news back.”

...

Tenglong Guard.

The first batch of single-tube telescopes was delivered to the Navy. Onboard a Da Fu Ship, Yu Tonghai and Xue Ping were looking through the telescopes at the surrounding warships and merchant ships.

”Can it really see that far?”

”A thousand zhang away, one can see everything clearly!”

Xue Ping said in amazement.

Yu Tonghai was also shocked, ”With this telescope, we can not only predict the enemy’s moves in advance but also maintain close command over the rear warships following the flagship!”

”This is absolutely a powerful tool in naval warfare!”

He thought deeper than Xue Ping, who was merely amazed at the functionality of the telescope, while Yu Tonghai considered its application in naval warfare.

Over the past three years, the Tenglong Guard Navy has become increasingly elite, with a full complement of 5,600 soldiers who are all brave enough to fight desperately.

In fact, during these three years, they had been involved in numerous battles. Nowadays, with many merchant ships sailing from the Tenglong Guard, it was impossible for the Navy to guarantee that every merchant ship would avoid pirates.

Nearly two years ago, merchant ships sailing from the Tenglong Guard occasionally fell victim to pirates, prompting the Navy to repeatedly strike and wipe out more than a dozen pirate gangs.

Now, the Tenglong Guard Navy had established quite a reputation in the Liao Sea and East Sea domains of Da Rong, and only a few pirates dared to provoke them actively.

Of course, this was also because there were fewer pirates in the Liao Sea and East Sea domains. If it were in the East South Sea Domain, the Tenglong Guard might not be able to withstand those pirates’ attacks.

After all, there were simply too many pirates in the East South Sea Domain, including many powerful ones.

Regardless, the current Tenglong Guard Navy was definitely considered an elite force.

”How many did the lord send?” Yu Tonghai asked his follower behind him.

”Twenty-eight in total!” the follower replied.

Yu Tonghai frowned, ”That’s not enough, too few. Such a valuable item must be equipped more extensively. Eagle Ships and mother-child ships can go without, but all other warships must be equipped, and each ship should have at least four!”

According to his thoughts, the Tenglong Guard should have at least a hundred telescopes to maximize their function.

”Uh, I just heard from a colleague at the Artifact Workshop that one costs thirty taels of Silver! And they can only make three a day!” the follower said somewhat troubled.

Yu Tonghai’s expression stiffened discontentedly, ”One for thirty taels of Silver?”

”Yes! That’s what the people from the Artifact Workshop said,” the follower affirmed.

Yu Tonghai fell silent for a moment.

The current Tenglong Guard Navy was very well-equipped, lacking nothing in terms of arms and equipment, and the warships were maintained yearly. In fact, to ensure the combat capability of the warships, Yang Zhenshan had even specifically built a shipyard for the Navy to maintain the warships.

Currently, the Tenglong Guard’s shipyard could produce some small warships, such as Eagle Ships and mother-child ships, but could only repair medium and large warships, not build them.

Even so, Yang Zhenshan had invested a lot of Silver.

Now, the Tenglong Guard was indeed financially robust, but facing the Navy and the Five Army Camps, two major financial-consuming forces, Yang Zhenshan still had to be somewhat frugal.

”Thirty taels per piece, a hundred pieces would be three thousand taels.”

Three thousand taels might not seem much, but it was definitely not a small amount.

After a brief pause, Yu Tonghai finally spoke, ”We still have quite a budget for this year, let’s order a hundred for now!”

He still believed this expenditure was necessary since the telescope was too critical for the Navy.

”Yes, sir!”

The follower responded and left the Da Fu Ship to head to the Guardian Department.