Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 476: Chapter 440: A Generation of Emperors, A Generation of Ministers (National Day Extra)_2

Ultimately, aside from the General Mansion, no other government office is allowed to borrow Silver from the Chongshan Bank.

After all, Yang Zhenshan treats the bank simply as a place to borrow money, whether it is to attract deposits or exchange silver notes, everything the bank does is to serve the General Mansion.

The reason why the General Mansion needs to pay interest to the bank is to prevent it from running into financial difficulties, as currently, the Chongshan Bank doesn’t have any source of profit, yet it still has to pay interest to depositors.

Besides the bank within the Chongshan Pass, over the past month, branches of the Chongshan Bank have also been established in various state cities and county cities of Chongshan Town.

However, compared to the bank inside Chongshan Pass, these branches bring in considerably less Silver.

The branches in several state cities are slightly better; at the beginning of their operation, they could bring in up to ten thousand taels daily, eventually stabilizing at around four to five thousand taels per day.

As for the branches in county cities, their daily turnover doesn’t even reach a thousand taels.

This is normal; state cities still have many officials and merchants to support the bank’s operations, but county towns are left with just some small merchants and landlords, so it’s quite normal to have less Silver coming in.

With the Chongshan Bank on the right track, the General Mansion’s reserves of Silver have become ample. Although still far from the tens of millions of taels of Silver that Yang Zhenshan needs, at the very least, the General Mansion does not lack Silver for the time being.

Large amounts of Silver from all over Chongshan Town have been transported to Chongshan Pass, and at the same time, a large amount of grain has also been brought into the storerooms of the General Mansion.

Seeing the increasing amount of grain being transported in, the General Mansion had to urgently build dozens of large granaries.

As time reaches the end of March, the weather has begun to warm up, and spring plowing is about to start; a major construction wave is once again unfolding throughout Chongshan Town.

Yang Zhenshan begins to be busy again with his feet hardly touching the ground.

Preparations for the impending drought cannot be delayed, but the development of Chongshan Town also cannot be put off.

The glass workshops continue to recruit apprentices, the Five Camps are still recruiting and training soldiers, and Rescue Camps in various locations are also enlisting and training soldiers.

At the same time, the construction of Black Cloud City and the repair of official roads have also been put on the agenda, with the Assistant General Mansion mobilizing young and strong men.

And as the weather grows warmer, merchant ships finally begin to appear on the Ying River.

A large number of grain-laden ships dock at the ports north of Chongshan Pass, with a large number of laborers unloading goods on the wharf and numerous carts and horses going back and forth between Chongshan Pass and the port.

Everywhere in Chongshan Town, one can see people bustling about, as if a switch has been flipped to activate the previously cold-stalled town.

Meanwhile, as Chongshan Town carries out massive construction, the political landscape upon the Capital City’s court has entered an unfathomable stage.

On the eighth day of April.

The Yang family was busy preparing for Yang Chengye’s wedding, but Yang Zhenshan received a message from his people in the Capital City.

The letter was sent by Wu Zheng, detailing changes in the court.

The letter mentioned that on the second day of April, the Grand Secretary Li Siyuan requested to retire, which was denied by Emperor Yanping. On the fourth day of April, Li Siyuan requested again, and Emperor Yanping rebuffed him once more.

In the main courtyard of the Marquis Mansion, Yang Zhenshan read the contents of the letter with a somewhat solemn expression on his face.

Li Siyuan wanted to step down from office!

This was absolutely a big deal for the court.

Li Siyuan had been an official for over forty years, a member of the Cabinet for over twenty years, and had served as the Grand Secretary for thirteen years.

During Emperor Chengping’s reign, Li Siyuan was deeply trusted by Emperor Chengping, who entrusted almost all state and court affairs to him, and Li Siyuan did not disappoint Emperor Chengping.

Although Li Siyuan’s students and old friends were everywhere in the officialdom, he never formed factions nor acted for personal gain; with countless students, he had no factional power in the court and no illustrious name among the people.

In terms of direct fame, he was not as well known as Liu Yuanfu, and in literary fame, he wasn’t considered outstanding.

Yet it was this senior official who kept the Da Rong Court stable for over a decade, with no major turmoil except for the succession struggles between the Princes.

In Yang Zhenshan’s eyes, Li Siyuan was undoubtedly a capable minister, who understood the overall situation and cared for the greater good, mediating between the Emperor and civil officials, coordinating state and court affairs, and although he didn’t have outstanding achievements, he had the ability to be a national pillar.

Now, just over half a year since Emperor Yanping ascended the throne, Li Siyuan unexpectedly wanted to resign from his post!

Was it a problem with Li Siyuan’s health, or could Emperor Yanping not tolerate Li Siyuan?

Yang Zhenshan put down the letter in his hand, his eyes slightly lowered.

There should be no issue with Li Siyuan’s health because he made his retirement requests during early court sessions.

That is to say, Emperor Yanping could not tolerate Li Siyuan.

Indeed!

Although Li Siyuan was not a power official, after managing the Cabinet for more than a decade, he could be regarded as the number one official in the current court.

Emperor Chengping could restrain Li Siyuan, but Emperor Yanping could not, and if Emperor Yanping wanted to consolidate his power, then Li Siyuan would undoubtedly become a stumbling block.

To grasp the power of the court, Emperor Yanping must remove the mountain that is Li Siyuan.

Perhaps Li Siyuan had seen through the court’s situation and took the initiative to resign.

But then the question arises, if Li Siyuan resigned, who would manage the country’s affairs in the court?

And once the drought breaks out in Liao Yuan and Ping Yuan provinces, would Emperor Yanping and the new Grand Secretary be able to stabilize the situation and provide timely relief?

Yang Zhenshan still hoped that Li Siyuan could handle the court affairs, as with Li Siyuan present, at least the court would be able to come up with timely strategies in case of the drought outbreak.

But once Li Siyuan leaves the court, who knows what the following court will become.

Unfortunately, Yang Zhenshan cannot intervene in such matters; he certainly can’t petition Emperor Yanping saying the court cannot do without Li Siyuan.

If he really did so, it is likely that Emperor Yanping would be even more eager to push Li Siyuan out of the court, and might dismiss Yang Zhenshan from service as well.