Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 493: Is there someone from Marquis Jing’an in Chapter 453?

By the time Yang Zhenshan returned to the Marquis Mansion in the afternoon, Ji Hai had already left Chongshan Pass.

This fellow came in a hurry and left in a hurry, really embodying the style of a Jianghu Martial Artist.

Of course, when he left, he brought with him five large carts of alcohol.

Inside the Marquis Mansion, Yang Mingcheng recounted to Yang Zhenshan his encounter with Ji Hai today, ”Dad, why did we invite elder Ji Hai to Chongshan Pass?”

Yang Zhenshan stroked his beard, smiling, ”If I’m not mistaken, it’s likely that Ji Zhen has already stepped into the Innate Realm!”

”Ah!” Yang Mingcheng exclaimed in surprise.

”That’s impossible, isn’t elder Ji Zhen already eighty years old?”

Now, Yang Mingcheng was no greenhorn. His cultivation had reached the Postnatal Eighth Layer and he had begun practicing the Yimu Chang Chun Skill, his understanding of the Innate Realm far surpassing that of the past.

It’s not an easy feat for Postnatal Martial Artists to break through to the Innate Realm. Generally speaking, the older one gets, the smaller the chance of making a breakthrough.

Aging body, depleted energy and blood, and declining spirit all affect the advance in cultivation.

The peak period for Postnatal Martial Artists is in their forties; after reaching fifty, their strength starts to decline, making it very difficult for their cultivation to advance.

While Half-step Innate can to a certain degree alleviate the problems brought by aging, it cannot reverse the natural cycle of life and death.

To step into the threshold of the Innate Realm at the age of eighty is nearly impossible.

”It would be very difficult for others, but there’s still a chance for Ji Zhen!”

Yang Zhenshan explained, ”Ji Zhen has been renowned for a long time, and in his forties, he was already a Postnatal Ninth Layer Martial Artist. Although his body has been in decline over the years, his decades of foundational strength are incomparable to ordinary Martial Artists.”

”And let’s not forget, these years the Hengdao Sect has received quite a lot of Hundred Herbs Brew from us!”

Spiritual Spring Water does not have the effect of reversing life and death, but it can strengthen the constitution and enhance potential, significantly delaying the body’s aging.

Since Ji Hai saved Yang Mingcheng, the Yang family would send the Hengdao Sect gifts during festivals, always including Hundred Herbs Brew and Dongling Spring.

Years ago, Ji Hai even went to the Tenglong Guard to ask Yang Zhenshan for Hundred Herbs Brew.

Over the years, the amount of Hundred Herbs Brew that Ji Zhen has consumed isn’t less than a hundred jars.

With such nourishment from the Spiritual Spring Water, coupled with Ji Zhen’s own foundational strength, a breakthrough into the Innate Realm was no longer an unattainable dream.

After hearing Yang Zhenshan’s explanation, Yang Mingcheng showed an enlightened expression.

”So that’s how it is!”

”Dad, when will you be able to make a breakthrough into the Innate Realm?”

He looked at Yang Zhenshan with anticipation.

Yang Zhenshan stroked his beard and smiled, but he said, ”That’s not something you need to worry about!”

Aside from Yu Qingyi, no one else knew about his breakthrough.

Yu Qingyi knew because Yang Zhenshan had given her the Three Yellow Plums. If he hadn’t told her about his breakthrough, Yu Qingyi wouldn’t have agreed to take the Three Yellow Plums.

As for others, it was not that Yang Zhenshan didn’t trust his family; he was just afraid they might let something slip.

”You just focus on your own training, and strive to reach the Innate Realm as soon as possible!”

Yang Zhenshan patted Yang Mingcheng’s shoulder and left the hall, heading back to the main courtyard.

Yang Mingcheng scratched his head, feeling somewhat frustrated.

It was indeed difficult to reach the Innate Realm.

Forget the Innate Realm, even getting to the Postnatal Ninth Layer felt very far away to him right now.

The higher the cultivation, the harder it is to progress, and even having consumed countless amounts of Spiritual Spring Water, Yang Mingcheng still felt no confidence in becoming an Innate Martial Artist.

...

In the Imperial Study Room of the Capital City’s Imperial City.

Minister of Ministry of Criminal Justice Wei Rong and Chief of the Ministry of Justice Yan Ruishu stood in front of the writing desk.

Emperor Yanping rubbed his brow and said, ”I’ve just received news that a few days ago, Zhao Yunxing was murdered!”

Wei Rong and Yan Ruishu looked at each other, both frowning.

Zhao Yunxing was a Secondary Second Rank official of the court. Although he wasn’t considered a key court official, he was a significant regional administrator.

The murder of a Secondary Second Rank official!

Regardless of the reason or the circumstances, the court must thoroughly investigate to the very end.

”Additionally, you’ve also seen the memorial submitted by An Ruhui.”

”The severe drought in Liao Yuan and Ping Yuan provinces, the court absolutely cannot allow major chaos to arise because of it!”

”And the collusion between the officials and merchants in Ping Yuan seeking to cause unrest, I will not tolerate it happening!”

”The only demand I have is to investigate this case thoroughly and swiftly, whether it’s the murder of Zhao Yunxing or the collusion of officials and merchants planning unrest, all must be clarified quickly!”

Emperor Yanping looked up at the two men, ”How long will it take you to investigate clearly?”

Such matters cannot be delayed, as any prolongation is to the detriment of the court.

”Your Majesty, even if we deploy personnel to Ping Yuan now, it will take at least a month to clarify the situation!” Wei Rong spoke with a grave expression.

For a major case like this, naturally, the Ministry of Criminal Justice and the Ministry of Justice must work together.

Although both ministries had many skilled investigators, the time required for communication and investigation would certainly not be insignificant.

”A month!” Emperor Yanping frowned.

It was already July, and the drought situation in Liaodong was very serious.

Many places’ crops had already died, and a lot of the people were facing the reality of a harvest-less year.

No harvest, skyrocketing grain prices.

The common people were extremely anxious.

And as time went on, Liao Yuan and Ping Yuan would turn into a massive powder keg; just a tiny spark would be enough to ignite a terrible upheaval in both provinces.

The grain shortage is but one issue, the water cutoff is truly fatal.

Yan Ruishu spoke up, ”Your Majesty, could the Secret Martial Guards be of assistance?”

Emperor Yanping shook his head slightly, ”Ping Yuan is not the main focus of the Secret Martial Guards’ surveillance. They can only provide you with some evidence and can’t be of much help!”

The Secret Martial Guards are not omnipotent.

The focus of Secret Martial Guards’ surveillance lies in the Capital City and on the frontier towns. Although the shadows of the Secret Martial Guards can be found in every province and prefecture, they do not place local officials under intensive surveillance.

For ranks like the governor, Inspector General, and Capital Commander, all they do is implant a few agents for monitoring.

For officials like the Magistrate and the Prefect, the Secret Martial Guards do not even bother to monitor them.

After some thought, Emperor Yanping spoke again, ”You proceed with the investigation. I will consult with the Cabinet and arrange for a Governor to take charge of disaster relief in Liaodong.”

An investigation is necessary, but disaster relief should not be overlooked.

Compared to disaster relief, the investigation is relatively secondary.

”This old servant obeys the royal edict!” Wei Rong and Yan Ruishu took the orders and left the study.

After they left, Emperor Yanping took out the letter from Yang Zhenshan.

He thought highly of Yang Zhenshan’s proposal to establish the Imperial Commerce Bureau.

However, compared to Yang Zhenshan, Emperor Yanping had even greater foresight. Not only did Emperor Yanping want to bring the glass industry under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Commerce Bureau, but also the salt and iron trade.

Especially the salt industry, which in Da Rong, had long become corrupt, should have been one of the court’s most lucrative industries. Yet now it could only provide the court with a minimal amount of salt tax.

If there were no comparisons, Emperor Yanping might not have focused on the salt trade so soon. However, the situation in the Liaodong Salt Transport Commissioner’s office made him question the entire salt industry of Da Rong.

The reason is simple, the salt price in Liaodong is the lowest in the entire Da Rong, yet the salt tax from Liaodong is the most.

This stems from the past corruption case of the Liaodong Salt Transport Commissioner, a significant case that eradicated many corrupt officials and salt merchants. With Zheng Xiao in charge of Liaodong Salt Transport Commissioner over these years, an environment of relative integrity has been maintained.

This has lead to a continuous increase in the salt tax of the Liaodong Salt Transport Commissioner’s office.

Once Emperor Yanping understood the situation in Liaodong, he also became interested in the salt trade in other regions.

Now, Yang Zhenshan’s proposal to establish the Imperial Commerce Bureau seems to also be applicable to managing the salt industry.

However, this matter isn’t easy and must be approached gradually.

After pondering for a while, Emperor Yanping said to Nansheng, ”Have someone transcribe several copies of the Imperial Commerce Bureau portion; I will need them later.”

Establishing the Imperial Commerce Bureau will have to be communicated with the Cabinet first. As for bringing the salt trade under its jurisdiction, it certainly cannot be considered in the short term.

Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish!

Emperor Yanping had now come to grasp the difficulties of governance.

Nansheng came forward to take the letter, saying, ”Your Majesty, the spies within the Imperial City have been almost completely cleared out. Should we continue to dig deeper?”

”There’s no need. Be cautious with the recruits in the future.” Emperor Yanping waved his hand with indifference.

Spies naturally refer to those embedded within the Imperial City by various forces in the court.

Following Nansheng’s supervision over the Imperial Guard Department, they started a thorough investigation of the eunuchs and palace maids within the Imperial City. In less than a month, they arrested as many as four hundred eunuchs and palace maids.

”As you command!” responded Nansheng.

”By the way, are any of them Marquis Jing’an’s men?” Emperor Yanping suddenly asked.

Nansheng’s gaze shifted subtly, but he lowered his head and said, ”No.”

”Really none?” Emperor Yanping was surprised.

”This old servant doesn’t dare deceive Your Majesty!” Nansheng said, head still bowed.

Emperor Yanping nodded in satisfaction, yet it was unclear whether he was pleased with Nansheng’s attitude or satisfied that Yang Zhenshan had not planted any spies within the Imperial City.

Indeed, Nansheng had not discovered any agents from Yang Zhenshan, for he would have certainly reported it if he had.

As for why none of Yang Zhenshan’s agents were found, the reason is simple. The people Wu Zheng recruited within the Imperial City were not eunuchs and palace maids, but soldiers guarding the palace.

After all, Yang Zhenshan did not seek to monitor Emperor Yanping or to hear any secretive news but only to gather intelligence on the happenings at the court.

The news from the court can be deemed secretive since ordinary people cannot access it, but if there is no leakage, that would be impossible. Every day after morning court, various pieces of information would spread out from the Imperial City.

To gather such intelligence, there was no need to be at the Emperor’s presence; one could hear bits and pieces of it anywhere within the Imperial City.

Even those with low rank, like mere soldiers, could be privy to it.

When they are off duty, the personal army soldiers could chat away in their barracks, recounting events that occurred in the court.

Some gossipy types could even speak eloquently of matters concerning the inner palace.

Put simply, the personal army soldiers are no different from the village gossips in terms of their capability to collect news within the Imperial City.

It is precisely because of this that Wu Zheng proactively befriended many of the personal army’s soldiers.

Nansheng has also probed into the personal army soldiers, but he focused on those in the middle to upper ranks, never bothering to scrutinize a group of ordinary soldiers.

Thus, this time, Yang Zhenshan luckily avoided scrutiny.

...

Due to Emperor Yanping’s concern for the drought in Liaodong, the court acted quite swiftly.

On the third day of the seventh month, the Ministry of Criminal Justice and the Ministry of Justice dispatched personnel to Ping Yuan Province to investigate the murder of Zhao Yunxing and the collusion between officials and merchants.

On the sixth day of the seventh month, after court deliberations, Guanglu Temple’s Junior Minister and Ping Yuan Road’s Imperial Censor, Zhong Huamin, was ordered to inspect the disaster situation in Ping Yuan.

To appoint the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and Right Deputy Imperial Censor, Luo Ren, as Governor in charge of the Liaodong disaster relief efforts.

Additionally, Taicang was ordered to allocate three hundred thousand taels of silver and one million stones of grain to aid Liaodong’s great drought.

At Chongshan Pass, Yang Zhenshan exhaled deeply after receiving this news.

While the money and grain allocated for disaster relief by the court wasn’t substantial, as long as the court paid attention to the drought in Liaodong, it was unequivocally good news for the people there.

The funds and grain provided by the court for disaster relief were only part of it. What was most important were the official granaries in each prefecture, province, and county. As long as the court was willing to provide relief, local governments could use their granaries to help the disaster victims, which was key to relief efforts.

Otherwise, relying solely on transporting grain from the Capital City’s Taicang to Liaodong would mean that by the time the grain arrived, most people in Liaodong might have already starved to death.

Since the court had begun disaster relief, Chongshan Town should also start preparing for the incoming refugees.