Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 557: Ruffian
Ministry of Personnel, Yang Zhengshan came to the door on horseback.

The officer at the door hurried forward and asked, "Excuse me, sir, who are you?"

If an ordinary official came to the Ministry of Personnel, these runners would naturally ignore him. The threshold of the Ministry of Personnel was very high. Many officials who returned to Beijing to report on their work had to spend money in the Ministry of Personnel. Even if you were just a gatekeeper, you couldn't get in without a reward of a few taels of silver.

However, Yang Zhengshan was obviously not an ordinary official. Although he only brought a few close followers and his clothes were relatively simple, his simplicity was only superficial.

His robes were all made of the finest brocade, his belt was inlaid with gold and jade, and even the saddle on Hongyun's back was made of silk. But the most important thing was the jade pendant around his waist, which was engraved with a Qilin pattern.

From this outfit, anyone with a keen eye can tell that Yang Zhengshan is of extraordinary status.

It's not that Yang Zhengshan can show off in front of others, but the Yang family's current status and position does not allow them to keep a low profile.

The Yang family is not short of money, so naturally they should be more particular about what they wear and use. There is no need to pretend to be poor or ugly.

"My name is Yang Zhengshan. Is Lord Zhou here?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

Upon hearing this, the officer hurriedly bowed and said, "I greet you, Lord Marquis. In reply to your question, Lord Yang did not come to the Ministry of Personnel today. He must have gone to the Cabinet!"

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, "Then take me to see Minister Zhao!"

If Zhou Yunsong were here, he would have to be more restrained. After all, Zhou Yunsong was not only the Minister of Rites, but also the Second Assistant of the Cabinet. Yang Zhengshan would have to give him some face.

Since Zhou Yunsong is not here, he can let loose and make a big fuss.

He came to the Ministry of Personnel to cause trouble not only because of Sun Anyang's matter, but also to make his attitude clear.

I may not care what your Ministry of Personnel does, but you must not cause trouble for me. If you dare to cause trouble for me, don't blame me for being unreasonable.

Without waiting for the officer to speak, Yang Zhengshan strode into the gate of the Ministry of Personnel.

The officer was smart enough. He trotted in front of Yang Zhengshan to lead the way, while asking his companions to run quickly to inform Zhao Gongqing.

When Yan Zhengshan arrived at the door of Zhao Gongqing's office, Zhao Gongqing had already come out to greet him.

"Lord Yang is so honored to have come. I am sorry for not coming to greet you in person. I hope Lord Yang will forgive me!"

Zhao Gongqing said with a warm look on his face.

Yang Zhengshan bowed and came back, saying, "Master Zhao, I came to the Ministry of Personnel today to ask for an explanation!"

"Ah, well, how have I offended Lord Yang? If so, I apologize to Lord Yang." Zhao Gongqing said hurriedly.

Yang Zhengshan shook his head, "Lord Zhao did not offend me, but you, the Ministry of Personnel, did!"

"Bao Lang, the Supervisor of the Martial Arts Pavilion, was doing a good job. Why did you transfer him away? It would have been fine if you had just transferred him away, but you also arranged for a parasite to go to the Martial Arts Pavilion!"

"I have been away from Kyoto for several months, and this parasite has embezzled two hundred thousand taels of silver from the Martial Arts Pavilion!"

"Is this how you select officials in the Ministry of Personnel? Are you selecting corrupt officials? Or do you only look at money, not talent or virtue when selecting officials?"

Yang Zhengshan attacked without mercy and even shouted loudly in broad daylight.

You have to know that at this time, not all the people in the Ministry of Personnel are officials from the Ministry of Personnel. There are also many officials who come to the Ministry of Personnel to do business, especially those officials who come back to the Ministry of Personnel to report on their work. Many of them are secretly looking at this side.

Zhao Gongqing's face suddenly darkened, "My Lord, My Lord, you can't say that!"

"What? I was wrong. I have already sent Sun Anyang back to the Marquis of Suning's Mansion. Damn it, a little jerk can actually serve as the Supervisor of the Martial Arts Pavilion!"

"In terms of talent, he can't even do accounting. In terms of martial arts, he is just a warrior, not even as good as the ordinary disciples of the Martial Arts Pavilion. In terms of morality, he is proficient in eating, drinking, whoring and gambling."

Yang Zhengshan didn't give Zhao Gongqing any face at all, and his voice became louder and louder, "Master Zhao, did you also accept money from the Sun family? Humph, why wouldn't you let a playboy like him take up a position in my martial arts hall!"

"And what about Bao Lang? Lord Bao has worked in the Martial Arts Pavilion for three years, working diligently and without any fault. Why did you transfer him away?"

"By the way, where was Bao Lang transferred to?"

Yang Zhengshan thought of his old subordinate. Although Bao Lang was young, he used to be a judge in the Dali Temple and was a real Jinshi. Apart from his somewhat rigid temperament, Yang Zhengshan sincerely felt that Bao Lang was not bad.

"This~~" Zhao Gongqing didn't know what to say for a moment.

He roughly understood what was going on, but it had nothing to do with him.

He didn't even know who Bao Lang was, nor did he know how Sun Anyang got into the Martial Arts Pavilion.

Yang Zhengshan did not intend to give him a chance to explain, and said directly: "Master Zhao, if you do not give me an explanation today, then I can only go to the palace to ask His Majesty to preside over justice."

He bowed his hands in the direction of the imperial city to show respect, "Your Majesty is wise and wise, how can you corrupt officials sell official positions and titles?"

As soon as these words came out, Zhao Gongqing's face turned pale. "My Lord, my Lord, please stop talking. I will go and check the matter thoroughly!"

He was not afraid that Yang Zhengshan would go to Emperor Yanping to seek justice, but he was afraid that Yang Zhengshan would say something unpleasant again.

Selling official positions and titles!

If this word gets out, all the officials in the Ministry of Personnel, both big and small, will probably be cursed by countless people.

Yang Zhengshan really dares to say anything and is not afraid of offending officials of the Ministry of Personnel.

"Okay, today I will give Lord Zhao a favor. I will wait for you to get to the bottom of the matter!" Yang Zhengshan said arrogantly.

"My lord, please come in for tea. I will arrange it right away!" Zhao Gongqing was about to cry.

"What tea? I'm not in the mood for tea now." Yang Zhengshan glared at him in dissatisfaction, then ordered Li Chang behind him: "Go and bring me a chair. I'll sit here and wait!"

Li Chang didn't waste any words and went straight to the next room to find a chair.

Yang Zhengshan was sitting in the courtyard of the Ministry of Personnel with his horse and golden sword.

Zhao Gongqing really couldn't do anything about him, so he could only jog to arrange someone to find out the details.

Selling official positions and titles!

This may sound a bit serious, but every single one of the officials in the Ministry of Personnel made a lot of money.

When officials from other provinces come back to Beijing to report on their work, they all have to spend a lot of money to get connections. If they don't have money to spend, they can only wait for a vacancy in Kyoto.

Yang Zhengshan had heard about the style of the Ministry of Personnel a long time ago, but these matters should have nothing to do with him, and he was too lazy to pay attention to these messy things.

But Sun Anyang's incident really disgusted him. If he didn't make a big fuss today, who knows what the Ministry of Personnel would do in the future.

If they dared to transfer Bao Lang before, they will dare to transfer Hong Yanfeng and Wan Shu tomorrow. Maybe they will even dare to transfer Jiang He in the future.

If Bao Lang and others were promoted, Yang Zhengshan would be very happy to see it.

But the problem is that the Ministry of Personnel cannot arrange some random people to enter the Yanwu Pavilion.

Soon, Zhao Gongqing came back. He said with an apologetic smile, "My Lord, it was because I failed to discipline my subordinates that such a shameful thing happened!"

"I have already investigated it. This matter was done by Li Quan, the head of the Ministry of Literature. Don't worry, my lord. I will punish this person severely!"

Yang Zhengshan looked at him. He was looking for a scapegoat!
Well, Yang Zhengshan glanced at the officials around who were watching the fun, and was too lazy to ask the Ministry of Personnel for the bottom of the matter.

He didn't come to the Ministry of Personnel to fight corruption, he just came to act tough.

"Where's Bao Lang?"

"Uh, Mr. Bao has been transferred back to the Dali Temple!" "What position?"

"It's still a review." Zhao Gongqing said somewhat embarrassedly.

Yang Zhengshan glared at him, "Mr. Bao worked diligently in the Martial Arts Hall, but not only was he not promoted, he was demoted? Is this how you do things in the Ministry of Personnel?"

The judge of Dali Temple was of the seventh rank, and the supervisor of Yanwu Pavilion was of the sixth rank.

Bao Lang was transferred from the Dali Temple to the Yanwu Pavilion, which was a promotion. But now Bao Lang was transferred back to the Dali Temple and is still a judge.

Yang Zhengshan suddenly felt that he had overestimated the bottom line of the Ministry of Personnel.

This doesn't even follow the basic rules.

Originally, Yang Zhengshan wanted to let it go, but now he can't let it go.

The reason is very simple. Bao Lang is his subordinate. Bao Lang is being suppressed. If he, as his superior, does not stand up and say something, where will his face be?

The Ministry of Personnel dared to do this, which showed that they truly did not take him, the Marquis of Jing'an, seriously.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

"My Lord, please calm down. My Lord, please calm down!" Zhao Gongqing said with an apologetic smile.

Yang Zhengshan snorted, "I am very angry now!"

"See you tomorrow morning!"

Having said that, he flicked his sleeves and left.

Damn, you are a bunch of people who are just sitting there doing nothing. If I don’t make a fuss, you don’t know what rudeness is!

Zhao Gongqing looked at Yang Zhengshan's departing back, his face turning pale and blue.

At this time, he was also full of anger, angry at Yang Zhengshan's arrogance and unreasonableness, and also angry at his subordinates for their messy work.

Yang Zhengshan does not hold any important position now, but he had just won a battle at the beginning of the year and was therefore conferred the title of first-class marquis.

But the officials of the Ministry of Personnel actually messed up things under his command.

To be honest, Zhao Gongqing really wanted to kill those brainless bastards.

But he was the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel after all. When Zhou Yunsong was not around, he had to maintain the reputation and interests of the Ministry of Personnel, so there were some things he could not delve into.

"Go and tell the elder quickly. Forget it, I'd better go there myself!" Zhao Gongqing didn't care about anything else and went straight to the imperial city to find Zhou Yunsong.

It was already evening, and when Yang Zhengshan returned to the Marquis' Mansion, the sky had already darkened.

Yang Zhengshan went straight to the study and wrote a memorial in a flamboyant manner.

He decided to take advantage of the opportunity to make a big fuss and stir up the muddy water in Darong's court.

Qu Changkong's words really came true, and he had no choice.

The disputes among the civil servants in the court became more and more unruly, forcing Lu Wenyuan to be exiled from the capital. Moreover, there were people who dared to suppress the officials of the Yanwu Pavilion.

Bao Lang was demoted and transferred back to the Dali Temple. This is suppression.

If Yang Zhengshan doesn't stand up today, anyone might come and disgust him in the future.

You should know that Yang Zhengshan has many old friends. From Chongshan Town to Liaodong, civil officials and military generals all have close ties with him.

Lu Wenyuan and Lin Zhan have the closest relationship with him, but don’t forget that the Yang family also has some less obvious connections in official circles.

For example, Zheng Xiao is now the governor of Liaodong, governor of Pingyuan and Liaoyuan provinces, and inspector of the salt industry, the Maritime Customs and other matters.

In fact, Zheng Xiao inherited Liu Yuanfu's political capital, and many of Liu Yuanfu's disciples now include Zheng Xiao.

Yang Zhengshan and Zheng Xiao had always been close, and the two families were also in-laws. Lin Zhan's wife was Zheng Xiao's youngest daughter.

In addition to Zheng Xiao, another civil servant who is close to Yang Zhengshan is Pang Tang. Pang Tang has been the governor of Chongshan Town for nearly ten years, and he is also the leader of all the civil servants in Chongshan Town.

However, both Zheng Xiao and Pang Tang were far away from Kyoto, so they were not involved in the struggle in the court.

But not being involved doesn’t mean there is no impact.

Just look at the officials under Pang Tang and Zheng Xiao and you will know that there have been almost no promotions in recent years.

Even Zheng Xiao is now merely the Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. As a governor, he is much inferior to Pang Tang. Pang Tang can interfere in all military and political affairs of Chongshan Town, while Zheng Xiao, the governor of Liaodong, is only responsible for the salt industry and the Maritime Customs and has no right to interfere in military and political affairs.

If we are to divide factions, Yang Zhengshan, Pang Tang and Zheng Xiao are actually all considered to be from the Liaodong faction. Zheng Xiao is a little special as he inherited Liu Yuanfu's political capital. Logically, he should have a certain status in the Censorate. However, Zheng Xiao's official career has not been smooth in recent years and he has been wandering around in Liaodong.

It is not just the Yanwu Pavilion that needs Yang Zhengshan's care. Pang Tang and Zheng Xiao are also included. Yang Zhengshan can serve as their spokesperson in the court.

However, officials from various departments in the court became more and more unruly. Those who should be promoted were not promoted, and those who should be demoted were not demoted. This was the main reason why Yang Zhengshan wanted to stir up the muddy water in the court.

If the purpose was just to seek justice for Bao Lang, then he could just transfer Bao Lang back to the Yanwu Pavilion. However, Yang Zhengshan represented the interests of the civil and military officials of Chongshan Town and Liaodong. Even if Yang Zhengshan was unwilling to participate in the struggle in the court, he had to get involved.

Unless he is willing to cut himself off from the Liaodong faction and completely sever his relationship with Chongshan Town and the Liaodong civil and military officials, he must fight for the interests that the Liaodong faction deserves.

Especially the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War. One of these two ministries is responsible for the promotion, reward and punishment of civil officials, and the other is responsible for the promotion, reward and punishment of military officers. Yang Zhengshan must make his attitude clear.

The Ministry of War is easy to deal with. Yang Zhengshan has dealings with the Ministry of War a lot, and the officials of the Ministry of War have a deep understanding of him.

But the Ministry of Personnel was different. Yang Zhengshan had almost never dealt with it.

So this time Yang Zhengshan wanted to give the Ministry of Personnel a blow to let them know that he, Marquis Jing'an, was not someone to be trifled with, and that they should not annoy him for no reason.

……

At night, at the Zhou family mansion.

As soon as Zhou Yunsong returned home from the imperial city, he saw Zhao Gongqing sitting in the hall.

"Gong Qing, why are you here?" Zhou Yunsong asked in surprise.

Zhou Yunsong is not young anymore. He will be 70 years old in two years, but he is still in good health and spirit.

Compared with him, Song Yuange is older, now 74 years old, and he is old and weak. He caught a cold two days ago and is now recuperating at home.

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

Zhao Gongqing didn't waste any time and directly recounted what happened today. "Lord, at the morning court tomorrow, Marquis Jing'an will definitely impeach the Ministry of Personnel. What should we do?"

Zhou Yunsong sat down, holding the hot tea bowl to warm his cold hands, and said, "You didn't participate, did you?"

"Sir, please stop making fun of me. I am so busy all day long that I don't have the time to care about these things!" Zhao Gongqing said with a wry smile.

He was not shirking his responsibility. Zhou Yunsong concurrently served as the Minister of Personnel, but his main focus was on the cabinet, and the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel fell on the shoulders of the left and right vice ministers.

Although Zhao Gongqing did not hold the position of Shangshu, he exercised the power of Shangshu.

The Supervisor of the Yanwu Pavilion was only a sixth-rank official position, so there was no need for him to handle it personally.

(End of this chapter)