Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 600 The Severely Ill Emperor Yanping
August 6th.

Yang Mingzhao went out to sea again.

He didn't bring much with him, only four large boxes in total, but the things he brought were quite valuable.

Not to mention the wine and tea, the silver notes he had in his pocket alone amounted to 68,000 taels, and there were many other valuable things.

A long sword made of earth-fire steel is worth 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver, and there are other miscellaneous items, so it is no problem to sell them for more than 100,000 taels of silver.

There were ten people who left Xingyue Island with him. In addition to Wu Zheng and the guards around him, he also abducted seven young people on the island.

Most of the young people on the island have jobs, some working in government offices, some in the navy, and some in businesses. Only a small number of young people do not have jobs for some reasons.

The fact that they have no jobs does not mean they have no strength. Education has long been universalized on the island. They begin their enlightenment at the age of eight, start practicing martial arts at the age of ten, become warriors at the age of fifteen or sixteen, and become acquired warriors in their early twenties.

Now almost all the young people in their twenties on the island are acquired warriors. The key is that they have all undergone military training, which makes them very useful talents for Yang Mingzhao.

So he took these seven young people abducted.

If he wasn't afraid of causing too much noise, he would have wanted to kidnap more people.

They left Xingyue Island on the merchant ship of the Yang Family Business Company, sailed for four days to reach Songhe Prefecture in the south of the Yangtze River, and then exchanged all the banknotes for silver in Songhe Prefecture.

There was no money house of the Yang family business in Bashu, and the banknotes of the Yang family business were not circulated there, so Yang Mingzhao could only exchange the banknotes for silver in Songhe Prefecture.

Then they purchased some cloth, weapons, pens, ink, paper and other supplies in Songhe Prefecture. They also hired a team of escorts and rented two inland cargo ships before heading west along the Song River.

Just when Yang Mingzhao was on his way to Kuizhou Prefecture, a major event occurred in the court of Dayong.

Emperor Yanping fainted in the imperial study.

Emperor Yanping was 37 years old when he ascended the throne, and this year is the 20th year of Yanping, which means that Emperor Yanping is now 57 years old.

Fifty-seven years old, not too old, but not too young either.

But in recent years, Emperor Yanping's health has become increasingly weak.

Two years ago, Emperor Yanping fell seriously ill and had to stay in bed for two months before recovering. Since last winter, Emperor Yanping has been suffering from asthma and coughing, and even coughed up blood this spring.

In the summer, Emperor Yanping's spirit recovered a little, but when the weather turned cooler, Emperor Yanping's asthma relapsed again.

After Emperor Yanping fainted in the imperial study, he lay in bed for a whole day and night before waking up.

In the bedroom, Zhang Mingzhong carefully served Emperor Yanping medicine.

Crown Prince Chen Zhaojun and Prince of Dai Chen Zhaoxuan stood beside the bed, looking at Emperor Yanping with worry on their faces.

At this time, Emperor Yanping had a sallow complexion, withered hair, and cloudy and lifeless eyes. He did not look like he was less than sixty years old, but rather an old man in his seventies or eighties.

"Father!" Chen Zhaojun called softly.

Emperor Yanping looked at the prince, then at Zhang Mingzhong, and said weakly, "You go out first, leaving only the prince behind!"

Zhang Mingzhong bowed in response, then left the room with the eunuchs.

Chen Zhaoxuan hesitated for a moment and then left the room.

When only Emperor Yanping and Chen Zhaojun were left in the room, Emperor Yanping said, "From today on, you will be the regent!"

"Father, I am your son~~"

Emperor Yanping gently raised his hand to interrupt him and said, "Let Xuan'er go to Daizhou to be a vassal. It is not appropriate for him to stay in Kyoto any longer!"

"I understand, son!" said Chen Zhaojun.

"What do you think of the civil and military officials in the court?" asked Emperor Yanping.

Chen Zhaojun hesitated for a moment and said, "I will promote some young officials."

"Those young courtiers?"

"Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel Li Yangbo, Doctor of the Ministry of Revenue Yang Jingxuan, Doctor of the Ministry of War Luo Zhenguo, Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple Zhang He, Deputy Chief Censor of the Censorate Wang Zhongke..." Chen Zhaojun listed more than a dozen names.

Emperor Yanping nodded gently after listening to it. "Very good, these people are both talented and virtuous, but Li Yangbo and Luo Zhenguo cannot be promoted at the same time. They both come from the great families of Longyuan. If you need, you can promote Li Yangbo to the cabinet first. If Li Yangbo makes a mistake, then promote Luo Zhenguo to the cabinet!"

Emperor Yanping still hadn't changed his old habit of always trying to balance the court. However, over the past decade or so, the court had become increasingly chaotic under his control.

At first, there were only two factions fighting in the court, the Long Party and the Jiangnan Party, and the scope of the fight was still within the controllable range. However, as time went on, as the conflicts among civil and military officials increased, there were more and more factions in the court, and the fights between them became more and more serious.

Until now, in the Cabinet, the Six Ministries, the Six Departments, the Censorate, the Dali Temple and other government offices, a group of officials only know how to fight with each other. On the contrary, there are few people who can do their work with peace of mind, because the more they do, the more mistakes they make.

No matter what you do, there will always be people staring at you and finding fault with you. And once you do something, there will be countless people holding you back, and even many people who want to seize on your mistakes and bring you down.

As time went by, a culture of not being able to do anything and not daring to do anything was formed in the court.

This is generally the case from the cabinet to the local government and county governments.

As the crown prince, Chen Zhaojun had been observing government affairs in the court for more than ten years. Everything he learned was taught by Emperor Yanping, so there is no need to explain the rest.

He learned all the tricks of Emperor Yanping.

"There are two more people that the emperor has kept for you. They are Lu Wenyuan, the governor of Pingyuan, and Lin Zhan, the prefect of Ningyuan Prefecture. If the situation in the court gets out of control one day, you can call them back to the court!"

"As long as the two of them can return to the court, the situation in the court will be stabilized!"

Emperor Yanping said in a weak voice.

This was his backup plan. Once the court got out of control, he would transfer Lu Wenyuan and Lin Zhan back to Kyoto.

However, he did not use this backup plan, so he left it to his son.

As for why he felt that Lu Wenyuan and Lin Zhan could stabilize the government, the reason was very simple. Lu Wenyuan and Lin Zhan represented Yang Zhengshan, or to be more precise, the Liaodong faction.

It has been more than ten years since Yang Zhengshan left Dayong, but the influence he left behind remains.

Chongshan Town is still the base of the Yang family, and Tenglongwei is still firmly controlled by Yu Tonghai and the six families of Wu, Han, Zhang, Xie, and Xue.

In addition, a number of civil servants have emerged from the Yang family in recent years. Although there are not many outstanding ones, there are still a few good ones.

However, most of the officials and scholars in Chongshan Town and Liaoyuan Province have close ties with the Yang family and Tenglong Guard.

Therefore, the Liaodong faction can be regarded as a faction in the court.

However, Liaodong did not have much say in the court. It just gathered Lu Wenyuan's subordinates and lived in a corner of Liaodong.

In recent years, the most stable place for Dayong is Liaodong. Although there are many problems in the officialdom of Liaodong, compared with other places, the situation in Liaodong is already very good.

"If you are short of money, you can take action against those imperial merchants. They are becoming more and more excessive!" Emperor Yanping continued.

"I understand, son!" said Chen Zhaojun.

In the eyes of this father and son, those imperial merchants were just fat pigs. Whenever they were short of meat, they would slaughter them. Emperor Yanping's breath weakened a little, but he still insisted, "And if you encounter a problem that cannot be solved, you can send someone to Xingyue Island to ask your master to come back!"

It was no secret that Yang Zhengshan was on Xingyue Island, and Emperor Yanping was also very clear about the situation on Xingyue Island.

The strength of Xingyue Island made him feel both daunted and at the same time, he felt he could rely on it.

This is also the reason why he has not taken action against Chongshan Town and Tenglongwei in the past ten years.

Yang Zhengshan lives far away overseas, which makes him feel much more at ease and makes him feel that Yang Zhengshan is more trustworthy. After all, Yang Zhengshan gave up the glory and wealth of Darong and did not covet Darong's power.

Yang Mingzhi and Yang Minghao resigned from their posts one after another, which made him feel that Yang Zhengshan was reliable.

In his heart, Yang Zhengshan is a smart man who knows when to advance and when to retreat. Therefore, until now, Yang Zhengshan is still a reliable minister in his heart.

"I understand, son!" Chen Zhaojun said in a low voice.

He and Yang Zhengshan still have a master-disciple relationship, but it is a shallow one. To be honest, he has already forgotten Yang Zhengshan, his master.

He hasn't contacted Yang Zhengshan for all these years.

"It's good that you know it! Call Zhang Mingzhong over!" said Emperor Yanping.

A moment later, Zhang Mingzhong and other eunuchs came in.

Emperor Yanping ordered Chen Zhaojun to be regent and Chen Zhaoxuan to become a vassal.

After the two edicts were issued, all the civil and military officials in the court understood that Emperor Yanping would not live long.

Soon, the news spread throughout Dayong.

Not to mention the turmoil in the court, the fact that Emperor Yanping is seriously ill and the transition from the old emperor to the new emperor will certainly affect the situation in the world.

When the news spread, many people and forces hiding in the dark in Dayong Tianxia could no longer suppress the urge in their hearts and prepared to jump out.

In the Miaoling Mountains west of Liping Prefecture, Yunnan-Guizhou Province.

Miaoling Mountain is part of the Jiujiang Mountain Range, which includes a large area of ​​dolomite peaks. From a distance, the mountains rise up from the ground, while from a close distance, the peaks are jagged. The continuous parts are one color of clouds and sky, while the steep parts are so steep that no one can pass through.

The mountain is so steep that many innate warriors can only sigh in despair.

Yang Zhengshan had been to Miaoling Mountains before. He and Yu Qingyi could travel freely in the misty mountains and also in Wanshanling Mountains. However, in the Miaoling Mountains, there were many places that caused them trouble.

Because there are many peaks in the Miaoling Mountains that are straight up and down, with cliffs hundreds of feet high, although Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi can climb up, it will undoubtedly take a lot more effort.

So the two of them wandered around the edge of Miaoling Mountains for a few days and then left.

This shows how steep the Miaoling Mountains are.

But in this steep Miaoling Mountain, tens of thousands of people are hidden.

Shenyang Valley, Shenyang Sect.

The Shenyang Sect, which the Secret Guards had been searching for for twenty years without success, was hidden in the Shenyang Valley in the central area of ​​the Miaoling Mountains.

In the minds of the people, the depths of the Miaoling Mountains are a place where no human beings exist, but in fact there is a paradise on earth in the depths of the Miaoling Mountains.

The surrounding peaks are towering into the clouds, but the valley is full of fertile land.

However, once this blessed land fell into the hands of the Shen Yang Sect, it turned into a hell.

There are thousands of followers of the Shenyang Sect and tens of thousands of blood slaves in the valley.

What is a blood slave?
To put it simply, it is the blood food cultivated by the Shen Yang Sect itself.

Not only do they need to cultivate the land and provide food for the Shen Yang Sect, but there is also a great possibility that they will become the Shen Yang Sect's blood slaves.

On weekdays, these people live in the Shenyang Valley. The Shenyang Sect not only provides them with all kinds of daily necessities, but also provides various cultivation resources.

They have been practicing since childhood. If their aptitude is poor and their cultivation is low, they can only be farmers all their lives and cultivate the land for the Shen Yang Sect.

If they have better qualifications and can become acquired warriors, they will have a chance to choose.

Those who are willing to suck the qi and blood of others are followers of Shen Yang. Those who are unwilling to suck the qi and blood of others are blood-eaters of Shen Yang.

The entire valley is divided into two parts. One part is the living area and farming area for the blood slaves. They live a carefree life here and are proud to be members of the Shen Yang Church. They only know that many people have successfully practiced and become members of the Shen Yang Church, but they don't know that most of those who left have actually become blood food for the Shen Yang Church.

The other part is hidden in a cave at the bottom of the mountain, where the Shen Yang believers live and the blood food of the Shen Yang believers are imprisoned.

In the dim cave, skinny people were imprisoned in cells. To be precise, they should not be considered human beings, but a group of livestock, a group of livestock to be slaughtered at will.

In addition to the livestock, there were also members of the Shen Yang sect dressed in black cloth. Their eyes were blood red, and in the dim cave, they looked like a pair of wild beasts' eyes.

The cave is very large and long, running through many mountains.

They are like a group of demons that never see the light of day.

But some people also like blue sky, white clouds, mountains, forests and green fields.

Just outside the exit of a cave, there is a simple fenced courtyard.

In the small courtyard, a white-haired old man was carefully clearing the weeds in the vegetable field with a hoe.

The old man looked to be in his seventies or eighties, with white hair and a youthful face, and an air of immortality, like a hermit living in the mountains.

If Yang Zhengshan were here, he might be able to recognize this old man.

His name is Lin Fuan, also known as Shan Zhongjun. He is also a well-known innate warrior in Darong.

When the Xingyuan Fruit Tree appeared in the world, he also showed up in Cuixia Valley. He also participated in the Xiantian Martial Arts Banquet held by the Worship Hall. However, this person was very low-key and could easily be ignored even in public.

I don’t know if Yang Zhengshan still remembers this person.

However, Lin Fuan may be his alias. His real identity is the leader of the Shen Yang Sect. As for his full name, perhaps only he himself knows it.

"Your subordinate greets the leader!" A middle-aged man in black stood outside the fence gate and bowed in a deep voice.

"Well, what's the matter?" Lin Fuan continued to swing the hoe to clear the weeds in the vegetable field.

"Lord Li sent a message saying that Emperor Yanping is seriously ill and the Crown Prince is acting as regent. He asked what to do next!" said the middle-aged man.

Lin Fuan raised his head, revealing a pair of deep eyes.

"What's going on in the court?"

"not yet!"

"Then let's wait a little longer. We've already waited for a hundred years, so a few years won't make a difference!" Lin Fuan said softly.

(End of this chapter)