Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 687 Go Crazy or Die
Ma Yan and Chen Buyu went to the Ministry of War to report first. Chen Buyu's position had already been decided: Vice Commander of the Central Military Commission. Although it was not an important position, it was still of a very high rank.

Of course, this also takes into account Chen Buyu's abilities. Over the years, Chen Buyu has gained a lot of experience in the Taiping Army, but to be honest, his abilities are still limited. He is not as good as many of the nobles of the previous Da Rong, nor as good as the military officers who came from Chongshan Town.

His position was assigned to him by Yang Mingzhao; it was a relatively unimportant deputy position, intended as a form of training for him.

Chen Buyu was quite satisfied with this. The position of Vice Commander-in-Chief was a second-rank official position, and the Commander-in-Chief's Office of the new dynasty held real power. As the Vice Commander-in-Chief, he could accomplish a lot of practical things.

Afterwards, Ma Yan took him to the capital to register. Yang Chengye didn't have time to summon him for the time being, and it was already late, so they returned to the Jing'an Marquis's residence to stay.

With Ma Yan around, Chen Buyu can still live comfortably in the Jing'an Marquis's residence.

The next day, Ma Yan took Chen Buyu to pay a visit to Yu Qingyi, who was a proper junior disciple, so Yu Qingyi naturally wanted to meet him.

Yu Qingyi also gave Chen Buyu a gift, including pills, wine, and tea, and asked about Chen Buyu's situation.

Compared to Yang Zhengshan, Yu Qingyi was much more meticulous. She even sent someone to the Ministry of Rites to inquire about the location of the Taiping Earl's Mansion. After finding out the location of the Taiping Earl's Mansion, she arranged for someone to help Chen Buyu tidy up the mansion.

Chen Buyu quickly moved into his own mansion, and Ma Yan even helped him buy some servants and attendants.

Yang Chengye only managed to summon Chen Buyu on the fifth day after Chen Buyu arrived in Kyoto.

Yang Chengye only offered a few words of encouragement to Chen Buyu and didn't say much more.

Thus, Chen Buyu was able to settle down in the capital and integrate into the new dynasty's circle of nobles.

With the establishment of a new dynasty, everything is renewed.

Although the new dynasty still faces many challenges, Yang Chengye has now ascended the throne, the court is functioning normally, and the previously chaotic situation is gradually stabilizing.

In particular, the three provinces of Gansu, a land that has endured the most hardships, have finally been revitalized.

While the new dynasty was recuperating, the situation both inside and outside the dynasty was undergoing dramatic changes.

First, there was Chen Hengchang in Jiangnan. In order to fight against the new Da'an Dynasty, Chen Hengchang finally took action against the gentry and powerful families in Jiangnan.

Unfortunately, he needed more money, supplies, and troops to fight against the new Da'an Dynasty, but the gentry and powerful families of Jiangnan became an obstacle to his acquisition of money and supplies.

He conquered Jiangnan peacefully. In order to maintain the stability and prosperity of Jiangnan, he not only did not punish the gentry and powerful families of Jiangnan, but also continued to condone their accumulation of wealth.

In the past two years, Jiangnan has appeared to be a place of prosperity and beauty, but in reality, the lives of the people in Jiangnan have become increasingly difficult, and countless people are trying to escape Jiangnan by any means possible.

Chen Hengchang not only failed to collect taxes from Jiangnan, but also ended up subsidizing a considerable amount of it.

As a result, after Chen Hengchang occupied Jiangnan, he not only did not become richer, but became poorer.

He tried many times to collect some money from the gentry and powerful families, but those gentry and powerful families were a bunch of misers. Whether it was Da Rong in the past or Chen Hengchang now, it was difficult to get a single penny out of them.

Chen Hengchang was forced into a corner.

Externally, he had to face pressure from the new Da'an dynasty; internally, he also had to outwit these gentry and powerful families.

Even with his good temper and high tolerance, Chen Hengchang had reached his limit.

"Have you checked everything?"

In the main hall of Prince Qing's mansion, Chen Hengchang stared at Lü Hua with a gloomy face.

Lu Hua said calmly, "We've investigated. In the past two years, thirteen companies have had business dealings with the Yang family's businesses. They are all wealthy merchants and powerful families from Jiangnan!"

Chen Hengchang's face was contorted with rage. "These traitorous bastards deserve to die!"

Previously, the Yang family business had a considerable presence in Jiangnan. Although Chen Hengchang has taken over Jiangnan in the past two years, the Yang family business in Jiangnan has not completely ceased operations.

Chen Hengchang prohibited ships associated with the Yang family business from docking, but he could not prevent merchant ships from leaving Jiangnan.

Since we cannot trade with the Yang family's business in Jiangnan, we will trade with them outside of Jiangnan.

In this way, many wealthy merchants from Jiangnan would transport their goods out of Jiangnan and then trade with the Yang family's trading company on nearby islands.

The goods they provided included not only silk, porcelain, medicinal herbs, and tea, but also grain.

Ship after ship of grain was sold to the Yang family trading company, which then transported it to Chongshan Town and Liaodong, and now it is being transported directly to Jinhaiwei.

Chen Hengchang himself was short of food, yet these gentry and powerful families actually sold their grain to the Yang family's trading company. How could Chen Hengchang not be furious?

Moreover, Chen Hengchang's attempt to collect some maritime trade tax was met with obstruction from the gentry and powerful families.

"Kill!" Chen Hengchang said, his eyes red. "Master, please lead the men yourself!"

Lin Fu'an's expression shifted, and he looked up at him, "Are you really going to start a massacre?"

Sending him with men is not just about killing people; it means Chen Hengchang wants to use the methods of the Shenyang Sect.

Spirit Renewal and Blood Refining Technique!
"Yes, kill anyone who gets in my way!" Chen Hengchang said. "What about the Prince of Xinjiang?" Lin Fu'an asked.

Chen Hengchang lowered his eyes, "They deserve to die the most!"

The Prince of Xinjiang deserves to die the most!

Chen Hengchang only realized this now, and to be honest, it's a bit late.

However, for Chen Hengchang now, it's not too late.

In order to fight against the new Da'an dynasty, he has abandoned his bottom line and become completely unscrupulous.

Killing people can bring more money and food; killing people can train more martial arts masters; killing people can solve a lot of trouble.

Whether it was the Prince of Xinjiang or a member of a gentry or a powerful family, Chen Hengchang no longer cared about anything else.

He went mad, because if he didn't go mad, he would die.

Upon hearing this, a strange light flashed in Lü Hua's eyes.

However, he didn't say much. He was always cautious in his words and actions when dealing with Chen Hengchang, and he would never speak unless Chen Hengchang asked.

"I understand!" Although Lin Fu'an did not want to use the methods of the Divine Sun Sect, he also understood that now was not the time to hesitate.

When faced with life and death, nothing else matters.

Chen Hengchang cannot bear failure, and neither can Lin Fu'an.

Afterwards, everyone dispersed, and Lü Hua also left the Prince Qing's mansion and returned to his own residence.

As Chen Hengchang's intelligence chief, Lü Hua held a relatively high position within Chen Hengchang's organization. Although Chen Hengchang remained wary of him, Lü Hua made him indispensable to Chen Hengchang.

Whether it's the Secret Guard or the Blood-Clad Guard, they both belong to intelligence agencies.

The most important thing for an intelligence agency is secrecy, not only from the outside world, but also from within and above.

The Blood-Clad Guards were established with the support of the Divine Sun Sect, but Lü Hua kept them firmly in his own hands, making it impossible for Chen Hengchang to replace him.

After returning to his residence, Lü Hua summoned an old servant.

The old servant had a full head of white hair, a hunched back, and looked very old, no different from any other elderly person.

But if Yang Zhengshan were here, he would definitely recognize this old servant.

Because he is Wei Cen!

"We can't wait any longer; we need to contact the Yang family as soon as possible," Lu Hua said in a deep voice.

Lu Hua was fully aware of the Yang family's actions.

He guessed what the Yang family wanted to do from the moment Yang Chengye was training the new army in Fuzhou.

Don't forget, he is the commander of the Northern Garrison of the Secret Military Guard; Liaodong and Chongshan Town are his home turf.

Even though the Secret Guard has been completely destroyed, many things in Chongshan Town and Liaodong still cannot escape his notice.

Lu Hua had long wanted to contact the Yang family, after all, he was an old friend of Yang Zhengshan, and his relationship with the Yang family had been very close in the past.

He believed that as long as he went to Yang Zhengshan, Yang Zhengshan would definitely give him a stable life.

The reason he hadn't contacted the Yang family before was twofold: firstly, Chen Hengchang had been keeping an eye on him, and secondly, he had refrained from contacting the Yang family to prevent Chen Hengchang from discovering anything amiss.

Secondly, he also wanted to see how the situation developed before making a decision. If Chen Hengchang really had the potential to seize power, then there would be no need for him to go to the Yang family.

However, the situation changed too quickly. The Yang family wiped out the Liang Dynasty with a single move, leaving him no time to react.

Third, he also wanted to deliver a fatal blow to Chen Hengchang and the Shenyang Sect at a crucial moment. He was very vengeful; he was disfigured because of the Shenyang Sect, and he was later imprisoned on Black Mountain Island because of the Shenyang Sect.

He would weigh the pros and cons, but he also thought about revenge.

That's why he's been patient, waiting for the right opportunity to weigh the pros and cons.

Wei Cen nodded, "I will personally go to the capital!"

"Yes, be careful not to get spotted by those people!" Lu Hua said.

　There are so many things to do during the Spring Festival, visiting relatives and friends, that I really don't have time to write. I'll be taking a day off tomorrow, and I hope my fellow readers will forgive me.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)