Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 400: Chapter 385: The Crown Prince’s Threefold Purpose

Imperial City, Taiji Palace.

Early morning, as the first rays of sunlight spilled over the Imperial City, the entire court of civil and military officials had already entered the palace for the morning court session.

Emperor Chengping was still gravely ill, and court affairs remained under the supervision of the Crown Prince, with Prince Cheng and Prince Gong observing the governance.

The two ranks of ministers took their seats, and a eunuch with a high-pitched voice called out: “Present your reports if there are matters, leave the court if there are none!”

The Crown Prince sat beneath the throne, his eyes keenly watching all the ministers in the hall.

Princes Cheng and Gong appeared calm, their eyes slightly closed, as if they were half-asleep.

However, today’s court atmosphere was clearly different from the past two days; everyone had previously been immersed in the joy of the victory in the Nameless Valley, and the mood was naturally relaxed and joyful.

But the air in today’s morning court was somewhat tense.

The cause was the matter of issuing rewards to the front-line soldiers.

A great victory inevitably leads to substantial rewards.

Not to mention anything else, take Yang Zhenshan, for example. Leading the Tenglong Guard soldiers, he first captured Qinghua Prefecture City, Songzhou City, and Chongshan Pass, putting down the revolt of Prince Qing, and then later at Guanshan Pass, together with the imperial guard, he annihilated eighty thousand Northern barbarian cavalry and twenty thousand rebel soldiers of Prince Qing, completely quelling the turmoil in Chongshan Town and Liaoxi.

Such significant contributions undoubtedly called for rewards. But the question of how to reward such deeds required the court officials to produce a set of regulations.

The rewards for others were easy to discuss; the court was not unwilling to issue rewards. The size of the noble title to be conferred and the specifics of the rewards were all regulated by the court.

If it was money that should be given, it would be given; if it was a promotion, then the promotion would be granted. If there was no suitable position for promotion, then a few honorary positions would be granted.

In any case, the court would not fail to reward service.

This matter, in fact, was not that troublesome.

Rewards of money and promotions could be given according to the merit, just like Yang Zhenshan. Due to Prince Qing’s rebellion, he was exceptionally promoted to Deputy in the Central Army Commander’s Mansion and General of Chongshan Town. Although he has now made significant contributions, he clearly couldn’t be promoted further in his official post, so his honorary title would be elevated.

Promote his Deputy role to Deputy Magistrate, and also grant him the titles of Dragon and Tiger General, Upper Protector Army General. If that still seems insufficient, then posthumously confer on his mother the honor of First Rank and grant several of his grandchildren the entry into the Emperor’s personal army as Hundred Households.

In sum, the court had no trouble thinking of rewards for Yang Zhenshan.

But the problem lies here: for some reason, the Crown Prince actually wanted to bestow nobility upon Yang Zhenshan!

Bestow nobility!

Since Emperor Chengping’s ascension, apart from the royal relatives, no new noble titles had been granted.

Even those who supported Emperor Chengping’s rise to the throne did not receive noble titles.

Yet now, the Crown Prince intended to confer nobility on Yang Zhenshan.

From yesterday noon when this news leaked from the Imperial City until today’s morning court, everyone who had heard of this was speculating about the Crown Prince’s intentions.

To say that there was any substantial relationship between the Crown Prince and Yang Zhenshan was far-fetched.

Given their vastly different statuses, the two had never had any dealings. Although the Yang family and Changping Marquis Mansion’s forming of family ties disrupted the Crown Prince’s plan, such a minor issue was not worth speaking of openly.

Rather, due to his connection with Liu Yuanfu, the Crown Prince had developed considerable animosity towards Yang Zhenshan.

Furthermore, Marquis Jingyuan of the Jingyuan Marquis Mansion bore a grudge against the Yang family, and Marquis Jingyuan was one of the earliest nobles to align with the Crown Prince. Now, Su Qian has even become the foremost noble under the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince disliked Yang Zhenshan, and Su Qian was an archenemy of Yang Zhenshan.

Logically, they should be suppressing Yang Zhenshan, yet why would they want to confer nobility upon him?

Many at court could guess the Crown Prince’s primary motive, some could infer the secondary one, but very few could comprehend the third layer.

The first layer was that the Crown Prince might seek to win over Yang Zhenshan, as military leaders from the border regions with his capability and strength were certainly worth courting.

The second layer might be that the Crown Prince wanted to attract the allegiance of the border commanders by using Yang Zhenshan as an example, opening the floodgates to bestow nobility as means of gaining their support.

Most people in the imperial court could see through this strategy.

Which military officer stationed at the border doesn’t wish to become a noble? However, Emperor Chengping has been tightly controlling the granting of noble titles, causing everyone to dare not indulge in such wild fantasies.

But what if the Crown Prince were willing to bestow noble titles?

Without a doubt, the military commanders stationed at the borders would definitely pledge their allegiance to the Crown Prince!

As for the Crown Prince’s third objective!

The Crown Prince casually glanced at the two imperial brothers beside him.

It’s as if Xiang Zhuang is performing his sword dance, but his real intention is to kill Duke Pei!

The real threats to the Crown Prince were these two, and all his schemes were focused on them.

The morning court session began, but the grand hall was eerily quiet—not a single official stepped forward to present their report.

Seeing this, the Crown Prince was not annoyed but instead signaled with his eyes to Vice Minister Zhu Qinwen in the lineup of civil officials.

Zhu Qinwen immediately understood and stepped forward to loudly proclaim, “Your servant has a report to present!”

“Proceed!” said the Crown Prince in a composed manner.

Zhu Qinwen took out a memorandum from his sleeve and began to read aloud, “The Central Army Deputy Governor, Chongshan Town General, National Guardian General Yang Zhenshan is well-versed in military training, divine in war strategy, skilled in both civil and military affairs, and valiant in planning… Joined the army at a young age, fought in numerous battles, pacified Chongshan, his achievements reach across the northeast.”

My goodness, Vice Minister Zhu lavished praise on Yang Zhenshan as soon as he opened his mouth. If Yang Zhenshan were here to hear such praise, he would surely blush to the tips of his ears.

There was no helping it; the praise was too excessive, even Yang Zhenshan himself would find it embarrassing.

The full assembly of civil and military officials in the hall couldn’t help but find Zhu Qinwen’s praise of Yang Zhenshan amusing.

However, they soon stopped finding it funny, because Zhu Qinwen started to enumerate Yang Zhenshan’s military achievements.

In twelve years, Yang Zhenshan rose from a Trial Hundred Household officer to the General of Chongshan Town. Although there was an element of luck and he had the help of benefactors, each of his promotions was earned through military merits.

Even the initial appointment to Trial Hundred Household could be explained as due to Yang Zhenshan’s merits in wartime when he resisted the Northern barbarian cavalry at Yang Family Village.

Since Vice Minister Zhu intended to praise Yang Zhenshan, it was natural for him to downplay the existence of others. Those who had previously assisted him, such as Zhou Lan, Lv Hua, Liang Chu, could be momentarily ignored, focusing solely on Yang Zhenshan’s military achievements.

After listening to Vice Minister Zhu’s enumeration of Yang Zhenshan’s military achievements, the assembled civil and military officials in the court realized that Zhu’s previous praise wasn’t an exaggeration.

Suddenly, the ministers in the grand hall began to discuss among themselves.

Many hadn’t realized just how formidable Yang Zhenshan was.

Yang Zhenshan indeed had some renown; with a nickname like the God of Slaughter, his name was widespread throughout Liaodong. However, since he had only been active in Liaodong and hadn’t come to the Capital City, the civil and military officials of the imperial court were quite unfamiliar with him.

Perhaps they had heard rumors about Yang Zhenshan, but after all, rumors were just rumors, and they did not take them seriously.

But now that Vice Minister Zhu brought up these matters in court, it was no longer just rumor, but fact.

Thus, many expressed their surprise.

“During the battle at Guanshan Pass, Yang Zhenshan deployed a brilliant strategy, waited for the wind to change, and used fire to attack, burning a hundred thousand enemies! Such a world-shattering achievement can be compared to the battle of Sui State three hundred years ago!” Vice Minister Zhu dropped another bombshell.

The bombshell was the comparison to the battle of Sui State.

Three hundred years ago, Da Rong was newly founded, and the great ancestor Emperor fought battles everywhere. Sui State was a critical challenge that stood in the great ancestor Emperor’s path to the west.

To put it simply, the victory in the battle of Sui State laid the foundation for the great ancestor Emperor’s unification of the realm. If there had been defeat in Sui State, then the great ancestor Emperor could only have been a king, not an emperor.

And the one who achieved victory in the battle of Sui State was the first generation Duke Ding of Da Rong.

Comparing the battle at Guanshan Pass to the three hundred-year-old battle of Sui State, comparing Yang Zhenshan to the first generation Duke Ding of Da Rong—if truth be told, this really held Yang Zhenshan in too high regard.

But when it comes to military achievements, they can still be compared.

Because the battle of Sui State back then was won by the first generation Duke Ding of Da Rong through strategy, overcoming the many with the few, and the strong with the weak. There were indeed some similarities, but the significance was far different.