Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 795: Chapter 601: The Seriously Ill Emperor Yanping

August 6th.

Yang Mingzhao once again set sail into the sea.

What he carried was not much, only four large chests, but the treasures within them were valuable.

Not to mention the wines and tea leaves, just the silver notes he kept amounted to sixty-eight thousand taels, and there were many other valuable items.

A single long sword made from Earthfire Steel was worth seventy to eighty thousand taels of silver, and there were other various items, selling for over a hundred thousand taels would not be a problem.

He was accompanied by ten people from Star Moon Island, excluding Wu Zheng and his personal guards, he even lured away seven young men from the island.

Most young people on the island had their duties, either joining the government, the Navy, or the Yang Family Trading Company, and only a very few did not find any due to certain reasons.

Their lack of duties does not mean they lack power; the island had long achieved education for all, starting enlightenment at eight years old, martial training at ten, becoming a Martial Artist at fifteen or sixteen, and a Postnatal Martial Artist in their early twenties.

Now, the youths in their twenties on the island were almost all Postnatal Martial Artists, importantly, they had undergone military training, which to Yang Mingzhao, were all incredibly valuable talents.

Thus, he lured these seven young men along.

If it weren’t for the fear of creating too much of a stir, he would have liked to bring more people.

They boarded the merchant ships of the Yang Family Trading Company and left Star Moon Island, sailing four days to reach Songhe Prefecture in Jiangnan, where they exchanged all the silver notes for silver.

There were no Yang Family Trading Company banks in Bashu, furthermore, silver notes from the Yang Family Trading Company were not circulated there, hence Yang Mingzhao could only exchange the silver notes for silver in Songhe Prefecture.

Then, they purchased some textiles, weapons, stationery and other supplies in Songhe Prefecture, hired a team of guards, rented two inland river cargo ships, and proceeded upstream along the Song River to the west.

While Yang Mingzhao was heading towards Kui Prefecture, a major incident occurred at the Da Rong Court.

Emperor Yanping fainted in the Imperial Study Room.

Emperor Yanping ascended the throne at thirty-seven, and this year marks the twentieth year of Yanping, thus Emperor Yanping is fifty-seven years old.

At fifty-seven, he is neither considered old nor young.

However, in recent years, Emperor Yanping’s health has been visibly weakening.

Two years ago, Emperor Yanping fell severely ill, confined to bed for two months before recovering. Since last winter, he has been suffering from asthma and coughing, even coughing up blood this spring.

During the summer, Emperor Yanping’s condition slightly improved, but the illness relapsed as the weather cooled.

After fainting in the Imperial Study Room, Emperor Yanping laid unconscious in bed for an entire day and night before he came to.

In the bedroom, Zhang Mingzhong was carefully tending to Emperor Yanping, helping him take his medicinal soup.

Crown Prince Chen Zhaojun and Prince Dai Chen Zhaoxuan stood beside the bed, looking worriedly at Emperor Yanping.

At this moment, Emperor Yanping’s complexion was sallow, his hair like withered grass, his eyes murky and spiritless, appearing not as a man in his late fifties, but rather an old man of seventy or eighty.

”Father!” Chen Zhaojun softly called out.

Emperor Yanping looked at the Crown Prince, then shifted his gaze to Zhang Mingzhong, and said weakly: ”You all leave, only the Crown Prince stays!”

Zhang Mingzhong bowed in response and then led the other attendants out of the room.

Chen Zhaoxuan hesitated for a moment, then followed out of the room.

Once only Emperor Yanping and Chen Zhaojun were left in the room, Emperor Yanping spoke, ”From today onwards, you will oversee the nation!”

”Father, Your Highness—”

Emperor Yanping gently raised his hand to stop him, and said, ”Let Xuan’er move to Dai State to establish his commandery, it’s unfit for him to remain in the Capital City!”

”I understand, Father!” said Chen Zhaojun.

”What are your thoughts about the civil and military officials of the court?” Emperor Yanping asked.

Chen Zhaojun hesitated for a moment, then spoke: ”Your Highness, I will promote some young officials.”

”Which young officials?”

”The Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel Li Yangbo, the doctor of the Ministry of Revenue Yang Jingxuan, doctor of the Ministry of War Luo Zhengu, Junior Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice Zhang Hee, Deputy Imperial Censor of the Imperial Examination Hall Wang Zhongke...” Chen Zhaojun listed over a dozen names.

After listening, Emperor Yanping nodded lightly, ”Very good, these men are all talented and virtuous. However, Li Yangbo and Luo Zhengu cannot be promoted at the same time; they are both from prominent families in Longyuan. If needed, you can first promote Li Yangbo to the Cabinet; if Li Yangbo makes a mistake, then promote Luo Zhengu to the Cabinet!”

Emperor Yanping’s old habit of keeping balance at court had not changed; nevertheless, in these ten-plus years, the court under his attempts at balance had only grown more chaotic.

Initially, there were only two factions, the Long Party and the Jiangnan Party, issues were within controllable limits. However, as time passed, as contradictions among the civil and military officials grew, factions at the court proliferated, and the conflicts intensified severely.

Till now, offices like the Cabinet, the Six Ministries, the Six Departments, the Imperial Examination Hall, the Ministry of Justice, and so on are filled with officials merely squabbling, with hardly anyone focusing on their duties as making fewer acts equates to fewer mistakes.

If you do nothing, people scrutinize you for nitpicking, and once you act, countless individuals will pull you down and attempt to leverage your mistakes to topple you.

One thing led to another, and a culture of inaction and fear of action formed at court.

From the Cabinet down to various government offices at the local level, the situation remained largely the same.

As for Chen Zhaojun, as the Crown Prince, he has been involved in governance at the court for over a decade, everything he knows was taught by Emperor Yanping, what follows goes without saying.