Chapter 218: Demotion

"Oh, Yang Zhengshan, the garrison commander of Anyuan City. That's right, it's him!" Emperor Chengping also remembered.

"I remember that he had made contributions in the Battle of Chongshan Pass, leading 300 soldiers and killing nearly 1,000 enemies. By the way, Marquis Changping also said that this man was both wise and brave, and had the talent of a general!"

The smile on Eunuch Chen's face became even brighter. "Your Majesty has a good memory. If it weren't for your reminder, I would have forgotten that the Marquis of Changping also mentioned Lord Yang in the battle report!"

How could he not know that Liang Chu mentioned Yang Zhengshan in the battle report, he just didn't say it.

Your Majesty remembered it, which means that Your Majesty has a good memory. After all, you are not old yet. It was Your Majesty who reminded this old servant.

And if His Majesty doesn't remember it, he won't mention it again.

"What a pity, he is just a little old!" Emperor Chengping said with some regret.

"It doesn't matter that he's a little older. What's important is that Lord Yang comes from a farming family." Eunuch Chen reminded again.

His origin as a farmer proved that he was of humble origin and had little connection with the various forces at court.

Such a person is actually most in line with Emperor Chengping's wishes, because Emperor Chengping now hates the officials in the court forming cliques and factions and being of the same ilk the most.

However, Emperor Chengping did not speak any more, but focused his attention on the content of the memorial.

After he finished reading the memorial, his wrinkled face drooped involuntarily.

"Where is the prince?"

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince should be in Wenhua Palace handling state affairs at this time!"

"Let him come here!"

Emperor Chengping's voice was particularly cold and solemn. Eunuch Chen did not dare to say another word and bowed and left the study.

About a quarter of an hour later, a middle-aged man wearing a bright yellow brocade robe and with an elegant face came into the study, panting.

"Your son pays his respects to the Emperor!" The prince knelt down with great respect.

However, Emperor Chengping seemed not to have heard it and continued to look through the memorials in his hand.

Eunuch Chen stood nearby with his head lowered and his brows smoothed, even his breathing became a little softer.

There was no other sound in the entire study except the sound of Emperor Chengping flipping through memorials.

The prince knelt on the ground with his forehead touching the ground, and his cold sweat soaked the marble floor.

It was unknown how long it had been, until the prince felt his legs were numb and painful, before Emperor Chengping said, "Tea!"

Eunuch Chen immediately came back to life from his wooden state and hurried forward to change a bowl of tea for Emperor Taiping.

Holding the tea and taking a few sips, Emperor Chengping raised his eyelids and looked at the prince calmly.

"Get up!"

"Thank you, father!" The prince then stood up tremblingly.

"see this!"

The prince bent down and picked up the memorial on the table.

The prince opened the memorial and read it quickly. After he finished reading it, a hint of helplessness flashed in his eyes.

What a disaster!
What the hell is going on!

He wanted to promote a marriage between the Marquis of Changping and the Earl of Qing'an, but he did not force anything.

The attitude of the Marquis of Changping's Mansion has always been very clear. They will not participate in the fight for the throne. The Crown Prince also understands this, so he does not necessarily want to drag the Marquis of Changping's Mansion into the water. He just wants to use the Earl of Qing'an's Mansion as an additional layer of insurance.

If this succeeds, it will be a trump card. If it doesn't work, he won't force it too much.

But he never expected that the Jingyuan Marquis' Mansion would act in this way.

Although he doesn't know all the causes and consequences now, he can already guess where the problem lies.

"Father!" The prince opened his mouth to say something.

However, as soon as he opened his mouth, a tea bowl flew towards him.

"Bastard thing!"

This was followed by an angry curse, which made the prince, who wanted to dodge, stop abruptly and let the tea in the tea bowl hit his chest and wet his clothes.

"Father calm down!"

With a plop, the prince knelt down again.

Emperor Chengping looked at him gloomily, "Get up!"

The prince made a bitter face and stood up again.

"What on earth does Marquis Jingyuan want to do? He actually secretly dispatched the imperial guards to leave the capital!"

Emperor Chengping was really angry. He pointed at the crown prince and said angrily, "Today he dared to dispatch the imperial guards to leave the capital. Will he dare to lead the imperial guards into the imperial city tomorrow?"

After these words came out, the prince could no longer stand and could only kneel down again, "Father, Marquis Jingyuan doesn't dare!"

"He dare not. I think there is nothing he dare not do!" Emperor Chengping leaned over and hit the prince's head hard with the memorial.

Yang Zhengshan was wrong about one thing. He felt that Yuan Qing leading his men to draw their swords in the garrison hall was more serious than Marquis Changping sending Yuan Qing to Chongshan Town.

But in fact, the severity of the crime was decided by Emperor Taiping. Whatever he thought was serious was considered treason.

Be it arrogance or abuse of power, these were nothing in the eyes of Emperor Taiping. However, secretly mobilizing troops out of the capital, even if there were only a few dozen people, was a taboo for Emperor Taiping.

After giving the crown prince a beating, Emperor Chengping's anger subsided a little.

"Tell me, why did you let Jingyuanhou's people go to Chongshan Town?"

Although the Secret Guards monitored many officials and nobles in the court, they did not report everything to Emperor Chengping. Otherwise, Emperor Chengping would have nothing to do and would only need to listen to the reports from the Secret Guards all day long.

The prince said in a stammering voice: "My son!"

"Louder!" Emperor Chengping shouted.

"I want to marry the Qing'an Marquis's Mansion to the Changping Marquis's Mansion!"

Emperor Chengping looked at his silly son and felt a little powerless.

He leaned back on the soft couch, examining the prince calmly.

"Stupid, really stupid!"

The prince was panicked. He felt the look in his father's eyes and felt extremely nervous.

"What is the basis of the Changping Marquis Mansion's inheritance for more than 300 years? Don't you know?"

"I know." The prince replied in panic. "If you know, why do you still do such a stupid thing!" Emperor Chengping thought the prince was really stupid.

For an emperor, nobles like the Marquis of Changping are the most trustworthy nobles.

Do not form cliques, do not take sides, and do not pursue power.

If Your Majesty uses me, I will work hard for you. If Your Majesty does not use me, I will enjoy wealth and honor.

This is the main reason why the Marquis of Changping Mansion has been passed down for more than 300 years without being stripped of its title.

This is also the reason why Emperor Chengping could safely place Liang Chu in Chongshan Town.

Other border towns have eunuchs guarding them and are closely monitored by the Secret Guards, but what about Chongshan Town now? The eunuch guarding it, Lu Hua, had already fled to Beiyuan Town, and the Secret Guards had not put their forces in Chongshan Pass.

Simply put, Liang Chu was the nobleman that Emperor Chengping trusted the most.

If it had not been for the purpose of reorganizing Chongshan Town, Emperor Chengping would have definitely kept Liang Chu in the imperial guards.

"Go back and be confined to your room for a month, and reflect on your actions for me!"

Emperor Chengping said somewhat tiredly.

The prince knelt on the ground, looking dejected, and said, "I obey your order!"

"Decree that Jingyuan Hou abused his power and disregarded the laws of the country. He is demoted one rank, fined three years' salary, and removed from his post as the commander of the Fenwu Camp."

The prince trembled when he heard this.

He knew that Marquis Jingyuan was completely doomed this time.

Deducting salary or dismissing from office are nothing.

You can be demoted!
Such punishment is very severe.

Marquis Jingyuan is a second-class marquis. If he is demoted one class, he will become a third-class marquis. If Marquis Jingyuan fails to make meritorious contributions and be promoted to a higher class, the next generation of Marquis Jingyuan will become Earl Jingyuan.

What nobles fear most is being demoted or stripped of their titles.

However, the prince did not dare to beg for mercy and could only bow and leave the study.

After he left, Emperor Chengping leaned back on the couch, rubbing his brows tiredly.

"The Marquis of Changping has made great contributions in commanding Chongshan Town. He will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver and one of his sons will be made a thousand-householder of the Imperial Guards!"

There are punishments for faults and rewards for merits.

Although it is a bit too early to reward Marquis Changping now, Marquis Changping has also been wronged by what the Crown Prince has done, so Emperor Chengping can only appease him first.

……

Anyuan City.

At this time, Yang Zhengshan naturally had no idea what happened in Kyoto. After capturing Yuan Qing, he locked Yuan Qing up in the prison of the garrison office and left him alone.

Because the rest of the things are no longer under his control.

He didn't know how effective Xu Jin's report would be, nor did he know what Liu Yuanfu could achieve.

All he can do now is wait for news. As for other things, he can only make plans after the results come out.

As for Marquis Jingyuan, Yang Zhengshan actually didn't have too many worries.

As I said, this is Chongshan Town. No matter how powerful Marquis Jingyuan is, he cannot interfere in the affairs of Chongshan Town.

Compared to Marquis Jingyuan, the most important matter for Yang Zhengshan at this time is Yang Yunxue's marriage.

Liang Jinyan came to Anyuan City, not only Liang Jinyan, but also Liang Hui, the master of Jingyuan Marquis Mansion, who was Liang Jinyan's father.

Liang Hui is the eldest son of Liang Chu and has the right to inherit the Marquisate. Although he has not yet been canonized as the Crown Prince, his status in the Marquisate has long been determined.

Since Liang Hui came in person, Yang Zhengshan naturally had to go out of the city to welcome him.

Watching the long convoy coming along the official road, Yang Zhengshan stood in front of the city gate on horseback, stroking his beard and thinking.

When the convoy came closer, a handsome uncle in a black Chengzi robe got off the carriage.

"Master Yang, hahahaha, asking Master Yang to come out to greet me is really embarrassing for me!"

This lord from the Marquis's Mansion is quite interesting. He actually has such a humble attitude.

"Master Liang, you are joking. I am extremely delighted to have Master Liang come in person!"

The two of them were shamelessly polite and flattering.

After talking for a long time, not a single word was meaningful.

Liang Hui also held an official position, as the deputy commander of the Chongshan Vanguard. Although it was just a nominal position with no real power, no one could ignore his existence, after all, he was the future Marquis of Changping.

"Junior greets Lord Yang!" Liang Jinyan walked over and saluted with his fists clasped.

Yang Zhengshan nodded with a smile, but he didn't say anything. He just went into the city with Liang Hui.

After returning to Yang's house, Yang Zhengshan naturally gave them a warm reception.

Liang Hui obviously approved of this marriage and had a very cordial conversation with Yang Zhengshan.

The two talked about everything from Chongshan Town to Kyoto, and from Kyoto to Jiangnan. They did not talk about state affairs, but only about romantic matters.

To be honest, Yang Zhengshan is not as good as Liang Hui in this respect.

In terms of knowledge about this world, Yang Zhengshan really lacks a lot.

He has been in this world for several years and has an in-depth understanding of the Liaodong region, but he knows much less about the entire Dayong, and most of it is just hearsay.

But Liang Hui was different. After all, he was the son of a noble family and had lived in Kyoto before. He had a very detailed understanding of the customs and topography of the entire Darong.

Talking with him gave Yang Zhengshan a lot of insights.

Of course, Yang Zhengshan did not forget his main business. He was always observing Liang Jinyan.

Although he didn't communicate much with Liang Jinyan, he could still see a lot from Liang Jinyan's every move.

He is polite and modest, and although he looks immature, he is very calm and steady in his actions.

This is the typical son of a noble family. Those playboys are actually a minority.

The more profound a family is, the stricter its family education will be.

Most of the children of nobles have received a rigorous education, so it is normal for them to have some bad habits or be a little arrogant, but in terms of etiquette, they are far superior to officials from humble backgrounds.

(End of this chapter)