Chapter 389 Danger and Opportunity

Just when the Yang family was busy moving, Yang Zhengshan also received news from Kyoto.

Become a marquis!

Looking at the letter sent by Wu Zheng, Yang Zhengshan was a little confused.

Why was I suddenly given a title of nobility?
It was the prince who insisted on it!

In the study, Yang Zhengshan frowned.

"The prince is trying to harm me!"

Soon, he figured out the key.

Become a marquis!

This directly pushed Yang Zhengshan to the forefront.

On the surface, it seemed that the prince wanted to win him over and use the opportunity of his title to show goodwill to the border generals, but in fact, this was a bait set by the prince to Prince Cheng and Prince Gong.

Prince Cheng and Prince Gong will definitely not let the Crown Prince get his wish!

How will Prince Cheng and Prince Gong break the impasse?

The easiest way is to kill Yang Zhengshan!

As long as Yang Zhengshan is killed, the prince's plan to show goodwill to the generals in the border towns will fail!

But Yang Zhengshan was the general of a town after all. If he died an unnatural death, the court would definitely investigate it thoroughly. At that time, the prince could take the opportunity to attack Prince Cheng and Prince Gong.

Even if the Crown Prince has no evidence to prove that it was Prince Cheng and Prince Gong who did it, he can still make Prince Cheng and Prince Gong be implicated.

By then, the generals in the border towns will definitely be dissatisfied with Prince Cheng and Prince Gong!

The nobles will also be dissatisfied with Prince Cheng and Prince Gong!

Even the civil and military officials in the court were dissatisfied with Prince Gong and Prince Cheng.

"This move of yours, Prince, is brilliant!"

"If I die, he can use this opportunity to attack Prince Gong and Prince Cheng. If I live and the title is granted successfully, he can get the generals of the border towns to come to him!"

"Not only the border commanders, but all the military commanders want to be granted titles. As long as the prince opens the door, all the military commanders will be loyal to the prince!"

Yang Zhengshan looked at the letter in his hand again, "I don't know which expert gave the prince this advice, it's really a brilliant idea! But it's not very friendly to me!"

Based on his understanding of the prince, the prince would never be able to come up with such a brilliant plan.

The prince is actually not a very thoughtful person. Just look at what he has done before and you will understand.

Of course, we can't say that the prince is a bad person. After all, he has been the prince for thirty years. Even if he was a naive young man before, he has become quite sophisticated now.

All we can say is that the prince is a mediocre person, not as scheming as Emperor Chengping.

After figuring out the key, Yang Zhengshan sat back at his desk and put down the letter in his hand.

"The conferment of the title is to be sent to Kyoto. I think the messenger sent by the court will arrive soon!"

"This journey is bound to be extremely dangerous, I must proceed with caution!"

Yang Zhengshan said in his heart.

The prince's move was really superb. Yang Zhengshan knew the danger involved, but he had to go to Kyoto to receive the title.

He couldn't refuse, and had no reason to refuse.

This is a danger, but also an opportunity.

After taking this step, the Yang family became a noble family from then on.

Needless to say, the opportunity to be granted a title of nobility is extremely rare, and Yang Zhengshan had no reason to give up this opportunity.

……

There are a lot of complicated things going on in Chongshan Town, but Yang Zhengshan is very familiar with Chongshan Town, so he quickly sorted out the things going on in Chongshan Town.

However, some issues still need to be resolved by the court. He cannot make all the decisions and needs time to wait for the court's response.

For example, the candidates he recommended, such as his desire to incorporate the Five Military Camps of Tenglong Guard into the Zhenbiao Camp of Chongshan Town, all this had to be approved by the Central Army Governor's Office and the Ministry of War.

Therefore, there is not much Yang Zhengshan can do at the moment.

He asked Yang Mingzhi to go to Fuzhou City to temporarily serve as the lieutenant general, asked Qin He to return to Dingliao Guard to temporarily serve as the lieutenant general, and then asked Niu Zhuang and Tang Feihu to lead the troops back to Jianning Guard and Jinzhou Guard.

As for the Dusi Yamen, well, the Dusi Yamen is now in a worse situation than the General's Mansion, because Ji Feiyu has killed almost all the officials in the Dusi Yamen. As soon as Ji Feiyu rebelled, the Dusi Yamen responded.

Unfortunately, the strength of the Dusi Yamen could not compare with that of the Zongbing Mansion, and the result is self-evident.

From the commander-in-chief to the ordinary servants, almost all of them were killed by Ji Feiyu.

In the end, only a dozen powerless clerks were left.

There was no other way, Yang Zhengshan could only support the Dusi Yamen on his own. Many affairs in Chongshan Town required the cooperation of the Dusi Yamen, and all affairs involving the management of military households could not be separated from the Dusi Yamen.

Just when Yang Zhengshan was busy with military affairs in Chongshan Town, officials sent by the court arrived at Chongshan Pass.

The officials sent by the court were divided into two groups. One group was to verify the military achievements, including the doctors and officials of the Ministry of War, the censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the eunuchs in the palace. The other group was to discuss the matter of Yang Zhengshan's title of nobility, mainly officials from the Ministry of Rites.

Being conferred a title of nobility is not a trivial matter and it cannot be accomplished by simply issuing an imperial edict.

It is necessary to complete the investiture ceremony in the court to obtain the seal of the marquis, and after the investiture, you will also be granted a house, land, etc.

The conferment ceremony was organized by the Ministry of Rites, and Yang Zhengshan had to follow the arrangements of the Ministry of Rites.

Pang Tang was responsible for receiving the officials from the Ministry of War and the Censorate. Of course, Yang Zhengshan also went out of the city to greet them. However, this time the verification of military merits would be led by Pang Tang, so Yang Zhengshan did not need to worry too much.

As for whether someone will maliciously erase their military achievements, there is no need to worry about this. The court will not allow anyone to do so, and the generals in the border towns will not tolerate such behavior. Whoever dares to do so will be the enemy of all the soldiers in the border towns.

Of course, verifying the military achievements also requires the cooperation of Yang Zhengshan's soldiers. Yang Zhengshan asked Song Dashan and Yang Mingzhen to wait for Pang Tang's orders and assist the officials of the Ministry of War and the Censorate in verifying the military achievements.

As for the officials from the Ministry of Rites, Yang Zhengshan naturally had to receive them personally.

The official from the Ministry of Rites who came this time was Yin Qingxin, the Deputy Director of the Department of Ceremonial Affairs. The Department of Ceremonial Affairs was in charge of the court's rules and regulations and etiquette. Everything from the emperor's enthronement ceremony to the officials' clothing and decorations fell within their jurisdiction.

And things like conferring titles of nobility also need them to take care of it.

Yin Qingxin was still very polite to Yang Zhengshan. After the two sat down in the lobby of the General's Mansion, Yin Qingxin spoke directly: "General Yang, the matter of conferring the title of nobility has been confirmed. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Cabinet have both agreed. The Ministry of Rites has already selected October 20th to hold the ceremony for conferring the title of nobility for General Yang in Fengtian Hall!"

"The specific rules can only be discussed with General Yang after he arrives in Kyoto. I am here for two main reasons. One is to determine the ceremonial guard, court dress and crown belt for General Yang. The other is that General Yang needs to arrive in Kyoto before October 15th!"

The ceremonial guards and court robes he mentioned were naturally the ceremonial guards and court robes of the future marquis.

Speaking of which, the court still owes Yang Zhengshan a set of court robes. He, the general of Chongshan Town, does not have one yet.

There are many kinds of clothing for Darong officials, including court robes, sacrificial robes, official robes, casual robes, bestowed robes, and so on.

Court dress is worn during all major sacrifices, celebrations, New Year's Day, Winter Solstice, Holy Days, the issuance of imperial edicts, reading of imperial edicts, the submission of memorials, and the transmission of imperial decrees.

Whenever the emperor personally offered sacrifices to suburban temples and the altars of grain, civil and military officials would offer sacrifices and accompany him in the sacrifice wearing sacrificial robes.

Every morning and evening, when reporting to the court, serving on duty, expressing gratitude, or saying goodbye, one must wear official uniform.

When attending court, he should wear ordinary clothes.

The official robes we usually talk about refer to official uniforms and daily clothes. Court robes and sacrificial robes are actually rarely worn and are only worn on more solemn occasions.

Among them, court dress is the most gorgeous and the most grand, so it is relatively troublesome to make. Generally, it is a long time after the officials take office that the Clothing Bureau of the Ministry of Works can make the court dress and deliver it to the officials.

The ceremonial guards, court robes and crowns and belts that Yin Qingxin mentioned actually refer to the etiquette system of nobles and marquises. The color of clothes, crowns and belts, houses, saddles and horses have different levels of specifications, sizes, and quality.

There are clear etiquette requirements for the structure, decoration, color, size, number of rooms, etc. of the mansion.

To put it simply, Yin Qingxin came to set rules for the Yang family to prevent them from overstepping their authority in any aspect in the future.

This is the normal process for conferring titles. The main reason is that the Darong court has not conferred titles for more than 30 years. Many of the rules are only vaguely understood by others except the officials of the Ministry of Rites.

This time when Yang Zhengshan was conferred the title of marquis, the Ministry of Rites, in a cautious manner, asked Yin Qingxin to come and explain the various rules and etiquette to the Yang family.

Yang Zhengshan actually doesn’t need to worry about this, he can just leave it to Wu Hai when the time comes.

What Yang Zhengshan really cares about is to arrive in Kyoto before October 10th.

If you count the time, he only has twenty days, so this should really be put on the agenda.

That night, Pang Tang entertained officials from Kyoto at the governor's office, and Yang Zhengshan naturally had to show up.

Not only Yang Zhengshan, but also Lu Chongde attended the banquet.

Although Lu Chongde's status in Chongshan Town is somewhat embarrassing now, no one will look down on Lu Chongde.

Even though Lu Chongde suffered a big setback this time because of Ji Feiyu, he was still an important official in the court and had a high reputation in the court.

With his qualifications, even if he leaves Chongshan Town, he will most likely make further progress.

The atmosphere at the banquet was harmonious, with everyone toasting each other and having a pleasant conversation.

(End of this chapter)