Chapter 254: His Majesty's Wariness Towards the Nobility
Yang Zhengshan had just finished writing a letter when Zhou Lan and Wang Bin entered his tent together.
Wang Bin casually sat down beside Yang Zhengshan, picked up a tea bowl, shook his sleeve, and somehow produced a wine flask, pouring a cup for Yang Zhengshan.
“Have a taste!”
He winked at Yang Zhengshan.
Yang Zhengshan was momentarily stunned, looking at him and Zhou Lan with a strange expression.
Drinking was strictly prohibited in the military—where did these two get their hands on wine?
Wang Bin ignored Yang Zhengshan’s surprise and poured himself and Zhou Lan a cup as well, while Zhou Lan placed a pack of dried beef on the table.
“Where did you get this?” Yang Zhengshan sniffed the aroma of the wine—it was good stuff.
“The marquis rewarded us!” Wang Bin chuckled.
Yang Zhengshan suddenly understood. That made sense—getting alcohol inside the military camp was no easy feat. However, while it was banned in the army, there was certainly no shortage of it in Fushan City.
“Come on, let’s drink!” Zhou Lan raised his tea bowl and downed it in one go.
Yang Zhengshan didn’t bother worrying about military regulations and followed suit, tilting his head back and gulping it down.
The wine was rich and mellow, leaving a faint sweetness lingering in his mouth.
“No wonder it’s called Pear Blossom Brew—this really is fine wine!”
Wang Bin laughed heartily.
“Pear Blossom Brew?” Yang Zhengshan raised an eyebrow, appreciating the flavor.
Zhou Lan explained with a smile, “Pear Blossom Brew is a famous drink of the Hu people, but the ‘pear blossom’ in its name doesn’t refer to the flower of the pear tree. Instead, it refers to the snow that falls during the coldest part of winter. Every year, after a heavy snowfall, the Hu people gather the snow and use it to brew their wine. Since each snowfall is usually about a foot thick, the wine is also known as ‘Foot-Deep Snow’!”
After saying this, Zhou Lan took another large gulp.
Yang Zhengshan smacked his lips, carefully savoring the richness of the Pear Blossom Brew.
It was different from the wine he brewed himself. His own wine was infused with Spirit Spring Water and numerous medicinal herbs, possessing unique effects, but in terms of taste, it was far inferior.
However, he had been working on refining his brewing techniques. Wine-making was an art, and if he wanted to create a brew that had both special properties and an exquisite taste, he still had a long way to go.
The three men continued drinking and chatting idly, the atmosphere relaxed and leisurely.
Suddenly, Wang Bin said, “What do you think we’ll be rewarded with this time?”
Although he said ‘we,’ his eyes were fixed on Zhou Lan.
Rewards.
That was something Zhou Lan, who was well-versed in court affairs, would naturally know best.
Zhou Lan glanced at him, pondered for a moment, and then said, “Don’t get your hopes up too much.”
Yang Zhengshan’s expression flickered—he now understood what they were really talking about.
Wang Bin wasn’t asking about just any reward—he was referring to titles of nobility.
They had waged war over a thousand miles, expanding the borders of the Dazhong Dynasty. With such achievements, wasn’t a noble title within reach?
“Why not?” Wang Bin asked in disappointment.
Zhou Lan shook his head slightly. “Although our dynasty does have a tradition of conferring titles based on military merit, ever since His Majesty ascended the throne, no one outside of the imperial family has been granted a noble title.”
“His Majesty has always been wary of the titled nobility. While he employs many of them in the court, he has never bestowed new titles or promoted existing ones. On the contrary, he has revoked or downgraded many titles.”
“It’s not difficult to understand His Majesty’s thinking. Our Dazhong Dynasty has over a hundred noble families. Aside from the Jingyuan Marquisate, nearly all of them received their titles in the past two hundred years.”
“The largest ennoblement in history happened a hundred years ago, during the Great Chaos.”
Lowering his voice, Zhou Lan continued, “After the Great Chaos, Emperor Dezong granted amnesty and bestowed noble titles—two dukes, seven marquises, and eighty-three earls.”
“The late emperor strongly disapproved of this. That’s why, after he ascended the throne, he only conferred titles upon members of the imperial family. The current emperor has simply continued this policy, restricting noble titles to the royal bloodline.”
“Even though we have expanded the empire’s territory and resolved the northeastern border threat, we all know that the Eastern Sea Hu Tribe was never more than a minor nuisance, and the northern regions are barren lands.”
“These achievements are not enough to make His Majesty change his stance, and the ministers in the court will surely oppose granting noble titles as well.”
Zhou Lan explained methodically.
Yang Zhengshan listened attentively but only understood parts of it. His knowledge of court politics had improved, but since he wasn’t directly involved, many things still remained beyond his grasp.
As for the relationship between Emperor Chengping and the late emperor, he knew nothing at all.
If even the late emperor disapproved of Emperor Dezong’s mass ennoblements, then it was likely that many officials in the court were also unaware of these sentiments. Only noble families with centuries of history, such as the Ning Duke’s household, would understand such matters.
“What a pity,” Wang Bin sighed, feeling even more disappointed.
At first, he had only been hoping for a promotion, but as their victories piled up, he had begun to dream of a noble title.
Yang Zhengshan, however, hadn’t considered the possibility of being ennobled. He was still just a Commanding Associate of the Songzhou Guard—far from the threshold for a noble title.
Rather than worrying about ennoblement, it was more practical to think about his next promotion.
A promotion was guaranteed—there was no doubt about that.
With his battle achievements, it would be utterly unreasonable for the court not to promote him.
The real question was: by how many ranks?
Currently, he held the temporary post of Anyuan Prefecture City Garrison Commander while officially serving as a Commanding Associate of the Songzhou Guard. If he were to be promoted again, he might become a full Commanding Officer of a guard unit, or he might be assigned to the Dusi Office as an Assistant Commanding Officer or even a Commanding Associate.
That would be a promotion to either the upper third rank (正三品) or the lower second rank (从二品), but anything higher was almost impossible.
However, the most important issue wasn’t rank, but whether he could take on a new and more critical position.
In the Dazhong Dynasty, military officers in the guard garrisons who didn’t hold command positions in frontier defense rarely had opportunities for promotion; at best, they could only advance within the internal hierarchy of the guard unit.
Only those appointed as frontier commanders had the chance to earn military merit and obtain further promotions.
Take Yang Zhengshan as an example—he was first a Commanding Associate of the Songzhou Guard and later the Garrison Commander of Anyuan Prefecture City. In terms of rank and authority, the latter position was far more significant.
It was precisely because he held the position of Anyuan City’s Garrison Commander that he had the opportunity to participate in the campaign. In contrast, someone like Tan Jingtai had no such chance—he could only remain within the guard garrison, overseeing agricultural and logistical duties for the adjutant general's staff.
Yang Zhengshan wanted to ask Zhou Lan about his potential future appointments, but he swallowed his words at the last moment.
At this point, Zhou Lan could no longer arrange positions for him.
If he wanted someone to pull strings for him, he would need influence in the capital, and that meant dealing with not only the Central Military Command but also the Ministry of War.
Perhaps Zhou Lan wouldn’t refuse to help, but it would undoubtedly be a complicated matter.
For now, it was better to wait and see. If the eventual appointment wasn’t to his liking, then he could ask Zhou Lan or someone else for assistance.
Unexpectedly, before he could bring it up, Zhou Lan spoke first.
“When we return, I will definitely be heading back to the capital. I want you to take over as the Adjutant General (参将) of Jianing Guard.”
She fixed her gaze on Yang Zhengshan as she spoke.
She had two reasons for making this decision. First, she trusted Yang Zhengshan—she believed he wouldn’t let her years of effort go to waste or allow Jianing Guard to deteriorate into disorder once more.
Second, she wanted to give him another push forward. This would likely be the last time she could help him rise through the ranks in officialdom.
If she wanted to continue supporting his career after this, she would have to rely on the Ning Duke’s household, and even then, there was no guarantee they could secure a promising future for him.
Yang Zhengshan set down his cup and looked at her, deep in thought. “If I return to Jianing Guard, there will need to be some major personnel changes.”
“What kind of changes?”
“I need to reassign as many Yang clan members as possible.”
Zhou Lan considered his words for a moment and quickly understood his reasoning.
Currently, it wasn’t just Jianing Guard—many of the military units under Zhou Lan’s command, including various garrisons and city defense forces, had a large number of Yang clan members.
These Yang clan members mostly held mid-to-low-ranking positions. If Yang Zhengshan were to take command of Jianing Guard, a problem would arise—would the entire central region of Chongshan Town effectively become an extension of the Yang clan?
When Zhou Lan had been in charge, Yang Zhengshan could freely place his clan members in key positions. However, if he became the Adjutant General of Jianing Guard, things would change—he could no longer appoint them at will.
The reason was simple—he could not allow his army to become a personal force.
The imperial court would never tolerate a commander forming his own private army.
A general could cultivate trusted subordinates and organize a personal guard unit, but if he aggressively eliminated others and replaced them with his own people, he would be crossing a dangerous line.
What would that imply?
Was he trying to raise his own troops?
Was he preparing to challenge the authority of the court?
Even though Yang Zhengshan had no such intentions, the emperor and the court officials might not see it that way.
Thus, if he were to become the Adjutant General of Jianing Guard, he would need to remove as many Yang clan members as possible—not all of them, but at least enough to ensure they did not number more than ten.
As things stood, there were already over forty Yang clan members in Zhou Lan’s command—more than even those under Yang Zhengshan’s own command.
This had happened because, over the past two years, many Yang clan members had sought out Yang Mingzhi, Yang Mingwu, and Yang Chengze instead.
Of course, some had also come to serve under Yang Zhengshan, but those were all personally recommended by Yang Zhengxiang.
The ones recommended by Yang Zhengxiang tended to have superior talent and ability.
“I’ll do my best to reassign them,” Zhou Lan agreed with Yang Zhengshan’s perspective.
Yang Zhengshan smiled. “You could also take them with you to the capital. Even if they won’t be of much help to you, they are at least trustworthy.”
With more and more Yang clan members joining the military, Yang Zhengshan had already been thinking about dispersing them.
Having too many of them gathered in one place was not a good thing—it made them an easy target for political attacks. If they spread out and carved their own paths, their careers might face some difficulties, but ultimately, the most capable among them would still rise to prominence.
Zhou Lan chuckled. “Then I’ll take Yang Mingzhi with me.”
“Uh…” Yang Zhengshan scratched his head. “Mingzhi should stay. He’s been slacking off in his cultivation these past few years. I need to keep him by my side and push him harder for a while.”
He wasn’t just making an excuse. At present, Yang Mingzhi had reached the fourth level of the Postnatal Realm (后天四层), but compared to Yang Mingcheng, he was already falling behind.
Yang Mingcheng had recently broken through to the sixth level of the Postnatal Realm. The two had started at roughly the same level, but now there was a two-level gap between them.
Even Yang Minghao had caught up to Yang Mingzhi and was now at the fourth level as well.
The reason for this disparity was twofold. First, since leaving Yang Zhengshan’s side, Yang Mingzhi had lost access to the nourishing effects of Spirit Spring Water. Second, he had been following Zhou Lan and was constantly preoccupied with administrative affairs, leaving little time for cultivation.
“In that case, let Mingwu and Chengze accompany me to the capital. Hmm, Zhao Yuan will be returning too—let’s have him take Chengxu with him. With those three, it will be enough.”
Zhou Lan adapted quickly to the situation. While she valued Yang Mingzhi the most, Yang Mingwu and Yang Chengze were also quite capable. With these two assisting her, she would have enough support.
Besides, the capital was the stronghold of the Ning Duke’s household—she wouldn’t lack manpower there.