Chapter 492: Shangwu Temple, Martial Arts Pavilion

Time passed day by day, and it was May.

The Imperial Merchants Department was also established, with a chief officer, Langzhong, from the fifth rank, two deputy officials, from the sixth rank, and several chief officials, from the seventh rank, and several secretary officials, from the ninth rank.

Li Changxiao, the former member of the Ministry of Revenue, was promoted to Langzhong of the Imperial Merchants Department. Luo Shang, Wang Zhenze, Lin Qi, Zhang Qingsong, Qi Ting, and Zhen Yangshi, six major agents, entered the Imperial Merchants Department as chief officials.

The Ministry of Personnel also quarreled for several days about the six major agents serving as chief officials.

The main reason was Zhen Yangshi. There were some female generals in the Darong Army, but there had never been a woman serving as an official in the civil service system.

It was unprecedented for Zhen Yangshi to serve as a chief official.

However, this had nothing to do with Yang Zhengshan. Yang Zhengshan did not speak for Zhen Yangshi. After all, he could not control the Imperial Merchants Department now. Although he was the one who proposed the establishment of the Imperial Merchants Department, in fact, the Imperial Merchants Department had nothing to do with him.

The Imperial Merchants Department was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue and supervised by the Imperial City Internal Officials Supervisor. He could not get involved in either the Ministry of Revenue or the Internal Officials Supervisor.

So now he could no longer intervene in the affairs of the Imperial Merchants Department, and naturally could not help Zhen Yangshi.

However, Emperor Yanping attached great importance to Yang Zhengshan's proposal. At the beginning, Yang Zhengshan recommended the six major agents to be the heads of the Imperial Merchants Department, so in the end, Emperor Yanping finalized the matter according to Yang Zhengshan's initial suggestion.

Zhen Yangshi became the first female official in the civil service system of Darong's outer court for the first time.

When the six major agents entered the Imperial City to accept the granted official positions, Zhen Yangshi came to the Jing'an Marquis' Mansion and kowtowed three times to Yang Zhengshan.

"I, the humble woman, thank you, the Marquis, for your support. Yanzhou Zhenshi will never forget it!"

Zhen Yangshi knelt in front of Yang Zhengshan, her eyes slightly red, and her voice choked with sobs.

Only she herself knew how difficult it was for her to come this far.

From a woman in the backyard to an official body granted by the emperor, wearing an official robe, all this can be said to be the support of Yang Zhengshan.

If Yang Zhengshan had not attracted investment in Tenglongwei, she would not have been able to keep the Yanzhou Zhen family business, let alone make the Yanzhou Zhen family business bigger.

Later, if Yang Zhengshan had not selected her as one of the six major agents and allowed her to be protected by Chongshan Town, she would not have been able to keep the Yanzhou Zhen family business.

And now, if it were not for Yang Zhengshan's recommendation, she would not have been able to get the imperial official status, join the Imperial Business Department, and serve as the seventh-rank official.

On the surface, Yang Zhengshan seemed to have never taken the initiative to help her, but in fact, everything about her and Yanzhou Zhen's current situation is inseparable from Yang Zhengshan.

Now she has an imperial official status, which was something she had never dared to dream of before.

Let alone her, how could Luo Shang, Wang Zhenze and others have ever thought that they would be officials one day?

Seeing her so excited, Yang Zhengshan stroked his beard and smiled warmly: "Madam Zhen, you should get up first!"

"My Lord, I will never forget your kindness!" Zhen Yang stood up, calmed down her excitement, and wiped away the tears from her eyes.

"Since you have entered the Imperial Merchants Department, you should understand His Majesty's needs!"

Yang Zhengshan said, looking at Luo Shang, Wang Zhenze and others.

"Your Majesty has only one purpose in establishing the Imperial Merchants Department, and that is to make money!"

"As long as you can satisfy His Majesty, it is not impossible for you to make further progress in the future, but if you can't satisfy His Majesty, the Imperial Merchants Department may be abolished in the future!"

Emperor Yanping has great expectations for the Imperial Merchants Department, and his expectations are money.

Although the six people in front of them are already the heads of the Imperial Merchants Department, they want to keep their official positions and satisfy Emperor Yanping.

If they can't make money, haha, let alone official positions, I'm afraid they will even lose their lives.

Although the officials in the court seem to have recognized the existence of the Imperial Merchants Bureau, in fact, everyone is now watching the Imperial Merchants Bureau. Once the Imperial Merchants Bureau makes a mistake or fails to do its job well, countless people will stand up and overthrow the Imperial Merchants Bureau.

So Luo Shang, Wang Zhenze, Zhen Yang and the other six will face even more severe tests.

"We understand that we will not let down your majesty's trust, and we will not let down the support of the Marquis!" Luo Shang said in a deep voice.

Yang Zhengshan nodded with satisfaction, and said: "Chongshan Town still needs your care. You should at least help Chongshan Town pay off those debts!"

"As long as you can do this, you will not let down my support!"

"Don't worry, Marquis, at worst we won't have to use the bank to pay off the debts!" ​​Wang Zhenze said with a smile.

They have the most bonds in their hands, and they also have the most deposits in Chongshan Bank.

As long as they don't run on Chongshan Bank, Chongshan Bank will not have any problems.

For them, it is definitely worthwhile to exchange hundreds of thousands of taels of silver for an official position.

"That won't work. The rules set by this old man cannot be broken. You just need to weigh the sales of the two glass workshops!"

Yang Zhengshan waved his hand and smiled, "As for the rest, this old man can't let you do a loss-making business!"

The rules cannot be broken. That is the rule set by Yang Zhengshan with the General's Mansion and his own reputation.

If this rule is broken, although it can reduce the debt of millions of yuan for the General's Mansion, it will also make him and the General's Mansion of Chongshan Town lose their reputation.

After hearing this, several people couldn't help but praise: "The Marquis is benevolent!"

After that, Yang Zhengshan hosted a banquet for several people in the mansion.

Since then, the Imperial Merchants Division has been established. With the bonus of official status, Luo Shang and the other six people have also found it much easier to do things.

The price of glass objects will be reduced in the future, but the two glass workshops will soon launch glassware.

Glass tea sets, wine sets, tableware, etc. will all enter the market.

Although the price of glass products will be reduced in this way, as glass products enter thousands of households, a situation of small profits but quick turnover will be formed, and the income of the six major agents and the Imperial Merchants will increase instead of decrease.

As for other things, Yang Zhengshan can't care about it. He only needs 30% of the share of Luo's glass business to subsidize his family expenses. He doesn't want to care about other things at all.

With the establishment of the Imperial Merchants, the issue of controlling the rivers and lakes has also been put on the agenda.

For several days in a row, Yang Zhengshan was summoned to the Imperial City by Emperor Yanping to discuss matters.

Not only him, Zhou Mao, Duan Rui, Liang Chu, etc. were also summoned, and from time to time, several cabinet elders, as well as the main officials of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple would be called to discuss together.

Regarding how to control the rivers and lakes, a direction has been determined, that is, to establish a new government office to be responsible for this matter.

Compared with the Imperial Merchants Department, this new government office has greater power and wider influence.

Therefore, Emperor Yanping attaches more importance to this matter.

Time flies into mid-May, and various policies on controlling the martial arts world have basically been finalized.

Generally in line with the proposals submitted by Yang Zhengshan, of course, this does not mean that these are all formulated according to Yang Zhengshan's proposals. In fact, the proposals of Yang Zhengshan, Zhou Mao, and Duan Rui are almost the same.

They all tend to establish a new government office, and all have the idea of ​​winning over the martial arts sects.

The only special thing about Yang Zhengshan is actually the martial arts academy.

But compared with the other two proposals, the martial arts academy is the least important proposal, at least for the current court, the least important.

On May 15, after the morning court.

Emperor Yanping summoned everyone to the imperial study again.

Also coming with them are several cabinet elders, as well as the Minister of War Wang Lu, the Minister of Punishment Wei Rong, and the Minister of Dali Temple Yan Ruishu.

This is considered a small court meeting. Emperor Yanping looked at Song Yuange and said, "Old Song, please tell me what the cabinet thinks!"

Song Yuange cleared his throat and said, "According to the discussions in the past few days, the cabinet has formulated a charter."

"First, change the martial arts restriction order to the martial arts order, and divide the folk forces into three levels. For the third level, grant the sect master order, grant the seventh-grade official body, and limit the number of sect disciples to no more than 300!"

"Second level, grant the sect master order, grant the fifth-grade official body, and limit the number of sect disciples to no more than 500!"

"First level, grant the sect master order, grant the third-grade official body, grant the flying fish suit, and limit the number of sect disciples to no more than 1,000!"

"Sect level evaluation Specific details..."

"Second, set up Shangwu Temple, and merge the Ministry of Justice Zhenwu Division and Dali Temple Wuzhi Division into Shangwu Temple. Shangwu Temple has one Temple Minister, third rank, left and right Shaoqing, fourth rank, left and right Temple Cheng, fifth rank..."

"It has thirteen provinces Shangwu Divisions under its jurisdiction, each with one commander, two commanders, and four commanders..."

"Third, set up Yanwu Pavilion, which is of the same rank as the Imperial College, with a Yanwu Pavilion Wuzheng, fourth rank, and two Wusi, fifth rank, in charge of military training, divided into five departments: martial arts, military tactics, military training, equipment, and medicine!"

The first two items are similar to Yang Zhengshan's proposal, but the third one is very different from Yang Zhengshan's proposal.

Yang Zhengshan wanted to establish a complete warrior training system from bottom to top, but after the final agreement, only one Yanwu Pavilion was established.

As for the reason, there is no money!

The Martial Arts Academy is not just a martial arts academy, but more like a military academy, where the teaching content includes martial arts, military tactics, military training, equipment and medicine.

Equipment is to build military equipment, such as crossbows, siege equipment, etc., and train craftsmen.

Medicine is to train military doctors.

These two items were strongly requested by Yang Zhengshan.

Martial arts training is inseparable from medicine, and martial arts fighting is even more inseparable from weapons.

Whether in the army or elsewhere, anything related to martial arts is inseparable from these two items.

Since it is a martial arts and military academy, these two things are naturally indispensable.

So Yang Zhengshan strongly requested that these two items be added to the teaching subjects of the Martial Arts Academy.

Although others had some objections to this, they did not say much.

These are all trivial matters, and there is no need to argue with Yang Zhengshan about this.

After Song Yuange finished speaking, Emperor Yanping said again: "Do you have any objections, my dear ministers!"

Everyone shook their heads.

They have discussed these things for a long time, and they have also argued for a long time.

Take the matter of merging Zhenwu Division and Wuzhi Division into Shangwu Temple. Wei Rong, the Minister of Criminal Affairs, and Yan Ruishu, the Minister of Dali Temple, strongly opposed it, but in the end, they could not do anything. Faced with the support of the cabinet and Zhou Mao and others, they could only suppress their dissatisfaction.

And there are many special things about Shangwu Temple. It is a military office. Although it looks like Dali Temple, Honglu Temple and the like, it is actually a military officer office, that is, the appointment and dismissal of officials in Shangwu Temple is the responsibility of the Wuxuan Division of the Ministry of War, not the Ministry of Personnel.

Similarly, the appointment and dismissal of officials in Yanwu Pavilion is also the responsibility of the Wuxuan Division of the Ministry of War.

Seeing that everyone was meaningless, Emperor Yanping said again: "Then let's discuss the official position arrangement!"

"Marquis Jing'an, are you willing to serve as the Minister of Shangwu Temple?"

Emperor Yanping asked Yang Zhengshan without waiting for others to speak.

Yang Zhengshan was stunned, and then stepped out and said: "Your Majesty, I want to be the Wuzheng of Yanwu Pavilion!"

Once he said this, the others were stunned.

The Wuzheng of Yanwu Pavilion was only of the fourth rank, while the Temple Minister of Shangwu Temple was of the third rank.

Moreover, in terms of power, Yanwu Pavilion was far inferior to Shangwu Temple.

The two were not comparable at all, but Yang Zhengshan chose the Wuzheng of Yanwu Pavilion.

"Why?" Emperor Yanping was also puzzled.

When he decided to establish Shangwu Temple, the first thing he thought of was to let Yang Zhengshan take charge of Shangwu Temple.

He thought Yang Zhengshan would accept it happily, but he didn't expect Yang Zhengshan to refuse.

"Your Majesty, I don't know much about the folk Jianghu forces, how can I take charge of Shangwu Temple?" Yang Zhengshan's reason was very reasonable.

He really didn't know how to let him take charge of Shangwu Temple.

How many sect forces are there in Jianghu?

How strong is each sect force?

What is the attitude of these Jianghu forces towards the court?

And how to manage these Jianghu forces, and how to gather these Jianghu forces?

In addition, this Shangwu Temple is a big trouble at first glance.

There are so many forces involved, and there are countless people and things involved behind it.

It takes a lot of energy and time to sort out these relationships and integrate all the forces together.

And now Yang Zhengshan's energy has shifted towards cultivation. During this period, his cultivation has improved a lot. He still wants to go further, but he doesn't want to waste his energy and time on Shangwu Temple.

"Your Majesty also knows that I am good at training soldiers and teaching disciples. This position of Wuzheng in Yanwu Pavilion is perfect for me!" Yang Zhengshan said again.

One sheep is driven, and a flock of sheep is also driven.

Anyway, he already has three apprentices now, and he doesn't care about hundreds or thousands of more students.

Besides, this Yanwu Pavilion is a leisurely government office at first glance.

At that time, Yang Zhengshan only needs to find two reliable deputies, and he can be a hands-off boss.

So from the beginning, Yang Zhengshan has set his sights on this position of Wuzheng.

As for the official rank, he is a super-grade marquis, and the official rank is not of much significance to him at all.

Emperor Yanping heard this, thought for a while, and asked: "Who should be the Minister of Shangwu Temple? Do you have any suitable candidates?"

Everyone fell into deep thought.

This Minister of Shangwu Temple is not something that ordinary people can do.

This person must not only understand the many forces in the world, but also have strong strength, and his cultivation must be at least half a step innate.

And there is really no good candidate in the court except Yang Zhengshan.

Zhou Mao thought about it and said: "I think Wu Dinghou can take on this important task!"

"Wu Dinghou? Not appropriate, Wu Dinghou is now guarding Yunling Town, and he cannot be easily transferred!" Duan Rui denied.

There are two border towns in the south of Darong, namely Yunling Town and Nanjiang Town. Nanjiang Town is guarded by the Xingguo Mansion for generations, and Yunling Town is guarded by Wu Dinghou as the general.

Compared with the northern border of Darong, the southern part of Darong involves more forces and is more powerful. Although Yunling Town and Nanjiang Town are far inferior to the four border towns in the north in terms of military strength, the two southern border towns are much better than the four northern border towns in terms of martial arts masters.

Guo Ying, the Marquis of Wuding, has innate cultivation, and the current Duke of Xingguo is also an innate master. The two innate masters guard the southern border of Darong, so they naturally cannot be easily mobilized.