Chapter 122 Face-to-Face Cymbals and Drums

  "This... this scoundrel, disobedient and unfilial, disobedient and unfilial! I must discipline him, I must severely discipline him!"

  Yang, the head of the Yang family, originally thought that as soon as he showed up, he could immediately make his nephew, who had been out of touch for over a decade, submit to him. However, he didn't expect that his nephew wouldn't take him seriously and would instead scold him harshly in front of their relatives, making him lose face. The family's dignity couldn't intimidate him, and they couldn't even beat him, so the old man was left seething with anger but unable to do anything about it.

  The person standing on his right hand was less than thirty years old, named Yang Yu, a student of the same clan. At that time, his family was poor and he was supported by Yang Dingkun to study. However, he had never felt grateful to Yang Dingkun, thinking that it was the responsibility of the elder in the clan to support the younger generation, and when they became successful, they would naturally bring glory to the clan.

  He thinks Yang Dingkun is doing this, it's simply Yang Dingkun's responsibility, who made him rich? All of this should be attributed to the family, if not for the existence of the family, would Yang Dingkun have supported him like this? Now seeing Yang Xu return, flying high and mighty, so arrogant, disrespecting his elders, beating up his own kin, Yang Yu is extremely angry.

  Isn't it just an old house? For over a decade, no one has lived here, and the wind and rain have still caused it to decline. What's wrong with letting relatives use it? He thinks Yang Xu is intentionally seeking revenge, that he came back this time with grievances, to avenge his mother's death by drowning in the well all those years ago, and to avenge his father's resentment for leaving his hometown, so he's looking for an excuse to pick a fight.

  As he walked forward with Yang Rong, Yang Yu secretly turned his mind and suddenly said in a gloomy tone: "Grandfather, why must you get angry for the sake of an unfilial son? It's easy to deal with him, let me handle this matter."

  Yang Rang snorted and said, "Do you have a way? What way do you have? You've taken the imperial examination for nearly ten years and still haven't become a juren. Back then, when you passed with one stroke and became a xiucai, I thought our family would finally produce someone of note. Who would have thought..."

  Yang Yu's face turned red, and he said in a low voice: "Yes, yes, I'm incompetent. To deal with Yang Xu is easy, but this Yang Xu is too ruthless. As soon as he came back, he had the guts to kill all the livestock in the yard, leaving no chicken or dog alive. Unfortunately, he only thought of establishing his authority and forgot one important thing."

  "What's going on?"

  "He killed the cow!"

  Yang Yu sneered: "Oxen are essential livestock for farming, according to imperial law, anyone who slaughters someone else's oxen without reason shall be flogged with 70 rods and serve as a convict for one and a half years; those who privately slaughter their own oxen shall be flogged with 100 rods. If an ox dies of illness or injury and is not reported to the authorities but instead secretly dissected, they shall be flogged with 40 rods. No matter how you calculate it, he is guilty, killing one ox is such a crime, he killed at least seven or eight oxen, what crime should he be convicted of?"

  Yang Rong's expression changed: "Hmmm... how did I not think of this? Not bad, not bad, go on."

  Yang Yu was praised and became more excited, saying: "Yes! If we get entangled with him in other matters, even if he is wrong, after all, the people of our clan have some... not very good intentions. Once a lawsuit is filed and a dispute arises, won't outsiders laugh at our Yang family? So, everything else can't be mentioned, only his killing of the ox can be used to deal with him."

  Yang Yang happily said: "Good, this method is good. Feather, this matter is handed over to you now. You must do it beautifully and make that little brat know who really owns the world of Wei Ling Town, hum!"

  The cattle shed in the Yang family courtyard was dismantled, and the house was swept clean. The collapsed incense table was hastily repaired, and the spirit tablets of Yang Dingkun and his wife were re-erected. Fresh fruit and incense sticks were offered to their spirits.

  In the yard, a large water pit was buried halfway, and then all the wooden materials for building pigpens and cowsheds were thrown in bit by bit, ignited to start a fire. On top of it, beef and mutton were roasted, a big pot was set up to stew chicken and goose, and soon the aroma of meat filled the air, wafting throughout the town. People from far and near came to take a peek, but they all knew that Yang Xiang was fierce and no one dared to get close. Only some children who were tempted by the delicious smell climbed over the wall, staring with envy, drooling with desire.

  Xia Yu ordered someone to go and fetch wine, but Peng Qihe was not at ease, so he personally accompanied two colleagues to the town to buy wine. The wine shop in the town was not run by the Yang family, but the owner had already heard about the big incident that happened at the Yang's house. The Yangs were the largest clan in the town, and the owner did not dare offend them, so he refused to sell wine to Peng Qihe. However, Peng Qihe did not get angry, and instead rode his horse to a neighboring town to buy four jars of good wine.

  That night, the Yang family's courtyard was ablaze with bonfires, and the smell of cattle and sheep wafted through the air, as they spent a warm and lively night under the strange gaze of the whole town.

  The next morning, Yang Yu led the way, and together with Yang Wenwu and seventeen other members of the Yang clan, they submitted eighteen petitions to Jiangning County Magistrate Wu Wanli, accusing Yang Xu of slaughtering their draft cattle.

  The jurisdiction of Ying Tianfu includes Jiangning, Shangyuan, Jurong, Yuexi, Gaochun, Jiangpu, Liuhe and Yixian eight counties. Each county has a county magistrate. Muling Town is under the jurisdiction of Jiangning County, so this official naturally came to Jiangning County to fight.

  At the same time, Xia Yu went to a nearby town and found several groups of artisans, who were treated with rich food and drink every day. The construction of the mansion officially began, and the two sides started to prepare for battle...

  The Yuanning Temple originally did not have enough space to build a grand imperial palace, but the Hongwu Emperor was able to take over the world with just one cloth from Huaiyuan, his chest and momentum were truly extraordinary. He leaned against the Zijin Mountain, flattened the Yanque Lake, and built a magnificent Great Ming Palace.

  However, this move ultimately belongs to the reversal of heaven and human affairs. Although the swallow lake bottom is paved with giant stones, wooden stakes are driven in, and lime soil is repeatedly pounded and consolidated, but after a few years of construction, the northern foundation began to sink, making the imperial palace high in front and low in back, ruining the feng shui, very unlucky. Not to mention that once it rains, the inner palace is prone to internal flooding, and drainage is not easy. At the same time, the palace city is too close to the outer city, if a war breaks out, it will be difficult to defend.

  The Zhu Emperor was very worried about this, and had been planning to move the capital for several years. He sent his crown prince, Zhu Biao, to inspect Guanzhong, and originally intended to move the capital to Chang'an. Unfortunately, the crown prince returned from Guanzhong not long after and passed away, which dealt a great blow to the Zhu Emperor. In recent years, Zhu Yuanzhang had grown older and was unable to devote himself to the matter of moving the capital, so the plan was put on hold. As a result, he began to focus his energy on renovating the imperial palace once again. The renovation work outside the Chentian Gate, near the Jinshui Bridge, is still not fully completed even now, and it is very inconvenient for officials to enter and exit.

  On the other side of the imperial road, along the western corridor of the Thousand Pace Corridor, adjacent to the Five Armies Commanding Headquarters, and facing the Six Ministries' offices across the street, is the Imperial Guard's Commander-in-Chief. The current Imperial Guard can't compare with its former glory; apart from being in charge of guarding the emperor, displaying ceremonial flags, and accompanying the emperor on inspections - all of which are basically the same as traditional palace guards - they occasionally report market prices to the emperor, allowing him to understand the people's livelihoods. Nowadays, the Imperial Guard has truly become the most idle government office in the Ming dynasty.

  The yamen was cold and desolate, with a general air of decay everywhere. The flat road surface made of green bricks was overgrown with wild grass in the cracks between the bricks, showing that no one had walked on it for a long time. The doors and pillars were peeling off their lacquer, patchy and worn out, just like an abandoned palace that had not been maintained for years. When the old man from the Imperial Guard came back to collect his pension, he saw all this with his own eyes, and one can imagine how he felt.

  However, there were still people living in the backyard, and the grass and trees in the yard were lush and thriving. Birds chirped happily, and it seemed to have a vibrant vitality of its own. A handsome young officer with red lips and white teeth, and clear eyebrows and eyes, was quietly entering the yard.

  The Jin Yiwei still has the establishment of generals, lieutenants and lictors. The general is called Tianwu General, also known as the Da Han General renamed from the Yongle dynasty, whose main responsibility is to guard the Wu Men, serve as a palace guard, mostly composed of sons of meritorious officials. Lieutenants and lictors are selected from civilians who are physically healthy, have no criminal record, and have a clear family background, lieutenants are in charge of halberds and umbrellas, lictors hold golden drums and flags.

  These were just the personnel on duty in the palace, and the regular personnel of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Commanding Office had become extremely scarce. In fact, over the past few years, the hundred officials and thousand officials of the Embroidered Uniform Guard had actually increased rather than decreased, but that was because every time the emperor granted rewards, he would often select the sons of meritorious officials to be appointed as officers in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they did not take up their posts or do any work, but merely held an idle position and received their salaries.

  The handsome school lieutenant bypassed a clump of flowers and saw a man in white robes under the corridor, holding scissors and trimming a flower. The man had his hair tied back in a bun, wearing a plain white robe, looking to be in his forties, with bright eyes and eyebrows, a nose like a hanging gallbladder, three wisps of fine beard, and a face as smooth as jade.

  In the Ming Dynasty, officials had to have five regular features. Two people with similar talents and abilities, the more handsome one would find it easier to get a job. Just look at this person's appearance, not only has he reached the standard of having five regular features, but he can be considered a truly handsome man.

  Although he was in his forties, he had a mature and handsome appearance, and with this good looks, as long as he made some effort, he could still make young girls fall head over heels in love. This man was Luo Ke Di, the commander of the Brocade Guard.

  The Embroidered Uniform Guard had one Commander-in-Chief, of the third rank, two Deputy Commanders, also of the third rank, two Secretaries, of the fourth rank, and two Pacification Commissioners, of the fifth rank. In addition, there were fourteen Thousand-Household Chiefs, all of the fifth rank. However, in recent years, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had become a mere shell of its former self, with the Commander-in-Chief and Deputy Commanders being merely honorary titles held by sons of meritorious officials who rarely showed up to work at the government office, leaving only Luo Ke Di, the Secretary, to actually handle the affairs of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

  The captain quickly stepped forward, arriving a yard in front of Luo Zhan's body. He knelt on one knee, straightened his back and saluted with a solemn military salute, saying loudly: "Brocade Guard Captain Xiao Qianyue, has seen Director Luo."

  "Crack!"

  Luò Jiàn shì yòu shì yī jiǎn, yī zhī lǜ yè suí zhī huá luò, tā fàng xià jiǎn dāo, wēi xiào piǎo le Xiāo Qiān Yuè yī yǎn: "Qiān yuè lái le a, qǐlái ba."

  Xiao Qianyue said: "Yes, I humbly obeyed the great lord's orders and followed him. Now he... seems to have gotten into trouble."

  "Oh?"

  Luó Jiān couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Doesn't he stir up enough trouble? It seems like wherever he goes, he'll stir up a storm, haha. But in the end, he always manages to extricate himself from the situation, dusting off his clothes as he leaves, leaving no glory or fame behind..."

  Xiao Qianyue smiled wryly and said, "However, this time, it seems he can't stay out of it."