Jinling City can be said to be the old nest of Yan Song's party, or it can be said to be the old nest of Yangming's lineage.

At the beginning, Yan Song gained Xia Yan's reputation through his operations in the Six Ministry of Nanjing, and thus introduced him to the capital and entered the cabinet in one fell swoop.

The Yangming lineage also used this as a refuge, and Zhang Bangqi, Zou Shouyi and others all served here. Zhan Ruoshui and Zhang Shiche are now the Ministers of the Six Ministers of Nanjing.

However, at this time, Jinling City should be considered the world of the Yangming lineage, because Zhan Ruoshui was the Minister of Rites in Nanjing and Zhang Shiche was the Minister of Revenue in Nanjing. These two most important yamen were controlled by the Yangming lineage, but Yan Song had already entered Beijing, and his subordinates basically followed him.

Of course, Yan Song's Party is not without any power here. After Zhao Wenhua replaced Yang Cong as the governor of the five Southeast provinces, he operated here for several years and promoted some officials from Yan Song's Party and maritime businessmen, and his strength should not be underestimated.

Yang Cong and his party wandered on the sea for a few days on a boat and sailed along the river for nearly a day. That afternoon, they finally arrived at the wharf north of Jinling City.

This guy was already covered with elite troops in the military and yamen runners at this time. Almost half of the dignitaries in Jinling City stood there looking forward to it. Those who didn't know thought that the court had sent someone to serve as an important position similar to the governor of the five provinces.

When Yang Cong saw the scene on the dock, he was speechless. He wanted to keep a low profile. He didn't let these people pick him up, but he just came. What can he do?

After the fleet approached the dock, he quickly led a group of disciples to rush down the ladder, walked to an old man with white hair, bowed and said, "Uncle Shi, why are you here in person? You're a traitor?"

This person is the elder of the Yangming lineage, Wang Shouren's friendship, Zhan Ruoshui, the Minister of Rites of Nanjing.

Zhan Ruoshui's seniority can be Yang Cong's grandfather. Of course, there is no such thing in this faction, and Zhan Ruoshui doesn't care much about these things. He held his arm and said kindly: "Qingfeng, I haven't seen you for several years. You are still the same, but I'm so old that I can't walk anymore, hahahaha."

Yang Cong quickly followed the situation and said with a false opinion: "Where is it, doesn't Uncle Shi look the same?"

After a few greetings, the two began to introduce the others one by one. Yang Cong had nothing to say. Apart from the grandson of Wuding Marquis Guo Xun, they were just a group of disciples and had no identities. The people who came to greet him were amazing. Not only did the Minister of Rites in Nanjing and the Minister of Revenue in Nanjing, but they even came, but also the Prince of Wei Xu Bangrui and the Prince of Chengyi Liu Yu.

These people not only came to the dock to greet him personally, but also prepared a sumptuous banquet for him in the city. Everyone exchanged greetings and came to the city, and gathered together the banquet. When the banquet ended, it was already the hour of the time.

Generally, all the disciples, including Yang Cong, have to rest at this time, because they have to get up before the hour of Mao every day, and if they don’t sleep at this time, they may be out of energy tomorrow.

However, that night, Yang Cong seemed to be overly excited. After the banquet, he actually recruited all his disciples into his room, and it seemed that he was not satisfied with the chat.

The disciples are wondering, what can’t I talk about again tomorrow morning?

Of course, they did not show any dissatisfaction, and they had only admiration on their faces.

Today, they have seen the energy of their masters. The six ministers and nobles in Nanjing have to welcome each other in person. How many people in this world can have this honor!

Yang Cong picked up the teacup and took a sip, then asked lightly: "How is it, what do you think of today's banquet?"

All the disciples looked at me, I looked at you, and finally the eldest disciple Li Chunfang bowed carefully and said, "We have heard that our teacher is important in the court, and we finally saw it today."

It seems like I was deliberately showing you out. Yang Cong shook his head slightly and said, "This has something to do with identity and status, but it is not the most important thing. You should know that your teacher has retired and is no longer of importance in the court. Besides, Xia Yan is still the chief minister of the cabinet. After he wants to retire, he comes to Jinling City. Do you think there will be a few people coming to greet him?"

Xia Yan is indeed not a good person. If he retired, no one would care about wherever he went, because he offended too many people. All the civil and military officials in the court, including his own "right-hand man" Yan Song, were offended by him. It would be good if others didn't step on him while he retired. Who would still pay attention to him?

Yang Cong immediately said: "What my teacher wants to tell you is the way to make friends in the officialdom. Do you know what is the most important thing in the officialdom?"

None of the disciples entered the officialdom, how do you know what is the most important thing to make friends in the officialdom?

Seeing that the disciples were confused, Yang Cong explained in detail: "The most important thing in making friends in the officialdom is interests. If there is no interest, why do they make friends with you? Just like Lord Zhan and Lord Zhang, most people just nodded their heads, so how could they go to the dock to pick up people in person. There are Duke Wei and Chengyi Bo, most people don't care about it, let alone picking up people from the dock."

It seems that there is something wrong with this. The straightforward Hai Rui couldn't help asking: "Mr., aren't you a rising star in the Yangming lineage? Isn't it because of this that Lord Zhan and Lord Zhang value you so much?"

Yang Cong said with a deep meaning: "Who says that being a teacher belongs to the Yangming lineage? Being a teacher is just a close relationship with the Yangming lineage. When have you heard that being a teacher has been worshipped by which veteran of the Yangming lineage?"

ah!

Everyone thinks that Yang Cong is a rising star in the Yangming lineage, but never thinks that Yang Cong is not from the Yangming lineage at all.

Even his disciples don't know this.

When he said this, all the disciples were so shocked that their eyes bulged and they almost fell to the ground.

The reason why Yang Cong explained to his disciples was mainly to let them understand that they themselves, including him, were not from the Yangming lineage, and they should not foolishly charge for the Yangming lineage in the future.

He then explained: "The reason why the Yangming lineage has such a close relationship with the teacher is for the sake of profit. Although they don't care about money, they value power more. If it were not for the relationship of the teacher, they would probably have been trampled on by Xia Yan and Yan Song at this time, so how could so many Shangshu be released? To put it bluntly, this is the exchange of interests. The teacher helped them take the position of Shangshu and even entered the cabinet to take charge of the government, and they also fully support the teacher."

The disciple Yang Jisheng couldn't help asking, "Teacher, what about Duke Wei and Chengyi Bo, what are they doing for?"

Yang Cong said proudly: "They are even more for the benefit. When they came to be the master, they were almost snatched away by Yan Song. They joined forces with the Yangming lineage to seize the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing. Not only did they save their share of salt in the country, but they even doubled their share. Of course, they must win over the masters."

So that's the case. Although the disciples didn't know how much profit the salt share was, they knew how expensive the salt was at this moment. Everyone had to eat salt, so what the profit was!
Chapter completed!