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

At the beginning, Yan Song relied on his operation in Nanjing Sixth Department to gain Xia Yan's respect, so he was introduced into the capital and entered the cabinet in one fell swoop.

Yangming also used this as a place of refuge, Zhang Bangqi, Zou Shouyi, etc. have served here, Zhan Ruoshui and Zhang Shiche are still the six books of Nanjing at this time.

However, at this time, Jinling City should be regarded as the world of Yangming, because Zhan Ruoshui is the secretary of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, and Zhang Shiche is the secretary of the Nanjing Household Department, the two most important yamen are in the hands of the Yangming lineage, but Yan Song has entered Beijing, and his henchmen have basically followed.

Of course, Yan Song's party is not without any power here, after Zhao Wenhua succeeded Yang Cong as the governor of the five southeastern provinces, he has been operating here for several years, and he has promoted some officials of Yan Song's party and maritime tycoons, and his strength should not be underestimated.

Yang Cong and his entourage drifted on the sea by boat for a few days, sailed along the river for nearly a day, and finally arrived at the wharf in the north of Jinling City in the afternoon.

This guy, at this time, the dock was already full of elite guards and servants, and almost half of the dignitaries and nobles in Jinling City were standing there looking forward to it, and those who didn't know thought that the imperial court had sent someone to serve in an important position similar to that of the governor of the five provinces.

Yang Cong looked at the battle on the dock, and was speechless, he wanted to keep a low profile, he didn't let these people pick him up, but people just came, what can he do?

After the fleet approached the dock, he hurriedly led a group of disciples down the suspension ladder, walked to an old man with fluttering white hair, and said, "Shibo, why did your old man come in person, but it was a pain in the little nephew. ”

This person is the patriarch of the Yangming lineage, Wang Shouren's close friend, and the Nanjing Ministry of Rites is still as good as water.

Zhan Ruoshui's generation can be Yang Cong's grandfather logically, of course, there is no such name in this faction, and Zhan Ruoshui doesn't care about these very much, he grabbed his arm and said kindly: "Qingfeng, I haven't seen you for a few years, you are still the same, but the old man is already so old that he can't even walk, hahahaha." ”

Yang Cong hurriedly grabbed him and said pretendly: "Where is it, doesn't Shibo look the same." ”

The two exchanged a few words, and then began to introduce the others one by one, Yang Cong has nothing to say here, except for the grandson of Wuding Marquis Guo Xun, who is a group of disciples, and has no identity, the people who came to greet him are amazing, not only the Nanjing Ministry of Rites and Nanjing Hubu Shangshu are here, and even the prince of Wei Guo Xu Bangrui and the sincerity of Liu Yu are here.

These people not only came to the dock to greet him personally, but also prepared a sumptuous banquet for him in the city, and everyone came to the city all the way to the city, and gathered together the wine and talk, and when the banquet was over, it was already time.

Normally, at this time, all the disciples, including Yang Cong, have to rest, because every day they have to get up before midnight, and if they don't sleep at this time, I'm afraid they won't have any energy tomorrow.

However, that night, Yang Cong seemed to be too excited, and after the banquet, he even recruited all the disciples to his room, as if the conversation was not enjoyable enough.

The disciples wondered, what is the matter, can't we talk about it tomorrow morning?

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

Today, they can be regarded as seeing the energy of the master, Nanjing's six Shangshu and the prince and the lord have to greet each other in person, in this world, how many people can have this honor!

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

Disciples, you look at me, I look at you, and finally the eldest disciple Li Chunfang carefully bowed his hand and said: "We have long heard that the teacher plays a pivotal role in the court, and today we finally saw it." ”

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 the teacher has already become a teacher, and it can no longer be regarded as important in the court." Besides, Xia Yan is still the first assistant of the cabinet, he wants to come to Jinling City in the future, how many people do you think will come to greet him? ”

Xia Yan is really not a good person, if he is a good person, it is estimated that no one cares about him anywhere, because he has offended too many people, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, including his own "right-hand man" Yan Song, are all offended by him, don't want it, if people don't take advantage of him to step on him a few times, it's good, who will take care of him.

Yang Cong then said: "What I want to tell you as a teacher is the way to make friends in this officialdom, do you know what is the most important thing in officialdom?" ”

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

Yang Cong saw that the disciples were full of bewilderment, so he explained in detail: "The most important thing in officialdom is interests, if there is no interest, why do people make friends with you?" It's like Lord Zhan and Lord Zhang, ordinary people are just nodding friends, how can they go to the dock to pick up people in person, as well as Wei Guogong and Chengyi Bo, ordinary people they don't care, let alone come to the dock to pick up people. ”

What he said seemed to be a bit of a problem, and the upright Hai Rui couldn't help but ask: "Teacher, aren't you a rising star in the Yangming lineage, aren't Lord Zhan and Master Zhang so important to you because of this?" ”

Yang Cong said with a little deep meaning: "Who said that being a teacher is in the Yangming lineage?" Being a teacher just has a lot to do with the Yangming lineage, when have you heard that the teacher once worshipped under the patriarch of the Yangming lineage? ”

Yes!

Everyone in the world thought that he Yang Cong was a rising star of the Yangming lineage, but they never thought that Yang Cong was not a person of the Yangming lineage at all.

Even his disciples didn't know this.

As soon as 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 the disciples was mainly to let them understand that they, including him, who was the master, were not from the Yangming lineage, and they should not be stupid to charge into battle for the Yangming lineage in the future.

He then explained: "The reason why Yangming is so closely related to the teacher is for the sake of profit, although they don't care about money, but they value power more, if it weren't for the relationship of the teacher, they would probably be trampled on by Xia Yan and Yan Song at this time, where can there be so many books." To put it bluntly, this is the exchange of interests, for the teacher to help them sit in the position of Shangshu and even enter the cabinet to govern, they also fully support the teacher. ”

Disciple Yang Jisheng couldn't help but ask: "Teacher, what about Wei Guogong and Uncle Chengyi, what are they for?" ”

Yang Cong said with a little pride: "They, that is even more profitable, they found a teacher because the share of salt introduction was about to be robbed by Yan Song, and the division united with Yangming to seize the position of the head of the household department in Nanjing, not only for them to keep the share of salt introduction, but even to more than double the share in their hands, of course they have to take care of the teacher." ”

It turns out that this is the case, although the disciples don't know how profitable the salt share is, but they know how expensive the salt is at this time, and everyone has to eat salt, what a big profit it is!

Yang Cong finally concluded: "There is a saying that there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests, you must remember this sentence, and in the future, when you make friends in the officialdom, you must first carefully taste this sentence, do you know?" ”