Chapter 286 Murong Yuliang's Ambition! (Subscribe!)
The prefecture of Fengzhou City.

Although before Murong Yuliang arrived, the officials of Fengzhou had already prepared all the things needed in the mansion for Murong Yuliang according to the rules, even the servants and maids were prepared.

But it is obvious that the tastes of these Fengzhou officials are indeed not on the same level as Murong Yuliang. As soon as Murong Yuliang and his party moved into the prefectural government, they started purchasing again...
"Master, none of the shops in Fengzhou have Yuelinxiang. I have sent people to Dongning Prefecture to check, but now only Jiuhexiang can be used!"

Holding a stick of incense, Zheng Xu, the housekeeper who came with Murong Yuliang, said with difficulty to Murong Yuliang who was reading the documents in the study:

Hearing that his favorite incense was out of stock, Murong Yuliang frowned, then sighed softly and waved his sleeves.

Although Murong Yuliang did not speak, Zheng Xu, his butler who had been with him for many years, naturally understood what he meant. He quickly placed the incense and candles in his hands in the incense burner in the study and lit them.

Soon, wisps of fragrance floated out from the incense burner and spread throughout the study...

After reading the official documents for a while, the elderly Murong Yuliang leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest. After a while, he asked calmly:
"How are the servants prepared by these Fengzhou officials?"

Zheng Xu, who was waiting on the side, said without any hesitation, "At least half of them were planted by others. Among them, I have already found a little maid who belongs to Judge Wang Jin. Judging from her appearance and talent, she should be a prostitute..."

Having said this, Zheng Xu stopped talking and did not continue.

Murong Yuliang, who had been in officialdom for half his life and once served as a fourth-rank Hanlin scholar, naturally understood what Wang Jin meant by finding a prostitute to be his maid.

Recalling how Wang Jin flattered him during their meeting today, Murong Yuliang pondered for a moment, opened his eyes and asked Zheng Xu again:
"Do you know who this Wang Jin is?"

Zheng Xu thought for a moment and said, "My Lord, it is said that Wang Jin was a close confidant of the previous prefect. The two of them worked together to make a lot of money. Since the previous prefect was transferred, he has no one to rely on."

"Rumor has it that he wants to join the general Ye Mingsheng, but Ye Mingsheng hates corrupt officials very much. He killed a lot of people in Fengzhou a while ago, so he doesn't like Wang Jin very much. Many people in the Fengzhou officialdom are saying that Ye Mingsheng will deal with Wang Jin next!"

Murong Yuliang nodded slightly when he heard this. With his rich experience, he roughly guessed what Wang Jin was thinking. After thinking for a while, he said:
"Choose carefully from the servants they prepared. Pick out a few clean ones to keep and dismiss the rest. As for the one Wang Jin planted, send her to the backyard and let her serve the young lady!"

"Yes, sir!" Zheng Xu nodded and retreated. After a short rest, Murong Yuliang once again read the briefings sent by the counties under Fengzhou in great detail.

Although he was demoted to Fengzhou as the prefect, Murong Yuliang did not give up on himself or complain about himself. On the contrary, he was very positive about his future in Fengzhou and believed that this was a good experience for his future career...
As the second master of the Murong family, Murong Yuliang has always had a dream, which is to fulfill his father's last wish, like his grandfather Murong Kui, the former Minister of Personnel, to enter the cabinet and become a cabinet elder of the Ming Dynasty, standing at the top of the power pyramid in the Zhou court.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, if one wanted to enter the cabinet and become a cabinet elder, although family background was very important, it was not something that could be easily achieved just by having a family background. Otherwise, Murong Yuliang's father would not have died without ever entering the cabinet, and could only let his two sons fulfill his wish on his behalf.

If one wants to become a cabinet elder, in addition to family background, one also has to consider factors such as ability, reputation, public opinion, and resume. Murong Yuliang is very confident in his ability, reputation, and public opinion.

He had been determined to fulfill his father's last wish since he was a child. In addition, Murong Yuliang was born into a noble family like the Murong family, so he was not short of money and material things.
Therefore, in the officialdom over the years, Murong Yuliang can be said to be strict with himself, diligent, conscientious, not allowing others to find any handle, and his only concern was to enter the cabinet...

Although Murong Yuliang set high standards for himself, there were still some strict requirements on his resume if he wanted to join the cabinet and become a cabinet elder of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Cabinet elders were required not only to have served in central departments such as the Six Ministries, but also to have served in local areas, preferably as local chief officials.

Except for very few special cases, the ministers of the Great Zhou court over the past few hundred years have basically served as local officials such as county magistrates, prefects, governors, and even governors-general.

Before becoming a Hanlin scholar, Murong Yuliang had worked in the Ministry of Rites, the Imperial College, and the Dali Temple. He had never been an official outside of Luoan, and this became a knot in the heart of Murong Yuliang, who was determined to enter the cabinet.

He wanted to be sent to a local post, serve as a chief official, and achieve some results to show people, so as to increase his political bargaining chips for his future entry into the cabinet. However, no suitable opportunity has ever appeared.

And this time, he was demoted by the Prime Minister Shangguan Hongyuan, which was an unexpected blessing. It just happened to fulfill Murong Yuliang's wish and enrich his resume.

Of course, there are regrets. Fengzhou is indeed a bit remote. Besides, it will take a few more years to become a fifth rank from a fourth rank...
After roughly scanning the briefings sent by various counties, Murong Yuliang had a certain understanding of the current situation in Fengzhou. This made Murong Yuliang happy and worried!

The good news is that the situation in Fengzhou is much better than he had imagined. With the land distribution policy of local governments in Fengzhou and the military guarantee of the Zhenwu Army, Fengzhou, which had always experienced a net outflow of population, has gradually begun to show signs of population growth. Moreover, a large proportion of this growing population are young and strong labor force.

This made Murong Yuliang very excited!
The population, especially the young and strong labor force, is the cornerstone of development. With these people, abandoned fields can be transformed into fertile land for producing food, and abandoned mines can be mined again to produce various mineral resources, which will help the development of Fengzhou.

(End of this chapter)