Fang Yun immediately understood that Fang Shouye was recommending Fang Yingwu.
Fang Yingwu was the son of Fang Shouye's elder brother, but he had always lived in Fang Shouye's home. They were as close as father and son.
Fang Yingwu was over twenty years old and was currently a High Scholar. He was famous for his talents and was very shrewd. Someone had offended him and was tortured by him until he could not die. He was extremely treacherous. However, he was not a tyrannical young master. His reputation was mixed.
Fang Yingwu had a habit. He was not interested in girls from good families. He liked to spend the night in brothels and pleasure boats. He was dissolute.
Fang Yun asked Fang Shouye about Fang Yingwu and recalled the rumors. Other than being fond of brothels and being ruthless in his vengeance, he had no other misdeeds. Furthermore, Fang Yingwu was his cousin and was of the same tribe. He was far more trustworthy than an outsider. Given Fang Shouye's temper, if Fang Yingwu really had a problem with his character, he would not be so shameless as to send a letter.
"When cousin arrives in the capital, I'll hold a welcoming dinner for him."
In the morning, Fang Yun went to the "Spring Hunting Class" and the "Court Examination Class" as usual. After class, he used his official seal to check the letters. He found that many familiar and unfamiliar people had recommended themselves or others to be Fang Yun's private soldiers or aides.
On the way home, Fang Yun thought as he walked. It was good to have someone as a private soldier or aide, but his own team was not stable yet. If he rashly accepted a large number of people, there would be all kinds of conflicts. After all, the human heart was very complicated and not as easy to control as the barbarian soldiers.
After lunch, Fang Yun did not go to the literary battlefield to practice his war of words. Instead, he sat in his study and thought about his team.
Naturally, he could not refuse the Grand Scholar who came to help. "Agriculture" was an important subject in the Court Examination. If one got A or B in agriculture, it would be best. If one got C, they would immediately lose the top three in the Court Examination. Food and clothing were always the top priority of the human race.
Advisor Xiang was an old fox in the bureaucracy. He had been recommended to Cai He by Minister Kang Ha-chuan and had followed Cai He for many years. One could even say that he was more reliable than Fang Yingwu.
Fang Yun was also a candidate for the position of advisor. This person had traveled all over Jingguo, and he was not only good at thinking with his lower body. He had met all kinds of people in brothels and pleasure boats, and had heard all kinds of strange things. These were all things that Fang Yun lacked. Fang Yingwu was younger than Private Advisor Xiang and was more perceptive in certain aspects.
As for the commander of the demon and barbarian private army, Ao Huang would be appointed. Ao Huang would definitely be very enthusiastic.
At present, the general of the official's private army was a middle-aged man from the Chen Sheng Clan. He had been in the military for many years, but for the safety of Fang Yun, he had to be careful. The Chen Clan would send him to Fang Yun's side. Nominally, the 2,000 private soldiers belonged to the Jingguo Imperial Family, but in reality, they were soldiers trained by the Chen Sheng Clan. Their loyalty to Jingguo was unquestionable.
Fang Yun had thought it through. With the addition of the people sent by the Notre-Dame, his current team was sufficient. Any more and it would seem bloated. After all, he was only governing a county, not a province or even a country. If he lacked people. He would directly go to the Da Yuan Mansion and select from the relatives of the Fang Clan. Their relationship with the clan was extremely reliable, and they were bound together for good or ill with Fang Yun. Even if the clan members wanted to join Fang Yun's enemies, the other party might not be willing to accept them.
Once the "Fang Clan" gained a firm foothold and had a preliminary scale, he could then speed up the recruitment of talents.
In the afternoon. A eunuch from the Imperial Palace came to read the imperial edict, officially conferring Fang Yun the title of "Duke Zhen", and bestowing him with a prince's residence, a side courtyard, gardens, fertile land, and so on. He also brought a total of ninety carriages of congratulatory gifts!
The Fang Clan simply couldn't fit so many congratulatory gifts. These gifts would all be sent to the famous' Spring Garden 'located on Mingde Street. The Spring Garden was one of the three best imperial gardens in Jingguo. One of them had been gifted to Chen Guanhai, while the other two were for the imperial family's own use. Now, one of them had been given to Fang Yun.
Fang Yun was clearly taken aback when he heard this reward. The Spring Garden had not been mentioned in yesterday's court meeting, so it seemed that the Empress Dowager had decided on it today.
Ordinary people would only think that the Empress Dowager had given him a generous reward, but Fang Yun was still an official, so he immediately realized that this was a very clear political signal.
In a country, there was a 'Crown Prince', the successor of the monarch. For Fang Yun to receive the same treatment as Chen Sheng meant that the Empress Dowager had already treated Fang Yun as the 'Crown Prince'.
The Spring Garden conferment demonstrated the determination of the Empress Dowager and many other officials in the court.
The status of a Duke was very high, so the conferment ceremony needed some time to prepare. The official ceremony would be held on December 25th. At that time, not only civil and military officials would attend, but also the common people in the capital city would attend.
Given that Fang Yun's identity had changed, the Upper House was no longer suitable for living. That night, everyone packed up everything in the Fang Clan.
The next morning, the carriage sent by the imperial palace picked up Fang Yun and the others and was responsible for moving. Great Elder Princess Zhao Hongzhuang also came in person.
The Spring Garden was located in the southeast corner of the capital city. When the capital city was built, it was found that there was a natural spring there, so it was built as a royal garden and named after the spring.
When the carriage stopped, Fang Yun and the other members of the Fang Clan got off the carriage. In front of them was the grand and quaint main gate of the Spring Garden. On the plaque at the main gate, there were two words, "Spring Garden", written by the founder of Jingguo. It was the third level of calligraphy, "Ink Becomes Bone". Every stroke of the two words was as straight as a sword.
The Spring Garden consisted of the main garden and four sub-gardens in the east, west, north, and south. The theme of the main garden was water. As soon as they entered the main gate of the Spring Garden, the first thing they saw was a lake with a radius of 300 feet. There were small islands and waterside pavilions in the lake, and there were long corridors or long bridges on all sides that connected to other places.
However, it was winter now, so the plants on the lake were a little shabby. In summer, lotus leaves would fill the lake, and lotus flowers would bloom. It was a rare scenic spot to admire lotus flowers.
This was the famous "Lotus Pond Lake" in the Spring Garden. Around the Lotus Pond Lake, there were buildings such as the Lingering Fragrance Hall and the Jade Leaf Pavilion.
Along the way, Zhao Hongzhuang continuously introduced everything about the Spring Garden.
Fang Yun and Ao Huang were very calm, but Yang Yuhuan, Su Xiaoxiao, Fang Daniu, and the others constantly exclaimed along the way. Even though the scenery here was not as beautiful as summer, they were still deeply captivated.
Fang Yun compared the Spring Garden to the gardens in Suzhou in his memory and found that this Spring Garden was superior in terms of scale and other aspects. After all, great scholars had participated in the construction and could do things that ordinary people could not.
Just the Lotus Pond Lake behind the main gate was more than 20 mu in size!
The group walked for a while, circling around the Lotus Pond Lake, before arriving at the main garden behind it. The main garden was filled with ponds and rivers, occupying a large area. At first glance, one would think that they had come to a Jiangnan water town.
Because it was a royal garden, the main garden was mainly for the monarch to rest and enjoy. It could also be used to handle government affairs and even hold impromptu court meetings. It was not suitable for living. After passing through the main garden, they arrived at the south garden, where they lived.
All the facilities in the south garden were very complete. For the Fang family, it was even too complicated. There were many rooms that they could not use.
Zhao Hongzhuang also did not know much about this place, so the garden official of the Spring Garden was responsible for introducing the Fang family one by one.
After that, Fang Yun and the others went to tour the other gardens.
Time was neither too fast nor too slow, and they did not return.
Fang Yun quickly adapted to life in the Spring Garden. On the 25th of December, he received the official title of "Duke Zhen".
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