Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 85: Chapter 83 Grain Prices, Burning Charcoal

Yang Family Village.

When Yang Mingwu returned with fifty soldiers, it inevitably attracted countless attentions and discussions.

Many villagers greeted Yang Mingwu enthusiastically.

“Ming Wu, are these all your subordinates?”

“I heard you’ve become a Deputy Thousand Households? Is that true?”

“Is Uncle Zhengshan doing well?”

“You must remember Uncle Zhengshan’s support. We can’t forget our roots!”

Listening to the caring and envious words of the villagers, Yang Mingwu’s earnest smile stretched wide across his face.

He finally made his way out from the enthusiastic crowd and approached Yang Zhengxiang.

“Clan Leader!”

“Not bad, you’ve grown robust!” Yang Zhengxiang stroked his long beard, sizing him up.

Compared to the former Yang Mingwu, he now appeared even more stalwart and fierce, but that was if one ignored the naively honest expression on his face.

“How have you been recently, Clan Leader?” Yang Mingwu also sized up Yang Zhengxiang.

Yang Zhengxiang had grown old, and even though he was a Martial Artist, he couldn’t hide the fact of his aging.

However, his spirit was very good, his cloudy eyes shining brightly, as if they were filled with endless vitality.

“I’m doing wonderfully well now!” Yang Zhengxiang laughed heartily.

As the Yang Family expanded and grew stronger, he, the Clan Leader, had become quite a prominent figure throughout Anning County.

Especially since Yang Zhenshan’s promotion, many people had come to visit him, hoping to use his connections to find a future under Yang Zhenshan’s command.

Surrounded by so many people flattering and serving him, Yang Zhengxiang seemed to have found a new lease on life—he was spirited every day, full of vigor.

Yang Mingwu laughed along, but his gaze quickly shifted to the figures standing behind Yang Zhengxiang.

“Dad, Mom! Your unworthy son has come home; I bow to you in apology!”

Clumsily but sincerely, Yang Mingwu knelt before his parents and kowtowed three times with heavy thuds.

“Get up, get up!” The elderly couple looked at their eldest son, feeling both joy and pain.

They were overjoyed that their son had made something of himself, but pained that their son had to go onto the battlefield to fight against the fierce Hu Clan.

“Dad!” Yang Mingwu chuckled, his gaze falling on the woman behind his father, who was holding a three or four-year-old child—that was his wife and child.

“My husband!”

“Dad!”

The family was reunited; they had much to talk about.

Naturally, Yang Zhengxiang wouldn’t disturb their reunion, so after seeing Yang Mingwu, he let him go home first.

As for the soldiers that Yang Mingwu brought back, he had already made proper arrangements for them.

After resting for a night, Yang Mingwu once again visited Yang Zhengxiang’s house.

“Clan Leader, this is a letter from the superior!”

Yang Zhengxiang took the letter, and after reading it, his brow furrowed slightly.

“Is the drought in Chongshan Town very severe?”

Yang Zhenshan had previously written to him about the severe drought in Chongshan Town, stating that grain prices might rise this year and specifically instructed him not to let the clan members sell their grain at low prices.

“Yes, many places have failed to yield any crops, and the better areas have only managed three or four tenths of the usual harvest!” Yang Mingwu reported honestly.

Yang Zhengxiang nodded, stroking his beard and pondering briefly, “The price of grain has also risen a lot in Anning County; I can decide on behalf of the clan members to sell the grain to you at the usual price of past years!”

He said “you” rather than Yinghe Castle.

“No need, the superior has already stated that we cannot let our clan members suffer a loss!” Yang Mingwu shook his head.

“Would a high price cause trouble for Zhengshan?” Yang Zhengxiang harbored such worries.

“Too low a price would cause trouble!” Yang Mingwu grinned.

He may be naive, but he wasn’t foolish.

It was inevitable that grain prices in Chongshan Town would rise. If at this time Yang Zhenshan managed to procure a batch of low-priced grain, then if others also turned to Yang Zhenshan to buy grain, how would the price be set?

Others might be fine, but what about the officials of Jianning Guard?

They might not necessarily be buying grain for the soldiers; it could simply be for profiteering.

Therefore, if Yang Zhenshan really did secure low-priced grain, it wouldn’t bring any benefits but might instead attract trouble.

Yang Zhengxiang mulled it over for a moment, then said, “Then let’s set the price at four taels of silver per dan!”

“Alright!” Yang Mingwu agreed straightforwardly.

Before coming back, he had visited Anning County, where the current price of grain was about four taels of silver per dan.

To purchase grain at this price from Yang Family Village was actually somewhat high.

But then again, now was the autumn harvest, the time when grain was most abundant and prices should be the lowest for the year. If they waited until after the New Year, the price of grain would certainly rise.

The villagers of Yang Family Village only needed to keep their grain until after the New Year, and they would definitely be able to sell it for four taels, or even more than five taels.

After agreeing on the price of grain, Yang Zhengxiang immediately gathered the villagers to start selling grain.

Yang Mingwu, after handing over the silver to Yang Zhengxiang, went to Yang Zhenshan’s home.

“The superior said to have you pack up; we’ll head back to Yinghe Castle together in a couple of days!” Yang Mingwu said to Yang Mingcheng.

Yang Zhenshan had already decided to bring his entire family to Yinghe Castle, and now with Yang Mingwu returning, they could go back together.

“Really!” Yang Mingcheng was overjoyed.

If it weren’t for the frequent letters sent back from Chongshan Town, he would think his own father, Yang Zhenshan, had forgotten all about their family.

After all, it had been more than half a year since Yang Zhenshan left home, and he truly longed to see Yang Zhenshan again and wished to stay by his side.

“Hmm! The adults have been deeply concerned about you all!” Yang Mingwu smiled.

“I’ll get ready right away!” Yang Mingcheng seemed somewhat impatient.

…

Outside Yinghe Castle.

Yang Zhenshan was commanding a dozen or so strong men to dig up river mud in front of the river beach to construct charcoal kilns.

There was also a large pile of firewood cut from the mountains nearby.

The charcoal kiln they were building was a triangular one, with sides about two meters long, extending more than a meter into the ground, the front slightly higher than the rear, and equipped with a flue and a smoke outlet in the back.

Once the charcoal kiln was built, Yang Zhenshan directed the men to start firing the kiln.

“Dad, can we really make charcoal like this?” Yang Minghao couldn’t help asking as he watched the kiln that had begun to burn.

That’s right, Yang Zhenshan intended to make charcoal.

Chongshan Town had long and cold winters, and the demand for firewood and charcoal among the commoners was substantial.

Especially the households of officials and nobles who, before winter, would purchase a large quantity of charcoal, which was also not cheap.

In his previous life, Yang Zhenshan had viewed videos about making charcoal and even thought about trying it, but alas, he had been too busy with work and had no time to try.

Now, he wanted to find a job for the military households within the garrison, and making charcoal was undoubtedly the most appropriate choice.

The market was large enough, and the cost was low enough, the key being that around Yinghe Castle, there were vast forests.

If it were close to Linguan Castle, Yang Zhenshan would definitely not choose to make charcoal because there would not be a large supply of timber to harvest.

But Yinghe Castle was different; to the west of Yinghe Castle were continuous forests – the area was anything but short of timber.

In addition to Yinghe Castle, the timber resources around Sanshan Castle were also very rich.

With an abundance of timber resources, the cost of making charcoal was essentially just the cost of labor.

Compared to the workshops at the frontline of Linguan Castle, the profits from making charcoal would be bigger.

“It should work!” Yang Zhenshan was somewhat unconfident.

After all, he had never made charcoal before and had only watched some related videos.

After starting the kiln firing, Yang Zhenshan assigned two people to keep an eye on the fire and then left for a while.

The kiln needed two days to fire, and whether charcoal could be successfully made would be evident in two days.

Upon returning to Yinghe Castle, Yang Zhenshan went to check on the residential area for the military households behind the government office.

After the autumn harvest, he mobilized all the military households within the garrison.

Making charcoal was a minor matter; twenty people were enough for that. The real issue was the construction within the garrison.

Although the housing in Yinghe Castle was much better than the previous Linguan Castle, Yang Zhenshan was still not satisfied.

Additionally, he planned to recruit and settle refugees, which would require building additional housing for them.

So now, construction was underway in Yinghe Castle, Sanshan Castle, and Xiangyuan Fortress.

Building houses, stables, hog pens, and chicken coops, among others.

In short, Yang Zhenshan aimed to renovate all three garrisons entirely.

Not just the three garrisons, but after renovating them, he also planned to refurbish all the beacon towers and signal towers.

Watching the busy military households, Yang Zhenshan nodded in satisfaction.

“Old Li!”

“My lord!”

Old Li, who was supervising a group of youngsters building stables, hurried over to Yang Zhenshan when called.

“Bring two pigs; let’s provide an extra meal for everyone today!” Yang Zhenshan ordered.

“You are so kind, my lord!” Old Li immediately beamed with joy.

Everyone else was getting an extra meal, and so was he.

He was naturally happy to have free pork to eat.

“Also, pass the word that private pig and poultry raising within the garrison is prohibited,” Yang Zhenshan added, thinking about the stinking environment within the garrison.

For military households, it was common to raise pigs and chickens at home.

But Yang Zhenshan had no choice but to forbid it.

The garrison was only so large, with the military households’ houses all lined up tightly together.

Military households differed from farmers in the village; farmers all had a large courtyard and would leave some space between neighbors, so raising pigs and chickens wouldn’t bother anyone.

However, it was different for military households within the garrison. Their courtyards were small; with one family raising a couple of pigs and another raising a few chickens, the entire garrison would stink.

“Should they be raised together then?” Old Li was no fool; at Linguan Castle, Yang Zhenshan had constructed pig pens and chicken coops and hired military households for breeding, and the same would likely apply here.

Yang Zhenshan nodded, “You’ll be in charge of this.”

Having arranged the affairs within the garrison, Yang Zhenshan then returned to the government office.

“My lord, the first batch of soldiers ready for training has been confirmed, would you like to take a look?” Yang Chengxu handed over a roster to Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan didn’t take the roster, instead saying, “You handle it! When do you plan to start the training?”

“Tomorrow, I’ll send someone to notify all the garrisons, and we’ll begin training in three days!” Yang Chengxu said.

“Good! Have the cooks who are responsible for the food been found?”

“They are all set, twelve in total, ready to get to work anytime!” Yang Chengxu revealed two small canine teeth with a smile.

The soldiers who received training would be fed by the government office, and this first batch had as many as two hundred men. Cooking alone was no small matter.

“Are there enough tents?” Yang Zhenshan asked again.

“Yes, we have thirty tents in the storehouse, and we can also clear out a dozen or so rooms in the garrison; if we squeeze a bit, it’s enough for two hundred people to live in!”

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, “Then you may go and take care of it!”