Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 87: Chapter 85 Disciples, Refugees

Yang Zhenshan looked up at Ms. Li, her face weary, and said, “I’ve already sent someone to inform Ming Zhi. He should be able to return tomorrow!”

Recently, Zhou Lan also began military training, and Yang Mingzhi has been busy with this, hence why he hasn’t returned yet.

But his wife and children have all arrived; Yang Mingzhi should come back to take a look. Besides, Ms. Li is pregnant, and it’s been over half a year; it’s inappropriate for him not to return.

“Thank you, Dad!” Ms. Li smiled warmly, slightly bowing in gratitude.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly. Ms. Li was much gentler than Ms. Wang and had an open mind; indeed, she was a good woman.

“You must be tired too; everyone should go rest first. We can talk about anything else later tonight!” Yang Zhenshan said.

“Big brother, sister-in-law, come with me!” Yang Minghao immediately spoke up.

After saying this, he led everyone out of the main hall.

The government office compound of Yinghe Castle was quite spacious: the main courtyard had four main rooms, four rooms each in the east and west wings, and two side rooms. Each of the two cross-yards had three main rooms and two side rooms. Additionally, there was a four-room structure in the front courtyard and a five-room annex in the back courtyard.

All in all, there were over thirty rooms, more than enough to house the large family of Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan had already arranged where everyone would stay: the eldest living in the east wing, the second in the west wing, Yang Yunxue and Wang Yunqiao staying in the side rooms of the residential buildings; Yang Minghao and Lin Zhan were in the front courtyard.

After everyone inspected their respective accommodations, Yang Mingcheng returned to the main hall of the main courtyard.

“Dad, this is a letter from grandpa!”

Hearing it was a letter from Lu Songhe, Yang Zhenshan quickly took it.

He had also written to Lu Songhe during this period, especially during Mid-Autumn Festival; he made sure to send his regards.

“Did you send the Mid-Autumn Festival gifts to your grandpa as I instructed?” Yang Zhenshan asked.

“Following Dad’s orders, I picked some brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones from the storeroom and sent them!” Yang Mingcheng replied earnestly.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly. The writing materials at his home were mostly gifts they had received before, especially the thank-you gifts from Zhou Lan, among which were many fine brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, most of which Yang Zhenshan had given to the Lu family.

It couldn’t be helped; the Yang family now only had one academic, Lin Zhan, and couldn’t make use of that many writing materials.

But the Lu family had several scholars, and Lu Wenquan had even passed the Scholar examinations; he, as their uncle by marriage, naturally needed to show more generosity.

Lu Songhe’s letter was to the point: no excessive politeness or superfluous words, mainly expressing the desire for Yang Zhenshan to seek positions for his grandsons.

Lu Songhe had four grandsons: Lu Wenchun, Lu Wenjie, Lu Wenhua, and Lu Wenquan.

Lu Wenquan was pursuing the imperial examinations and didn’t need Yang Zhenshan to worry about him.

However, the scholastic talents of Lu Wenchun, Lu Wenjie, and Lu Wenhua, these three nephews-in-law, were not very high.

To this, Yang Zhenshan didn’t feel any aversion.

His side indeed lacked scholars; previously, Yinghe Castle had quite a few civil servants, but Yang Zhenshan had dealt with them, and now the government office’s matters were all pressuring Yang Zhenshan and Yang Mingwu along with a few others, making them extremely busy.

Even Yang Zhenshan found it impossible to shirk his duties.

After some thought, Yang Zhenshan wrote a reply to Lu Songhe.

First, he asked about the health of the two elders, then he shared his own thoughts.

He decided to ask for Lu Wenchun and Lu Wenjie to come over.

Lu Wenchun, the eldest grandson of the main branch of the Lu family, was twenty-eight this year. Although not strong in studies, he was steady and reliable in handling affairs. Bringing him to Yinghe Castle would likely help a great deal.

And Lu Wenjie, the eldest grandson of the second branch of the Lu family, was twenty-five years old. He used to manage the Lu family’s properties under Lu Zhaoran and was quite capable.

This should satisfy both branches of the Lu family. As for Lu Wenhua, this youngster was the only unworthy grandson of the Lu family.

It wasn’t that Lu Wenhua was arrogant; the Lu family didn’t have much to be arrogant about.

The main issue with Lu Wenhua was gambling; Yang Zhenshan had heard that this young man had caused a lot of trouble in Qinghe Town, and he didn’t want to have a troublemaker by his side.

“Take this letter—”

Originally Yang Zhenshan intended to have Yang Mingcheng deliver this letter to Manager Lu in the fortified city, but, realizing Ming Cheng was not familiar with the fortified city, his tone shifted as he said, “first give this letter to Ming Hao!”

“Yes!” Yang Mingcheng responded somewhat disappointedly.

He wanted to do more, but Yang Zhenshan entrusted this task to Yang Minghao.

Though it was only a small task of delivering a letter, if he couldn’t even manage such a little thing, not to mention others.

Seeing his state of mind, Yang Zhenshan smiled and said, “You rest for a few days first; I have an important matter here that needs you!”

Yang Mingcheng having such intentions was quite normal, after all, he was the eldest son.

Seeing his younger brothers all following Dad, and the second brother even becoming an official, it would be odd if he had no complaints at all in his heart.

In fact, Yang Mingcheng was already very patient; although he had grievances, he had never thought of doing anything against his younger brothers.

Hearing that Yang Zhenshan had a task for him, Yang Mingcheng immediately showed a sincere smile.

“Dad, rest assured, I will do well!”

“Yes,” Yang Zhenshan nodded.

After Yang Mingcheng left, Lin Zhan and Wang Yunqiao came over.

These two were his disciples, but it seemed as if he, their master, had been somewhat negligent; since their arrival at the Yang family, Yang Zhenshan hadn’t taught them much.

Yang Zhenshan looked at Lin Zhan approvingly, nodding, “Your physique has become much stronger!”

Lin Zhan used to be quite frail, but now he looked as robust as a young calf and his skin had darkened considerably; clearly, he had not neglected martial arts training.

“It’s all thanks to Eldest Senior Brother for taking care of me!” Lin Zhan didn’t forget to speak favorably of Yang Mingcheng.

Yang Zhenshan’s mouth curled into a slight smile, “Don’t rush the matter of your studies; in time, I will find you a teacher.”

He had no intentions of stopping Lin Zhan from studying. Lin Zhan had some talent for it and if he could pursue the imperial examinations, Yang Zhenshan would be pleased.

Unfortunately, for the better part of a year, Lin Zhan hadn’t been able to focus on his studies.

The Yang family’s clan school had just been established, and not long after, Lin Zhan had been brought to Yinghe Castle.

Nevertheless, Yang Zhenshan planned to set up a school inside Yinghe Castle, and it would be a large one at that.

First, to help the soldiers become literate, and second, to enable the children of military households to also study.

Illiteracy eradication is simple; just randomly selecting a few literate individuals will do.

However, proper studying requires a proper teacher, at minimum a Scholar.

“I’m in no hurry, Master!” Lin Zhan said softly.

He truly wasn’t in a hurry. Although his father wished for him to become a learned man and achieve official status, he was even more aware of how well the Yang family had already treated him: providing for him, teaching him Martial Arts, and even willing to support his education.

With such, what more could he demand?

He knew gratitude.

“Mm!”

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Wang Yunqiao and the child Wang Mingzhe in her arms.

“Bring him here for me to see!”

Wang Yunqiao hastily handed over Wang Mingzhe.

Taking care of a toddler at the age of ten was indeed tough for this young girl.

“Master!”

Wang Mingzhe, around the same age as Yang Qingwan but much livelier, actually addressed Yang Zhenshan directly as Master, likely having been taught by Wang Yunqiao.

“What a good lad!” Yang Zhenshan revealed a kind smile.

His friendly demeanor towards Wang Mingzhe aimed to put Wang Yunqiao at ease.

He could afford to be somewhat distant with his own grandson, since no matter what, the boy was his grandson, tied by blood.

But with this child, he could not afford to be distant, lest Wang Yunqiao feel uneasy.

Indeed, seeing Yang Zhenshan so close with her brother, Wang Yunqiao’s face beamed with a radiant smile.

…

The arrival of Yang Mingcheng and the others brought much liveliness around Yang Zhenshan.

However, with the bustling affairs at Yinghe Castle, Yang Zhenshan did not have time to enjoy this family bliss, well, he wasn’t too fond of it either.

He always refused to admit he was an old man.

In this world, at forty years old, one might already claim to be an ’old man’, yet he had never referred to himself that way.

The next day, Yang Minghao returned from Jianning Guard, and the family shared a reunion dinner.

Yang Minghao stayed at home for just one night before hurrying back to Jianning Guard.

The military training overseen by Zhou Lan was also rigorously underway, and as the chief instructor, Yang Minghao carried a heavy burden.

He did not want to let Yang Zhenshan down, nor leave a negative impression on Zhou Lan.

Therefore, he had always performed well in Zhou Lan’s presence.

This also indirectly proved that Yang Zhenshan’s initial decision was right: Yang Mingzhi was more suitable for officialdom than Yang Mingcheng, with a better grasp of pros and cons.

Days passed, the weather gradually turned cool.

Yet the entire Yinghe Castle was a bustling hive of activity.

Within the garrison, the repair and reconstruction were drawing to an end; the first batch of soldiers had gotten used to the intense training.

By the end of September.

Yang Chengze brought the first group of refugees.

A total of one hundred thirty households, over four hundred people.

All were ragged refugees.

Recruiting these refugees had cost Yang Chengze no small effort.

This year was a year of disaster; the people of Chongshan Town first experienced the invasion of the Northern barbarians, then a severe drought, which left many homeless.

Some people survived the Northern barbarian’s plunder, but could not withstand the drought.

The first batch of refugees, Yang Zhenshan arranged them all within Yinghe Castle, just in time as many new houses had been built inside the Castle, perfectly accommodating so many people.

Suddenly having over a hundred more households, Yinghe Castle became much more bustling.

Upon arriving at the garrison, the refugees were first registered, granted household records, allocated houses, then distributed wasteland, agricultural tools, and grain.

Now, with the temperature not too low, they could still reclaim some wasteland before winter.

However, since the newly reclaimed wasteland would definitely not yield high harvests, Yang Zhenshan generously waived their taxes for one year.

To prevent these refugees from idleness, Yang Zhenshan had Li Erhu select some among them to join the charcoal-burning operation. He also instructed Old Li to take extra care of these refugees, and to hire some to raise horses, pigs, and chickens.

After busying himself for two days, Yang Zhenshan finally arranged for the refugees properly and then found free time to sit in his study drinking tea.

“Dad, you wanted to see me!” Yang Mingcheng arrived at the study.

“Mm!”

Yang Zhenshan nodded, “You’ve rested enough by now.”

“Dad, I’ve rested quite well! I don’t need any more rest!”

Yang Mingcheng was someone who couldn’t stay idle. Previously, when the family was poor, he was responsible for the work in the fields. Even after Yang Zhenshan rented out the lands to tenants, he couldn’t keep still – either going hunting in the mountains or helping the tenants with farm work.

Unimaginable, this honest child even helped the tenants work for free.

Which made those tenants anxious for a long time, worried that the Yang family would not rent the fields to them anymore.

This year, the harvest of the Yang family’s lands was good, and that was partly due to Yang Mingcheng’s efforts.

Yang Zhenshan finished his tea and stood up, “Come, let’s go out and have a walk with me!”

Afterward, the two left the study, mounted horses and left the garrison.