Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 294: Chapter 285 A New Year

“Are you the Hall Master of Yuheng Star Hall?”

Yang Zhenshan sat in the main seat, asking with a detached demeanor.

“I am indeed!”

Yang Zhenshan had not invited him to sit, and he dared not sit.

“Then why have you come here?”

“I am here to apologize to the General!”

“Apologize!” Yang Zhenshan stroked his beard, scrutinizing Luo Jingsong.

“That’s right, Huang Yifu is our Yuheng Star Hall’s saber-wielding guest. He was out of line to affront the General. Although the General has already dealt with him, I still feel profoundly apprehensive and have specifically come to offer my apologies to the General!”

“This is a small token of my sincerity, hoping to express my apologies to the General!”

Luo Jingsong presented a list of gifts to Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan took the list and glanced over it casually.

Apologizing with gifts!

This was indeed beyond his expectations.

But on further thought, Luo Jingsong’s actions made sense.

People of the worldly society like him probably liked least to have conflicts with government officials.

Especially since the Seven Stars Hall of Star Moon Sect in Da Rong was already facing rejection and suppression from the court, which made them tread very carefully.

The list contained many items, all valuable, presumably worth a few thousand taels of silver, but Yang Zhenshan only gave it a brief look.

“Your apology has been felt by this General. Now, tell me your true purpose!”

Yang Zhenshan put down the list, looking up once more at Luo Jingsong.

If Luo Jingsong had no request, there would be absolutely no need to come and offer an apology.

Yang Zhenshan was just a Commander of the Tenglong Guard, and although Seven Stars Hall might dread the court, it wasn’t so much that they would fear him, a mere Commander—he didn’t represent the court.

Seeing Yang Zhenshan’s aloof attitude, Luo Jingsong felt restless.

“General, I have a favor to ask!”

“What is it?”

“It’s about Qingfu Mountain!” Luo Jingsong carefully measured his words.

Yang Zhenshan immediately grasped his meaning and simply lifted his cup of tea for a light sip.

It seemed Yuheng Star Hall couldn’t bear to let go of the profitable route through Qingfu Mountain.

He naturally had no interest in Qingfu Mountain, and whether Yuheng Star Hall’s road toll collection there was legal or not, he had no concern; he was not the Magistrate of Jing’an Prefecture.

He was pondering whether Yuheng Star Hall could be of use to him.

Although Yuheng Star Hall was hidden deep in Changqing Mountain Range, their influence extended throughout vast Liao Yuan, from Jing’an Prefecture in the north to Jizhou in the south, with their saber-wielding guests everywhere.

In Liao Yuan, Yuheng Star Hall must be the strongest and most widespread force among worldly society.

Such a force, if used for his own purposes, should be very useful indeed!

However, Seven Stars Hall was part of Star Moon Sect, and it wouldn’t be easy to chip away at Star Moon Sect’s foundations, much less an entire branch.

“You may continue to arrange your men in Qingfu Mountain, but you owe this General a favor for this matter!”

Yang Zhenshan felt it was difficult to poach from Yuheng Star Hall for now, so he preferred to earn a favor first.

“This…” Luo Jingsong hesitated.

Yang Zhenshan smiled. “What? Unwilling?”

His smile was amiable, but Luo Jingsong felt a chill, a cold feeling emerging from within.

“No, no, it is my honor that the General esteems me so!” Luo Jingsong quickly bowed in response.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, “Very well! I accept your gift of apology, as for Qingfu Mountain, that is your affair, and has nothing to do with this General!”

“Thank you, General!” Luo Jingsong bowed again.

Yang Zhenshan raised his cup of tea to signal the end of the visit, and Luo Jingsong tactfully excused himself to leave.

But just as he was about to exit the main hall, Yang Zhenshan spoke enigmatically: “I remember that Yuheng Star Hall’s headquarters is located atop Daqing Mountain, correct?”

Daqing Mountain was part of the Changqing Mountain Range, situated at the border between Jing’an Prefecture and Ningyuan Prefecture, with Yuheng Star Hall’s headquarters right at the peak of Daqing Mountain.

Luo Jingsong shivered all over and replied, “Yes!”

“Hmm!”

Yang Zhenshan nodded lightly without saying more.

“I take my leave!” Luo Jingsong bid farewell once again, then left.

Yang Zhenshan mentioning Daqing Mountain was not a passing remark but a message to Luo Jingsong that he knew the location of Yuheng Star Hall’s base; if Luo Jingsong was unwilling to repay the favor in the future, he wouldn’t mind making a trip to Daqing Mountain.

…

On the twentieth of the twelfth lunar month, the Yang family received a New Year’s gift from Marquis Changping.

However, what Yang Zhenshan cared about was not the gift from Changping Marquis Mansion but whether Yang Yunxue was faring well there.

“Master, this is a letter from the miss, and this one is from Wu Zheng!”

In the study, Wu Hai handed over two letters to Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan silently opened the letters, starting with Yang Yunxue’s. She was a strong child; her letter naturally wouldn’t contain grievances or complaints, only that she was doing very well in Changping Marquis Mansion.

After reading her letter, Yang Zhenshan then opened the one from Wu Zheng.

When Yang Yunxue followed Changping Marquis Mansion back to the Capital City, Yang Zhenshan had tasked Wu Zheng with keeping an eye on the situation at Changping Marquis Mansion in the Capital, and he had also asked him to connect with Nurse Lin.

Wu Zheng’s letter was much more detailed and real.

Yang Yunxue did not find life in the Capital City as comfortable as imagined.

Inside the Marquis Mansion, there weren’t too many ripples. Both the Marquis and the Marchioness were very fond of Yang Yunxue, but outside the Marquis Mansion, in the circles of the noble, Yunxue still suffered disdain and ostracism.

The reason was simple: Yang Yunxue came from a low background. Although Yang Zhenshan is now a General, it hadn’t changed the fact that the Yang family used to be farmers.

In the eyes of those haughty nobles, the Yang family was not qualified to be seen at their level.

After reading Wu Zheng’s letter, Yang Zhenshan’s complexion looked rather unpleasant!

The nobles in the Capital City are really annoying!

“People fight for a breath, Buddhas fight for a stick of incense. One day, these nobles will get what they deserve!”

Thought an indignant Yang Zhenshan.

Although it was Yang Yunxue who had been despised and excluded, the root lay with the Yang family.

Yunxue married into the Changping Marquis Mansion, and no matter how you look at it, it was considered marrying up. Unfortunately, the Yang family had no title to rely on.

Now Yang Zhenshan couldn’t do much about those nobles, but the situation inside the Changping Mansion was still peaceful, and that at least didn’t add insult to injury for Yunxue from within or without.

Having put away the two letters, Yang Zhenshan asked Wu Hai, “How are the boys’ training going at home?”

“Reporting to the master, a dozen or so lads can now be sent out to work!” Wu Hai replied with a smile.

The lads he referred to were the young guards trained by the Yang family.

Now, Zhu Shanghe is the chief instructor of the Yang Family Guards, Ding Qiu is the guard commander, and Wu Zheng and Wu Zhan are considered deputy commanders.

Besides the initial twenty guards and the ten disciples from the Sky Blue Sword Sect, the Yang family has also trained quite a number of guards over the years.

Being ready “to go out to work” meant that they had achieved Martial Artist cultivation.

Becoming a Martial Artist was the minimum standard to serve as a guard.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly and instructed, “Have it arranged for them to head to the Capital City after the new year to find Wu Zheng, and also send Wu Zheng ten thousand taels of silver to recruit some helpers in the Capital City.”

The Capital City, the seat of imperial power, the heart of the court. Sooner or later, Zhenshan would have to make his mark there.

Though he had already sent Wu Zheng there for quite some time, the investment had not been significant. It was now time to invest more.

“Your servant obeys!” Wu Hai replied.

…

The festive season passed quickly, and the new year brought a fresh atmosphere to the Tenglong Guard.

On the tenth day of the first lunar month, the Guardian Department opened for duty, and Yang Zhenshan summoned all officials in the garrison into the main hall.

“Zhou Ren, distribute the copied plans!”

Yang Zhenshan sat at the main seat and ordered.

Below him, Xie Yuan, Song Dashan, and others each began perusing the plan they received.

“Gentlemen, our tasks this year are threefold: first, to provide new homes for the military households, second, to ensure the military households are well-fed, and third, to train a refined force of three thousand soldiers!”

“First, let’s discuss the new homes. You should all be familiar with this: we’ve renovated all the thousand households in An Yuan City. Now we need to renovate all the military households here.”

“Not just the military households, Guard City itself needs repairs.”

“This is not a small project. I need you to mobilize all military households to complete all tasks as much as possible, without affecting agricultural production and training.”

Yang Zhenshan said slowly.

Providing new homes for all military households is definitely a big project.

Considering there are twelve thousand military households within the Tenglong Guard, and most of their houses are old and dilapidated earth huts, it means they need to build twelve thousand houses.

Even if it’s just simple earth huts, it’s still a huge undertaking.

And what’s more, Yang Zhenshan also wanted to renovate Guard City and the households.

This might sound like a costly and laborious project, but Yang Zhenshan had compelling reasons to proceed.

First, to improve the living conditions of the military households—houses that can’t fend off cold winds in the winter or keep out the rain in the summer are hardly livable, not to mention that many military households are still living in ice and snow dwellings.

Secondly, he wanted to distribute money and grain to the military households. The military households in Tenglong Guard were too poor, being barely able to maintain subsistence, let alone those of the other three guards.

As for the tenant farmers and servants from the Lan family, they too were desperately poor.

Exchange work for relief; by taking the opportunity of a significant construction, distribute the money and grain from the government office to the military households, allowing them to earn money in the shortest amount of time.

Only in this way can their living conditions be changed quickly.

Both Yang Zhenshan and others such as Xie Yuan were familiar with this practice, as it was what had been done in An Yuan City.

It’s just that the Tenglong Guard was on a larger scale and had more military households.

“Next is to eat well, with settled farming being fundamental, and spring plowing being of utmost importance. Before the spring plowing, you need to clearly demarcate all farmlands and compile the Fish Scale Book completely.”

“In addition, we need a large number of plow oxen. I’ve already contacted traders from Chongshan Pass before the year’s end, and soon they should be able to bring the oxen over. When the time comes, you need to distribute them reasonably!”

“As for the rest, I have other arrangements, which we’ll discuss later!”

Eating well isn’t just about no longer being hungry, but providing the military households with stable and adequate income.

Settled farming is just the beginning. The salt trade that Yang Zhenshan plans to enter is the road to wealth for the twelve thousand military households of the Tenglong Guard.

However, preparations for the salt trade still need to be made; currently, the Tenglong Guard must first ensure the cultivation of settled farming.

“Last is military training. After spring plowing is over, training will need to be scheduled!”

“Before that, however, we need to build a barracks outside the city!”

There is no training ground large enough within Guard City, so a barracks will have to be built outside for training.

The soldiers Yang Zhenshan wanted to train were not the camp soldiers from the garrison but career soldiers removed from production duties.

Although Tenglong Guard was a garrison, it did not prevent him from training his soldiers in the manner of camp soldiers.

In fact, this was something he learned from Liang Chu. Yunlong Dragon Guard was also a garrison, but the Yunlong soldiers around Liang Chu were entirely professional soldiers, understood simply as career soldiers.