Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 351: Chapter 339: The Women’s Training Camp and Glass Making

Yang Zhenshan sent Song Dashan away, then sent someone to invite Wang Yunqiao.

“Disciple greets Master!” Wang Yunqiao arrived at the government office, quite intrigued. Upon seeing Yang Zhenshan, she was not at all restrained and greeted him generously with a cupped fist salute.

Yang Zhenshan stroked his beard as he looked at her, nodding slightly, “Not bad!”

The young girl looked much more mature after getting married, with her hair done up in a married woman’s style. She lost some of her youthful naivety and gained a bit more heroic spirit.

Wang Yunqiao smiled gently, stepped forward to pour Yang Zhenshan some tea, “Master, have you summoned me for a reason?”

“Yes, your master is preparing to set up a women’s training camp; would you be willing to lead it?” Yang Zhenshan answered as he sipped his tea lightly.

“A women’s training camp! Me leading it? Can I really do it?” Wang Yunqiao was somewhat surprised and excited.

“Why couldn’t you?” Yang Zhenshan asked.

Wang Yunqiao thought for a moment, “Would my father-in-law object?”

“Do you think he would dare?” Yang Zhenshan said with a smile.

For others, Yang Zhenshan truly would not interfere, as it involved their family affairs.

But Song Dashan was different, not only was he his subordinate, but also his relative by marriage.

And with Song Dashan’s personality, it was unlikely he would be dissatisfied; at most, he would just grumble a bit to himself.

Actually, Yang Zhenshan was more concerned about Song Dashan’s wife, Mrs. Li’s opinion, as the Song family had always been headed by Mrs. Li. However, Mrs. Li was an intelligent person, and Yang Zhenshan believed she would support Wang Yunqiao.

“You can go back and discuss with your mother-in-law; as long as she has no objections, it will be fine!”

“The women’s training camp will be separately established, and later on, you can select some maids from your household to assist you. Hmm, I will also ask Ms. Yu Lu and Ms. Red Cloud to help you.”

Yang Zhenshan briefly shared some of his ideas.

Yu Lu was about to marry Wu Zhan, but Yu Lu and Wu Zhan didn’t have many concerns—Wu Zhan being a Jianghu Martial Artist—his mindset would be more open, and he would certainly not mind Yu Lu joining the women’s training camp.

As for Red Cloud, although she is not knowledgeable in military affairs, she could handle miscellaneous tasks. Being Qingyi’s personal maid, Qingxia and Red Cloud both were rare talents.

As for the maids of the Yang family, they all practiced martial arts due to the family rule that everyone in the Yang family must be combat trained, with almost all the maids being Martial Cultivators.

With Wang Yunqiao leading, assisted by Yu Lu and Red Cloud, and accompanied by a dozen maids, assembling a formidable women’s troop would pose no problem.

Wang Yunqiao hesitated for a moment, then said: “Master, women are eventually meant to marry. This women’s training camp…”

She was concerned about the future prospects of marriage for those who entered the women’s training camp.

Marrying, bearing children, those would limit women’s public appearances.

Yang Zhenshan waved his hand, “The women’s training camp will not prohibit marriage. I’ve thought it out; enter the camp to train at thirteen or fourteen, marry at sixteen, and after marriage, if they wish to stay in the camp, they continue, and if not, they return home to tend to their family!”

This certainly couldn’t be forced, otherwise it would hinder someone’s entire life.

He wasn’t planning to drag a group of women to the battlefield; he just wanted to give women an opportunity to emerge.

As long as they received training, even if these women only end up living as ordinary housewives, they would have a foundation in Martial Cultivation; they might even become Martial Artists.

Moreover, after training, their physical condition would improve, which would also benefit childbearing.

It can be said that this arrangement is completely beneficial.

“How about this, I will issue an order, henceforth, women in Tenglong Guard must only marry after the age of sixteen!” Yang Zhenshan considered for a moment, then said.

Marrying at thirteen or fourteen, giving birth at fifteen or sixteen, this was utterly destructive.

Service areas outside his control were beyond him, but within Tenglong Guard, Yang Zhenshan could still make decisions.

“Disciple understands, I will do my best to manage this affair well!” Wang Yunqiao respectfully accepted the task.

“No hurry, you go back and discuss with your mother-in-law first!” Yang Zhenshan said with a smile.

“Yes!” Wang Yunqiao responded.

As Yang Zhenshan predicted, Mrs. Li from the Song family didn’t obstruct Wang Yunqiao at all, instead, she fully supported her and personally accompanied Wang Yunqiao to the Yang family to convey her support to Qingyi, and also express her desire for her youngest daughter to join the women’s training camp.

Mrs. Li was very astute, always the backbone for Song Dashan. Initially, when Song Dashan followed Yang Zhenshan from Yinghe Castle to An Yuan City, it was her idea.

Her wish for the younger daughter to join the training camp also reflected her shrewdness.

She didn’t necessarily want her daughter to become a Martial Artist or achieve something grand; she simply wanted her daughter to benefit from the Yang family’s influence.

Look at the women of the Yang family, from Qingyi down to the ordinary maids; each one was robust and full of vitality, importantly, the women of the Yang family were highly fertile.

These were naturally all thanks to Spiritual Spring Water. She didn’t know about the existence of the Spiritual Spring Water, hence she felt the Yang family nourished people well, thus wanting her daughter to benefit from the Yang family’s influence too.

Her thoughts were also correct; undoubtedly, Yang Zhenshan would include Spiritual Spring Water in the women’s training camp, not daring to claim anything else, entering the women’s training camp and ensuring one’s health was robust with no issues.

Thus, the women’s training camp began to be organized.

Now a training ground has been set up outside the city, and then Wang Yunqiao took Red Cloud and Yu Lu to various Hundred Households and garrisons to select people.

At the same time, Yang Zhenshan also had the Guardian Department issue a regulation that women could only marry after the age of sixteen.

This action caused quite a bit of discussion among the military households, and many people felt that this regulation and the women’s training camp were somewhat problematic, but Yang Zhenshan now holds a extremely high prestige at Tenglong Guard, even if some people have opinions, they dare not stand up against it.

The first batch of girls joining the women’s training camp only numbered two hundred, which is not many and thus simpler to manage, Wang Yunqiao quickly sorted things out.

Yang Zhenshan found it inappropriate to visit the women’s training camp; the women’s training camp was no place for men, Yang Zhenshan included.

However, this did not affect Yang Zhenshan’s provision of Spiritual Spring Water for the women’s training camp; after all, the food and medicinal materials for the training camp were provided by the Guardian Department. Since Yang Zhenshan couldn’t directly supply the Spiritual Spring Water, he provided some medicinal materials produced in the space instead.

After the women’s training camp was settled, Yang Zhenshan shifted his focus to another matter, namely the manufacturing of glass.

In the past, Yang Zhenshan had thought about making glass but always felt it was a bit challenging, but now he was very eager to experiment with it.

Mainly because he now had enough manpower and needed glass to make telescopes.

Having manpower and a need, Yang Zhenshan naturally kept the task of glass manufacturing in mind.

Yang Zhenshan had Luo Zhen find a dozen apprentice goldsmiths to experiment with glassmaking.

Why find apprentice goldsmiths?

The reason is simple, goldsmiths involve in gold and silver smelting when making jewelry, which has some similarities with glassmaking.

There was no need to use those master goldsmiths; apprentices were enough, as everyone would start from scratch attempting glassmaking.

In fact, making glass is not hard, just set up a furnace and throw in a handful of sand to make glass.

But it is very difficult to make glass with a high degree of transparency and to shape it as desired.

Yang Zhenshan only remembered that magnesium oxide could improve the transparency of glass, but where to get magnesium oxide?

So Yang Zhenshan only stayed in the glass workshop for three days, letting the apprentices know what glass is and how to make it, and imparted his limited understanding of glassmaking to the apprentices, then he left it to them.

The rest was up to the apprentices to figure out slowly by themselves, experimenting with various materials they could find. It was a very lengthy and tedious process, and Yang Zhenshan couldn’t help much, so he left the research to the apprentices.

At first, these apprentices were very confused. They didn’t understand the method of experimentation, but after Yang Zhenshan guided them a few times, they learned to conduct experiments themselves, and Yang Zhenshan completely let go of the matter.

…

Busy times always pass quickly. After the spring ploughing, the Guardian Department propelled the entire Tenglong Guard into action—building roads, constructing schools, starting saltworks, training troops, etc., everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.

In such a lively and busy atmosphere, time quickly moved into June.

In June, the maritime route between Tenglong Guard and Jiangnan was established, and a new batch of Navy had also started actual combat training, which meant that Tenglong Guard could now open maritime routes with the Li Sheng Dynasty.

On the morning of the third day of June, Yang Zhenshan rushed to the pier to send Yu Tonghai and Sun Cheng out to sea towards the Li Sheng Dynasty.

This time he did not go personally, because it was the busiest time for Tenglong Guard and he really couldn’t spare the time.

The leader of this sea expedition was Sun Cheng, who was very familiar with both the Li Sheng Dynasty and the Desheng Dynasty. He had previously helped the Liao’an Zhang family with shipping, mainly operating routes between the Li Sheng Dynasty and the Desheng Dynasty.

With him present, trading with these two Dynasties should pose no problem.

Moreover, the Li Sheng Dynasty and the Desheng Dynasty are not far from Liaodong. From the Tenglong Guard Pier to the Li Sheng Dynasty is only over a thousand li, and with fast speed, it would only take two days to make a round trip.

The Desheng Dynasty is slightly farther, roughly needing a travel of around two thousand li, similar to Jiangnan.

“Be careful on the way, and if you encounter any trouble, prioritize your lives; the goods can be abandoned if necessary!”

On the pier, Yang Zhenshan said to Sun Cheng.

Sun Cheng, with a grateful face, replied, “Don’t worry, sir, the old man has many friends in the Li Sheng Dynasty. There won’t be any problems!”

“Okay!”

Yang Zhenshan nodded and then said to Yu Tonghai, “If you encounter anyone disregardful, don’t mind who it is, just kill them straightaway. Whatever the consequences, I’ll back you up!”

This trip was to the Li Sheng Dynasty, and the Royal Capital of the Li Sheng Dynasty was under the old Emperor of Da Rong.

If they encountered pirates, naturally there would be nothing to say, a battle would ensure, but if they encountered the Navy of the Li Sheng Dynasty, Yang Zhenshan was worried that Yu Tonghai might be timid and not take action.

“I understand!” Yu Tonghai knew what Yang Zhenshan meant, but things had to be evaluated based on the actual situation, so he didn’t make a promise.

“Alright, you can set off now!”

Yang Zhenshan watched them board the ship, watching warship after warship set sail, until they disappeared into the vast sea. Then, Yang Zhenshan returned to Guard City.

It was only a few days, and Yang Zhenshan was not too worried. However, this trip by Yu Tonghai and Sun Cheng took more than half a month to return, which made Yang Zhenshan suspect whether they had encountered any significant troubles.

If it were minor troubles, it wouldn’t have delayed them so long. Even if they had encountered the Navy of the Li Sheng Dynasty, the advanced Navy of Tenglong Guard wouldn’t have been entirely lost unless there were major storms.

But Yang Zhenshan sensed that there should be no major storms during that time.

In fact, Yu Tonghai and Sun Cheng indeed encountered trouble, but this trouble was not what Yang Zhenshan imagined, rather it originated from the changing situation within the Li Sheng Dynasty.