Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 91: Chapter 89: Horse Farm

The following day, Liu Yuanfu brought six of the Liu family’s youths to the government office, where Yang Zhenshan had a chat with him and then led them to the school.

The so-called school was actually just a small courtyard, the usual three rooms were combined into one large room, accommodating forty students at the same time.

The east and west wing rooms were used as the teachers’ office and rest room.

Next door, there was a slightly larger courtyard prepared by Yang Zhenshan for the soldiers to learn literacy.

On the 8th of October, the school opened, and the first batch of students were forty children selected from the garrison, where Lin Zhan was also included.

On the same day, the first batch of soldiers completed a month of basic training.

After the basic training, they were to return and take over the tasks of guarding the signal towers and fire road piles from others, allowing other soldiers to come to Yinghe Castle for basic training.

Of course, their return did not imply the end of training.

After returning, they had to conduct their own combat training, including saber skills, spear techniques, archery, etc., which they needed to practice on their own.

Yang Zhenshan set the date for the martial contest at Yinghe Castle after the new year, by that time all the soldiers should have finished basic training, and he could select some distinguished talents to fill the lacking official positions.

Busy days always pass quickly; in the blink of an eye, it was already December.

A heavy snow turned the eight hundred Li Qian Zhong Mountains into a world draped in silver.

Early in the morning.

Yang Zhenshan pushed open the door, stepping on the thick snow, exhaling a puff of mist.

”Dad!”

”Master!”

Yang Yunxue and Wang Yunqiao had gotten up early, practicing with spears in the courtyard.

Yang Zhenshan looked at their rosy cheeks and smiled, ”Practice well, no slacking off!”

”Dad, when have we ever slacked off!” Yang Yunxue playfully said.

”Haha, you are all good children!” Yang Zhenshan laughed heartily.

His words were heartfelt.

Whether it was Yang Yunxue and Wang Yunqiao, or Lin Zhan, all were obedient and good children.

They got up early every day to practice, even earlier than Yang Zhenshan.

Although they had not yet become Martial Artists, they had laid a solid foundation, and Yang Zhenshan felt that the future of these three kids would definitely be much stronger than Yang Mingcheng’s.

After giving some pointers to the two, Yang Zhenshan went to the front courtyard to guide Lin Zhan, fulfilling his duty as a master.

Not just them, stepping out of the government office, Yang Zhenshan also gave pointers to Yang Mingcheng, Yang Mingwu, and others at the martial training ground in front of the government office.

Over the past year, the cultivation of Yang Mingcheng and others had seen significant progress.

Among them, Yang Mingwu had the highest cultivation, having entered the Refining Power Stage.

Yang Mingcheng also touched the threshold of the Refining Power Stage but had not yet entered.

He became a Martial Artist earlier than Yang Mingwu, but was surpassed by Yang Mingwu, mainly because he had not been by Yang Zhenshan’s side for more than half a year, and Yang Zhenshan could not provide him with Spiritual Spring Water.

To make up for Yang Mingcheng, lately, Yang Zhenshan had often given him special treatment, occasionally brewing a pot of Spiritual Spring Water for him and his brothers to drink.

Yang Chengze, Yang Chengxu, and others were roughly at the same level as Yang Mingcheng, all on the verge of entering the Refining Power Stage.

Only Yang Minghao and Yang Qinwu were a bit behind, having just become Martial Artists not long ago, mainly because they were still young.

Although training for Martial Artists can start from a young age laying the foundation, real training begins after the age of fifteen.

The specific reasons, Yang Zhenshan was not very clear on, but he felt it had something to do with human growth.

At any rate, he had not heard of anyone becoming a Martial Artist before the age of fifteen.

Being able to become a Martial Artist at fifteen was considered a genius.

Yang Minghao and Yang Qinwu were now fifteen, and they were already considered geniuses.

After guiding everyone, Yang Zhenshan walked out of the garrison alone to an open space by the Ying River to start his own cultivation.

Cultivation values persistence, no matter how busy, Yang Zhenshan would always find two hours each day to cultivate.

As for his cultivation, it was naturally advancing by leaps and bounds.

Now he almost treated Spiritual Spring Water like ordinary water to drink, being his, naturally he drank the most of it.

As his cultivation grew higher, the thunderous sound of the Kui Niu Skill became louder and louder.

Now when he swung a punch, it was just like real thunder, rumbling loudly.

However, under normal circumstances, he would not fully exert the Kui Niu Skill because the rumbling thunder was really too noisy.

”Grandpa, it’s time for breakfast!”

Just when Yang Zhenshan was about to finish his cultivation, Yang Chengye ran over with short steps.

Yang Zhenshan quickly put away his weapon, then scooped up the little guy.

The little fellow was not yet five years old, but his stature was like that of seven or eight years old, and his little body was also very strong.

In the chilly weather, he didn’t feel cold at all.

This was all thanks to the nourishment of Spiritual Spring Water.

Not just him, everyone in the Yang family had robust bodies.

”What did your mom make for breakfast?” Holding his weapon in one hand and carrying Yang Chengye in the other, Yang Zhenshan asked.

”Dried vegetable and meat buns!” Yang Chengye blinked and said, ”Grandpa, put me down, I can walk on my own!”

After growing taller, he felt uncomfortable being carried by others.

Putting him down, Yang Zhenshan felt that holding his big granddaughter was more comfortable than the soft-touch of his grandson.

After returning to the back courtyard of the government office, Ms. Wang had already set up the meal, and the family, except for Yang Mingzhi, was all present.

”Let’s eat!”

Yang Zhenshan washed up briefly and sat at the head of the table, grabbing a meat bun and starting to eat.

The two large pots of meat buns were devoured in moments.

Everyone was in good health, so naturally, their appetites were not small.

Maintaining the Yang family was like feeding a group of big eaters.

Without the two thousand taels of silver given by Mr. Lu, Yang Zhenshan would have been eaten out of house and home by these dutiful grandchildren.

”Big brother, come with me to check on the horse farm!”

After breakfast, Yang Zhenshan and Yang Mingcheng went to the horse farm.

The horse farm had been completed a month ago and included about a dozen horse stables, five warehouses, and seven or eight residential buildings arranged around a large courtyard.

Such a horse farm could accommodate fifty to sixty horses comfortably, yet currently it housed less than thirty horses: aside from the ten inferior horses initially purchased, Yang Mingcheng had later bought some foals and mares.

Upon arrival at the horse farm, a man dressed in a cotton-padded jacket greeted them.

”My lord!”

This man, Ma San, was a horse groom hired by Yang Mingcheng from the city. He worked as a long-term laborer for the Yang family.

Besides Ma San, there were over a dozen other workers at the stable, both men and women, most of whom were hired from the northern Fire Road Pile.

Ma San came forward and held Red Cloud for Yang Zhenshan as he dismounted and asked, ”Is everything alright?”

”Everything is fine. I cleared the snow from the rooftops last night, added fire to the stables, and the horses are all doing well,” Ma San responded respectfully.

Originally a groom at the Governor’s Office, he was unfortunately forced out due to offending someone and was pressured to the point of being unable to stay within the city walls.

Had it not been for Yang Mingcheng taking him in, his family would certainly have been driven out of the city.

Actually, they had already left the city, and his whole family now lived at the horse farm, working as long-term laborers for the Yang family.

Yang Zhenshan walked into the stables and inspected them from end to end.

The first ten horses purchased had completely transformed; the originally frail and substandard horses had gained much strength. Though not yet excellent horses, they were much improved from before.

”How much can these ten horses be sold for?”

”I think fifty taels per horse should be no problem,” Ma San honestly said.

He was filled with doubts internally because with his twenty years of horse-rearing experience, he could not understand why these ten horses had become so robust.

When he arrived, these ten horses had already gained a lot of strength, but even so, he still found it somewhat illogical.

Fifty taels each!

Wouldn’t ten make five hundred taels?

In just three months, two hundred taels had become five hundred!

Yang Zhenshan said, ”Then contact the buyers and sell them. After selling them, buy another batch of mares and foals to bring back!”

Some matters shouldn’t be overdone, or else others might detect the abnormality.

Turning inferior horses into good ones could only be done once; henceforth, the farm would only raise foals, which although still different, would be more acceptable to people.

”As you command!” Ma San acknowledged.

Selling and buying horses did not require Yang Zhenshan’s personal intervention; Ma San was very familiar with the cattle and horse markets of the city and would handle the sellers and buyers.

Yang Mingcheng’s role was more about oversight on finance and personnel; as the boss, he needn’t be involved in everything, just needed to control the accounts and personnel.

As for Ma San possibly playing tricks, Yang Zhenshan had ensured he wouldn’t dare, as he was the Yang family’s trump card; the small flag officer from the northern Fire Road Pile was carefully picked from Linguan Castle.

If Ma San dared to play tricks, Yang Zhenshan could take his family’s lives at any time.

Using an excuse, Yang Zhenshan sent Ma San and Yang Mingcheng away and then sprinkled two bowls of Spiritual Spring water into the horse trough before leaving with Yang Mingcheng.

Returning to Yinghe Castle, Yang Zhenshan had just sat down in his study when Lu Wenhua came to see him.

”My lord, these are the earnings from the sewing workshop and the charcoal workshop from last month!” Lu Wenhua placed two cash boxes in front of Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan opened the cash boxes. The earnings from the sewing workshop were not much, only about forty to fifty taels each month.

However, the charcoal workshop was profitable, especially now when the demand for charcoal was at its peak.

Li Erhu had established more than ten kilns at Yinghe Castle and Sanshan Castle, overseeing over a hundred people working tirelessly to produce charcoal, amounting to thirty thousand catties a month.

Looking at the three ten-tael silver ingots in the cash box, he silently calculated.

He had thirty taels here. Luo Shang should have made twenty taels, and as for people like Li Erhu, each had about five hundred copper coins.

Averaging it out, each person earned less than twenty copper coins a day, which was still more than what a day laborer would earn in the village.

In Yang Family Village, hiring a day laborer included one meal for ten copper coins a day, without a meal for twelve copper coins.

With this income, Li Erhu and the others should have a decent year.

One hundred workers equaled one hundred military households.

”When spring comes next year, have Li Erhu plant some trees on the mountain, otherwise, in a few years, the mountain will be stripped bare!” Yang Zhenshan instructed.

No matter how many trees were on the mountain, they wouldn’t last if cut down continuously. For the charcoal business to sustain, planting trees was essential.

”Alright, I will instruct Li Erhu properly!” Lu Wenhua said.

”Record this in Wenchun’s account,” Yang Zhenshan closed the cash box and instructed.

”Yes!”

Lu Wenhua left carrying the cash boxes.