Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 114: Already getting married at just 16 after only 111 Chapters!

Yang Zhenshan originally thought he would have to wait ten days or half a month for a reply, but to his surprise, he received a response on the fifth day after sending out his letter.

Not only did he receive a reply, but Mr. Liang himself came in person.

Of course, Yang Zhenshan was utterly astonished when he saw Mr. Liang.

”Brother Liang, what happened to you?”

Mr. Liang at this time looked particularly gaunt, having lost so much weight that he was unrecognizable. If not for the familiar look in his eyes, Yang Zhenshan would not have dared to believe this was Mr. Liang.

”Master Yang!” Mr. Liang said with some restraint, rubbing his hands, ”I was seriously ill a while ago, and only recently have I recovered.”

To tell the truth, Mr. Liang was filled with anxiety in his heart facing Yang Zhenshan.

The Yang family used to be just farmers, and although Yang Zhenshan was coming to Guard City to become an official, his future was uncertain, and no one knew what would happen after he arrived in Guard City.

But now he is a defense officer of households, a Military Officer of Standard Fifth Rank, and he is merely a businessman.

Now, his family marrying into the Yang family would be a social climb.

In fact, since learning that Yang Zhenshan had taken the role as the garrison commander of Linguan Castle, Mr. Liang had been filled with worry, scared that the Yang family would seek to break the engagement with the Liang family.

Fortunately, over the past year, the Yang family had kept in touch with him, and during festivals, they would always send gifts, which somewhat relieved his worry.

But even though he felt more secure, the anxiety in his heart still lingered.

Therefore, upon learning of Yang Zhenshan’s request to help him contact cloth suppliers, after discussing with Mrs. Liang, he decided to make a trip to Yinghe Castle in person.

Contacting suppliers was secondary; his primary purpose was to gauge Yang Zhenshan’s intentions, to see if Yang Zhenshan was still willing to marry into the Liang family.

If Yang Zhenshan did not look down on the Liang family, he wanted to take the opportunity to set a wedding date.

This year, his daughter Liang Zhen was already fifteen years old. If the wedding date was set, she could marry off next year, which would be just right.

Yang Zhenshan noticed Mr. Liang’s nervousness and smiled gently, ”Brother Liang, please have a seat!”

”Ming Hao, what are you doing standing there? Hurry up and go make some tea!”

He looked dissatisfiedly at Yang Minghao, who was standing dumbfounded at the door of the study. The boy was even more nervous than Mr. Liang upon seeing his future father-in-law, wooden and stiff as a post.

As for looking down on the Liang family for being merchants, Yang Zhenshan naturally would not think that way. He never cared for the hierarchies of scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant, and even though he now conformed to some of the feudal customs of this world, his thoughts originated from his past life.

Not to say that he thought everyone was equal, but at least he did not judge people’s worth based on their social status.

In his heart, a person’s character was far more important than their social status.

Zhou Lan, esteemed daughter of Duke Ning Mansion, was treated by Yang Zhenshan as a friend.

Luo Shang was just a small merchant, and Yang Zhenshan also treated him as a friend.

When he made friends, he valued character most, and he chose his in-laws based on the family’s values and character.

Although the Liang family was made up of merchants, Mr. Liang was an honest man, and his future daughter-in-law Liang Zhen was a clear-sighted girl.

So, he never thought of breaking the previously arranged marriage.

Furthermore, another factor was that Yang Minghao, the younger man, had deep feelings for Mr. Liang’s daughter.

Although they had not seen each other in over a year, their correspondence was even more frequent than Yang Zhenshan’s communications with Yang Family Village.

Yang Minghao wrote two or three letters a month to Liang Zhen and sent them back.

Hearing Yang Zhenshan’s instructions, Yang Minghao finally snapped back to reality and walked out stiffly to make tea.

Meanwhile, Yang Zhenshan and Mr. Liang started to chat about family matters.

Over the past year, the Liang family had led a simple life, running a cloth shop. Although they did not make a fortune, they had no worries about food and clothing.

Aside from Mr. Liang’s serious illness, there were no disturbances in the Liang family.

Once the tea was served, the two shifted the conversation to the topic of cloth supplies.

Mr. Liang relaxed from his nervous state, took a sip of tea, and said, ”Brother Yang, there’s no problem if you want cloth. The Liang family does a large business in cloth, whether it’s linen, cotton, silk, or satin, the Liang family has business routes.”

Upon Yang Zhenshan’s insistence, he changed how he addressed Yang Zhenshan, no longer calling him ’Master’ but ’Brother Yang’.

”Hmm, I don’t need it. I’m just helping a friend. When the time comes, you can discuss it with him!”

Yang Zhenshan thought for a moment and then said, ”Brother Liang, I think you can also take this opportunity to expand your own cloth shop. I can help you set up a store in Ningzhou City, and you can take your cloth business there.”

Mr. Liang’s cloth came from the main Liang family at the border. Although he was a side branch member of the Liang family with no significant status or say, if there was a profitable business, the main Liang family would not refuse him.

As for the idea to open a shop in Ningzhou City, that was also a new idea from Yang Zhenshan.

After all, Mr. Liang was his future in-law, and he thought it better to lend a hand where he could.

Guard City already had Luo Shang; Yang Zhenshan did not want to create a competitor for him.

Ningzhou City was very close to Jianning Guard, merely less than twenty li away. The establishment of Jianning Guard was originally for guarding Ningzhou City, so the office of the guard of Ningzhou City was set within Jianning Guard City.

”Wouldn’t that be too much trouble for you, Brother Yang?” Mr. Liang said hesitantly.

”No trouble at all, just a word is enough. Besides, you don’t have to worry about troubles in Ningzhou City. With me around, no one will dare to bother you!” said Yang Zhenshan confidently.

He wasn’t bragging. The current Jianning Guard had become dominated by Zhou Lan’s word, and he was Zhou Lan’s trusted man. With this connection, officials from both Jianning Guard and Ningzhou City had to give him some respect.

Mr. Liang still hesitated.

He was just that kind of person, indecisive in his actions, giving off the feeling of a lump of mud that couldn’t be propped against a wall.

If it was just Mr. Liang alone, Yang Zhenshan’s attempts to give the Liang family a hand would be futile, but Mr. Liang had a competent wife, that is, Mrs. Lin from the Liang family.

Mrs. Lin from the Liang family was better at doing business than Mr. Liang and was also more insightful, but it was a pity she was a woman, unfit to be prominent in public.

However, with her help, Mr. Liang should be able to do well in business if he went to Ningzhou City.

”Discuss this matter with your wife when you return. There’s no rush!” Yang Zhenshan said with a hearty laugh.

Mr. Liang felt somewhat embarrassed. He knew his own temperament and said sheepishly, ”You must find me amusing, Brother Yang!”

”There’s nothing amusing about it. From now on, we are family,” Yang Zhenshan said.

Mr. Liang was pondering whether it was time to set a wedding date for their children, but his indecisive nature struck again, and he never brought it up.

Not until lunchtime after downing two cups of wine did Mr. Liang finally open up, saying, ”Brother Yang, the children are grown up now. Shouldn’t we pick a date to arrange their marriage?”

As soon as he said this, Yang Minghao’s face turned red at the dining table.

Yang Mingzhi, on the other hand, looked at Yang Minghao with a mischievous face and even nudged him with his elbow.

Yang Zhenshan glanced at Yang Minghao and couldn’t help but inwardly criticize: he’s only sixteen, and already getting married!

However, after giving it some thought, he felt that it was time for Yang Minghao to get married.

That was the custom here: to marry at fifteen or sixteen. If delayed until eighteen, it wasn’t too problematic for a man, but a woman would then be considered a spinster.

He could disregard this for his own son, but he had to consider the girl from another family.

At this moment, Yang Zhenshan very much felt like an old father.

”Then let’s choose an auspicious day,” he said.

Yang Zhenshan smiled, ”I definitely won’t be able to return to oversee the children’s wedding, so please forgive me, Brother Liang!”

The marriage between Yang Minghao and Liang Zhen certainly could not take place at Yinghe Castle; it had to be in Anning County.

Including travel and wedding preparations, it would take at least six or seven days, and he did not have that much time to spare now.

”I understand, I understand,” Mr. Liang slurred his words, smiling so broadly that his mouth stretched to his ears.

”In that case, Ming Cheng, you take Ms. Wang back with you to find a matchmaker and fix a wedding date, and then refurbish the family house and prepare whatever is needed,” Yang Zhenshan directed Yang Mingcheng, who was sitting beside him.

The eldest brother is like a father; the eldest sister-in-law, like a mother.

Since Yang Zhenshan couldn’t return, it fell to Yang Mingcheng and Ms. Wang to do so.

”Alright, Dad!” Yang Mingcheng immediately agreed without any hesitation.

And so, the matter was decided. Three days later, Yang Mingcheng, Yang Mingzhi, Ms. Wang, together with Wu Hai and Ding Qiu, returned to Anning County with Mr. Liang.

After sending them off, Yang Zhenshan turned his attention to the development of Yinghe Castle.

With the opening of shops on the commercial street, Yinghe Castle became increasingly lively.

Military households from the surrounding garrisons, Fire Road Piles, and signal towers often came to Yinghe Castle to buy goods, and some people brought items to sell in the markets.

Yang Zhenshan did not forbid street vendors; he even allocated a specific area for them to set up stalls, essentially a small marketplace.

Having a commercial street and a market meant economic development, the benefits of which need not be spelled out.

Even though the surrounding military households were mostly poor, they could still earn money and obtain living supplies.

Yinghe Castle had now become a bustling small town.

However, Yang Zhenshan understood that to maintain this liveliness and prosperity, it was necessary to increase the income of the military households.

Yinghe Castle had developed, but other garrisons had not, particularly the military households from the Fire Road Piles and signal towers who could only toil in farming. Even in a year of good weather, they barely made any money.

Yang Zhenshan felt it was essential to create an opportunity for them to earn money.

And this income opportunity would be in needlework workshops.

As Luo Shang’s textile workshops got bigger and the orders taken on by Linguan Castle’s needlework workshops increased, they rarely made cloth shoes anymore.

It wasn’t that there was no market for cloth shoes, but that the profit margins were too low, so the needlework workshops temporarily stopped producing them.

Linguan Castle’s needlework workshops had since upgraded; the women’s craftsmanship improved, and the clothes they sewed were no longer limited to linen garments. They began to sew more valuable ready-to-wear clothes, and also create silk flowers, embroidered handkerchiefs, sachets, and so on.

Recently, Yang Chengze had invited an experienced embroiderer from the city to teach the women in the needlework workshops some unique embroidery techniques. What exactly these techniques were, Yang Zhenshan was not very clear, as he didn’t know how to embroider.

In short, the needlework workshops under the management of Yang Chengze and with the care of Luo Shang were doing better and better.

The business that Yang Zhenshan was eyeing was the trade of cloth shoes that the needlework workshops had abandoned. Although the profit from sewing cloth shoes was low, it was still a modest income.

The military households within the Fire Road Piles and signal towers needed such an income opportunity.

However, this task required Yang Chengze’s involvement, not to do business, but to operate under the name of the needlework workshop.

That is to have the military households from the Fire Road Piles and signal towers make cloth shoes, and then have Yang Chengze’s people gather these shoes to be sold to Luo Shang’s textile shop.

After considering it, Yang Zhenshan thought the plan was feasible, so he personally went to Linguan Castle.

Naturally, Yang Chengze would not refuse Yang Zhenshan’s idea.

Although it was somewhat troublesome to set up and didn’t earn much silver, he was willing to do it.

Because he understood that Yang Zhenshan’s efforts were not aimed at making money, but to improve the lives of the military households.