Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 157: Chapter 153 As You Expected

”The officialdom is not the worldly society; there is no freedom and ease on this stage!”

Yang Zhenshan couldn’t help but give Wu Chongzhe a pointer.

Wu Chongzhe was taken aback, then let out a wry laugh; he wasn’t foolish, how could he not understand what Yang Zhenshan meant.

”It was presumptuous of this subordinate!”

He stood up, clasping his fist in a deep bow.

”From now on, I ask for your continued guidance, Master!”

Yang Zhenshan smiled and nodded, ”Your Wu family has its foundations, certainly much deeper than that of the Yang family!”

”But do you know how many official positions my Yang family holds now?”

”How many?” Wu Chongzhe became interested.

”Apart from me, there’s one thousand households officer, two deputy thousand households officers, and over a dozen Hundred Households! As well as more than ten Trial Hundred Households officers!”

Yang Zhenshan continued in a calm voice: ”Three years ago, the Anning Yang Family clan did not have a single official position!”

”If one wishes to enter officialdom, then they must completely immerse themselves in it.”

This was Yang Zhenshan’s attitude, and also his advice to Wu Chongzhe.

The Yang Family clan could have the achievements of today because, firstly, Yang Zhenshan possessed Spiritual Spring Water, which turned a great number of Yang family youngsters into Martial Artists, providing the foundation for holding official posts. Secondly, it was due to Yang Zhenshan’s willingness to lead them into military service and support their independent development.

It takes more than one strong man to achieve something great.

Yang Zhenshan never felt that he alone could carve out a mighty undertaking. If he wanted to climb upwards, he needed countless people to be his support behind him.

The Yang family’s youngsters were undoubtedly the support he trusted the most.

Wu Chongzhe displayed an astonished expression.

Three years ago, the Yang Family clan didn’t have a single official position, and now they held so many?

What about the Wu family?

They only had one Hundred Households Castle Officer.

The gap was truly not small.

”Tomorrow you first go to see Xie Yuan, then take up your post at Shuiquan Castle!”

”Spring plowing is about to begin, you should start preparing for it. Once the spring plowing is over, I will train the garrison soldiers batch by batch. You should also make preparations in advance!”

Afterwards, Yang Zhenshan gave some detailed instructions.

Since Wu Chongzhe had already agreed to take an official post, the rest was easy.

Yang Zhenshan invited Wu Chongzhe to share a lunch, and as the two men clinked cups at the table, their relationship grew closer.

After a fight, and sharing a drink, Wu Chongzhe had boarded Yang Zhenshan’s ’pirate ship.’

And with Wu Chongzhe onboard, the framework for the officers under the jurisdiction of the garrison office was considered established. Next, Yang Zhenshan could proceed with his plans to consolidate the garrison and the garrisons outside the city.

The garrison camp naturally goes without saying; it is definitely focused on combat, continuously training, ensuring all soldiers become elite troops.

As for the garrisons outside the city, the priority is to prepare for spring plowing, followed by training and poverty alleviation.

Yang Zhenshan had also made plans for training, but he still needed to carefully consider how to alleviate poverty.

The garrisons outside An Yuan City were very much like Yinghe Castle in the past. With the exception of Wu Family Castle and Shaling Castle, the majority of the military households in other garrisons were living in poverty. Yang Zhenshan wanted the soldiers to train with peace of mind, without worries. Thus, it was essential to address the poverty issue.

If even the problem of poverty cannot be solved, how can the soldiers train wholeheartedly, and how will they be willing to fight bravely on the battlefield in the future?

The situation here is different from that of Yinghe Castle, as neither charcoal burning nor needlework workshops are appropriate for the garrison surrounding An Yuan City.

The reason is simple: An Yuan City is not Chongshan Pass, and the demand for charcoal and cloth shoes is not as significant.

Actually, the garrison surrounding An Yuan City has its own advantages, with the greatest being its sufficiently fertile military fields, which are even more fertile than those of Yinghe Castle.

If it weren’t for the officials who embezzled too much of the land, the lives of the military households wouldn’t be so impoverished.

Yang Zhenshan’s aim to alleviate poverty basically requires two actions: first, to redistribute the garrison land, ensuring that each household has enough farmland, so that with favorable weather, the military households could be well-fed thanks to the harvest.

Second is to find some side industries for the military households, which do not need to be lucrative businesses but should allow the military households to earn some extra money to supplement their family income.

By achieving these two tasks, the subsistence problems of the military households could be resolved.

As time slowly passed by, the garrison training was in full swing, and the measurement of garrison lands was also underway, and Yang Zhenshan, too, was caught up in busyness.

He had to supervise the garrison training and often check on the garrison himself.

At the same time, he needed to find small-money-earning opportunities for the military households.

For a time, Yang Zhenshan was so busy that he was constantly on the move, and he couldn’t even spare time to nurture his relationship with Yu Qingyi.

While Yang Zhenshan was occupied, Yi Shan frowned as he listened to Liang Rong’s report in a small courtyard in the west of An Yuan City.

After hearing Liang Rong’s report, his frown deepened.

”It seems our garrison commander is not the settling type!”

What Liang Rong had reported was about Yang Zhenshan’s recent activities.

Training troops and measuring military fields are things many officials find arduous and ungrateful.

Most officials would rather waste their efforts on indulgences than engage in such affairs.

The reason is simple: training troops requires the consumption of provisions, and requesting supplies from superiors is quite troublesome.

As for land measurement, it’s an affair that offends people; whoever dares to measure the land will alienate all nearby officials.

Alright, Yang Zhenshan has not offended the surrounding officials; instead, he has dealt with all the officers under his command.

Yi Shan, of course, does not want Yang Zhenshan to engage in these matters; he would prefer Yang Zhenshan to be greedy for silver. He is not afraid of Yang Zhenshan’s greed, what he fears is his incorruptibility.

Because an official who is not corrupt is more difficult to control.

”Although Master Yang has his own ideas, he has no malicious intentions towards us!” said Liang Rong, speaking up for Yang Zhenshan.

Liang Rong’s attitude towards Yang Zhenshan is actually different from that of Yi Shan.

The Liang family and the Yang family are related by marriage, which he originally did not value, but now he feels this connection is quite beneficial.

He believed that with this relationship, the Yang family and the Liang family were tied together; the Yang family would be an asset to the Liang family.

After thinking it over, Yi Shan also felt that Yang Zhenshan wasn’t much of a problem.

They had been collaborating smoothly with Yang Zhenshan recently, and their business had returned to its former state; this is what he desired most.

Besides, Yang Zhenshan always accepted their gifts without refusal.

Regarding the issue of military orders, it goes without saying, each worth four hundred taels of silver, Yang Zhenshan would always accept the silver and promptly issue them the orders.

In addition to that, they sent a generous gift to the Yang family before the New Year, which Yang Zhenshan did not refuse.

That was a gift worth five thousand taels of silver; just for this gift alone, Yang Zhenshan won’t be able to disembark from their ’ship of thieves’ in the future.

What they did not know was that Yang Zhenshan had long given those generous gifts to Lv Hua.

These were life-threatening gifts, how could Yang Zhenshan dare to keep them?

”Make more contact with Yang Zhenshan in the future, and if you feel he can be trusted, let him get involved more,” Yi Shan said.

Their business cannot do without the support of the garrison office, and since Yi Shan feels that there are no major problems with Yang Zhenshan, he naturally hopes to deepen cooperation with him.

”I understand!” Liang Rong replied with a smile.

However, just as his words were uttered, a rush of footsteps approached from outside the door.

”Sir, something has happened to the caravan!”

The person did not enter the room but spoke from outside the door.

”What happened?” Yi Shan’s expression changed instantly.

Their caravan was naturally the one headed to the territories beyond the pass.

”After the caravan left the territory, it was annihilated by the cavalry of the Camp!”

”What!”

Yi Shan’s face paled, and he quickly stepped out of the room.

Liang Rong also followed behind with a grave expression on his face.

Standing outside was a man in his thirties, looking panicked, he said, ”Just yesterday, not thirty miles after the caravan left the territory, they encountered the cavalry of the Camp.”

Yi Shan asked, ”What exactly happened? How did the Camp’s cavalry get here?”

The spot where their caravan left the territory is to the north of An Yuan City, while the Camp always stations at Chongshan Pass, a good three hundred miles away from this place.

”We’re not sure. All we know is that there are quite a few cavalry of the Camp around the border now.”

Yi Shan’s face shifted from one expression to another.

Why would the Camp’s cavalry appear here?

Could it be that something was discovered near Chongshan Pass?

”Send someone to Chongshan Pass immediately to find out why the Camp’s cavalry has come here!” Yi Shan said somewhat urgently.

”Also arrange for people—”

He abruptly stopped speaking, thought for a moment, and then said, ”You first arrange for people to go to Chongshan Pass! I’ll take care of the rest myself.”

”Yes!”

The man responded and hurried away.

”Sir!” Liang Rong called out gravely.

Yi Shan waved his hand, ”You go attend to your matters, I need to step out!”

After that, he didn’t wait for Liang Rong to respond and quickly walked out.

In no time, he left the small courtyard in an unremarkable horse-drawn carriage, and just as he left, two figures emerged from the end of the distant alley, exchanged a glance, and then casually followed behind the carriage.

...

At the garrison office, Yang Zhenshan had just returned from outside the city when he ran into Wei Cen.

”We’ve already raided their caravan!”

Wei Cen went straight to the point.

Yang Zhenshan’s expression flickered slightly and he asked, ”What was their response?”

”Just now, Yi Shan has gone to meet Li He!” Wei Cen said.

Li He, the dual-blade Martial Artist who injured Yu Qingyi that night.

”What about Li He?” Yang Zhenshan continued to ask.

Wei Cen said, ”Li He left the city, but he went to Jia City!”

”Jia City!” Yang Zhenshan was taken aback.

Why would he go to Jia City?

If this Li He was from Prince Qing Mansion, shouldn’t he be heading to Qinghua Prefecture now?

Prince Qing Mansion is located within Qinghua Prefecture City, around five hundred miles from An Yuan City.

Yang Zhenshan had previously guessed that this Li He might be someone from Prince Qing Mansion.

But why would he go to Jia City?

Yang Zhenshan lowered his head, lost in thought.

Suddenly, a light flickered in his mind.

”Have you gotten any results from the investigation on Sha Pingchuan?”

A glint of peculiarity flashed in Wei Cen’s pupils.

”No!”

”No!” The corner of Yang Zhenshan’s mouth curled up.

The lack of results was the biggest issue.

With the capabilities of the Secret Martial Guards, it’s unreasonable that they found nothing else on Sha Pingchuan.

Sha Pingchuan must have other sources of income, and yet the Secret Martial Guards couldn’t uncover them!

”Li He is looking for Sha Pingchuan!”

”Could it be that their backer isn’t Prince Qing Mansion, but just Sha Pingchuan?” Wei Cen asked.

With Sha Pingchuan’s status, he could indeed sway Black Cliff Village and also coax the officials of An Yuan City into complicity.

However, Yang Zhenshan felt it wouldn’t be that simple.

”We’re still not clear on that, but from now on, you should focus your attention on Sha Pingchuan!”

A sense of relief suddenly washed over Yang Zhenshan’s mind.

Although evidence about Prince Qing Mansion hadn’t been found, discovering this lead about Sha Pingchuan was also a significant gain.

The key was that the situation in An Yuan City had been cleared up, and the focus of the Secret Martial Guards should now shift towards Jia City.

In this way, he wouldn’t need to continue cooperating with the Secret Martial Guards.

Dealing with the matters in Jia City should be Wang Bin’s headache.

Wei Cen thought for a moment, ”I will report to the Admiral first.”

”Go ahead!” Yang Zhenshan nodded.

After sending Wei Cen off, Yang Zhenshan let out a long sigh of relief.

Damn it, dealing with the Secret Martial Guards had always been a great pressure on him.

On one side, he had to beware of being used as a pawn by the Secret Martial Guards, and on the other, he had to help the Secret Martial Guards complete their tasks, afraid of offending them by any small mistake.

Honestly, this contradictory state was very uncomfortable.