Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 274: Chapter 265: The Three Brothers of the Lan Family

Tenglong Guard has a garrison town almost the size of a small county town, but there are not many residents within the garrison; it mainly consists of the Guardian Department office and officials’ residences.

Among them, the largest building is not the Guardian Department office, but the mansion of the Lan family.

The Lan family’s mansion occupies nearly half of the garrison town, with almost the entire eastern half belonging to their estate.

And the residences of several Deputy Magistrate and other officials of the Guardian Department can only be squeezed into the western part of the town.

This is the status of the Lan family in the Tenglong Guard.

At this moment, in the main hall of the Lan family, several important members of the family are discussing matters concerning Yang Zhenshan’s upcoming appointment.

Lan Buqi, the head of the Lan family, is over sixty years old with white hair and beard. He sits upright in the main seat of the hall, exuding an extraordinary aura as he looks at his two brothers and several juniors.

Lan Buqi has two brothers in his generation: Lan Buqun, and Lan Buzheng.

The Tenglong Guard settled in Qinghua Prefecture a hundred years ago, and initially, the Lan family was inconspicuous, merely one of the larger military households. After the efforts of two generations, the Lan family gradually began to stand out.

It was not until Lan Buqi’s generation that the Lan family truly rose to power.

And the rise of the Lan family was thanks to the hard work of the three Lan brothers.

United brothers can cut through metal – the Lan family perfectly exemplified this proverb in the past.

”Big brother, how should we deal with Yang Zhenshan? We can’t really let him ride on our heads!” Lan Buqun, known for his fiery temper, spoke directly.

”So what do you suggest?” Lan Buqi asked calmly, ”Can we kill him? Or can we drive him away?”

Murder is not impossible, but the consequences of murder must be bearable.

Who is Yang Zhenshan?

An officer personally appointed by the old Emperor as the Commander of the Tenglong Guard.

If he were to die without a clear reason, wouldn’t the old Emperor take an interest?

”But~” Lan Buqun wanted to say more, but Lan Buqi interrupted him directly, ”Alright, don’t speak. Sit down quietly!”

His second brother was all about fighting and killing; having him decide on matters was nonsensical.

Lan Buqun gave an embarrassed laugh but sat down obediently without speaking further.

The precondition for brothers to work together is that one person can control the other two; otherwise, no one would submit to anyone else, so how could they be united?

”Third brother, let’s hear your thoughts!” Lan Buqi turned to Lan Buzheng, who had been silent the whole time.

Buzheng, peacefully uncompetitive – his name Lan Buzheng was not chosen in error.

In the Lan family, Lan Buzheng has always been the most low-profile, but Lan Buqi highly respects his clear-minded and insightful younger brother.

”Big brother, Yang Zhenshan is decisive and thoughtful, and he has righteousness on his side. A head-on conflict with him would bring us no benefits!” Lan Buzheng said.

They had received news of Yang Zhenshan’s appointment as the Commander of the Tenglong Guard in advance, so they had already looked into his past.

The methods Yang Zhenshan employed when he first arrived in An Yuan City, the things he did – they had heard all about it, and Yang Zhenshan’s reputation as a god of slaughter was well known to them.

”Perhaps we can talk to Yang Zhenshan. At worst, we can concede more to him. I believe Yang Zhenshan won’t stubbornly fight us to the end!” Lan Buzheng suggested.

People of the worldly society know about dealing with relationships and common practice – all the more for the Lan family!

The Lan family is a Martial Arts Family, but they consider themselves not just participants in worldly affairs, but an official family.

In fact, this is not wrong. Although no one from the Lan family has held the post of Tenglong Guard Commander, they have held the position of thousands of households in the Tenglong Guard over the generations.

Their official ranks might not be high, but the Lan family is indeed generationally official.

With Yang Zhenshan’s appointment looming, if the Lan family wants to remain unscathed, they will need to exchange interests. Lan Buzheng believes Yang Zhenshan is not the type to be unyielding, especially considering the significant business interests the Yang family has in An Yuan City.

Having business interests implies that Yang Zhenshan also likes silver and is willing to use his authority for personal gain.

Lan Buqi nodded thoughtfully, ”You are right. He has his righteousness, and it would indeed be unwise for us to oppose him!”

The so-called righteousness refers to Yang Zhenshan’s official position – having an official title means Yang Zhenshan holds the moral high ground of the court.

The Lan family, no matter how powerful, would not dare to challenge the court.

”However, we must make other preparations!” Lan Buqi said in a deep voice.

Lan Buzheng nodded slightly and added, ”As big brother says, we need to bring Mr. Ning over!”

”That greedy bastard Mr. Ning, inviting him over will definitely cost us a lot of silver!” Lan Buqun couldn’t help but speak out.

”Shut up!” Lan Buqi scolded.

The Mr. Ning they referred to is Ning Dongsheng, the Imperial Censor of Liaodong. The Imperial Censor of Da Rong has the noble charge of imperial circumspection, with the power to make important decisions and settle minor issues. He can speak freely on the successes and failures of state affairs, as well as on the benefits and troubles of both soldiers and civilians.

Although the Imperial Censor holds only a seventh-rank position, he is high-ranking, influential, and holds a wide range of responsibilities, arguably the most powerful official locally.

Even the Magistrate and Prefect, not to mention the Inspection Department, have to yield three points to him.

Ning Dongsheng has always been a target for the Lan family’s ingratiation. Over the years, the Lan family has provided countless favors for Ning Dongsheng, and of course, in return, he has done many things for the Lan family.

Officials from the Tenglong Left Guard harbored apprehension towards the Lan family, largely because Ning Dongsheng supported the Lan family.

”Big brother, we will need you to personally invite Mr. Ning this time!”

”Yang Zhenshan will be arriving soon, so we should hurry and invite Mr. Ning over!”

Lan Buzheng said.

Lan Buqi nodded knowingly, aware that Ning Dongsheng’s appetite was growing larger. To secure his help, the Lan family would have to pay a hefty price.

But with the situation at hand, the Lan family was prepared to pay any price necessary.

Subsequently, the two brothers discussed how much they should offer Ning Dongsheng before everyone dispersed.

...

On the afternoon of October 26th, the convoy finally entered the territory of the Tenglong Guard.

Yang Zhenshan rode his horse along the official road, observing the dark fields on either side.

These fields should belong to the Tenglong Guard as military farmland. He thought they should because he was unsure if they were still under the Tenglong Guard’s control or if they had been encroached upon by the Lan family or others.

As dusk approached, they arrived outside a thousand household garrison.

A thousand household garrison should consist of a thousand military households, but not all would live together. Typically, only two Hundred Households would reside within the garrison, while the rest were dispersed throughout the surrounding area, forming village-like communities.

This arrangement facilitated farming for the military households.

Thirty acres of land per household means thirty thousand acres for a thousand households. If they all lived together, the military households might need to travel over ten miles to their fields.

If spread out, they would only need to walk two or three miles to work in the fields.

The thousand household garrison before them was the former thousand household garrison of the Tenglong Left Guard. From the outside, it looked no different from a poor village—much like Yang Family Village used to be.

Dilapidated, without even an outer wall, the buildings inside were all simple earthen houses, and the streets were unplanned, with many dead ends.

Looking at the garrison, Yang Zhenshan let out a long sigh.

However, at that moment, an elderly man with slightly slim build and graying hair hurriedly ran out from the garrison. The old man looked at Yang Zhenshan and then the long line of followers behind him, cautiously inquiring, ”Low-ranking officer Yan Shun of the Tenglong Left Guard thousand households pays respects to the lord. May I ask what position the lord holds?”

”A thousand households?” Yang Zhenshan was somewhat taken aback as he looked at the elder before him. He had thought this person was just an elder here and didn’t expect him to actually be a thousand households officer.

The elder didn’t look the part at all; his worn cotton jacket was patched in many places, and his complexion was somewhat waxen, suggesting malnutrition.

”Uh!” Yan Shun nervously took out his Identity Token and showed it, saying, ”I am the officer indeed!”

Yang Zhenshan glanced at him and then peered into the garrison, noting many people sneaking glances in their direction. ”I am the newly appointed Commander Yang Zhenshan of the Tenglong Guard!”

Upon hearing this, Yan Shun was utterly dumbfounded.

The Commander of the Tenglong Guard—that was his immediate superior!

He stared bewildered at Yang Zhenshan, caught his eye, and suddenly felt a jolt, hurriedly bowing and saying, ”This subordinate pays respect to the Commander, sir!”

He didn’t know if what Yang Zhenshan said was true, but thought it best to pay respect first.

As for verifying Yang Zhenshan’s identity, he would have to find a way to confirm it.

And even if Yang Zhenshan were an impostor, would he dare to expose him?

Those riders eyeing him fiercely were not just a few but hundreds!

Yang Zhenshan, however, wasn’t concerned about his reaction, and simply asked, ”You have wells here, right?”

”Yes!” Yan Shun promptly replied.

”We will rest here tonight. Make arrangements for us and set aside a well for our use,” ordered Yang Zhenshan.

”This—” Anxiety flickered in Yan Shun’s eyes, and he stuttered, ”My lord, all we have are some new grains; we have nothing else to offer!”

Wells were manageable—they had several, and setting one aside would not be a problem.

But food?

How much would such a large group need to eat?

”No need, we will prepare our own food. You just need to give us access to a well,” Yang Zhenshan said, noticing his predicament and speaking in a even tone. ”We have tents and can camp in the fields. Apart from the well, we won’t need your assistance with anything else.”

Now that the autumn harvest was finished, the fields outside the garrison were flat and prepared, making it easy to find a spot to set up camp.

However, setting up camp might cause some inconvenience for the spring plowing the next year, but they wouldn’t occupy much land.

”Go tend to your duties. When we’ve set up camp, come over; I have questions for you.”

With that, Yang Zhenshan dismissed him, turning his attention to instructing the soldiers on setting up the encampment.

Throughout their journey, they had become adept at camping out in the open.

In under an hour, dozens of tents had been erected, wagons arranged into a defensive Circle Formation on the perimeter, and horses tethered to the carts.

Everyone was busy with their tasks: some tended to the horses, some entered the garrison to buy firewood, some fetched water, and others cooked—all was organized and efficient.