Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 310: Chapter 300 Post Station Chief

After sending off Yang Mingzhi and Yang Minghao, Yang Zhenshan immediately took his trusted aides and headed to the camp outside the city.

However, as he left the government office, Xie Yuan came rushing over urgently.

”What’s the matter, my lord?”

Xie Yuan had heard that Yang Zhenshan ordered Song Dashan to gather troops, and that’s why he came rushing over.

”Let’s talk while we walk!”

Time was of the essence, arriving in Liao’an Prefecture a minute earlier could potentially give Zheng Xiao a better chance of surviving. Yang Zhenshan dared not delay.

While riding towards the camp outside the city, Yang Zhenshan said, ”Don’t worry about other matters, I am going to Liao’an Prefecture. You will take full responsibility for the affairs inside the government office!”

Xie Yuan tensed up and reminded, ”My lord, mobilizing troops privately is against the regulations!”

”I know, I have already submitted a letter admitting my fault. As for the rest, we’ll talk when I return,” said Yang Zhenshan calmly.

He was breaking the rules, but Luo Fu was recklessly bold, no different from rebellion.

A mere Salt Transport Commissioner being able to mobilize garrison troops was a real crime.

Compared to that, he was responding to Zheng Xiao’s call for help and had submitted his plea of guilt before leading his troops out.

That should be considered reasonable, right?

Seeing that Yang Zhenshan was resolute, Xie Yuan did not ask further but silently followed him to the camp.

By then, Song Dashan had already gathered the soldiers at the camp.

In reality, the Tenglong Guard didn’t have many combat-ready troops.

Apart from the five hundred men Yang Zhenshan brought from An Yuan City, there were over a thousand soldiers who had just completed basic training.

Of the five hundred soldiers brought from An Yuan City, one hundred were serving as civil servants in the government office, two hundred were assigned as mid-level officers to various households, leaving only two hundred.

As for the thousand-plus soldiers who completed basic training, the first batch trained numbered over three thousand, but most had returned to their respective households and garrisons.

The remaining thousand were the better performers, soon to become Camp Soldiers.

However, at this time, Song Dashan had gathered all soldiers in the camp.

”My lord!”

Yang Zhenshan had not yet dismounted when Song Dashan came to meet him.

”Hmm!”

Without dismounting, Yang Zhenshan glanced at the gathering of soldiers.

Currently, there were over three thousand soldiers in the camp, and the second batch undergoing basic training had yet to assemble completely.

”Let the soldiers who have not completed basic training disperse!” Yang Zhenshan commanded in a stern voice.

Without completing basic training, they naturally lacked combat effectiveness.

Taking them along would only be a burden; twelve hundred would be enough.

In fact, the main force was the two hundred soldiers from An Yuan City, as they were the elite.

As for the other soldiers, who hadn’t even seen blood, they were essentially a mob at best.

Upon receiving the order, Song Dashan immediately sent the rest back to their barracks.

With a rustling sound, the soldiers loosely scattered apart, while those up front maintained a tidy formation.

Having completed basic training meant they possessed fundamental military qualities and discipline.

Their military stance and alignment were uniformly precise.

From the outside, they looked somewhat like an elite force.

Only their aura was somewhat lacking.

”Collect your equipment and military rations, prepare to depart!” Yang Zhenshan continued issuing orders.

Song Dashan immediately directed the soldiers to collect their equipment and rations.

The camp had no shortage of military rations, but they were not fully equipped with cotton armor.

But now, there was not much concern about that; it was more important to move the troops first.

As the saying goes, the true combat force consisted only of the two hundred soldiers brought from An Yuan City, the rest were merely filling numbers.

As the soldiers collected their equipment and rations, Yang Zhenshan spoke to Xie Yuan again, ”After we leave, bring over the brothers from the government office to temporarily maintain order in the camp.”

”No need for training in the next few days, just ensure there are no disturbances!”

”Yes, sir! I will arrange everything properly, rest assured, my lord,” said Xie Yuan.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly; he trusted in Xie Yuan’s abilities and also in the current state of the Tenglong Guard.

At this time, the Tenglong Guard was flourishing; whether it was the military households at the various households’ stations or the soldiers in the camp, all were very obedient.

It could be said that Yang Zhenshan had won over everyone’s hearts, making them see hopeful days ahead, thus naturally no one would step out to cause trouble.

With such a premise, Yang Zhenshan dared to suddenly pull troops from the camp; otherwise, chaos would ensue in Guard City right after his departure, which would have been a major problem.

Although the combat capabilities of the soldiers who underwent basic training remained to be verified, their speed of action was commendable; in just fifteen minutes, over a thousand soldiers were fully equipped, carrying five days of rations, and once again assembled.

”Depart!”

Yang Zhenshan gave the command and led his Personal Followers forward, stepping out of the camp first.

Thousands of soldiers followed closely behind in neat formation, accompanied by two hundred Cavalry dressed in Iron Armor patrolling around the troop.

As Yang Zhenshan commenced the journey with the soldiers, Yang Mingzhi and Yang Minghao had already galloped dozens of miles away.

They did not take the official road to Jing’an Prefecture, but instead followed the minor paths southward, which in fact is the route to Qingfu Mountain. Although the paths are not as smooth and wide as the official roads, they are about a hundred miles shorter.

If they were to take the official road, they would need to head towards Jing’an Prefecture first, then travel southward from Jing’an City, effectively making a large detour to the northwest.

By using the minor paths, they could directly head towards Qingfu Mountain, then from below the mountain enter the official road, continue southward, pass through Ping Yuan and Shanhe, ultimately entering the territory of Shuntian Prefecture.

The brothers did not stop their horses, and by late afternoon, they had covered more than four hundred miles and entered the territory of Ping Yuan.

As dusk approached, they stopped at a Post Station.

”May I ask who you gentlemen are?”

Right after the brothers entered the Post Station, a Post Station Chief in his forties approached, bowed with clasped fists, and asked.

”Commander of the Tenglong Guard, Yang Mingzhi!”

Yang Mingzhi took out his waist tag, ”Prepare some food for us and get two good horses ready, we need to travel through the night!”

The Post Station Chief glanced at the waist tag and immediately responded, ”Very well, gentlemen, please wait a moment!”

Soon, a simple meal was served before the brothers. They exchanged glances, and Yang Minghao began eating first with his chopsticks. After Yang Minghao nearly finished, Yang Mingzhi then began eating.

This caution was to prevent any poisoning in the food.

Both brothers understood the gravity of their mission, thus they proceeded with extreme caution, guarding against any possible dangers.

Despite being at a Post Station, they did not let their guard down.

As for why they started eating directly, it’s simple: they are skillful in identifying most poisons just by smell. However, the poisons in worldly society are countless, many being colorless and odorless making them hard to detect, hence the need for one person to test for poison first.

As for testing poison with a silver needle, that is unreliable, as the silver needle test works only for arsenic.

In comparison, the nose is much more reliable than a silver needle, as most poisons carry a distinctive smell.

The nearby Post Station Chief became anxious seeing their actions.

Of course, this wasn’t because he had tampered with anything but because he thought something was off about Yang Mingzhi and his companion.

Tenglong Guard?

Never heard of it!

The Post Station Chief pondered.

Being the northernmost post station in Ping Yuan, he often entertained southward and northward traveling officials and couriers. From Chongshan Town to various government offices and garrisons in Liaodong, he was familiar with almost all, but he found the Tenglong Guard completely unfamiliar.

The reason was simple: the Tenglong Guard, controlled by the Lan family, seldom had any public duties.

With no public duties, there was no need for interaction with the post stations for sending messages or other matters, hence the post station had little exposure to information about the Tenglong Guard.

Though there had been a lot of actions taken by the Tenglong Guard under Yang Zhenshan and dispatches sent to the Capital, those were just letters and documents that the post station personnel wouldn’t scrutinize as their role was only to ensure delivery without the right to casually inspect anything.

The Post Station Chief didn’t suspect that Yang Mingzhi and Yang Minghao were impersonating since there would be no reason to impersonate, and if there was an impersonation, it wouldn’t likely be of an unheard of Tenglong Guard.

Just as the Post Station Chief was guessing which government unit the Tenglong Guard might belong to, Yang Mingzhi and Yang Minghao had finished their meal.

”Are the horses ready?” Yang Mingzhi stood up and asked.

”Response to your inquiry, they are ready!” The Post Station Chief quickly ran over and spoke.

”Hmm!” Yang Mingzhi nodded, then took out some Silver and handed it to the Post Station Chief, saying: ”Take good care of our horses. We will need to ride them again when we return, and if anything goes wrong —”

His eyes suddenly grew cold, and he said sternly: ”I will personally decapitate you!”

The horses of the two brothers were carefully bred and significantly bonded to them by Yang Zhenshan.

If it weren’t for the urgency of their journey, where the warhorses might not endure overnight traveling, they would absolutely not agree to leave these warhorses in an unfamiliar place.

The Post Station Chief, covered in cold sweat, reassured, ”Your excellency, rest assured, I will take good care of them!”

Yang Mingzhi gave him another look, then exited the post station, took over the horses from the two post station soldiers, mounted swiftly, and soon vanished into the night.

The night sky was clear, with Ming Yue hanging high, casting bright moonlight that illuminated the earth.

With the aid of the moonlight, the brothers managed to continue their journey overnight, though slower compared to daytime, they still traveled more than three hundred miles.

Meanwhile, Yang Zhenshan, leading the soldiers, entered the territory of Liao’an Prefecture and chose an open area to rest for the night.

In half a day, Yang Mingzhi and Yang Minghao had traveled over four hundred miles, while Yang Zhenshan with thousands of soldiers managed less than fifty miles - two legs indeed can’t outrun four.

Fortunately, the Tenglong Guard was only a hundred more miles from Liao’an City.

Early the next morning, just as the daybreak began showing light, Yang Zhenshan ordered the march to continue.

”Dashan, you lead the soldiers and make sure we reach Liao’an City by noon today, and if anyone dares to obstruct—”

A fierce light flashed in Yang Zhenshan’s eyes, ”Show no mercy!”

With the unclear situation in Liao’an City, Yang Zhenshan not only needed to arrive quickly but also be prepared for all eventualities.

In case Luo Fu decided to provoke a significant conflict, he also needed to be prepared for a fierce battle.

”Understood!” Song Dashan bowed with clasped hands in response.

Subsequently, Yang Zhenshan led his Personal Followers and headed towards Liao’an City.