Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 324: Chapter 314: I Just Like Your Rebellious Look

A group of ship workers gathered together, some anxiously looking at Yang Zhenshan.

Sun Cheng and Ning Bo stood at the front, Sun Cheng displaying an ingratiating smile, while Ning Bo had a calm expression.

Yang Zhenshan first approached Sun Cheng, ”Would you be willing to work for this general?”

Sun Cheng, with a flattering smile, said: ”It would be an honor for this old man to serve the general!”

He was just an ordinary person, albeit with some sailing skills, but he still lived cautiously.

Of course, this does not mean that he was truly weak; flattery was just his façade. As someone who had spent a lifetime at sea, he had experienced every conceivable storm and wave.

”Hmm, your salary will be doubled henceforth. Serve this general well, and you will not be treated unfairly,” Yang Zhenshan said satisfactorily as he patted Sun Cheng’s shoulder.

”Thank you, general! This old man will kowtow to you,” Sun Cheng said, with a light of surprise in his eyes, considering this a stroke of unexpected fortune.

”There’s no need for kowtowing!” Yang Zhenshan said with a gentle smile, holding his arm, ”Just do your work well from now on!”

”Yes!” Sun Cheng’s smile became even brighter.

Yang Zhenshan then walked in front of Ning Bo, who displayed a bit more pride than Sun Cheng.

He looked at Yang Zhenshan neither humbly nor arrogantly. Yang Zhenshan did not mind his pride and asked, ”What is your current cultivation level?”

”Postnatal Second Layer!” Ning Bo replied.

”Not bad, you can start by being a Hundred Households under me.”

”A Hundred Households!” Ning Bo showed a disdainful expression.

Usually, as long as one was a martial artist, they could hold the position of a Hundred Households in the garrison, and reaching the Postnatal Realm made it easy to be a thousand households.

With the cultivation of the Postnatal Second Layer, Ning Bo naturally looked down on the position of a Hundred Households; he might have accepted if offered the position of a thousand households.

”What? You look down on being a Hundred Households under this general?” Yang Zhenshan asked with a chuckle.

”That’s right, I look down on it!” Ning Bo replied boldly and loudly.

Yang Zhenshan looked at him, slightly nodding, ”Good, I like your unyielding spirit!”

Saying this, he turned his head to look around, saw a soldier on guard in the distance, waved and shouted: ”Come here!”

The soldier, hearing his call, quickly ran over, ”General!”

”Report your rank and name!” Yang Zhenshan said.

”Tenglong Guard, former Sentry Commander Wu Zhao greets the general!” Wu Zhao replied loudly and robustly.

The Tenglong Four Guards belong to the garrison structure, but Yang Zhenshan was planning to reorganize into Camp Soldiers, which is why the Guardian Department has been reorganizing these past few days.

According to Yang Zhenshan’s instructions, twelve people make a team, four teams make a sentry, four sentries make an officer; with a Sentry Commander in charge, four officers make a total, led by a Bazong. In future, the Tenglong Guard’s Camp Soldiers would have five Bazong commanding a total of over four thousand soldiers.

However, the Bazong positions have not yet been assigned, and with over a thousand soldiers, the reorganization is not yet complete.

”Twelve people make a team, and four teams make a Sentry, meaning the Sentry Commander is equivalent to General Flag.”

”Alright, you compete with him. If you can beat him, I’ll give you the position of a thousand households,” Yang Zhenshan said looking back at Ning Bo.

Ning Bo glanced at Wu Zhao, who was also looking back at him with a calm expression and indifferent eyes, showing no emotional fluctuations.

”Alright!”

Ning Bo didn’t think too much, perhaps he did not believe that an ordinary-looking soldier could be his match.

Yang Zhenshan, with a warm smile on his face, stepped back a few steps, signaling everyone to clear the field.

”I need a knife!” Ning Bo said.

Yang Zhenshan signaled to one of his personal followers, who immediately tossed him a knife.

Wu Zhao, seeing this, planted his spear in the ground and drew his long knife.

The two confronted each other for a moment, saying nothing. Ning Bo swung his knife forward, cleaving downward.

Wu Zhao raised his knife, with a clang blocked the long knife, and then with a forceful push, repelled Ning Bo.

It seemed Ning Bo didn’t expect Wu Zhao to be so strong; he staggered back several steps. Yet before he could stabilize himself, Wu Zhao crouched and suddenly lunged forward, swinging his long knife towards Ning Bo’s abdomen.

When Ning Bo managed to steady himself, the blade was already pressed against his abdomen.

Everyone was stunned; was it over so soon?

It was too quick, too simple!

The ship workers, who had followed Ning Bo at sea all year round and knew his capabilities, found it unbelievable.

Ning Bo looked down at the knife blade against his abdomen, his eyes showing disbelief.

One move to repel, one move to kill.

Two simple moves had almost taken his life!

Wu Zhao silently retracted his long knife and returned to Yang Zhenshan, cupping his fist before he reported: ”Reporting to the general, the task is complete!”

”Very good!” Yang Zhenshan, pleased, patted Wu Zhao’s shoulder.

”Thank you, general!” Wu Zhao’s calm face revealed a restrained smile.

”It’s impossible!” Ning Bo suddenly spoke: ”He can’t be just a General Flag Officer!”

Yang Zhenshan took a step forward, his gaze sharp as he said, ”What’s so impossible about it!”

”He has followed this general into battle, killed over a hundred thousand of the Hu Clan with me in the North, crushed tens of thousands of Northern barbarian cavalry; he is truly a veteran of countless battles!”

”Indeed, he is a cavalryman; his best skill is spear technique, you were even at an advantage competing with knives!”

Unyielding and unruly!

You also need the strength to back it up!

Without strength, who are you showing your defiance to?

Ning Bo’s face turned from green to white.

”Right, he has a cultivation of the Postnatal Third Layer!” Yang Zhenshan added another blow.

A Postnatal Third Layer is just a General Flag under this general’s command, and yet you, a Martial Artist of the Postnatal Second Layer, look down upon the position of Hundred Households.

”Are you convinced now?”

Ning Bo kept silent.

Seeing his reaction, Yang Zhenshan’s lips slightly curved upwards, indicating he was still not convinced!

He pointed to a few Personal Followers behind him and said, ”They are my Personal Followers, hmm, if you still want to compare, feel free to choose any of them!”

”Those are guards from my household, if you still want to compare, feel free to choose as well, uh, just leave out those younger ones, they’ve just recently become Martial Artists!”

Ning Bo looked over. He first glanced at Yang Zhenshan’s Personal Followers, instantly realizing that these guys were not easy to mess with.

Then he looked at the guards from the Yang family. These guards seemed more lax and not as stern and fearsome as other soldiers, but he understood that these guards were also not to be trifed with.

”I am not strong enough, not daring to serve the general!” Ning Bo said somewhat bitterly, his pride gone in an instant.

Yang Zhenshan stood with one hand on his waist and the other patting Ning Bo’s shoulder, ”Kid, in terms of strength, you could at most be a General Flag under my command, but I need your sailing and maritime combat skills!”

”Ha ha ha~~ Work hard, and once your cultivation reaches the Postnatal Fifth Layer, I will make you a household leader!”

”You are still young, there are plenty of opportunities, haha, I still like that defiant look you had earlier!”

Ning Bo’s face flushed with embarrassment. Defiant!

More like ignorant arrogance!

”Subordinate pays respects to the General!” Ning Bo stepped back and bowed with a fist.

Yang Zhenshan nodded in satisfaction, thinking this kid knows his place, otherwise I would have slapped him into paralysis.

Defiance is fine, but ignorance deserves punishment!

Ning Bo still didn’t realize he was nearly paralyzed just moments ago!

If he had known, he probably would have knelt immediately!

”Very good!” Yang Zhenshan looked towards the ship workers behind, ”From now on, you are soldiers under my command!”

”As for whether you agree or not, sorry, you don’t have the option to refuse!”

”Don’t forget that I hold your long-term contracts!”

”Follow my command, work hard and get food to eat; fail to perform, and I will chop you up to feed the fish!”

Yang Zhenshan grinned, revealing a fierce expression.

This wasn’t an act; he was truly ferocious.

Don’t forget he also has the titles of ’God of Killing’ and ’Butcher’.

Upon seeing this, all the ship workers shuddered with fear.

Ning Bo also felt a chill within, no longer daring to show any defiance.

The calmest was Sun Cheng, as he had long understood that Yang Zhenshan was not to be provoked.

Not because he had heard of Yang Zhenshan’s reputation, but because he knew that anyone who could make the Zhang family willingly hand over their fleet must be formidable.

Now that these people were subdued, Yang Zhenshan stopped paying them any more attention.

”Wu Zhao!”

”Present!”

”I’ll leave this place to you today. Tomorrow the government office will send someone to build a camp, at which time keep an eye on these people. If anyone dares to stir up trouble, send him to feed the fish!”

Yang Zhenshan instructed.

”Understood!”

”Hmm, once the barracks are built, start with their basic training. A bunch of rotten fish, standing without posture, sitting without grace, really a disgrace to our Tenglong Guard!”

Yang Zhenshan glanced at the ship workers with some disdain.

Wu Zhao also glanced over the ship workers, ”Subordinate understands!”

After handing over the dock to Wu Zhao, Yang Zhenshan returned to Guard City.

The fleet and ship workers were ready, but there was still much to do.

Marine trade needed to be conducted, and a Navy had to be established.

These ship workers were a basis, but not the foundation; Yang Zhenshan wanted not just a simple merchant fleet but a Navy competent in maritime combat.

The ship workers needed basic training, the soldiers had to undergo maritime combat training.

Only after training could the fleet attempt to sail out.

And the Tenglong Guard also had to train their own captains and ship captains, aiming for more specialization and technical expertise.

Additionally, since the Zhang family’s ships were merchant ships, he also needed to figure out how to obtain some warships.

In this world without firearms, large crossbows were used for both city defense and naval combat.

Aside from crossbows and bows and arrows, the main form of combat in naval battles was board-to-board combat, which required grappling hooks, boarding ladders, and gangplanks among other tools.

Other tools were also equipped on merchant ships, but definitely not as complete as on warships, and like the crossbows and bows, merchant ships would generally not be equipped, particularly the crossbows, as the court strictly controlled their production, not allowing private manufacture.

If Yang Zhenshan wanted to form a Navy, he must equip it with crossbows.

In a world without cannons, crossbows were the most important long-range weapons in naval combat.