Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 338: Chapter 327 Selling Residences and Shops

On the first day of the twelfth lunar month.

Yang Zhenshan prepared two banquet tables in the government office to entertain the guests who had been invited.

In fact, the number of guests wasn’t large—just over a dozen.

From Jizhou, Ji Hai and Ning Qingqing of the Hengdao Sect, Hua Jinqiu from the Sky Blue Sword Sect of An Yuan State, Zhang Qingsong from the Zhang family of Liao’an Prefecture, Mr. Lu and Lu Qi of the Lu family from Anning County, as well as Yang Zhengxiang and Yang Mingcheng representing the Yang family.

Additionally, there were Shang Mingde of the Shang family from Jing’an Prefecture, the wealthy merchant Wang Zhenze of the Wang family, and the family heads of the Zhang and Lin families.

In fact, Yang Zhenshan had also invited the Lu family, but they only sent a letter instead of attending in person. It wasn’t that the Lu family looked down on Yang Zhenshan and the Tenglong Guard, but rather the Lu family’s resources were too limited and they didn’t have much silver, so they chose not to get involved.

Ever since Lu Wenquan entered the Hanlin Academy, the Lu family had been making arrangements for him, purchasing a residence and several servants in the Capital City, as well as some farmland in the surrounding counties, nearly depleting their family wealth.

And with Lu Zhaoqi and Lu Zhaoran brothers having gone to the Capital City and not yet returned, only the old man Lu Songhe was left at home, without another suitable representative to send.

Besides, Lu Wenhua was still there, so there was no need for the Lu family to dispatch someone separately.

At the government office, Yang Zhenshan had Han Fei, Zhou Ren, and Lu Wenhua accompany the guests.

Before the banquet started, Yang Zhenshan first elaborated on the Tenglong Guard’s future development and planning—reiterating what he had said to Luo Shang to the present guests.

”Generally speaking, this is the plan. After the New Year, in March, the Tenglong Guard’s merchant ships will go to Jiangnan to establish a navigation route, and if all goes well, we will attempt to open trade routes with the Li Sheng Dynasty and the Desheng Dynasty in June!”

”Once these three routes are established, the Tenglong Guard will become the largest sea trade port within a 200-mile radius!”

”All places including Jing’an Prefecture, Liao’an Prefecture, Qinghua Prefecture, Ningyuan Prefecture, as well as Chongshan Town, will be able to conduct overseas trade via the Tenglong Guard!”

”Furthermore, should all three routes be open, we will allow everyone to organize their own fleets for sea trading. The Tenglong Guard Navy will ensure the safety of the routes, of course, we will also charge a fee—ten percent of the total value of goods!”

”Compared to the Market Shipping Department, this fee should not be considered high, and moreover, if your fleets are hijacked, we will do our utmost to help you retake them!” Yang Zhenshan spoke unhurriedly.

To engage in sea trade in the Da Rong empire, one must go through the tax levies of the Market Shipping Department; avoiding these taxes would constitute smuggling. Though smuggling is rampant among sea merchants in the southern and southeastern regions of Da Rong, it is still rare in the Liaodong Region.

Naturally, Yang Zhenshan would not pay taxes to the Market Shipping Department. The Tenglong Guard’s sea trade was granted permission by the old Emperor, and the Market Shipping Department couldn’t reach over the Tenglong Guard’s head.

By pulling these merchants into the fold, he also aimed to expand the scale of the Tenglong Guard’s sea trade. Relying solely on the Tenglong Guard to develop sea trade could take ten years to achieve scale, but with the involvement of these powerful entities providing silver to purchase ships and organize fleets, it might only take three years for the Tenglong Guard Pier to develop.

”If there are any other questions, feel free to ask. This old man will answer them one by one!” Yang Zhenshan finished speaking and looked at the audience.

The expressions of those gathered varied. Clans like the Yang family and the Sky Blue Sword Sect had absolute trust in Yang Zhenshan; they would follow whatever arrangement he made.

As for the Lu family, Mr. Lu and Lu Qi had no intention of rejecting Yang Zhenshan’s proposal. Their aim was to maintain good relations with Yang Zhenshan; as for the wealth, even if they had to lose some, it was of no concern.

Others in attendance were somewhat more cautious in their considerations. Their relationship with Yang Zhenshan wasn’t very close, so while spending some money to placate Yang Zhenshan was conceivable, it depended on how much silver it required.

”General Yang, I have a question!”

Ji Hai was the first to speak up; their Hengdao Sect based in Jizhou, and although Jizhou lacks a seaport, it is home to river transport that leads directly to the sea, resulting in a considerable number of sea merchants there.

Furthermore, the Market Shipping Department for the Liaodong Region is located in Jizhou.

”Go ahead!” said Yang Zhenshan with a smile.

”Do we still need to give the Market Shipping Department a cut when we conduct sea trade at the Tenglong Guard?” Ji Hai inquired.

Hengdao Sect has many businesses, including sea trade. As a martial arts sect, Hengdao Sect is always cautious in its dealings, so their sea trading is generally done through the Market Shipping Department.

”The Tenglong Guard operates without the Market Shipping Department!” said Yang Zhenshan with a faint smile. ”The Market Shipping Department doesn’t have jurisdiction over the Tenglong Guard!”

”To put it simply, in Tenglong Guard’s territory, the Market Shipping Department won’t tax you, but once you leave Tenglong Guard’s domain, it’s up to your own skills!”

Yang Zhenshan didn’t make any guarantees; this wasn’t something Tenglong Guard could manage.

Although the old Emperor had agreed to Tenglong Guard conducting sea trade, he hadn’t given permission for other sea merchants to set sail from the Tenglong Guard’s ports—and he hadn’t forbidden it either.

In simple terms, this was a loophole.

The Market Shipping Department couldn’t enter the Tenglong Guard, but it did operate in Jizhou. If they decided to trouble the Hengdao Sect, then the sect would have to deal with it themselves; Yang Zhenshan wouldn’t lend a hand.

Ji Hai nodded in understanding, satisfied with the answer.

As long as there were no troubles on Tenglong Guard’s territory, everything would be manageable, with plenty of room to operate around the Market Shipping Department.

”General, this old man has a question,” the head of the Zhang family from Jing’an Prefecture, Zhang Man, stood up and said with a fist salute.

”Please ask, Mr. Zhang!” Yang Zhenshan still said with a smile.

The Zhang family from Jing’an Prefecture had no relation to the Zhang family from Liao’an Prefecture; the Jing’an Zhang family mainly managed cloth shops, and their influence was far less than that of the Zhang family from Liao’an Prefecture. Previously, when Tenglong Guard purchased cotton cloth, the Jing’an Zhang family had lent a helping hand; therefore, this time Yang Zhenshan also sent them an invitation.

Zhang Man saluted with another fistful bow and said, ”Our Zhang family’s financial resources are limited, making it difficult to purchase merchant ships. May I ask if we can request the help of the Guardian Department’s merchant ships to transport our goods?”

With the financial resources of the Jing’an Zhang family, to set up a fleet of ships is a strenuous task, probably requiring the investment of most of their family assets.

By doing so, the risk they would have to undertake would increase, and in case of an accident, the entire family might decline.

It is within reason that they dare not and cannot take such a risk.

”Of course you can!” Yang Zhenshan said with a smile.

Although using merchant ships for transportation might result in less profit for the fleet, it’s not impossible. Don’t forget, he also has the Tenglong Guard Navy; their warships can also be used for transport.

Then, the others asked a few more questions, all very reasonable, and Yang Zhenshan patiently answered them one by one, doing his best to dispel their concerns.

Almost half an hour passed by the time everyone finished asking questions. It was evident that they were interested in sea trade, but due to their lack of previous experience, they had more concerns.

However, with the guarantees from Yang Zhenshan and the Tenglong Guard, they were still very eager to join the sea trade.

After the matter of sea trade was concluded, Yang Zhenshan brought up the residential houses and shops within Guard City.

The crowd did not have as many reservations about the houses and shops. Yang Zhenshan gave a brief explanation, and they responded eagerly, quickly dividing up all the houses and shops amongst themselves, some even wished for more.

Unfortunately, Guard City is only so big, and Yang Zhenshan only planned for this number of houses and shops. They couldn’t purchase or rent more even if they wished to.

After the matters concerning the houses and shops were concluded, Yang Zhenshan happily toasted drinks with everyone.

...

In the following days, each family brought silver to Tenglong Guard to purchase houses and lease shops.

The residential houses within Guard City could be bought, but shops could only be leased.

In fact, Yang Zhenshan did not price the housing expensively — a three-entry large courtyard was only two thousand taels of silver, a smaller three-entry courtyard eight hundred taels, and a smaller separate courtyard a mere two hundred taels. Such prices were cheaper than many county towns.

Even so, this still led to a substantial windfall for the Guardian Department.

Ten three-entry large courtyards totaled twenty thousand taels of silver, thirty smaller three-entry courtyards twenty-four thousand taels, and one hundred smaller separate courtyards another twenty thousand taels.

Totaling sixty-four thousand taels in income.

The cost expenditure for the Guardian Department was only a few months’ worth of construction crew’s labor fees, as materials like brick, stone, and wood were locally sourced and processed, with a total cost of not more than ten thousand taels.

For this, Yang Zhenshan couldn’t help but remark that real estate development was indeed very profitable.

Unfortunately, Tenglong Guard could only make money once from property.

Compared to the courtyards, the income from Tenglong Guard’s shops was much less — forty-eight shops in total. Yang Zhenshan kept ten to himself, and from the remaining thirty-six, the annual rent ranged between one hundred to five hundred taels of silver.

With upfront payments for three years of rent, the total income still amounted to just over ten thousand taels of silver.

However, for the government office, this was also a sizeable income, and moreover, the shops could continue collecting rent and earning money in the future, while the residential houses could only be sold once.

As for the ten shops that Yang Zhenshan kept for the office, only two were needed: one for a blacksmith and one for a woodworker. The remaining eight were leased to officials within the office —

such as Xie Yuan, Song Dashan, Wu Chongzhe, Yu Tonghai, Luo Feiyu, Yang Mingzhen, Xue Ping, and others — each getting one.

This was considered an internal benefit of the office, a form of looking after their own.

The Yang family would set up industries, and these people would do the same.

For someone like Song Dashan, Luo Feiyu, or Yang Mingzhen, who came from humble backgrounds with limited family wealth, they had fewer industries.

But for Xie Yuan and Wu Chongzhe, it was different. Xie Yuan was a defense officer with substantial family assets, and Wu Chongzhe’s clan had a much higher starting point than the Yang family.

Setting aside the past, now that they held respectable official positions, it was proper for them to set up some industries for their families.

In this regard, Yang Zhenshan always took care of what he could, corruption and bribery were unacceptable, but seeking a bit of private benefit in a manner mutually beneficial to the government office was Yang Zhenshan’s usual practice, and of course, he allowed his subordinates to do the same.

Guard City’s shops, whoever they were rented to, would still be rented. Having thirty-six shops attracting other forces was already sufficient; providing the remaining to Xie Yuan, Song Dashan, and the others would not affect the overall situation.