Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 558: Chapter 488 Sanshan Valley, Three Yellow Plum Trees

Three measures were adopted to completely draw worldly society forces into the court’s camp.

Establishing a sect ranking system and conferring official titles was tantamount to incorporating all sect forces into the court.

Setting up a Martial Arts Academy was akin to establishing a martial artist cultivation system under the court, similar to cultivating scholars through the establishment of Prefecture Schools, State Schools, and County Schools.

The martial artist supervision institution serves as both a restraint and a ladder for the advancement of the sect forces. According to Yang Zhenshan’s idea, official positions and Government Officials within the martial artist supervision institution would be selected from among the sect forces.

In this way, the court will have strong control over the civilian sect forces.

If any force resists the court, there is no need for the court to mobilize a large army; instead, a single command would suffice, and other worldly society forces would eliminate the resisting force.

Moreover, the large inclination of sect forces towards the court also benefits the collection of intelligence from worldly society for the court.

Take the Divine Sun Sect for example; in fact, many worldly society forces are more informed than the court. Although the actions of the Divine Sun Sect are secretive, they can’t escape the eyes of everyone, and there are always traces found by some.

However, these traces are hard to relay to the court.

But with the martial artist supervision institution, any sect force can convey messages to the court.

Having sect forces across the land as bases for intelligence gathering means that there should be nothing that can be kept from the court.

Yet, these three proposals all share a significant problem—they require a massive amount of Silver.

Conferring official titles requires paying stipends, and these stipends cannot be too low.

Establishing a Martial Arts Academy is even more troublesome; not only are school premises necessary, but martial artists must be hired as teachers, and corresponding official positions need to be set up.

The martial artist regulatory institution also requires a large workforce; without a substantial amount of Silver for support, establishing a strong martial artist regulatory institution is impossible.

After Yang Zhenshan finished drafting the memorial, he couldn’t help but grimace in pain.

Damn, these three tasks cannot be accomplished without millions of taels of Silver.

Moreover, the court will need to spend a substantial amount of Silver every year on stipends.

Take the martial artist supervision institution as an example; Da Rong has over one hundred and thirty prefectures, and each prefecture needs a government office with at least two to three hundred martial artists, totaling tens of thousands of people.

The stipends for martial artists are definitely more than those of ordinary Camp Soldiers; the annual stipend for a martial artist in the Body Refining Realm should be at least fifty or sixty taels of Silver, totaling millions!

Calculating this, Yang Zhenshan felt that his proposals were somewhat fanciful.

Setting up a martial artist supervision institution is almost equivalent to adding a new border town; establishing a Martial Arts Academy would be like adding another.

However, after thinking it over, Yang Zhenshan eventually submitted the memorial.

Regardless, his proposals were constructive; as for the issue of Silver, that would be resolved later.

After submitting the memorial, Yang Zhenshan had completed the task assigned by Emperor Yanping.

The next day, Yang Zhenshan intended to continue his visit to the Hidden Skill Pavilion to study cultivation, but before he could leave, distinguished guests arrived.

”Marquis, Prince An and Prince Dai have come to visit!”

In the main courtyard of the Marquis Mansion, just as Yang Zhenshan changed his clothes, Wu Hai hurriedly came to report.

Yang Zhenshan slapped his forehead, damn, he had forgotten about these two Princes.

He had been preoccupied with writing the memorial yesterday and pushed the disciple-accepting matters with Prince An and Prince Dai to the back of his mind.

”Let’s go and see!”

Yang Zhenshan straightened his clothes and walked towards the front courtyard.

By the time he arrived at the front courtyard, he realized it wasn’t just Prince An and Prince Dai who had come, but a large group of attendants with gifts.

”Master!”

Seeing Yang Zhenshan, Prince Dai’s eyes immediately brightened.

Yang Zhenshan’s gaze swept over the two, finally resting on Prince An.

He had seen Prince Dai many times already, but it was his first time meeting Prince An.

Prince An and Prince Dai were both born to the Empress, and they looked quite similar, although Prince An was slightly thinner and seemed more refined, unlike the lively Prince Dai.

”Your humble servant pays his respects to Prince An, to Prince Dai!” Yang Zhenshan saluted with a fist.

Prince An, familiar with Yang Zhenshan, didn’t only remember Yang Zhenshan’s past prestigious fame, but also the strength Yang Zhenshan displayed in public when defeating Red Monarch, enough to make Yang Zhenshan well-known throughout Da Rong.

Actions by Innate Martial Artists are always a hot topic for countless martial artists.

And Yang Zhenshan, already known in worldly society as the best under the Innate, had recently advanced to become an Innate Martial Artist himself, making him a topic of much discussion.

And Prince An didn’t resist the idea of taking Yang Zhenshan as a master; Yang Zhenshan was an Innate Martial Artist, qualified to be his Martial Arts master, and also a famous general with impressive military achievements, which made him even more worthy of discipleship.

”Disciple Chen Zhaojun pays respects to Master!” Prince An returned the greeting with a bow.

Seeing this, Prince Dai also quickly performed the rite: ”Disciple Chen Zhaoxuan pays respects to Master!”

Yang Zhenshan smiled, ”Your Highnesses, please!”

When Princes become disciples, it’s naturally not like worldly society martial artists who perform kowtows and serve tea; although Princes also respect and honor their teachers, they don’t follow the saying ”a day’s teacher, a lifetime’s father.”

If a master could potentially be a father to a Prince, then what would the Emperor be?

Yang Zhenshan invited them into the hall, and Prince An handed over a list of gifts, ”Master, this is the discipleship gift from us brothers!”

Yang Zhenshan glanced at the gift list; indeed, the two Princes were sincere, and the gifts were substantial.