Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 832: Chapter 619: The Yang Family Is a Thick and Powerful Backer

But the one recruiting him is not Yang Zhenshan, but Yang Mingzhao.

Whether Yang Mingzhao can represent the Yang family requires a question mark in his mind.

But to him, Yang Mingzhao is still a powerful supporter.

Even if Yang Mingzhao can’t represent the Yang family, he is still a very robust support for him.

The arrival of Li Dagui proves this point.

Although he can’t see through Li Dagui’s cultivation, he understands that Li Dagui’s cultivation far exceeds his own.

Li Baoshan waited until dawn, and then he immediately went up to the city wall with a telescope to observe the camp outside the city.

Li Baoshan is not a rash person; quite the contrary, he is extremely cautious.

He is observing the camp outside the city to gauge Yang Mingzhao’s abilities.

He wants to assess the caliber of Yang Mingzhao’s support.

Yang Mingzhao’s character should be good, after all, he manages Taiping County very well.

So how capable is Yang Mingzhao?

One can’t blindly latch onto a support; this support needs to be not only sturdy but also reliable.

The camp outside the city is orderly, although some soldiers’ equipment is quite poor, it’s evident they are well-trained soldiers.

This sufficiently shows that Yang Mingzhao isn’t reckless, he’s genuinely training the soldiers seriously and remarkably dedicated to his duties.

After observing for a while, Li Baoshan stood on the city wall, contemplating deeply for a long time before turning back into the city.

Upon returning home, he called for the family steward.

“Go and bring all of our land and property deeds!”

The steward asked with confusion: “Master, all the land deeds and property deeds?”

Li Baoshan nodded, “All of them, and all the promissory notes.”

Though the steward didn’t know what Li Baoshan intended to do, he obediently brought over all the land deeds, property deeds, and promissory notes.

Three large boxes filled with documents were placed in the hall, which Li Baoshan reviewed one by one.

In Da Rong, the Li family is just a small clan, but in Baoning Prefecture, the Li family is quite a mighty force.

The Li family’s members aren’t numerous; Li Baoshan’s father has three brothers, and in Li Baoshan’s generation there are four cousins, while the younger generation has more, with four adults, and five sons not yet of age.

As for collateral branches, there are numerous, with Li family’s legacy deep-rooted in Baoning Prefecture, it is difficult to count the number of Li clan people there.

There are those close to the collateral branches, but many have long since separated from the direct line and become self-sufficient.

The so-called Li family actually only refers to Li Baoshan’s father’s generation of three brothers; although Li Baoshan isn’t the highest-ranking within the Li family, he is the Family Head.

Therefore, the land deeds and property deeds in his hands represent the entire Li family’s assets.

Looking at each land and property deed, Li Baoshan frowned slightly.

He sighed as he looked over the promissory notes.

Promissory notes, essentially high-interest loans!

Issuing high-interest loans is the most common method used by landlords to annex lands.

Ordinary people have very low capacity for disaster recovery; whether it be natural calamities or man-made disasters, encountering any slight difficulty may lead to unmanageable conditions.

Many landlords will use high-interest loans to help residents through tough times, supposedly offering help, yet the interest is extremely high, often seen as nine taken, thirteen returned, the most common case.

Before ordinary people could get through the immediate hardship, the high-interest loans in their hands would already be impossible to repay.

Small landlords and self-sufficient farmers would mortgage their lands to pay off debts, converting themselves into tenant farmers; if tenants didn’t have lands to pledge, they would have to sell sons and daughters, sending them to landlords’ homes as servants and maidservants.

Some tenants have generations of debt from the landlord’s high-interest loans, they don’t even know how much they owe with these promissory notes piled up.

Landlords use these promissory notes to control tenant families.

Tenants grow poorer, debts mount unbearably, unable to liberate generations.

These promissory notes are like a mountain pressing down on tenant families.

Yang Mingzhao not only distributes land among people in Taiping County but also burned all promissory notes and issued a statement in the name of the county government, no longer recognizing any previous high-interest loans.

Yang Mingzhao’s offer to Li Baoshan naturally included the abolition of all the promissory notes.

Understanding what Yang Mingzhao is doing after reading the deeds and promissory notes, Li Baoshan sees the reason why.

One can see the whole picture from a small glimpse.

Their Li family possesses thirty thousand acres of fertile land, thousands of promissory notes, what about other families?

“Forget it, forget it, these things don’t hold much value left!”

Li Baoshan tossed all the property deeds and promissory notes back into the box, instructing the steward: “Put these away; I will use them in the coming days, do not give them to anyone else, including my father!”

He may not prioritize these things, but it doesn’t mean the rest of the Li family doesn’t.

Knowing his own household affairs, if the Li family members find out that these all are to be disposed of, many would create a fuss.

Currently, Li Baoshan doesn’t have the time to convince each elder in the family; as for the future, he’ll try to persuade if feasible, resort to coercion if necessary.

He’s the Family Head, he holds the highest cultivation in the Li family, representing the family’s face.

Though he still has his father and two uncles above him, he has the confidence to make decisions independently.

“Yes!” The steward promptly complies.

As the steward, he naturally knows who makes the calls in the house, Li Baoshan’s orders he wouldn’t dare defy.

At nightfall, Li Baoshan returned to the Martial Arts Department office, sitting in the sleeping chamber waiting for Li Dagui’s arrival.

“Looks like you’ve made a decision!” Li Dagui arrived as scheduled.

Li Baoshan stood up, poured tea for Li Dagui, and said: “Senior, please have some tea!”

Li Dagui didn’t fear being poisoned, casually drinking the tea.

“I am willing to serve Mr. Si, but I have two conditions!” Li Baoshan said.

“Please speak! As long as it’s not too excessive, I can agree!” Li Dagui replied.

Li Baoshan said: “First, I can open the city gate for Mr. Si to enter with his troops, but I hope that Mr. Si’s soldiers won’t cause havoc inside the city!”

Li Baoshan has heard about the nature of rebel armies.

Southern Bashu’s rebels are notorious for burning, killing, and looting, doing nothing good; while he believes Yang Mingzhao’s soldiers may not act so disgracefully, he still wants to mention it.

Maintaining Baoning Prefecture city’s stability benefits both him and Yang Mingzhao.

He’s a native of Baoning Prefecture, his Li family has been living here for generations, and he doesn’t want himself and the Li family criticized by locals afterward.

Yang Mingzhao, after capturing Baoning Prefecture, also needs to govern it, thus a stable Baoning Prefecture is certainly more advantageous for Yang Mingzhao than a chaotic one.

“Haha, rest assured, our Taiping Army does not harm civilians! We desire Baoning Prefecture’s stability more than you do!” Li Dagui laughed.

Li Baoshan nodded and continued: “Secondly, actually this isn’t a condition, more of a suggestion; I propose Mr. Si tries to avoid killing Magistrate Li Wenchun, try to persuade Li Wenchun!”

“Li Wenchun is a capable and virtuous official, if you can recruit Li Wenchun, it’d only benefit Mr. Si!”

Li Dagui pondered for a moment and said: “I can’t guarantee that; if Li Wenchun turns out to be difficult, persuading him would be a challenge, but I assure you we will not kill him nor persecute his family.”

Li Baoshan, upon hearing this, bowed with a deep gesture, “I understand Senior’s intention, I am willing to serve Mr. Si wholeheartedly; I request Senior’s recommendation!”

Li Dagui looked at him approvingly, “Rise, let’s begin by discussing how you plan to open the city gates!”

“It’s simple, tomorrow morning, Senior, wait outside the North City Gate, I’ll open the gate myself!” Li Baoshan stated.

To Li Baoshan, opening the city gates is no challenging task.

The soldiers and executors guarding the gates wouldn’t dare defy his orders.

More importantly, he placed Martial Arts Guards among the soldiers and executors, making himself virtually the highest military commander within the city, while Martial Arts Guards serve as mid-level officers of the city’s army.

Of course, he initially arranged this not to easily surrender the city, but to better command the soldiers and executors within.