Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

After returning from Jianning Guard City, Yang Zhenshan called Yang Mingwu, who had been staying at Sanshan Castle, back home.

“How is the situation at Sanshan Castle?”

In the study of the government office, Yang Zhenshan asked.

“Sir, the autumn harvest at Sanshan Castle is progressing smoothly, but this year’s yield is too low, and everyone is worried!” Yang Mingwu replied.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, he also understood what everyone was worried about.

In his view, there are three key issues that he needs to address at the moment.

The first is to store a large amount of food to ensure the future rations of all military households within the four garrisons.

This issue is easy to solve. Zhou Lan gave him three thousand taels of silver, and Yang Family Village has grain available; he could purchase the grain from Yang Family Village, and if it’s not enough, also from the surrounding villages.

The second issue is to find a way for the military households to earn money, allowing them to have an income during the cold winter.

Linguan Castle could increase income through sewing, but Yinghe Castle, Sanshan Castle, and Xiangyuan Fortress could not.

This is because the government in the castle city could only provide so many sewing jobs, and just Linguan Castle alone could meet the market demand. If the other garrisons also made cloth shoes, it would likely be difficult to sell them.

As for other cities, the distance is too far, inconvenient for transportation, the market too small, the demand not large. Even if they ventured into this business, the profit would probably be negligible.

Regarding this problem, Yang Zhenshan currently has some ideas, but he needs to contemplate a bit more about it.

The third issue is to recruit migrants. Recruiting migrants is not just about bringing people over; it also involves providing them with accommodation, food, and cultivating wasteland, allowing them to live and work happily on their own land.

This is a complex task that needs careful planning.

“Tomorrow, you will start your journey to Anning County. I will give you two thousand taels of silver, and you must exchange it all for grain!” Yang Zhenshan said.

Yang Mingwu was also aware of the situations in various garrisons and understood the importance of grain, naturally, he had no objections.

“Sir, about the price?”

Yang Zhenshan fell silent.

Last year, the price of grain in Anning County was two taels and three coins of silver per dan. At that time, he had just arrived in this world and even went to the city of Anning County to buy two dans of grain.

But this year?

“Discuss it with the Clan Leader; we must not treat our clan members unfairly, but also it shouldn’t be too expensive!”

He thought for a while, feeling it’s best to leave this issue for Yang Zhengxiang to handle.

Because he is also not familiar with the current grain prices in Anning County.

The grain price at Chongshan Pass has already risen a lot, Anning County will definitely also increase, but that is the retail price at the grain stores. As for the purchase price from the grain merchants, it might not have increased much.

“Your subordinate understands!”

Yang Mingwu replied and went down to prepare.

The next morning, Yang Mingwu left Yinghe Castle with fifty soldiers and twenty ox carts.

Twenty ox carts might not be enough, but that is all Yang Zhenshan could muster for now.

The third day, Zhao Yuan arrived at Yinghe Castle with three hundred warhorses and five hundred sets of armor.

Yang Zhenshan naturally welcomed Zhao Yuan warmly.

Especially when looking at those spirited three hundred warhorses, Yang Zhenshan smiled so widely his moustache fluttered.

“Mr. Zhengshan, these were personally selected by me, all top-quality warhorses!”

Zhao Yuan patted the mane of a dark blue-black horse, putting on a very reliable appearance.

Yang Zhenshan petted this warhorse and then another, just as Zhao Yuan had said, these were all top-quality warhorses.

“However, I’m quite curious, Mr. Zhengshan, about how you’ve managed to raise Red Cloud so well.” Zhao Yuan looked at the divine-looking Red Cloud in the stable, his eyes filled with incredulity.

Back when Zhou Lan had given Yang Zhenshan four horses, selected by him personally, Zhou Lan intended to draw Yang Zhenshan over and specifically instructed him to pick four top-quality warhorses.

But the current Red Cloud was not just a simple top-quality warhorse, it could truly be considered a Thousand-mile Horse.

Yang Zhenshan looked up at Red Cloud, who was also looking at him with those spark-filled Kartelian eyes, and he felt like he could see some emotions within them.

“Warhorse!”

Suddenly, Yang Zhenshan’s eyes lit up.

He hadn’t paid too much attention to Red Cloud’s uniqueness before, but now that Red Cloud was placed alongside so many warhorses, he really noticed Red Cloud’s distinguished presence.

He seems to have found a way to make money.

Raising horses!

With Spiritual Spring Water, even inferior horses could turn into good steeds.

And a top-quality good steed could be worth dozens of taels of silver at least, and if those with rare bloodlines, they could even be worth a fortune.

If he raised dozens of horses like Red Cloud, he could earn at least a few thousand taels of silver.

The most crucial point was that this method of making money could serve as the foundation for the Yang family’s prosperity.

He would raise horses not for the government office but distinctly profit-making, under the name of the Yang family.

The garrison is poor, and as the defense officer, he is poor as well.

Now, he was left with less than a hundred taels of silver. He was already doing well not to covet the garrison’s money; was he expected to subsidize the garrison with his own money?

And if he raised horses, he could also employ military households to help, thus aiding them in generating income as well.

It was killing two birds with one stone!

Yang Zhenshan thought silently.

Seeing him lost in thought, Zhao Yuan called out, “Mr. Zhengshan! Mr. Zhengshan!”

“Uh, actually there’s nothing special, just taking extra careful care!” Yang Zhenshan came back to his senses and replied perfunctorily.

Red Cloud was raised so well all thanks to the nourishment from the Spiritual Spring Water.

This matter was not easy to explain.

Zhao Yuan did not probe any further.

At noon, Yang Zhenshan treated Zhao Yuan to a hearty meal, naturally, the over a hundred soldiers who came with Zhao Yuan also had a meal at Yinghe Castle.

It’s hard for people to make such a trip; Yang Zhenshan couldn’t possibly neglect to provide a meal.

However, after seeing off Zhao Yuan, Yang Zhenshan began to worry about the horses.

Three hundred warhorses!

Where to place them was a problem, and their daily eating, drinking, and excreting was another.

Taking care of warhorses was a meticulous task, and feeding them was also a considerable expense.

The diet of the warhorses was not just fodder; every few days, they needed a meal supplemented with beans.

Keeping a horse was not cheaper than keeping a person.

Having no choice, Yang Zhenshan had to call Old Li back from Linguan Castle.

Old Li knew how to take care of horses and was also adept at handling numerous trivial matters, so Yang Zhenshan directly appointed him as the horse care officer of Yinghe Castle.

“Sir, winter is about to set in, we need to stockpile a large amount of fodder in advance!”

Old Li said after checking the stables.

“Then let’s stockpile. I’ll give you silver, you hire the military households in the garrison to harvest!” Yang Zhenshan promptly replied.

Although it was already autumn, after the heavy rain, the earth showed green again. The mountains and fields revived, and it was still possible to harvest some fodder.

“Hehe, your subordinate obeys!” Old Li cheerfully responded.

As Old Li got busy, Yang Zhenshan turned back to the study in the government office.

The autumn harvest was nearing its end; once Yang Mingwu returned, military training would also be on the agenda.

Yang Zhenshan sat in the study, pondering how this military training should proceed.

Unlike at Linguan Castle, where he could gather soldiers together for training, he couldn’t do the same at Yinghe Castle.

Mainly because if not trained together, he couldn’t secretly add Spiritual Spring Water to the soldiers’ regimen.

Without the nourishment of Spiritual Spring Water, the training effects on the soldiers would be much less.

Thus, Yang Zhenshan decided to conduct training in rotations, phases, and select additional training for the better performers.

Now that he had armaments and warhorses, he could train infantry as well as cavalry.

But whether infantry or cavalry, basic training was necessary.

The basic training lasted one month, and each garrison and signal tower would take turns coming to Yinghe Castle for training.

After the basic training, those who performed well would undergo enhanced training, focusing on specialized skills like mounted archery, spear skills, and swordsmanship for actual combat training.

At the same time, he could recruit displaced people, settle them, and by the time the second batch of soldiers completed basic training, the recruitment of displaced people should be nearly complete. From them, he could select the third and fourth batch of soldiers for training.

The entire training process would last about three to four months, and could likely be completed before the year’s end.

Yang Zhenshan made a detailed military training plan and distributed each task to everyone.

After sketching and planning all morning, Yang Zhenshan began assigning tasks.

“Ming Hao, Ming Hao!”

Yang Zhenshan called out in the study.

“Dad!”

Yang Minghao quickly ran in.

“Go call Chengze, Chengxu, Chengche, Qinwu to come here!” Yang Zhenshan instructed.

“Okay.” Yang Minghao responded, then quickly ran off again.

Although this young man sometimes made careless mistakes, he was very efficient at running errands.

Just after Yang Zhenshan had lunch, Yang Chengze and the other three arrived at the government office of Yinghe Castle.

“Chengze, you are in charge of recruiting displaced people. Anyone willing to come to our garrison, we will allocate uncultivated land to them, repair houses, and distribute six months of rations per person!” Yang Zhenshan announced the policy for recruiting displaced people.

There was plenty of wasteland around each garrison, mainly because no one was willing to clear new land.

As for housing, it could be constructed within the garrison, outpost, or.signal tower.

Regarding rations, that was what troubled Yang Zhenshan the most, as he was indeed short on food supplies now. However, once Yang Mingwu returned, his stockpile of food should last a while.

“Your subordinate obeys!” Yang Chengze took the booklet handed to him by Yang Zhenshan and replied.

“Chengxu, you are responsible for organizing the training. These are the instructors I selected from Linguan Castle and the training plan I’ve established.” Yang Zhenshan handed another booklet to Yang Chengxu.

Yang Chengxu grinned, showing his small canines, “Don’t worry, sir. I’ll do well!”

“Chengche, you are in charge of patrols. You can select twenty people from Linguan Castle. During the training period, you will be responsible for patrolling the four garrisons, seven outposts, and sixteen signal towers,” Yang Zhenshan told Yang Chengche.

Training was important, but so were defense duties. The defense at all locations should not be relaxed because of the training.

“Sir, if someone makes a mistake, how should they be handled?” Yang Chengche asked.

Yang Zhenshan solemnly replied, “Handle it according to military law during wartime! Make it clear to everyone in advance, and if there are still offenders, execute them on the spot!”

He had already cleaned up all the garrisons, outposts, and signal towers within Yinghe Castle’s jurisdiction, getting rid of those who were idle and incompetent.

Meanwhile, he had first established his authority, then provided water and food, building up a lot of prestige.

He believed that as long as there were no despicably lazy folks, they should not cause him trouble.

“Your subordinate understands!” Yang Chengche responded.

Yang Zhenshan nodded, then turned to Yang Qinwu.

This young man was the same age as Yang Minghao, but seemed more mature.

“Select twenty strong men from the garrison who can handle heavy work and hire them at a rate of fifteen coins per day!”

He needed to find a way for the military households in the garrison to earn money, and this task had to be scheduled as well.

“Yes!” Yang Qinwu replied.

With the tasks assigned, everyone got busy.