Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 124: Chapter 120

Yang Zhenshan looked meaningfully at the group of officials before him and spoke, “Who is the garrison office’s civil servant?”

The civil servant, similar to an administrative secretary, although not holding a rank, held a special status as the leader’s secretary.

“Sir, I am here!”

An elderly man with graying hair came forward from behind the military officers, bowing obsequiously to Yang Zhenshan.

Civil servants are not officials; they do not have ranks.

Yang Zhenshan had to consider the attitude of the Guardian Department when dealing with officials, but handling civil servants within the garrison office was merely a matter of his saying so.

These officials might dare to disregard him, but the civil servants inside the government office would not dare.

“Take me to the government office!”

At this moment, Yang Zhenshan, not wanting to speak further with these subordinates, directly mounted his horse and commanded, “Lead the way!”

The civil servant dared not say anything else, ignoring the other officials, and led the way in front.

Soon, their long procession entered the city, while the group of military officers stood there, looking at each other.

Eventually, everyone’s gaze fell on the middle-aged man at the front.

“Thousand commander, what should we do?” the garrison officer Tian Gui stepped forward and asked in a low voice.

Xu Wanfu, with a grim expression, watched the convoy enter the city, furrowed his brows, and said, “What else can we do? Let’s go back to the government office first and see if the garrison commander has any orders!”

Xu Wanfu, a commander of a thousand households, had a good chance of becoming the garrison commander of An Yuan State City after Cao Han was punished. However, despite pulling many strings, he did not secure the position.

Now with Yang Zhenshan taking office, he was naturally unwilling.

Of course, that was not the main reason. The real reason he showed disdain to Yang Zhenshan was because the position of garrison commander of An Yuan State City had some particular significance.

For him and for those behind him, it was a position they could not afford to lose.

Although he wished inside that Yang Zhenshan would disappear, outwardly, he still had to wait at the government office for Yang Zhenshan’s orders.

After all, Yang Zhenshan was their superior officer, and even if they were dissatisfied, they could not defy their superiors.

Meanwhile, Yang Zhenshan, unconcerned about Xu Wanfu and others’ thoughts, began to observe the city of An Yuan after entering.

An Yuan State was under the jurisdiction of Songzhou Prefecture, with Yuanhe County and Chengyang County subordinate to it.

Upon entering the city gate was South Street of the state city, where the bluestone-paved street was lined with taverns, teahouses, and shops in succession, and most of the pedestrians were dressed in ragged clothes, with a minority in fine silks, and also quite a few beggars along the streets.

As Yang Zhenshan entered the city, many pedestrians pointed and commented.

At this time, Yang Zhenshan did not bring ceremonial guards, but he wore the uniform of a Secondary Third Rank official, consisting of a black gauze cap, a tunicle, a sash, and a crimson robe with a tiger badge on the chest.

This attire marked him as the garrison commander of An Yuan State City.

In the entire An Yuan State City, other than Yang Zhenshan, no one else could wear this official robe.

“Is this the new garrison commander?”

“Definitely, wonder where he comes from!”

“He seems rather young!”

A group of bystanders stood by the road, discussing animatedly.

Yang Zhenshan, riding on horseback, suddenly heard someone comment about his youth and couldn’t help but look up.

Finally, someone willing to speak the truth, his earlier foul mood instantly improved.

Hmph, I’m only forty years old, whoever says I’m old, I’ll be angry with them.

Hmm, this person must be clear-sighted and honest, I’ll remember him and invite him for tea if we meet again.

Yang Zhenshan nodded amiably at the young man who had spoken.

Amidst the crowd’s chatter, Yang Zhenshan arrived at the garrison office.

The garrison office was quite impressive, with a gate over ten feet wide and stone lions at the entrance, constructed with blue bricks and green tiles, looking extremely imposing.

“Sir, we’ve arrived!” said the civil servant standing in front of Red Cloud, nodding and bowing.

“Is the backyard ready?” Yang Zhenshan asked as he dismounted.

Officials of various levels in Da Rong usually resided in the back courtyard of the government office, such as the County Magistrate, Prefect, Magistrate, Commander of the Guard, and commander of thousand households, etc.

This convenience allowed the officials to work within the government office without the hassle of commuting.

If Yang Zhenshan was in Songzhou Guard, he would need to rent or purchase a residence to live in, but in An Yuan State City, he could directly reside in the garrison office’s back courtyard.

“Sir, everything is ready!” the civil servant said.

“Let’s go to the backyard first!” Yang Zhenshan said.

“Yes!”

The civil servant quickly led him toward the back of the garrison office.

The back courtyard of the office also had a gate, facilitating the entry and exit for family members.

The Front Office was for official business, and surely family members could not freely come and go.

Circling to the back, a group of women and children came down from the carriage.

“Grandpa, is this our new home?” Yang Chengye held onto Yang Zhenshan’s robe, looking up at this unfamiliar place.

“Yes, this is our new home, let’s go inside and take a look!” Yang Zhenshan said, picking him up.

Afterwards, he carried Chengye through the gate, but he was stunned as he entered.

Is the government office’s backyard too lavish?

At that moment, a young civil servant, sweating profusely, came running and handed a map to the civil servant who had led the way, who then approached Yang Zhenshan and said, “Sir, this is the map of the backyard!”

A map!

Yang Zhenshan fell silent.

A backyard that actually needs a map!

Well, this can no longer be called just a backyard.

Taking the map, Yang Zhenshan started to look it over.

The entire courtyard is large, with two front and back gardens, and a pond between the two gardens. The main residence is located at the very back, plus there are six additional courtyards with luxurious gardens and ponds on both sides.

Just the main court alone is bigger than the back court of the official residence at Yinghe Castle, not to mention the gardens, the pond, and other courtyards.

“Who built this courtyard?” Yang Zhenshan curiously asked.

“Uh, my lord, several previous garrison officers have expanded it,” the civil servant replied.

Yang Zhenshan raised his eyebrows.

Tsk tsk!

The previous garrison officers were all corrupt!

How else could they build and afford such a large and fine courtyard?

The key point is that the back courtyard of the government office isn’t the private property of the garrison, it is merely a temporary residence; at most, they would stay for seven or eight years, and yet they were willing to spend a lot on constructing and arranging a courtyard that didn’t belong to them.

However, it seems to have turned out to his advantage now; staying in such a fine courtyard must be comfortable.

It’s just that there are too few members of the Yang family; they couldn’t possibly occupy so many courtyards.

“Ms. Wang, you and your family take the courtyard east of the main residence; Ming Hao, you and your family take the courtyard west of the main residence; Yunyan, you and your family take the courtyard east of the pond; Yunxue and Yun Qiao, you two take the courtyard west of the pond.”

“Wenhua, Lin Zhan, Da Shan. You all go live in the front courtyard!”

Yes, the back courtyard also has a front and back area; the back courtyard being the pond, gardens, and smaller courts Yang Zhenshan just saw, while the front courtyard is behind the government office, containing the hall, study, tea room, side chambers, ear chambers, back chambers, etc.

Yang Zhenshan arranged everything meticulously.

This large courtyard feels incredibly spacious even with dozens of people; not to mention the master living areas, even the servant rooms in the rear suites were numerous.

Besides, each courtyard has ear chambers and side chambers, and there is even a large stable on the left side.

Damn, this courtyard could fit three to four hundred people without feeling crowded, and how many did Yang Zhenshan bring with him?

Including servants and soldiers, not more than a hundred.

Soon, everyone’s living quarters were arranged, and they began to sort out their belongings.

Yang Zhenshan’s belongings, naturally, didn’t require his own sorting; Wu Hai had already led people into the main residence, arranging his study and bedroom first.

Just now, a crowd of people squeezed at the door, making it seem somewhat crowded, but now each returning to their respective quarters, Yang Zhenshan suddenly felt the house seemingly a bit desolate.

Especially the main residence, living alone there felt all too spacious.

“It seems I need to buy some more servants!”

Yang Zhenshan stood in front of the main residence door, gazing at the empty garden.

It was already winter, and the plants in the garden had long since withered; nothing was pleasing to see.

Just maintaining such a large courtyard would require a substantial amount of manpower.

With the current number of servants the Yang family had, they couldn’t possibly take care of such a large estate.

“Sir!”

Song Dashan approached.

“Is everything arranged?” Yang Zhenshan asked.

Song Dashan’s family had all come, parents, younger siblings, wife and children, totaling eight members.

“Mhm, everything is arranged; Mr. Wenhua assigned us a small courtyard,” Song Dashan said with a simple smile.

He was very satisfied with his small courtyard, which though not large, was more than sufficient for his family.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, then handed a map to him, saying: “Please take some trouble and start as the Protector of the estate!”

This time, he had only brought twenty soldiers, and these soldiers were his personal guards, not many in number but all elite.

Even though he had just arrived at An Yuan State City, he felt the waters of An Yuan State City were quite deep.

Before clarifying the situation, it was necessary to have protective measures in place.

“While we’re at it, check inside and outside the entire courtyard thoroughly for me!”

“Yes, sir!”

Song Dashan took the order and led the men to inspect.

At this moment, the civil servant cautiously approached and said: “Sir, the other lords are still waiting at the Front Office.”

Yang Zhenshan glanced at him, asking: “What’s your name?”

“The humble one is called Zhou Ren.”

“How many years have you been a civil servant?”

“I entered the service of the garrison office in the eighth year of Chengping, and was appointed as a civil servant in the thirteenth year of Chengping; it has been twelve years now.”

“Twelve years!”

Yang Zhenshan stroked his beard, his eyes turning contemplative.

There’s a saying, ’the ironclad county government, the flowing county officials.’

This phrase is applicable to any government office.

Every government office has civil servants and strongmen, and while officials are replaced generation after generation, civil servants and strongmen might stay their whole lives.

Although civil servants and strongmen do change, as long as they do not make major mistakes, they generally do not get replaced.

This is because they are very familiar with the affairs of the government office, even more so than the officials.

The person before him had been a civil servant for twelve years, certainly a capable individual.

However, the key is that the previous garrison officer, Cao Han, was prosecuted for corruption, and yet he still remains a civil servant in the garrison office!

Did he not know about Cao Han’s corruption?

Did he not partake in Cao Han’s corruption?

That’s definitely impossible, being a civil servant means he could hardly be unaware of anything major or minor happening within the office.

If it were a short duration, perhaps he could be kept in the dark, but Cao Han’s corruption definitely wasn’t a matter of just one or two days.

“Go to the Front Office and tell them that I am tired today and won’t meet them; let’s wait until tomorrow.”

Yang Zhenshan spoke in an even tone.

“Yes, sir, I understand!”

Zhou Ren bowed and left.

Yang Zhenshan watched his retreating figure, lost in thought.