Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 127: Chapter 123 Fog

Pages upon pages detail the origins, experiences, and family situation of Zhou Ren.

Although some parts are not very detailed and some errors do occur, this does not hinder Yang Zhenshan’s understanding of him.

Because the errors are all in trivial matters.

By the time he finished reading the document, his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

What does this mean?

The garrison officer actually investigated him!

And scrutinized him thoroughly.

“Sir!”

With a thud, Zhou Ren knelt down.

Only then did Yang Zhenshan stop writing, raised his head, and looked at him with an indifferent expression.

“Do you wish to live or die?”

His voice was very calm, yet it was deafening in Zhou Ren’s ears.

Zhou Ren bowed his head to the ground, his body trembling like a sieve.

“Sir, I, I want to live!”

Yang Zhenshan slightly nodded, then stood up and walked out from behind the desk, grabbed him, and pulled him up from the ground.

“If you want to live, it’s easy!”

“I don’t know if you’ve heard a phrase!”

He didn’t wait for Zhou Ren to respond and continued: “A magistrate that wipes out families, a county magistrate that destroys homes.”

“I, as the garrison officer, am neither a magistrate nor a county magistrate, but I too can destroy homes and wipe out families!”

This is a feudal society, the force of power is far more formidable and terrifying than in modern times.

Moreover, this is a world with Martial Arts, where overwhelming individual martial prowess can sometimes override laws and morals.

In front of others, Yang Zhenshan dares not claim to hold power, yet in front of Zhou Ren, he is capable of controlling his life and death.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ren completely collapsed, and even as Yang Zhenshan was holding him, he still slumped to his knees.

“Sir, please spare my life!” he stammered.

Yang Zhenshan’s eyelids drooped, his expression still indifferent.

Xu Wanfu he cannot grasp for the time being, but this Zhou Ren, if he wants to manipulate, is merely a piece of cake.

Just a minor official without rank.

“It’s not difficult for you to live, just be utterly truthful to me!”

Yang Zhenshan has no intention of taking Zhou Ren’s life, as his life is not worth much.

What he wants is Zhou Ren’s knowledge of An Yuan State City.

As a newcomer, Yang Zhenshan cannot fathom the situation in An Yuan State City, let alone the officials under the garrison office.

Know yourself and your enemy, and you shall win a hundred battles.

He’s now in the dark, knows nothing, and can see through nothing, what can he do?

Thus, he needs someone who understands the garrison office, someone who understands An Yuan State City, and Zhou Ren is undoubtedly the best person who can meet his needs.

At this time, Zhou Ren also somewhat came to his senses, tremblingly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

“Sir, please ask, I will withhold nothing and omit nothing.”

“Very good!” A faint smile appeared on Yang Zhenshan’s face as he turned and walked back behind the desk.

“Let’s start with Cao Han — was he really only charged for corruption?”

Where Zhou Ren dared to hide anything, he directly said: “Sir, Cao Han was indeed charged for corruption. Three months ago, a large number of officials and soldiers suddenly arrived from Chongshan Pass Governor’s Office. They charged Cao Han with embezzlement of military provisions and misappropriate of funds during last year’s campaign against the East Sea Hu Clan.”

Yang Zhenshan nodded, aware of this, “Besides embezzling military provisions and misappropriating funds, what else did Cao Han do?”

Zhou Ren looked puzzled, “What do you mean, sir?”

“I want to know something that others might not be aware of,” said Yang Zhenshan.

Zhou Ren tensed up and quickly lowered his head, not daring to look at Yang Zhenshan again.

“What, are you unwilling to speak?” Yang Zhenshan’s voice turned icy.

“No, no!” Zhou Ren quickly denied, but he still said nothing.

Yang Zhenshan was not in a hurry, just watching him coldly.

Feeling his gaze sharp as a knife, Zhou Ren felt as if his heart was being tightly squeezed.

He hesitated, struggling.

After a long while, he began, “Sir, these are just my suspicions, I have not participated in them, nor do I know the specifics!”

“Speak!” instructed Yang Zhenshan.

Zhou Ren swallowed, speaking with some bitterness, “I suspect that Cao Han had colluded with the East Sea Hu Clan in the past!”

“What!”

Yang Zhenshan suddenly stood up, staring at him in shock.

Treason!

Damn!

This matter is a serious offense!

“Do you have any evidence?” Yang Zhenshan asked sternly.

“No, sir!”

Zhou Ren shook his head like a rattle drum, and said, “However, I have seen several individuals who looked like they were from the Hu Clan seeking Cao Han, and moreover, Cao Han often requisitioned food provisions.”

“What’s wrong with conscripting grain?” Yang Zhenshan asked.

The garrison office’s finances were divided into three parts: one portion came from the Military Equipment Department, which handled the provisions for the Camp Soldiers; another part came from the Assistant General Mansion or Guardian Department, and if they were to mobilize soldiers under the garrison commander, both the Assistant General Mansion and Guardian Department would need to allocate a portion of the provisions.

This involved changes in the soldiers’ rations. For instance, soldiers farming the garrison’s land didn’t receive rations; they only had the harvest from the fields, and the garrison would also take a portion of their harvest for the daily consumption of various government offices.

And the soldiers responsible for defending the city did receive rations, provided by the Military Equipment Department, and their rations would increase if they went out to fight.

The garrison office often conscripted food and fodder, sometimes from the garrison itself or drawing from the Military Equipment Department or Guardian Department. This sort of thing should be fairly common.

“Sir, Cao Han didn’t transport the fodder into the city; he transported it outside the city. And he never used soldiers from within the government office; the soldiers he used were ones I’ve never seen before!” Zhou Ren said.

Yang Zhenshan felt a headache coming on.

Transporting fodder outside.

Where did the fodder come from?

Certainly not from within the garrison office; he had seen their accounts before, and while there were many problems, major uses of fodder were traceable.

Plus Zhou Ren had never seen those soldiers, suggesting that they probably didn’t belong to the garrison office.

Inside An Yuan State City, other than the garrison office, where else were there large numbers of soldiers?

Other government offices might have some constables and able-bodied men, but definitely not hundreds of soldiers.

What did this imply?

It meant that there was an unknown army hidden within the city.

Combined with the cellar in the back yard of the government office, Yang Zhenshan felt he had a rough idea.

Someone in An Yuan State City was providing grain to the East Sea Hu Clan, perhaps not just providing but selling it.

The purpose?

Simply to make money.

Cao Han definitely wouldn’t side with the East Sea Hu Clan; compared to Da Rong, the East Sea Hu Clan were considered barbarians, and Cao Han came from a noble family – unless he was out of his mind, he wouldn’t side with the East Sea Hu Clan.

So his actions must have been just to make money.

Selling the grain outside the pass, the profit was probably several times higher, enough to tempt someone to take the risk.

And there must be more than just Cao Han involved.

Cao Han couldn’t cover up something this big.

“So it’s really a huge mess! I just don’t know who brought me here, and what they want me to do?”

“Marquis Changping Liang Chu? Governor Lu Chongde?”

“They both seem possible!”

Yang Zhenshan thought to himself.

“Zhou Lan must know something, but she didn’t tell me anything!”

Suddenly, a person flashed through his mind.

Lv Hua!

He had only seen Lv Hua once, during that encounter at the Assistant General Mansion.

His first impression of Lv Hua was that he was excessively handsome.

His second impression was that this guy was very troublesome.

However, this second impression was formed after he had heard a lot about the Secret Martial Guards.

And after Zhou Lan had mentioned the Blood Blade before, Yang Zhenshan was even more cautious of the Secret Martial Guards.

But thinking back now, Yang Zhenshan suddenly felt that his being inexplicably dispatched to An Yuan State City might very well have been orchestrated by Lv Hua.

“Did he want me to investigate Cao Han’s treason and sell-out?”

“No, that’s not right. I’m not familiar with An Yuan State City at all; even if they wanted someone to investigate, they shouldn’t have chosen me.”

“And they haven’t even contacted me, so it can’t be that they want me to cause chaos all by myself!”

Yang Zhenshan couldn’t figure out that Lv Hua’s intention was for him to act as a troublemaker.

Lv Hua’s goal in taking down Cao Han was to stir the nest, while sending Yang Zhenshan to An Yuan State City was to thoroughly muddy the waters.

At this moment, An Yuan State City was still peaceful, but under this peace, there lay a very large force, which had been supplying the East Sea Hu Clan with various resources including grain, salt, iron, textiles, and even military intelligence over the past twenty years.

The East Sea Hu Clan’s resurgence over twenty years was greatly attributable to this force.

The most critical point was that this force was very well-hidden; over twenty years, even the Secret Martial Guards had not detected any anomalies until after the East Sea Hu Clan began their border incursions, and the Secret Martial Guards only then caught some clues.

But it had been nearly two years since then, and the Secret Martial Guards still hadn’t fully understood this force.

Lv Hua was a very patient person. He knew that facing a force that had been hidden for over twenty years, one absolutely must not be careless.

Until they had clearly identified the key figures and evidence of this force, they couldn’t investigate openly.

Thus, he needed to make the situation within An Yuan State City chaotic, causing this hidden force to disrupt its own ranks and expose itself.

Naturally, Yang Zhenshan couldn’t unravel all these intricacies; all he felt now was a headache as if a fog lay before his eyes, making everything look blurry.

“What about Xu Wanfu?”

Yang Zhenshan, unable to puzzle it out, could only pull back his thoughts and continue to question Zhou Ren.

“Mr. Xu!” Zhou Ren paused, then said, “Mr. Xu has been the thousand commander for ten years!”

This statement might sound somewhat abrupt, but Yang Zhenshan understood the serious implication it carried.

Xu Wanfu had been the thousand commander for ten years, while Cao Han had only been in charge of the garrison in An Yuan State City for five years.

So the question was, did Xu Wanfu know what Cao Han was doing?

Xu Wanfu was the thousand commander whose task involved the city’s defense; if there were a hidden army within the city, would he not know?

Or perhaps this army was hidden within the garrison itself.