Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 273: Chapter 264: Martial Arts Family Born from Decay

After passing Jing’an Prefecture, the team traveled over a hundred miles eastward and entered the territory of Qinghua Prefecture.

The Tenglong Guard was located in the southeastern part of Qinghua Prefecture, but even though the Tenglong Guard was not under the jurisdiction of Qinghua Prefecture, the military households and farmlands of a garrison were usually managed by the garrison itself, and neither the county government nor the prefectural government office had the right to intervene.

In simple terms, a garrison was not just a pure military organization, but also carried out administrative management duties.

To a great extent, a garrison, much like a prefecture, state, or county, was an independent management system, governing aspects like population, land, finances, judiciary, education, and civil affairs within the garrison.

And the Tenglong Guard was different from other garrisons; other garrisons had the responsibility to guard part of the city walls, or other duties.

For example, within Qinghua Prefecture, there were three garrisons, with the first being the Qinghua Guard. The Qinghua Guard had five divisions, each with its own thousand households, and aside from the farmland duties, they were also responsible for the city defense of the prefectural city. However, this city defense differed from the garrison office of An Yuan City.

Qinghua Prefecture did not have a garrison office, so the responsibilities of the soldiers from Qinghua Guard were limited to patrolling the city walls and standing guard at the gates, while matters such as city patrolling, criminal capture, and public security were all taken care of by the prefectural government office.

The second one was the Prince Qing Guard, which was also a garrison consisting of five divisions of thousand households. They were responsible for the protection of the King City.

The guard of a Prince differed from a local garrison in that local garrisons were under the jurisdiction of the Governor’s Office, whereas the Prince Guard was under the dual jurisdiction of both the Prince and the Governor’s Office.

However, under normal circumstances, a Prince would manage his own guards, and as long as it wasn’t excessive, the Governor’s Office wouldn’t really be strict with a Prince.

The third garrison was the Tenglong Guard. Due to the Tenglong Guard’s special history, the Liao Yuan Prefecture Governor’s Office had no jurisdiction over it; it was directly subordinate to the Central Army Commander’s Mansion.

And the organization of the Tenglong Guard was also different from that of a general garrison, consisting of front, back, left, and right guards, each with its own divisions of thousand households.

According to the organization, the Tenglong Guard should have over 22,000 military households, that is, over 22,000 soldiers.

An institution with over 20,000 households that also carries out administrative management is essentially not much different from a county.

The key point is that it is not under the jurisdiction of the Governor’s Office but directly subordinate to the Central Army Commander’s Mansion, and naturally, the Central Army Commander’s Mansion cannot monitor a garrison all the time, even if it is a special one. After all, they also govern two border towns and four Governors.

Therefore, to become the Commander of the Tenglong Guard is almost like becoming a County Magistrate, and this “Magistrate” also has military power and relatively independent rights.

This seems quite nice, but the actual situation is not nice at all; it’s terrible.

The Governor’s Office doesn’t care, the Central Army Commander’s Mansion is indifferent, resulting in the Tenglong Guard becoming a forgotten existence.

Without the support of senior offices, relying only on the Tenglong Guard’s self-sufficiency, the outcome can be well imagined.

According to the organization, the Tenglong Guard should have over 22,000 military households, but the actual situation is that there are now less than 10,000 military households in the Tenglong Guard. Those missing households were either extinct or had sold themselves.

Over a hundred years, more than 12,000 households disappeared, and the situation of the Tenglong Guard can be imagined.

When Yang Zhenshan finished listening to Ding Qiu’s report, his brow was so furrowed it looked like it could kill a fly.

This really is a huge pitfall!

No wonder it took Liang Chu over a decade to turn the Yunlong Dragon Guard into elite troops.

Tenglong Guard used to have four guards, and now it has less than two guards. This is frankly ridiculous.

But then again, is this deliberate on the part of the Central Army Commander’s Mansion?

To downgrade this special garrison into an ordinary one?

“What’s the current situation with the garrison’s government office?”

In the carriage, Yang Zhenshan, riding on a horse, asked Ding Qiu who was beside him.

Ding Qiu replied softly, “The position of the Commander of the Tenglong Guard has been vacant for over a decade. Currently, the Tenglong Guard is governed by two Deputy Commanders and four Assistant Commanders!”

Other garrisons at most would have two Deputy Commanders and two Assistant Commanders, and some garrisons do not even have these two positions. But the Tenglong Guard not only has two Deputy Commanders but also four Assistant Commanders.

And most importantly, the position of Commander has been vacant for over a decade.

“Why has the position of Commander been vacant for more than a decade?” Yang Zhenshan asked.

Ding Qiu spoke solemnly, “I think it might have to do with the Lan family.”

“The Lan family?” Yang Zhenshan became even more puzzled.

“Yes, this Lan family is a Martial Arts Family of the Tenglong Guard.”

Before Ding Qiu could finish, Yang Zhenshan interrupted, “Wait, do you mean the Lan family is one of the military households of the Tenglong Guard?”

“Yes, according to our investigations, the Lan family was an ordinary military household a hundred years ago!” Ding Qiu replied.

Yang Zhenshan’s expression darkened instantly.

A century of decay births a Martial Arts Family within the Tenglong Guard itself!

This may not seem too unusual since a hundred years is enough time for a family to rise up, but let’s not forget that we’re talking about military households.

It is more difficult for a military household to rise up compared to other ordinary citizens, because military households are more restricted, and this was compounded by the neglect of the Tenglong Guard.

“Does the Lan family have officers in the Tenglong Guard?” Yang Zhenshan continued to question.

Ding Qiu looked somewhat peculiar and said, “Yes, but only a few Commanders of a thousand households.”

“So how do they control the Tenglong Guard?”

“The Lan family owns two hundred thousand mu of good farmland, has over a thousand servants, dozens of shops, and they are also the largest grain merchants of the Tenglong Guard!”

Yang Zhenshan was rendered completely speechless.

The Tenglong Guard is a garrison, and as such, it should primarily focus on farming.

In Da Rong, the farmland owned by the military households ranged from twenty to fifty mu, and depending on the area, there were discrepancies in the amount of farmland owned.

In Qinghua Prefecture, each military household should have thirty mu of farmland.

Based on the Tenglong Guard having over 22,000 military households, the Tenglong Guard should possess between six hundred thousand and seven hundred thousand mu of farmland.

Yet the Lan family occupies one-third of that.

Apart from that, the Lan family’s thousands of servants are likely also from military households.

Furthermore, they even control the grain trade of the Tenglong Guard.

Garrison stationed fields are self-sufficient; ordinary military households, after a busy year, can only harvest a little grain. If they want to purchase other items, they need to sell their grain for money.

This means that grain trade is the most important business in the garrison and is also the foundational layer of garrison commerce.

Controlling the grain trade in the garrison is equivalent to controlling all the commercial activities of military households within it.

Without thinking, Yang Zhenshan knows that the Lan family’s trade must be one of buying low and selling high, but this “buying low” does not follow market prices.

In other words, they are exploiting the entire military households of the Tenglong Guard through controlling the grain trade.

Under these circumstances, the officials of the Tenglong Guard still have no way to deal with the Lan family.

The reason is simple, the strength of the Lan family is one aspect, the most important is probably that the Lan family also has their own backers or support.

Thinking this through, Yang Zhenshan instructed: “You go back and continue to investigate, see if you can find out who’s backing the Lan family!”

He took a deep breath and then continued, “See if this Lan family is related to Prince Qing Mansion!”

The most likely force to be the Lan family’s backer is undoubtedly Prince Qing Mansion.

“Your old servant obeys!” Ding Qiu replied!

“Alright, be careful. The Lan family’s roots run deep in Tenglong Guard, you must act prudently when dealing with them!” Yang Zhenshan said.

“Don’t worry master, we’ll be careful!” Ding Qiu said.

Now the Yang Family Guards are not numerous; those initial twenty youths have grown up and their strength is at the Refining Power Level or the Postnatal Early Stage, forming the core strength of the Yang Family Guards.

Additionally, every year the Yang family selects a few young people with good potential from the servants to join the guards. Over the years, about a dozen have been picked, and they constitute the reserve force of the Yang Family Guards.

Currently, there are over forty people in the Yang Family Guards, with more than ten accompanying Wu Zheng to the Capital City, and another dozen or so with Wu Zhan responsible for guarding the Yang Family members on outings, the remaining dozen are with Ding Qiu, ready to be dispatched at any moment.

Yang Zhenshan typically doesn’t need the Yang Family Guards by his side since he has twenty Personal Followers, and these twenty are far more formidable than the Yang Family Guards.

Each one is a Postnatal Martial Artist, not to mention that they’ve followed Yang Zhenshan through the battlefield, in and out of slaughter.

Of course, the resources that Yang Zhenshan invests in them are the most abundant, even more so than for the Yang Family Guards.

Once Ding Qiu left, Yang Zhenshan continued on his way by horse. The others from the Yang Family did not know the situation in Tenglong Guard and were looking forward to it.

Or it could be said that they do not care what Tenglong Guard is like now; as long as they are with Yang Zhenshan, they feel secure.

“Daddy, Daddy, I want to ride a horse!”

In the carriage, Yang Chengxian called out to Yang Mingzhi outside.

In the convoy, both Yang Chengye and Yang Chengmao rode horses, as they disliked staying inside the carriage.

At ten years old, Yang Chengye and eight years old, Yang Chengmao, were still young but had no issue in horse riding.

Seeing both of them able to ride horses, Yang Chengxian was very envious.

“You are still young. When you’ve grown up, you can ride with your brothers!” Yang Mingzhi said with a smile.

“No, Daddy, I want to ride a horse now!” Yang Chengxian whined, trying to climb out of the carriage.

“You child!” Ms. Li grabbed hold of him from inside.

But beside her, there was another chatty Yang Wanting, “Daddy, I want to ride a horse too!”

“It’s cold outside, both of you behave yourselves!” Ms. Li felt a headache coming on.

These two little ones never settled down for a moment; getting them to sit quietly in the carriage was harder than ascending to the heavens.

At this point, she immensely envied her eldest sister-in-law and eldest wife.

Ms. Wang was stricter with the children. Although Yang Wanqing was also tender and affectionate, she was generally quiet. Yang Wanyi was just over a year old, and although she liked to cry a lot, it was easier to take care of her because she was still small.

As for Yang Yunyan’s two children, Jiang Ning was five years old and Jiang Miao was three. Little Jiang Ning was the most well-behaved, just like his dad Jiang He, not fond of talking much, while little Jiang Miao was the most adorable and the Old Man’s favorite.

Thinking of Jiang Ning and Jiang Miao and then looking at the two restless monkeys beside her, Ms. Li felt incredibly exhausted.

Fortunately, her eldest son was quite reliable. Despite his young age, he already had a sense of stability, which was a slight consolation for her.

“What kind of mischief are you up to now, you little monkey?”

At this time, Yang Minghao rode over, amused by Yang Chengxian struggling to climb out, and said.

“Third Uncle, take me for a ride!”

Yang Chengxian stretched out his hands, calling out.

Yang Minghao laughed heartily, “Second Sister-in-law, I’ll take him for a ride!”

Then, he reached out and hoisted the little monkey straight out of the carriage.

Putting the little one in front of him and wrapping him up tightly in his big cloak, leaving only a small head exposed.

“Hold on tight, don’t wriggle about!”

“Third Uncle, go fast!” The little one was already excited and did not heed Yang Minghao’s words, squirming constantly.

Yang Minghao didn’t mind and sped towards the front.

Soon after, Yang Mingzhi, pestered by Yang Wanting, had no choice but to take the little girl for a spin as well.

In Liaodong during October, it is already very cold, with nighttime temperatures dipping down to minus five or six degrees, and daytime highs only around twelve or thirteen degrees.

Riding a horse at a slightly faster pace makes one feel like the cold wind is cutting into one’s face like ice blades.