Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 280: Chapter 271: The Loyal General Yang

However, writing a memorial was not Yang Zhenshan’s forte.

While he had practiced writing with a brush over the years, producing neat, square characters—not quite an expert in calligraphy but decently presentable.

But writing a memorial required not only neatness but also careful choice of words and phrases.

Yang Zhenshan was particularly inept at those verbose formalities.

So, he jotted down his thoughts and then had Lin Zhan come over to embellish them a bit.

Yes, Lin Zhan.

There was no other way, as Lin Zhan was now the most learned in the Yang family.

Seeing Lin Zhan’s vigorous and composed calligraphy, Yang Zhenshan couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

He was actually not as good as a teenager!

“It looks like I should find you a good teacher!”

In the study, Yang Zhenshan remarked with some emotion as he looked at the memorial Lin Zhan had revised.

In martial arts, Yang Zhenshan had no problem teaching Lin Zhan, but when it came to studying, he was far outmatched by Lin Zhan.

The path of the imperial examinations was not easy either; to achieve success required talent and effort as basics, but also the guidance of a great teacher.

And this guidance from an esteemed teacher was precisely what Lin Zhan lacked.

Hearing Yang Zhenshan’s sigh, Lin Zhan’s eyes lit up as he asked, “Master, can you help me find a suitable teacher?”

“You lad, you perk right up when it comes to studying!” Yang Zhenshan looked at him with amusement.

Lin Zhan was indeed diligent, even more so than Wang Yunqiao in martial arts with higher cultivation and already a Scholar at just fifteen, qualifying him to take the examination for Scholar this year.

Lin Zhan laughed sheepishly and with folded hands admitted his eagerness, “The disciple was too hasty!”

Yang Zhenshan stroked his beard, pondering. Lin Zhan sought to take the imperial exams and aimed for success because of the expectations of his father.

For years, Lin Zhan had been working hard for this very reason.

Yang Zhenshan hoped Lin Zhan could achieve success in the imperial examinations, but finding a great teacher for Lin Zhan was indeed no easy task.

Among the people he knew, the most learned were certainly Liu Yuanfu and his son. Liu Yuanfu was out of the question; as the Right Imperial Censor of the Imperial Examination Hall, he was always busy with official duties and probably didn’t have time to teach students, besides being old and likely lacking the energy to mentor another student.

“I’ll write a letter to Mr. Liu Zhe to ask him to be your teacher, or at least to recommend one for you!”

Yang Zhenshan thought Liu Zhe to be the most suitable, although Liu Zhe had never participated in the imperial examinations; his learning was not inferior. He hadn’t taken the examinations because Liu Yuanfu forbid it, believing that the court was too complicated and not wanting Liu Zhe to live a life of ups and downs in it, just as he had.

At Yinghe Castle, Liu Zhe had once taught Lin Zhan, creating a teacher-student relationship.

Now to ask him to teach Lin Zhan again, he probably would not refuse.

“Then I’ll trouble Master with this request!” Lin Zhan bowed deeply and said.

Yang Zhenshan patted his shoulder, adding a precondition, “However, there’s something I need to make clear first!”

“Please speak, Master!”

“Studying is important, but so is martial arts training. You must not neglect your martial arts because of studying!” Yang Zhenshan said earnestly.

Martial arts cultivation regresses if not advanced. Now was the time for Lin Zhan to lay his foundation; any slack could impact his future achievements in martial arts.

Yang Zhenshan could not guarantee Lin Zhan’s success on the imperial examinations, but he could assure Lin Zhan would become a martial arts strongman.

“Disciple understands and will not disappoint Master’s expectations!” Lin Zhan bowed deeply again.

“Mm!”

Yang Zhenshan was very confident in Lin Zhan, who was young but consistently mature and decisive.

After sending Lin Zhan out, Yang Zhenshan wrote a letter to Liu Zhe and sent both the memorial and the letter to the Capital City.

…

A few days later.

In the study within the Imperial City, Emperor Chengping read the memorial from Yang Zhenshan.

He had some understanding of the situation with the Tenglong Guard, but it had only been a cursory inquiry without much depth.

He knew that the Tenglong Guard had been severely neglected, but he did not expect them to be almost completely ruined.

As for the Lan family, Emperor Chengping naturally would not pay attention to a minor martial arts family.

But now, after reading Yang Zhenshan’s memorial, Emperor Chengping’s face turned sour.

“Such audacity from the Lan family, they deserve death!”

Emperor Chengping understood that too much purity in governance will leave no room for practicality; he controlled the Secret Martial Guards and was well aware of every court official’s assets. Many officials were greedy, but as long as it wasn’t egregious, he usually turned a blind eye.

He wasn’t afraid of officials pocketing bribes because he could always reclaim the money they extorted.

But an entity like the Lan family was utterly repugnant to him, even infuriating!

Seeing Emperor Chengping’s displeasure, Chen, the eunuch, discerned his thoughts and quickly spoke, “Your Majesty, please quell your anger. The death sentence for the Lan family is warranted, and General Yang has handled things exceedingly well!”

“Just after assuming his post, General Yang had decisively and forcefully eradicated the Lany family who had been leeching off of the Tenglong Guard for decades. Truly resolute action and a sharp approach!”

“With General Yang at the Tenglong Guard, this servant believes it won’t be long before the Tenglong Guard is restored to its former glory!”

His words visibly improved Emperor Chengping’s mood.

The misdeeds of the Lan family angered him, yet Yang Zhenshan’s conduct brought him relief. After all, Yang Zhenshan was personally appointed by him as the Commander of the Tenglong Guard.

“You old fox, you do have a way with words!”

“However, you’re right, Yang Zhenshan is a capable man!”

Chen eunuch’s old face smiled like a chrysanthemum as he said, “Not only is General Yang capable, but he is also fiercely loyal to Your Majesty. All the gold, silver, and grain from the Lan family were reported truthfully to Your Majesty by General Yang, which shows his loyalty!”

He praised Yang Zhenshan not because he genuinely liked or thought highly of him, but simply because he wanted to curry favor with Emperor Chengping.

Yet for Yang Zhenshan, these few words significantly increased Emperor Chengping’s favorable impression of him.

The anger on Emperor Chengping’s face dissipated completely, replaced by a faint smile.

He looked again at the contents of the memorial and after a slight pause said, “Let’s leave this money and grain to the Tenglong Guard for now. Go notify Duke Ning that there is no need to allocate money and grain to the Tenglong Guard for the next three years!”

Although the Lan family left behind a substantial amount of money and grain, the Tenglong Guard would soon have many expenses.

It would be impossible to train the Tenglong Guard into an elite force without significant investment of silver.

“Yes!” Chen eunuch responded, and then arranged for a young eunuch to deliver the message to Duke Ning.

…

Tenglong Guard.

Yang Zhenshan had been busy for days and finally managed to establish the framework for the Guardian Department.

The Guardian Department is not a minor office, but a large one encompassing the garrison commander, Experience Bureau, and over a dozen other departments.

It included more than ten officials of various ranks and nearly one hundred archivists and scribes.

The previous Guardian Department was almost completely neglected, lacking even the necessary departments typically found in such an office, and only had a dozen or so archivists and scribes.

One could say the previous Guardian Department couldn’t even function normally.

To fill the vacancies for archivists and scribes in the Guardian Department, Yang Zhenshan had no choice but to temporarily select some individuals from the garrison soldiers.

This is when the benefits of Yang Zhenshan’s requirement for soldiers to read and write became evident.

While the soldiers were not highly educated, they could still handle some clerical work without a problem.

After several days, the Guardian Department could finally operate normally, and Yang Zhenshan shifted his attention to the thousand households.

In the study, Yang Zhenshan summoned people like Song Dashan and Xie Yuan.

“How have you been getting on with the inspections of the various thousand households in these days?”

Yang Zhenshan sat behind the desk and looked at the yellow register of the Tenglong Guard as he asked.

“We’ve more or less finished the inspections. Ah, except for the Advanced Guard, the rest are practically non-existent,” said Xie Yuan with some gloom.

The establishment of the Tenglong Advanced Guard was still relatively complete, with the military households and soldiers of the four thousand households almost at full capacity.

The remaining thousand households had only about one-third of their military households and soldiers left, and those military households were very poor, and the soldiers lacked training.

Yang Zhenshan was aware of the situation, so he was not surprised.

“First, transfer all officials ranked Hundred Households and above from the Advanced Guard, and then install our own soldiers. Leave two hundred soldiers to be responsible for the defense of Guard City!”

The Tenglong Guard was not just short of military households and soldiers, but also officers.

Yang Zhenshan didn’t want to use any of the previous thousand households and hundred households, but the Tenglong Advanced Guard was an exception. To avoid causing turmoil and to appease the military households and soldiers of the Tenglong Advanced Guard, Yang Zhenshan decided to transfer out the officers of the Advanced Guard first evenly.

If these people were sensible and did their duties diligently, Yang Zhenshan would not pursue the matter any further.

But if someone dared to cause trouble, Yang Zhenshan wouldn’t mind sending them to join the Lan family.

“Give back the indentures to those servants and tenant farmers of the Lan family, and help them change their registration to become military households of our Tenglong Guard!”

Yang Zhenshan continued.

There were more than two thousand households of servants and tenant farmers from the Lan family, who were originally military households of the Tenglong Guard. Now it was simply a matter of returning their original household registration to them.

As for their willingness, of course, they would be willing.

Being military households, however bad, was still better than being slaves.

Having signed servitude contracts, their descendants would be servants for generations, forever unable to turn their fortunes around.

Turning them into military households would definitely make them grateful to Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan continued to look at the yellow register, silently counting the military households currently owned by the Tenglong Guard.

The Advanced Guard had over five thousand households, the other Three Guards had over four thousand households, plus the servants and tenant farmers from the Lan family, made a total of around twelve thousand households.

“Let’s redistribute all the military households, three thousand to each Guard, six hundred to each thousand households!”

There would definitely be a shortfall of military households and soldiers, and this was a problem that could not be solved in the short term. Yang Zhenshan couldn’t just bring in nearly ten thousand military households from outside.

But this was not an issue; first, he needed to establish the framework for the Tenglong Four Guards and get all the thousand households operating.

Fortunately, there were still several months before the next year’s spring plowing, giving Yang Zhenshan time to reestablish the Tenglong Four Guards.

“After the distribution of military households, immediately reallocate the military farmlands! We must ensure next year’s spring plowing!”

“Yes!”

Xie Yuan responded and then said, “My lord, could we allocate some grain first?”

Yang Zhenshan smiled, “Sure! Later, go find Zhou Ren and let him open two granaries to directly distribute two stones of grain to each household!”

Distributing grain was essential; firstly, to allow the poor military households to eat their fill, and secondly, to stabilize morale.

As for whether opening the granaries would cause trouble, Yang Zhenshan thought it wouldn’t be a big issue. The Tenglong Guard was in urgent need of grain, and he didn’t believe the Central Army Commander’s Mansion would refuse to provide any grain at all.

They would have to leave some of the grain from the sixteen granaries for him.

At this point, he did not yet know that Emperor Chengping had decided to leave all of the Lan family’s money and grain with the Tenglong Guard, otherwise, he would have jumped for joy.