Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 291: Chapter 282: Reunion with Luo Shang

Tenglong Guard, within the Guardian Department.

“General Yang is benevolent and righteous. I, Wang, am thankful to General Yang for maintaining peace and security for the people, for eliminating harm, and for relieving the suffering of the people…”

Inside the main hall of the government office, Wang Zhenze continuously clenched his fists in a bowing salute towards Yang Zhenshan, as various flattering words blurted out ceaselessly.

Next to him, Shang Mingde chimed in, “Exactly, General Yang is benevolent and selfless!”

The two of them echoed each other, making Yang Zhenshan somewhat embarrassed.

’Am I really that good?’

Yang Zhenshan stroked his beard, smiling at the corners of his mouth, muttering to himself in his heart.

If you say he’s benevolent, that can be counted; he helped the Wang family retrieve their cotton cloth and returned the full amount of Silver Coin, which naturally falls under being benevolent. If it had been anyone else, the Wang family would likely not have recovered a single copper coin.

If you say he eliminated threats for the people, this is also true, as he indeed wiped out a group of bandits.

But to say he is completely selfless, Yang Zhenshan felt a bit embarrassed.

“Cough cough, Family Head Shang, Manager Wang, haha, please take a seat!”

Yang Zhenshan had to interrupt the flattery and invite them to sit down.

“Many thanks, General Yang!”

The two thanked him with clasped fists, and then they sat down beside Yang Zhenshan.

“General Yang retrieved the cotton cloth for me and paid the exact amount due; I truly cannot thank you enough!” Wang Zhenze spoke with genuine emotion this time.

Previously, he had completely given up on that batch of cotton cloth, considering it as a loss to avoid disaster.

But he never expected that not only would Yang Zhenshan retrieve the cotton cloth, but he also sent someone to Jing’an City to invite him to collect the payment.

When Wang Zhenze received this news, he was at first incredulous, and then moved to the point of nearly crying.

Sobs, General Yang is benevolent!

General Yang is a good man!

“Hehe, it’s just a minor matter, not worth mentioning!” Yang Zhenshan sipped on his tea, smiling lightly.

“To the general, it may be a small matter, but to me, it was lifesaving!”

“General may not know, but losing that batch of cotton cloth, along with the injured and deceased workers and the Martial Artist, I almost lost nearly half of my worth!”

“If not for the general’s righteousness, my business might have taken years to recover!”

Wang Zhenze remained full of gratitude.

Although previously he exaggerated to Shang Mingde that he lost most of his worth, in front of Yang Zhenshan, he didn’t dare lie.

In fact, several large cloth merchants in Jing’an Prefecture have only risen in recent years. Previously, the Liang family was the largest cloth merchant in Jing’an Prefecture. After the Liang family was looted, the Wang, Zhang, and Lin families had the opportunity to rise.

Considering the timeline, the Wang family only rose three years ago, with limited heritage, it really could not withstand much turmoil.

“I really do not know how else to express my thanks to the general, I can only offer a modest gift as a token of my gratitude!”

Saying so, Wang Zhenze handed Yang Zhenshan a gift list.

Yang Zhenshan did not refuse either, accepting the gift list.

There’s a saying that goes– reciprocity is the essence of social interaction.

He must accept this token of thanks, otherwise, it would be like rejecting someone from a thousand miles away.

Wang Zhenze’s gift of thanks was not particularly valuable, after all, that batch of cotton cloth was only worth a few thousand taels of silver.

“Then I shall accept it with much appreciation!”

“Haha~~”

Yang Zhenshan gladly accepted the token of thanks.

The smiles on the faces of Wang Zhenze and Shang Mingde became even more sincere.

They were genuinely happy about Yang Zhenshan’s demeanor.

Wang Zhenze is a merchant and merchants are generally considered lower in status to officials; whenever he meets officials, each one of them has an air of superiority, and he can only flatter cautiously.

Shang Mingde is a Martial Artist, whose status is naturally much higher than a merchant’s, but when facing officials, he still has to be extremely careful.

This time, he followed Wang Zhenze, hoping to build some rapport with General Yang.

Afterwards, the three chatted for quite a while, mostly discussing the situation in Jing’an Prefecture. There wasn’t much to talk about, but since Yang Zhenshan was from Jing’an Prefecture and wanted to learn more about it, the conversation didn’t go cold.

At noon, Yang Zhenshan hosted a banquet for the two of them at the residence, which greatly flattered them.

By the time they left, their impressions of Yang Zhenshan had completely changed.

Earlier, they had heard that Yang Zhenshan was a god of slaughter on the battlefield, and believed him to be a general filled with a murderous aura. After Yang Zhenshan had helped the Wang family retrieve their cotton cloth, they thought him very righteous. And after truly interacting with Yang Zhenshan, his gentle demeanor added several degrees of geniality to their impression of him.

From then on, whenever they mentioned Yang Zhenshan in front of others, they couldn’t help praising him as both righteous and kind.

In reality, Yang Zhenshan did not think much of Shang Mingde and Wang Zhenze; he just felt that he might need them in the future, so he was a bit more enthusiastic towards them.

As for concerns about social status, he did not care about these things in the first place, and naturally, he would not deliberately belittle them.

Shang Mingde and Wang Zhenze stayed overnight in Guard City, and early the next morning, Yang Zhenshan personally saw them out of the city, giving them plentiful respect.

No sooner had they left than Luo Shang arrived at Guard City.

A long caravan of fifty to sixty horse-drawn carriages and over three hundred people, with more than a hundred being armed escorts.

When Yang Zhenshan saw this massive convoy, he was taken aback.

“Tsks, you’ve really struck it rich now, hiring so many bodyguards!”

Yang Zhenshan couldn’t help but tease Luo Shang as he looked at the burly bodyguards one by one.

Luo Shang chuckled and said, “Do you find these bodyguards familiar, Sir?”

“Familiar!”

Yang Zhenshan looked towards the bodyguards and indeed, a few of them did look familiar.

“Who are they?”

“Most of them come from the military households of Yinghe Castle and An Yuan City!” Luo Shang said with a smile.

Yang Zhenshan’s eyebrows twitched as he assessed the bodyguards again. After Luo Shang’s reminder, he indeed recognized a few.

“You’re good at grabbing bargains!”

The male members of the military households from Yinghe Castle and An Yuan City had mostly participated in his training. It’s not to say that each of them was elite, but it can be said that each was a soldier capable of battle.

Of course, the real elites couldn’t have been taken away so easily by Luo Shang.

The current defense officer at Yinghe Castle is a descendant of the Yang family, and the current garrison at An Yuan City is Han Cheng. Neither of them are fools; they would not let go of the elite soldiers under their command.

The bodyguards hired by Luo Shang were mostly older, hmm, basically all over forty years old, and among them, there were quite a few disabled veterans.

Disabled Veterans!

Yang Zhenshan looked at the bodyguards with amputated arms, his expression suddenly becoming serious.

Those were once soldiers under his command.

The few disabled veterans also noticed Yang Zhenshan’s gaze, and they stepped forward to salute, “Greetings, General!”

Yang Zhenshan stepped forward and scrutinized them carefully, patting their shoulders, “You’ve gone through a lot!”

“Not at all, thanks to the General, we’re living well now!”

A few of them grinned, showing not a hint of depression despite their disabilities.

Indeed, they were living well now. Although their bodies were impaired, their parents, wives, and children were all living well, all thanks to Yang Zhenshan.

So they were grateful to Yang Zhenshan, thinking of him, and upon seeing him again, they were filled with joy and pride.

For a moment, Yang Zhenshan didn’t know what to say, and could only tell Luo Shang, “Manager Luo, you must take good care of them from now on!”

“Don’t worry, Sir. They definitely won’t be at a loss with me!” said Luo Shang with a beaming smile.

Luo Shang had grown quite a bit fatter these past two years, with a corpulent figure and a jovial demeanor reminiscent of Maitreya Buddha.

How could he possibly let these disabled veterans suffer?

These disabled veterans are his treasures, the guardian deities of the Luo family and their businesses.

Don’t think that disabled veterans are useless.

Each disabled veteran is an elite who crawled out of the battlefield. Even though their bodies are impaired, their combat capabilities may not necessarily be worse than those of fully-abled elites.

And having been trained by Yang Zhenshan and having charged into battle with him, these disabled veterans are truly the elite of the elite.

Yang Zhenshan said Luo Shang had picked up a great bargain, and these disabled veterans were the biggest bargain of all.

In fact, Luo Shang’s bargain was not just the few disabled veterans before their eyes. Almost all veterans who had followed Yang Zhenshan, whom he could invite, had been brought back home and into the businesses.

Even those who were unable to walk due to leg disabilities, he was willing to give them simple and easy jobs.

Of course, he is a businessman; he wouldn’t make a losing deal.

He was willing to recruit these disabled veterans because they dared to fight courageously. Should any trouble arise, the shopkeepers and clerks might be scared and hesitant, but these disabled veterans would be willing to draw their swords and risk their lives.

Any hooligans or thugs dare to cause trouble in his shop? They would be seeking death!

“You all go and rest!” Yang Zhenshan said to the few disabled veterans.

Afterward, the disabled veterans left, and Yang Zhenshan led Luo Shang into the government office’s tea room.

It turned out that he had only met Luo Shang once this year, and this was the second time.

In the first half of the year, he was on campaign and naturally unable to meet Luo Shang. After returning from the battlefield in the second half of the year, Luo Shang visited him in An Yuan City. Since then, they had not met until now.

“Please sit, there’s no need to be formal with me!” Yang Zhenshan invited.

“Thank you, Mr. Xie!”

Luo Shang didn’t stand on ceremony and sat down in front of Yang Zhenshan, starting to wash and brew the tea.

“How has your business been recently?” Yang Zhenshan inquired.

“Quite good. The business in Chongshan Town has been very stable. I’m not planning to expand further; maintaining the current state is good enough!”

“Sir must know that I’ve been going to Jiangnan for the past two years. A couple of months ago, I bought a tea estate in Jiangnan and I’m thinking of getting into the tea business!” Luo Shang said as he poured tea for Yang Zhenshan.

“Tea leaves!” Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly.

In both Chongshan Town and Liaodong, the tea business is one of the most profitable.

As long as you can bring the tea leaves from the south here, you can make a large fortune.

However, the most important aspect isn’t whether you can buy tea leaves in the south, but whether you can secure the trade route between north and south.

The journey spanning thousands of miles involves land and river transport. Countless dangers and demons lurk along the way, and securing this trade route is no easy feat.

Luo Shang has been traveling to Jiangnan these past few years, and currently, the silk and satin used by the Luo family’s cloth shops and Jinxiu Workshop come from Jiangnan. Clearly, Luo Shang has already secured the north-south trade route.

If Luo Shang expands his business to include tea leaves, then the scale of the Luo family’s businesses is bound to grow even further.