Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 302: Chapter 293 Dad Said

Outside the camp of Tenglong Guard City, the first batch of over three thousand soldiers has already begun training.

Given the current military households under Tenglong Guard, there should be twelve thousand soldiers. However, it is evident that the Tenglong Guard cannot train so many soldiers at once, even with dispersed training.

Therefore, it is necessary to train in batches over time.

According to Yang Zhenshan’s plan, all soldiers of Tenglong Guard must undertake one month of basic training and one month of actual combat training.

The basic training is conducted within the camp, while the actual combat training takes place in each thousand households.

After completing basic training, those deemed excellent by the guard office will be selected as Camp Soldiers, finally settling on three thousand individuals, with the remaining soldiers serving as guard soldiers.

The basic training will last four months. After all soldiers have completed basic training, this camp will become the permanent station for Camp Soldiers.

Camp Soldiers will undergo even more rigorous actual combat training, practicing various military skills, and will ultimately be assigned to different arms based on performance in the training.

The three thousand Camp Soldiers will be divided into two thousand infantry, five hundred light cavalry, and five hundred iron-armored cavalry.

However, this is only this year’s training agenda; in the future, Yang Zhenshan also plans to increase the number of cavalry in Tenglong Guard.

Five thousand elite cavalry and ten thousand elite infantry – this is the intended organization of Tenglong Guard, as well as Yang Zhenshan’s expectation for its future.

As the training plan unfolds, Yang Zhenshan becomes increasingly busy.

It has been three days since the first batch of soldier’s training began, and only now does Yang Zhenshan have time to take a look.

Standing on a newly erected platform in the camp, Yang Zhenshan squints slightly at the soldiers lining up and standing in position under the sun.

Tengyun Guard presents a significant problem – the physical constitution of the soldiers.

It is not hard to imagine the physical condition of soldiers who have lived in poverty for a long time.

Though their physical strength has improved over several months of recuperation, they still appear rather frail.

“They cannot endure high-intensity training!” Yang Zhenshan says to Song Dashan standing beside him.

“My lord, these are the more robust soldiers among those from the various garrison offices, most of whom are from the Tenglong Advanced Guard!” Song Dashan states with a grimace.

Tenglong Advanced Guard!

Yang Zhenshan shows a disdainful smile. In the past, the Lan family indeed maintained the organization of the Tenglong Advanced Guard, but given their greedy nature, they would never provide these soldiers with the treatment they deserved.

Soldiers of the Tenglong Advanced Guard, at best, could only afford warmth and food. No need to think about anything else.

“Arrange for someone to buy meat. Go to nearby county towns, go to Jing’an Prefecture to buy it – pork, lamb, chicken, eggs, fish – buy back everything that is available!” Yang Zhenshan is determined.

How could they possibly become stronger without eating meat?

Although Spiritual Spring Water can enhance physical constitution, it cannot rectify malnutrition.

Only a combination of Spiritual Spring Water and meat would be the proper solution.

“My lord, shall I take care of this?” Song Dashan asks somewhat scratching his head.

“…”

Yang Zhenshan glances at him with disapproval, “I will have Lu Wenhua take care of it. You just need to clear some space for it!”

“Okay!” Song Dashan grins.

After inspecting the barracks further, Yang Zhenshan returns to Guard City. On his way back to Guard City, he instructs his personal followers, “Visit the camp every three days from now on. If I forget, remember to remind me!”

Tenglong Guard is currently in a state of rehabilitating from neglect, and he has too much to attend to, inevitably leading to oversights.

“Yes!”

The personal followers respond in unison.

As soon as Yang Zhenshan returns to Guard City, he receives good news from the Capital City – Lu Wenquan has become this term’s third top scorer in the examination.

“Ha ha ha, the boy has really made a name for himself!”

In the main hall of the Yang family residence, Yang Zhenshan laughs contentedly.

“Dad, should we send a congratulatory gift to the Lu family?” Ms. Wang asks.

Yang Zhenshan nods slightly, “Yes, we should send our congratulations. Prepare a gift and have Wu Zhan deliver it tomorrow!”

One could imagine how bustling the Lu family must be at this time, receiving so many gifts that their hands are likely weary.

Lu Wenquan has not only passed the imperial examination but has also entered the Hanlin Academy as an editor.

Although the Hanlin Academy is a modest government office with little power in the hands of its editors, it is primarily responsible for the routine work of the court, such as drafting edicts, editing historical records, lecturing at imperial study sessions, and more.

Among these duties, lecturing at imperial study sessions offers an opportunity to present oneself before the old Emperor.

Generally speaking, being admitted to the Hanlin Academy is a signal of limitless prospects. Although not every scholar of the Hanlin Academy will become a senior official, the opportunities within the Hanlin Academy are far greater than those in other government offices.

Knowing that Lu Wenquan has entered the Hanlin Academy, Yang Zhenshan’s expectations for him grow even higher.

“By the way, prepare some extra dishes and drinks tonight, let’s celebrate for Wenyuan as well!” Yang Zhenshan instructs Ms. Wang again.

“Alright, Dad, I will arrange it now!”

Ms. Wang complies.

The Yang family is elated over Lu Wenquan’s success in the examinations, both Yang Mingzhi and Yang Minghao, representing yet another source of support for the Yang family.

While the Yang family is celebrating for Lu Wenquan’s achievement, Yang Mingcheng has already left the boundaries of Shuntian Prefecture and entered Jizhou.

Jizhou is the essential passageway to the Liaodong Region and also the wealthiest area in the northeast of Da Rong.

At dusk, Yang Mingcheng and his party prepared to stay overnight in a town called Xinping Town.

Xinping Town was bustling, with many merchants traveling from south to north choosing to stay overnight there, and the town had quite a few inns for merchants to reside in.

Despite being simple and honest, Yang Mingcheng wouldn’t allow himself to be shortchanged, so he chose the biggest inn in town, Xinfu Inn.

However, upon entering Xinfu Inn, Yang Mingcheng glanced at the inn’s signboard with some bewilderment.

“Why is there a broken sword on the signboard?”

He was merely surprised and didn’t delve further, proceeding to check into the inn.

By this time, the inn was lively with many guests staying the night, and Yang Mingcheng and his group were not conspicuous among them.

Wu Da soon found the shopkeeper to arrange three guest rooms, ordered three tables of food, and did not forget to instruct the inn to add fodder for their horses.

Their group was only eight people. Although they could all ride, they still brought a carriage to carry luggage and various items.

Such a large inn would usually also have a dedicated stable and provide fodder for passing caravans.

While abroad, Wu Da typically managed these trifles for Yang Mingcheng, and over the years, Wu Da had grown accustomed to these matters.

As the night fell, Yang Mingcheng washed up simply in his room and then fell into a deep sleep.

The noise at the inn gradually quieted down, and the sounds of snoring rose and fell in succession.

The cold moonlight spilled down, and the entire town was immersed in slumber, yet under this tranquil night sky, more than a dozen figures were silently approaching the outside of Xinfu Inn.

They didn’t enter through the main gate but instead carefully leaped onto the second floor directly from the east side of the inn.

The cold blade of the knife, reflecting the candlelight and moonlight, occasionally flashed a bright light.

Though there were more than a dozen of them moving together, their actions were so light that they hardly made any sound.

However, Yang Mingcheng, deep in sleep, suddenly opened his eyes, his drowsiness retreating like a tide, his eyes sparkling with sharp alertness.

“There are people! People sneaking around are definitely up to no good!”

Yang Mingcheng mumbled to himself.

Yang Zhenshan had extraordinary hearing and eyesight, and Yang Mingcheng also possessed superlative auditory and visual acuity.

Over the years, apart from Yang Zhenshan, no one had drunk more Spiritual Spring Water than Yang Mingcheng without a doubt.

Even Yu Qingyi couldn’t compare to Yang Mingcheng, considering Yang Mingcheng had always been by Yang Zhenshan’s side over the years, while Yu Qingyi had been married to Yang Zhenshan for only four years.

The movements outside were very light, but they couldn’t escape Yang Mingcheng’s hearing.

Yang Mingcheng listened for a while longer and discovered that these people were moving towards his area.

What were these people up to?

At this moment, Yang Mingcheng didn’t consider that they were there for him; he thought they were after other guests instead.

Nevertheless, even if they were after other guests, he still got up, quietly put on his clothes, and grabbed the long spear lying beside his bed.

Fights and killings were common in the worldly society, and incidences where the innocent were caught in the crossfire were countless.

He didn’t want to end up as one of those unlucky bystanders.

Being cautious was necessary.

After readying everything, he approached the door, intending to wake up Wu Da and the others first.

But just as he was about to quietly open his room door, he suddenly realized those people outside were heading straight towards him.

“What’s going on? Could it be that they’re coming for us?”

Yang Mingcheng’s mind whirled; he may be naive, but he wasn’t foolish.

Their target seemed very clear—it was his room.

Since the second floor of the inn had a back-shaped layout, his room was upper end, close to the sidewalk side. There were only six rooms there, and he, Wu Da, and others occupied three of them. Since they were approaching this side, it was very likely they were targeting them.

Listening to the increasingly closer noises, a spark of excitement flickered in Yang Mingcheng’s eyes.

A fight was coming!

Whoo, whoo, whoo, I’ve trained in martial arts for so many years and never been in a real fight!

When it came to fighting, Yang Mingcheng had a bellyful of grievances.

For sparring, he frequently practiced with others at home, but when it came to real combat, he had never encountered it over the years.

Yang Zhenshan charged into battlefields, and he was at home; Yang Zhenshan fought bandits, and he was at home; Yang Zhenshan dealt with government office affairs, and he was either at home or lagging behind.

All these years, he never had a chance to strike.

Now, someone was actually coming to him. He was extremely thrilled, his heart beating thunderously, more vigorous than when he had entered the bridal chamber on his wedding night.

Hmm, back then, he probably didn’t understand what entering the bridal chamber meant.

He held his breath and concentrated, trying to suppress his excitement and exhilaration, took a slight step back, and placed the long spear behind the door.

“Dad said, when facing enemies, one should end their lives in the most ruthless way possible!”

“Dad said, the most important thing during a fight is to stay calm!”

“Dad said, no matter who the enemy is, as long as they want to kill me, I should not hesitate to pierce through their chest!”

Yang Mingcheng recalled Yang Zhenshan’s past teachings, his grip on the spear shaft tightening.