Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 328: Chapter 318: The First Batch of Military Households

After listening, Yu Tonghai had many questions arise in his heart, “Sir, what is this Tenglong Guard Sea Trade Fleet?”

“It is a sea trade fleet that belongs to the Tenglong Guard, and the main responsibility of the Tenglong Advanced Guard’s Navy in the future will be to guard merchant ships engaged in maritime trade!” Yang Zhenshan said indifferently.

“Ah!” Yu Tonghai’s face was full of astonishment.

The Navy guarding merchant ships to engage in trade!

Can this really be done?

Yang Zhenshan looked at him and seriously said, “Yes, the Navy of Tenglong Guard was originally established to guard merchant ships!”

His initial goal was merely to engage in maritime trade; however, the old Emperor made him establish the Tenglong Advanced Guard separately and build the Navy.

Building the Navy is fine, but maritime trade is still fundamental.

The always-silent Xue Ping suddenly said, “The Tenglong Guard’s engagement in maritime trade has been approved by His Majesty!”

Yang Zhenshan raised his brows, surprised to look at Xue Ping.

He hadn’t expected Xue Ping to know about this.

Indeed, the old Emperor had approved the Tenglong Guard’s engagement in maritime trade, but that was because Yang Zhenshan had been cunning, bundling the establishment of the Navy and maritime trade together.

Probably, the old Emperor only focused on the Navy matter and likely did not care much about the maritime trade.

Nevertheless, this was indeed approved by the old Emperor, and his handwritten ’approved’ character is on the memorandum.

Yu Tonghai’s heart chilled; he felt that the situation with Tenglong Guard seemed rather complex.

First, not to mention that the size of Tenglong Guard is severely overstaffed – a guard should have five thousand six hundred military households, yet Tenglong Guard has over ten thousand households.

Moreover, the Central Army Commander’s Mansion plans to add another ten thousand military households to the Tenglong Guard.

Even if Tenglong Advanced Guard is separated, Tenglong Guard still has the scale of three guards.

This clearly defies common sense.

Also, the separate establishment of the Navy and engaging in maritime trade.

This is even more unreasonable.

Liaodong region also has naval guard stations, so why suddenly let the Tenglong Guard form the Navy?

Thinking carefully, Tenglong Guard seems peculiar in many aspects.

Yu Tonghai’s suspicions were correct; Tenglong Guard indeed has many unorthodox aspects, and these irregularities originate from Prince Qing.

Unaware of Prince Qing, he naturally couldn’t unravel the threads.

And Xue Ping, knowing some insider information, understood that the abnormality of Tenglong Guard should not be probed into deeply.

Fortunately, Yu Tonghai was wise enough to know that some matters were not for him to explore, so after sensing the peculiarity, he stopped asking further, only saying, “Then what does the subordinate need to do next?”

Yang Zhenshan had already planned in his mind and said, “Next, you all will be responsible for different matters concerning the Tenglong Advanced Guard!”

“Lord Wu Chongzhe was previously the Commander of the Tenglong Advanced Guard; he was in charge of the garrison farmland, and moving forward, he will still handle these matters!”

“Mr. Yu has rich experience in naval warfare, and you are the most skilled among us in naval battles, so I hope Mr. Yu can take on the heavy responsibility of training the soldiers.”

“Mr. Xue comes from a learned family background, though slightly lacking in experience; however, we are in dire need of formal naval and maritime battle knowledge, and I need Mr. Xue to compile a set of training records regarding naval warfare and sailing!”

“Eh, Mr. Xue, have you seen the training records?”

Xue Ping’s eyes lit up, saying, “The subordinate has seen them, and also explored the Thirty-Six Stratagems!”

“Hmm, there might be a set of training records for the Navy, but unfortunately, I am not very knowledgeable about the Navy, thus I hope you can examine and compile training records for the Navy with Mr. Yu!” Yang Zhenshan stated.

“The subordinate understands and will do my utmost, not failing the general’s expectations!” Xue Ping said somewhat excitedly.

He was naturally familiar with the “Training Records;” nowadays, these records had gained the recognition of most military officers in the court. Although not considered an extraordinary classic, the book served a good guiding role for commanders in training soldiers.

As long as one strictly followed the methods described, the soldiers trained would not be subpar.

Thus, the circulation of “Training Records” is quite wide, much wider than that of the “Thirty-Six Stratagems.”

However, the “Training Records” do not contain a section on the Navy, and when Xue Ping was studying the “Training Records,” he regretted this fact, never expecting that Yang Zhenshan would now ask him to compile a section on the Navy.

This made him very excited.

That is the “Training Records,” and if he could participate in compiling the section on the Navy, it would indeed be a matter promising both fame and benefits for him.

“Alright, let’s proceed with this arrangement then, Mr. Yu, any objections?” Yang Zhenshan looked towards Yu Tonghai.

“None, the subordinate will follow Commander’s arrangements closely!” Yu Tonghai smartly responded.

…

The arrival of Yu Tonghai and Xue Ping signified that the Tenglong Advanced Guard’s Navy was becoming formalized.

The thirtieth year of peace, early September.

Central Army Commander’s Mansion delivered the first batch of military households, totaling three thousand households.

These military households were relocated from central regions in Da Rong; over the past few years, more than a dozen prefectures in central Da Rong faced consecutive years of drought, causing the populace to struggle for survival, thus the court was always relocating these people.

Previously, many of these people had been moved to Fuzhou in Chongshan Town, previously known as Fushan City.

Now, moving people to Tenglong Guard to bolster the military households was merely convenient, not considered a troublesome matter, so the actions of the Central Army Commander’s Mansion were quite swift.

The three thousand military households that came to the Tenglong Guard were immediately dispersed and settled in various household stations and garrisons.

The Guardian Department hatte already made preparations early, had already built houses for them, and even planned their garrison farms; however, they could not cultivate this year.

Li Qicheng was an ordinary military household among those relocated this time; he was originally an ordinary rural household from the Hengshan Prefecture in central Da Rong. Hengshan Prefecture had faced three consecutive years of severe drought, with last year’s harvest resulting in no yield.

Although the court provided relief multiple times, there were still many who starved to death, and many others embarked on the road of escape.

The Li family was originally quite wealthy, although not rich, they were a small landowner with over two hundred acres of good farmland. However, they still couldn’t withstand the consecutive years of severe drought, which eventually forced them to accept the government’s arrangement for relocation.

Switching from farmers to military households was something Li Qicheng was very reluctant to do. But in order to feed his family and secure a stable life, he had no choice but to face reality, no matter how unwilling he was.

Originally, they were supposed to go to the bitterly cold Fuzhou. On the way there, they heard about how cold and desolate Fuzhou was, causing many to secretly desert the group and run back.

Li Qicheng also thought about returning, but looking at his three sons and four daughters, he finally gave up the idea of going back.

The reason was simple: going back would definitely lead to death from starvation, while heading to Fuzhou might still offer them a meal.

To prevent his children from starving, he had no choice but to keep moving forward with the group.

However, halfway there, they received news that they were no longer going to Fuzhou, but to Tenglong Guard instead.

They knew nothing about what Tenglong Guard was like and felt numb inside. They simply followed whatever the government officers directed them to do.

And so, with bodies nearly spent, they arrived at Tenglong Guard.

As soon as they entered the jurisdiction of Tenglong Guard, the long line of refugees started to stir.

The government officers who were initially in charge quickly left, replaced by rows and rows of soldiers, neat in appearance and solemn in demeanor.

At the same time, the fragrance of rice porridge wafted over from ahead.

“Dad, there’s porridge!”

Li Qicheng’s youngest son, Li Sanlang, smelled the fragrance of the porridge. His previously despondent demeanor immediately brightened, and his eyes shone as he looked ahead.

With three thousand households, almost fifteen thousand people were traveling. Even if the government distributed food, most of them were still not getting enough to eat, and many were already starving on the brink of death.

Li Qicheng also smelled the porridge and looked ahead, but their group was nearly in the middle of the line and couldn’t see what was happening upfront!

“Stay calm, keep in line, and whoever causes trouble will be executed without mercy!”

There was a disturbance in the crowd, and soldiers on either side immediately started admonishing loudly.

Moving the population wasn’t an easy task. Long journeys, lack of clothes, insufficient food, and sometimes even water was a problem, which could easily lead to unrest.

They had faced numerous troubles along the way.

However, the threat posed by the soldiers of Tenglong Guard with their swords and spears was effective. Amid the rounds of scolding, the people became more orderly but kept looking ahead eagerly.

At the very front of the road, several large pots were lined up boiling rice porridge, and many people had already received their share, squatting on the ground and slurping it eagerly.

“Hurry up, eat up, then go register!”

Soldiers were maintaining order, pushing families forward.

The entire line moved slowly, and after waiting for more than an hour, it was finally Li Qicheng and his family’s turn.

Looking at the pots of rice porridge, Li Qicheng swallowed his saliva numerous times.

“One bowl per person. No grabbing. Understand?”

“Understood, understood!” Li Qicheng nodded repeatedly, “Sir, this is my son, my daughter, and my wife!”

“Don’t worry, one bowl per person. Everyone gets one!” The soldier distributing the porridge looked up at him briefly and said casually.

“Thank you, sir, thank you, sir!” Li Qicheng, holding a full bowl of porridge, was overjoyed and kept expressing his gratitude.

“Move along quickly, there are many people waiting behind you!”

The soldier urged him on, and Li Qicheng quickly moved forward with his family, slurping the porridge from the bowl as they walked.

“Dad, this porridge is so thick!” Li Dalang, now a sixteen-year-old young man, gulped down a bowl of porridge in a few slurps.

Hearing this, Li Qicheng glanced at him and handed him his own half-bowl of porridge, “Dad is full, you have it!”

Looking at the half-bowl of porridge, Li Dalang swallowed with difficulty.

A son hungry at half would starve his father completely.

This bowl of porridge, though thick, was far from enough to fill Li Dalang’s stomach.

“Let’s give it to Mom!” Li Dalang looked back at the woman behind him with a haggard face.

“No need, the fourth girl can’t finish it, and I can’t eat that much!” Mrs. Li spoke weakly, “Head of the family, just keep it for now. We don’t know what the future holds!”

Saying so, she took out a small clay jar from the bag behind her!

Li Qicheng thought this made sense. They were new here and didn’t know what arrangements the government had in store. If they only had this one meal, wouldn’t they starve later?

With this thought, they packed the remaining porridge into the small clay jar, and they weren’t the only ones among the crowd doing so.

At that moment, as they moved along with the stream of people, they came before a desk.

“Head of the household!”

A soldier was sitting behind the desk, engrossed in writing, with two other soldiers beside him grinding ink and organizing the register.

“Li Qicheng!”

“Place of origin!”

“Hengshan Prefecture, Mian County, Heshang Village!”

“How many in the family?” the soldier registering them asked, looking up.

“Nine!” Li Qicheng replied nervously.

The soldier looked at the men and women behind Li Qicheng, nodded slightly, and said, “Not bad!”

Families like the Li’s indeed deserved praise.

The reason was simple: the Li family had no elderly, numerous children, especially one young man who had already come of age and another close to it—these were households from which soldiers could be directly recruited.

Recording the particulars of the Li family briefly, the soldier then wrote the family’s details on a wooden plaque and handed it to Li Qicheng, saying, “From now on, you are military households of Nanling Village. Keep moving forward; the people from Nanling Village are waiting for you!”

“Yes, yes!” Li Qicheng took the plaque and continued moving forward with his children by his side.