Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 335: Chapter 325: If you throw a tantrum at me again, I’ll castrate you!

Yang Family Village.

At this time, Yang Family Village had undergone tremendous changes compared to ten years ago.

The formerly dilapidated houses had all been replaced with blue brick and tiled residences, the muddy roads were now paved with bluestone slabs, and the once small village had expanded several times over.

In recent years, the growth of the Yang family had been incredibly rapid. The second year after Yang Zhenshan left Yang Family Village, the Yang family built a clan school, and over the ensuing years, the clan school continued to expand from its original handful of adobe huts to a college now occupying over ten acres.

The clan school was not just a place for studying but also for practicing martial arts.

Nowadays, it was mandatory for all children of the Yang family to receive an education and martial arts training, regardless of gender, starting from the age of five.

This was a rule set by Yang Zhenshan before.

At this moment, school had just let out, and little radish heads were walking out from under the stone-carved archway, most of them between the ages of six to ten. Older adolescents would finish their classes later.

Yang Zhengxiang stood with his hands clasped behind his back in front of the archway, stroking his graying beard, looking at the happy children with a benevolent smile on his face.

“Grandpa Clan Leader!”

“Ancestor!”

Many children greeted him, and he responded to each with a smile.

After all the children had left, he leisurely strolled back home with his hands still clasped behind his back.

His favorite activity nowadays was to wander around the clan school, especially enjoying the sight of playful children, which filled him with a sense of satisfaction.

Yang Zhengxiang’s home was still in the center of the village, but now, their residence was a grand three-sectioned compound, no longer the modest peasant homestead of the past.

Not every household in Yang Family Village lived in such grand courtyards; in fact, most homes were still individual small courtyards, having merely replaced the adobe houses with brick and tiled ones.

There were only two large compounds in Yang Family Village, one belonged to Yang Zhengxiang, and the other to Yang Zhenshan.

Talk of unfairness aside, as the Clan Leader, Yang Zhengxiang deserved to live in a large house. As for Yang Zhenshan’s family, although the man was not present, their courtyard was still cleaned daily.

The construction of these houses was actually a collective effort by the clan, funded by the clan’s assets.

The clan assets of the Yang family were no small amount, with more than thirty thousand acres of farmland, hundreds of tenant households, and many shops owned by the Yang family.

The annual income from the clan assets alone amounted to several thousand taels of silver, which was more than enough to build a compound for every villager.

Yang Zhengxiang returned home just in time to run into Yang Minghui.

“Dad, Uncle Zhengshan has sent a letter!”

“The letter!” Yang Zhengxiang walked towards the courtyard with hands still clasped behind him.

“Here it is!” Yang Minghui quickly handed him the letter.

Yang Zhengxiang found a bright spot and carefully read the contents of the letter.

Over the past few years, Yang Zhenshan’s letters had become less frequent, arriving every three or four months.

The reason for this change was twofold: first, due to the clan’s affairs being on the right track, the rules that needed to be established had been set, and Yang Zhengxiang no longer needed to correspond frequently with him about these matters; second, Yang Zhenshan was sometimes too busy to write often.

And as for the Yang family, it wouldn’t make sense for Yang Zhenshan to send just an ordinary invitation. He wrote a letter detailing the situation and future planning of the Tenglong Guard, suggesting that if there were any clan members adept at commerce, they might develop their skills with the Tenglong Guard, or the clan itself could invest in some properties there.

After reading the letter, Yang Zhengxiang furrowed his brows and muttered softly, “Maritime trade?”

“Do you know about maritime trade?” he asked Yang Minghui, who was beside him.

Yang Minghui shook his head, “I’ve heard that there are many merchants in Liao’an Prefecture who own sea ships, but I know nothing about maritime trade.”

The shortcomings of the Yang family were now evident. Although they had developed well over the years, the family’s foundations were still too shallow, and the older generation knew very little about the outside world.

They had heard of sea ships but didn’t even know what they looked like, let alone maritime trade.

“Forget it, if it’s from your Uncle Zhengshan, you can’t go wrong. Go ask the clan’s merchants if they’re willing to venture to the Tenglong Guard to develop.”

Yang Zhengxiang had one strong point: if he did not understand something, he would listen to Yang Zhenshan.

Since Yang Zhenshan inquired about this in his letter, there was naturally nothing to worry about.

“When the time comes, you’ll personally take them to the Tenglong Guard.” Yang Zhengxiang said this and then paused momentarily before adding, “Forget it, bring me along when the time comes!”

“Dad, you want to go too?” Yang Minghui asked in surprise.

“Yes, it’s been several years since I last saw your Uncle Zhengshan! If I don’t go to see him, I’m afraid I might not get another chance in this lifetime!” Yang Zhengxiang said, sounding a bit melancholic.

He was already in his mid-sixties, which would have been considered a ripe old age in the old Yang Family Village. However, he was still quite fit for his age now.

Because he was still in good health, he wanted to visit Yang Zhenshan; if he waited a few more years, he feared he might not even be able to leave his home.

“Alright, when the time comes, I’ll take you with me!” Yang Minghui agreed.

“Good, and also select a few young men with good potential to take with us!”

“Your Uncle Zhengshan hasn’t been choosing people from among the clan these past few years. Since I’m going there personally this time, he should at least train a few talents for the clan!” Yang Zhengxiang said with a gleeful grin.

In fact, there were quite a few of the Yang family’s descendants still with Yang Zhenshan, including those dozen-plus who had originally followed Yang Mingzhen to join Yang Zhenshan and now served under him.

The main reason why Yang Zhenshan had not been selecting people from the clan was that there were simply too few descendants of the Yang family who showed promise.

Those who had followed Yang Zhenshan resisting the Hu Clan had grown up, and the other descendants, without the nourishment of Spiritual Spring Water, had talent and potential that fell far short.

So, Yang Zhenshan did not bother getting involved in clan selections anymore.

“Should I pick ten?” Yang Minghui asked.

“Twenty! Your Uncle Zhengshan must be too busy with official duties now and probably lacks the energy to take care of clan matters, but he’ll have to regard this old face of mine. There’s only one chance like this; there won’t be another one next time, so choose a few more,” Yang Zhengxiang said.

“But there aren’t so many martial artists in the clan school!” Yang Mingcheng said, somewhat troubled.

The clan school could barely muster ten martial artists among the youths, which was already quite a lot—it would be hard to find that many elsewhere, except for the Yang family.

Although Yang Zhenshan hadn’t been purposely sending Spiritual Spring Water to Yang Family Village, he had still been giving Yang Zhengxiang quite a bit of Hundred Herbs Brew and Dongling Spring.

Yang Zhengxiang was no miser, so the people of Yang Family Village could benefit somewhat.

“Pick twenty?” Yang Minghui questioned.

“Twenty! Your Uncle Zhengshan is busy with official duties and probably doesn’t have much energy to attend to clan matters, but he should still take care of me. It’s a one-time opportunity; there won’t be another chance, so choose a few more,” Yang Zhengxiang advised.

“Alright, then I’ll personally take twenty youngsters to the Tenglong Guard!” Yang Minghui agreed.

“Good, pick out twenty with real talent,” Yang Zhengxiang reiterated, smiling amiably.

“Your Uncle Zhengshan hasn’t been selecting people from the clan in recent years, but since I’ll personally go this time, he should train a few talents for the clan!” Yang Zhengxiang seemed to enjoy the idea.

In truth, Yang Zhenshan still had a number of Yang descendants around him—those dozen or so who went with Yang Mingzhen to join him had all grown up under his command.

The reason Yang Zhenshan no longer picked people from the clan was primarily due to the scarcity of the Yang descendants who had managed to distinguish themselves.

Those Yang descendants who joined him in fighting the Hu Clan had matured, while others not nurtured by Spiritual Spring Water were significantly less talented and potential-laden.

And so, Yang Zhenshan couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of picking from the clan anymore.

“Well, how about I pick out ten?” Yang Minghui inquired.

“Twenty! Since your Uncle Zhengshan must be preoccupied with official duties, probably not having the time to look after clan matters as much, my old face will still get some consideration,” Yang Zhengxiang chuckled.

“There’s only one chance, so you might as well choose a few more.” Yang Zhengxiang suggested.

“Alright, I’ll choose twenty.” Yang Minghui affirmed.

“You don’t have to be a Martial Artist; just send them to your Uncle Zhengshan for a year or half, and they will definitely become one!” Yang Zhengxiang said.

Yang Minghui thought about it and agreed, “Then I will go pick someone.”

Putting aside how Yang Minghui chose people, after Yang Zhenshan had sent out all the invitations, he actually had some leisure time.

Busy for most of the year, he finally found some time to relax.

With some free time, Yang Zhenshan naturally wanted to spend more time with his family.

Little Ming Zhao had already started walking, and he moved quickly at that; Yang Zhenshan would take him for walks around the yard every day.

After the little guy learned to walk, he didn’t like being held as much, trotting around with his little short legs everywhere.

“Dad, Dad, eat meat!”

Next to the stable, the little one pointed at Red Cloud and shouted.

Red Cloud snorted white mist from its nostrils and glared at the little one with its big fierce eyes, as if saying, ’You little squirt dare think of eating me!’

“This is Red Cloud, your dad’s friend, you can’t eat him!”

Yang Zhenshan said somewhat speechlessly, while he took out a fresh large peach and fed it to Red Cloud’s mouth, “The kid doesn’t know better, don’t hold it against him!”

Red Cloud proudly tossed back its head, gulping down the large peach, no longer paying attention to Ming Zhao, the little squirt.

However, Little Ming Zhao, who had sharp eyes, noticed the peach Yang Zhenshan had fed Red Cloud and then yelled, “Eat fruit!”

The corners of Yang Zhenshan’s mouth twitched slightly. How did this little one only know about eating? Hopefully, he won’t grow into a big fatty in the future?

“Dad, eat fruit!” Little Ming Zhao, seeing Yang Zhenshan ignoring him, hugged Yang Zhenshan’s leg and continued to shout.

“Okay, okay, eat fruit!” Yang Zhenshan had no choice but to take out a large date and hand it to him.

Then he watched him nibble on the large date, like a little hamster.

“Daddy, hold you!” Yang Zhenshan squatted down.

“Don’t want!” The little guy gnawed on the large date, shaking his head at the same time.

Yang Zhenshan felt helpless; now that the little one’s mouth and feet were nimble, he didn’t like being held, not even by his own dad.

He watched Ming Zhao and stroked his beard in thought.

He felt that Ming Zhao was developing faster than other children. Now at fourteen months old, Ming Zhao was very articulate and walked smoothly; he could even run.

He remembered that other Yang family children were around two years old before they could do what Ming Zhao was doing now.

“Could my son be a genius?” Yang Zhenshan pondered seriously.

Ming Zhao had been drinking Spiritual Spring Water since he was a baby; becoming a genius was only natural.

Moreover, both his dad and mom had been nourished by Spiritual Spring Water for a long time, making this seed and womb superior to others. It made sense for Little Ming Zhao to be a bit more of a genius than others.

Just as Little Ming Zhao finished gnawing the large date, another little squirt came running over from not far away.

“Grandpa, Grandpa~~”

From a distance, the little squirt started shouting.

“Chengyou, come for a hug!” Yang Zhenshan smiled kindly.

This little squirt was Yang Minghao’s eldest son, Yang Chengyou, who was only three months older than Yang Mingzhao.

Yang Zhenshan held Chengyou in his arms; Little Ming Zhao, with his head held high, looked at Chengyou and exclaimed, “I am your little uncle! You have to call me little uncle!”

“Little uncle!” Chengyou obediently called out.

“Dad, put him down, I want to take him to play!” Little Ming Zhao continued.

Yang Zhenshan, being bossed around by his own son without a temper, could only set Chengyou down.

Next came the chirps and chatters of the two little ones. Both were quite articulate, but sometimes they still babbled like babies, chattering unintelligibly.

Yang Zhenshan no longer minded them and walked into the stable instead, starting to brush Red Cloud’s fur.

Plenty of maids and nannies were nearby watching, so he didn’t need to keep an eye on them all the time.

Whinny~

Red Cloud shook its head and neighed.

“Alright, I’ll take you out tomorrow, just stay put here today!”

Whinny~

Red Cloud neighed at the two children playing in the distance.

“How can you hold a grudge? Ming Zhao is still little, he doesn’t understand!”

Whinny~

Red Cloud shook its mane, splashing Yang Zhenshan with water.

Yang Zhenshan was at a loss for words, this fellow was actually throwing a temper tantrum at him, refusing to let him brush its fur.

“Ahem, the horse farm outside the city has bought a batch of mares recently, I’ll take you to see them tomorrow!”

The Tenglong Guard’s horse farm had been built, and they were buying horses from all over the place. They had just acquired a batch of mares a few days ago.

Whinny~

Red Cloud rubbed its big head affectionately against Yang Zhenshan.

“…”

Yang Zhenshan’s lips twitched slightly, “You horndog!”

Others who crossed over became stud horses, and here I am, a crosser raising a stud horse!

“Maybe I should just castrate you, get rid of the root of trouble, and your temper should improve!” Yang Zhenshan said, looking under Red Cloud.

The next moment, a black hoof kicked out at him. He dodged with a flash, grabbing the hefty hoof.

“Keep throwing a temper with me, and I’ll have you castrated!”

Chirp~

Red Cloud begged for mercy, and Yang Zhenshan let go of its hoof, “Humph, trying to fight with me, forgetting who’s the master!”