Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 524: Chapter 470: The Startled Zhou Lan_2

”Haha, General Zhou is still as dashing as ever!”

Yang Zhenshan stepped forward, taking a good look at Zhou Lan.

The last time the two met was around two years ago, when Yang Zhenshan was ennobled.

To Yang Zhenshan’s surprise, there were actually wrinkles at the corners of Zhou Lan’s eyes!

But on second thought, it did make sense, Zhou Lan was already in her forties, it was normal for wrinkles to appear on her face.

Compared to her, Yu Qingyi appeared much younger. Yu Qingyi was three years Zhou Lan’s junior, and was thirty-nine this year, but she still looked to be about thirty years old, hardly showing any change from before.

The two chatted as they walked towards the General Mansion.

”You’ve only brought so few people?” Yang Zhenshan glanced at the followers behind Zhou Lan, totaling no more than thirty, and among them were a dozen maids and old women.

”There’s no need to bring too many people over.” Zhou Lan said.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, ”That’s right, if you had brought too many people, this old man would have been worried!”

”Hahaha~~” Zhou Lan burst into laughter.

Her laugh was still as hearty as ever, without any hint of affectation expected from a lady of a noble family.

Zhou Lan certainly could have brought more people, but doing so would mean placing her own people in the General Mansion.

The General Mansion was now filled with Yang Zhenshan’s own team, and if Zhou Lan were to install her own people, it would undoubtedly lead to some trouble.

The two, joking and laughing, entered the General Mansion and soon started catching up in the study.

Over the past year, the situation at Duke Ning Mansion in the Capital City seemed very low-key, with Zhou Mao seldom appearing in public, not even attending court.

While Zhou Xu was still spending his days traveling and enjoying a leisurely life.

The glory days of Duke Ning Mansion might have passed, but its foundation remained.

Shortly after, Pang Tang arrived, and after the necessary pleasantries, the three of them discussed serious matters.

Yang Zhenshan directly brought out more than a dozen booklets, placing them in front of Zhou Lan.

”This is my plan for Chongshan Town!”

”So many?” Zhou Lan’s eyes widened in disbelief at the stack of booklets before her.

Yang Zhenshan’s eyebrows lifted, ”This has already been simplified by me, more are in the hands of officials in each department!”

”You should know that today Chongshan Town has nearly twenty military households, a hundred and fifty thousand civilian households, and a total population exceeding two million!”

”And next you’ll have a lot of work to do...”

Yang Zhenshan went on to explain his plans to Zhou Lan, and Pang Tang occasionally chimed in from the side.

These matters had been discussed with Pang Tang a long time ago, and now Zhou Lan and Pang Tang would need to work together to carry them out.

There was a lot to do and it was complicated; it definitely couldn’t be covered in just a short time, so Yang Zhenshan gave just a brief overview.

However, Zhou Lan couldn’t sit still before she even finished listening.

”I must return to the Capital City!”

”Uh, why?” Yang Zhenshan looked at her in astonishment.

”You, you, you owe fifteen million Silver!”

Zhou Lan was truly frightened, even with her strong character, she was overwhelmed by the debt of fifteen million Silver.

Before, managing Jianning Guard with an annual budget of a few hundred thousand Silver was already quite impressive, but now Yang Zhenshan was asking her to pay fifteen million Silver.

The thought alone made Zhou Lan’s scalp tingle.

Pang Tang sat on the side, watching with a smile, ”How about that, I told you it would scare General Zhou!”

He looked quite like someone who took pleasure in another’s misfortune.

Yang Zhenshan waved his hand, ”Money is a minor matter, this year’s glass workshop should generate an income of over eight million Silver, the debts of the money house need not be rushed to be paid back, there’s still a large amount of silver in the money house.”

”As for the debt notes, you can start having the money shops collect them in the second half of the year; settling them by next year should not be difficult!”

”Look, this is my repayment plan!”

Yang Zhenshan opened a booklet and placed it in front of Zhou Lan.

He had long prepared a repayment plan; capitalizing on the earnings from the glass workshop, the General Mansion would clear all debts within the next three years, as long as nothing unexpected occurs, repaying the debts for the General Mansion should be rather relaxed.

As for other expenditures, both the General Mansion and the Governor’s Office have tax revenue, and the court will also allocate some funds. Moreover, there is still a great deal of land that can be sold in the North, so in the short term, neither the General Mansion nor the Governor’s Office will lack silver to use.

Zhou Lan took the booklet with a mix of skepticism and belief, and upon seeing that there indeed was a detailed plan inside, she felt a little more at ease.

In the following days, Yang Zhenshan was busy helping Zhou Lan familiarize herself with the various affairs of Chongshan Town, intricately explaining all his ideas to Zhou Lan.

And Zhou Lan, during these days, was nothing but astounded.

She knew Yang Zhenshan was capable of hustling, but she had never imagined he could hustle to such an extent.

Just look at the things Yang Zhenshan had done.

Dredging rivers, refurbishing official roads, constructing city walls, relocating refugees – every task, each and every one, was beyond what an average person could accomplish.

And there were Yang Zhenshan’s plans to add two Assistant General posts and build garrison fortresses in the western regions of the North to squeeze the living space of the Hu Clan.

He even planned to eradicate the Wuliang Hu Clan!

After understanding all this, Zhou Lan felt her perceptions were being shattered.

If these tasks were to be done by the court, they might drag on without completion.

Yet Yang Zhenshan actually intended to accomplish these with the power of Chongshan Town alone, which was truly unimaginable.

The key was that Yang Zhenshan’s plans were meticulous, and their implementation had already begun.

While finding it hard to believe, Zhou Lan couldn’t help but admire Yang Zhenshan, and she also felt a surge of excitement within her.

If Yang Zhenshan’s plans could indeed be realized, then Chongshan Town would surely become the strongest and wealthiest border town in Da Rong.

Holding the reins of such a powerful and prosperous border town was very tempting for Zhou Lan.

Just as Pang Tang sought to make great and illustrious achievements, Zhou Lan also wanted to establish her legacy.

Once Chongshan Town truly became powerful, could she not eradicate the Wuliang Hu Clan?

At this thought, Zhou Lan couldn’t help but feel exhilarated.

Therefore, she became incredibly proactive over the next few days, working closely with Yang Zhenshan to learn the affairs of the General Mansion, understand the situation with the Five Camps, and meet with the Assistant Generals and officials from various government offices.

Of course, she did not forget about the six major agents; after all, she needed to see the glass workshop’s earnings for debt repayment, while the workshop relied on these six agents to earn silver.

Yang Zhenshan spent more than half a month before successfully transferring the affairs of Chongshan Town to Zhou Lan.

By mid-February, Yang Zhenshan had to leave Chongshan Town.

Although the court did not restrict the time of his entry to the Capital City, he could not delay too much; if he did, dissatisfaction might arise in Emperor Yanping’s mind.

However, before leaving Chongshan Town, Yang Zhenshan had one more thing to do, which was to meet Wang Zhongzhi and Lv Hua.

In the forest east of Chongshan Pass City, Yang Zhenshan stood on a huge rock wearing a cyan robe, gazing at the continuous hills to the east.

Winter had not yet passed, and spring had not arrived; Chongshan Town was still desolate. At a glance, all was withered yellow, with no hint of greenery.

”My lord, they are coming!” Ding Qiu stood behind Yang Zhenshan and reminded him.

Yang Zhenshan turned his head and looked to the North, only to see three figures approaching from a distance.

Soon, the three men arrived nearby.

Seeing their appearance, Yang Zhenshan couldn’t help but reveal a smile.

True refugees!

Their cotton-padded jackets were bulging, old and worn; their faces were covered with frost and dust, and even their figures appeared frail, except for Wei Cen, who seemed quite stalwart.

Who would dare believe that the former supervisors of the Secret Martial Guards and the commander of the Northern Station would look like this today.