Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 339: Chapter 328: Five Army Camps, Personal Soldier Camp

After the houses and shops in Guard City were sold or rented out, Guard City quickly became bustling.

Every family sent people over to renovate their houses and shops.

For a while, carriages lined up at the city gates; unavoidably, many things were not available in Tenglong Guard, such as furniture for the houses which couldn’t be found locally.

And of course, those who wanted to open shops naturally had to transport their goods over, arranging for Shopkeepers and clerks to come.

At the same time, the marketplace within the city also opened up, and many military households from the surrounding garrisons received the news and came to Guard City for the large market.

Some military households simply wanted to buy some things, while others wanted to sell some items.

Tenglong Guard actually did not have any specialties; its jurisdiction was mostly flat farmland, with neither extensive forests nor big rivers, its only advantage possibly being close to the sea.

However, the military households did have some items for sale, such as dried goods like dates, hazelnuts, peanuts, chestnuts, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, etc.

There were also those selling eggs, chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep, and other poultry and livestock.

Since the beginning of this year, the Guardian Department had bought many chicks and piglets and distributed them to several military households for breeding.

Of course, these things cost money, but credit was available. Back then, most military households were poor, so they all bought on credit from the government office. After the autumn harvest, the households settled their debts, and the poultry and livestock became theirs.

Besides poultry and livestock, some military households who caught a couple of rabbits also came to the government office to sell them. Renting a stall at the marketplace only cost one copper coin per day, so even just selling two rabbits wouldn’t result in a loss.

The opening of the marketplace caused quite a stir in Tenglong Guard. Many military households didn’t do anything else but came to join the hustle and bustle. For a moment, Guard City was overcrowded, and the liveliness was a bit excessive.

However, when it comes to the most profitable business, it was the Luo family’s textile shop.

The Luo family obtained their shop earlier than others. By the time other families got their shops, the Luo family’s textile shop had already opened for business.

Now, in the depths of winter and December, it was the peak selling time for cotton fabric, so as soon as the Luo family’s textile shop opened, it was swamped with purchases by the military households of Tenglong Guard.

It’s not like the military households of Tenglong Guard were very wealthy.

Many of the newly relocated military households didn’t have many coins in their hands, but the older ones had a considerable amount of Silver.

Over the past year, Yang Zhenshan spread tens of thousands of taels of Silver through a work-relief program, so military households had Silver Coin in their hands.

And since the commercial activities in Tenglong Guard had been very sluggish before, the military households had no way to spend money on anything and had to keep their Silver Coin in hand.

Now with the Luo family’s textile shop opening, and the goods for sale being fabric that everyone needed, it naturally triggered a buying frenzy among the military households.

”Don’t push, honored customers, no need to fight over it, we have more goods coming from the back, just take your time!”

In the Luo Family’s textile shop, the Shopkeeper and clerks who had arrived in Tenglong Guard just a few days ago were busily sweating. They had not anticipated such a situation.

Seeing the crowd squeezing in front of their shop, dense with customers, their hearts were both astonished and chaotic.

Not only them, but even Yang Zhenshan had not expected this situation.

Yang Zhenshan knew that some military households had Silver Coin, but he did not expect them to be so keen on cotton fabric.

But upon reflection, it made sense; although the government office distributed free cotton fabric to military households last year, the reality was that the clothing and bedding in the hands of the military households were still very thin.

Standing in front of the government office, looking at the crowded street, Yang Zhenshan frowned, but his brow soon relaxed.

Because two groups of soldiers responsible for city defense and public order came to maintain order.

”Don’t squeeze, line up, line up!”

”What about you, why squeeze? If you keep pushing, you’ll get the military stick!”

The soldiers scolded.

”Wang Erlang, you still want to use the military stick on your third uncle!” Someone in the crowd joked to the shouting soldier.

The soldiers responsible for city defense and public order within the city were selected from the military households, and the military households crammed here to buy cotton fabric were from the surrounding garrisons and garrison; naturally, many of them knew each other.

The soldier named Wang Erlang had a solemn face, ”Do you know what’s opposite? That is the Guardian Department, the General and the higher-ups are all working in the office. If you keep making noise, never mind my third uncle, even if my own Dad was here, I’d have to use the military stick!”

Hearing this, everyone immediately behaved. Most were visiting Guard City for the first time, not knowing where the government office was, or understanding the situation inside, so they dared to joke and be rowdy.

But now that they knew the Guardian Department was opposite, they dared not continue to be noisy and promptly queued up obediently.

At this moment, Luo Zhen also came over with seven or eight clerks to help.

”Don’t squeeze, we’ve just transported two thousand bolts of cotton fabric two days ago in our shop, enough for everyone to buy. Even if those aren’t enough, in two or three days, we will have another shipment of cotton fabric coming in!”

Luo Zhen was pacifying the military households while instructing the clerks to help cut and carry the fabric.

Seeing this, the surrounding shops couldn’t help but speed up their renovations.

You see, now in Guard City, it wasn’t just the Luo family running a textile business; the Wang family, the Zhang family, and the Lin family from Jing’an Prefecture also engaged in the textile business.

Seeing the enthusiasm of Tenglong Guard’s military households for cotton fabric, they wished they could open for business immediately.

Unfortunately, their goods had yet to arrive, at best it would take another two or three days before they could open their doors.

However, this also proved that Tenglong Guard still had some commercial potential; at the very least, opening a shop here would not result in a loss.

In fact, the commercial potential of Tenglong Guard was far more than this; you see, those coming to Guard City to buy goods were from the garrisons and garrison in the vicinity. Those who were thirty or forty miles away from Guard City would not run over here to buy things.

If the commercial potential of Tenglong Guard could be fully exploited, it would not be inferior to a county town.

For those garrison and fortified villages located faraway from Guard City, Yang Zhenshan also had plans: simply establishing markets within the various thousand households would suffice.

There’s no need for the thousand households to build business streets; it’s enough to demarcate an area for the establishment of the markets.

A single market is sufficient to serve the surrounding region extending to the surrounding six or seven li to the Hundred Households and fortified villages, and with twenty thousand households in Tenglong Guard, it’s enough to radiate throughout the entire guard.

These markets would be able to meet the shopping needs of the military households.

Of course, if the military households wish to open a shop in the market, or set up a stall, that is also possible. They simply need to pay some ground rent when that time comes.

Yang Zhenshan decided to let the market develop freely, as the Guardian Department office need not manage every little detail meticulously.

The hustle and bustle of the Guard City continued, even when nearing the end of the year a heavy snow fell, it still did not restrain the enthusiasm of the military households.

As more shops opened their doors, and as more and more goods were transported to Guard City, the city finally exhibited a scene of prosperity.

Of course, with the bustle inevitably came many conflicts; noisy haggling on the market escalated into arguments, and in the streets the hustle and bustle often led to bumps and jostles.

Few dared to resort to violence, but arguing was quite common.

For this reason, the Guardian Department office even specifically increased the number of patrolling soldiers within the city.

In the midst of such noisy prosperity, Tenglong Guard welcomed the New Year.

The thirty-first year of Chengping!

This was the ninth year since Yang Zhenshan came to this world, and also the second year since Yang Zhenshan came to Tenglong Guard.

If the first year of Yang Zhenshan’s arrival at Tenglong Guard was about laying the groundwork, then the second year was a period of rapid development.

As soon as the New Year festivities ended, the Guardian Department office plunged into busyness.

With a substantial supplement of civil servants, the various sections and departments of the Guardian Department office gradually became well-staffed. With ample personnel, work also became more efficient.

Even before the end of the first lunar month, the Guardian Department office had already issued six or seven official documents to the thousand households below, including the construction of schools, establishment of markets, and the building of roads, among other aspects.

Of course, this also included training of soldiers and selection of Camp Soldiers.

In early February, a new batch of soldiers entered the camp to receive basic training, which was also the last batch needing basic training.

Once this batch of soldiers completed basic training, it meant that the twenty-two thousand soldiers of Tenglong Guard had completed basic training, possessing the basic abilities of a soldier.

Perhaps their combat strength still awaited testing, but they were already considered qualified soldiers.

Don’t have too high expectations for the soldiers of the garrison; even Yang Zhenshan could not demand that all soldiers be elite.

By mid-March, the basic training of the soldiers was all completed, and the selection of Tenglong Guard’s Camp Soldiers was also fully finalized.

Twelve people formed a team, four teams a squad, four squads an official rank, led by a Sentry Commander, and four official ranks formed a total command, led by a Bazong.

Five Bazongs were established, with a total of four thousand Camp Soldiers.

The five Bazongs separately led the advanced, rear, left, right, and central armies, collectively called the Five Army Camps.

The Tenglong Advanced Guard specifically established a Navy Camp, requiring roughly over three thousand Water Soldiers.

Currently, the Navy Camp is still in training, and it will definitely not be able to complete the formation any time soon.

The organization of the Five Army Camps is also temporary; Yang Zhenshan plans to expand them later.

The Navy Camp is led by Yu Tonghai, with Wu Chongzhe and Xue Ping assisting.

The Five Army Camps, Xie Yuan serves concurrently as the Bazong of the rear army, Song Dashan as the Bazong of the Central Army, Yang Mingzhi as the Bazong of the advanced army, and Luo Feiyu and Yang Mingzhen respectively serving concurrently as the Bazong of the left and right armies.

Furthermore, a Personal Soldier Camp was established, drawing out the soldiers who previously served as civil servants in the office, to form the Personal Soldier Camp separately, with Yang Minghao serving as Bazong.

Han Fei was promoted to the Chief Officer Department’s garrison commander, Zhou Ren to the Experience Bureau’s Experience Officer, Lu Wenhua to the Chief Officer Department’s Chief Officer, and six other civil servants promoted as officers in charge, each responsible for two to three departments.

The positions within the Guardian Department office were adjusted, and the organizational structure also underwent some changes.

The reason for these changes is twofold: first, because Tenglong Advanced Guard became independent, the Guardian Department office certainly had to make some adjustments, and second, due to the balance between the garrison and the Five Army Camps, Yang Zhenshan did not want the distinction between the Five Army Camps and the garrison to be too clear, otherwise it might lead to dissatisfaction among his subordinates.

Take Xie Yuan, for instance, he previously mainly managed the fortifications and construction of the garrison, almost not intervening in the selection of soldiers and Camp Soldiers.

If the Five Army Camps are needed on the battlefield in the future, does it mean Xie Yuan does not need to go?

How to achieve military merits without going to battle?

And how to gain promotion without military merits?

Previously in An Yuan City, Xie Yuan did not receive promotion because he did not take part in battle; does he have to experience the same now in Tenglong Guard?

If that happens, wouldn’t Xie Yuan harbor grievances?

Not just Xie Yuan, others would feel the same.

That’s why Yang Zhenshan let Xie Yuan and others concurrently serve as Bazongs of the Five Army Camps.

As for the Personal Soldier Camp, it was a necessity.

The civil servants previously within the office were all soldiers of the An Yuan City garrison, and these soldiers had long since grown reluctant to do clerical work within the office. Now that the office had received additional civil servants, it was the perfect opportunity to reassign them.

Yang Zhenshan maintained a retinue of twenty Personal Followers around him, while the temporary task of the Personal Soldier Camp was to be in charge of the office guard.

These soldiers would rather be on duty than slumped over paperwork inside a room, and Yang Zhenshan couldn’t do anything about it.