Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 402: Chapter 388: Taking Over the General Mansion

Prince Cheng chuckled lightly, ”Am I that naive?”

”I mean, we only have one chance to succeed!”

Prince Gong’s face became stern, ”If this continues, we won’t even have a choice anymore!”

After some thought, Prince Cheng nodded, ”You’re right, the more we delay, the more disadvantageous it becomes for us! The Crown Prince is always one step ahead of us!”

”The later we take this step, the more miserable our defeat will be!”

”So, are you prepared?” Prince Gong asked.

”I am prepared, but what are your plans, Third Brother?” Prince Cheng inquired.

A cold smile crossed Prince Gong’s face, ”First, kill Yang Zhenshan!”

Prince Cheng was stunned, then burst into unrestrained laughter, ”Hahaha, interesting, very interesting, it’s just a pity for our sixth brother!”

”Can we not mention that fool?” spoke Prince Gong disdainfully.

Prince Cheng, with a smile, said: ”Third Brother is indeed wise, to think of killing Yang Zhenshan first!”

Prince Gong’s expression paused; he had three things he hated most.

His father’s scrutiny.

The concern from the Crown Prince.

And the praise from Prince Cheng.

The first two were understandable; his father’s scrutiny instilled fear, the Crown Prince’s concern felt hypocritical, and Prince Cheng’s praise felt mocking.

Even though Prince Cheng was genuinely praising his intelligence, Prince Gong felt it implied stupidity.

”Isn’t it the Crown Prince who wants us to kill Yang Zhenshan?” Prince Gong said with a heavy expression.

”Yes, the Crown Prince indeed wants us to kill Yang Zhenshan, to stop him from courting the border town generals with the title appointments! Haha, perhaps he’s now waiting for us to act so he can prosecute us!” Prince Cheng spoke with a radiant smile, looking charming.

Even though he was well into his forties, his appearance remained exceptionally handsome.

Especially when he smiled, it always seemed extraordinarily transcendent.

That nonchalant smile.

”If the Crown Prince wants it, why not give it to him!” said Prince Gong in a low voice.

”Exactly, let’s act according to his wishes!” Prince Cheng responded offhandedly.

The two exchanged looks, both revealing profound and inscrutable smiles.

...

Chongshan Town, Chongshan Pass.

At this moment, Yang Zhenshan was unaware of the happenings in the Capital City and hadn’t expected to be ennobled.

After the imperial guards had transferred the prisoners to Chongshan Town, he arrived at Chongshan Pass ahead of them.

The pass had now somewhat regained its hustle and bustle, not as much as before, but shops on the main street had reopened, with many military households from surrounding areas coming into the town to shop.

Yang Zhenshan, alongside his Personal Guard, rode into the town. The people on the streets looked up to him with admiration in their eyes.

The news of him being the new General of Chongshan Town had already spread, and so had the news of his consecutive victories, including the battle at Guanshan Pass. His reputation had reached its peak in a short period.

As Yang Zhenshan looked at the civilians and military households on both sides of the street, he didn’t show much expression, nor did he make any gestures, except for a slight nod when he spotted a figure.

It was none other than Luo Shang.

Luo Shang had returned from Jiangnan!

Of course.

With such significant events happening in Chongshan Town, almost leading to the annihilation of the Luo family, it would have been strange if Luo Shang didn’t rush back upon hearing the news.

At this moment, Luo Shang was looking at Yang Zhenshan with a heart surging with emotion. He especially wanted to stand in the middle of the street and shout, ”Who else?”

Yang Zhenshan’s control over Chongshan Town meant that the Luo family’s status naturally rose with the tide.

Previously, when Ji Feiyu was in power, the Luo family faced many restrictions, forcing Luo Shang to expand his commercial empire only outside of Chongshan Town.

Now that Yang Zhenshan had taken control of Chongshan Town, starting from today the Luo family would be the wealthiest merchant in Chongshan Town.

Thinking about the future status of the Luo family in Chongshan Town, Luo Shang’s heart could not stop throbbing with excitement.

Yang Zhenshan was unaware of Luo Shang’s excitement. He quickly passed through the city gate and entered the second gate of the inner city.

As mentioned before, Chongshan Pass is structured like the character ’日’, with the North City being the original strategic fortress. The Governor’s Office, General Mansion, Governor’s Office, and Inspector General’s Office are all located in the North City area, where most of the stationed soldiers are also based.

The South City was expanded later, also known as the city gate, which is the residential and commercial area for the civilians, and some government officials also live in the South City.

Of course, Yang Zhenshan did not need to live in the South City, as he could reside in the rear courtyard of the General Mansion, originally the Changping Marquis Mansion.

When Yang Zhenshan arrived at the General Mansion, Zhou Ren and Lu Wenhua were already standing outside waiting for him.

When Yang Zhenshan had left Chongshan Pass with his troops previously, he had written to Zhou Ren and Lu Wenhua to come to Chongshan Pass to reorganize the General Mansion.

There was no choice; after Ji Feiyu fled in defeat, the General Mansion in Chongshan Town had become a mere shell. Even if there were some civil servants left, Yang Zhenshan dared not use them, so he had to draw personnel from the Tenglong Guard.

Fortunately, the Tenglong Guard was not short of civil servants, and it was no problem at all to transfer two to three hundred civil servants, or even to recruit thousands of civil servants anytime Yang Zhenshan wished.

The reason is simple. In recent years, the Tenglong Guard had cultivated a large number of scholars. Although these scholars definitely could not excel in the imperial examinations, handling document affairs in the government office was still easy for them.

”Greetings, General!” Zhou Ren and Lu Wenhua saluted with clenched fists.

Yang Zhenshan dismounted his horse, looked up at the main gate of the General Mansion, and casually asked, ”How is the situation?”

”General, all personnel for the eight departments and twelve rooms of the General Mansion have been fully staffed, and everyone is getting familiar with their jobs!” Zhou Ren replied.

Yang Zhenshan nodded in satisfaction.

The General Mansion has eight departments: finance, horses, armaments, vehicles, military selection, rewards, military registration, and frontier defense.

As for the twelve rooms, there are accounts, identification documents, ceremonial weapons, seals, and military studies, among others.

The eight departments are the administrative organs of the General Mansion. Each department is headed by a left and a right official, both of Standard Seventh Rank.

The twelve rooms serve as assistants to the General Mansion, specifically assisting the General in handling various routine administrative tasks.

For example, the accounts room refers to the internal accounting of the General Mansion, and the records also refer to the registries of officials within the General Mansion.

However, the accounts of the entire Chongshan Town are managed by the finance department, the military registrations by the Military Registration Department, and the registries of military households by the Governor’s Office, which are not under the jurisdiction of the General Mansion.

Of course, the Governor’s Office is under the jurisdiction of the General Mansion.

In terms of authority, the General is the highest official in Chongshan Town and may intervene in all military and administrative affairs of Chongshan Town.

Responsible for training soldiers, leading troops, and dispatching troops, it could be said that he holds both the rights to lead and deploy troops, implying a significant concentration of power.

This also indicates that the General has the potential to dominate the region and maintain troops independently, which is why the court also established the position of a governor.

The governor’s powers greatly overlap with those of the General. The governor also has the authority to intervene in all military and administrative matters, including training, leading, and dispatching troops. Furthermore, the legality of the governor dispatching troops supersedes that of the General because governors often hold concurrent positions at the Imperial Examination Hall and Ministry of War.

However, since the governor is a civil servant, he is definitely not as skilled in military affairs as the General.

The governor and the General are, in fact, meant to cooperate with and check each other.

Another role involved is that of the garrison eunuch, who could also be called the supervising military eunuch.

The presence of the garrison eunuch further restricts the chances of collusion between the governor and the General, more effectively preventing local military leaders from becoming too powerful and uncontrollable.

Of course, the downside is that it can easily lead to a situation where three forces vie for power.

However, the current Chongshan Town does not have such an issue. Pang Tang was already prepared to be in charge of logistics. After entering Chongshan Pass, he immediately focused on the civil administration of Chongshan Town.

In fact, there is much to be done in the civil administration of Chongshan Town, after all, Chongshan Town is home not only to military households but also over a hundred thousand farming households, merchant households, and artisan households.

Moreover, Fuzhou has been continually engaging in migration and land reclamations.

The rebellion led by Ji Feiyu brought significant losses to Chongshan Town, and it would require much effort from Pang Tang to address these losses.

Similarly, Yang Zhenshan faced numerous issues.