Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather

When they returned to Yinghe Fort, Yang Zhengshan did not expect Zhou Lan to come.

This is Zhou Lan's first visit to Yinghe Fort after taking office as Jianning Guards General.

Entering the study, Zhou Lan was already drinking tea leisurely.

"I pay my respects to the general!"

Yang Zhengshan cupped his fists and saluted.

"Sit down!" Zhou Lan casually pointed to the opposite side of the tea table and motioned for Yang Zhengshan to sit down.

Yang Zhengshan was not restrained and sat down to pour tea for her.

"What is the purpose of your visit, General?"

With a faint smile on her face, Zhou Lan said, "Let's see how the situation is here, and send us this silver reward and pension by the way!"

She was extremely satisfied with Yang Zhengshan.

With such subordinates, she has a lot less to worry about.

Let alone anything else, let’s just talk about Hu Qi’s entry this time. Among all the forts under her, Yang Zhengshan was the only one who not only blocked Hu Qi’s invasion, but also made great achievements in battle.

This person is afraid of comparison.

In comparison, Zhou Lan looked at Yang Zhengshan as if he were looking at a rare treasure, which made Yang Zhengshan's face turn red.

General, if you look at me like this, it will make me think wrong.

Although you are very beautiful, I don’t have any evil intentions for you.

We want to find a stepmother for our children, but General, you are really not suitable!

It would be a lie to say that Yang Zhengshan had no thoughts about Zhou Lan at the beginning. Although Zhou Lan was not a peerless beauty, she was very beautiful and a very nice person.

However, after more contact with Yang Zhengshan, he felt that Zhou Lan was not suitable for him. It was not that Zhou Lan was not good, but that Zhou Lan was too strong.

He wanted to find a stepmother for his children, and also a stepmother who could take care of the family.

She is like a woman who is the matron of the house.

He charges in the front, and there is someone behind to take care of the family, freeing him from worries.

This is what he wants.

Obviously, Zhou Lan is not such a person.

Asking Zhou Lan to go home and be the mistress, isn't it equivalent to bringing a tiger home and raising it as a cat?

Yang Zhengshan couldn't help but shudder when he thought of the tiger.

This woman is much more powerful than a tiger!

"You did a great job!"

Zhou Lan praised.

"It's all the general's support!" Yang Zhengshan said.

Zhou Lan smiled, reached out and took out a wooden box from the side and handed it to Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan thought that what was inside was a banknote, but he didn't expect that what was inside was "Thirty-Six Stratagems", which was printed on a woodblock.

"This is?"

"I asked someone to print it, and every official in Jianning Guards received a copy. I also sent some to Chongshanguan." Zhou Lan said.

"Uh!" Yang Zhengshan was a little weird. Has he published a book?

"Marquis Chang Ping wrote me a letter a few days ago. Do you want to read it?" Although Zhou Lan said so, she had already handed the letter to Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan hesitated for a moment, then took it and looked at it.

After reading it, he was completely confused.

Liang Chu greatly appreciated "Thirty-Six Strategies" in his heart, and said that he had used the above strategies when dealing with the Hu army.

That's right, the empty city strategy and the strategy of hiding from the sky and the sea that Liang Chu sang in Chongshan Pass were the decisions he made after watching "Thirty-Six Strategies".

He thought Liang Chu was very powerful before, but he never expected that Liang Chu actually used the strategy in "Thirty-Six Strategies".

He himself had not used this strategy yet, but he did not expect Liang Chu to use it first.

However, Zhou Lan did not seem to tell Liang Chu that he wrote the "Thirty-Six Strategies".

"Marquis Changping wants to see you. If you are willing, you can go see him." Zhou Lan said.

"Is there no impact?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

"No, it mainly depends on whether you are willing or not!" Zhou Lan took a sip of tea and said, "Although Liang Chu is a bit bossy, he is very capable, and he values ​​capable people. If you can join him, Eyes have many benefits for you!”

Yang Zhengshan thought thoughtfully, "But the general doesn't seem very happy!"

Zhou Lan was startled, then looked up at him, her eyes filled with complicated emotions.

She didn't explain, just said: "You can go see him, I don't care!"

This sounds a bit weird.

In fact, Zhou Lan didn't care whether Liang Chu valued Yang Zhengshan, nor did he care that Yang Zhengshan would embrace other people.

To her, Yang Zhengshan was not just a subordinate, but more like a friend, so she acted very relaxed and casual in front of Yang Zhengshan.

And the reason she's unhappy is because of herself.

Women, whether in officialdom or on the battlefield, have to endure more pressure and criticism than men.

She was envious of Liang Chu, which had nothing to do with Yang Zhengshan.

Liang Chu stole the show in this battle, but what about her?

After leading the troops for more than ten days, fighting at the front, no one paid attention.

It seems that only the Ningguo Duke's label on her is worthy of attention. As for the rest, no matter how good she is, no one will care.

She also desires to fight a winning battle to prove her ability and surprise those who despise her.

Yang Zhengshan looked at her expression, stroked his beard, and couldn't help but comforted: "General, just be yourself, why should you care about other people's opinions?"

However, Zhou Lan said calmly: "I know, hahaha, if we conquer the Hu tribe in the East China Sea again, I, the Jianning Guard, will definitely take the lead."

She didn't have a coy temper to begin with, and although she felt a little uncomfortable, she didn't feel resentful.

Yang Zhengshan saw the bright smile on her face and smiled too.

"The general is very talented and will shine in the future!"

He was not talking nonsense. Zhou Lan's martial arts aptitude was not bad. Now her cultivation had reached the fourth level of the acquired realm. If she could break through to the sixth and seventh levels of the acquired realm in a few years, it would be normal.

By then, Zhou Lan would go one step further and become the deputy general of Chongshan Town, or even the general, holding the power of 100,000 soldiers, and would be a well-known existence in the whole of Darong.

As a daughter, Zhou Lan would definitely shine after achieving such an achievement.

Zhou Lan looked at him, and the smile on her face became even brighter.

"It's nice to chat with you!"

Yang Zhengshan was startled, and what he said seemed a little wrong.

But Zhou Lan's next sentence was very right, but Yang Zhengshan's mentality almost collapsed.

"I feel like you are my elder, hehe~~"

"..."

Yang Zhengshan was completely numb!

Elder!

Elder!

Woo, I want to cry again, what should I do?

In his previous life, he was also 28 years old, and now Zhou Lan is exactly 30 years old.

In other words, the two are real peers.

However, she said that she felt the same way about him as an elder.

Yang Zhengshan showed a very reluctant smile, and quickly changed the subject, saying: "Didn't the general say that he brought the reward silver?"

He was really afraid that Zhou Lan would mention the elders again. What if Zhou Lan recognized him as a godparent?

If she recognized a goddaughter, it would be fine. If she recognized a goddaughter, then that, that...

Yang Zhengshan shuddered and felt that he had to keep a distance from Zhou Lan in the future. It would be better to have fewer heart-to-heart talks like this.

"Well! The reward silver is here!" Zhou Lan put the two wooden boxes next to her on the tea table.

"The one on top is the reward silver, and the one on the bottom is the pension!"

Yang Zhengshan opened the wooden box and looked at the thick silver bills inside.

They were all silver bills of 100 taels, a total of 72.

"So many?"

"Not much. You have surrendered a total of 1,183 heads and more than 100 captives in this battle. You can get a reward of 7,180 taels of silver. I have rounded up the total for you."

"But~" Zhou Lan changed her tone and continued, "But I am afraid it will be difficult to promote you this time!"

Yang Zhengshan was not surprised that he could not be promoted.

He was promoted to a thousand households last year, and it has been less than a year.

In fact, Zhou Lan promoted him to a thousand households last year.

If he was promoted again, it is estimated that others would have objections, and it might even go to the court.

"The reward is enough!"

Yang Zhengshan opened the box of pension again, but the silver bills inside were much less.

According to the regulations of Darong, ordinary soldiers who died in battle were given three years of salary for their wives and children, and three years of tax exemption.

How much is the salary of the soldiers in the garrison?

One tael and two cents per month.

That is fourteen taels and four cents a year.

This is the salary when the mission is carried out. If it is only responsible for farming, there will be no salary at all.

In fact, the amount of salary is not important, what is important is whether it can be paid in full.

Yang Zhengshan counted the silver notes in the box. Zhou Lan did not embezzle at all, and all were paid in full.

But he still felt that the pension was too little.

Soldiers died on the battlefield, but they were only given less than fifty taels of pension.

You know, every soldier is the backbone of the family. If they die in battle, their wives and children will lose the most important support.

Of course, he would not say this to Zhou Lan.

This is the problem of the entire Darong, and it is not something that Zhou Lan can solve alone.

After handing the Yinhe pension to Yang Zhengshan, Zhou Lan said goodbye, but before leaving, she saw the three foals that Yang Zhengshan brought back from the horse farm.

"Where did these foals come from?" Zhou Lan looked at the foals and asked curiously.

She could see that these three foals were all very good horses, and they would become top-notch war horses in no time.

"I built a horse farm. This is what I brought back from the horse farm. I plan to give it to my children at home!" Yang Zhengshan did not hide it and naturally said the existence of the horse farm.

In fact, he did not need to hide it. The horse farm was his own property and was also on the list. He was not afraid of others checking it.

In Darong, it was normal for officials to buy some industries in their jurisdiction. The first thing some officials did after taking office was to buy farms, shops, houses and other assets.

For example, didn't Zhou Lan buy several courtyards in Guancheng?

"Do you have such a pony? Can you sell me two, I will take them back to Kyoto to give to my nephew!" Zhou Lan did not want to check Yang Zhengshan's family background. She just thought that the pony was very good.

"In two days, I will give the general two!" Yang Zhengshan said generously.

It was just two pony foals. He could still afford it.

He had ignored this before. If he had known to prepare a New Year gift, he would have prepared a few horses for Zhou Lan.

Zhou Lan was not polite and accepted the gift from Yang Zhengshan casually.

The gift she gave to Yang Zhengshan was not worth a few horses.