Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather

Just as Yang Zhengshan was preparing for the New Year's gift, the Yang family welcomed an unexpected guest.

Yang Zhengxiang came to Anyuan Prefecture City.

When Yang Zhengshan received the news and hurried back from outside, he saw Yang Zhengxiang and Yang Minghui sitting in the hall at a glance.

"Clan leader, why are you here?"

Yang Zhengshan really didn't expect that Yang Zhengxiang would come to Anyuan Prefecture City, and Yang Zhengxiang didn't give him a letter of approval in advance.

Anyuan Prefecture City is relatively far from Chongshan Pass City, and the Lu family's motorcade does not come to Anyuan Prefecture City, so Yang Zhengshan's communication with the clan was no longer so frequent during this period.

Now seeing Yang Zhengxiang again, Yang Zhengshan was quite excited.

He was still full of respect and gratitude for this old man.

We respect Yang Zhengxiang because of his character. This old man has dedicated half his life to the Yang family, and he is diligent and conscientious.

The reason for his gratitude is Yang Zhengxiang's support for him. From the time he organized the young men to fight against the Hu people in Yangjia Village, to when Yang Zhengshan came to Chongshan Town, Yang Zhengxiang responded to his every request.

If you want to ask who has helped Yang Zhengshan the most since he came to this world, there is no doubt that Zhou Lan can be ranked first, and Yang Zhengxiang is second.

Seeing Yang Zhengshan, Yang Zhengxiang immediately smiled and said, "Zhengshan!"

Yang Zhengshan stepped forward to support Yang Zhengxiang. Yang Zhengxiang is fifty-nine years old this year, only one year shy of his sixties.

In the countryside, sixty years old is considered a long life, and even warriors cannot change the aging caused by age.

Looking at the gray-haired Yang Zhengxiang, Yang Zhengshan couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.

It’s only been three years since we last met, and Yang Zhengxiang looks a lot older.

"Okay, okay, it's great to see you again!" Yang Zhengxiang held Yang Zhengshan's hand, and he was so happy that he couldn't add anything to it.

He looked at Yang Zhengshan, his cloudy eyes filled with brilliance.

There is a huge difference between Yang Zhengshan today and Yang Zhengshan back then.

The white hair has faded, the beard and hair are all black, the thin face has become rosy and smooth, the dim eyes are as bright as stars, and the most important thing is the temperament of Yang Zhengshan.

Having been in a high position for a long time, Yang Zhengshan unconsciously showed some power.

Looking back on the Yang Zhengshan of the past, Yang Zhengxiang couldn't believe that the Yang Zhengshan in front of him was the Yang Zhengshan of the past.

"Clan leader, let's sit down and say, Minghui, you can do it too!" Yang Zhengshan smiled and helped Yang Zhengxiang sit down, while not forgetting to greet Yang Minghui.

Afterwards, Wu Hai and two servants exchanged a cup of hot tea for Yang Zhengxiang.

"Are you coming from Anning County?" Yang Zhengshan asked casually, holding tea.

"No, we came from Yinghe Fort." Yang Minghui said.

Yang Zhengshan suddenly realized that they went to Yinghe Fort first.

This is normal. Yang Chengze was promoted to the defense officer of Yinghe Fort, and his family naturally wanted to go over to celebrate.

"How is this boy Chengze doing lately?" Yang Zhengshan started talking to them about their daily life.

"Uncle Zhengshan needs to take care of him. Everything is fine with that boy. I'm about to propose marriage to him!" Yang Minghui smiled so hard that he almost reached his ears.

When Yang Zhengshan came to Chongshan Town, he didn't bring him with him. To be honest, he felt a little uncomfortable because he felt that he was no worse than Yang Mingwu.

But now it seems that this decision was right. He is really not as good as Yang Mingwu, and maybe even not as good as his son Yang Chengze.

Now that he saw that his son was becoming a deputy 1000 households and a defense officer, he couldn't be happier.

Yang Zhengshan became interested, "Have you chosen the girl?"

After this year, Yang Chengze will be nineteen years old.

This is considered an older young man in the countryside. Many young people his age probably have two babies in their arms.

Yang Zhengshan was also to blame for this matter. Yang Zhengshan only focused on urging Yang Chengze and the others to practice and work, but never considered their marriage.

Not only Yang Chengze, but also Yang Chengche, Yang Chengxu, Yang Qinwu and others are not married.

"There is one. This time we came here to ask Uncle Zhengshan if he is a good match." Yang Minghui said.

Yang Zhengshan was slightly stunned, "Whose girl is she from?"

Regarding marriage matters, parents' orders, and matchmaker's words, it stands to reason that he is not qualified to interfere in Yang Chengze's marriage.

But since Yang Minghui said it, it means that the girl they selected is not an ordinary girl.

Speaking of which, Yang Chengze is now a fifth-rank deputy defense officer of thousands of households, and an eighteen-year-old is a fifth-rank military attache. It doesn't matter which girl he is matched with in Anning County.

"She is the second daughter of Luozhi County!" Yang Zhengxiang said, "Although she is a concubine, she is the daughter of Luozhi County after all."

"This matter was brought up by Magistrate Luo. I'm a little undecided, so I want to discuss it with you."

Yang Zhengshan asked: "Does the patriarch look down on Luo Zhixian's daughter?"

"How could it be? I've seen that girl before. She's pretty, well-educated, and looks like a lady."

Yang Zhengxiang sighed softly and said, "I'm afraid that our Yang family won't be able to reach the top. You also know that the magistrate of Luo County was born in the Luo family of Jingzhou."

Luo Jin filled the vacancy of Anyuan County magistrate with his reputation as a civil servant.

It is not an easy task for a person to become a county magistrate. Even if Anning County is just a lower county, it is not possible for ordinary people to become a county magistrate.

Luo Jin's position as magistrate of Anning County was indispensable without the support of his family.

Luo Jin was born in the Luo family of Jingzhou, which is a family of officials. Several of its ancestors have been in the court, and now there is also a member of the Luo family who is serving as a third-rank Taipu Temple Minister.

Compared with the Yang family, the Jingzhou Luo family is not comparable to the Yang family in terms of foundation and power.

Although the Yang family is now thriving in Anning County, Yang Zhengxiang still seems a little humble in front of Luo Jin, the county magistrate.

To put it bluntly, the Yang family has only been out of the ground for two or three years, how can they compare with the Luo family.

It is not an exaggeration to say that marrying into the Luo family is marrying up.

But then again, is Yang Chengze bad?

His background may not be as good as Luo Jin, but Yang Chengze will definitely surpass Luo Jin in the future.

Luo Jin's background as a juren destined him to be a prefect at most in his life, and it is absolutely impossible to be higher.

And what about Yang Chengze?

As long as he follows Zhou Lan, it is possible to be a guerrilla general or a lieutenant general.

That's right, follow Zhou Lan, not Yang Zhengshan.

Since Yang Zhengshan left him in Yinghebao, he can rely on Zhou Lan.

Maybe Yang Zhengshan can help him in the future, but Yang Zhengshan can't help him in the short term.

Yang Zhengshan smiled and said, "They are marrying up to Chengze, not us!"

"Patriarch, don't belittle yourself. With Chengze's current achievements, let alone his concubine's daughter, even if she is the legitimate daughter, they are marrying up to her!"

Yang Zhengxiang was a little unconfident, "Is that so?"

Although he has been the patriarch for half his life, the Yang family was just a farmer before.

"Of course!" Yang Zhengshan said in a very affirmative tone: "To be honest, if possible, I still want Chengze to wait for another two years to get married."

"General Zhou promised me that he would grant Chengze a thousand households in two years, and then Chengze would be a fifth-rank thousand households!"

Yang Zhengxiang and Yang Minghui looked at each other, and both of them showed a happy look.

"Forget it, I'm still waiting to hold my great-grandson!" Yang Zhengxiang no longer felt inferior and said with a smile.

"That's good. Chengze will get married sooner, and you can have a great-grandson sooner!"

Yang Zhengshan smiled and said, "Since Magistrate Luo has such thoughts, then you agree. With the help of Magistrate Luo, Chengze will be able to go more smoothly in the future."

"That's right!" Yang Zhengxiang agreed.

Afterwards, the two talked about some things in Yangjia Village. Yang Zhengshan took them to the guest room and asked Yang Mingcheng to arrange a few servants to serve them.

After a long journey, Yang Zhengxiang was very tired.

Although he was a warrior, he was old and his strong body had begun to decline.

After they had a good rest, Yang Zhengshan asked the kitchen to prepare a large table of food to entertain Yang Zhengxiang and Yang Minghui in the evening.

Not only Yang Zhengxiang and Yang Minghui came, but also many members of the Yang family, such as Yang Mingzhen's two brothers and the families of other Yang family members.

However, Yang Zhengshan didn't need to entertain other people in person. The seniority was here. Except for Yang Zhengxiang, who dared to let him receive them in person?

At the same time, they also brought a lot of gifts, a full three carriages of gifts.

None of them were expensive, just some dried vegetables, fungus, dates, dried fruits and the like.

The foundation of the Yang family was still too thin, even if they gave some expensive things, they couldn't take them out.

There was no conversation overnight. The next day, Yang Zhengshan personally took Yang Zhengxiang to stroll around Anyuanzhou City and bought a lot of things for the Yang family.

In fact, these things were originally what he wanted to buy, and they were all prepared for Yang Mingcheng to take back, but now that Yang Zhengxiang was here, he just handed them over to him directly.

Yang Zhengxiang did not refuse Yang Zhengshan's kindness, because the things Yang Zhengshan bought were not for him, but for the entire Yang family.

These included some basic martial arts techniques and some ordinary pens, ink, paper and inkstones.

...

Yang Zhengxiang did not stay in Anyuan City for too long. They went back after only four days.

As the year was coming to an end, there were still many things in the family waiting for him to go back and deal with.

At the same time, Yang Mingcheng also went back with him.

Yang Mingcheng still needs to go and talk to some of the relationships in Anning County, especially with Mr. Lu, who must go there in person.

Standing in front of the city gate, looking at the caravan going away, Yang Zhengshan took a deep breath.

He didn't know when he would meet Yang Zhengxiang next time.

As his official position became higher and higher, he had fewer and fewer opportunities to return to Yangjia Village.

Speaking of which, he still missed that quiet little mountain village.

Although he only lived in Yangjia Village for half a year, he really regarded Yangjia Village as his home.

No matter where a person is, he must have roots.

Yang Zhengshan could no longer find his previous roots in this world, and Yangjia Village became his sustenance, a new root that made him miss and imagine.

It sustenances his longing for home and his nostalgia for the past.

Yang Zhengshan didn't retract his gaze until the caravan disappeared at the end of the official road.

"Get ready, we're going to Songzhouwei tomorrow!"

He said to Yang Minghao beside him.