Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather

"You get out first!"

Yang Zhengshan first drove Yang Mingzhi out of the study.

"grown ups!"

After Yang Mingzhi left, Luo Shang looked at Yang Zhengshan eagerly.

Yang Zhengshan said with a faint smile: "Shopkeeper Luo, let's sit down and chat!"

"Oh~~" Luo Shang sat at the desk at a loss.

Yang Zhengshan poured him a cup of tea and asked, "Shopkeeper Luo doesn't have many trustworthy friends in Guancheng?"

"Yes!" Luo Shang didn't understand what Yang Zhengshan wanted to do, but he still said honestly: "It's just that they can't help!"

He has been operating in Guancheng for more than ten years. Although he is not a family power, he still has some friends.

His civilian friends are more worthy of trust than the officials he fawns over.

It's just that ordinary people can't help at all.

Yang Zhengshan picked up the tea and took a sip, "I can't help you with this matter. You also know that I just came to Guancheng not long ago and I have almost no foundation in Guancheng!"

"This, sir~" Luo Shang couldn't help but want to beg again.

Yang Zhengshan raised his hand to stop him and said, "Listen to what I have to say."

"I can't help you, but I can give you an idea."

"In this expedition to Chongshan Town, Zhang Yude stole a lot of food and grass!"

If it is anything else, Yang Zhengshan may not know.

However, he still knew a little about Zhang Yude's greed for grain and grass, because he was a grain transportation officer. When he returned to Guancheng to transport grain, he had many contacts with Dusi Yamen, the Ministry of Revenue, and Zhang Yude's men.

He didn't know how many people were involved, but he knew that every time he received food and grass, he would lose 30%.

Zhou Lan knew about this, and Zhang Shouwang probably knew about it, but they didn't say anything, so Yang Zhengshan didn't care too much. Anyway, he would transport as much as they gave him, and the rest was not just a small matter of transporting grain. It’s all about the senses.

Maybe this is something everyone knows, but no one dares to bring it up.

"What does this have to do with villains?" Luo Shang asked puzzledly.

"If our army is defeated, the court will definitely hold us accountable. As the guarding eunuch, Zhang Yude must not want to attract the attention of the court!"

"If the news about Zhang Yude's corruption spreads throughout Guancheng, do you think the court will deal with Zhang Yude!"

Yang Zhengshan said slowly.

At this time, Zhang Yude naturally had to behave honestly.

"What do you mean, sir?" Luo Shang seemed to have come to his senses.

Yang Zhengshan continued to remind: "If Zhang Yude falls, then who does the Zhang family count?"

"Even if Zhang Yude can't be defeated, if you cause him some trouble so that he has no time to do anything else, the Zhang family will probably not be able to care about you in a short time. Maybe you can take the opportunity to rescue your son!"

Luo Shang's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this.

If he could rescue his eldest son, he would naturally give it a try.

"Sir, do you mean to spread rumors?"

"No, that's not a rumor, that's a fact!" Yang Zhengshan laughed.

Luo Shang is not stupid. The fact that he has been able to operate in Guancheng for so many years shows that he has his own foundation.

Seeing that he understood, Yang Zhengshan looked solemn and said, "After leaving this door, I didn't do anything for you, and I didn't say any unnecessary words to you. Do you understand?"

Luo Shang was startled, then stood up, bowed and said, "I understand, I will remember your kindness in my heart!"

At this time, he had calmed down and understood Yang Zhengshan's difficulties and concerns.

The fact that Yang Zhengshan can help him with ideas is enough to make him grateful. As long as he still has some conscience, Yang Zhengshan should not be involved.

In order to save himself and his son, he could put himself in danger, but Yang Zhengshan could not take the risk to help him.

"Go slowly and don't see him off!" Yang Zhengshan served tea to see the guests off.

Luo Shang took a deep breath, and her expression became desperate again.

He left the study with a lost look, and the corners of Yang Zhengshan's mouth curled up slightly.

Fortunately, this is a smart man.

…

Yang Zhengshan didn't pay too much attention to what happened in the Luo family. Anyway, he had rejected Luo Shang. No matter what Luo Shang did, it had nothing to do with him.

Of course, even if he didn't pay attention, a lot of news in Guancheng had reached his ears.

On the third day after Luo Shang left Linguan Fort, some rumors spread in Guancheng.

Some people say that the battle was defeated because the army was short of food and grass.

The reason why the army is short of food and grass is because someone has embezzled the military rations.

Rumors spread more and more, and various versions emerged in endlessly. Some pointed to Zhang Yude, some pointed to Zhang Shouwang, and some pointed to Governor Sun Xincheng.

All kinds of rumors are flying all over the sky, but some are rumors and some are facts.

Luo Shang is just a small person. It is impossible for him to create so many rumors. In fact, there is no need for him to create so many rumors.

All he needs to do is make a start, and the rest will naturally be filled with endless tap water to stir up various rumors.

Maybe someone among them is up to something.

But those have nothing to do with Luo Shang.

According to various rumors, the Zhang family is indeed honest. It may be that Zhang Yude warned the Zhang family to keep a low profile during this period, or it may be that the Zhang family themselves feel the pressure and crisis.

Anyway, they have no time to pay attention to this little person like Luo Shang now.

But Luo Shang's son is still in prison.

Time quietly came to the end of July, the weather was still hot, and the river at the foot of the Linguanbao hillside had completely dried up.

But the deep well Yang Zhengshan wanted was dug.

The well water is still sufficient. Linguan Fort can not only drink water, but also use well water to irrigate some fields.

The drought has also attracted the attention of many people.

The governor's office and the Dusi office have issued orders to order all military camps and garrisons to dig wells to get water to ensure the harvest of garrison this year.

But doing so is just a drop in the bucket.

The harvest of garrison in Chongshan Town this year will definitely be affected. Although it will not be a total loss, the harvest will definitely be much lower.

Yang Zhengshan was a little relieved about this. In this way, although Chongshan Town will be affected by the drought, it should not fall into chaos because of the drought.

"Dad, the clan leader has sent a letter!"

In the study of the government office, Yang Minghao came back with two letters.

He had just gone to Guancheng with Lao Li to buy things, and happened to meet the Lu family's caravan.

Yang Zhengshan took the letter and read it.

One of the two letters was written by Yang Mingcheng.

Thanks to the Lu family caravan, Yang Mingcheng would write to him every month, telling him about the trivial matters at home.

There was nothing interesting about Yang Mingcheng's letters. He just cared about whether they were doing well in Linguanbao, talked about the situation at home, and talked about what he had done during this period.

And Yang Zhengxiang's letter said a lot of things.

First of all, the Yang family school has been built. Yang Zhengxiang invited a scholar and two students from the county to be teachers. At present, many children in Yangjia Village have enrolled.

It is not free to enter the Yang family school. You need to pay a tuition fee. The children of the Yang family can pay less, while the children of other surnames who want to enroll have to pay more.

In addition to the family school, the roads in Yangjia Village have also been repaired. The alleys in the village are paved with bluestone collected from the mountains, and the road leading to the official road is built with cooked soil. Although the quality is not as good as the official road, it is much more solid and smooth than before.

Then Yang Zhengxiang talked about the use of the surplus silver. Eight hundred taels of silver plus the miscellaneous spoils of war amounted to almost nine hundred taels of silver. Four hundred taels were spent on building the clan school and repairing the road. The remaining five hundred taels were used by Yang Zhengxiang to buy land as the family property of the Yang family.

These lands would be rented to poor families in the clan, who only needed to pay 30% rent each year. The rent collected would be used as expenses for the clan school and to subsidize those clan members who had made contributions to the Yang family.

Yang Zhengshan was very satisfied with this. In fact, he had discussed these with Yang Zhengxiang.

Yang Zhengxiang almost did everything according to his wishes.