Chapter 141 They Are Climbing Above Their Climb

Just as Yang Zhengshan was preparing the New Year gifts, the Yang family welcomed an unexpected guest.

Yang Zhengxiang came to Anyuanzhou 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.

"Chief, why are you here?"

Yang Zhengshan really didn't expect that Yang Zhengxiang would come to Anyuanzhou City, and Yang Zhengxiang didn't send him a letter in advance.

Anyuanzhou City is quite far from Chongshanguan City, and the Lu family's caravan does not come to Anyuanzhou City, so during this period Yang Zhengshan's communications with the clan members were no longer as frequent.

Seeing Yang Zhengxiang again, Yang Zhengshan was still quite excited.

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

The respect is because of Yang Zhengxiang's character. This old man has dedicated half of his life to the Yang family, working diligently and conscientiously.

He was grateful because of Yang Zhengxiang's support for him. From the beginning when he organized young and strong people to fight against the Hu tribe in Yangjia Village, to later when Yang Zhengshan came to Chongshan Town, Yang Zhengxiang always responded to his requests.

If you were to ask who has helped Yang Zhengshan the most since he came to this world, Zhou Lan would undoubtedly be ranked first, and Yang Zhengxiang would be ranked second.

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

Yang Zhengshan stepped forward and supported Yang Zhengxiang. Yang Zhengxiang was already 59 years old this year, only one year away from 60.

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

Looking at the white-haired Yang Zhengxiang, Yang Zhengshan couldn't help feeling a little uncomfortable.

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

"Okay, okay, it's so good to see you again!" Yang Zhengxiang held Yang Zhengshan's hand, feeling extremely happy.

He looked at Yang Zhengshan, his cloudy eyes shining with light.

The Yang Zhengshan today is completely different from the Yang Zhengshan back then.

The white hair faded, the beard and hair turned black, the thin face became rosy and smooth, the dim eyes were as bright as stars, and the most important thing was Yang Zhengshan's temperament.

Having been in a high position for a long time, Yang Zhengshan unconsciously exudes a certain amount of power.

Thinking back to the past Yang Zhengshan, Yang Zhengxiang could hardly believe that the Yang Zhengshan in front of him was the same Yang Zhengshan from before.

"Chief, let's sit down and talk. Minghui, you do it too!" Yang Zhengshan helped Yang Zhengxiang sit down with a smile, and at the same time did not forget to greet Yang Minghui.

Afterwards, Wu Hai brought two servants to get a cup of hot tea for Yang Zhengxiang.

"Are you coming from Anning County?" Yang Zhengshan asked casually while holding a cup of tea.

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

Yang Zhengshan suddenly realized that they had gone to Yinghe Fort first.

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

"How is Chengze these days?" Yang Zhengshan started chatting with them.

"Thanks to Uncle Zhengshan's care, the boy is doing well. I'm just about to arrange a marriage for him!" Yang Minghui smiled so hard that his mouth almost reached his ears.

When Yang Zhengshan came to Chongshan Town, he did not 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 may even be worse than his son Yang Chengze.

Now that he saw his son had made great progress and become a deputy captain and a defense officer, he couldn't be more happy.

Yang Zhengshan became interested, "Have you picked out a girl?"

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

This is considered an older youth in the countryside. Many young people of his age probably already have two children.

This is also Yang Zhengshan's fault. Yang Zhengshan was only concerned with urging Yang Chengze and 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 thing. This time we came here, we also wanted to ask Uncle Zhengshan if he is suitable." Yang Minghui said.

Yang Zhengshan was slightly stunned, "Which girl is that?"

Marriage is a matter of parents' orders and matchmaker's words. Logically speaking, he has no right to interfere in Yang Chengze's marriage.

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

Speaking of which, Yang Chengze is now a fifth-rank deputy thousand-household defense officer. An eighteen-year-old fifth-rank military officer, it would not be considered too high a mark for him to marry any girl in Anning County.

"She is Magistrate Luo's second daughter!" Yang Zhengxiang said, "Although she is a concubine's daughter, she is still Magistrate Luo's daughter."

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

Yang Zhengshan asked, "Does the clan leader look down on Magistrate Luo's daughter?"

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

Yang Zhengxiang sighed and said, "I'm afraid that our Yang family can't marry into this family. You also know that Magistrate Luo was born in the Luo family of Jingzhou."

Luo Jin was appointed as the magistrate of Anyuan County with his honor as a juren.

It was not easy for a Juren to become a county magistrate. Even though Anning County was just a small county, not an ordinary Juren could be the magistrate.

Luo Jin’s appointment as the magistrate of Anning County was inseparable from the support of his family.

Luo Jin was born into the Jingzhou Luo family, a family of officials. Several of its ancestors had served in the court, and now there was a member of the Luo family serving as a third-rank official in the Ministry of the Imperial Household.

Compared with the Yang family, the Jingzhou Luo family is not comparable to the Yang family in terms of both 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 fields for two or three years, how can they compare to the Luo family.

It is no exaggeration to say that marrying into the Luo family is marrying above one's station.

But then again, is Yang Chengze bad?

Although Yang Chengze's background may not be as good as Luo Jin's, he will definitely surpass Luo Jin in the future.

Luo Jin's background as a juren meant that he could only become a prefect in his lifetime. Any higher position was absolutely impossible.

And what about Yang Chengze?
As long as he follows Zhou Lan, it is possible for him to become a guerrilla general or a lieutenant general.

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

Ever since Yang Zhengshan left him in Yinghe Fort, the only one he could rely on was Zhou Lan.

Maybe Yang Zhengshan will be able to help him in the future, but Yang Zhengshan can no longer help him in the short term.

Yang Zhengshan smiled and said, "They are the ones who are trying to get ahead of Chengze, not us!"

"Patriarch, don't underestimate yourself. With Chengze's current achievements, let alone being Luo Jin's concubine's daughter, even if she were the legitimate daughter, they would still be marrying up!"

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

Although he has been the patriarch of the family for half his life, the Yang family was once just a farming family.

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

"General Zhou promised me that he would grant Chengze the title of Qianhu in two years. By then, Chengze will be a fifth-rank Qianhu!"

Yang Zhengxiang and Yang Minghui looked at each other, and both showed happy expressions.

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

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

Yang Zhengshan smiled and said, "Since Magistrate Luo has such an idea, then you just agree. With Magistrate Luo's help, Chengze will be able to move forward more smoothly in the future."

"That's right!" Yang Zhengxiang said in agreement.

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

After the long journey, Yang Zhengxiang was very tired.

Although he is a warrior, he is old and his strong body has 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, there is no need for Yang Zhengshan to personally entertain other people. Because of their seniority, no one except Yang Zhengxiang would dare to ask him to personally entertain them.

At the same time, they also brought a lot of holiday gifts, enough for three carriages.

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

The Yang family's financial resources are still too weak, and they can't even give them valuable things.

Nothing happened that night. The next day, Yang Zhengshan personally took Yang Zhengxiang for a stroll around Anyuan City and bought a lot of things for the Yang family.

In fact, he was originally going to buy these things and was planning to let Yang Mingcheng take them back, but now that Yang Zhengxiang was here, he just gave them 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.

It includes some basic martial arts techniques and some ordinary writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone.

……

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

As the year draws to a close, there are still many things in the clan waiting for him to deal with when he returns.

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

Yang Mingcheng still needs to make some connections in Anning County, especially with Mr. Lu, whom Yang Mingcheng must go there in person.

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

I don’t know when I will meet Yang Zhengxiang next time.

As he became more and more powerful, he had fewer and fewer opportunities to return to Yangjia Village.

Come to think of it, he missed that quiet little mountain village quite a bit.

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

People must have roots no matter where they are.

Yang Zhengshan can no longer find his previous roots in this world, and Yangjia Village has become his sustenance, a new root that he cares about and imagines.

It expresses his longing for home and his attachment to the past.

Yang Zhengshan didn't look away until the convoy disappeared at the end of the official road.

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

He said to Yang Minghao beside him.

(End of this chapter)