Chapter 165 Let’s be frank. I’ve found a stepmother for you. Do you have any objections?
Luo Shang also understood what Yang Zhengshan meant. He thought about it and said, "I can give it a try, but I'm not sure how much I can gain."

Yang Zhengshan took another sip of tea and said, "Before going to Jing'an Prefecture, go to Anning County first. Then you can take my invitation and visit the Lu family and Luo Jin!"

Jing'an Prefecture is not Yang Zhengshan's home ground, but it is Yang Zhengshan's hometown.

Although the Lu family is in Anning County, it is also considered a prominent family in Jing'an Prefecture.

Although Luo Jin was only a county magistrate, he had some connections in the provincial capital.

With the support from these two parties, Luo Shang couldn't say how much he could gain, but at least he would not return empty-handed.

Yang Zhengshan asked him to go to Jing'an Prefecture and would naturally help him with some plans.

"I understand. I will visit the Lu family and County Magistrate Luo first!" Luo Shang was obviously relieved.

If he relied on himself alone, it would be almost impossible for him, an outsider, to get his hands on Jing'an Prefecture.

It's okay to buy a shop and do a small business, but if you want to achieve something successful, it is absolutely impossible.

"As for the third thing, I actually want you to help the military households in Anyuan City find some livelihoods. The military households' lives are too poor. I hope you can provide them with some stable jobs as much as possible to make their lives better!"

This is Yang Zhengshan’s main purpose.

If we want to alleviate poverty, we cannot do without agriculture and commerce.

In agriculture, Yang Zhengshan does not have much room for operation. Only in business can Yang Zhengshan borrow Luo Shang's business.

Back then in Yinghe Fort, the prosperity of Yinghe Fort was developed with the help of Luo Shang.

And now, Yang Zhengshan also needs Luo Shang.

This is also the reason why Yang Zhengshan is willing to support Luo Shang.

As for how much silver Luo Shang could give him, Yang Zhengshan really didn't care. He needed silver, but he could earn it himself. Once the horse farm was built, he would definitely not be short of silver.

In comparison, the business activities brought by Luo Shang can enable the military households under his jurisdiction to live a better life, which is the most important thing.

Just like the poverty alleviation in the previous life, the reason why we let big companies help with poverty alleviation is because big companies can invest, provide a large number of jobs, and help a place achieve development.

"But I only need a shopkeeper and a clerk. Can they do it?" Luo Shang said.

"The shopkeeper may not be able to do it, but the clerks can do it with a little training!"

"Besides the guys, you also need an embroiderer!"

"What do you think of building a school for embroiderers?"

Yang Zhengshan said.

It is better to teach people to fish than to teach people.

In ordinary people's homes, an embroiderer is considered a high-paying job. It is normal for an embroiderer with good skills to earn dozens or even hundreds of taels of silver a year.

If an embroiderer appeared in a military household, it was equivalent to reducing the number of poor households.

When he was in Linguan Fort, Yang Zhengshan built a needlework workshop. Now there are many qualified embroiderers in it. Although those women are not great embroiderers, they can still provide for their families without any problems.

"Embroidery school?" Luo Shang was a little confused.

Can embroiderers also go to school?
His mind is a little confused.

Seeing him like this, Yang Zhengshan could only explain in detail.

This embroidery school is actually a technical school. It does not need to be too large. Only dozens of students are needed at a time. The training time does not need to be too long. Half a year is enough.

After you have mastered the skills, you can enter Luo Shang's Jinxiu Workshop to do internship and continue your studies.

However, there are some problems involved. First of all, these people need to be trained intensively and sent to the city of Anyuanzhou. But with the endorsement of the garrison office, there shouldn't be any major problems.

Secondly, these people should not be too old. It is best if they are girls under the age of sixteen. They are not married, are not burdened by housework, and learn things quickly.

Finally, there will be no wages in the early stage. The military households may not be willing to send people, and of course it is impossible to charge them.

Through Yang Zhengshan's explanation, Luo Shang finally understood his thoughts.

"This is not difficult. There are many embroidery workshops in Jiangnan. The embroiderers there are trained from a young age, but they need to sign a long contract." Luo Shang said.

A long-term contract is not a contract to sell oneself. Once signed, the person becomes a long-term laborer. They still have a household registration and are not slaves.

For example, Ma San signed a ten-year contract with the Yang family.

"It's a long-term contract, it's up to you. I just want to find some ways for them to make money!" Yang Zhengshan said.

He had no choice. Military households were different from farming households. The male members of military households had to join the army and cultivate the land, and neither of these jobs brought much income.

How many male members can a military household have?
Apart from one regular male and one extra male, how many males are left in a military household?
Therefore, Yang Zhengshan has always focused his poverty alleviation efforts on women.

From needlework workshops, to pig and chicken farming, and now to the training of embroiderers, Yang Zhengshan hopes to liberate women's labor.

"Not only embroiderers, carpenters, blacksmiths, etc., I hope you can do the same!" Yang Zhengshan continued.

Although there are not many vacant male members in the military households, there are some.

In any case, it's good to let them learn a skill.

Yang Zhengshan has already made plans. After the spring plowing is over, he will renovate all the garrisons under the jurisdiction of the defense office.

Following the model of Yinghebao, each tunbao built pig pens, sheep pens, chicken coops, etc., built a school for each tunbao, and established commercial streets in several larger tunbaos.

This is not something that can be accomplished in a few months; it requires long-term planning and investment.

Yang Zhengshan estimated that he would stay in Anyuan City for several years. He hoped that when he left Anyuan City, all the military garrisons would be transformed and all the military households would be able to solve the problem of food and clothing.

Serving as an official for one term brings benefit to one party.

Although people's livelihood is not Yang Zhengshan's main responsibility, he is still willing to benefit those military households.

Asking Luo Shang to train carpenters and blacksmiths was a completely thankless task, but Luo Shang agreed without any hesitation.

He already understood what Yang Zhengshan meant, and also knew that he could not make any money from this.

In fact, this is easy to do. You can open a carpentry shop and a blacksmith shop. The cost is not very high. After talking about these, Yang Zhengshan and Luo Shang started to talk about family matters.

Luo Shang told him a lot about Chongshan Pass, mostly about the changes that had taken place in Chongshan Pass during this period.

It has to be said that Lu Chongde and Liang Chu are both capable people. Under their management, Chongshan Pass has become more and more prosperous.

In addition, Yang Zhengshan also asked about Luo Shang's family situation.

Luo Shang's eldest son Luo Zhen, the reckless boy who was thrown into jail for offending the fourth young master of the Zhang family, has now started a business with Luo Shang. When Luo Shang leaves Guancheng, he will help keep an eye on the business of each store.

Although this guy is a bit reckless, he still has some business sense.

……

Luo Shang stayed in Anyuan City for three days and then left. Now his business is quite big and it is impossible for him to stay in Anyuan City forever.

Moreover, the affairs in Anyuan City would not be resolved in the short term, and he would probably have to wait for several months before he could take over the Liang family's business.

However, there are some things he can prepare in advance. He has already made an agreement with Yang Zhengshan that after returning, he will arrange for two shopkeepers to come to Anyuan City to buy a store, hang up the sign of Jinxiufang first, and also build an embroidery school.

Yang Zhengshan naturally had no objection to this. Luo Shang was very methodical in his work, and Yang Zhengshan was very confident in him.

And on the second day after Luo Shang left, Ma San brought his whole family to Anyuan City.

After Yang Zhengshan met him, he asked Yang Mingcheng to arrange accommodation for the Ma family.

The horse farm had not been built yet and there was no place to live there, so Yang Mingcheng rented a small courtyard in the city for them to stay temporarily.

Once the horse farm is built, the whole family will move there.

In the following days, Anyuan City was still bustling with people from the Secret Guard, the Governor's Office, and the General's Mansion coming and going. After being examined, those who were detained were released if they had no problems.

As for those with problems, they were taken to Chongshan Pass.

This smuggling case involved not only Anyuan City, but also Jiacheng and Heiyazhai, so the final trial was held in Chongshan Pass.

It is said that people from the Central Military Governor's Office, the Ministry of Justice, and the Dali Temple have come to Chongshan Town. Yang Zhengshan does not know the specific situation and does not pay attention to it.

Anyway, the rest of the things have nothing to do with him, so he is too lazy to get involved.

Besides, he was just a small garrison officer and couldn’t get involved in such matters even if he wanted to.

Instead of wasting energy on this, it is better to think about how to marry Yu Qingyi.

After dinner that day, Yang Zhengshan did not let everyone leave.

In the main hall, Yang Zhengshan sat in the main seat, his eyes scanning everyone.

Except Yang Mingzhi, everyone else in the Yang family came, except for a few little kids who didn't come.

The whole family sat quietly, waiting for Yang Zhengshan to speak.

"Ahem!" Yang Zhengshan coughed lightly, breaking the quiet atmosphere, and said, "I plan to marry Qingyi. What do you think?"

Let me be frank. I have found a stepmother for you. Do you have any objections?
After he finished speaking, the main room fell into a longer silence.

"..."

Yang Zhengshan looked at them speechlessly.

You guys talk!
Oppose or agree?

Don’t say from now on that I didn’t give you a chance to express your opinions.

Seeing that no one was willing to speak, Yang Zhengshan had to call on them and said, "Mingcheng, what do you think?"

Yang Mingcheng scratched his head and said, "Dad, I don't have any opinion."

"What do you mean you have no opinion?" Yang Zhengshan gave him a dissatisfied look.

"Hehe, as long as Dad is willing!" Yang Mingcheng smiled innocently.

Yang Zhengshan was speechless again. This idiot couldn't even say a word about this.

"Minghao, what about you? Do you have any opinions?" Yang Zhengshan could only look at Yang Minghao.

Yang Minghao looked at him, blinked, and said, "Dad, will my opinion work?"

"It doesn't work!" Yang Zhengshan said directly.

"Then I have no objection!" Yang Minghao lowered his head angrily.

What I said doesn't work, what else do you want me to say?

Yang Zhengshan looked at Yang Yunyan again. Yang Yunyan lowered her head and didn't even look at Yang Zhengshan.

Alas, a daughter who is married off is like water spilled. I can no longer rely on this eldest daughter.

In fact, it was not appropriate for Yang Yunyan to speak at this time.

As for Yang Yunxue.

"Dad, I have no objection!" Yang Yunxue took the initiative to speak, but it was as good as saying nothing.

Yang Zhengshan stroked his beard and nodded.

"Since you all have no objection, it's settled!"

"Wang, go find a matchmaker these two days and prepare the betrothal gifts. Liang, help your sister-in-law!"

"Okay, that's it, all of you go back!"

Humph, if I tell you not to speak, then don't blame me for having the final say.

I have asked you before, and you all have no objections.

After saying that, Yang Zhengshan stood up and walked into the west room.

(End of this chapter)