Chapter 174 Goodbye Zhao Yuan, Jade Buddha

As the saying goes, when one person succeeds, everyone around him will benefit. Yang Zhengshan has not achieved success, but he is now a third-rank guard commander. Anyone who has any connection with him and the Yang family can benefit from his and the Yang family's influence.

Just like the Wang family, due to the marriage relationship with the Yang family, no one dared to provoke them in Anning County, and the officials and runners of the county government had to be polite when they met them.

Don't underestimate this point. The harm caused by clerks to the common people is more serious than that caused by corrupt officials. Take the payment of grain tax for example, no clerk or runner in Anning County dared to challenge Wang Jialin.

In Wangjia Village, Old Man Wang is considered a well-known person. If Old Man Wang were not too honest, he could easily use the power of the Yang family to become a village chief or something.

It's not just the Wang family, the Li family and the Jiang family are also like this.

The people who came from the Li family this time were Old Man Li and his wife and their eldest son Li Dashi. Old Man Li, like Old Man Wang, were both honest country men and seemed particularly nervous in front of Yang Zhengshan.

Only after they returned to the guest room did he feel a little more relaxed.

However, since the second branch was not in Anyuan City, Yang Minghao was responsible for receiving them.

After arranging the guest rooms for them, Yang Minghao said to Old Man Li, "Uncle Li, if you think there is something wrong, just tell me directly and I will rearrange it for you."

"No, no, it's all good, all good!" said Old Man Li with a smile on his face.

This is not a compliment, he really thinks everything is good.

Compared to home, this place is undoubtedly much more luxurious and exquisite.

"Well, my second brother and second sister-in-law will probably take a few days to come back. You guys stay here first. I'll let Liu Ben serve you. If you need anything, just go to him directly, or you can ask him to come to me."

Yang Minghao pointed at a boy of about seventeen or eighteen years old beside him and said.

"Okay!" Old Man Li could only say okay and nothing else.

Yang Minghao told him some more things, such as how to eat, where there is water, and if he wants to go out, he should bring a few more people with him to avoid getting into trouble, etc.

Old Man Li is actually two years younger than Yang Zhengshan. Li is the eldest daughter of the Li family. She has two younger brothers and a younger sister.

The eldest son, Li Dashi, is eighteen years old this year and just got married two years ago.

Yang Minghao said a few more words to Li Dashi before leaving.

Li Dashi is a smart man, and he is more opinionated in what he says and does than Li Laodi.

After seeing Yang Minghao off, Li Dashi couldn't help but say, "Dad, Third Brother is different now. I remember he was about the same height as me when he was in the blacksmith shop, but now he is so much taller than me!"

He is the same age as Yang Minghao. At that time, the Yang family was poor and Yang Minghao was not as tall as him.

"It's different now. The Yang family is prosperous now!" said Old Man Li with a smile.

Li Han, who was standing next to her, had just packed her luggage and walked out of the inner room. She said, "I don't know how Dahua is doing now. I heard that she is pregnant again!"

Dahua is Li’s name, Li Dahua, a very rustic name.

Speaking of Li's pregnancy again, Li Han's dark face beamed with joy.

For women, children are their support in their husband's family.

Li gave birth to two grandsons for the Yang family. This was Li's greatest confidence in the Yang family.

"My brother-in-law is a high-ranking official now, and my elder sister will definitely live a good life!"

Li Dashi sat at the tea table and picked up a piece of dessert to taste it.

The soft glutinous rice cake melted in his mouth, making Li Dashi's eyes light up.

"Oh, it's a pity that my little sister didn't come, otherwise she would definitely like to eat this snack!"

Li Han glanced at him and said nothing.

They hesitated for a long time before coming to Anyuan City this time. A journey of more than 300 miles was very far for them. If Yang Minghui had not personally come to invite them to come, they probably would not have come.

After deciding to come to Anyuan City, they discussed for a long time who should come. They felt it was not appropriate for the whole family to come together, so they only brought their eldest son.

Li Xiaohua also wanted to come, but was ruthlessly rejected by them.

In fact, Li Dashi wanted to take his younger sister with him, but the old couple didn't want to, and he couldn't persuade them, so he had to give up in the end.

……

In the following two days, relatives and friends who wanted to attend Yang Zhengshan’s wedding arrived one after another.

The second master of the Lu family, Lu, came with the seventh young master of the Lu family, Lu Qi. They prepared a generous gift for Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan felt a little embarrassed by the Lu family's generosity.

Mr. Lu looked a lot older, with a head full of white hair, but he was still in good spirits.

Lu Qi, on the other hand, seems to have matured a lot and is no longer as arrogant as before.

Last year, Lu Qi passed the examination for a scholar, and now he can be considered a scholar. However, his talent for studying is far inferior to Lu Wenyuan, and it is estimated that he can only pass the examination for a juren in this life.

Fortunately, the Lu family does not need Lu Qi to support it. Lu Qi has six brothers. Together with the legitimate and illegitimate brothers, the eldest brother of the Lu family, Lu Zhi, is now a fifth-rank prefect. With Lu Zhi around, the Lu family will at least not decline in this generation.

In addition to the Lu family, the magistrate Luo Jin also sent someone to Anning County. The person who came was his legal advisor, and he would leave after delivering the gift.

Yang Mingzhi arrived in Anyuan City on the third day of May, accompanied by Zhao Yuan and Yang Qinwu.

Zhao Yuan came on behalf of Zhou Lan, and of course he also represented himself.

Yang Qinwu came on behalf of Yang Mingwu, Yang Chengze and others.

Yang Mingwu, Yang Chengze and others all held official positions, so it was naturally impossible for them to attend Yang Zhengshan's wedding. They could only choose Yang Qinwu as their representative to present their gifts.

There were many gifts, but none of them were valuable, and Yang Zhengshan did not expect them to give him anything valuable. However, Yang Chengze's gift made Yang Zhengshan very happy.

Yang Chengze brought an account book, which was the account book of Yinghe Fort for the past few months.

In just a few months, the Yinghebao Defense Office earned two thousand taels of silver, the bulk of which came from charcoal and the needlework workshop in Linguanbao. In addition, the rent from the commercial street and the livestock raised in various garrisons also earned the office a lot of silver.

If the government can earn so much money, then the military households will earn even more.

"You did a great job!" Yang Zhengshan looked at Yang Qinwu and praised him gently.

"Hehe, it's all thanks to Grandpa Zhengshan. We are just implementing it according to Grandpa Zhengshan's plan!" Yang Qinwu scratched his head a little unhappily.

"Haha, this kid is actually shy!" Zhao Yuan next to him said jokingly. "Brother Zhengshan, you don't know that Yinghe Fort is now the richest garrison under the jurisdiction of Jianning Guards. It's very lively every day!"

He really admired Yang Zhengshan. The difference between what Yinghebao was like before and what it is like now is like heaven and earth.

Today, Yinghebao is probably the richest garrison in Chongshan Town, and this is all thanks to Yang Zhengshan.

In his heart, Yang Zhengshan is the kind of all-rounder who can kill enemies on horseback and govern the people on foot.

Yang Zhengshan stroked his beard and the smile on his face became brighter.

He was really happy.

Serving a place means bringing benefits to the people.

The better Yinghe Fort became under his management, the greater his sense of satisfaction.

With the success of Yang Chengze, Yang Mingwu and others, he felt an unprecedented sense of accomplishment.

"By the way, how is General Zhou doing recently?" Yang Zhengshan changed the subject and talked about Zhou Lan.

I still miss Zhou Lan very much after not seeing him for half a year.

Zhou Lan was his mentor and his strong supporter. Even after leaving Yinghe Fort, he still cared about Zhou Lan.

"Uh!"

However, Zhao Yuan smiled awkwardly.

"What's wrong?" Yang Zhengshan was a little surprised.

Zhao Yuan looked at Yang Qinwu and said, "Qinwu, go and arrange our accommodation first!"

The Yang family’s yard is very large, but it can’t accommodate so many relatives and friends.

Except for Yang's in-laws, all other relatives and friends lived in the inn.

Naturally, they didn't need to arrange accommodation, as the Yang family had already taken care of it. Zhao Yuan just wanted to get Yang Qinwu away.

Yang Qinwu blinked, stood up and said, "Grandpa Zhengshan, I'll come over later. I still have a lot to tell you!"

"Yeah! Go ahead!"

After Yang Qinwu left, Zhao Yuan lowered his voice and said, "Brother Zhengshan, General Zhou has been in a bad mood recently!"

"Why?"

"Why else? It's all for you!" Zhao Yuan winked at Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan was stunned.

What do you mean?
Zhou Lan is interested in me. When she heard that I was going to get married, she felt sad?

It shouldn’t be!

Although he and Zhou Lan had a close relationship, there was not much romance between them.

As to whether he was interested in Zhou Lan, the answer was yes. At the beginning, he was quite attracted to her.

The heroic female general looks very cool.

However, those impulses were all stimulation from the kidneys. Later, the two became superiors and subordinates, and Zhou Lan became his powerful figure. Yang Zhengshan then gave up those messy fantasies.

And what about Zhou Lan?

There shouldn't be any meaning in this regard.

Zhao Yuan chuckled, "Some time ago, Prince Zhou came to Jianning Guard again. He happened to hear that you were going to get married, so he persuaded General Zhou to get married."

The corners of Yang Zhengshan's mouth twitched slightly. It turned out that it was because of his elder brother's urging to get married.

He felt a little relieved, but also a little disappointed.

It would be good if she didn't have any feelings for him, otherwise he wouldn't know how to get along with Zhou Lan in the future.

As for the loss, haha, men are always inexplicably greedy.

"Prince Zhou is gone?"

Prince Zhou is Zhou Lan’s elder brother Zhou Xu, whom Yang Zhengshan had met before.

"He's gone. He only stayed in Jianningwei for two days!"

Zhao Yuan slapped his head and said, "By the way, Prince Zhou also asked me to bring you a gift!"

Having said that, he ran out in a hurry, and came back after a while.

"This is it!"

He handed a wooden box to Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan took the wooden box and opened it, only to find a jade Buddha inside.

Jade Buddha?

What do you mean?
This is not Zhou Xu's style!

His impression of Zhou Xu was that he was a free and easy-going person who didn't care about trivial matters and shouldn't do anything like praying to gods or Buddhas.

"Huh!" Zhao Yuan next to him was also a little surprised when he saw the jade Buddha.

"Do you recognize this jade Buddha?" Yang Zhengshan was a little confused.

"I don't know, but this is top-grade mutton-fat white jade, it should be worth a lot of silver!" Zhao Yuan said.

Yang Zhengshan was confused. He really couldn't understand why Zhou Xu would give him such a gift.

But no matter what Zhou Xu meant, the things had been delivered and he couldn't return them.

(End of this chapter)