Chapter 264: A Martial Arts Family Born from Decay

After bypassing the Jing'an Prefecture, the team headed east for more than a hundred miles and entered the territory of Qinghua Prefecture.

Tenglongwei is located in the southeast of Qinghua Prefecture. However, even though Tenglongwei is not under the jurisdiction of Qinghua Prefecture, under normal circumstances, the military households and military farms of the garrison are managed by the garrison itself, and the county government and prefectural government have no right to interfere.

Simply put, the Weisuo was not just a simple military organization, but also had administrative responsibilities.

To a large extent, the Weisuo was an independent management system like the prefectures, states and counties, which governed the population, land, finance, justice, education and civil affairs within the Weisuo.

The Tenglong Guard is different from other guards. Other guards are responsible for part of the city’s defense or have other responsibilities.

For example, there are three garrisons in Qinghua Prefecture. The first one is Qinghua Guard. Qinghua Guard has five thousand households in front, back, left, right and center. In addition to the task of military farming, Qinghua Guard is also responsible for the city defense task of the prefecture. However, this city defense is different from the garrison office of Anyuan City.

There is no garrison office in Qinghua Prefecture, so the soldiers of Qinghua Guard are only responsible for patrolling the city walls and standing guard at the city gates. As for patrolling in the city, arresting thefts, and maintaining public security, they are all the responsibility of the prefectural government.

The second is the Prince Qing’s Guards. The Prince Qing’s Guards are also a guard post, and there are five thousand households in the front, back, left, right and center. They are responsible for the guarding of the royal city.

The prince's guards were different from the local guards. The local guards were under the jurisdiction of the Dusi Yamen, while the prince's guards were under the dual jurisdiction of the prince and the Dusi Yamen.

However, under normal circumstances, princes are in charge of their own guards, and as long as it is not too excessive, the Dusi Yamen will not argue with a prince.

The third garrison was Tenglong Wei. Due to the special history of Tenglong Wei, Liaoyuandusi Yamen had no right to govern Tenglong Wei, and Tenglong Wei was directly under the jurisdiction of the Central Army Governor's Office.

The organization of Tenglong Guard is also different from that of ordinary guards. Tenglong Guard has four guards, front, back, left, and right. Each guard has five thousand households, front, back, left, right, and center.

According to the organization, Tenglongwei should have more than 22,000 military households, that is, more than 22,000 soldiers.

A military organization with more than 20,000 households and administrative management is actually similar to a county.

The key is that it is not under the jurisdiction of the Dusi Yamen, but directly under the Central Army Governor's Office. The Central Army Governor's Office naturally cannot keep an eye on a garrison all day long. Even if this garrison is special, they will not pay too much attention to it. After all, they also have jurisdiction over two border towns and four Dusi.

Therefore, becoming the commander of the Tenglong Guard is almost the same as being a county magistrate, and this county magistrate also has military power and relatively independent authority.

This may seem good, but the reality is not good, it is bad.

The Dusi Yamen doesn't care, the Central Military Governor's Office doesn't care, and the Tenglong Guard was a being that was neither loved by its grandmother nor its uncle.

Without the support of higher authorities, Tenglongwei had to rely on itself for self-sufficiency. The result was predictable.

According to the organization, Tenglongwei should have more than 22,000 military households, but the actual situation is that there are less than 10,000 military households in Tenglongwei now. Those who disappeared either died or sold themselves.

In a hundred years, more than 12,000 households disappeared. One can imagine the situation of Tenglongwei.

When Yang Zhengshan finished listening to Ding Qiu's report, his brows were furrowed so much that he could pinch a fly to death.

This is really a big pit!

No wonder it took Liang Chu more than ten years to train the Yunlong Guard into an elite force.

There used to be four Tenglong guards, but now there are less than two. This is really bullshit.

But then again, was this something the Central Military Governor's Office did deliberately?
Turn this special guard post into an ordinary guard post?

"So what is the current situation of the Weisi Yamen?"

In the convoy, Yang Zhengshan, riding on horseback, asked Ding Qiu beside him.

Ding Qiu said softly: "The position of the commander of Tenglong Guard has been vacant for more than ten years. Now Tenglong Guard is led by two deputy commanders and four assistant commanders!"

Other garrisons had at most two associate commanders and two deputy commanders, and some garrisons did not even have these two positions. But the Tenglong Garrison not only had two associate commanders, but also four deputy commanders.

The key point is that the position of commander has been vacant for more than ten years.

"Why has the position of commander been vacant for more than ten years?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

Ding Qiu said in a deep voice: "I think it has something to do with the Lan family!"

"Lan family?" Yang Zhengshan was even more confused.

"Well, this Lan family is a martial arts family in Tenglongwei~"

Before Ding Qiu finished speaking, Yang Zhengshan interrupted and asked, "Wait, you mean the Lan family is a military household of the Tenglong Guard?"

"Yes, according to our investigation, the Lan family was an ordinary military household a hundred years ago!" Ding Qiu said.

Yang Zhengshan's face turned dark instantly.

The Tenglong Guard had been corrupt for a hundred years, but a martial arts family had actually been born within it!
This may seem nothing special, and a hundred years is enough time for a family to rise, but don't forget that they are military households.

It is more difficult for military households to rise than other ordinary people, because they are subject to more restrictions, and the Tenglong Guard is not loved by their grandmothers and uncles.

"Is there anyone from the Lan family working as an official in Tenglongwei?" Yang Zhengshan continued to ask.

Ding Qiu looked a little strange, and said, "Yes, but there are only a few thousand households!"

"Then how do they control the Tenglong Guards!"

"The Lan family owns 200,000 acres of fertile land, thousands of slaves, and dozens of shops. They are also the largest grain merchant in Tenglongwei!"

Yang Zhengshan was completely speechless.

Tenglongwei was a garrison, and as such it was to focus on farming.

The military households in Darong owned between 20 and 50 mu of military farms, with some differences in the amount of military farms owned depending on the region.

In Qinghua Prefecture, each military household should have 30 mu of farmland.

According to the fact that Tenglongwei had more than 22,000 military households, the military farms owned by Tenglongwei should be between 600,000 and 700,000 mu.

And the Lan family actually accounted for one third.

In addition, the thousands of slaves of the Lan family are probably also from military households.

What's more, they also controlled the grain business of Tenglong Guard. The guards were self-sufficient and the ordinary military households could only harvest a little grain after working hard for a year. If the military households wanted to buy other things, they had to exchange the grain for money to buy other things.

This means that grain trading is the most important business of the garrison and the most basic foundation of its commerce.

Controlling the grain business of the garrison is equivalent to controlling the commercial activities of all military households in the garrison.

Without thinking, Yang Zhengshan knew that the Lan family must be in the business of buying low and selling high, and this low purchase was not based on market conditions.

To put it simply, they exploited the entire Tenglongwei military households by controlling the grain business.

Under such circumstances, the officials of Tenglongwei still couldn't do anything to the Lan family.

The reason is very simple. The strength of the Lan family is one aspect, but the most important thing is that the Lan family also has its own support or backing.

After thinking this through, Yang Zhengshan ordered, "Go back and continue investigating to see if you can find out the forces behind the Lan family!"

He took a deep breath and continued, "Let's see if this Lan family is related to the Qing Palace!"

The most likely force for Qinghua Mansion to become the backer of the Lan family is undoubtedly the Prince Qing Mansion.

"I obey your command!" Ding Qiu replied!
"Well, be careful. The Lan family is deeply rooted in Tenglongwei, so we must act with caution when facing them!" Yang Zhengshan said.

"Don't worry, sir. We will be careful!" Ding Qiu said.

There are not many guards of the Yang family now. The original twenty young men have grown up. Their strength is at the level of refining energy or the early stage of acquired strength. They are considered the backbone of the Yang family guards.

In addition, there are ten disciples from the Tianqing Sword Sect. They already had strong cultivation bases, and after coming to the Yang family, they were instructed and trained by Yang Zhengshan and Zhu Shanghe. Now, they are all acquired warriors.

In addition, the Yang family would select some talented young men from the slaves to join the guards every year. In the past few years, about a dozen people were selected, and they were considered the reserve force of the Yang family guards.

Currently, the Yang family has more than 40 guards, of whom more than ten followed Wu Zheng to Kyoto, another dozen followed Wu Zhan and were responsible for accompanying the Yang family members when they went out for guarding, and the remaining dozen followed Ding Qiu and were ready to be deployed at any time.

Yang Zhengshan usually doesn't need the Yang family guards because he has twenty personal followers, and these twenty personal followers are much more powerful than the Yang family guards.

Not only are they all acquired martial artists, but they also followed Yang Zhengshan in fighting on the battlefield.

Of course, Yang Zhengshan invested the most resources in them, more than the Yang family’s guards.

After Ding Qiu left, Yang Zhengshan continued on his journey on horseback. The people of the Yang family behind him did not know the situation of Tenglong Guard, and they were still very much looking forward to it.

Or they don't care what Tenglongwei is like now, they will feel safe as long as they follow Yang Zhengshan.

"Daddy, Daddy, I want to ride a horse!"

In the carriage, Yang Chengxian shouted to Yang Mingzhi outside.

In the caravan, Yang Chengye and Yang Chengmao both traveled on horseback, as they did not like staying in the stable.

Yang Chengye was ten years old and Yang Chengmao was eight years old. Although they were young, they had no problem riding horses.

Yang Chengxian was very envious when he saw that the two of them could ride horses.

"You are still young. When you grow up, you can ride horses with your brother!" Yang Mingzhi said with a smile.

"No, Daddy, I want to ride a horse!" Yang Chengxian acted coquettishly and tried to climb out of the carriage.

"You kid!" Li in the car grabbed him.

But there was a chattering Yang Wanting beside her, "Daddy, I want to ride a horse too!"

"It's cold outside, you two should behave yourself!" Li felt a headache.

These two little guys are restless all the time, and it is harder than climbing Mount Everest to get them to sit quietly in the carriage.

At this time, he was extremely envious of his sister-in-law and sister-in-law.

Wang was stricter in treating her children. Although Yang Wanqing was also very cute and naive, she was generally quiet. Yang Wanyi was only a little over one year old now. Although she always liked to cry, it was easier to take care of her because she was still young.

As for Yang Yunyan's two children, Jiang Ning is five years old and Jiang Miao is three years old. Little Jiang Ning is the most honest. He has the same personality as his father Jiang He and doesn't like to talk much. Little Jiang Miao is the cutest and is the old man's favorite.

Thinking about Jiang Ning and Jiang Miao, and then looking at the two naughty boys beside him, Li felt so tired.

Fortunately, her eldest son is quite reliable and calm at a young age, which makes her feel somewhat relieved.

"What do you want, you little monkey?"

At this time, Yang Minghao rode over on horseback, looked at Yang Chengxian who was struggling to climb out, and said with a smile.

"Uncle San, take me riding!"

Yang Chengxian stretched out his hand and shouted.

Yang Minghao burst into laughter, "Second sister-in-law, I'll take him for a ride!"

After saying that, he reached out and pulled the little monkey out of the carriage.

He placed the kid in front of him and wrapped the little guy tightly in his cloak, leaving only a small head exposed.

"Sit tight, don't move!"

"Uncle San, run!" The little guy was already excited and couldn't hear what Yang Minghao said at all. His little body kept twisting.

Yang Minghao didn't care and ran forward with him.

After a while, Yang Mingzhi was also pestered by Yang Wanting and had no choice but to take the little girl along for the ride.

It is already very cold in Liaodong in October. The temperature at night can reach minus five or six degrees Celsius, and the highest temperature during the day is only about twelve or thirteen degrees Celsius.

If you ride a little faster, you will feel the cold wind stabbing your face like an ice knife.

(End of this chapter)