Chapter 282 Goodbye Luo Shang
Tenglong Guard, inside the Weisi Yamen.

"General Yang is kind and righteous. I thank General Yang for protecting the country and the people, eliminating harm for the people, and saving the people from suffering..."

Inside the main hall of the government office, Wang Zhenze saluted Yang Zhengshan repeatedly and spoke all kinds of flattering words without paying any attention to them.

Shang Mingde next to him also echoed, "Yes, General Yang is kind and righteous, General Yang is selfless!"

The two of them sang the same tune, making Yang Zhengshan feel a little embarrassed.

'Am I that good?'

Yang Zhengshan stroked his beard, smiled, and muttered to himself.

If he was benevolent, then he could be considered benevolent. He helped the Wang family get back the cotton cloth and paid the Wang family in full. If it were someone else, the Wang family would probably not get back a penny.

It is not wrong to say that he was ridding the people of harm, as he did wipe out a group of bandits.

But when it comes to saying that he is selfless, Yang Zhengshan feels a little embarrassed.

"Ahem, Master Shang, Shopkeeper Wang, hahaha, please take a seat!"

Yang Zhengshan had to interrupt the two people's flattering words and invite them to sit down.

"Thank you General Yang!"

The two men clasped their fists and thanked him, then sat down below Yang Zhengshan.

"General Yang got the cotton cloth back for me and paid the full amount. I am truly grateful!" Wang Zhenze said this time with sincerity.

He had completely given up on the batch of cotton cloth, thinking of it as a way to avoid disaster.

But no one expected that Yang Zhengshan not only snatched the cotton cloth back, but also sent someone to Jing'an City to ask him to come and collect the payment.

When Wang Zhenze received the news, he couldn't believe it at first, and then he was so moved that he almost cried.

Woohoo, General Yang is so kind and righteous!
General Yang is a good man!
"Haha, it's just a small matter, not worth mentioning!" Yang Zhengshan sipped his tea and smiled faintly.

"It's a trivial matter for the general, but for me, it's a matter of saving my life!"

"General, you don't know that the loss of this batch of cotton cloth, plus the casualties of my men and escorts, has cost me nearly half of my worth!"

"If it weren't for the general's kindness, my business would not be able to recover for several years!"

Wang Zhenze's face was still full of gratitude.

He had previously told Shang Mingde that it was most of his fortune, but he didn't dare to lie in front of Yang Zhengshan.

In fact, several large cloth merchants in Jing'an Prefecture have only developed in recent years. In the past, the Liang family was the largest cloth merchant in Jing'an Prefecture. After the Liang family was confiscated, the Wang, Zhang and Lin families had the opportunity to rise.

If you calculate the time, the Wang family has only been rising for three years, and their foundation is limited, so they really cannot withstand any turmoil.

"I don't know how to thank you, General. I can only offer you a small gift to express my gratitude!"

After saying that, Wang Zhenze handed a gift list to Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan was not polite and took the gift list.

There is a saying that goes, human relationships are all about reciprocity.

He must accept this thank-you gift, or else he might as well refuse it.

Wang Zhenze's thank-you gift was not expensive. After all, the batch of cotton cloth was only worth a few thousand taels of silver.

"Then I will be disrespectful to refuse!"

"Haha~~"

Yang Zhengshan gladly accepted the gift of thanks.

The smiles on Wang Zhenze and Shang Mingde's faces became more and more sincere.

They were sincerely happy about Yang Zhengshan's attitude.

Wang Zhenze was a businessman. In front of officials, merchants were always inferior. Normally, when he met officials, every one of them acted condescending, and he could only flatter them cautiously.

Shang Mingde is a warrior. His status is much higher than that of a businessman, but he still has to be cautious when facing officials.

This time he came with Wang Zhenze because he wanted to make some friends with Yang Zhengshan.

Afterwards, the three of them chatted for a long time, and the topic mainly revolved around the situation in Jing'an Prefecture. In fact, the three of them didn't have much to talk about, but Yang Zhengshan was also from Jing'an Prefecture and wanted to know more about it, so the conversation didn't become dull.

At noon, Yang Zhengshan hosted a banquet for the two of them in his mansion, which made them flattered.

When they left, their impression of Yang Zhengshan was completely different.

Before, they heard that Yang Zhengshan was a killing god on the battlefield and thought that Yang Zhengshan was a general full of murderous aura. Later, Yang Zhengshan helped the Wang family to regain the cotton cloth, and they thought that Yang Zhengshan was very kind. After they really came into contact with Yang Zhengshan, his gentle attitude made them have a more kind impression of Yang Zhengshan.

From then on, whenever the two mentioned Yang Zhengshan in front of others, they would praise him for his righteousness and kindness.

In fact, Yang Zhengshan didn't think too much about Shang Mingde and Wang Zhenze. He just thought that he might need these two people in the future, so he was more enthusiastic about them.

As for status and position, he didn't care about them in the first place, and naturally wouldn't deliberately look down on them.

Shang Mingde and Wang Zhenze stayed in the Acropolis for one night. The next morning, Yang Zhengshan personally escorted them out of the city, which was considered to be giving them enough face.

As soon as they left, Luo Shang arrived at the Acropolis.

The long convoy consisted of fifty or sixty carriages and more than three hundred people, with hundreds of escorts alone.

When Yang Zhengshan saw this huge team, he couldn't help but be stunned.

"Tsk tsk, you're rich now, and you actually hired so many escorts!"

Yang Zhengshan looked at the sturdy escorts and couldn't help but joked with Luo Shang. Luo Shang laughed and said, "Do you think these escorts look familiar?"

"look familiar!"

Yang Zhengshan looked at the escorts and indeed found a few of them familiar.

"they are?"

"Most of them are military households from Yinghe Fort and Anyuan City!" Luo Shang said with a smile.

Yang Zhengshan raised his eyebrows and looked at the bodyguards again. After Luo Shang's reminder, he actually recognized a few of them.

"You're really good at getting a bargain!"

The vast majority of male military households in Yinghebao and Anyuancheng participated in his training. I dare not say that every one of them is an elite, but it can be said that every one of them is a combat-ready soldier.

Of course, the real elite could not be easily abducted by Luo Shang.

The current defense officer of Yinghe Fort is a member of the Yang family, and the current garrison commander of Anyuan City is Han Cheng. They are not fools and will not let go of their elite soldiers.

Luo Shang's bodyguards are all relatively old, well, basically over 40 years old, and there are quite a few remnants among them.

Remnant soldiers!

Yang Zhengshan looked at the escorts with broken arms and his expression suddenly became serious.

They were all soldiers under his command.

The remaining soldiers also noticed Yang Zhengshan's gaze, and several of them stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Greetings, General!"

Yang Zhengshan took a step forward, looked them over carefully, and patted their shoulders, "Thank you for your hard work!"

"It's not difficult. Thanks to the general, we are living well now!"

Several of them grinned, without any of the depression caused by their injuries.

That’s right, they are living a good life now. Although they are physically disabled, their parents, wives and children are all living well, and all of this is given to them by Yang Zhengshan.

So they were grateful to Yang Zhengshan, cared about Yang Zhengshan, and were filled with joy and pride when they saw Yang Zhengshan again.

Yang Zhengshan didn't know what to say for a moment, so he could only say, "Manager Luo, you have to take good care of them in the future!"

"Don't worry, sir. They will definitely not suffer any harm here with me!" Luo Shang said with a smile.

Luo Shang has gained a lot of weight in the past two years. He looks a bit fat and has a big belly. When he smiles, he looks a bit like the kind-hearted Maitreya Buddha.

How could he let these remnants suffer losses?
These remnant soldiers are all his treasures, and they are the protectors of him and the Luo family.

Don't think that the remnant soldiers are useless.

Every remnant soldier is an elite who has crawled out of the battlefield. Although they have physical injuries, their combat effectiveness is not necessarily worse than those elites with healthy limbs.

And after Yang Zhengshan's training, the remnant soldiers who followed Yang Zhengshan to fight on the battlefield are definitely the elite among the elite.

Yang Zhengshan said that Luo Shang had gotten a great bargain, and the biggest bargain was these remaining soldiers.

In fact, Luo Shang was not just taking advantage of these few remnant soldiers in front of him. He invited almost all the remnant soldiers who had followed Yang Zhengshan back to his homes and shops.

Even if someone has disabled legs and cannot walk, he is willing to give him a simple and easy job.

Of course, he is a businessman and he will not do business at a loss.

He was willing to recruit these remnant soldiers because they were brave and willing to fight. If something really happened, the store owner and the clerks might be afraid, but these remnant soldiers dared to take up knives and fight to the death.

Any hooligans who dare to act wildly in his store are seeking death!
"You guys go and rest first!" Yang Zhengshan said to the remaining soldiers.

Afterwards, several remaining soldiers left, and Yang Zhengshan took Luo Shang into the tea room of the yamen.

Speaking of which, he had only met Luo Shang once this year, and this was the second time.

He was away on a military expedition in the first half of the year, so naturally he could not see Luo Shang. In the second half of the year, he came back from the battlefield, and Luo Shang went to Anyuan City to meet him. It has been until now that they have met again.

"Please sit down, you're welcome here!" Yang Zhengshan greeted.

"Thank you, sir!"

Luo Shang didn't hesitate to sit down in front of Yang Zhengshan and started to wash and make tea.

"How is your business lately?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

"It's pretty good. Chongshan Town's business has been very stable. I don't plan to expand further. I'll just maintain the status quo!"

"Your Excellency also knows that I have been going to Jiangnan for the past two years. Two months ago, I bought a tea house in Jiangnan and planned to do some tea business!"

Luo Shang said as she poured tea for Yang Zhengshan.

"Tea!" Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly.

Whether in Chongshan Town or Liaodong, tea is one of the most profitable businesses.

As long as we can transport tea from the south here, we can make a lot of money.

However, the most important thing is not whether tea can be bought in the south, but whether a channel for communication between the north and the south can be opened up.

The journey of thousands of miles involves land and river transportation, and there are countless monsters and demons along the way. It is not easy to open up this trade route.

Luo Shang has often gone to Jiangnan in recent years. The silk and yarn used in Luo's cloth shop and Jinxiufang are all from Jiangnan. It is obvious that Luo Shang has opened up a channel for communication between the north and the south.

If Luo Shang expands his business to tea, the scale of the Luo family's business will inevitably increase further.

(End of this chapter)