Chapter 291 Shameless old thief!

In the study of Tenglongwei Yamen.

Yang Zhengshan looked at the letter sent from Kyoto and a bright smile broke out on his face.

"Not bad!"

What is the imperial examination?
The imperial examination was the fastest and easiest way to improve one’s social class.

Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, plus a military one.

Merchants have always been at the bottom of the social ladder. No matter how rich they are, they cannot stand in the court. Perhaps they can collude with officials, bully others and become wealthy, but in front of others, they always have to be the first.

Farmers and craftsmen are the ones who suffer the most and work the hardest. They are also the most common and basic. It is said that 'the king is the boat and the common people are the water. The water can carry the boat but it can also overturn it'. However, how many scholars and officials care about the common people? The old emperor and all the civil and military officials in the court care about the lives of dozens or hundreds of common people.

As for martial arts, the strength of one's own martial arts can bring many things, such as wealth, identity, status, official position, etc., but martial artists fight with their lives.

Whether in the martial arts world or in the officialdom, every warrior needs to fight with his own strength.

In comparison, scholars have it much easier. Studying for ten years sounds hard, but is it really?
Is it more miserable than that of a farmer who works hard in the fields?
Is it more miserable than the craftsmen who work day after day and sweat profusely?
Is it more painful than the mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the battlefield?
After ten years of hard study, if you pass the imperial examination, you will be rich and glorious.

Yang Zhengshan would not comment on Dayong's social system, nor did he have the ability to change the dregs of feudal society. He would only be happy for Lu Wenyuan, for the Lu family, and for the Yang family.

From then on, the Lu family would be a family of officials, and the Yang family would have an official relative.

Although the Yang family does not seem to need any in-laws now, the rise and growth of a family depends not only on the growth of its own children, but also on various personal connections.

Yang Zhengshan has always been looking forward to Lu Wenyuan, otherwise he would not have taken the initiative to ask Yang Mingcheng to send Lu Wenyuan to Kyoto.

Now that Lu Wenyuan has made the list, all his previous efforts have not been in vain.

"This good news must be sent back to the Lu family as soon as possible!"

After Yang Zhengshan was happy, he immediately arranged for someone to deliver the message to the Lu family.

After sending the message, Yang Zhengshan thought about it and went to see Lin Zhan again.

Now that Lu Wenyuan has passed the exam, it is a foregone conclusion that he will become a Jinshi. The Yang family will have to look to Lin Zhan next.

Compared to Lu Wenyuan, Lin Zhan has a closer relationship with the Yang family. Once a teacher, always a father. This is not just talk.

What's more, Lin Zhan was raised by the Yang family. Apart from the different surnames, it is no exaggeration to say that Lin Zhan is a member of the Yang family.

"How is Lin Zhan's academic performance? Can he pass the imperial examination this year?" Yang Zhengshan asked Liu Zhe while standing in the yard.

Liu Zhe stroked his beard and looked through the window at Lin Zhan who was reading in the study. He smiled with satisfaction and said, "This kid is very smart, much smarter than I was when I was young."

"I plan to have him take the provincial exam next year!"

"Participate in the provincial examination! That means I will have no problem becoming a scholar this year!" Yang Zhengshan's eyes lit up.

"Of course. Look whose student he is!" Liu Zhe said proudly.

Yang Zhengshan was very respectful and nodded in agreement, saying, "Brother Liu is very knowledgeable. It is his blessing to be his student!"

"By the way, there is something I want to discuss with you!" Liu Zhe said, changing the subject.

"what's up?"

"Can the time for morning exercises be shortened? Morning is a good time for reading. How can we waste it on practicing martial arts?" Liu Zhe said dissatisfiedly.

Yang Zhengshan frowned slightly, "Don't even think about it!"

"He will take the exam for scholar this year and for juren next year!" Liu Zhe also frowned.

"In the art of cultivation, if you don't make progress, you will regress. Now if you ask him to shorten the time he spends practicing martial arts, wouldn't all his previous years of hard work be wasted?" Yang Zhengshan said without giving in.

"Is practicing martial arts more important or studying more important? Lin Zhan has the potential to be a top scholar in the future!" Liu Zhe argued.

"Humph, he still has a lot of talent in the future!"

"No, studying is more important."

"I said, studying can't affect martial arts!"

"I'm his teacher!"

"I'm still his master!"

As they talked, the two started arguing with each other.

Yang Zhengshan felt like he was letting a wolf into the house. Before, he thought Liu Zhe was a good teacher to Lin Zhan, but now he felt that Liu Zhe wanted to kidnap his apprentice.

"Humph, I don't care what you do, anyway, Lin Zhan can't delay his training. If he delays, I will expel him from the sect!"

Yang Zhengshan uttered a harsh word and walked away.

Liu Zhe's face turned pale and blue, and he finally complained helplessly: "Shameless old thief!"

Yang Zhengshan was not threatening Lin Zhan at all, but Liu Zhe.

If Liu Zhe forced Lin Zhan to give up martial arts, it would harm Lin Zhan.

Being expelled from a teacher's school is no small matter, especially for scholars who respect their teachers. If Lin Zhan was really expelled from the school, it would mean that he has a moral flaw. In the future, he would not be able to become the top scholar, let alone participate in the provincial and imperial examinations.

On the other side, after Yang Zhengshan left the yard, a victorious smile appeared on his face.

Come on, fight me!

As Lin Zhan's master, he naturally would not let Lin Zhan give up practicing because of studying, but Liu Zhe was also doing it for Lin Zhan's own good.

Reading and practicing martial arts are two things, each of which is worth spending a lifetime of energy on.

Now if Lin Zhan wants to have both simply, he has to work harder than others.

Lin Zhan is very smart and works very hard. It is precisely because of his hard work that Yang Zhengshan strongly urges him not to give up martial arts.

If Lin Zhan only wants to study, Yang Zhengshan will not force him.

But Lin Zhan wanted to have both, so he had to support him.

He had long seen that Liu Zhe had such tendencies, so he had decided not to give in.

You are just his teacher, but I am the master who raised him, hehe. ...

As April came, spring ploughing was coming to an end smoothly.

With the end of spring plowing, the large-scale construction plan began again, and each thousand households and garrison began to prepare for the construction of houses.

At the same time, military training was also put on the agenda.

"Sir, this is the first batch of soldiers to receive training!"

In the study, Song Dashan handed a list to Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan casually glanced at the roster and said, "Does anyone have any opinions on the next training?"

"No! Both officials and soldiers are very willing to receive training!" Song Dashan said truthfully.

"Well, how is the camp outside the city?" Yang Zhengshan continued to ask.

"The construction is almost done and it is expected to be completed in another five or six days!" said Song Dashan.

"Where are the weapons and armor?"

Song Dashan scratched his head and said, "You should ask Lord Zhou about this!"

If it is his business, he will do his best to do it. If it is not his business, he rarely pays attention to it.

Yang Zhengshan understood Song Dashan's character and did not blame him. Instead, he called Zhou Ren over.

"Sir, we have already made a thousand spears, a thousand swords, three hundred sets of cotton armor, a hundred sets of leather armor, uh, only ten sets of iron armor!"

At the end of his speech, Zhou Ren's voice became much lower.

Although Yang Zhengshan transferred many blacksmiths from Anyuan City, Tenglongwei still lacks blacksmiths.

You should know that the Anyuan City Garrison Office only governs one garrison camp and three thousand-household units, while the Tenglong Guard now has a total of 12,000 people, equivalent to twelve thousand-household units.

Not to mention that only some of the craftsmen from the Anyuan Garrison Office were transferred here, even if all of them were transferred here, they would not be able to meet the needs of the Tenglong Guards.

"Only ten sets of armor?" Yang Zhengshan frowned. "Didn't they start forging armor half a month ago?"

"Sir, time is too tight. We can only forge swords and guns first!" Zhou Ren said helplessly.

We can still train without clothes and armor, but what’s the point of training without weapons?

Are we really only letting the soldiers exercise their physical fitness?
Yang Zhengshan frowned. He also understood Zhou Ren’s difficulties, but saying this would delay training.

Infantry, light cavalry, and heavy cavalry, Yang Zhengshan wanted all three.

If Yang Zhengshan wants to equip 3,000 soldiers within a year, he will need at least 500 sets of armor. At the current speed, this goal will definitely not be achieved.

Craftsmen are technical talents. It is definitely too late to train them now, so they can only be transferred from other places.

"Forget it, let the craftsmen forge swords and spears first!"

"Yes!"

Seeing that Yang Zhengshan had no intention of punishing him, Zhou Ren breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Yang Zhengshan said to Song Dashan: "Since everything is almost ready, let's pick a time to start training!"

"Here!" Song Dashan took the roster and responded.

After they left, Yang Zhengshan thought for a while and wrote another official document and sent it to the Central Military Governor's Office.

This time he wanted people, not just craftsmen, he wanted everyone. Tenglong Guard was in need of military households, craftsmen, and clerks, but not officials.

A few days later, Yang Zhengshan received the memorial from Emperor Chengping, stating that Tenglongwei could build a salt field.

The salt field is related to the financial resources of Tenglongwei, so Yang Zhengshan would naturally not delay. As soon as he received the memorial, Yang Zhengshan brought Jiang He to the beach again.

Although the salt field belongs to Tenglongwei, Yang Zhengshan intends to let Jiang He be in charge.

It’s not because he wants Jiang He to be an official in the yamen, but because there is simply no manpower available in the yamen now.

In fact, it is not that Jiang He is unable to be an official now. Not only can he read and write, he is also a warrior. Moreover, he has been managing the Yang family's business over the years, and his abilities have been honed.

However, Yang Zhengshan still wanted him to stay at home to help Yang Mingcheng. There was no need for everyone in the Yang family to become an official. Having Yang Mingzhi and Yang Minghao was enough.

Moreover, Jiang He's personality is not suitable for being an official. Although he is not as simple-minded as Yang Mingcheng, he is also an honest person.

People who don't fight or compete and like stability are really not suitable for working in officialdom.

If he were allowed to enter the officialdom, it might harm him instead.

The two came to the beach and chose a vacant lot next to the pier they had chosen earlier.

"Let's build the salt field here. Go to Liao'an Prefecture in the next few days to invite a few cooks to come over, and then go to the garrison to hire a group of people to build the salt field first!"

Yang Zhengshan stood on the beach and said.

Drying salt is also a technical job. Yang Zhengshan himself only knows the general idea and does not know how to dry salt. However, Dayong has many salt fields and lacks salt-drying operators, so it is easy to invite a few people to come over.

As for manpower, Tenglongwei is not short of it now. Although each thousand households are building houses now, the construction of the houses will be completed soon.

Next, Yang Zhengshan planned to build roads, city walls, and citadels, but at that time there would be no need to send all the able-bodied men of Tenglongwei to the construction site to move bricks. He was more inclined to form a professional construction team. A thousand people would be enough, and the rest would definitely do other things.

Building a salt field or entering the salt field to dry salt can also be considered as creating new jobs for Tenglongwei.

"Dad, I got it!" Jiang He did not find this difficult because he had been preparing to build a salt field since he came to the seaside last time, so he had been studying things related to salt drying during this period.

After determining the location of the salt field, Yang Zhengshan handed the matter over to Jiang He, while he devoted his energy to the training of the soldiers.

As time went by, Tenglongwei became more and more lively. Everyone was busy, as if the entire Tenglongwei had entered a state of bustling activity.

As he got busier, Tenglongwei's changes became more and more obvious.

Houses were built one after another, garrisons became neat and clean, military households received monthly wages, and faces that had once been gloomy became full of energy and smiles.

(End of this chapter)