Chapter 338 Return, New Year's Training Plan
One ship after another sailed out of Crescent Bay and headed north.

They did not encounter any ships on the way here, but they encountered quite a few on the way back.

Most of them are merchant ships from Jiangnan, and their routes are almost the same as theirs.

Generally speaking, merchant ships have fixed routes when going out to sea. For example, if merchant ships from Jiangnan sail north, they can be divided into three destinations: Liaodong, the Li Sheng Dynasty and the De Sheng Dynasty.

There may be fewer merchant ships going to Liaodong because the profit from selling goods to Liaodong is far less than that from selling them to the Li Sheng Dynasty and the De Sheng Dynasty.

However, there is a large overlap in the routes to these three destinations.

So it is not uncommon to encounter other merchant ships.

It was mid-March at this time, and the southeast monsoon in the East China Sea could provide greater power for the ships. Therefore, mid-March of each year was the beginning of the voyage of Jiangnan merchant ships to the north.

Of course, it was also the beginning of pirate activity.

But Yang Zhengshan was not worried about the pirates.

They have nearly twenty warships escorting them, and the pirates are not stupid, so how could they seek their own death?

Not to mention the pirates, even other fleets would avoid Yang Zhengshan's fleet as far as possible for fear of getting into trouble.

After two days of sailing, the fleet returned to Tenglongwei Wharf.

When truckloads of goods were transported from the dock to the Acropolis, the entire Acropolis suddenly became bustling.

Goods from Jiangnan were very popular in Liaodong, including exquisite porcelain, gorgeous silk, rare medicinal herbs and tea, etc. Each commodity represented huge profits.

The merchants in the Acropolis had been looking forward to the fleet for a long time. Now that the fleet has returned, the merchants are very excited looking at the trucks full of goods.

In the past, they would also purchase goods from Jiangnan, but land transportation was not only time-consuming and laborious, but also required passing through numerous checkpoints, and even paying tolls to green forest bandits along the way. The cost was extremely high. Now, the goods transported by the fleet are much cheaper in price.

Yang Zhengshan didn't need to make any arrangements. As soon as the goods were transported back to the Acropolis, a group of merchants gathered at the gate of the yamen to ask for a list of goods and inquire about the price of the goods.

Yang Zhengshan saw this and told Zhou Ren, "Sell all these goods as planned, and prepare the next batch of goods as soon as possible. We must ensure that we go to Jiangnan twice a month in the future!"

"Don't worry, sir. Everything has been arranged. The next batch of goods has been stored in the warehouse, and the fleet can load and set off at any time!" Zhou Ren said with a smile.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, "Well, go and discuss with Lord Yu and Sun Cheng to see when to set sail next time!"

"Yes!" Zhou Ren was also very happy because the government office could earn a lot of money this time.

Although the Wei Si Yamen had developed a salt field before, the Yamen's finances were still in a state of deficit. If the Lan family had not been financially strong, the Yamen would have run out of money to spend long ago.

Now, the shipping route to Jiangnan has been opened, which means that the government has one more source of income. Although it cannot guarantee a balance between income and expenditure, it can at least ensure that the government will not be short of money in the short term.

Zhou Ren went to busy himself with the sale of goods, while Yang Zhengshan walked into the yamen and came to the study.

"Sir, this is the money and food we have spent during this period!" Lu Wenhua placed a pile of account books in front of Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan took the account book and looked through it. "How many war horses do we have now?"

"As for war horses, there are more than 2,000 of them!" Lu Wenhua said.

Tenglongwei’s horse farm has been built, but there are still many mares and foals in the farm, which naturally cannot be counted as war horses.

"Doesn't that mean we are still short of two thousand horses?"

"Well, that's right. The main reason is the shortage of horse feed. We don't have enough feed to raise more horses now!" said Lu Wenhua.

"Well, then let's wait until April to buy the horse!" Yang Zhengshan nodded, and then signed his name on the account books.

Yang Zhengshan’s requirement for the government office is to keep clear accounts. Every account must be recorded accurately and clearly, and no ambiguous words must appear.

These accounts are not only for Yang Zhengshan to see, but also for the court to see in the future, so they naturally cannot be careless.

Afterwards, Yang Zhengshan briefly learned about the situation in the yamen in recent days. After finding no major problems, he returned to the Yang family.

At the Yang family, Yu Qingyi, Yang Mingcheng and others had been waiting for him for a long time. When they saw him coming back, they all came forward to greet him.

"father!"

"master!"

Yang Zhengshan looked at Yu Qingyi, then at the little Mingzhao she was holding.

"Daddy, hug me!" Little Mingzhao seemed to miss him very much and actually stretched out his hands to ask for a hug.

Yang Zhengshan laughed and held him in his arms, "Are you being playful at home?"

"Ming Zhao is the best!" little Ming Zhao shouted.

Yang Zhengshan couldn't help but laugh when he saw his well-behaved little face.

"Is everything alright at home?" Yang Zhengshan asked Yu Qingyi.

Yu Qingyi smiled gently, "There is a happy event, but the master doesn't know about it yet!"

"What good news?" Yang Zhengshan asked puzzledly.

"The third son's wife is pregnant again. It was just diagnosed two days ago!" Yu Qingyi's smile was like a nightmare.

Yang Zhengshan was slightly surprised, then looked at Liang behind the crowd. Liang blushed and called out, "Dad!"

"Haha, very good~~" Yang Zhengshan said with a smile.

Actually, he has become accustomed to pregnancy and childbirth in his family. His grandchildren can almost form a football team, so a few more would not be a big deal.

It couldn't really be called a surprise, but of course he had to appear happy on the surface, otherwise it would make his daughter-in-law feel uneasy.

Probably the only person he cares a little about right now is Yang Yunxue. After all, Yang Yunxue is not around, so he can't help but worry about her a little more.

"Take good care of her and give birth to a daughter for our Yang family. Then Minghao will have both a son and a daughter!" Yang Zhengshan said with a smile.

"Dad, what if it's a boy?" Liang asked shyly.

Yang Zhengshan couldn't help but smile, "Then wait for the next one!"

Liang nodded slightly. She still wanted a boy to carry on the Yang family's bloodline. As for a daughter, well, she didn't dislike it.

After a brief conversation with his family, Yang Zhengshan turned to Wu Hai and said, "I brought back some fruit wine. Send two jars to each room later, and put the rest in the wine cellar first!"

The fruit wine was the fruit wine mixed with honey that he made in the space. When he came back, he put it in the cabin in advance.

"Yes, sir!" Wu Hai responded, and took his men to drive the carriage outside the door to the backyard.

Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi returned to the main courtyard, sat on the soft couch, holding little Mingzhao in his arms, and Yang Zhengshan chatted with Yu Qingyi.

There are a lot of miscellaneous things going on at home, such as when someone is getting married, you have to send a gift to them.

Well, there are indeed a lot of weddings and funerals. Especially in the past two years, many of the Yang family members got married. As the mainstay of the Yang family, Yang Zhengshan naturally had to take care of them. He couldn't go himself, but he would definitely send someone to deliver a gift.

There are also birthday celebrations, childbirth, promotions, etc., all kinds of interpersonal relationships need to be handled by Yu Qingyi.

So Yu Qingyi is also very busy.

For dinner, the Yang family held a family banquet and everyone gathered together to have a great time.

In fact, the Yang family doesn’t have so many rules, such as morning and evening visits, or the daughter-in-law serving her uncle and aunt. Therefore, it is very comfortable to be a daughter-in-law in the Yang family.

As for family dinners, there are once or twice a month, and usually each family eats in their own yard.

There is nothing that can be done about it. There are too many children, and it is so noisy when they get together. If Yang Zhengshan has to face these little guys every day, he will probably have a headache.

After the family dinner, little Mingzhao was taken to bed by Qingxia. Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi were reunited after a short separation and explored each other until late at night.

The orioles in Guan Guan are talking about the slippery bottom of the flowers, and it is difficult to go under the ice of the Youyan Spring.

As the saying goes, a man at thirty is like a wolf and at forty is like a tiger. Yu Qingyi is now at the age of being as strong as a wolf and a tiger. Coupled with her physique, well, in a word, she is very strong.

Maybe it was because of Yang Zhengshan, although Yu Qingyi was still very conservative and easily shy, but when it was late at night, she became a lot more open and was willing to study various postures with Yang Zhengshan.

……

Time has unknowingly entered April and spring ploughing has begun again.

In Liaodong, April is spring, which is the beginning of the year.

After entering April, Tenglongwei also burst into unprecedented enthusiasm, and everyone devoted themselves to the work with a bright future.

Spring ploughing is just one of the things. The salt fields have started drying salt again, the engineering team is preparing to build roads, the weapons and armor workshop in the government office has started work again, and the training in the barracks has entered a new stage.

"Sir, this is the training plan for this year!"

In the study of the government office, Song Dashan handed a booklet to Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan put down the document in his hand, picked up the booklet and took a look at it.

At present, all the soldiers of Tenglongwei have completed basic training, but it does not mean that the military camp outside the city will be idle.

The training of the five military camps will not stop. Apart from garrison missions, the most important thing for them now is training.

The Fifth Army Camp currently does not have many garrison tasks. Four sentries are needed to patrol the Acropolis, two sentries are needed to garrison the salt field, and four sentries are needed to garrison the dock.

A total of ten sentries will carry out garrison missions at the same time, that is, five hundred soldiers, and the entire Five Military Camps now have four thousand soldiers. Each garrison time is one month, and the soldiers of the Five Military Camps take turns to be stationed, so they have plenty of time to train.

In addition to the five military camps, there is also the Royal Guard Camp. The Royal Guard Camp does not need to perform garrison missions, and their main task is training and practice.

In addition, the Royal Guard Battalion is also a training camp, mainly training talented and potential young soldiers.

The Royal Guard Battalion will not be expanded in the future, but it will continue to train elite soldiers.

The descendants of the Yang family who were sent by Yang Zhengxiang years ago, the descendants of some officials in the Tenglong Guard, and the elite selected from other places, such as Luo Chen, Ningbo, etc., were all sent by Yang Zhengshan to the Royal Guard Camp for training.

The Royal Guard Battalion and the Five Army Battalions are both elite troops, and their training cannot stop. In addition, although ordinary soldiers do not need to keep in training like them, Yang Zhengshan also requires them to come to the barracks for training twice a year, with each training session consisting of a thousand people and lasting half a month.

Currently, there are about 10,000 ordinary soldiers in Tenglong Guard. Excluding the two months of spring ploughing and autumn harvest, the remaining ten months are just enough for all the soldiers to come to the barracks for training twice.

The exception is the soldiers of the Tenglong Vanguard, who have their own training camps, and their training content is different from that of ordinary soldiers, so their training is completed separately.

The training plan that Song Dashan sent over here is the training plan for ordinary soldiers this year.

Yang Zhengshan took a quick look and said thoughtfully, "Should we set up a women's training camp?"

"Women's training camp?" Song Dashan was stunned for a moment, "Sir, is this appropriate?"

There were some female generals in the Darong Army, but there were no female soldiers.

The reason is simple. In this feudal society, women are subject to too many restrictions, and it is not easy for them to show their faces in public.

Most of the female generals in the army came from the underworld or had extraordinary backgrounds, such as Zhou Lan, who came from the Ningguo Mansion, so she was able to achieve success in the army.

As for the women's army, letting women join the army as ordinary soldiers is obviously not in line with the customs of this world.

However, Yang Zhengshan felt it necessary to set up a women's training camp because talent is not gender-specific.

There are few talented female warriors, not because there are no talented women, but because women do not have the opportunity to become geniuses.

Yang Zhengshan always felt that ignoring women was a waste of talent.

"What's inappropriate?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

"If we let women train with men, I'm afraid they will be criticized by others!" Song Dashan said hesitantly.

Yang Zhengshan glanced at him and said, "Who said that women should be trained with men? A separate women's training camp can be set up!"

"Forget it, don't worry about it! I'll let Yun Qiao take care of it!"

Song Dashan, this fool, is definitely not suitable to manage the women's training camp, and the most suitable person under Yang Zhengshan at the moment is undoubtedly Yang Yunqiao.

"Sir, Yun Qiao is my daughter-in-law!" Song Dashan protested.

"She is my apprentice!" Yang Zhengshan said.

"But~~how can a little girl like her understand military affairs!" Song Dashan said.

Yang Zhengshan laughed, "Little girl, haha, I dare say she knows more than you!"

"..."Song Dashan was completely speechless.

Who is Wang Yunqiao? She is the disciple carefully trained by Yang Zhengshan. Although it seemed that Yang Zhengshan rarely gave guidance to Wang Yunqiao in the past, it does not mean that Wang Yunqiao knows nothing.

As the saying goes, "Birds of a feather flock together." Wang Yunqiao grew up in the Yang family, a military family. How could she not understand military affairs?

Apart from anything else, Wang Yunqiao knew the "Thirty-Six Strategies" and "Records of Military Training" by heart.

Perhaps Wang Yunqiao’s only shortcoming is that she has never actually put it into practice.

In comparison, Song Dashan, this fool, couldn't even remember all Thirty-Six Stratagems, and his only skill in training soldiers was practice makes perfect.

In terms of knowledge and thinking, Wang Yunqiao is definitely the top person in the Song family.

The little girl got married and grew up. She was no longer the inferior and fearful little girl.

"Okay, you take care of this! You don't have to worry about the women's training camp!"

(End of this chapter)