Chapter 415 The Luo Family’s Blessing

Yang Zhengshan, who was far away in Chongshan Town, didn't know about this, and of course he didn't care about it.

The telescope is just a test of the water. It is not important whether it can gain the attention of the court.

Although telescopes are good, the market for them is actually not that big. They are mainly used on battlefields and in navigation. In other aspects, they are far inferior to glass tea sets, wine sets, tableware and other types of utensils.

He sent the telescope to Kyoto, firstly to test the waters and secondly to endorse the book in advance.

On the second day after sending Yu Qingyi away, Yang Zhengshan invited Luo Shang to the Marquis' Mansion.

Ever since Yang Zhengshan moved into the General's Mansion, Luo Shang has been staying in Chongshan Town to reorganize the Luo family's business.

After a few months, the Luo family had almost recovered from the losses caused by Ji Feiyu's rebellion.

By now, the Luo family’s businesses have spread to Chongshan Town, Liaodong, Jiangnan and other places, and they have even established strongholds in the Lisheng Dynasty and the Desheng Dynasty.

Industries include cloth, salt, grain, medicinal materials, gold and silver ore, fur and other industries.

Now the Luo family is one of the richest businessmen in the Greater Northeast region. In the entire Northeast region, perhaps only the Zhang family in Liaoan can surpass the Luo family in wealth.

In the tea room at the back of the mansion, Yang Zhengshan and Luo Shang sat opposite each other, brewing tea and chatting.

Luo Shang's temples were already covered with frost, and the wrinkles on her face had increased a lot.

Calculating her age, Luo Shang is almost fifty years old now.

"You look a lot older!" Yang Zhengshan said as he sipped his tea and looked at Luo Shang.

Luo Shang sighed softly, "Alas, I'm getting older and not as good as I used to be."

"Compared to the Marquis, I am indeed much older."

He looked at Yang Zhengshan with some envy.

Yang Zhengshan is now 52 years old, but his face is ruddy without a single wrinkle, and his hair and beard are black without a single gray hair.

Just looking at his appearance, some people would believe he is in his thirties.

Now that he is standing with Yu Qingyi, no one would say that he is an old cow eating young grass.

The reason why Luo Shang looked so old was actually related to Ji Feiyu's rebellion. He happened to be in Jiangnan at that time, and suddenly heard about Ji Feiyu's rebellion. Chongshan Pass was sealed off by Ji Feiyu. The lives of all the old and young might be in danger. He was shocked and almost fainted.

Later, he hurried back to Tenglongwei from Jiangnan. After several twists and turns, he was exhausted both physically and mentally. Coupled with worries and fears, he had not slept well for several months.

It was not until Yang Zhengshan captured Chongshan Pass and released the Luo family from prison that he felt at ease after seeing his family.

But he also fell seriously ill because of this, and since then, his health has been much worse than before.

"Well, too much is as bad as too little. The Luo family is already rich enough now. If they expand further, it may become a disaster!" Yang Zhengshan held the tea, took a sip and smiled.

It is not easy to be a wealthy businessman, especially to be extremely wealthy.

Although the Liaoan Zhang family has a long history, it is unknown how many life-and-death crises they have experienced.

The Luo family is already rich enough now. If they continue to expand, they will definitely become the richest family in Dayong Northeast. However, doing so will be too conspicuous.

Even with the protection of the Yang family, it would be difficult for the Luo family to keep such wealth.

So it’s time for the Luo family to maintain their status quo.

"What does the Marquis mean?" Luo Shang asked carefully.

Yang Zhengshan said with a smile: "I plan to support the Shang, Wang, Lin, and Zhang families in Jing'an Prefecture and let them enter Chongshan Town to compete with your Luo family!"

Luo Shang thought about it and said, "The Wang family and the Lin family are OK, but the Zhang family is not OK!"

He was not uneasy about Yang Zhengshan's support for others.

He has known Yang Zhengshan for more than ten years, and over the past ten years, he has already figured out Yang Zhengshan's temperament very well.

Yang Zhengshan is a nostalgic person, so Luo Shang understands that as long as the Luo family follows in Yang Zhengshan's footsteps, Yang Zhengshan will not abandon the Luo family.

So he was not worried that someone would replace the Luo family in Yang Zhengshan.

"Why?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

"The Zhang family has been very close to Liaodong Shipping Company during this period." Luo Shang said.

Yang Zhengshan showed a surprised look, "Oh, there is such a thing?"

"Well, I also heard that the Zhang family expanded their fleet, especially the fleet heading to the Li Sheng Dynasty! They already have more than twenty large ships." Luo Shang said.

Yang Zhengshan looked thoughtful.

The Shang, Wang, Li, and Zhang families in Jing'an Prefecture have grown a lot stronger in recent years with the help of Tenglongwei.

Although they are far inferior to the Luo family, they are already among the richest businessmen in Jing'an Prefecture.

Among them, the Shang family is a martial arts family. Although they also have many industries, their foundation is the inheritance of martial arts, so their business development is relatively backward.

However, the Wang, Li and Zhang families have been working hard to expand their business territories.

Today, Tenglongwei's maritime trade is under the jurisdiction of Liaodong Shipping Company, so it is reasonable for the three companies to be close to Liaodong Shipping Company.

However, expanding the Li Sheng Dynasty's trade at this time is not a wise choice.

Because the current Yi Sheng Dynasty is not the real Yi Sheng Dynasty, the Yi royal family is still in Kyoto, and the Silla Kim family has never been canonized by Emperor Chengping.

In other words, Kim of Silla is not yet the legitimate new king of the Lee Seong Dynasty.

Yang Zhengshan didn't quite understand why Emperor Taiping had kept the Li royal family, nor why he didn't confer the title on the Silla Jin family, but he knew that Emperor Taiping must have other ideas. The Zhang family was close to the Liaodong Shipping Department, which was somewhat a betrayal of the Tenglong Guard.

Although Tenglongwei and Liaodong Shipping Bureau were not on opposite sides, the establishment of Liaodong Shipping Bureau did affect the interests of Tenglongwei, and many people in Tenglongwei were dissatisfied with Liaodong Shipping Bureau.

If the Zhang family just wanted to use the relationship with Liaodong Shipping Corporation, it would not be a big deal. The only thing to worry about is that the Zhang family would completely side with Liaodong Shipping Corporation.

I guess neither Yu Tonghai nor Wu Chongzhe would like the Zhang family like this.

However, this is Yu Tonghai and Wu Chongzhe's business. Now Yang Zhengshan will not deliberately interfere in the affairs of Tenglongwei, as long as there is no major chaos in Tenglongwei.

As for whether Yang Zhengshan can interfere in Tenglongwei’s affairs, the answer is yes.

Because Yang Zhengshan is still the deputy governor of the Central Military Governor's Office, and the Tenglong Guard is under the jurisdiction of the Central Military Governor's Office, he can reasonably and legally interfere in the affairs of the Tenglong Guard.

It’s just that Yang Zhengshan doesn’t have the energy to take care of the affairs of Tenglongwei now. Everything about Tenglongwei is handed over to Yu Tonghai, Wu Chongzhe, Han Cheng and Zhang Yuanwu.

Since the Zhang family of Jing'an is so ignorant, Yang Zhengshan will naturally not support them.

"Then we don't need the Zhang family. The Shang family, the Wang family, and the Lin family, three families are enough!"

One more or one less family does not have much impact on Yang Zhengshan.

"What does the Marquis need our Luo family for?" Luo Shang didn't care about these three families. He only cared whether Yang Zhengshan could use the Luo family.

Yang Zhengshan took a wooden box from the side and handed it to Luo Shang, "Telescope! The glass workshop has stored a lot of telescopes. Your Luo family will be responsible for selling them!"

Although the telescope is a novel item, the market for it is not large and the profit will not be too much. Even if it is handed over to the Luo family, it will not have much impact on the Luo family.

Luo Shang took out a telescope, took a casual look and put it down.

He was very familiar with telescopes. The Luo family's fleet was equipped with telescopes. He was not surprised that Yang Zhengshan asked him to sell telescopes.

"What are your requirements for the price of the telescope, sir?"

"The cost of the telescope is about three taels of silver, and the price I give you is ten taels. As for how much you sell it for, I don't care!" Yang Zhengshan said indifferently.

After all, the telescope's barrel is made of brass, and the lenses are more difficult to make than other glassware, so the cost price is not low.

However, the telescope was not sold to ordinary people. The people who could use it were either sea merchants or generals in the army. Not to mention ten taels of silver, even if it was a hundred taels of silver, there would be many people willing to buy it.

"Then let's sell it for fifteen taels of silver!" Luo Shang said after thinking for a while.

"You! You are still too cautious!" Yang Zhengshan laughed.

Luo Shang shook her head and said, "Since the price is ten taels, you must want to ship on a large scale. If the price is too high, I'm afraid it won't be what you want!"

What Luo Shang was considering was not how much money the Luo family could make, but Yang Zhengshan’s thoughts and needs.

"Well, let's do as you wish!" Yang Zhengshan knew what he was thinking and smiled casually.

The market for telescopes is very small. Yang Zhengshan estimates that he would be lucky if he could buy a few thousand a year. A few thousand telescopes are only a few tens of thousands of taels of silver. There is really no need to pay too much attention to it.

After finishing the serious business, Yang Zhengshan started talking about family matters.

"Your eldest grandson must be fourteen years old this year!"

Luo Zhen is now in his thirties, and his eldest son is Luo Shang’s eldest grandson.

"Bo'er is exactly fourteen years old this year!" Luo Shang said.

Yang Zhengshan tapped the table and said, "When Chengye comes back from Kyoto, let him train with Chengye in the Royal Guard Camp for two years!"

"Fourteen is just right. If his martial arts aptitude is not bad, he should be able to become a warrior in the next two years!"

"When he becomes a warrior, he will be a close follower to Chengye!"

Luo Shang was stunned at first, then overjoyed, and quickly stood up and bowed to thank him, "I would like to thank you, Lord Marquis, for your support!"

Yang Zhengshan waved his hand casually and said, "Alright, why are you being so polite to me?"

Luo Shang smiled happily, "If Bo'er can achieve something, this old man will have no regrets in this life!"

Merchants were a lowly class, even lower than military households.

Even though the Luo family is a wealthy business family, in the eyes of officials, they are still just pariahs.

Yang Zhengshan asked Luo Bo to join the army, which was undoubtedly an opportunity for the Luo family to escape from the status of merchants.

And Yang Zhengshan arranged Luo Bo to be next to Yang Chengye, the meaning of which is self-evident.

This is not only to help Yang Chengye build a team, but also to show closeness to the Luo family.

"Sit down and talk, sit down and talk!" Yang Zhengshan motioned Luo Shang to sit down.

Now that he is old, he has also begun to consider the issue of inheritance of the Yang family.

Letting Lin Zhan's child become Yang Mingcheng's disciple and letting Luo Bo follow Yang Chengye are all long-term plans for the future of the Yang family.

The main reason why he thought about these things was because Yang Chengye had grown up.

When Yang Chengye was young, he really didn't think about these things. After all, he didn't think he was old. But as he watched Yang Chengye grow up day by day, he, as a grandfather, couldn't help but make arrangements for Chengye.

After chatting with Luo Shang for a while, Luo Shang happily said goodbye.

He was eager to go home and share the joy with his family.

It is definitely a blessing for the Luo family to have Luo Bo follow Yang Chengye.

(End of this chapter)