Chapter 437 The Real Dog Owner
Yang Zhengshan let out a long breath and slowly closed his eyes.

"Eunuch Zhang was right to remind me. I was wrong!"

After a long while, Yang Zhengshan finally spoke.

Zhang Mingzhong looked at Yang Zhengshan and nodded slightly, "My Lord, please be careful with your words and don't talk about celestial phenomena!"

He had no grievances against Yang Zhengshan, nor had he ever thought of targeting Yang Zhengshan. Although Emperor Chengping had passed away, he still remembered what he had been told.

Yang Zhengshan opened his eyes and said, "You don't have to talk about other things, but you have to buy food!"

Pang Tang didn't know what to say for a moment, so he just nodded and said, "It won't hurt to store more food."

The others just lowered their heads and said nothing.

Yang Mingzhi stood at the back, his expression still solemn, his eyes sweeping over everyone.

Although Yang Zhengshan and Zhang Mingzhong did not discuss the topic of "the new emperor's immorality" in depth, if those words were spread, it would still cause great trouble to Yang Zhengshan.

Those present were all high-ranking officials from Chongshan Town, but it was still inevitable that someone would spread what had just been said.

Yang Mingzhi has such concerns!
Others also have such concerns, or hesitations.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the main hall became increasingly heavy, as if a huge rock was pressing on everyone's heart.

Yang Zhengshan ignored their concerns and continued, "The purchase of grain will be mainly carried out by the General's Office, but your various offices and lieutenant generals should also store as much grain as possible!"

"Yes!" everyone responded.

"The second thing is that I decided to speed up the construction of Black Cloud City and the official road!"

"The construction of Black Cloud City is still under the charge of the Governor's Office. The General's Office will invest more money and grain to complete Black Cloud City as soon as possible!"

Yang Zhengshan looked at Pang Tang, who nodded slightly, "No problem!"

This matter is not a big deal. Naturally, the sooner Black Cloud City is built, the better. Moreover, the General's Office is willing to invest more money and food, so Pang Tang naturally has no objection.

His only worry was where Yang Zhengshan would get so much money and food.

"As for the official road, the official road from Fuzhou City to Heiyun City is under the charge of the Northern Route Lieutenant General's Office."

"The official road from Songzhou City to Fuzhou City is under the charge of the Eastern Route Lieutenant General's Office!"

"The official road from Chongshan Pass to Heiyun City is under the charge of the Central Jianning Guard Lieutenant General's Office!"

"The specific construction route was surveyed by the Engineering Department last year. Now we just need to recruit enough laborers and have enough money and food to start construction."

"Do you have any questions?"

Yang Zhengshan looked at Yang Mingzhi, Zhang Chengzhi and Niu Zhuang.

"I obey your command!" The three of them clasped their fists and accepted the order.

The reason for bringing forward the plan to build the official road was naturally to accommodate the refugees.

The North is vast and there are many places to accommodate refugees, but we cannot take the refugees to a wasteland and leave them to fend for themselves.

At least we need to find a place for them to live, and building villages along the official roads and around Black Cloud City as settlements is undoubtedly the most suitable choice.

It not only facilitates the transportation of materials, but also the management of refugees.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, then looked at Xie Yuan, "The most important task for the West Route this year is to guard against the attacks of the Wulianghu tribe. Although the Wulianghu tribe has not invaded Chongshan Town at present, we have to guard against it, especially when we are the most busy. The Wulianghu tribe may take advantage of the chaos to catch us off guard!"

"So, just in case, the Western Route must keep a close eye on the movements of the Wulianghu tribe and be prepared to fight at any time!"

Xie Yuan frowned, "My Lord, the reinforcements under my command are not yet fully staffed. It is a bit difficult to resist the Wulianghu tribe at the moment!"

He wasn't refusing, but he really couldn't guarantee it.

Originally, the reinforcement camp on the west side of Chongshan Town suffered heavy losses because of Cui Liang's defection to Prince Uto. Although Xie Yuan had stabilized the situation on the west side with the help of 5,000 Tenglong Guards last year, the reinforcement camp under his command is still mainly composed of 5,000 soldiers of the Tenglong Guards. The newly recruited soldiers are less than 5,000 and lack armor and training.

It’s not that he didn’t work hard, but it’s not easy for him to achieve this level.

"I know. In a few days, I will transfer the Zhenbiao Front Camp to Guanshankou. They will help you keep an eye on the Ula clan in the north!" Yang Zhengshan understood Xie Yuan's situation in the west, so he naturally would not blame him.

Now the Zhenbiao Front Camp is fully staffed with 6,000 cavalry. Although the soldiers are not well trained, they already have a certain combat effectiveness.

With them stationed at Guanshankou and keeping an eye on the Ula clan, they should be able to intimidate the Wulianghu tribe.

Xie Yuan's frown relaxed upon hearing this, "I obey your command!"

"One last thing. I plan to expand the business of Chongshan Bank. Within half a month, you need to prepare a store for Chongshan Bank in each state capital, and within a month, you need to prepare a store for Chongshan Bank in each county capital!"

Yang Zhengshan only talked about the money shop last.

Preparing a store is not a difficult task, it is just a matter of words for the generals.

But the point Yang Zhengshan made was not this, but~~
"In addition to the shops, you will also need to provide protection for Chongshan Bank. The bank's vaults will be located in the offices of the participating shogunate and garrison officials."

"But you have no right to withdraw the money from the bank's vault. If anyone dares to withdraw the money privately, I will make him pay back the money with interest!"

If a money shop wants to absorb deposits, it will inevitably have a large amount of silver and money. The storage of such silver and money is a big problem. It is obviously impossible to protect the silver and money by relying solely on the money shop owner and clerks, so it requires soldiers from all over the country to help guard it.

Since the silver vaults were set up in government offices in various places, it was very likely that local officials would reach out to take silver from the silver vaults.

Yang Zhengshan had to prevent such things from happening, so he arranged a deputy clerk in charge of supervision in the Money House Section. The daily task of this deputy clerk was to inspect the accounts of money houses and treasury vaults in various places.

"The specific rules and regulations of the money house are all here!" Yang Zhengshan took out a booklet. At the same time, Lu Wenhua next to him also took out some booklets and distributed them to Xie Yuan, Yang Mingzhi and other six lieutenant generals.

"The bank is an important part of the future development of Chongshan Town. I don't want it to make any mistakes. If it does, no matter who it is, I will make him go home and farm!"

Yang Zhengshan's eyes were extremely sharp, like a sharp sword that wanted to pierce the chests of the six lieutenant generals.

"Including you, Yang Mingzhi. If something goes wrong with the bank in Fuzhou City, then you should just stay at home and be a rich man for the rest of your life!"

Yang Mingzhi couldn't help but shudder when he heard this. Others also felt a chill in their hearts.

The fact that he didn't even allow his own son to do so was enough to show how much importance Yang Zhengshan attached to the money house.

As to whether Yang Zhengshan was telling lies, they had no doubt about it.

Because the Yang family is now a marquisate, even if Yang Mingzhi achieves nothing, the Yang family will still be a noble family in the future.

Besides, even if Yang Mingzhi is gone, doesn’t the Yang family still have Yang Minghao?

Therefore, Yang Mingzhi is not an indispensable member of the Yang family.

"I dare not. I will definitely protect Chongshan Money House!" Yang Mingzhi said hurriedly.

Although what Yang Zhengshan said was a bit unkind, Yang Mingzhi had no complaints at all.

This is his father. If his father wants him to stay at home and be an idle person, how could he not obey?

Even if he didn't want to, he had no way to resist Yang Zhengshan.

First, filial piety comes first, and second, he has no strength to resist.

Yang Zhengshan nodded and said, "If you have any questions, you can ask me. If you still don't understand something, you can also ask Li Hai, the chief of the Qianzhuang Section of the General's Mansion."

Afterwards, Yang Zhengshan gave everyone some time to accept the idea and gave a detailed introduction to some of the points that they had difficulty understanding.

This meeting lasted for more than two hours before it ended.

After arranging things, Yang Zhengshan began to prepare for the next meeting.

The next meeting was with the six major merchants, and its content was to purchase grain.

Yang Zhengshan would definitely not let the General's Office purchase grain, because purchasing grain is a very cumbersome task. Small grain merchants have to go to the countryside to collect grain from door to door, while large grain merchants will purchase grain from large landlords.

Whether collecting grain from ordinary farmers or from large landowners, it takes a lot of time and manpower.

He also wanted to purchase large quantities of grain from Jiangnan, the Li Sheng Dynasty, and the De Sheng Dynasty, which required the support of a fleet.

The General's Office has neither enough manpower nor that many merchant ships, so it can only let the six major merchants and the Tenglong Guards do this.

On the 18th day of the first lunar month, the six major merchants supported by Yang Zhengshan and Wu Chongzhe came to the general's mansion.

Still in the lobby, Yang Zhengshan told them about the purchase of grain and Chongshan Money House.

This time, Yang Zhengshan didn't need to explain in such detail, nor did he mention the impending drought. He just asked them to help buy food and take care of the Chongshan Money House's business.

Naturally, the six major merchants would not refuse Yang Zhengshan's request. Now they were making a lot of money from the glass business. Not to mention that Yang Zhengshan asked them to help buy food, they would be willing to do so even if he asked them to pay for it.

After the meeting, Yang Zhengshan chatted with Wu Chongzhe in the study for a while.

He and Wu Chongzhe did not have so many concerns and told Wu Chongzhe about the impending drought. Of course, he only said that it was his guess.

"I know you think this is a bit ridiculous, but don't forget the Battle of Guanshankou. I accurately predicted the arrival of the northwest wind!" In order to increase credibility, Yang Zhengshan brought up the Battle of Guanshankou.

"No, no! I know the Marquis, and he must be making a pointless statement!" Wu Chongzhe said hurriedly.

In fact, he only believed it 60%, but he certainly would not question Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan smiled and stopped forcing it. He said, "Whether you believe it or not, I need Tenglong Guard to store a large amount of food. Before June, we must store 500,000 dan of food, and we must also provide 500,000 dan of food to the General's Mansion!"

"This~~" Wu Chongzhe was dumbfounded.

This is too much!
Yang Zhengshan looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Don't think that just because I left Tenglongwei, I don't know how much silver Tenglongwei has now!"

Tenglongwei is the real dog owner!
When Yang Zhengshan left Tenglongwei, there were hundreds of thousands of taels of silver and more than 100,000 shi of grain in the Tenglongwei's treasury.

As for last year and the year before, Tenglongwei still had a lot of income. I wouldn’t say how much more it was, but Tenglongwei was still able to come up with one million taels of silver.

It can be said that Tenglongwei is now really rich.

Wu Chongzhe smiled awkwardly, "This requires the assistance of several other commanders. I don't have that much silver in my hand. The most I can take out is 300,000 taels!"

Three hundred thousand taels!

One guard has 300,000 taels, and four guards have 1.2 million taels.

The key point is that the Tenglong defender led by Wu Chongzhe is not the richest among the four guards. The richest is naturally the Tenglong vanguard led by Yu Tonghai.

It seems that I have underestimated Tenglongwei!

Yang Zhengshan muttered to himself, but his face was solemn. He said, "Tell them that this is my order. If they can't do it, don't blame me for not remembering our friendship!"

There is a saying that goes “When people leave, the tea gets cold”!

Although Yang Zhengshan is not a hot topic in Tenglong Guard, he is not in charge of Tenglong Guard himself now, which inevitably makes people worried.

Yang Zhengshan doesn't have to worry about Wu Chongzhe, Han Cheng and Yu Tonghai.

After all, these three people have a close relationship with him, and their families are almost united with the Yang family. In Chongshan Town’s Royal Guard Camp and the Town Flag Five Camps, many people are from their families.

So it is impossible for them to betray Yang Zhengshan.

The only thing he was worried about was Zhang Yuanwu. Yang Zhengshan didn't have much interaction with him, and how much loyalty Zhang Yuanwu had to him remained to be seen.

But as long as Zhang Yuanwu is not stupid, he should know how to choose.

Yang Zhengshan's words were just a warning, but Wu Chongzhe knew that Yang Zhengshan was not joking.

"I understand. I will explain it to them!" said Wu Chongzhe.

(End of this chapter)