Here is the translation of the 47th chapter:
Headed to Heavy Mountain Fortress
“Leave the family matters to you, and we’ll settle down over there. You can come over later!” Yang Zhengshan instructed Yang Mingcheng in the Yang family’s main hall.
He was uncertain about what lay ahead in Heavy Mountain Fortress.
Yang Zhengshan couldn’t bring his entire family with him either. Except for Yang Mingzhi and Yang Minghao, the rest of the Yang family would stay in Yang Family Village. If they could settle down in Heavy Mountain Fortress, he would bring everyone over later. If not, Yang Zhengshan wouldn’t bother staying either.
The road to Heavy Mountain Fortress was treacherous, and the Yang family had no roots there. The only person they could rely on was Zhou Lan, whom Yang Zhengshan had only met twice. Yang Zhengshan wasn’t even sure if he could cling to Zhou Lan’s leg.
If he could, the Yang family might be able to borrow power and grow stronger. But if not, Yang Zhengshan felt it was better to return.
Yang Family Village might be small, but it was their foundation.
Before even heading to Heavy Mountain Fortress, Yang Zhengshan had already thought of a contingency plan.
“Don’t worry, father. I’ll take care of the family matters!” Yang Mingcheng said with a serious face.
Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the people in the hall.
He didn’t need to worry too much about the others.
However, he did have a special arrangement in mind for Lin Zhan.
“Lin Zhan!”
“I’m here, master!”
“After you finish building the clan school, you can go read books there!”
Lin Zhan’s eyes lit up, and he asked, “Master, what about…”
Yang Zhengshan knew what he was going to ask and waved his hand, saying, “You can still practice your martial arts while reading books, and don’t worry about anything else!”
Lin Zhan had lived with the Yang family for half a year, and the Yang family had treated him like one of their own. However, he still had some doubts and fears in his heart.
Being too clever wasn’t always a good thing, as clever people tended to be more sensitive.
Lin Zhan was intelligent, so he was grateful for the Yang family’s protection and care. However, this gratitude made him unable to view the Yang family as his own, and he was afraid of doing something wrong and offending Yang Zhengshan and the others.
Thus, he was cautious in his actions, concealing his sharpness and trying not to draw attention to himself.
In comparison, Wang Yunque was much simpler. She was grateful to the Yang family, so she got up earlier than the others and slept later, doing her best to help with the household chores and taking care of the children.
Although she seemed humble, she was always trying to fit in with the family.
That’s why the Yang family liked and cherished Wang Yunque more.
“Remember, one day as a teacher is a lifetime as a father!” Yang Zhengshan said, his eyes deep and profound as he looked at Lin Zhan.
Lin Zhan trembled all over, and his eyes welled up with tears as he kowtowed, saying, “I thank my master for his kindness!”
“Get up!”
Yang Zhengshan helped him up and instructed Yang Mingcheng, “You will teach Lin Zhan martial arts from now on. Don’t be lazy!”
Then, he gave them some more instructions, talking like an old father.
This made everyone’s mood a bit heavy.
Yang Zhengshan felt helpless, as he had become an old father.
Ah, old father!
Yang Zhengshan let out a long sigh.
Getting old was one thing, but his heart seemed to be growing old as well.
The night was quiet.
The next morning, Yang Zhengshan bid farewell to the villagers at the entrance of Yang Family Village, accompanied by twelve people.
They didn’t know when they would return.
Yang Zhengxing saw them off, walking with them until they reached the official road.
“Everyone, please go back!”
Yang Zhengshan waved goodbye to the villagers, jumped onto the horse-drawn carriage, and gestured for Yang Mingzhi to drive the horses forward.
The three horses pulled the carriage along the official road, with the crowd following behind.
Yang Zhengshan sat in the carriage, looking back at the receding village and the familiar faces.
…
At the tenth-mile station in Anning County, a large merchant caravan with over thirty horse-drawn carriages was waiting on the official road. A middle-aged man with a big beard was constantly looking back at the official road behind them.
After about an hour, he saw a small carriage approaching.
“Lord Yang!”
The middle-aged man, Song An, hastened to greet them.
Yang Zhengshan jumped down from the carriage, saying, “Sorry we’re late!”
Song An was a manager from the Lu family, and the Lu family had many businesses in Heavy Mountain Fortress. They often sent merchant caravans to Anning County and Heavy Mountain Fortress.
This time, Yang Zhengshan was going to Heavy Mountain Fortress, and Lu the Second had kindly invited them to join their caravan.
“Not late at all,” Song An said, although he looked rough, he was a thoughtful person. “We should get going too!”
Yang Zhengshan looked up at the sky and smiled, saying, “Then let’s get going!”
Song An first waved his hand to signal the caravan to start moving, and then turned to Yang Zhengshan, saying, “Lord Yang, we have horse-drawn carriages. Why don’t you ride with us?”
Yang Zhengshan looked ahead and saw that there were indeed three horse-drawn carriages.
Their group of thirteen people had only three horses, which couldn’t be ridden. Instead, they were used to pull the carriages.
Since they were heading to Heavy Mountain Fortress, they needed to bring a lot of things, so Yang Zhengshan had prepared three horse-drawn carriages earlier.
“No need, I’m just a coarse man. I’ll ride the horse-drawn carriage,” Yang Zhengshan refused.
He seemed to have seen the ladies in the horse-drawn carriages and didn’t want to take a seat away from them.
“This…” Song An hesitated.
Yang Zhengshan jumped onto the horse-drawn carriage, saying carelessly, “Song An, it’s getting late. Let’s hurry up!”
“Alright then,” Song An said, seeing Yang Zhengshan’s determination.
The caravan moved forward like a long dragon on the official road, with Yang Zhengshan chatting with Song An on the horse-drawn carriage.
“How safe is this road?”
He had heard that the roads in the north were dangerous, with many bandits and robbers along the way, but he wasn’t sure about the specific situation.
“It’s not very safe, but we have many people, so few would dare to harass us,” Song An said, being a talkative person.
Yang Zhengshan glanced at the horse-drawn carriages ahead, asking casually, “Can you make a lot of money from this trip?”
Song An replied, “We can make some money, but not a lot. There are many small-time robbers along the way, and we need to give them some benefits to let us pass.”
“Small-time robbers?” Yang Zhengshan was surprised.
“Yes, we need to go through three counties, and each county has its own inspectors. Once we enter the territory of Heavy Mountain Fortress, we’ll encounter even more small-time robbers. Many soldiers will come to ask for handouts,” Song An said with a helpless tone.
It was hard to deal with small-time robbers.
They were merchants with backgrounds, and typically, the local officials wouldn’t bother them. At most, they would ask for some benefits, following the principle of mutual benefit.
However, some unscrupulous soldiers didn’t care about these rules and would ask for handouts from the merchants.
It had become a common practice for them to demand benefits from the merchants.
As they approached the official road, the military camps along the way became like toll stations, extracting benefits from the passing merchants.
If they didn’t give benefits, the soldiers would cause trouble.
They wouldn’t dare to kill or rob, but they could always find excuses to search the merchants’ carriages.
No matter how deep their background was, they would be helpless in front of such soldiers.
“I’m just a small soldier. Can I not be bothered?”
“Get lost then. I’ll go back to my village and farm.”
As for low-ranking military officers, such as battalion commanders, they wouldn’t show up in person. They would just turn a blind eye and take the benefits.
“That’s not a good road to take,” Yang Zhengshan said, looking at the long caravan with over three hundred people.
There were many small-time robbers on this road, and they needed to bribe many officials, but the caravan still had its benefits. Otherwise, they wouldn’t continue to run back and forth like this.
In Yang Zhengshan’s eyes, Heavy Mountain Fortress was a stable market dominated by military consumption, with a huge demand for goods from the military and civilians.
Even though they were facing threats from the Hu riders, they still didn’t give up, showing how great the benefits were.
Apart from that, there was also smuggling.
The eastern border didn’t have mutual trade, so all trade with foreign tribes was considered smuggling.
Yang Zhengshan didn’t think that Heavy Mountain Fortress didn’t have smuggling, or that the Lu family might be involved.
He gazed deeply at the endless caravan, then shook his head with a smile.
Did it matter to him whether there was smuggling or not?
He was just a county official who hadn’t even taken office yet. Even if he did, no one would take him seriously.
(End of chapter)
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