Chapter 51: Entering Lin Guan Fortress
The next morning, Zhao Yuan took Yang Zhengshan and the others to report to the Metropolitan Prefecture Office, and within half an hour, Yang Zhengshan and the others became officers of the Left Vanguard of the Prefectural Banner.
No mistake, it was the Left Vanguard of the Prefectural Banner, not the soldiers from the Garrison Fortress.
Later, Zhao Yuan had Yang Zhengshan change the deed of the house.
However, before Yang Zhengshan could even enjoy the pleasure of having a house, Zhao Yuan took them to Lin Guan Fortress on the third day.
Fifty-some soldiers followed them, escorting ten carts of grain.
Lin Guan Fortress was located on the west side of Heavy Mountain Fortress, and after passing through two mountain peaks, they arrived at the border of Lin Guan Fortress.
The fortress sat on a small hill, but it was more accurate to say it was built on a mound of earth. The gentle slope was covered with yellow-brown fields, and in the distance, Yang Zhengshan saw many people in tattered clothing working in the fields.
Yang Zhengshan walked along the edge of the road, gazing at the people working in the fields, his brows furrowed in concern.
He squatted down and grabbed a handful of yellow soil, his eyebrows furrowing even deeper.
The soil was too poor for farming, no wonder Lin Guan Fortress was abandoned in the first place.
He looked up at the people working in the fields and let out a soft sigh.
“Father!” Yang Mingzhi called out worriedly.
He was also a farmer’s son, and naturally, he could see the quality of the fields.
“Yang Battalion Commander, time is running out, let’s hurry up!” Zhao Yuan walked over and said.
Yang Zhengshan stood up and walked forward slowly, “Zhao Battalion Commander, you must have an extraordinary background.”
“I don’t have an extraordinary background, I was born in the Liu Yuanfu Manor, but I’m just a illegitimate child,” Zhao Yuan said.
As the son of a noble, it was no wonder he didn’t care about the poor conditions of the fields.
Illegitimate children were often overlooked.
Yang Zhengshan nodded silently, not saying a word.
It was useless to talk about farming with someone like Zhao Yuan, who was born with a silver spoon.
Even Zhou Lan wouldn’t understand the situation here.
They had relocated a group of refugees here, which was equivalent to abandoning them.
As they walked along the gentle mountain road, they soon arrived at the gate of Lin Guan Fortress.
From the outside, the fortress walls were brand new, about one zhong high, with a large gate facing south. On the gate, the three characters “Lin Guan Fortress” were written in large font.
Above the gate was a watchtower, controlling a drawbridge, and below the bridge was a three-meter-wide moat, empty of water.
The people inside the fortress noticed their arrival, and many of them shrank away in fear, gazing at them with trepidation.
“Old Li! Old Li!”
Zhao Yuan walked ahead, shouting loudly.
Soon, an old man with a limp came over.
“Battalion Commander, you’ve arrived!”
Zhao Yuan nodded towards him, then introduced Yang Zhengshan, “This is Old Li, who was responsible for the reconstruction of Lin Guan Fortress and the recruitment of refugees. If you have any questions, you can ask him, Yang Battalion Commander.”
“Old Li, this is Yang Battalion Commander, the new commander of Lin Guan Fortress. From now on, you’ll have to listen to his orders!”
Old Li hurriedly bowed to Yang Zhengshan, “Old Li, Li Sanshi, pays his respects to the commander.”
Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, acknowledging him.
“Old Li, take Yang Battalion Commander around. Oh, and look at these grain carts, see where they can be stored.”
“Grain!” Old Li’s eyes lit up as he looked at the carts, “Commander, please follow me!”
As soon as they entered the fortress, Yang Zhengshan smelled a foul, acidic stench.
He then saw a dirty, broken-down scene.
The ground was littered with all sorts of trash, and along the walls were broken, dilapidated houses.
Yang Zhengshan’s eyebrows furrowed as he scanned the area.
Lin Guan Fortress had been rebuilt, but why only the outer walls?
The houses inside, although renovated, looked like they were built haphazardly.
They must have been built by the refugees themselves.
“This is your residence, Commander!” Old Li pointed to a relatively decent house.
Yang Zhengshan remained silent, only nodding.
Residence?
Ha, it was worse than his small farmhouse in Yang Family Village.
“This is the cowshed!”
“This is the warehouse!”
“This is the grain storehouse!”
Old Li quickly took Yang Zhengshan on a tour of Lin Guan Fortress.
In reality, the interior of Lin Guan Fortress was quite spacious, and it could easily accommodate a hundred households.
However, because it had been abandoned for too long, the houses had become broken and rundown.
“How long have they been here?” Yang Zhengshan asked, looking at the ragged military dependents.
“Over a month, they’ve been busy farming, so they haven’t had time to clean up the houses inside the fortress,” Old Li said, somewhat embarrassed.
“Is the farming done?” Yang Zhengshan asked.
“It’s almost done, and every household can now spare some labor,” Old Li replied.
Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, not bothering with the malnourished military dependents, and quickly walked to the grain storehouse door.
By then, Yang Mingzhi had already led everyone in moving the grain from the carts into the storehouse.
Although the living quarters were broken and rundown, the facilities like the grain storehouse, warehouse, and cowshed were relatively complete, showing that they had been carefully renovated.
Furthermore, the warehouse contained knives, guns, bows, and arrows, and the cowshed had ten horses and three oxen.
“Zhao Commander, we’re busy today, I won’t keep you,” Yang Zhengshan said, dismissing him.
From now on, this was his territory, and he had many things to attend to, no time to entertain Zhao Yuan.
Zhao Yuan didn’t say much and took his leave.
Yang Zhengshan watched them leave, then said to Old Li, “Summon all the soldiers!”
“Yes!” Old Li replied, then ran off with a limp.
About two quarters of an hour later, a hundred young men with pale complexions and gaunt faces gathered in the central square of the fortress.
These hundred young men were Yang Zhengshan’s soldiers.
Looking at them, Yang Zhengshan shook his head in dismay.
Training?
He felt that poverty alleviation was more important than training.
These people were all refugees who had lost their homes due to the Hu Tribe’s invasion. Their homes had been burned, and their savings had been looted.
With no other choice, they had brought their families to the fortress.
The prefectural government and the Metropolitan Prefecture Office had assigned them to various fortresses.
Zhou Lan had retained these hundred households, all with able-bodied men, and assigned them to Lin Guan Fortress.
However, they had first experienced escape and then two months of poverty and hunger, finally becoming what they were today.
“Divide them up! You choose!” Yang Zhengshan said to Yang Chengze and the others.
Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingwu were the overall commanders, while Yang Chengze, Yang Chengchang, Yang Chengyuan, and Yang Jingwu were the junior commanders.
Yang Zhengshan had already divided the ten junior commanders among Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingwu, and now it was time for Yang Chengze to choose his subordinates.
In reality, there was nothing much to choose from, mainly just getting to know each other, letting the soldiers know who their commanders were.
As for training, it would have to wait for now.
(The chapter ends)
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