Here is the translation of the chapter:
85th Chapter: Disciples and Refugees
Yang Zhengshan looked up at Li Shi, who was tired and worn out, and said, “I’ve already sent someone to notify Mingzhi, and he should be back tomorrow.”
Recently, Zhou Lan’s side had also started military training, and Yang Mingzhi was busy with that, which was why he hadn’t returned yet.
However, his wife and children had all come, and Yang Mingzhi should at least come to take a look. Moreover, Li Shi was pregnant and hadn’t seen him for half a year, so it wouldn’t be right if he didn’t come to visit.
“Thank you, Father!” Li Shi smiled warmly and curtsied.
Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, thinking that Li Shi was much kinder and more open-minded than the Wang family women. She was a good woman.
“You must all be tired. Why don’t you go rest first? We can talk about everything else later!” Yang Zhengshan said.
“Big Brother, Big Sister, come with me!” Yang Minghao immediately called out.
Then, he led everyone out of the main hall.
The back courtyard of the prefectural office was very large, with a main hall, four east and west wings, two ear rooms, and several other rooms. There were over thirty rooms in total, which was more than enough for Yang Zhengshan’s family.
Yang Zhengshan had already arranged everyone’s living quarters. The main room was in the east wing, the second room was in the west wing, and Yang Yunxue and Wang Yunqiao lived in the east wing’s side rooms, while Yang Minghao and Lin Zhan lived in the front courtyard.
After everyone had seen their living arrangements, Yang Mingcheng returned to the main hall.
“Father, this is a letter from Grandfather Lu!” Yang Mingcheng said.
When Yang Zhengshan heard it was a letter from Lu Songhe, he quickly took it. He had written to Lu Songhe before, especially during the Mid-Autumn Festival, when he had intentionally written a letter to ask about his health.
“Did you send the Mid-Autumn Festival gifts to Grandfather Lu?” Yang Zhengshan asked.
“I followed your instructions and selected some stationery and inksticks from the storehouse to send as gifts,” Yang Mingcheng replied sincerely.
Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly. The stationery and inksticks in his house were all gifts received previously, especially the ones from Zhou Lan’s family, which included many high-quality items. Yang Zhengshan had mostly given them to the Lu family.
There was no choice; the Yang family now only had half a scholar, Lin Zhan, who couldn’t use that many stationery and inksticks.
Meanwhile, the Lu family had several scholars, and Lu Wenquan had even become a xiucai. As the uncle, Yang Zhengshan naturally had to show more consideration.
Lu Songhe’s letter was brief and to the point, without too many formalities or unnecessary words. The main content was asking Yang Zhengshan to find jobs for his grandsons.
Lu Songhe had four grandsons: Lu Wenqun, Lu Wenjie, Lu Wenhua, and Lu Wenquan. Lu Wenquan didn’t need Yang Zhengshan’s help, as he was going to take the imperial examinations.
However, Lu Wenqun, Lu Wenjie, and Lu Wenhua weren’t very talented in reading and writing. Yang Zhengshan didn’t have any objections to this.
He actually lacked scholars on his side, and previously, there were many officials in the prefectural office. However, Yang Zhengshan had arranged for them to be handled, and now all the official business was shouldered by Yang Zhengshan and Yang Mingwu, which made them extremely busy.
Yang Zhengshan even couldn’t find time to relax.
Yang Zhengshan thought for a moment and then wrote a letter to Lu Songhe.
He first asked about the health of the two elderly people, then expressed his thoughts. He decided to bring Lu Wenqun and Lu Wenjie over.
Lu Wenqun was the eldest grandson of the Lu family, already twenty-eight years old. Although he wasn’t good at reading and writing, he was steady and capable, and could help with a lot of things if he came to the prefectural office.
Lu Wenjie was the eldest grandson of the Lu family’s second branch, twenty-five years old, and had previously managed the Lu family’s business. He was a capable person.
This would satisfy both branches of the Lu family. As for Lu Wenhua, he was the only incompetent grandson of the Lu family.
It wasn’t that Lu Wenhua was arrogant or that the Lu family had anything to be arrogant about.
The main problem was that Lu Wenhua liked to gamble, and Yang Zhengshan had heard that he had caused a lot of trouble in Qinghe Town. He didn’t want to bring a troublemaker to his side.
“You take this letter…” Yang Zhengshan originally wanted to ask Yang Mingcheng to send the letter to Lu Zhang in Guan City, but then he thought that Yang Mingcheng wasn’t familiar with Guan City, so he changed his mind and said, “Give this letter to Minghao instead!”
“Okay!” Yang Mingcheng replied, a little disappointed.
He wanted to do more things, but Yang Zhengshan had handed this task over to Yang Minghao.
Although it was just a small task of sending a letter, he couldn’t even do that, let alone other things.
Yang Zhengshan noticed his thoughts and smiled, saying, “You can rest for a few days. I have something important for you to do later.”
Yang Mingcheng’s thoughts were normal, as he was the eldest son.
Seeing his younger brothers following their father, and his second brother had even become an official, it was no wonder he had some resentment in his heart.
However, Yang Mingcheng had already done very well. Although he had some resentment, he didn’t think of doing anything against his younger brothers.
When he heard Yang Zhengshan had something for him to do, Yang Mingcheng immediately smiled sincerely.
“Don’t worry, Father, I’ll do my best!” Yang Mingcheng said.
“Okay!” Yang Zhengshan nodded.
Yang Mingcheng left, and Lin Zhan and Wang Yunqiao came over.
These two were his disciples, but as their master, Yang Zhengshan had been a little irresponsible. Since they came to the Yang family, Yang Zhengshan hadn’t taught them many things.
Yang Zhengshan examined Lin Zhan and nodded in satisfaction. “Your body has become much stronger!”
Lin Zhan previously looked thin and weak, but now he was like a little ox, full of energy, and his skin had also darkened from practicing martial arts.
“It’s all thanks to Big Brother’s care!” Lin Zhan still spoke up for Yang Mingcheng.
Yang Zhengshan’s mouth curved up slightly. “Don’t worry about reading and writing. I’ll find a teacher for you later!”
He didn’t have any objections to Lin Zhan reading and writing. Lin Zhan had some talent in reading and writing, and if he could take the imperial examinations, Yang Zhengshan would be happy to see it.
Unfortunately, Lin Zhan hadn’t studied hard for half a year, and since the Yang family’s school was established, Lin Zhan had come to the prefectural office.
However, Yang Zhengshan planned to open a college within the prefectural office, which would be a real college.
One reason was to teach the soldiers to read and write, and the other was to let the sons of military families study.
Teaching soldiers to read and write was simple, and it only required finding a few scholars.
However, real studying required a real teacher, at least a xiucai.
“I’m not in a hurry,” Lin Zhan said softly.
He really wasn’t in a hurry. Although his father hoped he could become a scholar and gain a position, he knew the Yang family had already been very good to him, taking him in, teaching him martial arts, and willing to let him study.
What more could he ask for?
He knew how to be grateful.
“Okay!” Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly and looked at Wang Yunqiao and the child in her arms.
“Bring him over and let me take a look!” Yang Zhengshan said.
Wang Yunqiao quickly brought the child over.
A ten-year-old child was taking care of a younger child, which was a burden. Yang Zhengshan showed a warm smile, trying to comfort Wang Yunqiao.
“Little guy is very good!” Yang Zhengshan said.
He was acting close to Wang Mingzheng, trying to comfort Wang Yunqiao.
His own grandsons he could be distant from, as they were related by blood.
However, towards this child, he couldn’t be distant, or Wang Yunqiao would definitely feel uneasy.
As expected, when Yang Zhengshan acted close to her younger brother, Wang Yunqiao’s face lit up with a bright smile.
…
Yang Mingcheng and the others had arrived, making Yang Zhengshan’s side much more lively.
However, with the many tasks in the prefectural office, Yang Zhengshan didn’t have time to enjoy family bliss. In fact, he didn’t like family bliss.
He didn’t want to admit that he was an old man.
Although in this world, forty years old was already considered old, he had never referred to himself as an old man.
The next day, Yang Minghao returned from Jianning Guard, and the whole family had a reunion dinner.
Yang Minghao stayed at home for only one night and then hurriedly returned to Jianning Guard.
Military training on Zhou Lan’s side was also in full swing, and as the main instructor, Yang Minghao had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.
He didn’t want to disappoint Yang Zhengshan, nor did he want to leave a bad impression on Zhou Lan.
So during this time, he was trying his best to perform well in front of Zhou Lan.
This also indirectly proved that Yang Zhengshan’s previous decision was correct, as Yang Mingzhi was more suitable for being an official and understood the importance of timing.
Time passed, and the weather gradually cooled down.
But the entire prefectural office was a scene of bustling activity.
The first batch of refugees, brought by Yang Chengze, had arrived.
There were a total of 130 households, over 400 people.
All of them were poor and tattered refugees.
To recruit these refugees, Yang Chengze had spent a lot of effort.
This year was a year of disaster, and the people of Chongshan Town had first experienced the invasion of the Hu cavalry, followed by a severe drought, which had left many people homeless.
Some people had survived the Hu cavalry’s plunder but couldn’t withstand the drought.
The first batch of refugees, Yang Zhengshan arranged to settle in the prefectural office, which had just built many new houses, enough to accommodate these people.
Suddenly, there were over 100 new households, making the prefectural office very lively.
The refugees arrived, and Yang Zhengshan first registered them, issued them household registrations, and allocated houses, as well as allocated farmland and farming tools.
Although the weather was still not very cold, they could still open up some land before winter.
However, the newly opened land would definitely not have a high yield, so Yang Zhengshan generously exempted them from paying taxes for a year.
To prevent these refugees from becoming idle, Yang Zhengshan let Li Erhu choose some people to join the wood charcoal production, and he also let Old Li take care of these refugees, hiring some people to raise horses, pigs, and chickens.
After busying himself for two days, Yang Zhengshan finally arranged the refugees properly, and only then did he have time to sit in his study and drink tea.
“Father, you want me?” Yang Mingcheng came to the study.
“Okay!” Yang Zhengshan nodded. “You’ve rested enough.”
“I’ve rested well, Father! I don’t need to rest anymore!” Yang Mingcheng said.
Yang Mingcheng was a restless person. Previously, when the family was poor, he had taken care of the fields, and later, when Yang Zhengshan gave the land to the tenants, he still couldn’t sit still, sometimes going into the mountains to hunt, or helping the tenants with their work.
It got to the point that the tenants were worried, afraid that the Yang family wouldn’t rent the land to them anymore.
Yang Zhengshan drank the tea in his cup and stood up, saying, “Let’s go out for a walk!”
Then, the two of them walked out of the study, riding their horses out of the prefectural office.
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