Chapter 86: An Unexpected Guest, Lu the Second Master
They didn’t walk far and arrived at a grassland about ten miles east of the garrison fortress.
“Dad, what are we doing here?” Yang Mingcheng looked around, puzzled.
This grassland was not small, covering around a hundred acres, with hills on all four sides and a small river flowing through the middle. The soil was fertile, and despite being late autumn, the grass was still green.
Yang Zhengshan looked north towards the hill where a small banner of a military household was stationed. The surrounding fields had already been opened up, but this grassland had not been utilized.
Previously, when Yang Zhengshan inspected the various military households and beacon towers, he thought this grassland was excellent, and now he was even more satisfied.
“We’ll build a horse ranch here! What do you think?” Yang Zhengshan said.
“Horse ranch?” Yang Mingcheng was shocked.
Yang Zhengshan nodded, pointing to an empty plot of land near the river. “Look over there. That’s perfect for building stables. We’ll enclose the entire area and build ten or so stables.”
“We’ll find some experienced horse breeders in Guan City and invite some laborers from the military households to help!”
“Our first year, we’ll only raise young horses, and once we earn some silver, we’ll start breeding our own horses!”
He had already planned everything out, intending to go to Guan City to buy some ordinary horses, use the Spirit Spring water to nourish them for a while, and then sell them for a profit.
This wouldn’t take long, only about half a year. After selling the first batch of horses, they could expand their operations.
The Spirit Spring in the stone cave could produce half a bucket of Spirit Spring water every day, which was enough to nourish ten or so horses.
“This is our family’s industry, so you need to pay extra attention to it.”
“Our family’s future wealth and nobility depend on you!”
Yang Zhengshan patted Yang Mingcheng’s shoulder, looking very pleased with him.
Yang Mingcheng’s face turned red as he replied, “Don’t worry, Dad, I’ll take care of it.”
At this moment, he forgot that he didn’t know how to raise horses.
He couldn’t say he knew nothing, since he had been taking care of his own warhorse for half a year.
However, compared to professional horse breeders, he was far inferior.
Yang Zhengshan smiled and said, “Tomorrow, take Minghao to Guan City and have him introduce you to Lu the shopkeeper and Rou the shopkeeper.”
“There might be things we can ask for their help with.”
Rou the shopkeeper didn’t need to be mentioned much, as Yang Zhengshan had helped him before, and Rou had been grateful and sent people to send messages frequently.
As for Lu the shopkeeper, Yang Zhengshan had maintained a close relationship with him and often sent people to his grain shop.
Moreover, Lu’s family had been trying to get close to Yang Zhengshan, and during Mid-Autumn Festival, Lu the Second Master had even sent a gift to Yang’s village.
Yang Mingcheng had been worried about how to return the favor and finally prepared a gift.
Although Rou and Lu were not prominent figures in Guan City, they could be of help in small matters, especially regarding business.
“Alright!” Yang Mingcheng replied.
Yang Zhengshan strolled around the area and then returned to the garrison fortress.
However, just as he returned, he discovered that Rou had arrived.
Originally, he wanted Yang Mingcheng to go to Guan City to meet Rou, but now Rou had come himself, and Yang Zhengshan could introduce them.
In the study room, Yang Mingcheng poured tea.
“This is my eldest son, Mingcheng! From now on, he’ll be in charge of our family’s industries!”
“This is Rou the shopkeeper!”
Yang Zhengshan introduced the two.
“Greetings, Yang Family’s Elder!” Rou didn’t dare be arrogant in front of Yang Mingcheng.
“Greetings, Rou the shopkeeper!” Yang Mingcheng was also sincere and didn’t look down on Rou, the merchant.
The three sat down, and Rou explained his purpose.
“Governor Yang, I heard that our garrison fortress can produce charcoal. May I know if you have any plans for the charcoal business?” Rou asked quietly.
“I’ll give you permission to sell the charcoal, and you can take two-tenths of the profit!”
Yang Zhengshan had already thought this through. Charcoal production had almost no material costs, and the costs were mainly in labor. He would divide the profits into three parts: five-tenths for the laborers, three-tenths for the government office, and two-tenths for Rou.
The government office’s three-tenths wouldn’t go to Yang Zhengshan himself; he didn’t plan to earn money from charcoal. The profits would be used to supplement the officials’ income.
Yang Zhengshan didn’t allow his subordinates to engage in corruption, but he would give them extra income as a reward. This bonus was their extra income.
“Thank you, Governor!” Rou smiled.
Two-tenths profit was not a lot, but he was already very satisfied.
This charcoal production was not something ordinary people could do. Firstly, it was hard to find the method, and secondly, the wood materials couldn’t be easily obtained.
Ordinary commoners could go up the mountain to gather firewood and sell it in the city, but they wouldn’t dare to engage in large-scale logging.
Not many people would care about small-scale firewood gathering, but if they engaged in large-scale logging, they would have endless troubles. Small merchants couldn’t handle it.
Yang Zhengshan had taken advantage of his position and had a large number of military households under his command, which was why he could do this.
As for why other garrison fortresses didn’t do this, it was simple: the officials wouldn’t be so kind as to find jobs for the military households. Moreover, the profits from charcoal were not high, and even if the officials wanted to earn money, they wouldn’t bother with this laborious business.
They would rather confiscate more fertile land and focus on embezzlement.
But for Rou, this was a good business, and two-tenths profit was enough to make him happy.
Moreover, Yang Zhengshan had done him a favor, and even if he didn’t earn much, he would still be willing to help.
“It’s not a favor, I just don’t want you to work for nothing!”
Yang Zhengshan sipped his tea, not paying attention to Rou’s gratitude.
Favor and gratitude were things that couldn’t be used forever. If used too much, they would lose their value, and people would even develop resentment.
Therefore, it was better not to rely on favors.
Rou had already sent gifts, and Yang Zhengshan had long forgotten about the favor.
He thought Rou’s character was not bad and was willing to cooperate with him more.
Later, Yang Zhengshan chatted with Rou about the situation in Guan City.
Recently, Guan City had been very lively, with many new officials taking office.
The new prefect, Lu Chongde, and the Marquis of Changping, Liang Cui, had done many things after taking office. They had reorganized the Five Camps of the Prefectural Banner, inspected the major military camps, distributed warhorses and armor, and purchased grain and fodder.
Their actions were one after another, and in just two months, they had brought new life to the declining Heavy Mountain Fortress.
Yang Zhengshan felt this was very good.
Their actions didn’t harm him, and there were many benefits. For example, the warhorses and armor that Zhao Yuan sent were issued in the name of the prefectural office to the soldiers in Jian Ning Wei.
Yang Zhengshan had a hunch that with these two powerful figures, Heavy Mountain Fortress and Heavy Mountain Town would flourish again.
Moreover, he was certain that Heavy Mountain Town would also conquer the East Sea Hu Tribe.
Everything Lu Chongde and Liang Cui did was in preparation for the next battle.
…
At noon, Yang Zhengshan invited Rou to stay for lunch, and in the afternoon, Rou left with two carts of charcoal.
Accompanying him were Yang Mingcheng and Yang Minghao, who went to Guan City to familiarize themselves with the city’s situation and buy horses for the Yang Family Ranch.
The two brothers stayed in Guan City for four days and returned with ten horses that didn’t look very good.
These were specifically chosen by Yang Zhengshan, who didn’t want them to pick good horses.
Each horse was skinny and looked malnourished, but this was because they were born with deficiencies or had been sick.
These horses couldn’t be used for battle, only for carrying loads, so the price was relatively low.
One horse cost around twenty silver taels, and the ten horses almost depleted Yang Zhengshan’s savings.
After buying the horses, Yang Mingcheng started building the horse ranch.
Yang Zhengshan didn’t have any silver, but Yang Mingcheng brought back a lot of grain.
Thus, Yang Mingcheng hired people using grain as payment.
Compared to silver, the military households preferred grain at the moment.
It was the beginning of the tenth month.
Lu Wen Chun and Lu Wen Hua came to the garrison fortress with Lu the Second Master.
Yang Zhengshan was surprised and curious about this unexpected guest, Lu the Second Master.
“Senior Lu, haha, welcome! Please come in!”
Although Yang Zhengshan was surprised, he still warmly welcomed Lu the Second Master.
“Governor Yang, I’ve come uninvited, please forgive me!” Lu the Second Master smiled.
Yang Mingcheng took Lu Wen Chun and Lu Wen Hua to the backyard, while Yang Zhengshan asked Lu the Second Master his purpose.
“Senior Lu, what brings you here?”
Lu the Second Master explained, “We have many farms in our family, and this year, the harvest in Heavy Mountain Town was poor. We want to transport all our grain to Heavy Mountain Fortress.”
Yang Zhengshan’s eyes sparkled.
Lu’s family was a major landlord in Anning County, and Yang Zhengshan didn’t have a clear idea of how much fertile land they owned.
But it was certainly in the thousands of acres, and this grain…
Yang Zhengshan took a deep breath.
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