Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Yang Zhenshan was reading and replying to letters until he reached the last one.

The last letter was written by Wang Bin, from Beiyuan Town.

For more than ten years, Wang Bin had served as the Vice General in Beiyuan Town but had never been able to break open the situation. Instead, he faced many constraints.

The main reason was that General Duan Qifeng of Beiyuan Town became increasingly dominant, and the place had almost turned into his autocracy.

Furthermore, a year ago, Duan Qifeng achieved a breakthrough to the Innate Realm, becoming an Innate Martial Artist, elevating his prestige in Beiyuan Town to its peak.

Yang Zhenshan frowned slightly at this; Duan Qifeng's actions seemed to be too unrestrained.

In fact, the most powerful nobles and military generals in the Da Rong Court today are not Yang Zhenshan; although he has impressive military achievements, the base of the Jing'an Marquis Mansion is too shallow compared to the established nobility.

Like Duke Shou, although an in-law, he is very powerful and has deep seniority, significantly influencing the western border towns of Da Rong.

And like the Duke Rong Mansion, after the decline of the Duke Ning Mansion, the Duke Rong Mansion became the leader of the nobility group. Now that Duan Qifeng has become an Innate Martial Artist, it filled the last gap of weakness for the Duke Rong Mansion.

And the Duke Ning Mansion, Changping Marquis Mansion, Marquis Jianchang's Mansion, and other nobility, although they may not show off, actually possess considerable force.

Take Zhang Luan of Marquis Jianchang, for example. Zhang Luan himself is an Innate Martial Artist and is now in charge of the Martial Arts Temple, a position even above Yang Zhenshan in the court.

Simply put, behind these nobles lies a formidable force.

In comparison, the Yang family's strength is substantial, but their influence pales in contrast to these seasoned nobles.

Yang Zhenshan thought for a moment and wrote a reply to Wang Bin.

He thought since Wang Bin was discontented in Beiyuan Town, it would be better to leave and take a leisurely position in the Capital City.

Wang Bin was not young anymore, in his sixties, and there was no need to stay in Beiyuan Town and suffer.

However, Yang Zhenshan was unaware that Wang Bin was currently in big trouble.

In Beiyuan Town, within the guardhouse of Iron Origin Guard.

Wang Bin sat in his study with a somewhat pale face, staring blankly at the blank paper on his desk.

After the East Sea Hu Clan was annihilated, he was promoted from Assistant General of the East Road Songzhou Guard in Chongshan Town to Vice General in Beiyuan Town. He thought he could make significant achievements in Beiyuan Town, but after arriving, he realized his ideas had been too naive.

Nearly the whole of Beiyuan Town was turned into an impenetrable fortress by Duan Qifeng; all commanders obeyed Duan Qifeng implicitly; as an outsider, he could neither gain the trust of Duan Qifeng nor the respect of his subordinates.

Initially, he thought of siding proactively with Duan Qifeng, as Duan Qifeng was his superior, and following Duan Qifeng's directions would not be wrong.

But later, he discovered he was mistaken again; Duan Qifeng, although not making things hard for him, did not value him more – even limiting his various powers to prevent him from competing for military authority.

Subsequent attempts to assert his power and regain what should have belonged to him also failed. As the Vice General, he should at least have the right to lead the Rescue Camp and handle military and governmental affairs of a region. Still, with Duan Qifeng holding great power, he had no ability to compete with Duan Qifeng and had even angered Duan Qifeng by trying, leading to increased dissatisfaction.

Thus ten years passed, and his situation became more and more awkward; now, he, the Vice General, controlled only the guard soldiers of Iron Origin Guard.

Moreover, Iron Origin Guard was extremely impoverished—no grain or money from the General Mansion, and he lacked the ability to develop Iron Origin Guard, leading to an increasingly destitute state.

Iron Origin Guard was more like a prison Duan Qifeng made, preventing him from ever stretching his arms.

Half a month earlier, a small group from the Wuliang Hu Clan had invaded Iron Origin Guard, looting and massacring. Despite his valiant fight, Iron Origin Guard suffered heavy casualties.

Not just heavy casualties, but a large number of military households were abducted by the Wuliang Hu Clan. With already undermanned ranks, they now had less than thirty percent remaining.

After such a major defeat, he, the Vice General, would inevitably have to take responsibility.

Wang Bin now felt as if he was at the end of his rope.

While Wang Bin was lost in thought, Wang Sheng arrived with a grim expression and a long saber in hand.

"Dad!"

"What's the matter?" Wang Bin snapped back to his senses.

"Look at this!" Wang Sheng placed the long saber on the desk.

Wang Bin looked at the saber, puzzled, "Isn't this the standard long saber used by the army? What's the problem?"

With a very ugly expression, Wang Sheng spoke in a low and heavy voice, "Dad, this is a saber used by the Northern barbarian! We, Iron Origin Guard, don't have many of these, but we obtained hundreds from the hands of the Northern barbarian this time!"

The standard long saber was widespread in the army, generally forged by each guard themselves. However, as Iron Origin Guard had no capability to forge weapons—lacking iron mines and sufficient craftsmen—the armaments used by the guard soldiers were old and worn.

Wang Bin abruptly stood up and began to carefully examine the long sword.

Wang Sheng added, "I've checked, and the long swords we've received this time are all new, forged within the past year. It's impossible that these were seized from our soldiers by Northern barbarians."

"So what does that mean?" Wang Bin asked with a deep gaze.

"Somebody has sold military arms to the Wuliang Hu Clan!" Wang Sheng said.

Wang Bin caressed the blade; the cold touch made his heart turn icy as well.

Selling military arms to the Wuliang Hu Clan is a crime that could lead to the extermination of a clan.

He couldn't believe anyone would dare to do such a thing, but he also had no choice but to believe it, as the evidence lay plainly before his eyes.

"Dad, should we report this to the court?" Wang Sheng quietly asked.

Wang Bin took a deep breath, "Let me think!"

His thoughts were in complete disarray at this moment.

Who sold the military arms to the Wuliang Hu Clan?

It definitely was not the work of ordinary soldiers or common Military Officers.

Because an average Military Officer wouldn't be capable of forging large quantities of armaments, not to mention a Commander of a garrison could hardly forge them in large quantities.

A Military Officer capable of forging armaments in large quantities has to be at least an Assistant General or higher in rank.

Beiyuan Town has eight Assistant Generals, and all these Assistant Generals are confidants of Duan Qifeng. Could it be that Duan Qifeng is involved as well?

Wang Bin was somewhat afraid to continue this line of thought.

If Duan Qifeng sold the military arms to the Wuliang Hu Clan, then what was his motive?

Feeding the enemy to increase his own power!

The phrase appeared in Wang Bin's mind.

At the same time, various past events started to resurface in his memory.

The battles between Beiyuan Town and the Wuliang Hu Clan had been ongoing for more than a decade, with small-scale skirmishes breaking out almost annually. Sometimes it was a few dozen scouts encountering each other in the wilderness; other times it was Northern barbarian raids penetrating the borders to plunder military households.

After more than a decade, the number of clashes was countless, but there seemed to never have been a large-scale battle.

"Grain, tea, salt, iron!" Wang Bin's mind suddenly shuddered.

Perhaps the military arms were just the tip of the iceberg, and the real terror lay hidden beneath the surface.

No wonder Duan Qifeng was reluctant to reuse him, no wonder all eight Assistant Generals of Beiyuan Town were Duan Qifeng's loyal followers.

"Dad, Dad~~" Wang Sheng called out, seeing that Wang Bin had long been silent.

Wang Bin came back to his senses and let out a heavy sigh.

"How many people know about this?"

Wang Sheng was startled, "Quite a few people have seen these long swords!"

Wang Bin nodded slightly, not saying much more, and began to write.

"Take your Personal Followers and head to the Capital City immediately, remember to gallop all the way, the faster, the better!"

"Once you arrive in the Capital City, go to Marquis Jing'an first and hand over this memorial and letter to Marquis Jing'an!"

He wrote a memorial and a letter, handed them to Wang Sheng, who took them and said gravely, "Dad, is there danger?"

"Don't overthink it, head to the Capital City now!" Wang Bin said.

Wang Sheng hesitated for a moment, then quickly packed up the memorial and the letter, saying, "Dad, take care of yourself!"

"Um! Go!" Wang Bin nodded.

Subsequently, Wang Bin called upon a few Personal Followers and, mounting their horses, they sped away from Iron Origin Guard.