Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Once the money and food supplies are sent over, the army can be directly moved there, ready to go to war at any time.

"Your subordinate obeys the command!" Ning Qinghe and Song Ying replied as they accepted the order.

Yang Zhenshan then turned to the Inspector General Zhang Cong and instructed, "The Inspector General's Office should keep a close watch on the transportation of military provisions. If anyone dares to embezzle, they will be executed on the spot. My estate will also send people to inspect. If my inspectors find the Inspector General's Office negligent or in collusion with the provision officers, I will have the Inspector General's Office prosecuted!"

Zhang Cong hurriedly bowed, "This subordinate will strictly supervise the transportation of provisions and will not allow any embezzlement!"

Yang Zhenshan gave a slight nod, "Very well, let's leave it at that for now. You may all go about your duties."

Song Ying and the others took their leave, and Yang Zhenshan headed to the Pang family to offer condolences for Pang Tang's passing.

Pang Tang had three sons; the eldest stayed in their hometown guarding the family estate, the second son had always followed Pang Tang closely, tending to both him and his wife, and the third son was a successful candidate in the imperial examinations of Chengping twenty-ninth year and currently served as Prefect in the Bashu region.

At this time, the funeral affairs were being managed by his second son, Pang Shihong.

When Yang Zhenshan arrived at the Pang family's residence, he looked upon Pang Tang's coffin and let out a light sigh. After exchanging a few words with Pang Shihong, he left the Pang family's home.

Although he was deeply grieved by Pang Tang's death, the myriad of affairs in Chongshan Town demanded his attention, leaving him no time to indulge in mundane rituals.

Back at the General Mansion, Yang Zhenshan sent messages to the Assistant General Mansions of various routes, notifying them of his return, while also instructing them to prepare for possible deployment.

On his first day back in Chongshan Town, Yang Zhenshan found himself engulfed in a whirlwind of tasks.

He started by dealing with the accumulated paperwork at the General Mansion, followed by meetings with numerous officials and military officers.

The news of Yang Zhenshan's return to Chongshan Pass brought much relief to the area; the worry that weighed on everyone from government office officials to common citizens was now lifted.

There wasn't much change among the staff of the General Mansion; Zhou Lan had made almost no alterations to the team Yang Zhenshan left behind, with Lu Wenhua still serving as the head of all affairs. While there had been a few adjustments among the different departments and chambers, overall, there wasn't much change.

That evening, Yang Zhenshan personally visited Zhou Lan and Wang Yunqiao to check on their condition and seeing them sleeping soundly, he too could rest easy.

When he arrived, the matriarch of the Song family, that is Wang Yunqiao's mother-in-law, was also present. With Song Dashan occupied with military matters and Song Hao also engaged with his duties, leaving no time to care for Wang Yunqiao, the responsibility fell on Song Li's and Song Han's shoulders.

Song Han was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Song family. Besides these two ladies, Wang Yunqiao's children were also present.

Wang Yunqiao had two daughters and one son; the eldest daughter Song Jin was nine this year, the eldest son Song Shi was seven, and the second daughter Song Xiu was only four years old.

"Disciple pays respects to the great master!" The three children lined up and bowed in a well-mannered fashion.

Yang Zhenshan showed a kind and gentle smile, "Jin'er is getting prettier by the day! Shi'er has also grown quite a bit taller, and this must be Xiu'er, come and let your great master hold you!"

Song Jin smiled sweetly and gently nudged Song Xiu, "This is your great master, our mother's master."

Yang Zhenshan had naturally seen Song Jin before; she had played in the Yang family's house often. He had held Song Shi as a child, though the boy probably didn't remember Yang Zhenshan, as he was only three when Yang Zhenshan left Chongshan Town.

Song Xiu looked at Yang Zhenshan and shyly approached.

Yang Zhenshan picked her up and chuckled, "Shall your great master show you a magic trick?"

"What kind of magic trick?" Song Xiu asked curiously.

Yang Zhenshan flicked his wrist in front of her, and the next moment, a fresh, rosy peach appeared in his hand.

The little girl's eyes widened in amazement.

"Have a bite!"

Yang Zhenshan handed the peach to her, and also presented peaches to Song Jin and Song Shi.

"Great master is so amazing!" Song Shi looked adoringly at Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan ruffled his little head, "Practice your martial arts diligently, and when you've grown up, your great master will teach you how to cultivate as well!"

Song Shi nodded vigorously.

The three children began to munch on their peaches. Yang Zhenshan stepped forward to check Wang Yunqiao's condition and took her pulse.

"The situation isn't too bad; the remaining poison is almost cleared, but due to the significant blood loss, it might take about a month or two to fully recover!"

Wang Mingzhe nodded, "I have already prescribed a blood replenishing remedy for my sister."

Yang Zhenshan replied, "Hmm, I've brought some Golden Blood Vine with me; I'll have it sent over later. Take care of them for the next few days."

The Golden Blood Vine had the effect of replenishing Qi and blood and could also be used to concoct Blood Qi Pills, making it most suitable for nourishing individuals recovering from severe injuries.

"Master must be worried!" Wang Mingzhe looked at his elder sister with some heartache.

Elder sisters are like mothers; although Wang Yunqiao was sometimes overly strict with him, he never complained about her.

Yang Zhenshan patted his shoulder and stood up, walking out of the inner room.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, Yang Zhenshan went to the military camp outside the city to inspect the conditions of the Camp.

Each of the Five Camps had six thousand soldiers, but the soldiers of each camp were divided into different types of troops.

The front and rear camps were entirely composed of foot soldiers, the left and right camps were all Cavalry, and the Middle Camp was made up of three thousand foot soldiers and three thousand Cavalry.

The reason for the difference was that the duties of the soldiers from each camp varied; the front and rear camps were responsible for siege warfare, while the left and right camps were for field Cavalry combat. Sometimes infantry and Cavalry needed to cooperate, and soldiers from different camps would support each other.

The Middle Camp was mainly responsible for guarding the commander and also acted as the reserve force. If other camps were under pressure, the Middle Camp would step forward to provide support.

At this time, only the Middle Camp and the rear camp were under Yang Zhenshan's inspection.

When Yang Zhenshan saw the two camps' troops arrayed before him, his face showed an unusual expression.

He rode up to a troop of Cavalry and asked, "Is this the Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry?"

Following behind him, Song Dashan said, "Correct, of the Middle Camp's three thousand Cavalry, two thousand are Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry! The remaining thousand are light armored archers!"

Yang Zhenshan looked at the Cavalry, clad like metal cans, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry!

He hadn't expected Zhou Lan to invest so much and form a unit of Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry!

Yang Zhenshan had previously trained Iron Armor Cavalry, but those were only wearing Iron Armor and mainly of the mountain pattern type.

Iron Armor Cavalry and Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry were different; the warhorses of the Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry were also armored, and the armor of the riders had slight variations.

The weight of the Iron Armor Cavalry's armor was around forty jins, but the Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry's armor weighed over a hundred jins.

Initially, when Yang Zhenshan was in Tenglong Guard, he had considered creating Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry, but he gave up in the end. The first reason was the heavy armor was made of scale armor; just for the human armor, one needed over eighteen hundred scales, and including the horse armor, almost five thousand scales in total.

Forging a set of scale armor required iron ingots and manpower several times that needed to produce a set of mountain pattern armor.

Even when Tenglong Guard was wealthy, Yang Zhenshan didn't have the financial resources to forge a unit of heavy Cavalry.

The second reason was the warhorses; the warhorses for Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry were top-notch, requiring not only large physiques but also exceptional stamina from the warhorses.

Although Yang Zhenshan could use Spiritual Spring Water to enhance the physique of the warhorses, such improvement would also take a long time.

When Yang Zhenshan led Tenglong Guard into battle, the warhorses had reached the standard required by Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry, but those were horses he had trained over five years.

Although Zhou Lan did not have Spiritual Spring Water, she owned vast pastures, with over a hundred large and small horse-breeding grounds, from which the best were selected. It was no small feat to train two thousand heavy Cavalry in a few years.

And the Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry needed not only iron armor and warhorses but also support soldiers; one Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry required one support soldier and three warhorses.

The support soldier was responsible for helping the Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry don their armor and also to transport the iron armor.

The armor, weighing over a hundred jins, required a dedicated warhorse to carry and a support soldier to help with donning.

The expense of training one Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry was over three times that of training an Iron Armor Cavalry.

Yang Chengxu interjected, "Although our front and rear camps lack Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry, each has two thousand Heavy Armor Foot Soldiers!"

He pointed at the distant front camp formation, proudly showing off his treasures.

Yang Zhenshan rode over and observed the Heavy Armor Foot Soldiers.

What a sight, each one was like a metal can.

Their entire bodies were encased in iron armor, with iron masks covering their faces, leaving only the eyes and nose exposed.

Moreover, these foot soldiers were equipped with mace hammers, while the previously mentioned Iron Armor Heavy Cavalry wielded long spears and broadswords.

The mace hammer, as a blunt weapon, serves primarily to break armor. A blow would shatter the bones of an enemy, even one clad in iron armor.

Each of these Heavy Armor Foot Soldiers carried two mace hammers, virtually like a human-shaped pillbox.