Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

What is Jianghu?

This definition is somewhat complex.

What are the rules of Jianghu?

This definition is much simpler.

In Da Rong, the consensus reached by many Martial Artists constitutes the rules of Jianghu.

Why then does the court need to abide by the rules of Jianghu?

Because some of the rules of Jianghu are the consensus of Innate Martial Artists.

For example, the court cannot forcibly conscript Innate Martial Artists!

This is the consensus of Innate Martial Artists, and also the rule of Jianghu that the court must follow.

For most Innate Martial Artists, the court is but a shackle, and Innate Martial Artists do not like this shackle around their necks, thus many choose to seclude themselves in the mountains and forests.

There are also some Innate Martial Artists within the court, this is because these Innate Martial Artists have interests within the court.

Such as those from Sanshan Valley, and now from Cui Xia Valley.

Yang Zhenshan proposed to Emperor Yanping the creation of a worship institute, aiming to tie more Innate Martial Artists to the court, thereby enabling the court to mobilize more Innate Martial Artists.

However, this does not mean the court can control these Innate Martial Artists, being free from the court's shackles is the consensus among all Innate Martial Artists.

And this consensus was achieved through the powerful strength of the Innate Martial Artists themselves.

Hence, previously, most Innate Martial Artists remained detached from the court.

But if the court wants to bind all Innate Martial Artists within it, then it goes against the consensus of all Innate Martial Artists and will ultimately be abandoned by all, except for those from the royal family, and perhaps some Innate Martial Artists of noble origin who are willing to be mobilized by the court.

Nevertheless, most Innate Martial Artists definitely do not wish to be tied to the court.

Yang Zhenshan is aware of this; it's just that he overlooked this fact when considering the issues of the Yang family, as the Yang family are subjects of the Emperor and nobles of the court.

Yu Qingyi, coming from the worldly society, understands the mindset of Jianghu Martial Artists better, which is why she easily understood this point.

If Emperor Yanping truly wishes to forcibly keep the Yang family or even destroy them, it would surely incite disdain from Innate Martial Artists.

Yang Zhenshan is currently a star figure among Innate Martial Artists and has substantial prestige among them, with many Innate Martial Artists who are on good terms with him.

If the court actually acts against him, it's reasonable if justified, but if not, how would other Innate Martial Artists view Emperor Yanping and the court?

Therefore, Yang Zhenshan's worries were somewhat unnecessary. After all, he is now an Innate Martial Artist, as long as he does not rebel, the court cannot do much to him.

This is the dignity and freedom of Innate Martial Artists, worth being upheld by most of them.

...

Yang Zhenshan stayed in Chongshan Town for another half month, until Zhou Lan, Yang Mingzhi, and others went to take their positions in Beiyuan Town, until Tang Feihu took control of the General Mansion, and after Tang Feihu distributed the rewards to the soldiers, Yang Zhenshan then set off from Chongshan Town.

Zhou Lan and Yang Mingzhi, among others, took away five thousand elite troops from Chongshan Town; it seems a lot but actually isn't much— one General, one Vice General, along with four Assistant Generals, only took five thousand elites, fewer than a thousand men each.

These five thousand elites are the foundation for their rebuilding of Beiyuan Town.

After Tang Feihu took control of the General Mansion, he also made some arrangements in Chongshan Town, he basically did not change the other Assistant Generals, only that originally under his command in the Middle Road Jinzhou Guard, he promoted his confidant Tang Shun as Assistant General. Middle Road Jianning Guard is still led by the Vice General Niu Zhuang, besides, he also placed the two Assistant Generals from West Road, Xie Yuan and Zhang Chengzhi, under Niu Zhuang.

After all, West Road needs to guard against the Wuliang Hu Clan, so Niu Zhuang, essentially acting as the General of West Road, specifically handles the defense against the Wuliang Hu Clan.

Changes in the Assistant Generals were minor, but there were significant changes in the Five Camps.

All five Guerrilla Generals of the Five Camps were transferred, the new five Guerrillas are Zuo Wan, Wu An, Yang Qinhua, Yang Chengzhang, and Han Fei.

Zuo Wan was originally a thousand commander of Camp, during Ji Feiyu's rebellion when Yang Zhenshan attacked Chongshan Pass, Zuo Wan led his troops to switch sides, took over the General Mansion within the city, and rescued Lu Chongde, later being promoted to sit as an office holder in Middle Camp, now his promotion to Guerrilla General also seems a logical outcome.

Yang Chengzhang and Yang Qinhua need no further mention, they are both descendants of the Yang.

Han Fei is the son of Han Cheng, who also spent several years as a Personal Follower to Yang Zhenshan.

Wu An is the son of Wu Chongzhe, previously served in Tenglong Guard, over the years he successively advanced in Front Camp to become a thousand commander, an office holder, now also qualified to serve as Guerrilla.

Thus, it appears that four of the Five Camps are controlled by confidants of Yang Zhenshan.

Of course, Tang Feihu didn't suffer either; his people were in the ranks of officers and thousand commanders in each camp.

This was the result of a compromise, and Yang Zhenshan was quite satisfied with it.

When Yang Zhenshan left Chongshan Pass, Chongshan Town was already stabilized and the personnel changes did not lead to any disturbances.

Leaving Chongshan Pass, Yang Zhenshan and his company did not head south to Jing'an Prefecture, nor did they return to Yang Family Village, but instead headed east, passing through An Yuan City to visit the Sky Blue Sword Sect.

The Sky Blue Sword Sect had undergone significant changes compared to the past, previously resembling a village, but now featured many more pavilions and buildings, making it look more like a majestic Jianghu Sect.

Standing in front of the main hall of the Sky Blue Sword Sect, overlooking the farmland below the mountain, Yang Zhenshan felt a surge of great pride.

"In recent years, our Sky Blue Sword Sect has recruited many disciples and purchased many lands; those villages below the mountain are all ours!"

Hua Jinqiu, with white hair, wearing an indigo robe, proudly gazed at the good farmland below.

At the end of July, the wheat, rice, sorghum, and millet crops in the fields were at their most lush period, forming a pleasing green ocean at a glance.

Yang Zhenshan asked, "Did you buy all those lands?"

Hua Jinqiu shook her head, "No, they were donated to us by the villagers."

Yang Zhenshan fell silent.

Land consolidation!

Naked land consolidation!

This is the downside of the existence of Jianghu Sects' force, as once a Jianghu Sect grows larger, it will inevitably consolidate the surrounding lands.

Previously, the Sky Blue Sword Sect only had two villages below it, with only over three thousand acres of land, but now there probably are hundreds of thousands.

The Sky Blue Sword Sect is still better, many people in those villages are disciples of the sect, and although they rent the sect's land, the rent isn't high.

But it's different for other Sects' forces; the court still restricts Sects' involvement in business, so many Sects force encroach on the peasants' land.

Townsmen and landlords, wealthy families, Jianghu Sects, and nobles in official positions are also consolidating land.

Even the Yang family owns tens of thousands of acres of good farmland, showing how severe the land consolidation in Da Rong has become.

Yu Qingyi looked around and asked, "Elder uncle, do we have disciples with outstanding talents within the sect?"

With a caring smile, Hua Jinqiu responded, "There are a few, I'll call them so you can meet them!"

She was now over sixty years old, lacking some of the heroic spirit she had before, but she now had more of an elderly's gentleness.

Moments later, two male and two female disciples appeared before Yang Zhenshan and Yu Qingyi.

The oldest appeared to be in his thirties, the youngest, a little girl, only sixteen or seventeen.

"These are your junior brother and sisters, disciples I have recruited over the years!"

"Don't you all pay respects to your senior sister!"

The four hurriedly paid respects to Yu Qingyi, who smilingly said, "I recognize Song Ruwang, your junior brother; he was only sixteen when I got married!"

Song Ruwang had a square face, exuding a natural authority, yet was somewhat restrained in front of Yu Qingyi, "I didn't expect you would remember me!"

Hua Jinqiu looked at Song Ruwang and said, "I'm old now, in these two years, Ruwang has been managing the affairs of the sect, and in a few years, I will pass on the Sect Leader title to him."

Yu Qingyi nodded slightly and then looked towards Yang Zhenshan.

Understanding her, Yang Zhenshan pulled out a palm-sized brocade box from his sleeve and handed it to him.

"This is some Elixir my husband and I prepared for you, practice well and strive to reach the Innate Realm early!"

"Thank you, senior sister! Thank you, brother-in-law!" Song Ruwang immediately thanked them.

Then Yang Zhenshan took out two more brocade boxes, which Yu Qingyi gave to Wang Dahai and Li Xiu.

The disciples of the Sky Blue Sword Sect were now mostly serving in Chongshan Town and beyond in the Martial Arts Department; their talents were probably not bad, but the lack of resources in the past had delayed their cultivation.

Now that the Sky Blue Sword Sect had more resources, the newly recruited disciples showed talents far exceeding their seniors.