Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather

Yang Zhengshan thought for a while and said: "Maybe there is something in it that we haven't thought of!"

"Where?"

Yang Zhengshan stroked his beard and analyzed: "First of all, we can exclude all the civil and military officials in the court. At most, they can only bribe a few little eunuchs who tip off the news."

Lu Hua nodded in agreement.

"Secondly, we can eliminate the Jianghu forces. There are no such powerful Jianghu forces in Da Rong, and it is impossible for people outside Da Rong to quietly infiltrate into the imperial city!"

Lu Hua nodded again.

"One thing that needs special attention is that the forces behind Nansheng will definitely not complete the layout in a short time."

"The person behind it must have a high status, be able to enter and leave the imperial city freely, and can also place people in the imperial city!"

"Who are you thinking of?"

Yang Zhengshan looked at Lu Hua.

"Chen Zhongshu!" Lu Hua said.

"..." Yang Zhengshan looked at him speechlessly, "Who else!"

Chen Zhongshu!

What a joke.

Chen Zhongshu does have such ability, but he has no motive to do so.

"Prince Yu!" Lu Hua said again.

But Yang Zhengshan's face was full of astonishment, "Who is King Yu?"

"The late emperor's uncle, your majesty's imperial uncle, has always lived in Fengxian Hall!" Lu Hua said.

A flash of light flashed in Yang Zhengshan's eyes, "An innate master?"

"Yeah!" Lu Hua said.

Yang Zhengshan didn't expect that there was such a big boss hidden in the imperial city, but then he shook his head, "It can't be him!"

Although this imperial uncle was powerful, since Emperor Taiping dared to let him sit in the imperial city, it meant that he was not greedy for the throne.

Lu Hua thought again.

"Deposed Prince!"

He lowered his voice subconsciously.

The deposed prince had lived in the East Palace for a long time and had supervised the country for nearly a year. It was not impossible to say that he had deployed a large number of people in the imperial city.

As for why Nan Sheng would work for the deposed prince, this is not impossible.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, "It's possible, but it's unlikely!"

"Why?"

"Since the late emperor deposed him, he will naturally not give him a chance to make a comeback!" Yang Zhengshan said matter-of-factly.

If it were him who deposed a prince and supported a new prince, he would definitely wipe out all the foundations of the deposed prince in the court and the imperial city.

In fact, Emperor Taiping did exactly that. Those ministers in the court who were related to the prince were either removed from their posts or demoted out of the capital. A large number of people were also dealt with in the imperial city at that time.

Therefore, Yang Zhengshan felt that it was unlikely to depose the prince.

"Except for the deposed prince, I can't think of anyone else!" Lu Hua said.

Yang Zhengshan thought about it and couldn't think of anyone else who deserved suspicion.

His understanding of all the forces in Kyoto is not as good as Lu Hua's. Even Lu Hua can't think of it, let alone him.

"Forget it, it doesn't make much sense to think about this now. In contrast, I want to know what kind of trouble you have caused!"

Yang Zhengshan looked down at Wang Zhongzhi, who was still unconscious, and sighed helplessly in his heart.

"The people from the Imperial Guard are chasing us! It won't take long for them to arrive at Chongshan Pass!" Lu Hua stared at Yang Zhengshan with deep eyes.

"So? Do you want me to stop them, or help you avoid their pursuit!" Yang Zhengshan said calmly.

"I want both!" Lu Hua said.

He needs Yang Zhengshan to stop the people from the Imperial Guard, and maybe Yang Zhengshan can help them find a place to stay.

Fleeing from Kyoto to Chongshan Pass, he lost a lot of men under his command. If he continued to flee, he would not have enough strength to resist the Imperial Guard, and he would not know where to flee.

Should they be allowed to escape to the snowfields?

At the moment, only Yang Zhengshan can help him. It can be said that he has placed all his hopes on Yang Zhengshan.

"Is Eunuch Wang okay?" Yang Zhengshan looked at Wang Zhongzhi on the bed.

There was a look of worry in Lu Hua's eyes, "My life should be fine, but I can't be sure when I will wake up and what will happen after I wake up!"

The torture Wang Zhongzhi suffered was far more severe than it appeared on the outside. Although the skin injuries looked serious, in fact the most serious injuries he suffered were injuries to internal organs.

If he were an ordinary person, he would probably have died long ago.

Wang Zhongzhi can live to this day thanks to the ray of innate innocence in his body.

Yang Zhengshan stretched out his hand and pressed Wang Zhongzhi's wrist, feeling his pulse.

"The problem is not big and can be cured!"

"Can it be cured? Do you have medical skills?" Lu Hua said in surprise.

The corner of Yang Zhengshan's mouth curled up slightly, "Have you forgotten why I became an old farmer in the countryside?"

Wang Zhongzhi's injuries at this time were very similar to Yang Zhengshan's previous injuries, both of which were caused by trauma to the organs.

The difference is that the injury on the previous body was delayed for too long, and the energy and spirit were seriously depleted.

Wang Zhongzhi is too old, and his body's recovery ability is far inferior to that of Yang Zhengshan's predecessor. However, Wang Zhongzhi is a half-step innate master, and a ray of innate Qi in his body can repair damage to his organs.

The injuries of the two were about the same, and each had its own pros and cons.

It is not difficult for Yang Zhengshan to cure this, it is nothing more than a few bowls of spiritual spring water.

Lu Hua looked astonished. He had forgotten Yang Zhengshan's previous injuries.

"Let's do this. You guys stay here tonight, and I'll arrange a place for you to live tomorrow! But those people outside should disperse first. Too many people are not conducive to hiding!" Yang Zhengshan said.

Lv Hua nodded, but said: "What about the Imperial Guards?"

Yang Zhengshan smiled, "What does it have to do with me? I have never seen you! I have nothing to do with you!"

"..."

Lv Hua felt that Yang Zhengshan was a bit shameless.

This ability to lie with open eyes is absolutely first-class.

"Let's go. I will arrange someone to come tomorrow morning. You just wait for the arrangement!"

Yang Zhengshan left after leaving a word.

And Lu Hua looked at his back as he left, his eyes dim, and I don't know what he was thinking.

...

The next morning.

A carriage came to the gate of the courtyard.

Ding Qiu got off the carriage and knocked on the gate. It was Wei Cen who opened the door.

"The Marquis asked me to take you out of the city!" Ding Qiu said.

Wei Cen nodded, and then he and Lu Hua carried the still unconscious Wang Zhongzhi into the carriage.

At this time, there was no one else here except Wang Zhongzhi, Lu Hua, and Wei Cen.

After the three of them got into the carriage, Ding Qiu adjusted his felt hat and drove the carriage towards the west gate.

After they left the city, they changed to an ox cart.

At the same time, they changed all their clothes into tattered clothes.

"This is your new identity, refugees from Huaian City, because they encountered bandits on the way and suffered some injuries!"

"He is your father, and you two are brothers!"

Ding Qiu gave them three identity cards.

"Liu Ergou?" Lv Hua looked at the name on the wooden card, and a hint of depression flashed in his eyes.

"A cheap name should not make people suspicious!" Ding Qiu explained.

Wei Cen put away Liu Dagou's wooden card. Yes, he is the eldest brother, and Lv Hua is the second brother.

Two brothers, one big dog and one two dogs!

"Is it appropriate for us to pretend to be refugees?" Lv Hua asked.

"What's inappropriate?" Ding Qiu was a little confused.

Now in Chongshan Town, the most suitable identity to hide is refugees.

800,000 refugees are scattered in thousands of villages. In this cold winter, it is like looking for a needle in a haystack to find three people without accurate clues.

Compared with hiding in the crowded Chongshan Pass, it is obviously less likely to be exposed in the villages in the north.

The key is that it is simple to operate.

Although there are fewer refugees fleeing to Chongshan Town after winter, there are still some, a hundred today, a dozen tomorrow, one after another, anyway, there are refugees every day.

Ding Qiu only needs to send Lu Hua and others to the receiving point, and the officials at the receiving point will naturally arrange their accommodation, and Yang Zhengshan does not need to arrange it specifically.

The only certainty is that you need to suffer a little.

But compared to saving your life, this little crime is nothing.

"There is also a pot of wine here, you can drink it first!"

"When you have a place to live, I will send you the medicinal materials!"

Ding Qiu handed a worn-out water bag to Lu Hua.

"Hundred Herbs Brew?" Lu Hua opened it and smelled it.

"Hmm!"

...

Although Yang Zhengshan was worried about the arrival of Wang Zhongzhi and Lu Hua, he did not show it. After asking Ding Qiu to send the people out of the city, he went to the general's mansion as usual.

"My Lord, this is the account book sent by the glass workshop!"

In the study of the general's mansion, Lu Wenhua placed a stack of account books in front of Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan took a sip of tea slowly, and then opened the account book to look through it.

This year, the income of the glass workshop is very considerable, with a total of 4 million taels of silver.

It's a pity that all this money was used to purchase grain. At present, the general's mansion only has more than 100,000 taels of deposits, and it still owes nearly 6 million taels of silver to the bank.

That is to say, the expenditure of Chongshan Town this year is more than 10 million taels of silver, and the exact number should be more than 13 million taels.

In addition to purchasing grain, other places also spent a lot of silver. Road construction, city construction, military training, forging weapons, etc. all require a lot of silver.

"How is the new workshop going?" Yang Zhengshan asked casually while flipping through the account book.

The glass workshop is still expanding its production capacity, but the glass workshop was previously in the north city, which could no longer meet the expansion of the glass workshop, so Yang Zhengshan built a larger glass workshop outside the city.

The specific location is in Linguanbao, which is about ten miles away from Chongshanguan.

The land in Linguanbao is barren and really not suitable for farming. It was the needlework workshop built by Yang Zhengshan that allowed the military households in Linguanbao to survive.

Yang Zhengshan missed the old times and did not want the military households in Linguanbao to live a hard life there anymore, so he took the opportunity of refugee resettlement to move the military households in Linguanbao to the north.

They are still not far from Chongshanguan, just a dozen miles north of Chongshanguan, where the land is much more fertile, and it is relatively close to the Chongshanguan wharf.

There, the military households in Linguanbao will have a better life.

"It has been built, and the craftsmen are busy firing the kiln these days!" Lu Wenhua said.

Yang Zhengshan put away the account book and asked, "Has Mingwu sent a message back?"

"Not yet, but he should be back in two or three days!" Lu Wenhua said.

Yang Mingwu was the guerrilla general of the Zhenbiao Rear Camp. A few months ago, he led the soldiers of the Zhenbiao Rear Camp to Guanshankou to replace the soldiers of the Zhenbiao Front Camp.

Now it was the turn of the soldiers of the Zhenbiao Left Camp to guard Guanshankou, so Yang Mingwu led the Zhenbiao Rear Camp to withdraw to Chongshan Pass.

"You must be prepared. This journey through ice and snow will not be easy. Don't let the soldiers suffer when they come back!" Yang Zhengshan said.

It is more than five hundred miles from Chongshanguan to Guanshan Pass. Needless to say, the march in the winter was very painful.

"Don't worry, Lord Marquis, the official has already made arrangements!" Lu Wenhua said with a smile.

As the chief steward of the General Military Mansion, it goes without saying that Lu Wenhua's ability to handle affairs goes without saying.

While Yang Zhengshan was handling official duties, hundreds of horses were galloping towards him on the official road south of Chongshanguan Pass.

The hundreds of horses were all dressed in black attire and cloaks with red and gold patterns. They were galloping with great momentum.

The leader was a tall, thin man wearing a blue double-sleeved python round-neck robe.

"Get out of the way!"

They galloped along the official road, constantly scolding pedestrians on the official road, and even waved their whips at pedestrians on the road from time to time.

The originally orderly team in front of the city gate became turbulent because of their arrival.

Inside the city gate, the soldiers on duty immediately became vigilant when they saw this.

Without any command, the soldiers carried the horse to the city gate and took a defensive posture.

"Stop, who is coming?"

A flag officer wearing iron armor stepped forward to block the city gate and shouted.

Chongshanguan is the fortress of the border town. Although the importance of Chongshanguan is not as important as before, it is still the final border city of Chongshan Town.

However, in order to develop the economy of Chongshanguan, Yang Zhengshan has relaxed the inspection intensity in and out of Nancheng. Generally speaking, pedestrians can enter the city without inspection at all, while carriages and horses pulling goods need to determine what the goods are before they can enter the city.

The inspection of the city gate was not strict, but when a group of menacing cavalry arrived, the soldiers guarding the city gate naturally had to find out the identity of the other party.

Wow~~

More than a hundred riders stopped in front of the city gate, and the tall and thin man leading them looked down at the flag officer standing in front of them.

"The Imperial Guard is handling the case, why don't you get out of the way?"

"Imperial Guards Department?" The flag officer was stunned. How could he, a small flag officer, know what kind of yamen the Imperial Guards Department was.

But listening to the name, he also knew that this yamen should not be simple, after all, it had the word "emperor" in it.

"Sir, please wait a moment, let me inform you first!"

Looking at the tall and thin man in front of him, and then at the imposing cavalry, the flag officer thought it would be better to report it first, so his tone was very polite.

"No need, our family will go to the General Military Mansion!" the tall and thin man said dissatisfied.

"I hope you will forgive me. Without a warrant from the City Guards Department, even if you enter the South City, you will not be able to enter the North City!" the flag officer said politely.

The City Guards Department is the yamen responsible for city defense, patrolling and public security in Chongshanguan City. Song Dashan also serves as the commander of the City Guards Department, coordinating the rotation of the five battalions of Zhenbiao into the city for duty.

To put it simply, the City Guards Department is a yamen under Zhenbiao Fifth Battalion.

At the city gate between the South City and the North City, except for the officials and soldiers of the major government offices who can enter and exit with identity badges, outsiders who want to pass must first obtain a warrant from the City Guards Department.