Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 568 Zhou Lan's Arrangement

"Your mother and Chengmao are here too. Go meet them first! Let's have dinner together tonight, and then get back to Fuzhou City tomorrow and wait for my orders!" Yang Zhengshan said unhappily.

He had sent messages to all the generals, asking them to prepare for the expedition, and did not ask them to come to Chongshan Pass.

None of the other generals came over, only Yang Mingzhi came over. This guy was a bit unruly.

"Yes!" Yang Mingzhi responded and obediently left the room.

Yang Zhengshan was busy in the general's mansion until the evening, and returned to the backyard of the general's mansion to reunite with his family in the evening.

The backyard of the general's mansion still belongs to Zhou Lan, and the Yang family members temporarily live in the cross-courtyard.

Anyway, Zhou Lan is alone, so it’s not considered as the Yang family occupying the other’s home by living in the cross-courtyard.

It was a rare opportunity to hold a family dinner in Chongshan Town, so Yu Qingyi invited all the families.

The men are busy with other things and have no time to come to the banquet, but most of the women have nothing to do and would like to come over for a small gathering if they have time.

Now was not the time for a gathering, so Yu Qingyi did not hold a grand celebration. She just asked the servants to prepare a few tables of food, and everyone gathered together to chat for a while.

It was late at night and everyone had left. Yang Zhengshan called Song Dashan, Yang Mingzhi and Yang Minghao to the tea room.

The four of them sat together, and Yang Minghao made tea in an orderly manner.

Yang Zhengshan looked at them and said, "Dashan, when can you break through?"

Song Dashan shook his head. "It's still early. We have just touched the threshold. It will probably take several more years!"

"What about you?" Yang Zhengshan looked at Yang Mingzhi again.

Yang Mingzhi said: "I am almost the same as Brother Dashan!"

Yang Zhengshan looked at Yang Minghao again, and Yang Minghao said, "Me too!"

The three of them now have the ninth level of acquired cultivation, and have broken through to the ninth level for several years. They are now condensing the first ray of innate true qi.

Compared with them, the cultivation base of Yang Mingwu, Yang Chengze, Yang Chengxu and others is a little worse. Some of them are in the state of just breaking through to the ninth level of the acquired realm, or are in the process of breaking through.

Yang Zhengshan thought for a moment, took out three jade boxes and handed them to them, "Three Yellow Plums, take them tonight!"

The cultivation of these three people is still a little lacking, but there is nothing that can be done about it. Once they leave Yang Zhengshan, they will be able to drink much less spiritual spring water. Even if Yang Zhengshan often sends them various kinds of wine and tea, they will still fall behind.

Their cultivation has fallen far behind Yang Mingcheng, Wu Zheng and Wu Zhan.

Yang Mingwu, Yang Chengze and Yang Chengxu were further behind.

But this is not a big deal. Yang Mingwu is a little older, only in his forties, and Yang Chengze and Yang Chengxu are only thirty-five years old.

They still have a long time to break through to the innate realm.

The three of them looked at the jade box in front of them and were all stunned.

"Dad, where did you get so many Sanhuang plums? Didn't they say there is only one per year?" Yang Minghao asked in surprise.

"Don't worry about it, just eat it!" Yang Zhengshan said casually.

Yang Minghao picked up the Sanhuang plum and took a bite with a crunch.

"I thought I would have to wait several years before it was my turn. Hehe, I didn't expect it to be so soon!" Yang Minghao said with a smile.

Song Dashan looked at the three yellow plums in his hand and looked at Yang Zhengshan hesitantly.

Yang Zhengshan saw what he was thinking and said with a smile: "Eat it, you and I don't have to be polite!"

Song Dashan smiled innocently and said only "Thank you, Lord!"

He is not good at speaking and he can't even say words of thanks.

Yang Mingzhi also ate the three yellow plums, "Dad, is this a reward from His Majesty?"

Yang Zhengshan collected the remaining cores from them and said, "Don't worry about their origins. Practice hard and strive to break through to the Xiantian realm as soon as possible!"

"Your eldest brother is about to break through, don't let him fall too far behind."

Yang Minghao said: "It's better to follow Dad. I feel like I've missed out on a lot of good food!"

Yang Zhengshan glanced at him and asked, "What good things haven't I given you?"

"Hehe, I'm just talking!" Yang Minghao said with a smile.

Yang Zhengshan stood up and said, "You guys should stay here and practice tonight."

Just having eaten Sanhuangli, it is the best time to practice. If everything goes well, you can condense the innate true qi overnight. If not, it may take two or three months to condense it.

This depends on the depth of the three people's foundation. The deeper the foundation, the faster the speed of condensing the innate true qi. The shallower the foundation, the slower the speed of condensation.

If the foundation is too shallow, it will not even be possible to condense the innate true qi.

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, Yang Zhengshan came to Zhou Lan's yard again.

Zhou Lan had woken up from her coma and had changed into neat clothes with the help of her maid. However, she was still very weak and needed someone's support even to walk.

Seeing Yang Zhengshan, Zhou Lan said somewhat depressedly: "I didn't expect that I would have to trouble you to deal with it personally in the end!"

Yang Zhengshan smiled and said, "Why? You don't want me to come?"

"That's not the case. I originally thought that I could destroy the Wulianghu tribe. If nothing unexpected happens, I will ask the court for permission to conquer the Wulianghu tribe in three years!" Zhou Lan said.

She was not being arrogant. Chongshan Town now had a strong army and sufficient money and food. If it could accumulate for another three years, it might really have the strength to wipe out the Wulianghu tribe in one fell swoop.

By then, if the court makes some efforts and lets Beiyuan Town and Longbei Town send out troops together, the Wulianghu tribe will probably not be able to hold on.

"This gives me the feeling of picking peaches!" said Yang Zhengshan.

Zhou Lan sighed slightly, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm just worried about it. This Menghe Mountain Palace is a big trouble!" Yang Zhengshan said distressedly.

Zhou Lan smiled on her pale face and said, "In fact, it is possible to bypass Mount Menghe. Not only can we bypass it, but in addition to the Menghe Mountain Gate, there is another road that can cross Mount Menghe!"

Yang Zhengshan was startled and said in surprise: "Really!"

"Of course!" Zhou Lan said with a smile.

Yang Zhengshan asked: "Where can we cross over?"

Zhou Lan said to the maid beside her: "Go and move the boxes under the bookshelf in my study!"

The maid bowed and went to the study to get the box.

Zhou Lan said to Yang Zhengshan: "I have sent many people to Mount Menghe over the years, and even built a small tribe near Mount Menghe!"

"Wait! What does small tribe mean?" Yang Zhengshan asked puzzledly.

Zhou Lan smiled cunningly and said, "We found more than a hundred soldiers to dress up as Hu people and entered the territory of the Wuliang Hu people from the snowy land. Now they have settled in a canyon in the north of Menghe Mountain!" Yang Zhengshan was stunned. They could actually do this!
"Won't it be exposed?"

Zhou Lan said: "No, because there are many unknown tribes in the north of the Wuliang Hu tribe. Those tribes can be said to be the Wuliang Hu tribe, or the Hu tribe in the snowy land."

"There are even many Wulianghu people who come from the Snow Plains. There is no clear boundary between the Wulianghu territory and the Snow Plains, and people from the Snow Plains often run to the Wulianghu territory."

"And the Wulianghu tribe will not pay any attention to these small tribes. As long as they do not invade the territory of the big tribes, no one will care about their origins and identities!"

Yang Zhengshan was shocked, "I didn't expect it to be like this!"

He didn't expect that he could arrange a small tribe to sneak into the territory of the Wulianghu tribe. This was normal. After all, when he was in Chongshan Town, he had not yet carried out infiltration against the Wulianghu tribe. In the second year after Zhou Lan came to Chongshan Town, he began to gradually inquire about the news of the Wulianghu tribe.

As she spoke, the maid brought the wooden box.

Yang Zhengshan opened the wooden box, which contained a very detailed map of Mount Menghe.

Zhou Lan was weak and could only sit on a soft couch and said, "It is not difficult to bypass Mount Menghe. The snowy plains to the north of Mount Menghe can be bypassed. In summer and autumn, the snowy plains are not very cold, which is enough for tens of thousands of soldiers to bypass."

"But if we go around, we need to travel more than 2,000 miles. Although the journey is not difficult, it is too long. If a large army is going to the battle, the food and fodder along the way will cost a lot."

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"In addition to being able to go around the north, you can also go around the south. Go all the way south along the Tuwusheng River, and you will almost go around Dasheng City, Beiyuan Town, a hundred miles north!"

"But that's the Tatar territory. Rather than going around it, we should fight our way through. The Tatars have also built many strongholds there. It's not much easier to fight through them than through the Menghe Mountain Pass."

"The shortcut I'm talking about is more than a hundred miles north of Menghe Mountain. There, you can cross Menghe Mountain along narrow ravines and cliffs. The disadvantage is that the road is difficult to travel, or even non-existent. People and horses can pass through, but they can't carry a lot of food and fodder."

Yang Zhengshan found the path Zhou Lan mentioned on the map. Looking at the route above, Yang Zhengshan felt a headache.

The Menghe Mountain spans only 300 miles from east to west, but this winding road is estimated to take a thousand miles to walk.

It is actually not easier to pass through here than to go around through the snowfield.

Zhou Lan continued, "If we go this way, we can directly launch a surprise attack on the Chici tribe. Although we cannot take down the pass in the Menghe Mountain, it will be enough to turn the Chici tribe's territory upside down."

The Chici tribe does not have only one tribal land. As a large ethnic group, the Chici tribe has a population of more than 100,000 and they have more than a dozen tribal lands of varying sizes.

There are also many small and medium-sized tribes that are dependent on the Red Thorn tribe.

"In fact, my previous idea was that we would launch the attack and the Wuliang Royal Court would defend. In this way, we can divide the army into four groups. One group will tie up the main force of the Wuliang Royal Court at the Menghe Mountain Gate, and the remaining three groups will go around or take small roads through the Menghe Mountain."

"But now the Wulianghu tribe has taken the initiative to attack. They must have blocked the south of Menghe Mountain. We can only go around from the north!"

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, "I understand. These two paths are enough. Leave the rest to me. You can just rest and recover from your injuries!"

A rough plan had already emerged in his mind. Although the plan was not yet perfect, he felt that it should be feasible.

Neither of them mentioned the Ula tribe. The reason they didn't mention the Ula tribe was because they didn't take it seriously at all.

Although the Ula tribe is known as one of the eight tribes of the Wuliang royal court, in fact, the Liang royal court and the Ula tribe are just there to make up the numbers among the eight tribes.

Cui Liang's Liangwang tribe was only established in recent years. Although Wutuo gave him many small tribes, in fact these tribes were relatively poor and did not have strong strength themselves.

The Ula tribe is better. It was originally a tribe of the Donghai Hu people. Later, when the Donghai Hu people were destroyed, they defected to the Wuliang royal court. However, compared with the other six tribes, the Ula tribe was much weaker.

Now the territory of the Ula tribe is on the east side of Mount Menghe, and they are used by Wutuo as cannon fodder to delay time.

Wutuo did not have high expectations for the Ula tribe. In Wutuo's mind, it would be enough for the Ula tribe to delay the army of Chongshan Town for ten days or half a month.

Therefore, neither Yang Zhengshan, Zhou Lan, nor Wutuo took the Ula tribe too seriously.

After getting Zhou Lan's map, Yang Zhengshan perfected his plan while preparing for battle in Chongshan Pass.

"Dad, we've got all the war horses! There are 30,000 of them in total, all of them are newly grown war horses!"

In the general's mansion, Yang Minghao reported to Yang Zhengshan.

What Chongshan Town lacks the least nowadays is war horses.

At present, the five battalions of the Zhenbiao Army have nearly 30,000 war horses, and the various reinforcement battalions also have nearly 50,000 war horses. In addition, the garrisons in various places have a large number of war horses.

There are also large horse farms in the north, which raise more than 200,000 war horses.

The reason why there are so many war horses is, firstly, that after the Donghai Hu tribe was destroyed, Chongshan Town seized a large number of war horses; secondly, after the Donghai Hu tribe was destroyed, many horses became wild horses. In the past ten years, these wild horses have continued to multiply in the grassland, and many herds of horses have appeared.

The third is the horse policy in Chongshan Town. Pang Tang and Zhou Lan have been encouraging the people of Chongshan Town to build horse farms in the north, and also encouraging the people to raise horses themselves. They are even worried that horse traders will transport the horses from Chongshan Town to the hinterland of Dayong for sale.

This led to many civilians and military households in Chongshan Town raising horses, which also caused the price of horses in Chongshan Town to continue to fall.

Nowadays, a slow horse that can pull a cart in Chongshan Town costs only a dozen taels of silver. You should know that when Yang Zhengshan was still in Chongshan Town, a slow horse cost at least more than twenty taels of silver.

The price of war horses has also dropped a lot. A good horse that can be used as a war horse has dropped from 70 or 80 taels to less than 50 taels now.

In recent years, after Zhou Lan established the Dinghu Guard, he ordered the soldiers of the Dinghu Guard to round up several herds of wild horses and picked up tens of thousands of horses for free.

"Distribute the horses. Each common infantryman should get one horse, each heavy-armored infantryman should get two horses, and each auxiliary soldier should also get one horse!"

"In short, we must ensure that every soldier is able to ride long distances on horseback!"

Yang Zhengshan instructed Yang Minghao.

"Yes, I'll arrange it right away!" said Yang Minghao.

A large number of war horses require a large amount of horse feed. Although having war horses can increase the speed of the infantry, it will bring greater pressure to logistics.

Although Yang Zhengshan does not plan to recruit civilians, it does not mean that he does not have a grain transport team. Don't forget that there are 20,000 engineers under the command of the general's office.

These 20,000 engineers were previously used to build roads and cities, but now they can be used as laborers to transport grain.

In addition to engineers, the Dusi Yamen could also recruit 20,000 soldiers to serve as laborers.

In this way, there were 40,000 civilians responsible for transporting food and various supplies.

And if Yang Zhengshan draws out all the elite troops in Chongshan Town, that would be the 30,000 town flag battalion and the 40,000 reinforcement battalion. In fact, 40,000 civilians are far from enough.

If there are 10,000 soldiers fighting in the front, 10,000 civilians will be needed in the rear to transport all kinds of supplies. At the same time, a large number of civilians will also be needed to follow the army to help build camps and build siege equipment.

When Yang Zhengshan attacked Chongshan Pass, he brought two thousand engineers with him, and then Pang Tang sent nearly 20,000 civilians to help build various military equipment.

When the Hu tribe in the East China Sea was conquered, more civilians were mobilized. At that time, the livestock and supplies seized by Yang Zhengshan were transported back by soldiers and civilians.

Therefore, when an army goes to war, it always has a large number of civilian laborers to help. The longer the battle line is, the more civilian laborers are needed.

Under normal circumstances, 40,000 civilians are far from enough for an army of 70,000 elite soldiers.

However, Yang Zhengshan did not intend to fight according to normal thinking. According to normal thinking, he had to eliminate the Menghe Mountain Que, otherwise he would not be able to transport a large amount of food and grass to the west of Menghe Mountain.

The small road is not suitable for transporting food and grass, and the detour is too far. If there are many laborers, the amount of food and grass consumed along the way will be considerable.

Yang Zhengshan did not intend to fight to the death at Menghe Mountain Palace, so he did not need so many civilians.

(End of this chapter)