Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 624: Contradictions from Shenmu Island
On New Year's Eve, Yang Zhengshan's courtyard was extremely lively.

All the descendants of the Yang family gathered together and had a lively New Year's Eve dinner.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, countless people came to pay New Year's greetings.

Yang Zhengshan sat in the front yard, Yu Qingyi stayed in the backyard, and wave after wave of younger generations came to wish them a happy new year.

In the main hall of the front yard, Yang Zhengshan sat on the armchair, smiling as he watched the younger generations come over to kowtow.

"Dad, this is Song Shi, you still remember him, right?" Yang Mingcheng led a young man of about twenty-four or twenty-five into the main hall. Beside the man was a child of about six or seven years old.

Yang Zhengshan glanced at him and said, "Your father is not senile yet!"

Song Shi knelt in front of Yang Zhengshan with a smile on his face, kowtowed and said, "I, the disciple, wish you a happy new year!"

"Song Yuanzhao wishes a happy new year to our great-grandmaster!" The little children also followed suit and kowtowed to wish a happy new year.

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhengshan immediately smiled kindly and waved his hand, "Come, Zhao'er, come closer so that the Grand Master can take a good look at you!"

Song Shi is Wang Yunqiao's second son, and Song Dashan's grandson.

Wang Yunqiao and Song Hao had two sons and one daughter, the eldest son Song Jin, the second son Song Shi, and the youngest daughter Song Xiu.

Yang Zhengshan naturally knew Song Shi. After all, Yang Zhengshan was still in Chongshan Town when Song Shi was born.

Song Yuanzhao stepped forward and obediently came to Yang Zhengshan. Yang Zhengshan looked at the child and laughed, "This kid looks like Yun Qiao. Look at his eyes, they are exactly the same as Yun Qiao's!"

"My mother said the same thing!" Song Shi said quickly.

Yang Zhengshan nodded, "You're just too delicate. Eat more meat, practice martial arts well, and try to grow taller!"

Wang Yunqiao is not tall, and Song Shi is not tall either, half a head shorter than Yang Mingcheng. However, the Song family has very good genes, and Song Dashan and Song Hao are tall and strong.

Yang Zhengshan doesn't like skinny men. As a warrior, he naturally needs to have a strong body.

"Well, I will grow tall!" Song Yuanzhao said in a childish voice.

Yang Zhengshan laughed, "That's right, come here, Grand Master will give you a fruit to eat, you will definitely grow taller after eating it!"

As he said this, he took out a jade box and handed it to Song Yuanzhao.

There is a Bingxin fruit in the jade box.

In the past few days since he came back, he lost count of how many Bing Xin Fruits he has given away.

There is no way. Right now in the space, the yield of Bingxin Fruit and Xingyuan Fruit is the highest, but Xingyuan Fruit is not suitable for children to eat. Only Bingxin Fruit can be eaten by children.

"Thank you, Grand Master!"

Afterwards, Yang Zhengshan talked with Song Shi for a while and asked about the situation of the Song family.

Song Dashan is the deputy general in Beiyuan Town. This guy is still simple-minded, but he has improved a lot compared to before. After all, he has been a general for more than 20 years, and it is impossible for him to remain simple-minded forever.

When it comes to those twists and turns, Song Dashan is naturally not good at it, but his straightforward personality makes him very popular among the soldiers in the army.

However, the situation in Beiyuan Town is not very good. The strength of Beiyuan Town has not recovered. Now Zhou Lan has taken away the most elite Zhenbiao Battalion of Beiyuan Town, which makes the military strength of Beiyuan Town very tight.

Fortunately, the Wuliang royal court has now been divided and can no longer attack Beiyuan Town with its full force.

After chatting with Song Shi for a while, Song Shi took the initiative to leave.

There was no way. There were too many people coming to wish Yang Zhengshan a happy new year today, and some people couldn't even talk to Yang Zhengshan.

Time passed little by little, until the evening, when Yang Zhengshan's side finally became a little quiet.

At the end of the day, Yang Zhengshan's head was buzzing with noise.

In fact, he didn't feel it was noisy when he celebrated the New Year on the island before, but this year was special. He had been away for three years and now that he was back, everyone naturally came to see him.

At night, Yang Zhengshan drove away the three Yang Mingcheng brothers, closed the door and started eating with Yu Qingyi.

"Where did Ming Zhao go? Did he encounter any danger outside?"

While eating, Yu Qingyi said worriedly.

Yang Zhengshan said: "No, I asked, Wu Zheng has been following him, and he has several guards around him."

"Oh, this kid doesn't even go home for the New Year, and I don't know what he's doing outside?" Yu Qingyi said with a sigh.

Yang Zhengshan felt very unhappy when he saw her worried look.

He has decided to wait for Yang Mingzhao to come back and give this unfilial son a good beating.

After a noisy day, the bustling Star-Moon City gradually returned to its tranquility. The gentle sea breeze blew, rolling up waves on the dark blue sea.

The night sky is as dark as ink, and the stars are as sharp as rays, reflecting the thousands of candlelights in the city.

Under this quiet night sky, a single-masted clipper was sailing quickly from the east. Before the ship reached the dock, the soldiers on guard had already discovered it.

Several soldiers quickly waved flags and led the ship to an empty spot at the dock.

Before the boat came to a complete stop, a disheveled young man jumped onto the platform.

"Emergency military information, Fleet No. 22 was attacked on Huaya Island!"

The soldier on night watch immediately tensed up when he heard this, and without saying a word, he helped the man run towards the company's headquarters at the dock.

The headquarters of the Yang Family Business is located inside the dock. It is a large courtyard with four three-story towers. It is the largest and most magnificent building in the dock.

However, today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and there are not many people in the headquarters. Apart from the guards on duty, there are only a dozen guys working overtime.

Naturally, a few guys could not handle such an emergency. After briefly understanding the situation, they immediately ran to the city to report the news.

Luo's family, in Luo Shang's yard.

Xingyue Island is different from Dayong. There are no particularly large courtyards on Xingyue Island. For example, Yang Zhengshan’s courtyard is about the size of a four-courtyard courtyard.

Therefore, on Xingyue Island, there is no situation where a whole family lives in one yard.

The family members also have to live separately, and the children and grandchildren have their own courtyards.

At first, the courtyards of each family could still be together, but later, as more and more houses were built in Xingyue City and more and more people moved to the island, the courtyards of each family became scattered.

For example, the Luo family. They were originally in the western part of Xingyue City, and they are still in the western part of Xingyue City now, but Luo Shang's courtyard is already considered the middle area of ​​Xingyue City.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the children and grandchildren of the Luo family gathered at Luo Shang's place to eat and chat.

The whole family was talking about the Yang family business.

Unlike the other families, the Luo family and the Zhen family focus their main energy on the Yang family business. Even though there are some talented warriors in their families now, they still stay in the Yang family business.

Because in Luo Shang's heart, the greatest role of the Luo family is to make money for the Yang family. If this role is lost, the value of the Luo family on Xingyue Island will be worthless.

Although Luo Shang retired, he did not completely abandon the Yang family business.

On weekdays, he would still ask about the affairs of the Yang family business and help Luo Zhen deal with some things.

At this time, Luo Shang was talking to Luo Zhen about the Yang family business. "Dad, the silk business's performance last year was almost cut in half, and the profit was only half of that in previous years!" Luo Zhen said with a sad face.

Affected by the Dai Viet Dynasty and the Temple of the God of War, the Yang family's trading volume in the Maurya Dynasty was greatly reduced, especially for silk and porcelain, which had almost no market.

Luo Shang leaned back on the armchair and asked calmly, "When will the war between the Great Yue Dynasty and the Temple of the God of War end?"

"This is totally unpredictable. The two sides have been fighting for more than three years. To say it's fierce, neither side has used their full strength. To say it's not fierce, both sides have deployed millions of troops on the border!"

Luo Zhen was very depressed. This was the situation that these sea merchants feared the most. If the Dai Viet Dynasty and the Temple of the God of War could end the war quickly, even if they fought to the death, it would not have much impact on the Yang Family Trading Company. But if both sides kept dragging it out like this, the Yang Family Trading Company would never be able to sell silk and porcelain to the Maurya Dynasty again.

Luo Shang picked up the tea and drank it slowly.

"If all else fails, we can bypass the Maurya Empire and go directly to the Dai Viet Empire for trade!"

Luo Zhen shook his head slightly. "The Nanga Dynasty does not allow foreign ships to approach. If we want to bypass it, we have to go around the southern part of the Bangga Dynasty, which will increase the route by at least 3,000 miles!"

The Nanga Empire was located on the Nanga Peninsula, south of the Karnakara Empire and the Maurya Empire. The entire peninsula ran from north to south and was more than a thousand miles long.

To the south of the Nanga Peninsula is the Banga Dynasty, and there is a strait about a hundred miles wide between the two dynasties.

The shortest route from Dayong Nanhai to Dai Viet is through this strait.

The situation with the Bangya Dynasty was not so bad. They did not stop merchant ships from passing by. They even welcomed merchant ships to their side. But the situation with the Nanga Dynasty was not the same.

They do not allow any fleet to approach their coastal waters. The entire strait is within their blockade. Once any foreign ship approaches, it will inevitably be attacked by them.

This is also the reason why Dayong’s merchant ships could only reach Thonburi Port of the Maurya Empire.

It is not impossible for the Yang Family Trading Company's fleet to bypass the Bangjia Dynasty, but that would increase the cost and risk, and it would not be easy to open a new route.

Luo Shang thought for a moment and said, "In a few days, go and discuss with the Second Master to see if we can send the navy to the Nanjia Dynasty!"

They could not stop the war between the Dai Viet Dynasty and the Temple of the God of War, but they had the power to force the Nanga Dynasty to open up the shipping routes.

In business, harmony brings wealth, but in trading on the sea, strength is what matters.

Big fists are the last word.

Since the Nanga Dynasty has blocked the shipping route of the Yang family's trading company, use force to force the Nanga Dynasty to open the shipping route.

This is not the first time that Xingyue Island has done this. In the beginning, the Yang Family Trading Company used force to open up shipping routes.

While the two were talking, an old servant came quickly into the main room.

"What's wrong?" Luo Zhen asked when he saw that the old servant looked unhappy.

"Master, Young Master, someone from the company reported that Fleet No. 22 was attacked near Huaya Island. All five large ships were captured, and only one speedboat escaped!"

"What?" Luo Zhen stood up suddenly, his face extremely gloomy.

Luo Shang was holding the tea, her expression remaining calm.

The old servant continued, "The people from the company are waiting outside. Master, do you want to call them in to ask them?"

Luo Shang put down the teacup and waved her hand, "No need, Shenmu Island is planning to go to war with us! Whether we ask or not, the result is the same!"

Huya Island is more than 300 miles east of Xingyue Island, and it is the territory of Shenmu Island.

If they dared to intercept the fleet of Yang Family Trading Company near Huya Island, they must have been instructed by Shenmu Island.

Today, the Yang Family Trading Company is no longer a small group of people that anyone can dare to step on. Not to mention ordinary pirates, even some island forces will avoid the Yang Family Trading Company's fleet when they see it.

In the waters near Xingyue Island, the only force that dares to intercept the fleet of Yang Family Trading Company is Shenmu Island.

Speaking of the grievances between Shenmu Island and Xingyue Island, there are really too many.

When the Xingyue Sect was still around, Shenmu Island and the Xingyue Sect were not on good terms.

After the fall of Xingyue Sect, the Yang family occupied Xingyue Island. At the beginning, the two sides were at peace, mainly because the Yang family had not yet developed maritime trade at that time, and Shenmu Island was unwilling to provoke the Yang family who was backed by Dayong.

Later, the Yang family business began to grow and develop, and Tenglongwei's maritime trade also entered the southeastern waters. With the cooperation of the two companies, the territory of maritime trade became larger and larger, expanding to the south and the east respectively.

At this time, Shenmu Island became a roadblock for the Yang family business and Tenglongwei to develop trade to the east. In order to open up the eastern route, the Yang family negotiated with Shenmu Island many times. Yang Zhengshan even went to Shenmu Island in person and visited the high priest of Shenmu Island.

After not very friendly negotiations between the two sides, the merchant ships of Yangjia Trading Company and Tenglongwei finally obtained the qualification to cross the waters of Shenmu Island.

But things didn't end there.

The trading partner of Yang Family Trading Company and Tenglongwei in the East is the Longdan Dynasty. Originally, Shenmu Island had a geographical advantage and could monopolize the trade between Dayong and the Longdan Dynasty.

The Yang Family Trading Company and Tenglong Guards went to the Longdan Dynasty to trade, which was undoubtedly an attempt to snatch the trade share of Shenmu Island.

Although Shenmu Island made a compromise, the conflict between the two sides was not resolved, but became more acute.

At the beginning, Shenmu Island decided to collect tolls. The Yang family business thought that it was no big deal to pay some tolls, so they agreed. However, as time went on, Shenmu Island became more and more greedy, and collected more and more tolls.

Now, every time the Yang Family Trading Company's fleet passes through the waters of Shenmu Island, they have to pay a toll of two thousand taels.

To be honest, the Yang family business had long been unable to endure it. If Yang Zhengshan had not been away from home, the Yang family would have declared war on Shenmu Island long ago.

"Go and ask the Second Master if he can rescue our people first!" Luo Shang said.

Luo Zhen nodded quickly, "Dad, I'll go first!"

"Ok!"

Luo Shang stood up, leaning on a bamboo stick, and stood under the eaves of the main hall.

He raised his head to look at the clear night sky and sighed softly, "Are all the people on Shenmu Island fools? They have such a good life but insist on looking for trouble!"

The Yang family did seize Shenmu Island’s share of maritime trade, but they also brought many benefits to Shenmu Island.

Although Shenmu Island had a large share of trade in the past, most of the goods were cheap and the money earned was hard-earned.

But the Yang family is different. The Yang family has the support of Dayong. This support does not mean that the Yang family relies on Dayong’s strength, but it means that they rely on Dayong’s huge market and product categories.

As long as the Yang family is around, Dayong’s goods can be shipped to Shenmu Island continuously.

If Shenmu Island is smart enough, they can take advantage of the convenience brought by the Yang family to develop their own maritime trade.

The market of the Longdan Dynasty can be divided among the Yang family, but they can also seize the markets in the south and east of the Longdan Dynasty.

Unfortunately, Shenmu Island is a very rigid and old force. They only know how to guard the existing resources and are not willing to expand or communicate too much with the outside world.

This made the conflict between the Yang family and Shenmu Island even more acute.

In comparison, the Zhu family of Dihuo Island was much smarter. They took the initiative to cooperate with the Yang family and actively improve their relationship with the Yang family.

Although the Zhu family is very old-fashioned internally, they are still willing to cooperate with various forces in external affairs.

This also made the Zhu family richer and more powerful.

(End of this chapter)