Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 674: Four Armies March South
Emperor Tianwu considered his tone and asked, "Is the Liaodong Yang family strong?"

Zhang Luan and Jian Chengfeng looked at each other and said, "Your Majesty, the Liaodong Yang family is very strong, and Yang Zhengshan is also very strong!"

"Your Majesty should have heard of Yang Zhengshan, right?"

Emperor Tianwu shook his head, "No!"

Well, time can erase everyone's traces, even Yang Zhengshan is no exception.

He has not appeared in front of the people of Darong for such a long time that young people today have never heard of his name.

Zhang Luan thought for a moment and said, "Yang Zhengshan, the first generation Marquis of Jing'an, was born in a peasant family. It took him only over ten years to become the general of Chongshan Town, and he was named Marquis of Jing'an by Emperor Chongzong!"

Emperor Chongzong was Emperor Chengping, and Yang Zhengshan was conferred the title of Marquis of Jing'an by Emperor Chengping.

"This man is good at training soldiers, military tactics, and unusual plans. He is decisive in killing and winning every battle!"

"The Donghai Hu tribe was annihilated, and Yang Zhengshan has made extraordinary achievements. It was Yang Zhengshan who suppressed the rebellion of the previous King Qing, and he also burned to death 100,000 Hu cavalrymen of the Wuliang Hu tribe!"

"After that, Yang Zhengshan led the navy to attack Xingyue Sect and destroyed it in one battle!"

"He led 30,000 elite troops to fight across 4,000 miles and attacked the Wuliang King's court."

"The current division of the Wuliang royal court was caused by his battle!"

After listening to this, Emperor Tianwu said, "I remember now. I have heard of this person before, but didn't he leave Darong?"

Zhang Luan said: "Yes, he left Darong, but the Yang family did not completely leave Darong. Chongshan Town and Tenglongwei have always been controlled by the Yang family!"

"Now that the Chongshan Town army is heading south, it must be under the orders of Yang Zhengshan!"

"Your Majesty, Chongshan Town is not only strong in soldiers and horses, but also has many innate warriors, and the Yang family may have even more innate warriors!"

Emperor Tianwu frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

Zhang Luan took a deep breath. "There is no need to say much about Yang Zhengshan's cultivation. I am sure that his strength is far above mine. In addition to Yang Zhengshan, his three sons are all innate warriors, and his wife Yu is also an innate warrior!"

"Also, the Yang family has at least five innate warriors."

"Why did the Darong government not dare to touch the Liaodong Yang family? It was because the Liaodong Yang family was too powerful. And why Yang Zhengshan left Darong back then? It was because the Yang family was already so powerful that the government was afraid of it!"

Emperor Tianwu frowned, "Doesn't that mean the Liaodong Yang family might be stronger than the Darong court?"

Zhang Luan smiled bitterly, "That's right! If the Yang family comes back, the strength of the Yang family and the Liaodong Yang family will be even stronger than the previous Darong court!"

He has a good relationship with Yang Zhengshan and has a detailed understanding of the Yang family, so he is most wary of the Yang family.

Emperor Tianwu was somewhat unhappy. He felt that the Yang family might be very powerful, but Zhang Luan's words seemed to be boosting others' morale and destroying his own prestige.

"Senior Wang He, do you know the Yang family?" Emperor Tianwu looked at Wang He who had just joined his army and asked.

He still respected Wang He very much. After all, Wang He was also an old senior and he also helped him conquer Kyoto.

Wang He stroked his beard and shook his head, "I don't know much about Yang Zhengshan, but I also know that Yang Zhengshan is not a simple person!"

He had never dealt with Yang Zhengshan, and his Wang family did not have much friendship with the Yang family, but he had heard a lot about Yang Zhengshan's deeds when he was in Kyoto before.

Emperor Tianwu thought about it and felt that it would be okay to pay more attention to the Yang family and the Yang clan, so he asked, "What do you mean?"

"March north to stop the army from Chongshan Town!" Zhang Luan said without hesitation.

"But our previous plan was to go south to Jiangnan!" Emperor Tianwu said with a frown.

Compared to the prosperous Jiangnan, he really disliked the bitter and cold land of Liaodong.

Although Liaodong has been relatively prosperous in recent years, it cannot compare to Jiangnan.

So the plan they had made before was to capture Kyoto and then quickly move south.

Zhang Luan shook his head slightly. "This is a different time. Since the Yang family has already made a move, we must go all out and never underestimate them."

"Your Majesty, the threat from the Liaodong Yang family is definitely greater than the threat from King Qing of Jiangnan!"

Emperor Tianwu frowned. He looked at Zhang Luan, then at Jian Chengfeng who had a look of approval on his face.

"Then raise your troops and march north!"

Emperor Tianwu was able to rise to his current position from a mountain king, so he must have his own strengths.

His greatest strength is that he listens to advice.

Willing to accept advice from capable and competent people.

Zhang Luan, Jian Chengfeng and Wang He are undoubtedly the most capable and talented people under his command.

But Emperor Tianwu also had his own ideas. He asked, "Can we win over the Yang family?"

This question stumped Zhang Luan and others.

"This~~"

Zhang Luan hesitated for a moment, "I think it will be difficult!"

"Why?" asked Emperor Tianwu.

Zhang Luan thought about it and said, "You can give it a try, but your majesty should not have too high expectations!"

Emperor Tianwu just wanted to give it a try and didn't think he could really bring the Yang family under his command.

"Okay, let Senior Zhang take charge of this matter."

"As for raising troops to the north, there is no rush for the time being. We have just experienced a great war and need time to rest!"

"Let's work out a charter first, and then act according to it!"

After some discussion, they decided to let the soldiers rest for ten days before heading north.

It’s not that they don’t want to go north as soon as possible, it’s just that they can’t go north now.

The soldiers need to rest and food and fodder need to be collected.

The prefectures and counties north of Kyoto are not in their hands. If they want to go north, they will have to fight them one by one.

It will take some time for the Chongshan Town army to get south, so they don't need to rush.

In addition, they also have to guard against Chen Hengchang in Jiangnan.

At this time, Yang Chengye led a battalion of 30,000 soldiers and arrived at Pingyuan Dongyang Prefecture, where he met Lin Zhan.

The Chongshan Town army marched southward, and the first to act were not the various commanders of Chongshan Town, but Yu Tonghai's Beihai Navy. After receiving Yang Chengye's order, Yu Tonghai immediately led the Beihai Navy southward. In just three days, they had 10,000 soldiers stationed in Jizhou and blocked the Ruhe River.

Once the Ru River was blocked, it would be equivalent to cutting off the connection between Liaodong and Kyoto.

Yang Chengye's march southward and the blockade of the Ru River did not represent an impending war, but a change of dynasty.

The moment Yang Chengye arrived in Dongyang Prefecture, it meant that the Liaodong region had completely changed its dynasty.

The master of Liaodong was no longer Emperor Darong, no longer the Darong court, but the Yang family.

The soldiers and officials in Liaodong quickly accepted this.

From now on, Liaoyuan and Pingyuan provinces are no longer under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, but are directly under the jurisdiction of the General's Mansion in Chongshan Town.

Yang Chengye was not crowned a king, nor did he proclaim himself emperor. He simply established the General's Mansion in the name of Jing'an Marquis Mansion, and was in charge of all military and political affairs in Chongshan Town and Liaodong.

In name, he was not rebelling, but rather punishing rebels and supporting the country.

In addition to Liaodong, Liaoxi was also included in the jurisdiction of the General's Mansion in Chongshan Town.
Yang Qinteng, the lieutenant general of Jianning Guard in the middle route, and Yang Jishan, the lieutenant general of Jinzhou Guard, have led the reinforcement battalion south to Dongsheng Prefecture in Liaoxi. Jiang Nanguo, the former governor of Chongshan Town, was appointed by Yang Chengye as the governor of Liaoxi, in charge of all government affairs in Liaoxi.

Lu Wenyuan has arrived at Chongshan Pass and is the chief minister of the General's Mansion. Although this chief minister is a temporary position, everyone understands that Lu Wenyuan is the number one civil servant under the General's Mansion.

Zheng Yulin, the former governor of Chongshan Town, was appointed as the governor of Liaoyuan, and Lin Zhan was appointed as the governor of Pingyuan. In this way, the basic framework of the civil service system under the jurisdiction of the General's Mansion was completed.

The deployment of civil servants between Chongshan Town and Liaodong may seem like a joke, but in fact it fully reflects the profound heritage of the Yang family.

There is no need to say much about Lu Wenyuan and Lin Zhan, but the Yang family also has many high-ranking officials like Zheng Yulin, and the Yang family also has many young officials who can be used.

With the Yang family's background, it would be easy to establish a complete small court in Liaodong.

So when Yang Chengye arrived at Dongyang Prefecture, the small court in Chongshan Town was already operating efficiently.

A large number of civilians transported countless food and grass to Jizhou, a large number of troops set out, a large number of new soldiers were recruited, and a large number of civil servants were transferred. For a time, the entire Chongshan Town and Liaodong were busy.

A huge war machine requires not only a powerful army, but also an even more powerful logistical support system.

At this time, Chongshan Town and Liaodong advanced both by land and sea, fully demonstrating the powerful logistics support system of Chongshan Town's General's Mansion.

Inside the provincial government office in Dongyang city, Yang Chengye and Lin Zhan were discussing the plans for going to war.

"At present, Jizhou has stored 300,000 dan of grain and fodder, which is enough for the consumption of 100,000 troops for three months. However, there is a shortage of horse feed. Our army has more cavalry and more than 60,000 war horses. The horses eat more than humans!"

"At present, Jizhou can only guarantee two months of horse feed supply!"

Lin Zhan said as he refilled Yang Chengye's tea.

Currently, the army of Chongshan Town is divided into four routes. The central route is led by Yang Chengye himself. There are currently 30,000 town standard camps, and there will be 30,000 Yang family troops in the future, totaling 60,000 troops, of which nearly half are cavalry.

In the west, there are two reinforcement camps, namely Jianning Guard in Chongshan Town and Yang Jishan in Jinzhou Guard, with 15,000 soldiers. They will be temporarily stationed in Dongsheng Prefecture to support the central army and Zhou Lan in the north of Longyuan.

On the east route, there are the reinforcement camps of Chongshan Town, Dingliao Guard on the south route, and Songzhou Guard on the east route, with 15,000 soldiers. They are now on the north bank of the Ru River and can cross the river to enter Yongping Prefecture at any time.

On land and sea, there is the North Sea Navy of Tenglongwei, which has 3,000 large and small warships and 30,000 naval officers and soldiers. It can support the Eastern Army in the East China Sea and is also responsible for transporting food and fodder for the army.

The grain and fodder for Chongshan Town were shipped southwards from Tenglongwei to Jizhou.

The four armies had a total of 120,000 troops, in addition to over 40,000 craftsmen and laborers, and 100,000 soldiers and laborers responsible for transporting food and fodder.

A total of more than 260,000 soldiers and civilians were mobilized, which can be called an army of 300,000.

It sounds like the number of troops is small, far less than the 300,000 troops of Daliang.

But in fact, Daliang's 300,000 troops were not as good as Chongshan Town's 300,000 troops. Although Daliang's 300,000 troops were all regarded as troops, in fact, the real elites were less than 100,000, and the rest were not as good as the soldiers of Chongshan Town.

At present, there is not much difference in the military strength of the two sides.

It’s just that the army in Chongshan Town is relatively scattered, while the large number of 300,000 troops are gathered around Kyoto.

"Don't worry about the food and fodder. The food and fodder in Chongshan Town is enough to support an army of 300,000 to fight for a year!" Yang Chengye said with a smile.

Lin Zhan's eyes lit up, "Chongshan Town has so much food and grass?"

These days he has been taking the trouble to prepare food and fodder for the army. Although Pingyuan Province has had good weather and harvests in recent years, it does not have much in the way of food and fodder reserves.

Lin Zhan made an estimate that if he was given enough time, he should be able to prepare one million shi of grain and fodder this year, after collecting the summer and autumn taxes.

At present, he can only mobilize 500,000 shi of grain and fodder at most.

Five hundred thousand shi may sound like a lot, but the food and rations provided by one man and one horse are not enough to last for several months.

Let me put it this way, according to the military system of Chongshan Town, an army of 10,000 would consume about 20,000 dan of food and fodder per month, including rations for the soldiers and fodder for the war horses.

On average, one person and one horse would consume two stone of food and fodder per month.

This is just food, there is also meat, vegetables, etc.

The military rations in Chongshan Town are still abundant.

Yang Chengye smiled and said, "Grandpa gave me 10 million taels of silver. Starting a year ago, this silver was exchanged for food and military equipment and shipped to Fuzhou and Tenglongwei."

"At present, Fuzhou and Tenglongwei both have a large amount of food and weapons!"

Lin Zhan showed a look of sudden realization, "So that's it!"

"But where is the master?"

Lin Zhan missed Yang Zhengshan a little. He hadn't seen Yang Zhengshan for more than ten years.

Yang Chengye thought about it and said, "I don't know, maybe it's in Dongyang City!"

He really didn't know where Yang Zhengshan was. He knew that Yang Zhengshan was in Chongshan Pass before, but he didn't know where he was now.

He felt that Yang Zhengshan should have followed.

"Is that so?" Lin Zhan said, "I don't know if he is willing to come and see me! I haven't seen Master and Master's wife for more than ten years!"

Just as the two were talking, someone outside the door suddenly announced, "My Lord, there is someone outside who wants to see you!"

"Who?" Yang Chengye asked.

"The people who came here claim to be An Yuxing, Zhou Tianci and Liang Shengze!"

Yang Chengye and Lin Zhan looked at each other and immediately realized that help had arrived.

"Please come and greet me soon. Never mind. I'll go and greet him myself!"

(End of this chapter)