Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 927: Chapter 662: Slapped in the Face

It is said that Yang Zhenshan had been to Songhe Prefecture before, back when Tenglong Guard first started developing maritime trade; he had even once stopped an Assistant Imperial Censor’s procession.

Songhe Prefecture was just as bustling as before, with a constant stream of pedestrians on the streets and shops on both sides always brimming with customers.

If you only look at the scene within the city, it definitely appears to be a thriving world.

But when Yang Zhenshan and Yu Qingyi hired a tower ship to leave Songhe Prefecture City, another scene unfolded before them.

In the river, various grand or luxurious ships moved like a long dragon, freely displaying the prosperity and opulence of Songhe Prefecture in full, yet the fields along the riverbanks told another story, where sallow and thin, raggedly dressed destitute peasants worked tirelessly in the fields, sweat pouring like rain.

From white-haired elderly to seven or eight-year-old children, all toiled arduously under the blazing sun.

Their skin was sunburned dark, their faces devoid of any color, their eyes filled with sorrow, desolation, and hopelessness.

The wealth of Jiangnan had nothing to do with the impoverished commoners; the wealth only belonged to officials, merchants, powerful clans, and Martial Arts forces, while the ordinary people were merely a group of serfs to be exploited.

In Jiangnan, self-cultivating peasants had almost vanished, and ordinary peasants had become tenant farmers.

They had no land; they could only subsist by leasing land from landlords or by becoming long-term workers and servants for landlords and wealthy elites.

Although Jiangnan was the most prosperous region in Da Rong, it was also the area where land annexation was most severe.

Standing on the top of the tower ship, Yang Zhenshan gazed at those laboring in the fields and couldn’t help but sigh lightly.

The fall of the Da Rong dynasty was inevitable.

Only a catastrophic disaster of incredible magnitude, one that shatters the wealth of Jiangnan into pieces and redistributes its riches, could bring forth a vibrant new world.

With the current situation in Jiangnan, any policy or system is futile; only when enough people die, especially the wealthy and powerful, can this rich land become truly prosperous.

As Yang Zhenshan observed the scene on both banks, the ship’s captain ascended to the tower ship’s deck and said obsequiously, "Master, Madam, there’s a matter we need to discuss with you both!"

The ship was hired by Yang Zhenshan, and it would cost three hundred taels of silver to transport them from Songhe Prefecture to Longshu County. The ship had sixteen sailors, ten general workers, and four cooks.

"What’s the matter?" asked Yang Zhenshan.

The ship captain smiled apologetically, "It’s actually not a big deal; it’s just that up ahead, a ship from the New River Prince’s mansion has blocked the waterway, so we may need to stop for half a day before we can pass!"

Yang Zhenshan, being generous with silver and bearing an extraordinary demeanor, naturally made the ship captain eager to accommodate his needs.

A generous patron like Yang Zhenshan might not come by even once a year.

"New River Prince’s mansion?" Yang Zhenshan raised his eyes and looked ahead, indeed seeing that the ship ahead of them was decelerating.

"Are you still afraid of the New River Prince?"

The Songhe Gang, a rather special worldly society force, was established by a group of boatmen; although not very powerful, they had tens of thousands of boatmen as members.

Many of the ships navigating the Song River belonged to the Songhe Gang.

"Master jests, we in the Songhe Gang are just a bunch of poor folks; how dare we offend the Prince’s mansion!" the ship captain said with a silly smile.

Yang Zhenshan squinted slightly and said, "Charge ahead."

"Ah!" The ship captain was somewhat doubtful if he heard correctly.

"Charge ahead; the damn Prince isn’t worth making me wait half a day!" Yang Zhenshan glanced at the ship captain indifferently.

The ship captain felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave, shivering uncontrollably, as Yang Zhenshan’s gaze was too terrifying.

But even if Yang Zhenshan was terrifying, he didn’t dare to collide with a vessel from the New River Prince’s mansion.

The New River Prince’s mansion was not something just anyone could provoke; even those well-known sects wouldn’t dare cross paths with the Prince’s mansion.

There were quite a few Commandery Princes in Da Rong, almost a few in every province, but the Commandery Princes of Da Rong didn’t have much power locally, couldn’t do more than prey on the peasants.

However, the New River Prince’s mansion was different because the New River Prince was appointed by Da Rong’s founder; the first New River Prince was the founder’s nephew.

In nearly four hundred years, the influence of the New River Prince’s mansion had already spread across Jiangnan.

Although on the surface it was just a royal mansion of Da Rong, in reality, it was also a local power, a worldly society force.

In the past, the New River Prince’s mansion kept a lower profile, especially after being severely disciplined by Emperor Chengping.

But now the New River Prince had nearly become the local emperor of Jiangnan.

Yang Zhenshan’s gaze might instill fear in the ship captain, but it couldn’t suppress his deep-seated fear of the New River Prince’s mansion.

To the ship captain, at most, Yang Zhenshan could just kill him, but the distant Prince’s mansion could annihilate his entire family and even implicate the whole Songhe Gang.

Yang Zhenshan saw the fear in his heart, a cold intensity rising in his deep eyes.

Of course, he wasn’t targeting the ship captain; someone like the ship captain was just a person seeking a livelihood on the Song River, and Yang Zhenshan had no dissatisfaction toward him.