Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 936: Chapter 666: Da Liang Dynasty, Emperor Tianwu (Part 2)

His expansion plans were excellent, avoiding expansion in Yun Gui since there were too many enemies around Yun Gui. To the south of Yun Gui was the Southern Border Town and to the west was Bashu, expanding in these two directions would likely attract the attention of Bashu rebels and the Southern Border Town.

However, expansion towards Fuhai Province was different, as the eastern and southern parts of Fuhai Province were bordered by the sea, therefore only the west needed to be defended against the Southern Border Town.

He also avoided expansion towards the Capital City, intending to leave this tough challenge to King Da Liang, to avoid early confrontation and letting the Da Rong Court take advantage of the situation.

In the sixth year of Jianxing, which was the nineteenth year of Divine Wood.

The situation in Da Rong became increasingly chaotic, and the Da Rong Court appeared more and more powerless.

Faced with the increasingly powerful King Da Liang, the armies of Suzhou Town and Longbei Town were forced to retreat.

For three years, the border army of the two towns had been suppressing bandits in the three provinces of Longyuan, achieving successive victories, but they did not prevent the deterioration of conditions in the three provinces of Longyuan; rather, they contributed to the rise of King Da Liang.

It was precisely because of the unbridled suppression by the border army of the two towns that the common people couldn’t find peace.

When bandits pass, it is like a comb; when an army passes, it is like a rake.

The increasing number of bandits in the three provinces of Longyuan was credited to Suzhou Town and Longbei Town.

The entrance of bandits into River Province was also their accomplishment.

Now that the bandits have flocked to King Da Liang, it’s still their achievement.

Their lootings were even more than the bandits; among the bandits, there were some who adhered to moral principles, unlike the soldiers of the two towns who only knew two words: kill and loot.

They killed bandits and looted supplies.

It didn’t matter whether they killed common civilians or real bandits. Whose supplies were looted was equally unimportant.

Therefore, the current state of the three provinces of Longyuan was largely contributed to by Suzhou Town and Longbei Town.

In facing the increasingly powerful King Da Liang, Zhou Lan had no choice but to retract her defensive lines and solidify her occupied territories.

She did not continue to seize territory, not because she didn’t want to, but because she couldn’t.

The same problem persisted, she lacked supplies.

Since Yang Chengye returned from Divine Wood Island, he had reduced the supply of grain to Zhou Lan.

Yang Chengye needed to stockpile supplies, waiting for the right opportunity to start a rebellion, and could not continue supporting Zhou Lan without restraint.

Additionally, Yang Chengye was waiting for King Da Liang to grow stronger, and for King Da Liang to attack the Capital City so that he could restrain Zhou Lan’s assaults.

Yang Zhenshan did not meet Zhou Lan, and Yang Chengye did not disclose the truth to her. Currently, Zhou Lan remained in the dark, assuming the grain shortage was just at Chongshan Town.

In fact, it wasn’t just Zhou Lan; few people truly understood the Yang family’s plans at this moment.

Like Song Dashan, Yang Chengze, and Yang Chengxu, none of them knew about it, let alone others like those in Niu Zhuang.

It wasn’t a matter of distrust, but the more people who knew, the more likely it was to leak.

If the Yang family’s plans leaked out, it would certainly attract attention from various factions.

What Yang Zhenshan wanted — to act openly and legitimately — would not be feasible, while different factions might develop vigilance against the Yang family.

Especially King Da Liang, who the Yang family intended to use as a tool. It was essential not to awaken his suspicions.

The spring of yet another year in March.

At Chongshan Pass, peace and harmony persisted, the main street teeming with people and bustling traffic. As spring planting season drew near, numerous military households and civilians flocked to Chongshan Pass to purchase farming tools or buy livestock.

Despite the food scarcity in Chongshan Town over these years, livestock was certainly not in short supply. Be it cattle, donkeys, or mules, all were available much cheaper compared to other places in Da Rong.

An average farming household, as long as it avoided illness and disaster, could save enough in three to five years to buy a livestock.

Looking at the common folks entering the town was enough to gauge the number of livestock in Chongshan Town — families driving ox carts, donkey carts, and mule carts into the town.

Yang Zhenshan and Yu Qingyi, walking along the streets, expressed some helplessness as they viewed the streets clogged with various carts.

Too many carts weren’t good; they caused traffic jams, which was already with restrictions on what livestock could enter the town. Actually, there were dedicated stables outside the city where villagers could keep their donkeys, mules, or cattle for just a few coins for the day.

Vehicles pulled by livestock entering the city were also charged, not because the Governor’s Office and the General Mansion coveted that little silver, but because the city was too congested.

“Move aside, move aside~~”

“Hey, you with the donkey, move aside, can’t you see it’s all blocked? ”

“Hey, whose cow is that over there? Where’s the dung catcher? Quickly clean up the cow dung!”

A few government officials noticed the block and immediately came over shouting loudly.

When there were many animals, accidents were likely to happen. Leaving aside the issue of animals urinating, there were also incidents of animals getting frightened and going berserk, injuring people, as well as disputes arising from blocked roads — claims like your cow grazed my side, or my donkey kicked him, and so on, situations the officials dealt with daily.

With a rather unfriendly round of yelling from the officials, the blocked streets were finally cleared up.

Yang Zhenshan and Yu Qingyi could now proceed along the flow of people.

March in Chongshan Town counted as early spring; as the saying goes, a year’s plan begins in spring. During this time, the military households and common folks of Chongshan Town would rush into the city to purchase various supplies, tools, cloth, salt, etc., to prepare for the upcoming spring planting.

Thus, the city was extraordinarily crowded during this period.

Yang Zhenshan and Yu Qingyi arrived at a teahouse, went to a private room with a window on the second floor, and leisurely started drinking tea.

Drinking tea was a secondary matter; they mainly came out for some fresh air.

Throughout the year, they had spent most of their time inside a private space, coming out every three to five days for a look.

They did nothing much, just eating and drinking in teahouses or restaurants.

“I wonder how things are down south. Don’t you want to go and find out? ” Yu Qingyi inquired.

They had been keeping their ears shut to outside affairs, focusing solely on planting trees in that space.

They weren’t very clear on many matters, nor did they know much about the current state of the Da Rong Court and the various factions.

“Find out? Those matters are handled by Chengye himself, we needn’t concern ourselves! ” Yang Zhenshan replied.

He had been stationed at Chongshan Town sufficiently; as for other matters, they were not his to worry about.

Nowadays, Yang Chengye was the master of Chongshan Town. The Yang family would support Yang Chengye, but actions were to be led by him.

Not only Yang Zhenshan, but even Yang Mingcheng and his two brothers would not appear in Chongshan Town.

“Aren’t you afraid of something going wrong?” Yu Qingyi asked.

Yang Zhenshan gently shook his head, “We need to have confidence in Chengye; he certainly can handle it well! ”

“If he can’t even manage these matters, then it would be better for him to simply stay quietly at home rather than trying to become an emperor!”

This was a test for Yang Chengye as well. With the Yang family’s support, establishing a kingdom and ruling it was undoubtedly easier for Yang Chengye.

While the two were chatting, a commotion suddenly erupted from the street.

“Make way, make way, urgent military matters!”

“Urgent military matters!”

A group of four riders raced swiftly down the bustling street, causing further chaos amidst the crowd.

Yang Zhenshan, seated by the window, watched the four soldiers rushing towards the General Mansion on the street, with a shift in his expression.

“It seems like something significant occurred!”

Yu Qingyi curiously glanced out, “What significant event could it be?”

“It could be that King Da Liang has reached the gates of the Capital City!” Yang Zhenshan guessed.

He guessed wrong; it wasn’t that King Da Liang had reached the gates of the Capital City, but that King Da Liang had proclaimed himself Emperor

On February 18th in the sixth year of Jianxing, King Da Liang proclaimed himself Emperor at Han Zhong Prefecture, naming the kingdom Da Liang, the era Tianwu, posthumously honoring his ancestors as emperors, his mother Lady Lu as Empress Dowager, and bestowing titles to the empress and consort, while declaring his eldest son as Crown Prince.

On the second day after proclaiming his emperorship, King Da Liang, or rather, Emperor Tianwu of Da Liang, issued a proclamation calling for the campaign against Da Rong.

Emperor Tianwu of Da Liang dispatched an army of 300,000, intending to launch an eastern campaign to bring down Rong.