Chapter 38: Chapter 37: How Could a Horse be Better than a Wife? Chapter 38: Chapter 37: How Could a Horse be Better than a Wife? “Really!”
When Yang Zhenshan mentioned that he would find a bride for his son, Yang Mingcheng, who had been sulking just moments ago, immediately became excited and tossed aside all thoughts of his war horse.
A horse is no match for a wife?
Compared to a horse, he was more interested in taking a wife.
Yang Zhenshan couldn’t be bothered with his foolish son and shouted towards the kitchen, “Eldest daughter-in-law, eldest daughter-in-law!”
“Dad!” Ms. Wang, wiping her hands, walked out of the kitchen.
“Find a matchmaker and see if there is a suitable girl for the third son!” Yang Zhenshan instructed.
As an elder sister is like a mother, and since Yang Zhenshan had no wife, this task had to fall onto Ms. Wang.
Blind marriages, dumb matchmakings; not only the couples getting married, but even the parents are unclear about each other’s character.
Of course, before finalizing the engagement, Yang Zhenshan could meet his future daughter-in-law, but that would only be a few times, hardly enough to truly understand her.
Well, as the future father-in-law, it’s not appropriate to delve too deeply into understanding his daughter-in-law.
Yang Zhenshan found the matter of marriage to be quite vexing.
A virtuous wife could prosper a family for three generations, while a wicked one could ruin a life.
Naturally, he hoped that Yang Minghao would marry a virtuous wife, but this task was not something he could manage on his own; he had to rely on Ms. Wang.
His expectations weren’t high; as long as the girl was somewhat similar to Ms. Wang and the Li family lady.
Although Ms. Wang and the Li family lady were uneducated village women, they were gentle and hardworking. Perhaps they couldn’t assist the Yang family in great matters, but they could take care of a large family; such daughters-in-law were already sufficient.
“All right, Dad, I’ll go and ask Mrs. Wang this afternoon,” Ms. Wang immediately agreed with a smile upon hearing about finding a wife for the third son.
As the eldest sister-in-law, she was already mentally prepared for this.
Moreover, she also wanted to find a good wife for Yang Minghao, as they would still have to live together in the future, and she did not want to trouble herself.
“Alright! First, ask around, and if there is a suitable one, tell me! I’ll personally have a look,” Yang Zhenshan said.
“Dad, I want to have a word with my elder sister-in-law!”
Yang Minghao, seeing this, couldn’t resist and rushed over to Ms. Wang to whisper.
Yang Zhenshan didn’t bother about what they were whispering about and turned his attention to other things in the yard.
It was fortunate that the Yang family’s courtyard was large enough; otherwise, it wouldn’t even accommodate Zhou Lan’s thank-you gifts.
He first turned his attention to the gold-plated flying fish spear, giving it a few swings, he laughed and said, “Nice spear!”
This spear was much heavier than his original one, probably weighing over fifty pounds.
However, with his strength, it was not cumbersome to wield; in fact, it felt even more suitable.
Nearby, Yang Mingcheng and Yang Mingzhi, who had chosen their warhorses, looked enviously at the spear in his hand.
They both wished they could have a nice spear too.
Yang Zhenshan swung a few more times, then stopped and began to look at the other items.
Silks, and gold and silver jewelry!
His eyes gleamed with a strange light as he looked at these items.
Zhou Lan had arranged it according to the headcount of his household; like those gold and silver ornaments, they were clearly meant to be four sets.
Each set contained headpins, side hairpins, long hairpins, earrings, bracelets, etc., making up a complete set of jewelry. Though they might not seem incredibly valuable, for the Yang family, these were indeed rare treasures.
And of the women in the Yang family, there were Ms. Wang, the Li family lady, Yang Yunxue, and the already married Yang Yunyan, exactly four. As for Yang Qingwan, that little one was still just crawling and naturally needed no jewelry.
There were also fabrics, prepared according to the number of people in the Yang family.
This General Zhou was indeed thoughtful.
Yang Zhenshan thought it over and then distributed the items to each household.
“Dad, is this for me?” Yang Yunxue asked with a bright face.
“Yes, it’s for you, take good care of it, keep it for your dowry!” Yang Zhenshan smiled as he patted Yang Yunxue’s little head.
“Thank you, Dad!” Yang Yunxue beamed, her delicate face blooming like a radiant flower.
Thereafter, Yang Zhenshan selected some furs and herbs and set them aside separately.
As for the remaining thousand taels of silver, Yang Zhenshan pondered for a long time.
This gift of gratitude shouldn’t be his alone.
At that time, over a hundred young and robust men from Yang Family Village also helped Zhou Lan; he did contribute the most and could take the lion’s share, but he shouldn’t pocket everything by himself.
After deliberation, Yang Zhenshan took out two hundred taels and placed them in his cabinet while taking the remaining eight hundred taels to Yang Zhengxiang’s house.
At that moment, Yang Zhengxiang was at home discussing ancestral worship with a few clan elders when they saw Yang Zhenshan approaching, they immediately greeted him enthusiastically.
“You’ve come at just the right time, we’re discussing the matters of ancestral worship!”
“Ancestral worship! What’s there to discuss?” Yang Zhenshan was puzzled.
“There’s not much to discuss about the worship itself, but should we hold a banquet? This is a great joyous event for our Yang family, we should invite some local gentry to celebrate!” Yang Zhengxiang explained.
The celebration was just one reason, showing off was the main aim.
Of course, the intention to show off was not to satisfy their vanity, but rather, through the banquet, to inform the surrounding gentry about Yang Zhenshan’s official appointment, thereby promoting the prosperity and expansion of the Yang family, and to deter those jealous and petty individuals.
Yang Zhenshan pondered for a moment, “Then let’s organize a banquet!”
Organizing a banquet wouldn’t cost much, setting up twenty to thirty tables wouldn’t require spending too much silver.
His upcoming trip to Chongshan Pass wasn’t a secret, nor could it be kept as such, it was bound to spread sooner or later.
Ascending in rank and amassing wealth naturally called for a celebration with friends and relatives.
Before heading to Chongshan Pass, Yang Zhenshan also wanted to invite some people over to his house.
“Let’s do it then, the funds will come from the clan, there’s quite some silver left from earlier!” Yang Zhengxiang saw his agreement and nodded with satisfaction.
Yang Zhenshan waved his hand and said, “I’ll take care of the funds myself; there are many more places where the clan will need money in the future.”
Saying so, he carried a wooden box into the house.
“What is this?” Yang Zhengxiang asked.
Yang Zhenshan opened the box, showcasing the shimmering silver inside to everyone.
“Eight hundred taels of silver, I am thinking of using them to help build a clan school for our family and the village roads need some repairs too!”
The clan elders, as well as Yang Zhengxiang, nearly had their eyes popping out at the sight of the gleaming silver.
To get rich, build roads first.
Yang Family Village wasn’t far from the official road, only a four or five li distance, but that stretch was an earthen road which became muddy and impassable in rain or snow.
Regarding the clan school, although the Yang family had a Martial Arts heritage, those who could become Martial Artists were, after all, in the minority.
With a clan school, the young ones in the Yang family could also elevate their social status through the imperial examinations.
Walking on two legs, Martial Arts and imperial examinations, was definitely better than relying on just one.
“If there’s any surplus, we could buy some land as family property, the harvests in the future can be used for the clan school and also to care for our clan members,” Yang Zhenshan added.
Yang Zhengxiang took great effort to shift his gaze from the silver, “This wouldn’t be right, Zhenshan, you’ve already done so much for the clan, letting you pay for the clan school and road repairs, we really can’t accept.”
“Indeed, we all know you want to take care of our clan members, but we can’t accept your overgenerosity!”
“The clan still has some silver, we’ll also build a clan school in the future; there’s no need for you to bear the costs.”
Several clan elders tried to persuade him.
They were not against building a clan school, they just felt it was too much to accept.
Before, Yang Zhenshan had already helped the clan a lot, and this time he was even taking several clan youths with him to Chongshan Pass; these were great favors for the entire Yang family.
Yang Zhenshan smiled, “The clan school needs to be built as soon as possible, I hope that in the future all the young ones from our Yang family will be accomplished in both literature and martial skills!”
He didn’t mention that part of these presents should belong to the young men from Yang Family Village. Since Zhou Lan gave the items to him, they were his.
He was willing to share some with the clan, that was his way of taking care of his own people.
This was bestowing benevolence.
He wanted to firmly tie the Yang family to himself so that, in the future, wherever he went, the Yang family would be his support.
He wanted every young member of the Yang family to remember his kindness and have them all serve him in the future.
He believed that the seeds he sowed today would surely bear fruit in the future.
In fact, he had already reaped several fruits.
Yang Mingwu, Yang Chengze, Yang Chengxu, Yang Qinwu—these young members of the Yang family greatly admired him.
Although they were still weak now, he believed that with continued investment, it wouldn’t take long for them to become his most loyal subordinates.
Yang Zhenshan wasn’t just being overly kind; he was doing this merely to win people’s hearts.