Chapter 49: Feeling of Being Kept in Chapter 48 Chapter 49: Feeling of Being Kept in Chapter 48 Chongshan Pass was not merely a simple gate pass, but a fortressed city.
The city walls stood four zhang high, wedged between two mountain peaks, and connected to the Thousand Layered Mountain, looking like a terrifying behemoth lying in wait among the ranges.
Within the fortress city, the Forward, Middle, and Rear Camps of the stationed Five Camps guarded the interior, while outside the fortress city, the Left and Right Camps’ sites covered each other’s flanks.
Since the great battle at Black Cloud Mountain twenty years ago, Chongshan Pass has continually expanded from its original gate pass, and the number of civilians living inside and outside the city walls has been on the rise.
Now, Chongshan City is divided into two parts; the North City is the original fortress, safeguarded by the Camp, while the South City is where the civilians reside.
The old Chongshan City was once the most prosperous in the Northern regions, but now, due to the recent incursions of the Northern barbarians, Chongshan City has become considerably more desolate.
Even so, Chongshan City is still incomparable to the small county town of Anning County.
The caravan traveled slow; it took Yang Zhenshan and the others three days to reach the foot of Chongshan City.
If on horseback, one could arrive in a day, while traveling by carriage would also allow one to reach by dusk if departing at dawn.
However, traveling with the lengthy caravan required three days since the carriages were laden with goods and could not travel fast, moving at a pace not much quicker than walking.
Yang Zhenshan chose to travel with the caravan as this was their first trip to Chongshan Pass.
The convoy slowly entered the fortress city, and a group of young lads from Yang Family Village, including Yang Mingzhi, looked at the towering city walls and excitedly exclaimed in awe.
“Wow, such high walls!”
“This place is even more bustling than the county town!”
“Look, they are wearing iron armor!”
Yang Zhanshan cast a glance at these unsophisticated bumpkins, snorting in disdain.
However, his gaze also swept around, filled with an unabashed wonder.
Alright, he was a bumpkin too!
While he had visited quite a few large cities before, those cities were completely different from the city before him.
The convoy slowly moved through the city gates. All citizens entering the city had to show their permits, and carriages were to be inspected.
The Lu family’s caravan apparently had acquaintances here, so their inspection was lax, simply checked and then let through.
However, when it came to Yang Zhenshan, the inspecting soldiers took several glances at his permit.
“Are you Mr. Yang Hundred Households?”
Yang Zhenshan’s expression subtly changed as he replied, “I have not yet registered at the Governor’s Office; I am not officially Hundred Households at the moment!”
Though Zhou Lan had promised him a Trial Hundred Households position, he had not yet enlisted in the military registry at the Governor’s Office, nor received an official rank, thus nominally he was still a commoner.
“Hehe, my name is Zhao Yuan, General Zhou has sent me to welcome Mr. Yang Hundred Households, please follow me!” said Zhao Yuan.
Yang Zhenshan discreetly looked him over, feeling that he was likely not a fraud, and replied, “Then I shall trouble Mr. Zhao!”
“Hehe, I, like Mr. Yang, am also a Hundred Households!” Zhao Yuan laughed as he led Yang Zhenshan into the city.
By saying so, he was elevating Yang Zhenshan’s status; Yang Zhenshan was merely a Trial Hundred Households, and not a true Hundred Households yet.
After speaking to Song An, Yang Zhenshan followed Zhao Yuan into the city.
A group of fourteen people, driving three horse-drawn carriages, followed Zhao Yuan to a residence in South City.
“This is the residence General Zhou has prepared for Mr. Yang Hundred Households. You may settle in first, and when General Zhou finds time, he shall come to meet with Mr. Yang Hundred Households!” Zhao Yuan opened the large doors to the residence and welcomed Yang Zhenshan in.
It was a three-section courtyard, not very large, but still much more spacious than the Yang family’s home.
The front yard had four rooms sitting backwards, designated as a study, tea room, etc., the inner yard featured a main house with three rooms, east and west wing rooms each with two rooms, and the back yard had five additional rooms, also including a back door for carriage access.
Zhao Yuan led Yang Zhenshan around for a tour of the residence, “The bedding in the sleeping room is all new, there is ample firewood in the woodshed, and I have prepared rice, flour, and oil in the kitchen.”
“If Mr. Yang Hundred Households finds anything lacking, please let me know.”
Yang Zhenshan felt that something was strange, and asked, “Is this for me?”
“That’s correct, this is General Zhou’s way of expressing gratitude. General Zhou has instructed that once Mr. Yang Hundred Households is settled in, there will be time to go to the government office to change the deeds for the house!” Zhao Yuan said smiling.
Suddenly, Yang Zhenshan felt as if he was being kept.
It was one thing to receive a gift, but Zhou Lan was actually offering to give him a residence.
Although the house was not particularly large, it was not small either.
Purchasing such a residence in Anning County would cost at least six or seven hundred taels, and inside Chongshan Pass City, it might be around two thousand taels.
Despite Chongshan Pass City being just a border town, there were many government offices from Chongshan Town.
The more government offices there are, the more officials there will be, and the more officials there are, the more their families will be as well.
New officials upon taking office always have to buy or rent a residence to live in.
However, even if Zhou Lan wanted to keep someone, why would she choose to keep him?
If it were in his past life, he felt that he might have been kept by someone since he was a handsome young man.
But now, he was nothing more than an old man of grandparent age.
Yes, an old man.
Here, at forty years old, one was already considered elderly.
“When can I meet General Zhou?” Yang Zhenshan shook those cluttered thoughts from his mind and asked.
Zhao Yuan shook his head and said, “I’m not clear about that; General Zhou has a lot on her plate and may not find time to spare.”
“However, General Zhou has already arranged everything. Trial Hundred Households Yang is to stay here first, and when she has time, she will take Trial Hundred Households Yang to the Governor’s Office to register.”
Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, “Then I won’t stand on ceremony and will stay here first. Please convey my regards to General Zhou for me, Mr. Zhao!”
“No trouble at all, no trouble!” said Zhao Yuan.
After Zhao Yuan left, Yang Zhenshan hurriedly called Yang Mingzhi and the others to put the stuff they brought into the courtyard.
The preparations Zhao Yuan made were comprehensive, but the ones Yang Zhenshan made were also thorough.
Carriages, clothes, bedding, grains, salt, and oil, etc., Yang Zhenshan had it all prepared, and he even got several tents and some charcoal, fearing that they would find nowhere to live upon arriving at Chongshan Pass.
Now, it seemed that his preparations were somewhat superfluous.
“Dad, are we going to live here from now on?” Yang Minghao asked with a touch of excitement.
Standing with his hands clasped behind his back in the courtyard, Yang Zhenshan looked at everyone busy around him and said, “What are you thinking about? We are going to Linguan Castle. Even if this residence is ours, we cannot live here.”
His appointment was as a garrison commander, not to serve in the Five Camps, so he could only live within Linguan Castle and not in the Pass City.
However, Zhou Lan once said that if Yang Zhenshan could achieve some success in training troops at Linguan Castle, she would arrange for his transfer into Left Camp.
Yang Minghao approached Yang Zhenshan and whispered, “Dad, will General Zhou really give us this residence?”
They had been following close behind Yang Zhenshan the entire time, so they heard everything Zhao Yuan said.
Yang Zhenshan furrowed his brow, “Pies don’t just fall from the sky, and if one does, it’s surely poisoned!”
Upon reflection, he felt Zhou Lan was being too generous with him.
Gifts were one thing, but giving a residence was a bit much.
Even though the value of the residence wasn’t as high as the other gifts Zhou Lan had given, a residence wasn’t something you could just give away so easily.
He always felt there was something fishy about this, yet he couldn’t think of anything on him that Zhou Lan would care about enough to do this.
If it was because he could train troops, then having him come to Chongshan Pass as a garrison commander was sufficient. There was no need for such grand gestures of giving gifts and a residence.
“Second, Second!” Yang Zhenshan called out.
“Dad, what is it?” Yang Mingzhi ran over and asked.
“In the next few days, go out and gather some intelligence about the situation inside the Pass City!” Yang Zhenshan instructed.
“Okay!” Yang Mingzhi agreed unhesitatingly.
For gathering information, Yang Mingzhi was the most skilled.
The lad had the trait of a social butterfly, capable of striking up a conversation with just about anyone on the street.