Chapter 52: Chapter 51 Entering Linguan Castle Chapter 52: Chapter 51 Entering Linguan Castle The next morning, Zhao Yuan led Yang Zhenshan and others to report to the Governor’s Office. In less than an hour, Yang Zhenshan and the others were enlisted in the Left Camp of the soldiers at Chongshan Pass.
Indeed, it was the Left Camp, not the garrison soldiers within the garrison.
Afterward, Zhao Yuan accompanied Yang Zhenshan to change the property deed of his house.
But before Yang Zhenshan had the chance to properly enjoy the pleasure of being a homeowner, Zhao Yuan took them to Linguan Castle on the third day.
Accompanying them were over fifty soldiers under Zhao Yuan’s command, escorting ten carts of food.
Linguan Castle was located on the west side of Chongshan Pass, passing two mountains on the west side of the pass led to Linguan Castle’s territory.
Perched atop a small hill, the castle was more accurately situated on a mound of earth.
The gentle slopes were covered with yellow-brown fields, where distant figures in shabby clothes could be seen toiling.
Walking by, Yang Zhenshan observed the toiling figures with a slight frown.
He squatted down by the roadside, grasped a handful of the yellow soil, and his brows knitted even deeper.
Such poor soil was not suitable for farming which explained why Linguan Castle had previously been abandoned.
He looked up at the figures working the fields and sighed softly.
“Dad!” Yang Mingzhi called out in concern.
Being a genuine farmer’s son, he naturally recognized the quality of the fields.
“Yang Hundred Households, it’s getting late. Let’s hurry on!” said Zhao Yuan, walking over to them.
Yang Zhenshan got up and walked forward slowly, “Zhao Hundred Households must come from an extraordinary background!”
“Not really extraordinary. Although I am from the Suiyang Marquis Mansion, I am merely an illegitimate child!” Zhao Yuan replied.
A noble’s offspring, no wonder he was indifferent to such fields.
What about being an illegitimate child?
He was still born in the Suiyang Marquis Mansion, certainly not someone the hard-pressed military households could compare to.
Yang Zhenshan nodded quietly, without saying much more.
Talking about farming with the likes of a noble’s child like Zhao Yuan was like playing the lute to a cow.
Perhaps even Zhou Lan was unaware of the situation here.
Relocating a group of refugees here was simply setting them up for failure.
Following the gentle mountain path, they soon arrived at the entrance of Linguan Castle.
From the outside, the castle’s wall appeared to be newly built of stone, over ten feet tall, with the south-facing gate inscribed with the large characters “Linguan Castle.”
Above the gate was a watchtower, equipped with a drawbridge that spanned over a dry trench about three meters wide.
The castle residents noticed their arrival, many hiding within the fort, watching their party warily.
“Old Li! Old Li!”
Zhao Yuan entered the gate first, shouting loudly.
Then a limping old man came over.
“Hundred Households, you’ve arrived!”
Zhao Yuan nodded at him and then introduced Old Li to Yang Zhenshan, “This is Old Li, who was responsible for the reconstruction of Linguan Castle and the recruitment of refugees. If Yang Hundred Households has any questions, he may ask him.”
“Old Li, this is Yang Hundred Households, the future garrison commander of Linguan Castle. You will follow his orders from now on!”
“Old man Li Shanshi pays his respects to the master!” Old Li quickly bowed to Yang Zhenshan.
Yang Zhenshan gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.
“Old Li, please show Yang Hundred Households around! Oh, and these supplies, have a look at where they should be stored,” Zhao Yuan added.
“Supplies!” Old Li’s eyes lit up at the sight of the carts behind them, “Hundred Households, please follow me!”
As soon as they entered the fort, Yang Zhenshan was met with an unpleasant sour stench.
He then witnessed a grimy, dilapidated sight.
The ground was littered with all sorts of messes, piles and puddles of refuse.
Along the walls were rows of shabby dwellings that hardly resembled proper houses.
Yang Zhenshan’s brows furrowed as he swept his gaze across the area.
Why had only the outer walls been rebuilt in Linguan Castle?
Although the houses had been repaired, it was evident that the repairs were haphazard.
They must have been built by the refugees living here.
“Sir, this is your mansion!” Old Li said, pointing to a somewhat decent-looking house.
Yang Zhenshan remained silent, merely nodding his head.
Mansion?
Damn it, it wasn’t even as good as the farmhouse in Yang Family Village.
“Sir, this here is the cattle pen!”
“This is the storehouse!”
“This is the granary!”
Soon, Old Li had taken Yang Zhenshan on a tour around Linguan Castle.
In fact, the interior of Linguan Castle was quite spacious, and could easily accommodate a hundred families.
However, due to long-term neglect, the houses had become dilapidated.
“How long have they been here?” Yang Zhenshan asked, looking at the group of ragged military households.
“It’s been a little over a month now, they have all been busy tilling the land this month, so there hasn’t been time to clean up the houses inside the fort,” Old Li said somewhat embarrassedly, aware of the poor condition inside the fort.
“Has the farming ended yet?” Yang Zhenshan asked.
“It’s almost all done; now each family can spare some hands!” Old Li replied.
Yang Zhenshan slightly nodded, not minding those emaciated military households, and quickly walked to the front of the granary.
By this time, Yang Mingzhi had already led the group to move the grains from the cart into the granary.
Although the living quarters were in ruins, the granary, storehouse, and cattle pen facilities were relatively intact and seemed to have been carefully repaired.
In addition, there were several swords, spears, bows and arrows, and cotton armors in the storehouse; the cattle pen had ten horses and three draft cattle.
“Mr. Zhao, things are busy today, so I won’t keep you any longer!” Yang Zhenshan issued a dismissal.
This place was his turf now, and he had many things to do next; he had no time to entertain Zhao Yuan.
Zhao Yuan also did not say much and took his leave directly.
After watching them go, Yang Zhenshan turned to Old Li and said, “Gather the household soldiers!”
“Yes!” Old Li bowed his head in response and then limped off towards the interior of the fort.
After about half an hour, one hundred young men with yellowed faces and emaciated bodies gathered in the central clearing of the garrison.
These one hundred young men were Yang Zhenshan’s soldiers.
Looking at this group of refugees, Yang Zhenshan shook his head helplessly.
Training troops?
He felt that poverty alleviation was more important than training troops.
These people had lost their homes due to the invasion of northern barbarians; their homes were burned by the invaders, and all their savings were taken away.
Having no other recourse, they were forced to bring their families to the fortress city.
The Governor’s Office and the Governor’s Office inside the fortress city discussed and directly classified them as military households, allocating them to various garrisons.
The hundred households intercepted by Zhou Lan were all families with able-bodied men arranged to stay in Linguan Castle.
However, they had first been through a flight and then endured over two months of poverty and hunger, which had reduced them to their current state.
“Split up! Choose for yourselves!” Yang Zhenshan said to Yang Chengze and the others, turning his head.
Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingwu were the General Flags, while Yang Chengze, Yang Chengxu, Yang Chengche, Yang Qinwu and others were small flags.
Yang Zhenshan had already assigned ten small flags to Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingwu; now it was time for small flags like Yang Chengze to select their subordinates.
In truth, there wasn’t much to choose from; the main goal was to recognize who was who, so they would know who their subordinates were and the soldiers would know their flag officer.
As for training, it could not begin straight away.