Because the businesses of the families under investigation were only concentrated in Tonghua and were not big businesses, and there were no businesses of the Zhang Family and Wang Family in Tonghua County, the information obtained was not very detailed.
The people sent out to investigate only had a rough understanding.
From this, it could be seen that the Chen family did have power in the area, but it also showed that their family had not reached the level of 100% control of Tonghua County.
If it were Sanshui County, outsiders would not be able to obtain any information if they directly inquired about the situation of the Zhang Family and Wang Family in Zhuangzi. At the same time, they would be targeted, and it would not be easy to leave.
Xiaobei and the other nine people began the meeting. They expanded the meeting to allow the think tanks of the other families to participate.
Xiao Bei spoke first, "I have a question to ask. Please help me analyze it. Since the Chen family in Maozhou's Tonghua County is able to cover the sky with one hand, why didn't our inspection team find evidence of collusion between officials and merchants?"
Xiao Bei was asking about the six people in the left corner. These six people were dressed similarly. Every one of them wore loose clothes with high collars that completely covered their hands and necks. They even wore sunglasses, regardless of whether the room was dark or not.
These six people were specially chosen. They were the best at scheming. If they stood in the front, they would not be able to do anything. If they were placed in the shadows, they would play a big role.
"Number One, you speak." Xiaoyuan called out names. Because the six people did not like others to call their names directly, they used numbers instead.
One of the six people lowered his head and covered his mouth with one hand. He said in a low voice, "If I were in charge of the Chen family, I would consider the problem of the Tang Empire's inspection team. I would not give them direct evidence. At the same time, I would be willing to pay money to support the administrative plan of the county officials."
After waiting for a while, Xiaobei saw that he did not speak, so he asked, "Anything else?"
"Let me add." Another person wearing sunglasses said, "The reason why we can't find any problems is that when the Chen family was doing business, they did not hoard important livelihood goods and inflate the price of goods. When they force others to submit, they do not do it through force. They can use money and influence the people around them. "
"In other words, even if someone was bullied by them, there is no evidence to prove that what they did was not in accordance with our dynasty's laws. Zhang Yang did not commit a crime. "
Xiao Bei started to worry. He really couldn't find any evidence of the other party's crimes. Could it be that he had to use his status to suppress them?
Little Yuan suggested, "Give them a taste of their own medicine. Once it's confirmed that they're oppressing others through other means, we'll do the same."
"Continue the investigation. I don't believe that they are clean. Not to mention them, is my family clean? If it weren't for my brother and sister's strength, and my family's power, we would have been exterminated ten times over.
For example, last month, the construction of a precious candy house in Henan Province was going on around the clock. It was so noisy that the people around it couldn't rest well. Moreover, the pile of materials fell down, injuring two people.
Normally speaking, they should stop working and send the person in charge to the authorities to be whipped. They would be locked up for at least ten days to half a month. What did we do? If money was used, the construction site would continue as usual, and the matter would be over after paying the injured people a sum of money. The authorities didn't send anyone to investigate, and the victim didn't seem to have any intention of holding on. "
Little Hai spoke frankly about the dark side of his family.
Little Bei said in a low voice, "We paid a lot of money. The two injured people won't be disabled. We gave them 500 strings of cash each. The surrounding neighbors calculated based on the number of people, regardless of size, 30 strings of cash each. We also gave them a lot of seafood and meat.
In fact, they didn't say anything. They didn't report it to the authorities when they were arguing, and the people who were smashed never said anything about pursuing the matter. We were the ones who took the initiative to compensate. "
"That's because we have a reputation and people are willing to support us. This matter has always made me feel uncomfortable. I always feel like I owe them a lot. I have to find an opportunity to compensate them. Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep peacefully." Little Hai was more rigorous in his work and was unwilling to find excuses for himself.
"Yes, yes, yes. The people are so good. What's that little bit of money? Bullying the easy to bully is a crime. If it were my family, I definitely wouldn't be so kind. Do you still remember how my family's villager's leg was broken in Henan Province? At that time, my family took revenge. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. No matter how much money we paid, it was useless no matter who we asked for help. "
Little Yuan echoed.
"That's because my brother and sister's style of doing things is different. Otherwise, they wouldn't say things like 'if you kill one of my people, I'll slaughter your village'. Let's get down to business first. Send a report first. Transfer Shuiyun's family over and keep an eye on the Chen family. "
Little Bei changed the topic again.
*****
Tong Hua's Chen family, which was targeted by Little Bei's group of nine, was currently shrouded in a tense atmosphere.
The eldest young master, who had just returned from outside, was directly called to the study and reprimanded, saying that he shouldn't be showing off outside at such a time.
Then, the entire family began to discuss.
The Chen family's residence was in the county town. The county town had two vertical and three horizontal streets and countless small alleys. Overall, the county town was divided into twelve irregular blocks, one of which was occupied by the Chen family.
It was no longer a matter of how many houses there were. The entire area was filled with countless houses and layers of courtyards. There were small bridges and flowing water, green willows and red flowers, ginkgo trees that reached the sky, rockery that led to seclusion, and winding corridors that stopped at platforms.
The Chen family had three branches. The old master was still alive, but he didn't manage the family affairs. All the family affairs were handed over to the eldest branch.
At this time, the main members of the third branch had all come to the family's discussion hall.
The old master sat in to listen, and the heads of the three branches were in charge of discussing. Each family also brought their sons to learn. There were three people in the eldest branch, the head of the family and two sons. The eldest son was the one who met Little Bei outside. There was also a boy who was ten years old. His eyes were always darting around. He seemed very clever and lacked a trace of calmness.
There were only two people in the second branch. In addition to the head of the family, there was also a son who was older than the eldest son of the eldest branch. He was already twenty years old this year. He sat there with a calm expression, but his gaze was threatening. When people looked at him, they would always have two thoughts in their hearts. One was to ignore him. So what if his gaze was threatening? What could he do to him? The other was to look at him. Who didn't know how to put on a pretentious look? Only he knew how to do it.
The eldest young master, who had interacted with Little Bei before, had the urge to gouge his eyes out. If they looked at each other, he didn't have enough confidence. If they didn't look at each other, he seemed to have a guilty conscience. Obviously, his status was the highest among his generation, but everyone thought highly of this person from the second branch.
There was also the third branch. The third branch had a lot of people and was fertile. It was also the branch that the old master liked the most. They had many grandchildren and could have many children.
The third branch had a lot of sons. There were actually seven in the family. Excluding the head of the family, there were six people. The eldest son had yet to be crowned and looked two years younger than the second branch. Of the remaining five, two looked very similar, and the other three looked very similar. Naturally, they were the twins and triplets.
The twins were thirteen or fourteen years old. They were about the same age as the young master of the first branch. Moreover, they had one thing in common, which was that they had dark circles under their eyes. It seemed that they had overindulged. Now, sitting there, they also looked drowsy and listless.
Each of the triplets had a silver collar around their neck and emerald bracelets on their wrists. They were the youngest of the triplets. Looking at how they would twist their bodies after sitting for a while, they were at most four or five years old. They didn't dare to make a sound, but they didn't stay idle. There were clearly many snacks and fruits on the table, but they insisted on grabbing a plate. After being glared at by the adults, they became obedient for a few breaths, then turned their heads and began to compete with each other again.
This was the situation in the Chen family's discussion hall. There were no women, and the servant girls were also not present. After delivering the snacks and tea, they went out and stayed far away.
"Hou 'er, let's start." The old master, who was listening at the side, said to his eldest son, then closed his eyes and narrowed his eyes.
The head of the first branch also had the surname Chen, which was the same as his father's, Chen Guanghou. The second and third brothers were called Chen Guangliang and Chen Guangchun respectively. They belonged to the Guang generation, and the next generation belonged to the Yao generation. For example, his son was called Chen Yaozu, and the son of the second branch was called Chen Yaodong.
If there was a next generation, it would probably be the Guang generation. But this hope was very slim now. Chen Yaozu had offended someone he shouldn't have offended and couldn't afford to offend.
The matter discussed in the family today was related to the person Chen Yaozu had offended.
"It has been confirmed that Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan have both arrived in Yizhou. The war will start at any time. We can't control the war, and we don't have soldiers to send. Even if they don't force us to take money, we don't need to take the initiative to support them. "
Chen Guanghou coughed and swept his eyes over everyone's face as he spoke slowly.
Except for the old master, who was still sleeping, everyone sat up straight. Even the three children who were playing around stopped and became obedient in an instant.
Chen Guanghou lowered his eyes to Weiwei and continued, "The family's business still needs to be done, but there is a priority, especially the goods in the west. Temporarily stop."
The people sitting there didn't make a sound and listened quietly. The rule in the family was that if the eldest branch didn't allow you to speak, you weren't allowed to interrupt. Otherwise, you would be punished at least, and expelled from the family at most.
"Stop one business, and other businesses need to be strengthened. The business isn't the most important. If it really can't be done, then stop. With the family's savings, it may not decline after a few decades. "
Chen Guanghou showed a pained expression when he said that the family's business had to be stopped. Clearly, he was very distressed. He pursed his lips for a while and sighed. "What worries me the most is that someone will use the family's name to do things outside and provoke others. Spending money can solve the problem. But now, it's Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan who came.
If the two of them were busy with the arrangements for the war and didn't have time to care about other things, then their younger brother and sister had been waiting for someone to stir up trouble. For example, the third branch's Yao Hong and Yao Wei always like to dress up as ordinary people and then secretly provoke people around Tong Hua. When others make a move, they will teach them a good lesson.
This won't do, absolutely not. If you stir up trouble, you'll be causing trouble for the family. Tong Hua, I, Chen, want to be like the Chen family. What's wrong with hanging out with a bunch of hooligans all day? "
The head of the third branch, Chen Guangchun, sat there with a gloomy expression and didn't say a word. His two sons, the twins, couldn't control their bodies from trembling. The two of them were the ones who were just talking about. When they had nothing to do, they liked to pretend to be ordinary people and then look for opportunities to teach others a lesson. Every time they saw the regret and fear in the eyes of those who were taught a lesson, they would feel great satisfaction.
Chen Guangchun didn't say anything, but his eyes were looking at the eldest son of Chen Guanghou, Chen Yaozu, who had met Xiao Bei before.
His second and third sons did indeed mix with a bunch of idle people on the streets, but nothing major had ever happened, let alone caused someone to lose their life.
No matter how bad his two sons were, they weren't arrogant. Look at your son. He usually goes out to find hundreds of people, all for money. Moreover, he bullies men and women, and he even has two lives on his hands. When outsiders die at his hands, even if you, as his father, help clean up after him, others might not know, but how could I not know?
His third son was unhappy, but his second son acted like nothing had happened. His son, Chen Yaodong, still had a threatening gaze and didn't move.
"Third son, in the future, you have to watch your family. My words aren't directed at your family, but at the entire Chen family. As I said just now, I heard that Zhang Xiaobei and the others went to Wenshan County. I reckon that the county magistrate, Wang Chang, won't be able to stay.
Wang Chang's life or death has nothing to do with us. I'm just afraid that after dealing with Wang Chang, they'll be annoyed and move to our Tonghua County. Remember this, if anyone dares to provoke them, I'll beat them to death and send them to them to ask for punishment. Tell the subordinates to open their eyes one by one.
Everything in Tonghua County must be stable. When the clan goes out to buy groceries, they're not allowed to bargain. Tell the county magistrate, Zhao Jianghao, that we'll spend money to build a good school and put the children in there. Yes! We can't always be the ones to lose out. Tell the other merchants in the county to get a share. "
Chen Guanghou finished speaking in a low voice. He waited for a while before drinking two mouthfuls of tea. He lightly knocked the teacup on the table, making a crisp tinkling sound. Then, he nodded to his second and third brothers. "Who has anything to say?"
Hearing that their boss allowed them to speak, Chen Guangliang and Chen Guangchun looked at each other. Then, Chen Guangliang spoke up. "Big brother, I don't object to stopping the trade in the west. After all, if people find out, the clan will be exterminated."
"But should we sell the goods that came ten days ago? If we sell them, the amount will be too large. It'll easily arouse the vigilance of Zhang Xiaobao and the others. Once they start investigating, we won't be able to hide from them no matter how hard we try. Who can hide from the Zhang Family and Wang Family's intelligence personnel? "
"Back then, in the Jiangnan Dao, the three major powers moved together. It only prevented the Zhang Family and Wang Family's intelligence personnel from finding out where the main person was hiding. It wasn't that they couldn't find any clues. At that time, if the Zhang Family and Wang Family weren't anxious, they would eventually find out. "
"In the end, we forced Zhang Xiaobao to make a move. As for the result, I think everyone already knows. I'm worried that we'll be found out when we sell the goods. "
"If we don't sell the goods and keep them in our hands, the amount of fodder and manpower we consume every day is not a small amount. If we throw money into the goods that were originally going to be turned into money, how can the family business bear the cost? "
As soon as Chen Guangliang finished speaking, he also picked up his tea and drank. He only mentioned the problem, but didn't mention the slightest method to solve it. He pushed the problem to Chen Guanghou.
For a moment, the hall was so quiet that the sound of breathing was almost inaudible.
The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became more oppressive. The three children of Chen Guangchun's family kept their mouths shut and nervously clenched their small hands into fists.
Chen Guanghou's hands were crossed in front of his chest. His two thumbs were constantly moving around each other. Occasionally, he would stop and press the pads of his thumbs together.
Just like that, a full quarter of an hour passed. When the children found it difficult to breathe, Chen Guanghou let out a muffled groan from his nose.
"The weather … is getting hotter and hotter. When there's a war, there's bound to be people transporting supplies. Our northern region of Jiannan Dao will be more prosperous. Pepper and sweet garlic are good food, but vinegar is not only good for dipping dumplings and steamed buns. "
Chen Guanghou said these words while everyone was waiting for him.
As soon as he finished speaking, he closed his eyes and leaned back, shrinking his body.
The others were even more puzzled. The children couldn't worry about the family, so they weren't nervous when they heard the movement. Chen Guanghou's eldest son, Chen Yaozu, had a confused expression, while the only son of the second branch, Chen Yaodong, had a slightly relaxed expression.
Chen Guangliang and Chen Guangchun were in deep thought, and the hall was silent again.
Everyone thought about it, but they still couldn't figure out what the patriarch meant. The third son, Chen Guangchun, was about to ask.
Chen Guanghou suddenly said, "This is easy. I will arrange a solution. Let … let the Yao clan do it. He has done many things. Although not perfect, he is stable. If there are any other questions, go do your own thing. Don't forget what I said. Look after your own people. If they get into trouble, you won't be able to protect your family. "
After saying that, he got up and walked out, nodding to his father who was still lying on the chair.
His two sons hurriedly chased after him and left together.
"Let's go, let's go. I will take Dong 'er with me. Third brother, you are still free." The second son, Chen Guangliang, signaled to his son and swayed out with his hands behind his back.
Chen Guangchun and his family looked at each other. Chen Guangchun smacked his lips and put the lid back on the teacup. He turned to the old man and said, "Father, if you are tired, why don't you rest in the back? The hall is too empty. You will catch a cold if you sleep for a long time."
"En!" The old man seemed to have just been woken up. He opened his mouth and yawned, stretched, and looked around. "Are you done? Do as your eldest brother said. It's okay to suffer a small loss occasionally. There is a future if you live. Your eldest brother is right. Although Xiaobei and the others have high positions, they are still children. They don't care about governing the country, so they can only find trouble with others all day long. "
"Father knows that your eldest brother's family is not reassuring. Have the two boys in your family ever been easy to worry about? Go ahead and capture their studies. When Xiao Bei and the others leave, that's when the children will be released. It's better to be bored at home than to die. "
The old man of the Chen family got up and shook his legs. After saying the last word, he walked to the door, turned around, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Chen Guangchun stared at the door and shook his head. "The old man is still young. I thought he was confused. Sigh ~!"
"Father, do you really want us to study at home? Aiya, Father, we promise not to cause trouble when we go out. If others don't have eyes, we will hide. "Chen Yaohong, one of the twins, heard every word and begged his father.
No one knew a son better than his father. Chen Guangchun would never believe what his son said.
He opened his eyes wide and reprimanded, "You promise. How many times have you promised? You want to cause trouble with the identity of ordinary people. In the end, you show your identity and reverse the situation. You win because others have no temper and you win because of arrogance."
"Let me tell you, you can't be arrogant in the surrounding area. Xiaobei and the others also like to pretend to be ordinary people. If you meet them, what do you two use to win? "
"Father, they can't be unreasonable. Can't we not provoke others?" Chen Yaowei chimed in.
"Reasonable? You two are usually unreasonable, but now you want to be reasonable with me? If you don't provoke them, won't they provoke you? Go and study, go and study. "
Chen Guangchun shook his head and walked out. He met the housekeeper at the door and said, "Tell the family that no one is allowed to let them out. Otherwise, they will be punished."
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