Princess Changle, who was pregnant, felt tired after going to the Women's and Children's Building. After returning to Mo's Mansion, she went back to her room to have a rest.
But when Meton returned to the hall, he saw that Xu Jie had been waiting for him.
"How is it going?" Meton asked tiredly.
"It's terrible!" Xu Jie said seriously. "The Five Surnames and Seven Hopes have started to take action. Now half of the merchants have stopped cooperating with the Mo's Village. All the vehicles transporting the goods of the Mo's Village have been checked strictly. Most of them will be detained if there is something wrong. Even if they bribe the merchants, it is useless."
"Using public property for private purposes! These aristocratic families are really vermin! "Meton said angrily.
He had expected that the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes would take action. When he refused them at the beginning, Meton had already ordered to give up all the counties with the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes. He would look for agents in the places where the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes were in charge, and be extra careful in other places.
However, he still underestimated the influence of the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes. As soon as the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes took action, the whole Mo's Village had suffered a great loss. They almost lost the market north of the Yellow River in an instant.
Meton took a deep breath and said, "Call back brother Mo Jiazi who is outside first. The whole Mo's Village has been shrinking. Now we have to stabilize the situation first."
"Yes!" Xu Jie said seriously. Now the most important thing was to minimize the loss of the Mo's Village and preserve the strength first. Only in this way could they survive the battle with the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes.
The most sensitive people in Chang 'an were the merchants. A little trouble would affect their nerves. The news that the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes joined forces to suppress the Mo's Village immediately spread all over Chang' an and became the most popular topic in Chang 'an.
"That's the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes!" A merchant looked up to the sky and heaved a long sigh. When he mentioned the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes, he felt like he was looking up at a lofty mountain. In the Tang dynasty, the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes were the most prominent aristocratic families. Marrying a woman from the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes was the highest honor for all officials.
Because once a woman from a noble family of the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes went to a noble family, not only would she be well-educated and well-behaved, she would also be able to integrate into the marriage circle established by the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes for thousands of years. You would find that your superior was your wife's third uncle's brother's schoolmate. From then on, the path would be smooth. This was the power of a noble family.
"This time, Village Mo is in danger!"
Almost everyone silently sentenced the Mo's Village to death in their hearts. In the Tang dynasty, if you offended the emperor, you might be able to get away with it. However, if you offended the five clans and seven nobles at the same time, you would definitely die.
"How could Mo Jiazi be so unwise to offend all the Five Clans and Seven Hopes?" A silk merchant frowned.
"You don't know about this, do you? The heads of the Five Clans and Seven Hopes came to Mo Jiazi's house to buy his ink skills. However, Mo Jiazi pointed at the noses of the heads of the Five Clans and Seven Hopes and scolded them as vermin, hamsters, and blood-sucking gadflies! "An idle man suddenly came forward and whispered.
"Hiss!" Suddenly, everyone gasped. The Five Clans and Seven Hopes were so proud that they would not allow others to point at their noses and scold them. This time, Mo Jiazi was not wronged at all.
Of course, this was also a rumor spread by the Five Clans and Seven Hopes. Even the Five Clans and Seven Hopes could not deal with the famous Mo Jiazi without any reason. They would only lose a little bit of their reputation, but compared to the benefits they would gain from subduing the Mo family, this was nothing. This was what a mercenary aristocratic family was like.
"Well scolded!"
Of course, there were also people who secretly applauded. For thousands of years, it was not that no one had realized the danger of the aristocratic families. It could even be said that the aristocratic families had done a lot of massacres. However, the aristocratic families firmly controlled the political power in the imperial court and stood at the top of the Tang dynasty. Others dared to be angry but did not dare to say anything.
"This time, the Mo family village is finished!"
Whether it was those who agreed with Mo Jiazi or those who sneered at Mo Jiazi, they could not help but think in their hearts.
"You really pointed at the heads of the Five Clans and Seven Hopes and scolded them as vermin?" Fang Yi 'ai hurried to the Mo family house and looked at Meton in disbelief.
"Am I not?" Meton asked back.
Fang Yi 'ai immediately said helplessly, "Do you know that the head of the Fanyang Lu family is my grandfather?"
"Now I know!" Meton nodded and said.
Fang Yi 'ai shook his head and said, "Originally, my father wanted to plead for you, but now I'm afraid it's not reasonable."
Fang Xuanling was the head of all the officials. If he came forward to uphold justice, the Five Clans and Seven Hopes would not openly attack Mo Jiazi. However, this was related to Fang Xuanling's father-in-law. If he helped Meton, he was afraid that people would gossip about him.
"No! Different situations call for different actions. The Mo family will not yield to anyone. "Meton said firmly.
Fang Yi 'ai sighed and said, "Then you hold on for a while. After a while, I will plead for my grandfather!"
Meton sent Fang Yi 'ai away, but he understood that the interests involved in this battle were too many to be influenced by a little bit of family affection. Not to mention Fang Yi 'ai, even if Lu came forward in person, it would be useless.
Sure enough, bad news came one after another. The Longhai Line that the Mo family valued the most suffered heavy losses. The Zheng family of Xingyang occupied the center of the Longhai Line, and all the vehicles transporting the Mo family's goods were obstructed. If there was anything wrong, they would seize the goods of the Mo family's village. Soon, the Eastern Line of the Mo family's village fell.
And Longxi was the territory of the Li family. Lanzhou and Chencang fell one after another. Under the joint attack of a group of aristocratic families, the Mo family's village was defeated.
"So the Mo family's village only has two markets left, Chang 'an and Luoyang!" Meton frowned and said.
Xu Jie nodded and said, "Chang 'an is the base of the Mo family's village. Currently, there is no need to worry about it. Luoyang, the young master and madam went to Luoyang for their honeymoon. They are very popular in Luoyang, so both places are safe for now."
In fact, what Xu Jie said was only one aspect. Chang 'an and Luoyang were the center of Datang. The magistrate of Chang' an and the magistrate of Luoyang were important ministers in the imperial court. They had the power to reject the five families and seven wishes. Besides, if they openly supported the five families and seven wishes, what would the imperial court think of them? At least so far, both places were still fair.
Even so, a group of small aristocratic families consciously kept a distance from the Mo family's village. The Mo family's village's goods, which used to be popular, suddenly became neglected, and the Mo family's village suffered heavy losses.
Xu Jie's heart was gloomy. He couldn't help but think of the way the Taiyuan Wang family dealt with Xu's Trading Company. Wasn't it the same? He originally thought that the Mo family's village was a giant, and they would no longer be afraid of aristocratic families. However, when the aristocratic families joined forces, he found that even the powerful Mo family's village and the wise Mo Jiazi were helpless and had no power to fight back.
"Is this the world of aristocratic families?" Xu Jie took a deep breath and said.
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