At night, an inconspicuous small building in the southwest corner of Zhangjiaji is brightly lit, the small building is white bricks and black tiles, from the appearance, it is very much the style of the Republic of China of the Hui School, but the walls are mottled, I am afraid that it is some years. The internal pattern of the small building is very regular, divided into two before and after, the front is the courtyard surrounded by the main hall and the left and right wings, the yard is paved with bricks and stones, although it is old, but it is very clean, there is a small nursery on the left side, the flowers and plants are green and bamboo, it is very elegant, the right side is a big elm tree, it is very stout, there are several stone benches under the tree, and there are books on a few books.

There are also courtyards and east and west wings in the back, with the same pattern, but in the middle is a two-story building. Advancing to the center of the main hall, there was a circle of people sitting around the square table, four on the left and right sides, basically all of them were already old, and the youngest was already middle-aged.

The top position was empty, everyone looked different, but no one spoke, and some occasionally looked up at the corner door behind them, as if waiting for something, just looking, without any impatience.

Finally, the corner door slowly opened, and several people walked in order, and the first two young men in black clothes and black pants were tall, with cold faces, and a very aura. Behind him was an old man, with a long goatee, dressed in an old-fashioned grey cloth robe, covered with black shoulders, red and steady, followed by an old man with a short beard, who lowered his head and eyebrows, as if preoccupied.

The crowd around the crowd got up to salute the old man, the other party accepted it calmly, slowly walked to the position of the head and stood still, and then motioned for everyone to sit down, two young men in black stood behind him, one left and one right, and there were followers outside.

The old man did not sit down, but turned his head and instructed the old man who followed him, "Baogen, you can sit too." ”

The old man named Baogen bowed slightly, then turned his head and walked straight to the bottom of the long table, still with his eyebrows down.

"Gather everyone and say two things. The old man with the goatee cleared his throat, looked around, his eyes were full of light, and his spiritual head did not match his age at all, "The first thing, naturally, is the top priority of my Zhang family, preparing for the 230th anniversary of the ancestors of the Zhang family next year, and the 110th anniversary of the southward migration of the Zhang clan, I am good at advocating, the two big days are done together, grand, but there is no need to be extravagant, you can discuss it for a while, if you have no opinions, this matter will be discussed by Shuigen, Xigen and Jiugen together."

"The second thing, related to the safety and survival of my Zhang family, there are young people who dare to offend and peep into the secrets that my ancestors have guarded for generations, they call it a treasure, hehe, for two hundred and thirty years, this kind of thing has never been interrupted, the itch of grass mustard, there is nothing to worry about, but this time it is different, there are bold and reckless people, actually from within our Zhang family. ”

As soon as this remark came out, there was an uproar in the audience, and it was the first time that the old patriarch accused the Zhang family of having a traitor in front of everyone, if the situation was not very serious, or someone smashed a real hammer, in short, the old patriarch was furious.

The long-bearded old man looked around again, his eyes were blazing, and everyone's hearts were awe-inspiring, and they immediately stopped talking to each other, but no one took the initiative to speak.

"My Zhang family has been ordered by heaven, after two hundred and thirty years, the vicissitudes of life, several wars, a full eleven generations, but always able to avoid disasters and be safe, divided but not dispersed, deep roots and lush leaves, what do you rely on?"

Everyone looked at each other, each with their own thoughts, pondering the deep meaning of the old patriarch's words, if they said that they were united, it seemed that they could not be relied on, since the great division of the Zhang family began to move south a hundred years ago, they have been fighting, in the internal friction, many branches withered, died, or moved to other places, it seems that the external destruction is less than one-twelfth of the internal fighting.

If it is said that by the mandate of heaven, there is indeed a secret edict of the Son of Heaven back then, but then it is even more far, a yellow silk cloth is just a yellow silk cloth, the dynasty has long been replaced, things are not people, who cares about this? The real thing is kept by the patriarch according to the ancestral teachings, passed down from generation to generation, except for the patriarch himself, no one has ever seen it, but the rubbing, everyone sitting there has seen it, a few words, to the effect that the secret order inlaid with the yellow flag and the commander Tong Tu led the troops to garrison the Tunjing side and keep the peace forever.

The meaning of the secret edict is confusing; Jingbian was not a frontier in those years, and after the pacification of Zhunger, there was no hidden danger of civil strife, so how could it be that if Jingbian was lost, the Qing Dynasty would be in danger? Not to mention that just relying on the few people brought by the ancestors in those years would not be enough to garrison the frontier at all.

The so-called secret edict may have supreme deterrent power in the past, but now it can only be used as a cultural relic, a little research value, but it is worth a little bit of research, but it is hard to say how much it is worth, after all, it is a secret edict, there is no jade seal, and there is not even a signature, only a small private seal, called 'Tianzhen'.

Some people have long repeatedly checked the "Qianlong Baoxu", which contains the seal of the Qianlong Emperor, as many as more than 1,000 squares, such as "Ten Perfect Old Men", "Ten Perfections of Heaven", "Sanxi Hall", "Treasure of Qianlong's Imperial Tour", etc., are very common, but they just haven't found the word "Tianzhen", so it's not a fake, right? No one dares to say this to his face, and he has not found a single one in several generations with memory, but there are more than one or two people who think so.

Therefore, relying on unity, relying on inheritance, relying on holy decrees, in fact, they are all unreliable, but it is also strange to say, the Zhang family fell, moved all the way south, stumbled, crumbling, and even scattered, but each generation will pop out of a ruthless person who can be suppressed, and it must be the best candidate for the patriarch, these ruthless people have their own means, and they will soon be able to gather a plate of scattered clansmen again, the old patriarch is such a person, maybe only they are reliable?

"It's a mission!" the old patriarch said categorically, "Each branch has ancestral teachings, but not many people will take it seriously, and if you throw it away as an old antique, you can even find it, and you can ask if you don't believe it." ”

The group looked at each other again, but still no one spoke.

"The peepers I just mentioned are not a single person, nor a branch, but a group of people! Think about how terrible it is? When did my Zhang family fall into such a poor and sour field, and need to dig graves and dig pits, and rob the things guarded by the ancestors in order to survive?!" The old patriarch became more and more excited, and simply took square steps along the table and began to circle around.

Everyone who was sitting immediately had all kinds of unease, some were sitting upright, holding their breath and concentrating, looking like good students; some looked at their noses and noses, their mouths were concerned, their eyes were half-squinted and pretending to be dead; and some were staggering and fidgeting, and the coercion and aura of the old patriarch could be seen.

"You are all clan relatives, family heads, usually get rich and do business, this is a good thing to join forces, it shows that our Zhang family is still cohesive, which one is not a big family now? But you must control yourself and the people around you, don't be greedy, even if you are greedy, you have to think about the consequences, and you can't be so greedy that you stretch out your hand to the ancestors, it's not as simple as dying a few people, it's going to collapse!"

The old patriarch said as he walked, suddenly stopped and bent over, lowered his head, and pointed at a middle-aged man with a fat head and big ears at the back of his head, but his eyes were staring at an old man with a gray head and a thin face next to him, this person was afraid that his age was about the same as the old patriarch, and he was pretending to be dead with half-squinted eyes at the moment, even if the old patriarch stared at him like this, he was not moved, but the middle-aged man behind him was not lightly frightened, and the fat on his face began to shake unconsciously.

"I won't name these people, but I can stop them if I have to, so I decided to temporarily take back the iron tokens and wrenches of all of you, and hand them over to my study within three days, and everyone can talk to me alone if they have ideas. ”

As soon as the old patriarch said this, he was in an uproar again, and a middle-aged man immediately couldn't help it, and stood up suddenly, "According to the ancestral teaching, the old patriarch should not have the right to take back the iron token and wrench, right?"

"Who else has an opinion?" the old patriarch nodded, and looked around at everyone again.

"I agree with Changqing's opinion and ask the old patriarch to take back his fate. The old man, who was half-squinting and pretending to be dead, also spoke.

"Anything else?" The old patriarch's gaze suddenly became extremely sharp, and everyone who touched his gaze couldn't help but shudder, don't look at the old patriarch so weak, his ruthless and decisive style has always been a shadow on the hearts of many Zhang family members.

But there were still people who stood up tenaciously, "I also agree with Changqing's opinion." ”

"What is your opinion?" the old patriarch suddenly twisted his head and looked at the short-bearded old man who was sitting at the bottom.

Zhang Baogen was unexpectedly named, he looked left and right, and finally looked at the old patriarch, and stood up very helplessly, "I...... I ......"

"Mother-in-law, mother-in-law, are you still Zhang Baogen?"

"I, I also ask the old patriarch to take back his fate. Zhang Baogen didn't dare to look at the old patriarch, but inadvertently swept the old man with half-squinted eyes.

The old patriarch couldn't believe it, his eyes widened, and he stared at Zhang Baogen for a minute, and under this kind of forced gaze, cold sweat quickly oozed from his back, but he still gritted his teeth and didn't move there.

The old patriarch suddenly raised his head and laughed, "Okay, good, it's not my Zhang family, I have that kind of courage to break through the sky, but for my own selfish interests, do you want to bury the entire Zhang family?"

"The old patriarch is serious, right? What we guard, we have the final say, and we don't hinder others, right?" The squinting black and thin old man disagreed.

"Shut up!" the old patriarch drank violently, stretched out his hand and pointed at the black and thin old man, "Use the jade wrench finger to open the ancestral hall mechanism without permission, and steal the ancient map, do you think you are doing it without knowing it? The old man saves face for you, but you kick your nose in the face, you want to die, don't take everyone!"

"And you!" The old patriarch turned his gaze to Zhang Baogen, "I lost the important information and tokens of the family heirloom, and now I have caused a catastrophe, and I am still obsessed, you look at the wind and waves tossed by the kid of the Mugen family, I'm afraid he is going to fly, right?!"

"Zhangjiaji and Funiu Town, why do some mysterious and special characters appear one after another? Why do people always go to Honggu to investigate the old affairs of the archives? Do you know who they are?

"The old patriarch is angry, there are many misunderstandings in this matter, there should be room for relaxation......" A middle-aged man who looked dignified and remained silent stood up, but before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by the old patriarch.

"You're the most important thing, you're bad in your bones, how many times have I said that you broke up that bullshit organization, not only didn't you listen, but the more you played, the bigger it became, it's not that I'm exaggerating, you're digging your own grave. ”