On the first day of the first lunar month, in the early morning, the male members of the Yuan family, under the leadership of several clan elders, came to the meeting hall after sacrificing the ancestors, and everyone sat on the chairman in turn according to their seniority, descendants and side families.

"Everyone, the former head of my Yuan family was unfortunately victimized by Dong thief, and I gathered everyone here today to elect the new head of my Yuan family. ”

The first to speak was a clan elder with white hair and a withered face, he was now eighty-five years old, and he was also the oldest of the Yuan family.

Tracing back to the clan relatives within the four generations of the Yuan family, Yuan An of the Yuan family is the most expensive. He has served as a servant, Sikong, and Situ, and Yuan An has two sons, Yuan Jing and Yuan Chang. Yuan Jing is the great-grandfather of Yuan Chang and others, and Yuan Jing has a son Yuan Tang, Yuan Shan, and this clan elder is Yuan Jing's youngest son Yuan Shan.

Yuan Chang had an incorruptible personality but was not a powerful person, so he went against the will of his cousin Deng and committed suicide after being dismissed. The court concealed the cause of his death, buried him with the rites of the Three Princes, and restored his official position. Therefore, Yuan Chang's lineage has not been noble since him, and he mostly stayed in Ruyang's hometown to educate the children of the Yuan family.

Now there are six clan elders in the Yuan clan, among which Yuan Zhan is the longest, followed by Yuan Chang's two sons, Yuan Lin and Yuan Su.

The other three clan elders were Yuan Shan's two sons, Yuan Dai and Yuan Zong, and the last clan elder was Yuan Sen, the son of Yuan Su.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am the patriarch of the Yuan clan in Qinghe, Jizhou. The original ability is obvious to all, and when the tiger was in prison, he was elected as the leader of the alliance by the princes of all walks of life. Under the command of Ben Chu, Dong thieves fled in the wilderness, abandoned Luoyang and died in Chang'an. And at the beginning, he now has Jizhou in charge, but he is the best candidate for the patriarch. Therefore, I thought that I could have been the patriarch in the first place. ”

The one who stood up to speak was an old man in his early fifties, he was not the Yuan clan's own sect, but Yuan Fu, the patriarch of the Yuan clan's side line of Jizhou Qinghe. However, they, the patriarchs of the surrounding clans, gathered in Ruyang, also have the right to speak.

"Foolishly!"

Yuan Fu's words fell, and a middle-aged man in his early forties stood up opposite him. This person is Yuan Yu, the patriarch of the Ruyin lineage in Yuzhou, and his support object is Yuan Shu.

"Although he was the leader of the alliance at the beginning, he did not complete the work, Dong thief coerced the Son of Heaven and fled to Chang'an, and finally the princes from all walks of life returned in vain. The highway is located in Runan, and we are all aware of Yuan's efforts. Besides, the highway is a son-in-law, if he was the patriarch in the first place, how can he be convincing?"

Yuan Shao heard Yuan Shao's words, and a trace of anger flashed on his face, and his words were clearly mocking Yuan Shao's identity as a concubine. Yuan Shu, who was sitting opposite Yuan Shao, sneered secretly. A concubine who gave birth to a son still wanted to compete with him for the position of patriarch, which was really humiliating.

Since Yuan Yu and Yuan Yu spoke, the patriarchs of the Yuan clan in various places have spoken one after another. The candidates for support are none other than Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, as for Yuan Yi, Yuan Yin and Yuan Chang, no one will put forward them without interest. The reason why they fought so fiercely was because after Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu became the patriarch, it would be beneficial to each other.

With the Yellow River as the boundary, on the north side of the Yellow River, the Yuan clan patriarchs in Youzhou, Jizhou, Bingzhou and Sili all support Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao's sphere of influence is in Jizhou, so after he becomes the patriarch, the benefits to these four states are undoubtedly the greatest; and south of the Yellow River, the Yuan clan side patriarchs in the six states of Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Xuzhou, Yuzhou, Jingzhou and Yangzhou all support Yuan Shu as the patriarch, and the benefits of Yuan Shu becoming the patriarch are greater for them. Of course, the reason why there are collateral lines in the land of the Six States that support Yuan Shu is because of the identity of Yuan Shu's son-in-law.

Although there were more people who supported Yuan Shu, these side patriarchs only had the right to speak, and their words only provided conditions for the decision of the six clan elders.

It was the six clan elders who really made the decision, and Yuan Yi, Yuan Yin, and Yuan Chang were the children of the Yuan clan's own sect, so their support could also influence the opinions of the clan elders.

Yuan Yan waved his hand to stop the quarrel of the patriarch of Yuan Shao's side, and looked at Yuan Shao's cousin Yuan Yi, who was also one of the princes of Dong, Shanyang Taishou.

"Boye, who do you think can be the patriarch of Ben Chu or Lu Lu?"

Yuan Yi stood up and said respectfully: "Second uncle, I thought I was generous and dignified. Therefore, when Dong was first discussed, the princes from all walks of life elected Ben Chu as the leader of the alliance, and Han Fu, the former Jizhou assassin Shi knew that his talent was not as good as Ben Chu, and he gave up the land of Jizhou to Ben Chu, which shows the ability of Ben Chu. Therefore, it is believed that it is very good to be the patriarch in the first place. ”

Yuan Yi has always been a staunch supporter of Yuan Shao, and he naturally recommended Yuan Shao.

"Ji Ye, what do you think?"

Yuan Jiye is Yuan Yin, that is, the son of Yuan Kui, the former head of the Yuan family. Yuan Yin has been friends with Yuan Shu since he was a child, and in the original history, even if Yuan Shu died, Yuan Yin still protected Yuan Shu's coffin and Yuan Shu's wife to escape.

"Second uncle, the highway is wide and tolerant, and he is capable and decisive, which is exactly what the patriarch needs. And since ancient times, Yin thought that the road was the patriarch. ”

"Humph!"

Yuan Shao snorted lightly with anger on his face, he had been talked about the birth of a concubine, and he couldn't help it no matter how much he wanted to endure it. Moreover, although the patriarchs of the other Yuan clan's side lines said so, they did not have the slightest blood relationship with Yuan Shao, and they were the ones who supported Yuan Shu, so it was understandable to say so. However, Yuan Shao and Yuan Yin are also cousins, both are the grandsons of a grandfather, and he Yuan Shao is still Yuan Yin's cousin, Yuan Yin said this, didn't he take Yuan Shao in his eyes at all.

Of course, for Yuan Yin, the disagreement between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu is almost to the point where everyone knows about it. Therefore, Yuan Yin naturally has no scruples, can he Yuan Shao still do anything to him?

The clan elder sitting at the top didn't seem to see the anger of the two sides, Yuan Yan looked at Yuan Chang, but the old man's voice asked clearly: "This is Zhou Yang's fourth son, he is old, and he can't remember his name for a while." Oh, by the way, it's called Yuan Chang, right?"

"Second Uncle Hui is Yuan Chang. ”

Yuan Chang stood up and said respectfully, Yuan Chang still has the basic etiquette of respecting the old and loving the young.

Yuan Yan seemed to be very satisfied with Yuan Chang's respectful look, nodded and asked again: "The old man remembers that you are also an adult, and you are also sixteen years old this year, right? Why is there no table word yet? In this case, the old man will pick a table word for you, okay?"

"Thank you, second uncle!"

Yuan Chang originally crossed over, and before the crossing, there was no such thing as a table at all, so Yuan Chang didn't care. However, in today's era, among the scholars, only those who have taken the table character can be regarded as real adults. And Yuan Chang, because he used to have a very low level in the Yuan family, no one cared about it at all, and his old son Yuan Feng hung up, so naturally no one took the table words for him.

However, Yuan Chang was a little puzzled, the table word can be taken at any time, why did he make such a show when choosing the patriarch? Not only Yuan Chang was puzzled, everyone felt puzzled, taking the table word for Yuan Chang would be heavier than choosing the patriarch?

Yuan Yan twisted his white beard, pondered for a moment, and said: "The original and the highway are all taken by the old man for them, don't forget the original, don't forget the original intention, so Shao's words are the beginning; the grand duke is the first, the square is the right way, so the word of the art is the highway; I, the fourth and third dukes of the Yuan family, are extremely noble, you don't have to forget, the old man hopes that you can inherit the will of the Yuan family." Therefore, today's old man will take the words for you, you must keep it in mind. ”

"Thank you, second uncle!"

Yuan Chang's face remained unchanged, but his heart was full of thoughts. After turning around, his original name Yuan Chengzhi returned. But that's okay, the name Yuan Chengzhi should be his nostalgia for his parents in his previous life.

However, Yuan Shan's next words made everyone understand why they had to take the table words for Yuan Chang at this time.

"Chengzhi, today's old man just picked up the words for you, this time the Yuan clan meeting, you don't have to speak, listen quietly. At the next clan meeting, you will have your say. ”

"Obey the words of the second uncle!"

Yuan Chang suddenly felt that Yuan Yan didn't want him to give his opinion, so he proposed to take the table for him. Yuan Chang thought about it a little in his heart, and he already roughly understood.

Judging from the current situation, Yuan Shan, the oldest clan, always wants Yuan Shu to be the team leader, so Yuan Shan's two sons must be the same as Yuan Shan. Although Yuan Zhan is old, he must also know that Yuan Chang is close to Yuan Shao, and now that he has stopped Yuan Chang's speech, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu have one supporter among the children of Yuan's own sect. At the same time, Yuan Shan's attempt to stop Yuan Chang's speech also explained another fact, that is, the other three clan elders, Yuan Lin, Yuan Su, and Yuan Su's son Yuan Sen, supported Yuan Shao. Because of the different opinions of the two sides, it is inevitable that Yuan Chang's speech will break this balance, so he has to make such a statement.

Of course, for Yuan Chang, it doesn't matter, anyway, he doesn't really support Yuan Shao, since he doesn't need him to speak, he is also happy to be idle.

And Yuan Shao almost vomited blood, Yuan Shao is not stupid, after all, he is also a capable person. He tried his best to win over Yuan Chang, just for today, but he didn't expect to be overwhelmed by Yuan Shan's words. Looking at Yuan Shu on the other side, he almost didn't laugh out loud. He was still regretting that he couldn't win over Yuan Chang before, but when he saw this situation, he suddenly felt excited.

Yuan Yan has the highest seniority, and his meaning has been clearly made to support Yuan Shu, so the situation is obviously favorable to Yuan Shu. After all, the six clan elders are divided into two factions, but Yuan Shan's seniority is there, and the patriarch urgently needs to be elected, so the three people who finally supported Yuan Shao have to look at Yuan Shan's seniority, and default to Yuan Shu's election as the patriarch.

Yuan Shan's gaze communicated with Yuan Lin, Yuan Su, and Yuan Sen in the air.

"Ahem!"

Yuan Yan coughed lightly twice, attracting everyone's attention, and then said hoarsely: "It's getting late today, the choice of the patriarch is not in a hurry, and we will discuss it tomorrow." ”

Thinking that Yuan Yan and Yuan Lin did not reach an agreement, they estimated that it would take some discussion and consultation in the evening to make a decision.

However, the decision will be made by Yuan Shan's opinion.