"PS: I'm a little entangled in the connection of the plot, and there will be a chapter later."

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One day in late May, when the people of Ruyang got up early in the morning and were about to go to the city to see the excitement in front of the two rice shops of Zhao and Zheng, they were shocked to find that Ruyang had changed.

All the Zhengjia rice shops in the city are closed.

In a panic, they ran to Zhao's rice shops all over the city, only to be told that Zhao's rice shops had also stopped selling grain.

What the hell are the two ...... What's wrong?

Only one day later, this doubt was answered, and the remaining 20 or so shops in Ruyang City with 'Zheng' signboards, no matter what they were selling, were closed for business, and many Zheng family servants loaded the contents of the shops into carriages and left the county seat with a calm face.

During this period, even when someone asked them what had happened, these Zheng family servants remained silent.

In the afternoon of the same day, the four Zheng family rice shops in the city were all hung with Zhao's signboards, while the remaining 20 or so were divided by Wei's, Lu's, Chen's and other merchants who appeared out of nowhere, replacing the Zheng family's original business - these newly opened shops all have the same feature, that is, they all have an additional 'Lu Ye Gongji' signboard.

It is not difficult for well-informed people to guess that these businessmen are all from Luyang and Yexian, and they both belong to a chamber of commerce called Luye Freemasonry.

Ruyang, the sky has changed, and the Zheng family, which was once invincible in Ruyang, retreated in disgrace.

Locals flocked to Zhao's rice shop, either questioning the Zhao family or begging the Zhao family to inquire about the price of rice—rather than mourning the defeat of the Zheng family, they were more concerned about when the price of rice in Ruyang would return to its original price, or whether it would become higher than before.

At this time, Wang Dan, the county commander who had no sense of existence for almost three months, finally came forward to clean up the mess.

The county government spread the news that the county government would do its best to negotiate with the Zhao family to ensure that the price of rice in Ruyang would not fluctuate too much, let alone exceed the original price.

I have to say that the county government still has prestige, and in the case of the county government, the hearts of the people in Ruyang have settled down a little, and the county commander Wang Dan has really increased a wave of popular support.

But what follows depends on the outcome of the negotiation between this Wang County Commander and the Zhao family.

Unexpectedly, on the second day, the county government came out with the news that the county ordered Wang Dan to negotiate with the Zhao family, and the Zhao family said that although the price of rice would gradually recover to the price of 220 yuan and one stone in a few months, they promised not to raise the price within three years.

Although this promise disappointed many locals who were still thinking about speculation, and even scolded the Zhao family for crossing the river and demolishing the bridge, most of the people of Ruyang were satisfied – or more simply, what if they were not satisfied? Even the Zheng family was defeated by the Zhao family.

After ensuring that their own interests were not harmed and affected, the people of Ruyang began to review the battle between the Zhao and Zheng families, and discussed why the Zheng family was defeated in Ruyang.

You must know that the Zheng family is not only the Zheng family in Ruyang, Ruyang is just the birthplace of the Zheng family, in fact, the Zheng family's power includes the Rushui counties and the entire Henan, even in this battle between Zhao and Zheng, the Zheng family was defeated by the Zhao family and the Luye Freemasons in Rushui counties, but the latter two are still involved in Henan, and the Zheng family still has a chance to counterattack.

Few people can understand why the Zheng family chose to retreat when they still had the strength to spare, and gave up the birthplace of Ruyang to the Zhao family.

Unfortunately, although they were very curious about this, neither the Zhao family, nor the Zheng family, including the Luye Freemasons, did not give any explanation for this matter, only the grapevine said that the Zheng family actually wanted to retaliate, but they were finally afraid.

Scared?

Afraid of what?

No one in Ruyang knows.

It's no wonder, after all, the people who know about this matter are only those who are qualified to participate in the clan meeting of the Zheng family, and the very few people around Zhao Yu, the second son of the Zhao family, only these people know that what the Zheng family is afraid of is that the second son has set off the table of competition with each other, and used the local low-cost rice grain in Ruyang to attract Wang Shangde, a general in Wancheng who is suffering from food shortage......

I have to say that that is really a disaster of jade burning.

When the Zheng family fully withdrew from Ruyang, Zheng Qian, the prince of Ruyang, was the last to leave, accompanied by his cousins Zhengzhou and Zheng Zixiang.

"I regret not listening to my brother's advice that day."

When he left the city, Zheng Qian sat in the carriage, looked back at the streets of the city, and sighed gloomily.

Those who insult others will always be humiliated.

On that day, his Zheng family humiliated the father and son of the Zhao family in Luyang, and now, the Zhao family forced him to withdraw from Ruyang and not be allowed to set foot in Ruyang, and in turn humiliated the Zheng family, and Wang Zhi, who was the fuse of the whole thing, was also punished accordingly.

A few days ago, when the clan would accept the conditions proposed by the Zhao family, Wang Zhi was punished by the clan, although Zheng Qian came forward to intercede, Wang Zhi was also beaten for forty battles, and now he is lying on the sickbed and unable to move.

Even Zheng Qian himself didn't know what kind of punishment he would receive, or whether he could keep his status as the prince of Ruyang.

After all, the loss of the entire Zheng family this time is too great, and the several Zheng families that settled in Henan are divided, so they ask the Yu family, who let the family be good and provoke the tiger of the Luyang Zhao family - the Luyang Zhao family is lying in Luyang and dozing off, and they have to provoke others.

I have to say that if it weren't for the fact that the Marquis of Ruyang was named by the Son of Heaven of the Jin Kingdom, and the father and son of the Marquis of Ruyang are still alive and well, it may not be possible that the Zheng family's division would take the opportunity to rob the family of the Lord.

But even so, the prestige of the Zheng family in the family has been greatly reduced.

"Let's do it for now."

Zhengzhou persuaded his cousin: "The foundation of the Zhao family is in Luyang and Ye County, and the people are not prosperous. After a while, when this matter is completely calm, let's visit the Zhao family again, and try to 'redeem' Ruyang back, at least let the Zhao family allow my Zheng family to return to Ruyang......"

"Will the Zhao family agree to it?" Zheng Qian asked suspiciously.

"I guess so." Zhengzhou thought for a while and said: "Ruyang is a little far away from the Zhao family after all, if it is changed in the past, driving away my Zheng family and occupying Ruyang, it can indeed allow them to monopolize the price of rice in Ruyang and make huge profits, but if it is overdone, it will cause dissatisfaction among the people of Ruyang, and then cause Wang Fengzhong's dissatisfaction." Not to mention that now the Zhao family has a better place to go in the Wancheng Military Market, as far as I know, the Zhao family is in General Wang's Wancheng Military Market, and it is said that they have been treated for 260 yuan for one stone of rice, which is 40 yuan higher than Ruyang, and from Yexian to Wancheng, this is almost the same distance as Yexian to Ruyang...... I really can't think of any reason for the Zhao family to forcibly dominate Ruyang. ”

Hearing this, Zheng Qian was silent, because what his cousin Zhengzhou said all proved that the Zhao family's 'crossing the line' this time was purely a battle of will, just to avenge the Zheng family for humiliating their father and son, but in fact, they didn't get any cheap.

In fact, the Zhao family did not get any cheapness, but the Luye Freemasonry and the merchants of Henan, including the people of Ruyang, the merchants of Ruyang, and other families in Ruyang, all gained a lot of benefits in this incident.

But Zhengzhou guessed one thing wrong, that is, Zhao Yu will not return Ruyang to the Zheng family, at least he will not give up Ruyang, because in the planning of Luyang County, there is a river called Jinggong Canal that will be completed in a few years, this river will connect Rushui and Shahe, and in the meantime, Ruyang has become an important hub in this waterway network, in this case, how can Zhao Yu withdraw from Ruyang?

Or to put it more simply, he drove away the Zheng family and united with the Luye Freemasons to occupy Ruyang, in order to prepare for the completion of the Jinggong Canal in a few years, and to take advantage of the prosperity of Rushui counties to develop Luyang County.

However, his behavior of laying out in advance was understood by most people as a humiliation of the Zheng family, and it can only be said that Zhao Yu's age is too confusing, and even Zhengzhou, as the county magistrate of Yangcheng County, was confused by Zhao Yu, mistakenly thinking that this smart boy was just to pay tribute to the Zheng family.

On the other hand, Zhao Yu also finished the trivial affairs in Ruyang and returned to Luyang County with Jingnu, Zhang Ji, and Ma Cheng, while the rest of the domestic servants and guards stayed in Ruyang for the time being to take care of those shops.

Accompanying him back to Luyang were Wei Pu of the Luye Freemasonry and other businessmen.

This time the business war between the Zhao and Zheng families, the Luye Freemasonry was the first to appear, but the results were remarkable, first defeated the local merchants and families in Runan County, forcing the county commander Liu Yi to go to Ye County to ask Mao Jue for help, and then appeared in Ruyang under the call of Zhao Yu to collect the excess rice grain in the hands of the locals on behalf of Zhao Yu.

Even during this period, the Luye Freemasons also 'attacked' several Rushui counties such as Linru, Lunshi, and Jiaxian, and 'occupied' at least one-third of the shops in these counties—among them, Runan County, under the instruction of Zhao Yu, occupied almost half of the shops.

It is undeniable that in the face of the benefits obtained from the Wancheng Military City, 'occupying' territory in the Rushui counties cannot directly help these merchants to obtain greater benefits, but at least the fame has been played, and now even in the Rushui counties, the Luye Freemasonry is also a household name.

For the merchants, a resounding reputation is equivalent to potential wealth, so they are very satisfied with this 'expedition' and are ready to celebrate after returning to Luyang and Yexian.

And to celebrate this matter, Zhao Yu gave full authority to Cao Ju, the chief steward of the house, after all, it was too troublesome for him.

On the second day of the sixth lunar month, Zhao Yu took Jingnu and a few people back to the Xianghou Mansion, visited his parents, and reported to them the 'results' in Ruyang County.

In this regard, the Marquis of Luyang did not care, after all, he had learned the general strategy from his son a few months ago, and therefore predicted the general result, and the defeat of the Zheng family was not his expectation at all.

But Zhou happily praised his son, making the Luyang townsman a little tasteful.

In the next few days, the old man Zhou Shouzheng also learned the news, and took his wife Zhang Zhou to visit the little grandson and celebrate the little grandson.