"Yingde, is everything ready?"

The Zhang family asked his eldest son.

"Father, everything is ready, but are we really going to go this way? If this matter is a little worse, I'm afraid we will never recover! And even if we succeed, we can't change anything, and in the end, aren't the other three cheaper? ”

Looking at his eldest son, Zhang Xun smiled with relief: "Son, if you can see this, you can rest assured that you are a father." ”

Seeing his father's slightly sad eyes, Zhang Xiu was stunned: "Father, what do you mean?" ”

Zhang Xun sighed lightly: "You don't want to participate in everything next, I have ordered some core members of the family to gather and prepare to go to Jingzhou to join the Huang family as a back road, and you will be responsible for leading them." We'll leave tomorrow. ”

Zhang Hyun's resolute gaze and tone all indicated that he was basically a dying entrustment.

Zhang Xiu's face was at a loss, and he said anxiously: "Father, what are you talking about?" ”

Zhang Xun was no longer ruthless and impatient in the past, and looked up at the sky as if he had seen through everything: "Son! My father thought he had calculated everything, but he didn't expect it to be wrong! ”

As if talking to himself, he muttered: "My father is a young and intelligent man, and he took over the position of head of the family from your grandfather in his twenties. ”

At that time, my father saw that the family in the world was already too powerful, and within fifty years, there would be a troubled era that was not inferior to the late Qin period. Therefore, his father chose to act arbitrarily, and abandoned the cautious and benevolent family style despite public opinion, and did almost anything to expand the family power. ”

"Finally, now more than 20 years have passed, although the reputation of my Zhang family has been extremely corrupted in Yangzhou, it has also successfully and quickly changed from a third-rate family to a quasi-first-class family, ranking one of the four major families in Jiangdong."

"My father thinks he's right, and the troubled times have come. gave up the family style, reputation, and popular support for my father, because my father knew that strength was everything in troubled times, even if my Zhang family was pointed out by thousands of people, but as long as there was enough strength to affect Jiangdong, it was still a sweet spot in the eyes of everyone in the troubled times. ”

"My father thought that no matter who wanted to occupy Jiangdong and compete for hegemony in the world, they would need to rely on our four great families to manage and stabilize Yangzhou. When the time comes to invest in this person, we can take the opportunity to protect ourselves and grow, and after spending some time to change our faces, there will be no hidden dangers before, and we can become one of the real four great families of Jiangdong without controversy or even go further. ”

"But I did everything for my father, but I missed Yuan Shu!"

"This man's ambition and boldness were truly the most terrible of all the men my father had ever seen in his life. Abandon Yuzhou and choose Yangzhou. Borrowed the power of the Yuan family to suppress the family, borrowed the talents of the Yuan family to win the hearts of the people, and did not rely on the Jiangdong family such as us, and successfully controlled and stabilized Jiangdong! ”

"Now that my Zhang family has no way out, this time for my father to connect Shanyue, it is destined to be unsuccessful, and it will not shake the foundation of Yuan Shu at all."

Zhang Xiu hurriedly said, "Then why do you still do this, father?" ”

Zhang Xun smiled bitterly: "My Zhang family has no way out!" Yuan Shu has initially taken control of Jiangdong, and the general trend has been achieved. And the Gu family and the Zhu family have already taken refuge in him, but whoever is the master of the Ming will definitely be proficient in the way of grace and power and balance. wants to completely control Jiangdong, and wooed the Gu and Zhu families, which is En. And Wei, naturally, it will be on my Zhang family and Lu family. At least one of our two families has to disappear, so that Yuan Shu can truly control Jiangdong and rest assured. And among these two, my Zhang family is the weakest, and the reputation is poor, it is simply the best target, the best choice to kill chickens and monkeys. Even if we don't do it, Yuan Shu will take the initiative to deal with us within half a year at most. ”

"But father, we can go directly to Yuan Shu! Presumably he will not refuse us, after all, we are one of the four great families in Jiangdong. ”

Looking at this son who is as talented as himself, Zhang Xun sighed: "You are right, but you are looking at the wrong person." ”

"Who is Yuan Shu? A son-in-law of the Yuan family, who is the third prince of the fourth world, is willing to give up Yuzhou, the third largest state in the world and his own base camp, and choose our people in Yangzhou, a remote country. ”

"A person who is bloodless and uses the general situation to suppress our Jiangdong family, who has no way but is unwilling to give us any benefits and make any concessions."

"A person who would rather hurt the enemy by 1,000 and lose 800 with us, but just to fatten the people and win the hearts of the people."

"He will never accept our Zhang family, which has a lot of stains, and abandon the people, and besides, he doesn't need our existence, the Gu family and the Zhang family are enough."

"But father, why do you insist on doing this, knowing that we are bound to fail and will be destroyed! It is better to admit defeat directly to General Yuan, at least it can leave some leeway. ”

Zhang Hyun's tone did not change at all: "Son! I am not stupid for my father, I am doing this for my father to leave the last hope of a comeback for my Zhang family. ”

"I caused it, and I will end it. Rest assured, you will go unimpeded, and Guo Jia will escort you. ”

Zhang Xiu looked at his father in shock: "Father, what are you talking about?" Guo Jia will escort me! Are you crazy? ”

Zhang Xun smiled sadly: "I have already informed Yuan Shu of the specific details of this operation, presumably the old thing of the Lu family has also reported this matter." ”

"I united with other wealthy gentry who were dissatisfied with Yuan Shu and contacted Shanyue, not to overthrow Yuan Shu's rule, but to wipe out these people as a gift from my Zhang family to Yuan Shu and the other three families, leaving a way for my Zhang family to survive."

Zhang Xiu looked at his father in disbelief as if he was listening to a book from heaven.

"Yuan Shu has become a general trend, any opposition and chaos is a mantis arm as a car, and my Zhang family naturally can't do such a stupid thing. But my Zhang family will not be accepted by Yuan Shu because of the black spots and notoriety. ”

"The only way now is to abandon the shell of the Zhang family and start anew. This is also the reason why my father asked you to take your core children to Jingzhou to join the Huang family. ”

"However, if you want to make a comeback, it is impossible to rely on you alone, and for my father, I have to find a backer and helper, that is, Yuan Shu and the other three families."

"What my father is doing now is to use the remaining shell of the Zhang family to lure out most of the wealthy families who oppose Yuan Shu, so that Yuan Shu can catch them all in one go, as a gift to Yuan Shu and the other three major families, plus the entire Shanyue people in Danyang will become the contribution of my Zhang family."

Speaking of this, Zhang Hyun's face was grim, as if he had changed back to the ruthless and irascible head of the Zhang family.

"Since the Jiangdong Zhang family is no longer saved, then use this remaining shell, together with the small half of the Jiangdong family gentry and Shanyue people, as a sacrifice for the rise of the Zhang family in Jingzhou!"