It was time to speak, and Shang Cheng invited a few princes to have a light meal at home.

It's a light meal, but it's not casual. When Shang Chengcai arrived in Beijing, he invited a master at home, but he was really embarrassed to take out his craftsmanship to entertain guests; I have changed it twice, but the wine and food that can be purchased are always unsatisfactory. It wasn't until Yue'er and the others came that Erya invited Yuan Lan, the owner of the big business name Yongshengchang, to come forward and hire three masters from the Taibai Building run by the Yuan family to make a banquet, and the joke of "the banquet noodles in the county Bofu is unpalatable" gradually stopped. But Shang Cheng has no old days in the capital, and some of the friends he met in Yanshan earlier are people who are busy with official business from morning to night every day, and it is rare to get together; In addition, he provoked a large number of prime ministers and Shangzhuguo at the beginning of his arrival in Beijing, and he did not hold real power in his hands, so it was impossible for others to come to burn his cold stove even if they wanted to be motivated, so it was rare for the family to treat a guest. The three masters who invited them home originally wanted to show their faces at the new owner's house, but when they arrived at the county uncle's mansion, they didn't have the opportunity to stretch their arms and show their faces every day except for instructing others to cook three simple meals. If you get more money and do less, this person will always feel unsteady in his heart. Today, I finally met a few princes who came to visit the house together, without the instructions of the master, they all took out the skills of housekeeping, carefully prepared a large table of dishes, and put them full of dazzling tables, so they were ready to listen to a praise and applause.

It's a pity that whether it is Shang Cheng or several princes, everyone's mind is not on this tea and dinner.

It is still the prince's mourning period, and he is still being grounded, so Shang Cheng did not let people put out a swallow banquet for one person and one case, and everyone gathered at a generous table in order of eldest and youngest. I don't have any rules for three rounds of wine and five rounds of wine. Only in the first circle, he, the master, poured the wine jug one by one and everyone drank together, and then everyone was free.

King Ruyang probably couldn't drink alcohol, and when the small half of Huo's blue and white was aged, his face turned a little red, and he gradually talked more. After eating for a while, he talked to the people next to him, he took a pair of chopsticks, salt and green onions, crunched and chewed in his mouth, and suddenly asked Shang Chengdao across the table: "Zida, I heard that you and Zhang Bochun have a lot of differences, seeing that he is about to fall, why did you suddenly jump out to help him?" ”

The table became quiet all of a sudden, and the kings of Qinghe, Jiangling, Xiangzhou, and the two heirs all stopped talking and looked at Shang Cheng with their eyes.

Shang Cheng and Zhang Pu have contradictions, and many people know about this. Although several princes follow the rules set by their ancestors and do not go through pragmatic affairs, and they do not interact much with the civil and military officials of the imperial court, after all, they are all clan leaders, and they all have hands and eyes, and they naturally have heard of this matter. But that's just what I've heard. Originally, they are clans, Zhang Pu and Shang Cheng are members of the imperial court, you take your Yangguan Road, I cross my single-plank bridge, and it is impossible to fight the two sides together with eight poles, how about Zhang Pu and Shang Cheng, what is in their way? But now it's not okay to not care about it!

Don't look at the word clan when people mention it, in addition to respect is admiration, but who knows the ups and downs of the clan? Behind the glamorous face of the clan, what kind of scene is it?

The clan is also bitter! The rules set by Taizu that the clan cannot hold power, so don't think about the "right" of this road, the children of the Chen family don't think about it, the Beijing official can do the Langzhong of the six departments, and the foreign official can do the prefect of Shangzhou, it is basically the end, and if you want to take a step forward, there is no precedent after the founding of the country. Taizong set up a rule of "Evangelization III", even if the prince is knighted, it can only be passed on to three generations, the prince passes on a son as the heir, and a grandson as the king of the county, and then the title will be withdrawn. The other descendants of the prince received little practical benefit other than a name on the family tree. A few people are lucky and can get a grace, while the other descendants of the Chen family, if they want to be officials, they need to participate in the imperial examination by themselves, and if they want to make a fortune, they need to know how to operate, even if they want to plant a few acres of land to make a living, they also need to have a few acres of land first; In a word, the clans other than three generations basically rely on themselves for everything, even if they flatter others, they have to rely on their own thick skin, accurate vision and sharp mouth. Over the past 100 years since the founding of the country, there are now more than 20,000 children registered in the clan, and only a few of them still have titles or official positions...... But after all, they are all children of the Chen family, even if the four walls of the family are to the point of eating a bad meal, but counting up generations, they are the same as the king of Qinghe County, the king of Ruyang and the son of heaven, they are all the same ancestor one by one, everyone is out of the same family, why can you drink wine and eat meat, but we can only swallow chaff and vegetables? Therefore, from the time of Gaozong, the children of the Chen family who went to Jue began to make trouble. As time passed, more and more people went to the knight, and the more noisy it became. A few years ago, when the New Year's ceremony was celebrated, there were still people who couldn't live their lives and dragged their families to cry in the ancestral hall, and the king of Chengdu, who worshiped his ancestors on behalf of the Son of Heaven, could not come to the stage on the spot. Emperor Dongyuan couldn't do anything about these people, no matter how he said that they were relatives, he could neither beat nor scold, so he had to take some out of his inner pocket and give them them. It must be said that this is a very bad solution; Since then, every year in the Spring and Autumn Festival, people go to the ancestral shrine to make trouble, and Emperor Dongyuan can only pay money again and again. Up to now, whenever there is something important in the clan, someone will inevitably jump out and cry, and the "Chen Crying Temple" has become a laughing stock......

This kind of absurd thing done by the children of the Chen family not only made the Son of Heaven lose face, but also made the king of Qinghe County and the leaders of the clan scratch their heads and worry about it, this is the shame of the Chen family! But there's nothing they can do about it. Money, they have some, but if you want to help your children with 20,000 yuan in one go, it's just a dream! The 20,000 children are all dragged by the family, even the family with their children, that is tens of thousands, and if they scatter their money, it is not bad to be able to turn over the waves. Moreover, they also have families and children, and they are also a large family, and they also need to plan for their children and grandchildren. Especially like the king of Qinghe County, who is the last generation of knights, and his sons and more than a dozen grandsons do not have titles and titles, so they need to make plans for their future. Over the years, the king of Qinghe County has lost his old face, and he has been begging for people to roll around, and finally gave his two sons and five grandsons a few official positions. But for this matter, he no longer had a time to live. The children and grandchildren who didn't get the errand all said that he was partial, and the children and granddaughters-in-law even said anything unpleasant, and the family was noisy all day long, and he couldn't hold it down at all. Sometimes there was so much commotion at home that he even thought, why didn't he close his eyes? If only I could stretch my legs earlier, at least I could have a clean appearance.

Now, a big pie fell from the sky, and Shang Yanshan came up with a strategy for the Eastern Widows, and took him to make a matter of the Eastern Widows borrowing debts. The key is this borrowing, which is a great thing! Even if it can't be like Dongwei doesn't have gold and silver, as long as the debt can be done, with the monthly interest of five points, the son of heaven who has taken out his purse several times a year can breathe a sigh of relief, and there is hope for the worries of these people, and the children of the clan who are brave and promising, can also go to Dongwei to find a good way out, one by one, the ports, tax offices, and mines in various parts of Dongwei...... Manpower is needed everywhere. Moreover, the debt lent to Dongwei cannot be repaid in a year or two, maybe decades or hundreds of years. The monthly interest rate of five is divided into five profits, and the six million account debts are in the end, how much does it have to be? There are also mining, smelting gold and silver, and trafficking in copper and iron...... The profits are so great that people don't dare to think about it, let alone calculate it!

But there is one problem that everyone can't help but think about: the Eastern Japanese strategy, the imperial court has taken a big advantage; The clan lends money to the first three people, and everyone can get countless dividends; Gu Shi gathered the clan to lend money together, and the Gu family could get through the difficulties in front of them with the help of the clan; And with this money, the first three can sit in the position of the king of Wa with the support of Da Zhao. So, what can Shang Yanshan, who made the suggestion, get him, or rather, what can everyone help him? He doesn't want to think about higher titles, and don't count on higher titles, he has almost achieved the official position, and he doesn't seem to be very lacking in money, and the rest can only be authority. But he is still pressing Xiao Jian and Yang Du above him, if these two people don't go down, he won't want to come out; Everyone knows this in their hearts, and he must know it in his heart. What else could he want? Maybe it's really as King Ruyang said, he wants to get Zhang Pu down? But that doesn't make sense. Zhang Pu is down, what good can he do as a general?

Shang Cheng drank all the residual wine in the cup in one gulp, smiled, and said helplessly: "There is no way to do it. You can't just watch an opportunity slip away like this, right? ”

King Ruyang opened his mouth, but he still didn't speak. The king of Qinghe didn't care. Shang Cheng and Zhang Pu are not in harmony, he and Zhang Pu are even more opposites, the previous month Zhu Xuan presided over the "Notice to the Nuclear Land and Acres" just announced to the world, he asserted that "Zhu Zhongkuan's seed disaster now, he will harm the Quartet one day"; In fact, there is another sentence behind these words, "The rebellion of Da Zhao began with Zhang Bochun!" This is so heavy and a little proverbial that no one dares to spread it, and many people don't know it. He said bluntly: "Zida, you can delay for a while before mentioning it." When Zhang Pu rolls up the cover and rolls up, you will play the court again, so that not only can things still be done, but also let the new prime minister remember your favor. ”

Shang Cheng shook his head and said with a wry smile: "I just don't have time." Every year in May, June, July and three months, it is most convenient to go to Dongwa. Especially at the end of June and the beginning of July, when the southeast monsoon and the southeast current are at their strongest, it only takes seven to ten days to land on the main island of Towa by going to the sea and taking the southern route, and if nothing else, the Fujiwara clan can be solved within 15 days, thus realizing the first step of the Towa strategy. If you miss this time, because of the wind direction and ocean currents, you can only take the northern route, starting from Myeongju, passing through Dengju to Goryeo, and then from Goryeo to Dongwo, this road, just by sea, you have to walk for a month, and this is still the case when everything is going well. If the contact on the Goryeo side is a little unable to keep up and misses the hyacinth, it will have to wait until next year. He stopped talking, looked at several princes one by one, and finally turned his head to look at the king of Qinghe County, and said slowly, "Who knows what the situation will be next year?" ”

No one spoke.

"Only by grasping the present is the most important." Shang Cheng continued, "Right now, the people in the north are busy licking their wounds, and the old general Xiao in the south has not yet made a move towards the south, and the capital is quiet. Besides, the Prime Minister's Office is anxious about the matter of investigating the hidden households in the fields, and he is desperate for something to happen in order to divert people's attention, so he will definitely support it vigorously. ”

Everyone thought about the reasoning, and they all nodded in agreement. Gu Shi said: "I think there is no way for the prime minister's office. Even if there is no Dongwei business, they will not be able to do it for long, so even if Dongwei loses this battle, they will just resign, at most a few months early. But what if you win? What if you find a mountain of gold and silver in Dongwei? ”

"Then Zhang Bochun, the right minister, will inevitably be changed to the left minister." King Ruyang said with a smile, "With the victory of Dongwei and the gold and silver mountains, if Xiao Jian wins one or two battles in the southwest, then he Zhang Bochun will be the famous face of our Great Zhao." He left a name in history, and we all made a fortune, and we were all happy. He said to Shang Cheng regretfully, "Only Zida, you are no good." The credit belongs to others, and the wealth is also everyone's...... Why don't we all leave a large share for Zida? ”

The king of Qinghe County first said: "There is nothing to say about this matter!" There is also Gu Poyang. He traveled and toiled once, and he also had to divide a large share. ”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Of course, the largest share of all the shares must be that of the Eastern Yuan Emperor; This is well known to everyone. It's just that I haven't had time to tell the Son of Heaven about it yet, and I don't know how much money the Son of Heaven can come up with in the end, so no one mentions how much of the specific amount of money will be given to Shang Cheng and Gu Shi, one by one, it must not be more than the Son of Heaven. No matter how much money Emperor Dongyuan will come up with in the end, in short, no one can have more shares than the Son of Heaven.

Shang Cheng smiled and rejected everyone's kindness. The reason was that he had no money. Part of his money was invested in the development of navigation technology, and a large amount of money was prepared to be sent to the feudal state of Yingxian, where there was more money to be spent.

Regardless of whether Shang Cheng really had no money or whether he was fake and had no money, several clans accepted his explanation with a smile. The clan can't take power, and they can't take the lead in destroying the imperial court system to annex land, and the title can't be inherited by their children and grandchildren, so they can only find ways to operate for the well-being of their descendants, so they value the word "profit" more than ordinary people. Shang Cheng gave away a large number of shares, and of course there would be more shares in the clan that could be distributed, which was of course a good thing that could not be sought. They were even more grateful to him for it.

The king of Qinghe was happy, and he couldn't help but drink more wine, and he spoke more and more without scruples. He first praised Shang Cheng and thanked him for solving a thorny big problem for the clan, and then began to scold Zhang Pu and Zhu Xuan for not being things. He was sure that Zhang Pu was a traitor, and Zhu Xuan, the book beetle, was Zhang Pu's accomplice!

This topic immediately struck a chord with everyone. All the big landlords present here hated the "Complaint on Nuclear Land and Acres", so they accused it of being a proclamation that brought disaster to the country and the people......