Xu Yanda and Wei Jiuzhen, Wei Jiuru brothers, came to visit Xu Yanren's house together.

Xu Xingwei, the son of Xu Yanren, was still in Yanjing, and it was also possible that he went to Jizhou or Pingzhou, and even followed the army to the expedition, and there was news that he was recruited to supervise the pirates to transport grain and troops from the sea in Pingdao, so it was also possible to be in Pingdao.

Xu Xingwei took the martial arts entrance examination, ranked first, and had been awarded the battalion commandery, and he was the captain of the fruit school and the captain of the cloud cavalry, which was not considered a low rank in the military attache sequence of this dynasty.

In the Northern Expedition, if he had meritorious service, he could also reach the rank of ranger general and guerrilla general.

Xu Yanren is now just a general Xuanwei, this is a customary official position of the clan with meritorious achievements in the five suits, there is no real power, just to give it to Yulu, and it may be added to the actual position of guarding the palace, so that it is convenient for these clans who have come out of the five suits to live, lest there be some clan families who are not good at production and management, and once they lose their official positions, they will soon fall into the predicament of poverty.

According to Taizu's original idea of establishing the clan system, that is, the royal family does not necessarily have knighthood, and some princes may not even be able to mix with the marquis, and only receive a general's salary, so as not to be hungry and cold.

In the course of time, ordinary clans will no longer be supported and will have to fend for themselves.

This is a very correct way of thinking, the clan can also take exams, serve as soldiers, officials, do business, and even farm.

The current princes and princes, it is basically difficult to find the descendants of the emperor Miao before Wenzong, in the long years, they have been demoted from the princes and princes of the clan to generals, defense envoys, Fengjielang, and finally after the five suits, they have been removed from the clan identity, and there is no difference from ordinary people.

But for any clan, to be able to make great contributions and be re-given the identity of the clan, this is undoubtedly a great success, to be able to re-enter the family temple into the clan, to worship the ancestors of incense, for any clan surnamed Xu, is a goal that he wants to achieve for a lifetime.

Xu Yanren is such a one, he is nearly fifty years old, he was famous for his bravery when he was a teenager, he was a general under the command of King Qi, he has made many meritorious achievements, and his official position has also been the deputy commander of the military capital, for an ordinary person who has been out of the clan, this is almost the culmination of a lifetime of hard work.

But Xu Yanren was not satisfied, the deputy commander of the military capital, General Xuanwei, this is enough for ordinary people, and it is still too far away for the goal of returning to the clan.

There is only one hard criterion for returning to the clan, military merit and marquis.

As long as the marquis can be sealed, the genealogy of this branch will be re-included in the clan and placed under the jurisdiction of the great clan's people's mansion, and during the period when the marquis is allowed to inherit, the lineage is considered a clan.

For this goal, Xu Yanren can only hope for his son.

Xu Ziwei of Zhao Wangfu, in the eyes of Xu Yanren, is an incompetent and mediocre person, relying on the prince's father, the elder brother of the Son of Heaven, he has always boasted of his bravery, but he did not dare to continue in Pingzhou, and returned to Fuzhou from Liaodong in a gray manner.

Because of his special status, the Son of Heaven and the two governments did not punish him, and Xu Ziwei only lost the official position of the Futures Order.

His two sons were also sent to Beijing and educated outside the palace, as if they were waiting to enter the palace when they were a little older, worship the regimental training envoy or defense envoy, and become the prince of heaven.

There is no such thing as fairness in this world.

Xu Yanren would not tell others these words in his heart, but he wrote a letter to his son, and this time he would never be allowed to return to Fuzhou without military merit.

There is only one condition, if there is a chance in the Eastern Domain, Xu Yanren allows Xu Xingwei to return to the Eastern Domain, under Xu Yanren's judgment, Xu Zixian is a close branch clan that has more opportunities to do greater careers, in Xu Yanren's view, to do great things, the first thing is to make the right person, follow the right nobleman, Xu Zixian is this quite obvious candidate.

King Zhao, Lin Douyao and others, and Xu Yanren, who has followed King Qi, are not eye-catching.

"My brother is here." Xu Yanren first said hello to Xu Yanda, and then bowed to Wei Jiuru and Wei Jiuzhen, and the three of them saluted each other, they were quite familiar old friends, and after the salute, Xu Yanren said with a heavy face: "It seems that the Eastern Domain is really dangerous." ”

Wei Jiuru nodded calmly and replied, "Yes, we see it that way too." ”

The brothers of the Wei family are all well-proportioned and tall, but they are thin and weak, and the literati atmosphere of the two is also relatively strong, they all wear soft feet, wear collared robes, and hang jade belts around their waists.

Xu and Wei were originally friends from generation to generation, and the family style of the two families was deep and introverted, and they did not cultivate their children into incompetent children, Xu Xingwei and Wei Yi met like this, and later the two met Xu Zixian, and the three brothers established a good friendship.

It's just that Xu Yanren and Wei Jiuru at that time could hardly imagine that Xu Zixian actually achieved such a career in front of him, which is extremely amazing!

"Why did you get infected with the epidemic at this time?" Xu Yanren's face turned pale, and he ordered the servants to close the doors and windows after serving tea, and then said, "It's really bad luck." ”

"Yanke said it when he returned to Fuzhou." Wei Jiuru said: "With the situation on the island and the armament of the Nan'an Army, if Mingda is not sick, he will be in charge, and the pirates will have no chance to take advantage of it." If Mingda cannot be cured within more than ten days, the victory or defeat is between the two sides. The worst possible outcome is that the island's foundation is destroyed. ”

"That's what worries me the most." Wei Jiuzhen said: "Brother Yanda and I have been to the island, the salt field has stretched for more than ten miles, and it is still expanding, and it will produce millions of stone sea salt a year, just this case, Nan'an Hou Mansion can earn two or three million yuan a year, or even more." ”

"And cotton fields, bean fields, factories, shipyards." Wei Jiuzhen said: "After we went to the island, Nan'an Hou Mansion knew that they were all their own people, and they didn't hide anything from us, so we saw a lot along the way. This kind of operation is a big deal and a big investment. I doubt that if we win badly, most of the foundation will be ruined, and I don't know when we will be able to operate on this scale again. ”

"Alas, throughout the ages, most of those who have achieved great things have encountered twists and turns." Xu Yanren sighed: "If Mingda can't pass the test this time, he may be in a slump." ”

"Not really." Wei Jiuzhen said in a deep voice: "Yan Ke said, Mingda is not the kind of thing that can't withstand the twists and turns, it was much more difficult back then than now, isn't it the same as building a family from scratch?" ”

"I'm afraid that the Changwen Marquis Mansion will change its hexagram."

"Chen Dujing is not that kind of person, Chen Duguang, Chen Duming them, but they are not patient people."

"That's just walking." Wei Jiuru looked at Xu Yanda and said, "I will meet with Chen Duzhu and talk about my Wei family's views." Even if the Eastern Domain wants to be rebuilt, as long as the Hou Mansion army is still there, Mingda can recover, my Wei family is willing to support it, although the money is not much, there are still more than ten or two hundred thousand guan. ”

The Wei family can only be regarded as a third-rate family on Fujian Road, and the first-rate is of course the clan family, at least the marquis family.

The second rate is a big family with real power and real positions, and the third rate is a family of generations of official gentry, but there have been no real high-ranking officials in one or two generations, such as the Wei family and the Xu family.

More than 100,000 or 200,000 yuan, it doesn't seem like much, but considering that a person's annual net income is generally about six to ten yuan, and even the income of many people's families is not so much.

Taking out all the net income of 10,000 or 20,000 households farming in a year, a family like the Wei family should be said to have done their best.

"We can too." Xu Yanren and Xu Yanda looked at each other, and said categorically: "You can write to Yanke and ask him to transfer it to Mingda again, so as to ease his mind and not take too much risk." ”

"Yes, yes." Wei Jiuru was quite happy and said: "We fancy the way Mingda does things, as far as Nan'an is concerned, once our Wei family also had a business there, we did an iron business, Wang Yue was angry and resentful in Jianzhou, and people were panicked. Recently, the tax card is mostly used to help the scoundrels, those brave and ruthless ruffians, rangers, not only set up cards to collect taxes, but also crossed the border to Nan'an to take advantage of the robbery, and this time the tax card was opened to the edge of Nan'an Town. More than ten days ago, the Nan'an Hou Mansion informed the Nan'an Chamber of Commerce that some veterans who had quit the government army would be arranged to join the Chamber of Commerce's group training. The Hou Mansion's government army in Nan'an can also use the name of the Shangshang Chamber of Commerce's group training. If there is a threat to the Chamber of Commerce, it will be severely punished and will not be spared! ”

Wei Jiuzhen said: "Nan'an must not only have a chamber of commerce, but also a ship association and a handicraft association. When the time comes, we can unite and confront the government. There are also peasant associations, which is also a general truth. ”

"Mingda is really a believer." Wei Jiuru continued: "The Chamber of Commerce was established when the Nan'an League was first established, and everyone thought that it was to set up a meeting and share the benefits equally, of course, the bulk was taken by the Nan'an Hou Mansion, and the rest was divided by the proprietors of each commercial house." Again, Mingda said that the handicap was big, so he let some benefits come out and gave us all shares. Later, His Royal Highness the King of Qi died, and the Nan'an Hou Mansion went to the Eastern Domain, and everyone said that they were afraid that the Nan'an Hou Mansion would not care about it, who knew the affairs of the Chamber of Commerce, and the Nan'an Hou Mansion would still be its own business. In my opinion, Wang Yue's ugliness in Nan'an last time was not enough, and he had to touch another hard-headed nail to be satisfied. ”

Xu Yanren sneered: "Wang Yue gathered more than a dozen Xiang troops in his hands, thinking that he had tens of thousands of troops in his hands, the civil and military officials were all subservient, and the military and political affairs were all controlled by him, and King Zhao and Lin Douyao had no way to take him, so they thought that they were a temporary hero." I received a letter from a friend in Jian'an, almost all the mines there, except for Wang Yue's shares and dividends, the rest are closed. He wants too much, and the mine owners settle accounts, if Wang Yue is asked to join the shares, I am afraid that it will be a year of hard work, not to mention, and he will have to pay for it. Even if it is barely maintained, it is nothing more than thinking about finishing the hoarded iron ore, and then quickly closing the matter. In Jianzhou, there are more than 100,000 miners, and I see, sooner or later there will be a big mess. ”

"It's hard to say." Wei Jiuru paid attention to Xu Yanren's words, nodded heavily, and said: "So there is a chamber of commerce, and there is also a chamber of commerce group practice, not to stay in this acre and three points of land for the Hou Mansion Courtyard, but for ourselves and everyone." In chaos, if Nan'an is not guarded, it will inevitably bear the brunt. ”

"I still hope that nothing will happen, and I hope Mingda will get better soon." Xu Yanren sighed, this moment of old age, after all, he is also an old man who is close to the sixtieth birthday, Xu Xingwei has not married, has not given birth to children, and is still in the north and cannot return, if the Nan'an Hou Mansion crosses, if the investment in the past few years is completely in vain, Xu Yanren has no heart to pick a candidate to follow.

At this moment, he felt confused and heavy, and could only secretly pray, hoping that Xu Zixian would recover as soon as possible and repel the pirates who were attacking in a big way.

More than a year ago, the Eastern Domain, which was basically a desert island, underwent earth-shaking changes, all kinds of measures and administrations were all fresh and efficient, the officials were honest and efficient, the people were optimistic, united, and robust, and the atmosphere was also excellent, there were no homeless people and beggars everywhere that were not seen elsewhere at all, there were not so many coolies with sad faces on the streets, there were no ruffians who stood their eyebrows and whistled by their swords, and there were no lawless officials who oppressed the people.

This is a completely different place, and it is simply a miracle in the Peach Blossom Land written by the Jin people.

Even many officials and gentry believe that the governance of the Nan'an Marquis Mansion is much better than the narrative in the Peach Blossom Spring.

This is an important reason why Xu Zixian gradually entered the perspective of the gentry.

A pure martial artist may be feared or taken advantage of, but will not really be trusted and expected.

But if a clan with strong military force and noble blood is good at governance, understands the way of economy, treats the people well, respects merchants, develops industry and commerce, and maritime trade...... This is a standard virtuous king template, and it can even go one step further, if the Son of Heaven has no children for a long time, and he is sick, Nan'an Hou is less than twenty, even if he can't become a prince and take over the throne, at least he can take charge of the Great Wei Dynasty as a supervisor after having an heir.

If the Son of Heaven was to be held by a talented person in a clan like Nan Anhou, Da Wei would not be in such a turbulent situation.

Of course, no one will say these words explicitly, but it is obvious that a considerable number of officials and gentry are secretly thinking or pushing, boosting Xu Zixian's prestige, making more and more people recognize Nan'anhou and accept the power of Nan'anhou's mansion.

This kind of influence, sooner or later, will form a greater thrust, so that Nan'an Hou into the clan circle of Fuzhou and Jiangling, in fact, in Jiangling and Fuzhou, Xu Zixian has long been recognized by the clan, in Fuzhou, only King Zhao and Jingyuan Marquis Mansion have a few families who do not like Xu Zixian, and the dozens of princes and princes have a very good impression of Xu Zixian.

Jiangling may be more complicated, but at least there is a consensus that people recognize, that is, Xu Zixian's talent is quite outstanding, which is a fact that no one can deny.

If it really came time for the sect to elect the prince, Xu Zixian should have received broader and far-reaching support.

Zhao Wangfu will be two young. Tong sent to the Beijing Division, did not get the recognition and support of the great Zongzheng, from a legal point of view, this is the Son of Heaven and the King of Zhao private teaching, if the prestige of the Son of Heaven can suppress the two mansions and the Zongren, then everyone can only accept, if the prestige of the Son of Heaven further declines, when the two children enter the palace, it is likely to cause a big wave.

The only way to do this is that everything is still changing like in the fog, and the people at the helm of these official gentry families of the Great Wei Dynasty can't see the trend of history clearly, and the only variable they feel is Xu Zixian, the Marquis of Nan'an, who has everything on his body that can make people see where hope lies.

And the only thing they can do now is to pray to the heavens, hoping that Xu Zixian, the Marquis of Nan'an, will be able to improve his illness, and will be able to lead his troops to repel the pirates and maintain the current high-spirited power of the Eastern Domain.

Other than that, they don't really have much to do.