The patriarch of the Zhao clan, since the death of Marquis Zhao Su, has naturally passed over to Zhao Cheng. He is not only the Sikong of Zhao State, but also the uncle of Zhao Yong, and the patriarch of the Zhao clan.

But in fact, the clan forces of Zhao are not so united, if it is a simple division, it can be divided into two parts: the Jinyang clan and the Handan clan, of course, this is just a very rough division, and the Zhao clan themselves do not admit it.

The so-called Jinyang clan is probably the old nobles of the Zhao family, who have been guarding this land since Jinyang became the family temple of the Zhao State. At that time, Zhao Jianzi chose to build a city in Jinyang, and the strategic intention was very obvious, that is, relying on the Jin State in the south as the foundation and developing to the territory of the Hu people in the north, which could minimize the resistance from the Jin State, and the land in the north was more vast and more productive, rather than like the inside of the Jin State, the Chu State to the south, the Qin State to the west, and the Qi State to the east.

The later successors, such as Xianhou, Jinghou, and Liehou, were stimulated by Zhou Tianzi's canonization of princes, and began to go against the intentions of Zhao Jianzi and Zhao Xiangzi, and changed from developing to the south to the south, competing for the Central Plains, and participating in the struggle for hegemony among the countries. This required them to need a city from the Central Plains as a bridgehead to fight for deer, so Zhongmu and Handan, north of Zhangshui, located at the foot of Taihang Mountain, became the choice of the capital of Zhao. Subsequently, groups of Zhao clans who followed the ancestors of the Zhao State in the past dynasties to fight for hegemony settled down in Zhongmu and Handan, and became another group of nobles of the Zhao family.

From Zhao Yong's point of view, the reason why Zhao Jianzi and Zhao Xiangzi became great figures in the Zhao clan was not only because the two of them laid the foundation for the establishment of the Zhao State, but also because of their strategic foresight. Imagine, if the successors of Zhao could firmly implement the strategic plan of these two ancestors, after seizing the Dai land, continue to seize the lands of Donghu, Loufu and Linhu in the north, and then go south to fight for hegemony, maybe Zhao would be much stronger than it is today. However, history does not allow for assumptions, even if it really develops according to the ideas of Jian Xiang and the others, it may become another Yan country, and it is unknown that it will completely lose the opportunity to dominate the Central Plains.

In the process of the continuous relocation of the capital of the Zhao State, the Zhao clan also had a difference, the old people who stayed in Jinyang, enjoying the glory brought by the clan, they thought that this was given to them by God, and they were eligible to enjoy it; The clans of Handan feel that their land is earned by military merits, and they are eligible to enjoy it, while the clan power of Jinyang is just a group of rats. Although the two are harmonious on the surface, there are many discords in secret. Jinyang can recognize the authority of the Handan clan, but the Handan clan must also maintain the dignity of the Jinyang clan, which is a tacit compromise between the two. So no matter who wants to be the only one, you can't. Open the door, we are a family, close the door, our brothers settle the accounts, probably so. Zhao Cheng and his ilk can tolerate Zhao Yong because he is the representative of the Zhao clan in Handan, but these people in Jinyang don't have so many concerns. The so-called feng shui rotates, and when it came to my house this year, the Zhao family did not lack internal friction on it.

There are three representatives of the Zhao family in Jinyang who are still alive, Zhao Shu, Zhao Ji and Zhao Xian, and the other brothers have long passed away. Of the three who are alive, only Zhao Xian can actually move, and the other two, although they are regarded as the role models of the Zhao family in Jinyang, have long been sick. Therefore, Zhao Xian did his birthday, and the Zhao clansmen of all sizes in Jinyang City came to the door to pay their respects, congratulate the banner of the Jinyang Zhao family, and hoped that he could continue to lead the Jinyang Zhao family to continue to struggle. And the rest of the non-Zhao officials, at this juncture, will not offend the real controller behind Jinyang, but also brought gifts of all sizes, came to the door to congratulate, for a while, the entire two or three miles of alleys, more joyful than the festival, not to mention any exquisite gifts and cloud-like entourage, no wonder Lian Po said: "These people are still rich." ”

Li Dui and he walked through the gate in the crowd and walked towards the inner court, and said coldly as they walked, "Is it strange? This is Jinyang, and there are more Zhao clansmen entrenched here, and I don't know how many more than Handan. The new policy of the monarch allowed a thorough investigation of the hidden fields, compiled the people into the register, only one place in Jinyang, and found out the number of hidden fields, which can even be compared with the number of hidden fields reported by the three upper counties, and as for the high-quality fields, I don't know how many. In addition, the number of its compilers is also the crown of the entire Zhao State. This is still the number that was confiscated when the Relics Division was in the hands of the Jinyang Zhao clan itself, and if someone else came to check at that time, I am afraid it would be even larger. ”

Lian Po was dumbfounded.

"Hmph, do you think that's the end of it? No, after a certain arrived, he continued to carry out the inventory, and found that the above data did not involve the main figures at all, such as Zhao Xian and others, with many children and grandchildren, and there were not a few fields and properties, how did these people feed so many children? One is to run a business and buy real estate, relying on the authority of the Zhao family in the local area to run rampant, so that the price is expensive, and the foreigners are more excluded, and the family is monopolistic; The second is to take the land of the Zhao side branch into his own possession, which is called the same qi and branches, and then symbolically give some money and food every year, which is often not as good as what he has produced. Some people have words of suffering and can only leave Jinyang, and some people even if they sue Zhao Xian, they are only perfunctory by the words of 'family harmony', and there is no follow-up. Most of the fields found before were the property of these people, and for Zhao Xian and the others themselves, they were almost unharmed. ”

"It's... This is too blatant, aren't you afraid of the king's punishment? Lian Po said with an ignorant face. He has been in the army for a long time, and his speech is inevitably childish and ridiculous.

"Of course, they're not worried at all." Li Dui said.

"Why?" Now Lian Po was completely dumbfounded, could it be that in Zhao State, is there anyone more powerful than Zhao Yong?

"Because this is Jinyang, even if the king comes in person, he must first come to the family temple to worship. In the eyes of these people, that is the greatest respect for them. ”

"This..."Lian Po thought it was quite ridiculous. Li Dui shrugged, in fact, there is another point, that is, even Zhao Yong cannot deal with these people beyond the family law, which is the reason why they are unscrupulous.

Just as the two entered the atrium, a man also saw them, and greeted them as he walked towards them. "Master Li, Jia has been waiting for a long time."

Lian Po took a step back, pretending to be a servant and respectfully, Li Dui took a step forward and said, "It's too late, I hope Mr. won't be surprised." ”

The two exchanged pleasantries for a while and walked side by side. Jia Cha looked at the crowd coming and going, and whispered to Li Dui: "I don't know if Mr. has heard any rumors recently?" ”

Li Dui naturally knew what he said, but pretended not to know: "I have been busy with the supply of grain and grass these days, and I have not yet understood the romance of Jinyang. ”

Jia Cha looked at Li Dui's smiling appearance, and couldn't guess in his heart, whether he really didn't know, or was pretending not to know. It is said that even if he Li Dui is not clear, he naturally has others to mention him, unlike himself, a lonely soul and a wild ghost, anyone can point out two or three of them. "Sir, I really don't know?"

"What the hell is going on?"

Jia Cha didn't say anything more, stopped, looked around, and whispered: "This Jinyang City, I'm afraid something big is going to happen." ”

Li Dui's heart was racing, and he didn't know what Jia Cha said, whether he had other channels by himself, or if he had already walked with Zhao Ran, and was testing himself. At this sensitive time, no one really can believe it.

"What the hell does the gentleman mean?"

Jia Cha has reached this point, naturally he is not a little white, even if Li Dui is deep in the city, after all, his experience is still shallow, and he can't reach the point of being scheming, and a "in the end" will leak his hole cards. And it is clear that Li Dui is also dying himself.

"Sir, don't worry, I naturally won't walk with those people." Jia Cha said coldly, "What's more, even if I rush to the promiser's house, I'm afraid they will still look down on me." "Indeed, after all, Jia Cha is a person from Sili Temple, and his boss Feiyi has long been unaccustomed to these clans, let alone allowing his subordinates to show favor to them.

Li Dui didn't know that his sentence had missed a flaw, but when he tried to defend it again, he fell behind, and simply asked: "The kid is still qualified, and when he encounters this kind of thing, he still has to ask the old gentleman." ”

Jia Cha saw that he finally admitted that he was not reserved, not to mention that the two were now on the same front, so naturally they should not hide it. He was about to say something to him, but he heard someone shouting, "Master Li really believes in people." The two of them looked for prestige, but it turned out to be Zhao Ran.

The two glanced at each other helplessly, and Li Dui could only step forward and greet Zhao Ran.

"I don't know what gift Master Li has prepared for the old man today?" Zhao Ran looked at Li Dui.

"It's all ordinary things, I can't get on the table, I don't know if it suits the old gentleman's taste."

"It depends on what ordinary thing it is." Zhao Ran looked at Li Dui eagerly, and there were many hints between his words.

Li Dui's eyes rolled, nodded his head, and said, "A sincere heart, I don't know if it's supposed to be?" ”

Zhao Ran "understood" and said with a smile, "If that's the case, I have to ask the adults to submit it in person." ”

"I don't dare to ask for ears."

The two of them were playing on their side, so that Lian Po behind him looked dazed, not knowing what the two meant. wanted to take a step closer, but it attracted Zhao Ran's attention.

"What is this?" Zhao Ran looked at Lian Po for a long time, and couldn't remember where he had seen him. In fact, Lian Po does not often participate in this kind of thing, whether it is Handan or Jiaoyang, Zhao Ran has only seen Lian Wu in a hurry, and he does not know Lian Po.

Li Dui's face was calm, and he was also worried that Zhao Ran had seen Lian Po, so he said: "A child of my own family came all the way to me and begged me to take him in." Savages in the mountains and countryside, I don't know the number of etiquette, please don't blame the adults. As he spoke, let Lian Po salute Zhao Ran.

After Lian Po's reluctant salute, Zhao Ran didn't care, and said: "It's okay, if Master Li can't arrange it, if you follow someone, you can also take care of it." When Li Dui and Lian Po heard this, they naturally reluctantly thanked them again.

Suddenly, I heard only the voices of people, and the door opened. A group of people came from the side hall. Zhao Xian was in front, his children, his wife and children were behind, and he greeted the guests with a red face. Everyone saw that he was in good spirits, and naturally they were also complimented, among which the Zhao clan was even more proud, hoping that Zhao Xian could lead the Jinyang Zhao clan and create brilliance.

Zhao Xian took a seat, and the others naturally followed. For a while, the price of food in the courtyard came up, and the servants began to get busy. Everyone also pushed the cup and changed the lamp, and began to eat and drink, which was not lively for a while.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, just when everyone was eating and drinking, Zhao Ran saw Zhao Xian give him a look, he understood, stood up, and said loudly: "Everyone, listen to me." ”

(End of chapter)