Wu family.

The housekeeper Wu Zhong was very busy, and the young master did not return overnight and did not cause any discussion, but last night someone from the Dong family asked where Dong Qiang went, and the housekeeper told him truthfully, and said that there were more than 20 guards accompanying him, so please rest assured that the Dong family was relieved.

At dawn this morning, the heads or representatives of various branches of the Wu family came one after another, and all of them had arrived before noon, and the housekeeper was busy directing the people and maids to arrange the venue and prepare for the banquet.

Whether it is the living room of the Wu family or the courtyard outside the living room, there are more than 200 people gathered, each of whom represents a branch family.

Today is the day to hand in the molecules every three months, and it is the time to show off the results, hoping to get the affirmation of the Lord.

However, the branches with poor conditions are basically bitter and distressed, and they are afraid that they will lose their autonomy and be canceled from the branches.

Therefore, there are also differences in the internal branches of the Wu family, although they all have the same status and status, but due to different conditions, they are naturally divided into three, six, nine and so on.

There was still an hour before the banquet opened, Wu Zhong looked at the sky and knew that the young master was coming back soon, so he was not in a hurry.

"Ahem!."

Wu Zhong entered the courtyard and cleared his throat with a smile, everyone stopped talking, and looked at the housekeeper respectfully, Wu Zhong smiled and said: "Everyone, the young master inspected Zhuangzi, and he has not returned for a long time, so the banquet has been postponed. ”

After Wu Zhong finished speaking, he pointed to a dozen boxes somewhere in the courtyard, turned around the living room, and went straight to the master's study, in order to clean up for a while.

As the figure of the butler disappeared, three people came out of the more than 200 people, and these three people were responsible for collecting the heads of the elements from each branch.

The branch that turns in the most copies every three months, and then the three branches are responsible for collecting the parts in the next three months.

As the families of the three branches sent representatives to collect the shares on behalf of the people, the place suddenly became lively, and there were shouts and curses at the same time, as well as the sound of coercion and intimidation, and even the cries of scoundrels.

Everything that happened here was very clear to Wu Zhong, the housekeeper in the study, and he couldn't help it, this was stipulated by the head of the family, and there were only four words: survival of the fittest! , even if there is a fight, as long as there is no bloodshed, he will not care.

A subordinate hurriedly entered the courtyard in the direction of the back garden, anxiously inquired where the housekeeper was, and after learning where the housekeeper was, he went straight to the study.

"What? Is the master back? ”

The housekeeper Wu Zhong was startled when he heard the report from the next person, the master went home and walked through the back door, and now he is waiting for himself in the ancestral hall, which means that he doesn't want people to know that the master has returned, why is this? .

Wu Zhong didn't dare to slack off and quickly went to the ancestral hall, and when he entered the ancestral hall, he saw an old man with gray hair, the old man was facing the ancestors and ancestors, and his back was to the door.

"Wu Zhong visits the head of the family."

When the head of the family, Wu Siyuan, heard this, he turned around and saw the housekeeper kneeling at the door, with a smile on his face, he hurriedly greeted him, and stretched out his hands to support: "Brother, you and my brother have been in trouble for more than 50 years, so there is no need to be polite. ”

"Etiquette should not be abolished." Wu Zhong persuaded firmly.

Wu Siyuan had no choice but to follow the old brother's wishes.

The two of them worked opposite each other, and Wu Siyuan didn't ask anything, just made a look of listening.

Wu Zhong talked about everything that happened to the young master in the past few months, as well as the changes in the military and politics in the city, the changes in the relationship between the Dong family and his own family, and so on.

Wu Siyuan heard that the baby was so sick that he lost his breath, and he came back to life bizarrely, and the baby grandson was in a daze for half a month, and suddenly said that there was a mole in the family who harmed him.

This made Wu Siyuan tremble, and heard that the housekeeper did find out a few moles, and they were indeed poisoned, and after interrogation, they didn't know anything, and the housekeeper suspected that the mastermind behind the scenes must be the court Tartars.

Hearing this, Wu Siyuan sneered, endured his anger and killing intent, and continued to listen.

Finally, it is the day when the branches pay their shares today, and it is recommended that the master go to preside over the overall situation, but I didn't expect the head of the family to shake his head and refuse.

"No, the old man can't go."

Wu Zhong asked suspiciously: "Could it be that the master of the family wants the young master to go through the training?" ”

Wu Siyuan nodded and said: "The renewal of the family is a big issue that determines the fate of the family, the old man wants to see if this unsuccessful grandson can do it, hey take a look!" If you really can't do it, just choose one of the branches, hey......"

Seeing that the old man was as old as if he was old in an instant, Wu Zhong was sad in his heart, and opened his mouth to comfort him, but in the end, he couldn't bear it in his heart, so he still shut up, hoping that the young master could fight for some anger.

Wu Zhong didn't know why the head of the family suddenly returned home, but seeing that the head of the family was only wearing a Confucian shirt instead of a general's armor, he estimated that the situation was not good.

It is said that the position of the head of the family should be inherited by the uncle, not the young master, but the family cannot be supported by the general of ten thousand households, so the uncle can only be sacrificed, and in order for the family to stand, the position of the head of the family is destined to be lost with the uncle.

"The young master is back! Young Master......"

The strange atmosphere in the ancestral hall was interrupted by the sound outside, and Wu Siyuan immediately got up: "The old man went to the back hall of the living room to drink tea, and the front hall relied on the old brother, hahaha." ”

"The old slave obeys."

Wu Zhong immediately received the order, and when he saw that the head of the family had returned to his previous domineering, he had expectations and hopes for the Wu family again.

Wu Qi returned home and went directly to the door, Da Zhuang and Wu Qiao followed the young master left and right, and the twenty guards were arranged in two rows to open the way.

Today's day is different from the past, the servants and maids who passed by all knelt on the ground and saluted, Wu Qi just nodded slightly to indicate that he saw it, and went straight to the direction of the living room without listening to his steps.

The Wu family's house is very large, the courtyard of the five entrances, passing by the first and second entrances along the way, and the third entrance is the core area where the main courtyard and living room are located.

When he entered the courtyard, Wu Qi frowned, only to see more than 200 people shouting noisily, and immediately shouted angrily: "Is this a vegetable market?" What a system!. ”

There was a sudden silence in the courtyard, and many of the twenty guards who had come in saw it, knowing that the young master was back, but many of these people looked down on the existence of the young master of the main family, so they didn't care about watching the excitement.

No one expected that the young master would come in expressionlessly, and directly dismount everyone, no matter who could afford to look down on the young master, they all knelt down and saluted according to the rules.

Most people have a bad heart; If the master of the family is there, for the sake of the overall situation, the law does not blame the public.

But now, it is not easy to handle only the young master's affairs, they all know that the young master is a ruined family, and he is not successful, if they take advantage of this to make trouble, they really have no reason to refute, and some people are a little apprehensive in their hearts.

"Get up."

The corners of Wu Qi's mouth turned up, waved his hand and went straight to the living room, and when he entered the living room, he saw that the housekeeper Wu Zhong was also there, and he walked directly to the head of the house without speaking, and sat down generously.

At this time, more than 200 people outside entered the living room in turn, dozens of rows, standing in line, all bowing their heads to the position of the head of the house.

No matter how big the living room is, it seems crowded, but fortunately, the Wu family's living room is big enough, otherwise these two hundred people would not be able to squeeze in.

There was a table and a chair under the head, and the four treasures of the study room were placed on the table, and the housekeeper appeared respectfully at the table, Wu Qi turned his head and ordered: "Butler, let's start." ”

"The three representatives in charge of collecting money go outside and stand outside, and you will register one by one, and the others shall not make noise for no reason, and those who violate it will be severely punished."

The housekeeper didn't talk nonsense either, and began to arrange it after taking a seat.

Wu Qi just watched quietly and didn't speak, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, not to mention the fiercely competitive families, he wants to see how fierce it is.

There are more than 230 branches of the Wu family, and according to the size and scale, population base, size of the transaction, etc., the minimum must be handed over to 1,000 taels, and the maximum is no more than 3,000 taels.

If the branch is less than 1,000 taels, if it is more than three times, its branch will be cancelled, and if there is no other branch to take over, it will be broken up and supplemented to other families with poor conditions (it must be a branch that has paid 1,000 taels).

The members of the broken branch will have a miserable life in the future, and it is a trivial matter to not be treated, and they are afraid of being driven like subordinates, which makes Wu Qi unacceptable in his heart.

Wu Zhong didn't ask at this time, whether to cancel its branch? Wu Qi resolutely refused, indicating that he had his own decision.

The registration was still going on, and the speed was soon coming to an end, and the number of branches that had not been handed over three times had reached an astonishing thirty, and even more could not even pay one hundred taels, which made Wu Qi puzzled.

It is said that the same family members can't have such a big difference in economic problems, don't they all help each other? Don't you know the truth that one loses both?

Half an hour later, after the registration was completed, Wu Zhong called the three responsible persons in charge to check the accounts, and handed over the accounts to the young master for inspection.

Wu Qi couldn't understand the words of this era, so he didn't answer and said lightly: "Read." ”

Wu Zhong was stunned for a moment and then said aloud: "Two hundred and thirty-six families have paid a total of 450,000 taels, and there are thirty-three families who can't pay one thousand taels.

The accounts of the three responsible persons were 449,500 taels, a difference of 500 taels. ”

"Oh? Where did the five hundred taels go? Wu Qi looked at the three people in charge when he heard this, these three people made him very unpleasant, and when he entered the courtyard, he saw these three collectors, which was like blowing debts, which made Wu Qi very dissatisfied.

The three of them hesitated and took out silver tickets or silver ingots from their arms, and handed them to the housekeeper together.

Wu Qi laughed angrily at the behavior of the three of them: "Young Master Ben is very curious, and he treats the same clan in every way to persecute him? Can't you just go to the side, it's the same root, why is it too anxious, don't you understand this truth? . ”

When everyone saw the young master questioning, they were still benevolent, some were disdainful, some were calm, and some were grateful, in short, they would speculate again and again about every word of the young master.

The three of them were no exception, and one of them bowed down and said, "Young Master, rules are rules, and there is no return." If the young master opens up the net with a word, then can everyone learn from them in the future, don't you have to pay it? ”

Wu Qi looked at him coldly, his face was cold, and he said in his heart: "It's good to dare to threaten Young Master Ben!." ”

Seeing that the young master was so uncontrollable, this person was disdainful in his heart, and said aggressively: "The villain thinks that the young master blames us for a group of waste, is it biased?"

If the family wants to stand tall, the power alone is not enough, but also has absolute financial support, if you ignore the family rules today, and if you are soft-hearted, you will open the net, and it will cause bad consequences in the future, we can't afford it, what does the young master think?. ”

After this person finished speaking, he looked directly at the young master, his eyes were completely disrespectful, and the living room was suddenly silent.

The housekeeper Wu Zhong's eyes exploded, he was afraid that the young master would not be able to control the scene, so he looked at the young master worriedly, and his heart suddenly burst: "It's not good, the young master is going to turn his face!." ”

Sure enough, Wu Qi got up and raised his hand to slap the man, and there was a crisp and loud "snap", the latter did not scream, he looked at the young master in disbelief, although he was scared in his heart, but he was more angry, and he lost his mind for a while: "Why did you hit me?". ”