Ling studied with Chen Jian for a few years, and the truth that people cannot be resurrected after death is still understood. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 After seeing all the changes in Yucheng, Ling at this time is no longer the young child he was at the beginning, and he began to have ambitions in his heart that he didn't have and didn't dare to have a few years ago.

In addition to the sadness in his heart, it is inevitable that there will be an element of showmanship, especially when showmanship can pave the way for his ambition.

Chen Jian, as a gentleman, provided material support and systematic showmanship behind the scenes, and did not say it explicitly, but Ling could understand Chen Jian's extraneous voices.

It is true that when Chen Jian said that brothers were in harmony, he said that he should not kill each other because of some rights, and he also said that he would take them to Dongyi to build a new city.

But if you can become a leader in your own city, who wants to leave?

Now in this chaotic situation, we can only use all our resources to fight for this opportunity.

That night, when Chen Jian was thinking hard in the house of the Xia State Supply and Marketing Division, Ling was draped in white linen cloth, knelt in front of his father's already stinky corpse, and cried loudly.

It is not only a show, but also an emotional outburst, people can be ruthless, recalling the bits and pieces of their childhood, Ling is like talking to people, with sorrow from the beginning of hunting when he was a child, recalling everything in the past little by little.

This is not an ancient custom, many people in the city are very curious, the number of linen cloth was scarce before, and it is not possible to wear linen cloth all, where is there any excess linen cloth to drape on the body.

While Ling was crying, the carpenters who had followed Chen Jian from Yucheng made pine wood as fast as they could, preparing to make the coffin the next day. This is supported by Jian Chen, and of course all kinds of tools are complete.

In the early morning of the second day, many people from the city had gathered around the mortuary, and Ling's voice was hoarse, and the cry had become indistinguishable.

Everyone watched this scene, and they couldn't help but think of their deceased parents, and they had felt this sadness, so they could empathize with it at this time.

"Ling, go eat something, it's not a way to cry like this. Your father is gone, so you should mourn. ”

Ling shook his head and said, "Where can I eat?" If it weren't for my father's war and labor, how would I be able to eat? Skipping meals is the importance of experiencing your father with hunger. ”

Everyone was amazed, and after thinking about it carefully, they felt that it was very reasonable, and what they said was extremely wise in the eyes of everyone in the city at this time, and where was it still the child who had no ability in everyone's impression.

However, a cold voice followed, and Ling's eldest brother snorted, "It's so good, you should starve to death and follow your father." ”

"What the eldest brother said is not right. The dead have what the dead have to do, and the living have what the living have to do. As the leader of the city during his lifetime, his father was bent on a better life for all the people in the city when he was alive, which was his wish during his lifetime. Although the father is gone, but the son is still alive, it is precisely the things that the father has not done that should be done, how can he starve to death at will? If you starve to death at will, your blood cannot be passed on, and your wishes are not fulfilled, how can this be what a son can do? ”

Ling's eldest brother was speechless for a while, and his heart couldn't help but be alert. Yesterday's incident, he still felt that Ji Xia was backing him, but today's words were simply said by Ling himself. This younger brother, who looked weak and powerless at the beginning, can now talk to himself with his head up, and he doesn't even have a chance to refute himself.

Especially the sentence in the words...... The words that everyone in the city is better off actually revealed a little bit of wanting to inherit the power of the leader. In Ling's eldest brother's opinion, this must be Chen Jian's backing, but he is not worried. His mother's surname is Su, and Su Yue is the head of the alliance, even if the Xia Kingdom has been in the limelight in recent years, it is not as good as the heritage of Su Cheng.

Besides, if you want to become the leader now, you need to be recognized by all the great river tribes, and how many people support Ji Xia?

Thinking of this, Ling's eldest brother breathed a sigh of relief and decided not to fight for the benefit of this tongue anymore, so he said: "Since you are also back, and my father has already determined that he has left us, I think I will be buried today." ”

Ling shook his head again and said, "My father swore an oath with the leaders of the tribes during his lifetime, and all the tribes of the Great River are regarded as brothers. If my father had been buried and the rest of the towns had not been able to come to mourn, wouldn't we have been blamed for being rude? Even the soul of the father will surely blame us for not having manners. ”

Ling's eldest brother said angrily: "It's so hot now! Do you want your father to rot? Could it be that the last side of your father that you want the leaders to see is a puddle of rotten maggots? ”

"When I rushed back from Yucheng, I asked the carpenters of Yucheng to make the coffin, and of course I wouldn't let the leaders or messengers see what you said. Besides, with such a rush in time, where can we prepare sacrifices such as dogs and horses? ”

"Sacrifices? My father was rich, so why did he use a dog and a horse? There are copper and jade, and there are countless pearl shells, even if Ji Xia said that he doesn't martyr slaves, is it possible that our family can't even take out some good things and use grass dogs? ”

"Life to life, death to death. The bronze jade is still as new after being buried in the soil for a hundred years, how can it be used by the soul? The soul is light, so the sacrificial fire is used, and the dogs and horses melt with the fire and rise with the wind, which is what the soul can enjoy. Isn't it deceiving the soul to be buried in the earth and not be able to enjoy it? ”

"Besides, not everyone owns copper jade, isn't it true that people feel the same pain about the death of their parents? Since they are the same, how can they use the bronze jade that the soul cannot enjoy at all to show their grief? Could it be that those who can't afford to buy copper jade are disrespectful and sad to their parents and ancestors? ”

There are still many people in the nearby city, most of them are the kind of people who can't afford to buy copper and jade, and they all agree when they hear this. Of course, they hope that their parents and ancestors can also enjoy the sacrifice, people are always willing to believe what they want to believe, the nobles are willing to believe that the richer the sacrifice, the more can be enjoyed by the soul, and the poor people are more willing to believe that the soul can only enjoy things such as dogs and grass horses, and the bronze and jade of the living world will not enjoy it...... Presumably, they are looking forward to being on the same starting line after death.

Of course, these words were not thought up by Ling, and the people who taught him were just to instigate the division of the city in exchange for the support of some people.

However, Ling's eldest brother heard some insinuations in his words, although he did not say it explicitly, but when he thought about it carefully, it seemed to be an insinuation that he deliberately used things that the soul could not enjoy but that the living could see to show his filial piety, which seemed to be a hypocrisy.

Ling's eldest brother turned red and was extremely angry, and after listening to the discussion and support of those people next to him, he was even more angry in his heart, and scolded angrily: "Where did you learn the crooked reasoning? I see you've been cheating since yesterday! If you don't eat and cry, what do you want to do? ”

Ling said coldly: "Shouldn't I be sad when my father dies?" Are you saying that all those who grieve because of the death of their parents are hypocritical? The heartache is like a sword stab, can you still hold back and not cry? Besides, the dog and the grass horse, this is something that everyone can prepare for their parents and ancestors. Speaking of which, I still have fiefdom slaves in Dongyi, and Ji Xia has been rewarded with some copper, do I have to pretend to be sad and sad, and I won't use the copper jade that my father can't enjoy at all? ”

His words seemed to be just a statement that he was not a fake, but he invisibly reminded everyone that he had made war exploits in Dongyi was no longer that stupid and stupid child, but someone who could fight thousands of miles away.

Now the position of the leader is undecided, and everything may affect the support and opposition of the people, even if it is now necessary for all the tribes of the river to witness together, if you elect a person who has a grudge against the clan, it is impossible to sit firmly in the position of the leader.

The two sons of the woman surnamed Su were in charge of some things in the city, and normally, if there were no accidents, these two sons would always inherit the position of chief.

However, the city was too close to Yucheng, and it was a waterway that was convenient for boats, so it became no longer normal.

In recent years, the population of the city has not increased much, but the original power composition and the strength of the relatives and nobles have changed.

The children of the nobles who followed Jian Chen to study in the Yucheng Academy became the link between Yucheng and the city, and the benefits of this bond inevitably affected the pattern of the city.

For those relatives and nobles who were hostile to the policies of Yucheng, their lives were the same, with slaves working and clansmen cultivating the land as a source of income.

And those relatives who are connected to Yucheng because of their children begin to enjoy the benefits brought by their children to their families.

By planting that little bit of land, he couldn't accumulate the wealth to buy a lot of tools, but the cargo station established here in Yucheng began to consciously support the parents of those women according to Chen Jian's orders.

For example, some tools, those relatives and nobles who were hostile to Yucheng could not buy much at all, and with the reclamation of the land near Yucheng, the same grain could be exchanged for fewer and fewer tools.

And those relatives and nobles whose children are in the Yucheng Academy enjoy different treatment, they can temporarily borrow some copper coins in the name of their children, and Xia Cheng will also send someone to guide them to change the previous planting methods.

Crops such as pine ink, wild tannic acid, herbs, dye crops, or labor-intensive primary handicrafts were also transferred to nearby cities, and the biggest beneficiaries were the relatives of these children in Yucheng.

Except for the consumption of Yucheng, ink cannot be sold elsewhere, and Yucheng will not spend a lot of manpower to make it, and there are people in the nearby cities. Yucheng still consumes a lot of pottery every year, but orders will only be given to those relatives who are close to Yucheng, and the corresponding some burnt lime, ship-making wood, etc., will also be given priority.

Coupled with the popularization of new farming tools, some relatives and nobles began to frantically cultivate private land, but most of the land near the city was public land, and if it was too far away from the city, they were worried about the escape of slaves, after all, the nearby place was where escape to Yucheng was extremely free a few years ago. Thus new estates of half-slaves and half-serfs appeared, and the original nobles were in possession of agricultural tools, and those people were allowed to own a small piece of land that could only starve, and with the introduction of new technologies, their income from food increased, even more than the income of the entire city's public land years ago.

Under the economic change, is there a struggle for power -- is it to follow Sucheng? Or follow Xia Guo?

Not all of the relatives and nobles whose children studied in Yucheng were close to Yucheng, and Yucheng also supported some of the slaves who did not have many slaves, had a decent reputation, and had little power.

This group of people used the new technology and new tools that Chen Jian half sold and half gave away, and frantically brushed up their prestige among the common people, and in a cooperative way, they contributed tools, and the civilians contributed labor to reclaim the land, organize workshops, and cut down trees.

The work is almost the same as before, but there is more food in hand, and there is a surplus of copper coins every year, thinking that no matter how many young people can have a set of farm tools, they naturally stand on the side of Xia Guo.

It seems that Ling has been out for more than three years, but his reputation has not fallen at all, and it is much higher than at the beginning, especially after returning from Dongyi, he has made great achievements.

This city is more or less a microcosm of a city near Yucheng, and Jian Chen doesn't have the energy to take care of too many places, so this economic control is also maintained in some towns west of Yucheng, south of Xiacheng, Onozawa, and on the banks of the Great River. These cities are not the basic plate of the blood alliance within Sucheng, and it is convenient to maintain close ties with the two cities of Yuxia, and they will not touch the bottom line of Suyue.

It is said that this city was not originally in Chen Jian's plan, and he was going to invite the cities with waterway connections between Yuxia and Xia to form a mutual economic alliance after becoming the high priest, but Chen Jian did not want to touch this city because it involved the heir of the blood surnamed Su.

But the sudden death of the old leader disrupted Jian Chen's plan and forced him to fight for it.

If you don't give up directly, your students will lose confidence in themselves, and this time they have to do it if they don't do it. Even if you know in your heart that this is not the best time, the world never changes by human will, and there are not so many opportunities to be ready and foolproof.

But this is also taking risks, he is testing Su Yue's bottom line, and he has to stick to his bottom line.

Now the relationship between the Xia Kingdom and the Sucheng blood alliance is very delicate, and neither side is ready to fight for the true leadership of the Great River Tribes in an all-out way - the mobility and siege ability of the Xia army after the Dongyi Rebellion made Sucheng and his allies very nervous, and they did not want to go to war until they had completely digested the previous slaves, built the paths and the new city walls; In the same way, Xia Guo has just undergone a change, although it nominally has 70,000 people, but after the military change, the combat effectiveness has actually declined greatly compared to before, and the internal integration has not been completed, and it has not exploded its due potential, so Xia Guo does not want to fight.

Therefore, whether it is Ling or his brother, it is now just a chess piece in the internal struggle for dominance in the future within the Dahe tribes, and the only thing that can be thankful may be left: it is better to be a chess piece than someone who is not even qualified to be a chess piece.

Ling or the elder brother who can be the leader does not depend on them, nor on the choice of the clansmen, it only depends on the game between the two cities of Xia and Su and the affiliated cities.

It's just that because of the distance and the speed of message delivery, the other side that should be the chess player has not yet entered the market, and Chen Jian's desperate actions are likely to turn the question of the succession of the leader of this city into the fuse of a full-scale civil war.

PS: Today's chapter.