"Student Zhang, meet Mr. Xu!"

In the back hall of the Gonghe Mansion, the prefect Zhang Wei, who was nearly forty years old, made a disciple salute to Xu Rui in a regular manner, making Xu Rui not stand or sit, which was very embarrassing.

Zhang Wei himself has no different color, and he bows to the end, as if he is not a little slacking off because Xu Rui is young and his grade is lower than his own.

Unlike most of Xichuan's officials, Zhang Wei was not a local official, but was transferred from the capital, and his master was Zhang Zongnian, a disciple of Mr. Dongli and an old acquaintance of Xu Rui.

In Xichuan, others may not know the deeds of Xu Rui, the statue of a saint, but he, the master and apprentice, knows it clearly, and admires Xu Rui's ability to help Mr. Dongli break the bottleneck for ten years, and he has long wanted to see this legendary boy with his own eyes.

In addition to his talents, Xu Rui regards Mr. Dongli as an elder, but he and Zhang Zongnian, who has a beard, are friends of the same generation.

"Master Zhang, let's go our separate ways, you are so polite, but it makes me a little embarrassed."

Xu Rui sneered, and hurriedly reached out to help Zhang Wei, who wanted to kneel, up.

Zhang Wei's face turned grim: "What did Mr. Xu say?" Respecting teachers is my Confucian virtue, and students, as parents, should set an example. ”

As he spoke, he knelt down again.

Xu Rui dared to entangle with him again, while holding his elbow, he hurriedly said: "The matter is urgent, this official is here today because of a big matter to ask you." ”

"Big deal?"

Zhang Wei was stunned for a moment, and sure enough, his attention was diverted.

Xu Rui nodded: "When the official first arrived in Xichuan, he didn't know the situation here, and I heard that Lord Zhang has been an official here for more than seven years, and I hope that my lord will tell the official about the situation here." ”

Hearing Xu Rui say this, a flash of joy suddenly flashed on Zhang Wei's face: "Mr. Xu is a Qincha, this time he came to Xichuan, isn't it that the Holy Lord finally plans to do something to those people?" ”

"Those people? Do it? ”

Xu Rui was slightly stunned and looked at him suspiciously.

Seeing Xu Rui's expression, Zhang Wei understood that he had guessed wrong, a trace of disappointment flashed on his face, and he sighed: "It seems that Lord Xu doesn't know that Xichuan is not the Xichuan of the Holy Saint at all, but the Xichuan of the bereaved clan." ”

"What do you mean?"

Xu Rui frowned.

Zhang Wei pulled Xu Rui to sit down, and said quietly: "Lord Xu should have heard that Xichuan was the ancient capital of the previous dynasty, and there are many high-ranking families left over from the previous dynasty. ”

Xu Rui nodded: "I've heard a little, I heard that these families are intertwined and have some power. ”

"It's not just power!"

Speaking of this, Zhang Wei said with anger on his face: "These families have a deep foundation, not only annexing a large amount of land, monopolizing the market, and even officialdom is their world.

All officials from the four major families are evaluated every year, and their promotions are extremely fast, while those officials from other places will be excluded and suppressed everywhere, and even the servants in the yamen cannot be commanded.

In this way, foreign officials often can't stand it within a few years, and they get out of the way by themselves.

It's a shame to say that this official can work in Xichuan for seven years, or thanks to the relationship between the family teacher, as a scholar, they are embarrassed to drive out my apprentice grandson of the great master, but even so, this official is also a marginal person in Xichuan.

It can be said that Xichuan has never been the Xichuan of the Great Wei, but the Xichuan of the remnants, and many people only know that there are four major families, but they don't know that there is a saint. ”

"How could such a thing happen?"

Xu Rui was taken aback, whether it was Princess Qixia's deliberate reminder or what he had seen and heard during this time, he could already clearly feel the strong influence of these remnants in Xichuan, but he didn't expect that the power of those families would be so great.

Zhang Wei smiled bitterly: "Seeing that after Lord Xu entered Xichuan, he was not only very low-key, but also wantonly bought people's hearts, and this official thought that you had already understood the situation in Xichuan, and deliberately showed weakness, wanting them to relax their vigilance."

But fortunately, your trip is low-key, if you really put on a shelf, you will be suppressed by the bereaved family, and nothing will be achieved in Xichuan. ”

Xu Rui also smiled bitterly: "He wanted to show his strength in Xichuan, so he used this method to build momentum and calculate the four major families, but he didn't expect it to be a mistake, and there was a lot of trouble." ”

He suddenly remembered the first time he mentioned to Emperor Hongwei that he wanted to go to Xichuan for exercises, and Emperor Hongwei's playful expression made his heart feel depressed.

The old guy clearly understood everything, but he deliberately didn't say it, wishing that he would make some trouble in Xichuan, so that he would have a reason and opportunity to suppress these deep-rooted giants......

"Unknowingly, I was used by that guy again......"

"What is Lord Xu talking about?"

"Ah, nothing. Oh, by the way, just now you said that the bereaved monopolize the market, is it all the market? ”

Xu Rui's face became serious, and he asked in a deep voice.

Zhang Wei nodded: "Almost all markets, from large grains to small tea stalls, have the shadow of the remnants, if it is an outsider, without the nod of the remnants, don't want to do any business at all." ”

"That's ......"

Xu Rui didn't react much, but his heart sank slightly.

If he really had to nod his head at any business, then his plan to dump the product into Xiliang would become very risky.

The so-called strong dragon does not suppress the head snake, can those high-ranking families really just be a participant and let such a big piece of fat be eaten by themselves?

And mastering the dominance of foreign trade is the bottom line that Xu Rui must adhere to, because only by mastering the dominance of trade can it be possible to operate the whole.

He is now focusing not on an isolated Xichuan, but on the long-term development of the entire Galaxy Group and the overall situation of the industrialization process of the whole world.

Nishikawa's plan was the first step for Galaxy to complete the bloody primitive capital accumulation, really embark on the fast track of development, and even gradually become a super enterprise like the East India Company.

This step must be solid, it must be steady, and only by laying a solid foundation will there be no hidden dangers.

It seems that I thought too simple before, these relics turned out to be not paper tigers, but earth emperors, so their weight may not be so sufficient.

You have to hurry up and find other chips......

In an instant, Xu Rui's mind turned sharply, and he immediately saw the current situation clearly and pondered a way to break the situation.

"Master Zhang, what is the relationship between the four families of Cui, Lu, Wang, and Zheng?"

Xu Rui suddenly asked Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei seemed to understand Xu Rui's intentions, and said with a deep sigh: "These four families are actually relatives of the Han Dynasty, and almost all the queens of the previous dynasty are from these four families, and there are countless concubines.

Do you know that there is no harmony in the struggle for power? For the sake of their own interests, these families fought openly and secretly as early as the Han Dynasty, and they fought to the death.

Now, because the interests are not so great, the means of struggle are not so cruel, but there are still huge contradictions and conflicts of interest between these families.

However, the four major families are married all the year round, and the kinship relationship is complicated, as long as they are two of the four major families, they are relatives all around.

In this way, you have me, I have you, there is both cooperation and conflict, and it is very chaotic.

But even so, if Lord Xu wants to start from this aspect, I am afraid it will be very difficult, because after all, they are a family with a thousand-year-old inheritance, and they naturally understand the truth of cold lips and teeth.

Behind closed doors, they can fight like chickens and dogs, but when it comes to the outside world, they are unprecedentedly united, like springs, and the more powerful forces want to intervene in Xichuan, the tighter they will hold and the greater the resistance they will create. ”

"Unprecedented unity?"

Hearing Zhang Wei say such a bad thing, Xu Rui not only did not have the slightest discoloration, but suddenly showed a smile.

"Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, I want to see, in the face of millions of taels of silver a year, can you still achieve unprecedented unity?"

Xu Rui suddenly said silently in his heart.

Just now, there seemed to be a lightning bolt in Xu Rui's mind, and finally made him understand where to find the weight he was missing.