In the tenth year of Tiantong, the Li family in Jinling had three rooms and sixteen branches, seven hundred and fifty-six stores in the thirteen provinces, plus the eighteen-way brothers and gangs attached to the Li family, and the total revenue was 2,324,873 taels, which was only one tael less than the imperial court's tax last year, which can be said to have achieved considerable growth. ”

Everyone here was excited, the annual revenue of the Li family in Jinling was almost catching up with the taxes of the imperial court, and the so-called "rich rival country" was nothing more than that.

Li Xiaoshu said again, "The above is the revenue, and I will talk about the expenses." The Li family spent 3.3 million taels on the staff, 11 million taels for the operation of each store, 1 million taels for the family's family studies, ancestral halls, and sword towers, and 3.2 million taels for the clan's disciples to study and explore the rivers and lakes. ”

As soon as these words came out, the previous excitement turned into consternation.

"What? It's only 340,000 taels? How can this be? Last year, there were more than 5 million taels, the third child, you can't be wrong, right?"

The Li family has three rooms and sixteen branches, most of them have their own industries under their names, and more than 10 million operating expenses, which fall into their own pockets on weekdays, but there are also some who do not produce and only rely on dividends within the clan to make a living, so when they heard that there were only more than 300,000 taels of profits, they couldn't sit still.

Li Xiaoshu swore solemnly, "I have found someone to calculate it three times, and there will be no mistake." However, I also hope that the elders will understand, this also shows that the family is prosperous, the family of the hundred generations, there must be Yu Qing, it is said that the Cui family in Henan has been unable to make ends meet for ten years. The sub-account books are here, and if each room has any opinions, they can send the account office to investigate it in person. ”

Jiufang asked, "What are you checking for?" You Sanfang specializes in managing the family business, and you can do the accounting more clearly than anyone else. Let me just ask, in previous years, there were only more than 300,000 taels of children in the clan to communicate and roam the rivers and lakes, how can there be more than 3 million taels all of a sudden last year?"

Li Xiaoshu was waiting for this sentence, and he hesitated, "This ...... The expenses were reasonable, we had all totaled them and there were no mistakes. ”

"Reasonable? If you want to say that, which one is unreasonable? We want explanations, not reasonable!"

Li Xiaoshu found the booklet, pretended to read it, and said slowly, "I think you all know that since the ninth year of Tiantong, Li Chengcheng has traveled the rivers and lakes, and bought a heaven and earth in Jiujiang City for hundreds of thousands of taels, and last year a fire burned to ashes, which was regarded as an investment failure, so this cost was also apportioned, as well as in Fuling, Shuzhong, Yinyang, along the way, there were a lot of expenses." Allure is the future head of the family, and it is the time to spend money, this kind of money, should be spent. ”

Li Qingcheng frowned, this intra-clan meeting was clearly aimed at himself. In the past two years, he has indeed spent a lot of money, some of which are disputes of will, and some of which are fooled by Xiao Jinyan and Zhao Lanjiang, but the words he writes and the IOUs he makes are endorsed by the Li family in Jinling. In this intra-clan meeting, he and Li Xiaohua originally wanted to use the assassination to attack Sanfang, but who expected Li Xiaoshu to preemptively shake these out. With the financial resources of the Li family in Jinling, the annual dividend is about 800 to 9 million taels every year, but the accounts are made by people, and Li Xiaoshu deliberately made this account and led the fire to Li Tingcheng's head, which is really powerful.

Jiufang is indomitable, "Even if Li Chengcheng spends money, it should be paid from the budget of the long house, why should we occupy our dividends?"

Li Xiaoshu shouted, "Why? Just because he is the young clan master, the future helmsman of the Li family!"

If this sentence is said by Li Xiaohua, I am afraid it will still have some deterrent power, but Li Xiaoshu said it, which will aggravate the dissatisfaction of the people.

"I can spend money like this now, if we really become the future head of the family, our entire Jinling Li family will not be defeated by him? Ten days later, in the Council of Elders, I will be the first in the ninth room to oppose Li Tingcheng to be the head of the family!"

"I'm against it in the twelve-room!"

For a while, two rooms jumped out first, and these two rooms had close contact with Li Xiaoshu on weekdays, and in return, Li Xiaoshu also took care of a lot in business and accounts, so they only looked forward to everything.

Li Cunzhong, who has four rooms, said, "The three million taels of Allure are a bit much, but some of them are investment industries, except for the failure of the heavenly world in Jiujiang, some others are still profitable, such as taking one million land and warehousing in Yinyang City, in the next few years, it can be expected that there will be profits, if they are all included in the expenses, it is also unfair." ”

As soon as he spoke, several elders echoed. "I looked through the accounts, if you only count the daily expenses of Allure, it is only about 100,000 taels, as the future head of the family, it is still within a more reasonable range. ”

Jiufang said, "Where is Yinyang? The border is a place of right and wrong, there are constant wars, spending a million there, isn't it like fighting a river? The former loser, spending all day drinking, eating, drinking, prostituting and gambling, supporting hundreds of thousands of taels a year, the current loser, is afraid of serious and hard investment, no matter how big the industry, in his hands, it will be lost sooner or later. ”

On the surface, everyone is arguing about whether Li Tingcheng should spend money, but secretly it is the factions of the long room and the third room who stand in line and fight, as for Li Xiaocao in the second room, and some neutral factions, they are silent and wait for the changes.

Li Xiaoshu stopped and said, "Old Jiu, don't say a few words." He said slowly, "Young people, they can make mistakes, and it is not terrible to make mistakes, and they can learn from their mistakes, and they can be regarded as growing." In this way, we don't want three rooms for dividends this year, and I personally took out 300,000 taels as a dividend. ”

These words, first, appear generous, and secondly, take out some silver to buy people's hearts. Li Xiaoshu's move is beautiful.

Jiufang refused to keep his mouth shut, "Third master, your family has a great business."

Big, tens of thousands of taels of silver are nothing, but we have a total of 100 people in the nine rooms, and we all count on this bonus to eat. Li Tingcheng's loss to the family, why should we pay the tuition? This matter, the third master, you can't be the master, so let's ask the head of the family to give an explanation. ”

Li Xiaoshu was a little embarrassed and looked at Li Xiaohua. As the head of the family, Li Xiaohua has not spoken since the beginning, so most people are also watching.

He said lightly, "You have also seen that Li Chengcheng has disobeyed me several times, and I even have the heart to depose his patriarch heir, I listen to everyone." ”

In a very simple sentence, the ball was kicked to the crowd again.

Jiufang said, "That's good, since everyone has no opinion, I propose that the next patriarch restore the tradition of a hundred years ago and fight for power." ”

The crowd was in an uproar.

The Li family established a family with a sword, a hundred years ago, the position of the patriarch was determined by the competition among the descendants of the clan, of course, among the three rooms, there were many resources and funds, and the successive patriarchs were selected from the three rooms, but when the sword thirteen Li Jianxin was born, he almost seized power, so it was changed to today's succession system, however, the original form of sword fighting was still retained, but it became a passing scene.

Li Xiaoshu looked at Li Chengcheng, "Say a few words." ”

Li Tingcheng stood up and said, "I have no opinion. ”

Li Xiaohua wanted to stop it, but it was too late, so she glanced again, and the elder of the fourth room said, "There is something, I have to say a few words." Although Li Chengcheng has been out of town for the past two years, he has not lived a peaceful life, do you still remember Li Changfu, one of the three major sword servants of Fu Lushou?"

"Didn't he go out to the Western Regions?"

Li Changfu's death, except for a very few people in the clan, no one knew, the clan announced that he went to the Western Regions to do business, and he would not be able to return within a few years.

"Not really. "Sifang Dao," as far as I know, Li Changfu colluded with the Lingnan Sword Sect to assassinate Li Qingcheng on the way, and secretly took away 300,000 taels of silver. This was done in a very secret way, but I happened to have a book of accounts that I wanted to show to the elders here. ”

After that, he took out the account book of the No. 7 pawnshop and circulated it among the elders, and someone took the approved account book on the table and compared them one by one, and said, "The 300,000 taels of silver are written to buy tea, which does not match this account book." ”

Assassinating the clansmen within the clan is a taboo within the clan. The first article of the Li family's family rules strictly prohibits the clansmen from killing each other, and once it is found, the first evil will be severely punished, and the rest of the family will be removed from the family tree.

The elder of the fourth room said, "If I remember correctly, this No. 7 pawnshop should be the property of the third master, right?"

As soon as these words came out, Li Xiangzhong, who was in the thirteenth room, chuckled in the center, and he secretly looked at Li Xiaoshu, for fear that he would take out the deed secretly signed by his wife to shirk his responsibility.

Li Xiaoshu was surprised, he glanced at Li Xiangzhong, and then said slowly, "Yes, it is my three-room property." ”

Sifang asked, "Third master, you can't get out of this matter, right?"

Li Xiaoshu said, "It's true that the No. 7 pawnshop is my industry, and there were 300,000 taels of silver out of the account at the beginning of last year, and it is not fake, what is done in the clear account is to buy tea, and then use it to give alms to Qingliang Temple, it is indeed my negligence." ”

"Then you admit to assassinating Li Chengcheng?"

Li Xiaoshu smiled, "I just admit that there was a problem in my accounting, but I didn't say that the money was used to assassinate Li Chengcheng, Li Chengcheng was raised with my own eyes, how could I do such a thing?"

"How do you explain this money?"

Li Xiaoshu looked at Li Xiaohua, "Big brother, do you need me to say it clearly?"

Li Xiaohua didn't expect that this third brother would be so calm, and said, "Since someone from the clan asked, you can explain it." ”

Li Xiaoshu took the two account books in his hands, spread them out to the page respectively, and explained, "At the beginning of last year, the case of Pang Yuchong, the secretary of the Central Household Department in the capital, must be vividly remembered, right?"

Pang Yuchong has a very close relationship with the Li family, and many children of the Li family have been slowly promoted by his connections, but last year he was dismissed and investigated for corruption, and many children of the Li family were also implicated.

"At that time, four children of my Li family were implicated, and the Li family took out 300,000 taels to mediate from Dali Temple to save their lives. Kang Yuancheng, the temple secretary of Dali Temple, is a native of Lingnan, but there was a mistake in the accounting room. If I remember correctly, your son and nephew in the fourth room are also serving as officials in the household department, right? These 300,000 taels, you should bear a share of the four rooms! If you don't believe it, you can confront the patriarch. ”

Li Xiaohua pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "This is indeed the case." ”

Li Xiaoshu's words, even after beating him, made Sifang red-faced, hid behind the crowd, and never dared to speak again.

Li Xiaoshu said again, "Patriarch, the fourth room has no real evidence, and framed us in the third room, according to the clan rules, how should we deal with it?"

Li Xiaohua didn't expect that she wanted to take the opportunity to blame Sanfang today, but she was beaten upside down by Li Xiaoshu, it seems that she still underestimated this third brother, he said, "Sifang, don't you apologize to the third master?"

Sifang took two steps forward, apologized, and said, "Third master, I am gullible, and I will make amends to you." ”

Li Xiaoshu turned to one side, avoided the fourth room, and said, "The fourth room is in charge of construction, from the seventh to the tenth year of Tiantong, through false opening and receipt, subcontracting, unpacking, and intermediate arbitrage, in the past four years, no less than two million taels have been set from within the clan. This year's big ancestor worship, the clan renovated the ancestral hall, and spent nearly one million taels, but the real use of the ancestral hall is only 600,000 taels, which is more

's 400,000 taels, I'm afraid it's into the private pocket of the fourth room. I am in charge of the family's money, originally a family, there are many clansmen, it is not easy to support the family, there are some things I close my eyes to, I don't plan to say, but if I don't say it, I feel unfair to other clansmen. ”

These words made Sifang completely dumbfounded.

Originally, there were three rooms and sixteen branches, some of them were Qingshui Yamen, and some of them were so rich that they had filled their pockets through the family business, and everyone here had done it, if they really investigated it, no one could escape responsibility. Sifang is the patriarch's person, and he doesn't deal with the third child, Li Xiaoshu provokes him to do something, but he actually says it to the others.

There are some things that everyone does, but they don't know. But once you say it, it's a tear. The fourth room was in trouble today, and Li Xiaoshu directly counterattacked and wanted to take down the fourth room in one fell swoop.

This greatly surprised Li Xiaohua.

Sifang fluttered and knelt on the ground, "Third master, I was wrong." ”

"I'm just telling the truth, and it's not me who is right or wrong, it's the patriarch who has the final say. He gave the ball to Li Xiaohua again.

Li Xiaohua is in a dilemma. Sifang is his person, if he opens his mouth to maintain it, it will naturally cause dissatisfaction among others, but if he abandons the car to protect the handsome, who will listen to him in the future?

At this time, Li Xiaocao in the second room came out to play a round game, "After all, the fourth room is also a big branch, and there are many clansmen who are officials in the court. Now that the ancestor worship is imminent, the rivers and lakes are staring at us, and everything is based on stability. I think that the position of the elders of the four rooms should be temporarily abolished, and they should be ordered to go back to make an inventory, and then make a final decision after the great ancestor worship. ”

Li Xiaoshu said, "The second brother has spoken, so I naturally have no opinion." ”

Li Xiaocao said again, "However, the assassination of Li Chengcheng still needs to be strictly investigated! ”

Li Qingcheng said, "I will." ”

Li Xiaoshu said: "Anyway, there are still ten days to worship the ancestors, so it is better to hand over the account book to you to check, since you are going to take over the family, the business in the clan still needs to be understood." ”

The matter of the account books was turned over in this way.

Li Xiaohua said, "Today's matter, remember to keep it secret. ”

The next thing is equivalent to the preparation of the ancestor worship ceremony, the elders discussed the process of the ceremony and the related preparations and gold and silver expenditures, and decided to worship the ancestors, presided over by Li Dongyang of the library, he is old, prestigious, is the leader of the literary world, and has participated in the court and the middle of the day to worship the heavens. Due to the controversy in the early stage, there was not much resistance on these specific matters.

After the deliberations, he returned to the annex.

Not long after, the people of the third room sent over the account books of the past three years. Li Tingcheng saw that he had a big head, since they dared to send it over, the accounting would naturally be done seamlessly, even if he wanted to investigate, there would be no problem, and more importantly, he could take the opportunity to drag Li Tingcheng and let him have no intention of pursuing the assassination.

Today's trouble, the contradiction between the long room and the third room is public. In the afternoon of the same day, the events of the council hall had already spread among the clan.

Li Xiaohua returned home and was so angry that she dropped a porcelain from the Song Dynasty, Li Xiaoshu hid in the study and read for an afternoon, while Li Xiaocao in the second room ran to the library and played chess with Li Dongyang for an afternoon.

......

Li Chengcheng and Xiao Jinyan met in the painting boat, told what happened in the morning, and said, "My third uncle is more difficult to deal with than I imagined. ”

Xiao Jinyan said, "The matter has come to this, Li Changfu is dead, and the Lingnan Sword Sect is also dead without proof. ”

"Teach me what to do?"

"If I were you, I would hide at home, practice the sword of the city, in the face of absolute force, all conspiracies and conspiracies will have nothing to hide, presumably your father thinks the same way. ”

Li Chengcheng said, "Since Sanfang dares to do this, even if he does it in the future, he must have hidden some backhand, besides, you have also seen the sword spectrum of Allure One Sword, and you can't practice at all!"

Xiao Jinyan thought for a while and said, "There is another clue. A few days ago, you killed twelve people from the Lingnan Sword Sect, but it is said that there are thirteen people in total, that is, there is still a fish that has slipped through the net, you can find him out and come forward to testify, you may still have a chance. ”

"In the Wuyi Alley incident, the man must be hiding. ”

Xiao Jinyan disagreed, "There must be a brave man under the heavy reward." ”

"Today's trouble, the clansmen have taken back my money and property, and now I can't take out ten taels of silver. ”

"That's going to be a tough one. ”

Li Chengcheng looked helpless, "If it really doesn't work, it's not bad if I just quit the battle for the head of the family and take the golden bottle to wander the world." ”

Xiao Jinyan said, "That's not possible!"

"Why?"

"I still expect you to be the head of the house and make a fortune with you!"

Li Chengcheng said, "You are Yuwen Tianlu's son-in-law, or Dean Li's junior brother, without me, you can still get along well." ”

Referring to Dengwen Academy, Xiao Jinyan suddenly remembered that now Li Chuntie has handed over the power of Dengwen Yuan to Xiao Jinyan, although Dengwen Yuan has recently lost power in the imperial court, but it should not be a problem to investigate this kind of Jianghu matter.

Thinking of this, Xiao Jinyan said, "I'll ask the people of Dengwen Academy to see if they have any clues in their hands, but it costs money." ”

"Just ten taels of silver, you can do it. ”

PS: Tomorrow will send the New Year, if you are drunk, you will ask for leave.