The Li family on Kuizhou Road can be said to have deep roots and intertwined influence. Li Fang worked his way up from a minor official to a transshipment envoy, and has not left Kuizhou Road for decades. Xiao Cheng has never had such a family.

It doesn't mean that the current Xiao Cheng can't do things like knocking someone down. If it makes him anxious, his heart will turn, his eyes will close, no matter what, just do it and then talk about it.

Be consistent.

But this is definitely a loss-making business that harms others and does not benefit oneself. It is a loss-making business that kills one thousand enemies and damages oneself eight hundred. What's more, the attitude shown by Li Fang now is also welcomed by Xiao Cheng.

I don’t need you to cater to me, I just need you to pretend to be deaf and dumb.

Li Fang's calculations were very precise. In a few years, he would become an official. After he became an official, if there were stormy waves on Kuizhou Road, what would it matter to him?

There were no problems during his tenure, but problems occurred when he changed people. This problem is not his fault but caused by the lack of ability of his successor!

He can still drink a little wine in his garden and make some sarcastic remarks. If someone makes him unhappy, he can also go to the clerk's house to punish these incompetent guys.

But Xiao Cheng will definitely not let his life be so satisfactory.

Naturally, such a family must be fully utilized. Just like the Yang family in Banzhou and the Tian family in Tianzhou have now become the most useful people under Xiao Cheng's command, the Li family and Xiao Cheng cannot let go either.

Not to mention, the manpower of these big families is really easy to use.

Firstly, these people are well-educated. Secondly, these people are well-informed and have their own personal connections. These advantages are obviously incomparable to those from poorer families.

It is said that it takes ten years to grow trees and hundreds of years to cultivate people. Now, where does Xiao Cheng have the time and resources to train new people from scratch? There are naturally many talented people among the children from poor families, but unless these people take the initiative in the process of doing things,

Of course Xiao Cheng wouldn't mind picking up a handful of people when they popped up from the ground, but if he was asked to put in a lot of effort to discover such so-called talents, Xiao Cheng wouldn't have the strength and energy.

As for whether there would be any so-called loyalty issues when using the children of these aristocratic families, Xiao Cheng didn't have to worry at all.

First, what he wants to do now has no conflict with the interests of the Yang family and the Tian family, and even highly overlaps with certain things. The Yang family and the Tian family have been trapped in a state for hundreds of years.

, they don’t want to step out and expand their influence? Of course they do. It’s just that the previous court officials were strictly guarded against them. If they did anything wrong, they would knock on their door and start an army to hold them accountable. Finally, Xiao Cheng came and not only did not suppress them, but also encouraged them.

Go outside, where can you find such good allies?

Secondly, the children of the aristocratic families have their own training system and philosophy. In other words, the aristocratic families never put their eggs in one basket. They invest in many places and make bets everywhere. And these people who are thrown out, for them

The people they are loyal to are basically single-minded. Even when they want to attack their own family, they are not necessarily merciful. This is competition, and it is also the way of survival for these big families. The weak will eat the strong, and the strong will survive.

Of course, these scattered chess pieces are not the most powerful within the family. The support and resources they can get are also extremely limited and cannot be compared with the main branch. Under normal circumstances, these

The chess pieces cannot compete with the main branch, and eventually become idle pieces or abandoned pieces. But there are no exceptions. The main branch is counter-killed by these chess pieces.

But after reaching such a point, although the main branch of the aristocratic family was destroyed, it was just the chess piece that became the new main branch. When the common people were replaced, the aristocratic family itself was immortal.

Such things are not uncommon in history.

Just like now Yang Quan of the Yang family and Tian Yi of the Tian family, after they voted for Xiao Cheng, they only thought about Xiao Cheng's interests. When it was time to dig holes in the family, they showed no mercy.

For them, it would be a huge honor if they could defeat the main branch.

Of course, Xiao Cheng still has reservations about using them now. For example, they cannot get involved in military power. Whether it is Yang Wanfu, Li Xin or Han Wei, they are all Xiao Cheng's confidants.

Xiao Cheng would not be so big-hearted as to hand over the power to control the sword to others.

The breakthrough point for the Li family naturally lies in Li Ge and Li Mianzhi.

In Xiao Cheng's study, there is a large stack of investigation documents about Li Ge.

There are various signs that this Li Miuzhi is not only outstanding in ability, but also unwilling to accept the current situation.

The Li family is a typical heirloom from a scholarly family, and the distinction between masters and concubines is very clear. From a young age, concubines were trained either to be a landlord in their hometown and to take care of their ancestors' tombs and temples, or to gain experience in doing business.

Earn money for the family.

Of course, whether it is land or money earned from doing business, the main branch always gets the lion's share.

The only priority of the main branch is to study and be an official. They will never get involved in such smelly things as buying land and doing business.

Generation after generation, Li Mianzhi's father was like this, and it is still like this in his generation. His son, if nothing unexpected happens, will naturally be like this, and will always serve the main branch.

He may look glamorous on the outside, but within the family, he is actually no better than a slave.

Li Ge and Li Mianzhi were the kind of extremely talented people. If he had been allowed to study and become an official since he was a child, he would have been much better than his current cousins.

But it's a pity that he didn't have this opportunity.

He wanted to change, and he didn't want his son, who looked exactly like him when he was a child, who was obviously a good student but had to learn how to do business, to follow his old path.

In Tian Yi's words, this guy has a bone in the back of his head that can be exploited.

Pull him over.

The Li family is afraid that half of it will collapse.

Moreover, this is still the Li family's own housework, and no one can blame Xiao Cheng for anything.

Even Li Fang could only eat Huanglian as a mute. He felt miserable in his heart and could not speak out. He even had to smile and say some superficial words outside, feeling happy that the Li family had another pillar.

Otherwise, the label of suppressing common people will fall on his head.

Although almost every aristocratic family does this kind of thing, it is absolutely unspeakable.

Scholars are the most shameful.

Let's get Li Ge here first and serve as a staff counselor. I think Li Fang will definitely not object. After two years, when we take over Dali, we can make this kid rise to the top in one go.

This guy surpassed the few guys in the main branch who were still working in the sixth and seventh grades. By the time Li Fang wanted to regret it, it was too late.

In this way, there will be a good show. There will be no two days in the sky, and there will be no two masters in the family. Naturally, the Li family will not have any problems if Li Fang is alive, but what if Li Fang is dead? He is not young, and his health is also considered

Not much better.

If Li Fang wants to suppress Li Ge while he is still alive and ensure the position of his direct lineage, then there will be a good show. If Li Ge wants to protect himself, he must follow him wholeheartedly.

When the time comes, the Li family will naturally be torn to pieces.

In fact, such a thing may not happen to Bozhou Yang and Sizhou Tian in the future, but their power and strength are greater.

Yang Quan and Tian Yi now say that they have no interest in the position of head of the two families, but if it is really presented to them, can they remain indifferent?

If the reality that the two families are divided reaches a certain point and prevents these two people from taking a step forward and assuming greater power, will they resist not attacking the family?

It's really hard to say.

Let’s wait until that day and see!

From Xiao Cheng's point of view, this may take longer.

The Yang family in Quanzhou and the Tian family in Sizhou are still my irreplaceable allies!

Even if they want to test you from time to time, as long as the temptation is within your tolerance, it doesn't matter. If you don't touch the bottom line, there is no need to be serious with them.

Li Ge naturally didn't know that he was being plotted by Xiao Cheng, and this intention had already been sent to Li Fang. Xiao Cheng wanted to use someone, and this person was Li Fang's nephew. Will Li Fang give it to him?

The answer is yes.

From Li Fang reporting to the court that Xiao Erlang had absconded out of fear of crime and was missing, from Li Fang erasing the fact that Ma Liang, the magistrate of Qianzhou, died without explanation, from Li Fang sponsoring Lu Ze to becoming the powerful magistrate of Qianzhou, to a certain extent

, he and Xiao Cheng have been tied together.

In order to keep the peaceful situation in the southeast until he retires, and in order to have more money to make his later life more nourishing, Li Fang made a decision after thinking about it.

What does Li Ge mean?

What's more, this guy has become a bit stiff now and wants to make his own decisions.

He actually refused to listen to the family's arrangements and sent his son to study in an academy outside. Do you really think that you can do whatever you want after making some money for the family? There is no main branch to protect you from the wind and rain, to open up the joints for you, your business

How to do it? It's like selling grain and salt to Qianzhou. Why can't others do it, but you Li Ge can do it?

It's not just for my sake, Li Fang.

"Right now it is the time of spring famine, and the price of food in Qianzhou is very high." Li Ge handed a stack of documents to Li Fang and said: "Last autumn, a batch of the food we collected in the village came out at the end of winter. This time I am preparing

Put out another half, so you can free up half of the warehouse to prepare for this fall."

Li Fang flipped through the account book casually. It doesn't matter if he doesn't read this thing. His nephew is not stupid enough to do anything about it. "I asked several experienced farmers for advice, and they all said that this year's good weather and good weather must be a good thing."

It’s a great harvest. Why not sell all the grain to make a fortune and have more money to harvest this year’s new grain? What’s the use of leaving half of the old grain? Did you know that Xiao Erlang is promoting terraced fields in Qianzhou? As far as I know

According to the situation, the harvest is very good. By next year, there will be hundreds of thousands more acres of water crops in Qianzhou. I'm afraid there will be less food shortage, and the price will not rise by then."

Li Ge bowed slightly and said: "Uncle, we don't necessarily have to go to Qianzhou to sell grain. In fact, we can go to other places. There will indeed be a bumper harvest next year, but the price of grain may rise even more. Northwest

There's a lot of commotion over there! The price of grain has not risen this year. To be honest, it's all thanks to Xiao Yu, the third envoy, when he was in office. The major warehouses are full, and the water transportation and other operations are running in an orderly manner. To put it bluntly, we still get what we have earned.

.When next year, the old capital is gone, troops will be deployed in the northwest, and perhaps Hebei Road will also be mobilized, and food will definitely be tight. By then, food will inevitably rise sharply. In fact, if the Federation of Commerce hadn’t forced it this year

We must provide food as required, I don’t even want to give out half of the food!”

Li Fang narrowed his eyes, shook his head and said: "Don't mess with Xiao Cheng, a hungry wolf. If you mess with him, he will really bite. You did a good job, just give half of what you have given! But this will definitely not satisfy him.

Appetite, what will you say when asked when you go elsewhere?"

Li Ge smiled and said: "Isn't this simple? When troops are deployed in the northwest, the imperial court mobilizes food on a large scale. Uncle, you are also a clever woman who can't make a living without rice. You have to satisfy the imperial court first, right? The incident in the northwest was caused by his eldest brother, and he didn't even think about it.

What will be pursued? Everyone in Qianzhou made a lot of money this year when they attacked the Luodian Ghost Kingdom. If the price of food goes up a little, there won't be any big trouble."

Li Fang burst out laughing: "You have the most clever ideas, so let's do it like this!"

"Yes, my nephew has gone. When he comes back from Qianzhou, he is planning to go to Jinghu Lake to see if he can collect more of last year's old grain." Li Ge said.

Just as he was talking, Chen Qun and Chen Zigong walked in in a hurry, forgetting to knock on the door. It was obvious that there was something urgent. Seeing this uncle's most valued staff member, Li Ge stood up immediately.

"Mianzhi is here too!" Chen Qun nodded towards Li Ge, turned to look at Li Fang and said, "Bachelor, I just came down to report something."

"Nephew, I'll take my leave now!" Seeing Chen Qun's expression, Li Ge immediately prepared to leave knowingly.

"Don't rush me!" Unexpectedly, Chen Qun stopped Li Ge and said, "We might as well come up with ideas together. This time I'm not sure what to do."

"What happened?" Li Fang was stunned. There weren't many things that could make Chen Qun lose his bearings.

"Didn't you receive a private letter from Mr. Luo Songluo some time ago?" Chen Qun said, "Unexpectedly, Mr. Luo actually arrived at Fengjie."

Li Fang couldn't help but smile, "It's not easy. Just catch him, give him some good words, and then send him back to Bianliang."

Now Li Fang is preparing for his official career and wants a good title. Naturally, people in power like Luo Song must fawn over him and not offend him.

"But bachelor, there was another person beside Mr. Luo who was also recognized. He was Wang Zhu, the wanted criminal of the imperial court, and a six or seven-year-old child. I don't know where they got the three.

We are really going to have a conflict together. Not to mention Wang Zhu’s skill, even if we catch him but alert others, how can we explain that Mr. Luo is hanging out with an imperial prisoner? If we do this, we will not only help others
Chapter completed!