In Libo County, the capital of Fuzhou, more than thirty miles north of the county seat, there is a manor that occupies a large area and stretches for dozens of buildings. The mountains and rivers here are beautiful, and the scenery and scenery are excellent.

In the largest building, a carriage slowly stopped. Ruan Donglang opened the curtain and got out of the carriage.

"Second Master, you are back."

Ruan Donglang asked: "Is everyone here?"

"Everyone is here, the only thing missing is you, Second Master."

Ruan Donglang nodded, said no more, and walked towards the main hall.

There are a lot of people in the main hall, dozens of people. This is one of the three headquarters of the Beijiang Association. All the people present are senior internal officials of the Beijiang Association. They range in age, but the youngest ones are three.

More than ten years old, so when Ruan Donglang, a young man in his twenties, walked into the hall and sat down on one of the five main seats at the front, the atmosphere in the whole hall suddenly seemed a little strange.

The roots of Beijiang Hui come from the Champa royal family of Manyue.

Champa has continued to this day for almost three hundred years. The founding of the Champa country was the result of the joint efforts of five brothers. Therefore, after the founding of the country, all five people were kings, with the king in the middle being the most respected, followed by the southeast, northwest, and the title of king.

Add it to the surname and it will be passed down from generation to generation.

But no political power can last forever.

Because the founding of the Champa country was jointly established by the five brothers, and they all contributed a lot, so after the founding of the country, except for the lineage of the middle king, the most important official positions in the regime have always been in the other four kings' families.

It arose among the brothers and almost became hereditary. This approach, at the beginning, had a very obvious effect. With the brothers holding the core of power, the situation of the entire country could be quickly stabilized.

But as time goes by, this system has exposed great disadvantages. The highest positions in the country are always filled with just the same few people. No matter how talented or capable you are, they are just like that.

Let the entire country's bureaucracy no longer rely on meritocracy, but instead rely on family background, bloodline, and the hierarchy between people. It has become very strict. The rules of the officialdom have become solid and rigid, and they have always been a pool of stagnant water.

If such a situation remains, even if the country will not develop much, there will not be any big troubles. There is a saying that wherever there are people, there will be fights. As time goes by, Jianguo

The relationship between the five brothers at the beginning and their descendants became more and more unfamiliar, and there were only a few core positions of power that others could not compete with, so they themselves began to fight among themselves.

This situation of internal strife began more than a hundred years ago and lasted for a long time. With the chaos and fighting within the royal family, the political situation in Champa has always been very unstable.

During the Wuzong period, the three branches of the Eastern King, the Southern King, and the Western King began to unite, and the Northern King, who was ranked last but always belonged to the middle king's confidants, forcibly squeezed out the core of power, and the internal battles within the royal family escalated on a large scale.

, it became a life-and-death struggle. The Champa kings and the Zhongwang line had their rights completely emptied out and were deposed several times. In the end, the Zhongwang line had to find other ways, which was to break the existing bureaucracy and start promoting the five kings in large numbers.

Others hold more senior official positions.

Is this method effective? Very effective. King Champa received full support from all the noble families in the country. The three lines of the East King, South King, and West King were severely attacked. At the beginning of Zhao Zhi's succession, King Champa began to regain power.

As the four major royal families withdraw from the political core, the holder of power must of course be replaced by someone. Zhang Fu is the most dazzling person among them. Although he is only the deputy prime minister, he holds the highest military power in the country.

In the sixth year after Zhao Zhi succeeded to the throne, that is, the sixth year of Guangyuan, the young King Zhong began to drastically reform the control, and conspired with the Prime Minister Liu An to reunite the four royal families with the intention of abolishing Zhang Fu's military power. As a result, the news was exposed.

Zhang Fu took the first step and issued an edict to abolish the throne of King Champa in the name of his sister, the Queen Mother, and led troops into the royal capital to massacre the opposition forces.

The prime minister, Liu An, and more than 200 members of his family were all executed. The four major royal families, except for the North King lineage, which had been squeezed out long ago, and the rest of the East King, West King, and South King lines, suffered heavy casualties.

The entire clan was almost wiped out.

Later, Zhang Fu began to hunt down the remnants of the royal family in order to eradicate the roots. The remaining royal family members of Champa had to escape from Annan and went to the Jin Dynasty to join the lineage of the Northern King.

As for the Beiwang clan, since they were squeezed out of the core of power, they have focused on doing business. After decades of development, the Beijiang Society in the Jin Dynasty, especially the Jiangnan generation, has developed extremely strong and has a dense network of relationships.

Sifang's economic strength can be said to be second to none among the countless businessmen in the entire Jiangnan, and few can match it.

"Ruan Donglang, your arrogance is getting bigger and bigger. Every time there is a meeting, you are always the last one to arrive. Who here is less qualified than you? Are you ever feeling sorry for being so slow to treat me?"

The five people at the top, except for the middle one, who is a man in his thirties, the other three are all over 100 years old. The one who just scolded Ruan Donglang was the leader of the Nanwang lineage, Ruan Nanqing.

.

Ruan Donglang glanced at him and said softly: "Elder Nanqing, you are all elders. I, Ruan Donglang, am a junior. I have no time to respect you, so how dare you deliberately treat me so slowly? I really cannot accept what you just said."

Ruan Nanqing smiled coldly and was about to speak. The man in his thirties who was sitting in the chair reached out to interrupt and said with a smile: "It's a trivial matter. Talking too much will hurt my feelings. You two should calm down. Let's talk about business."

With the participation of the Champa royal family and a large number of remaining dignitaries, today's Beijiang Association has gradually changed from the original pure chamber of commerce.

The Beijiang Society grew up with the North King lineage, but now the people in power in the society are the Middle King, the South King, and the West King. The closest relatives of these three lines have almost been eliminated during the domestic coup.

Zhang Fu killed them all. The three lineages sitting here are just their branch clansmen. The five major royal families today, not to mention the Beiwang lineage, the main lineage of the Dongwang lineage were also killed by Zhang Fu. Ruan Donglang slipped through the net.

Zhiyu, his father is the third son of the previous head of the Dongwang family, and Ruan Donglang is his only son. His bloodline, except for the Beiwang, is the most authentic. At such a young age, he became a member of the Beijiang Association.

One of the five elders, he naturally aroused the jealousy of many people and was targeted by many people.

"Sir, everyone is here. Can the meeting begin?"

A middle-aged man in his forties stood up, raised his hands and said.

Ruan Zhonghe nodded: "On weekdays, everyone is busy with their own affairs. It is rare to get together. Let's not waste time and start talking about business."

Managers in various places began to report on the work conditions in their areas.

Ruan Donglang's mind is not on this, and many things will not be said openly. After the meeting, the five elders will have a small meeting, and only then will some real core secrets be discussed.

"Donglang, what's the progress in Wuzhou?"

An old man next to Ruan Donglang pulled him and asked softly. This old man's name was Ruan Beilin. He was nearly sixty years old. It was in his hands that the Beijiang Society grew rapidly. However, this man's character was a bit weak.

He doesn't like fighting. With the joining of King Zhong and others, Ruan Beilin, as the true master of the Beijiang Society, has his rights gradually deprived of him.

Ruan Donglang said softly: "Li Xun is very moved by the suggestions I made, and things are very likely to happen."

Ruan Beilin nodded, glanced at King Zhong and others, and whispered: "After the big meeting, King Zhong will call us to have a small meeting. King Nan and others will treat you..."

Ruan Donglang stretched out his hand and pressed it slightly, signaling him not to say more. How could he not know the attitude of King Nan and others?

The Beijiang Society is now divided into three parts. On the surface, Ruan Donglang and Ruan Beilin are mainly responsible for business and other matters. The assassin organization secretly is responsible for the Nanwang. Deep in the south of Lingnan, in a place close to Annan, ten

Over the past few years, after painstaking efforts, a military force of five to six thousand people has been cultivated, and the King of the West is responsible for this aspect.

The big meeting is actually a summary. Listen to the work reports of the managers from various places. If you make progress, you will be rewarded. If you make mistakes, you will be punished. Although the Beijiang Meeting has undergone great changes in recent years, its fundamentals are still the same.

This aspect of doing business will never change.

Two hours later, when the matter was almost discussed, Ruan Zhonghe announced the adjournment of the meeting. Of course, such a meeting would not end in one day. There may be two such meetings in the next two days. There are some relatively important things that need to be digested.
Chapter completed!