Kinship relationships are complex and extend in many ways.
The voices of the Zheng family are heard not only in Jixian, but also in the entire Youzhou, and even in the capital.
In such a complicated relationship, destroying the Zheng family can only be a slogan.
All Bai Song could do was weaken the power of the Zheng family as much as possible.
The problems faced by nobles all over the world at this moment are similar.
From the current situation of the Lin family, we can know where the Zheng family's weaknesses lie.
There is no doubt that the Lin family is short of money.
Thinking about it, the Zheng family doesn't have much money.
The Zheng family is larger than the Lin family. To support a larger family, it naturally requires more property.
Bai Song estimated that there was a problem with the Zheng family's turnover costs.
If there is no problem with the Zheng family's funds and everything in the family is running normally, then there must be some relatively easy way for the Zheng family to make money.
But after Bai Song learned about it, it seemed that the Zheng family didn't have much business under its name.
A wealthy family like the Zheng family has always rejected business skills.
The generation of heads of the Zheng family are unwilling to get involved in anything related to money.
Therefore, the head of the Zheng family, Zheng Tai'a, handed over all the financial affairs of the family to the housekeeper, and handed over all the family's expenses to a cousin.
And this cousin is the one opposite the inn where Bai Song is staying.
I heard that this cousin recognized his relatives and returned to the clan halfway. At first, the brothers in the clan didn't realize that the accountant smelled like copper, which was inconsistent with their status.
Everyone ignored the accounts, and finally handed over the task of managing the clan's general ledger to his cousin Zheng Ke.
Zheng Ke's lineage controls the economic power of the Zheng family, so the family will naturally have smooth sailing and life will get better day by day.
In his early years, Zheng Ke was humiliated by his brothers in the clan because he spent all his time planning.
Unexpectedly, the impact of the imperial examinations in recent years has affected all gentry in the world.
There is a lot of property in the homes of all ethnic groups that can only be taken out but not taken in, and the days are getting worse every day.
Now all the branches of the Zheng family rely on Zheng Ke for their livelihood. Zheng Ke suddenly transformed and became the person with the most say in the Zheng family since Zheng Tai'a.
If you want to know if there are any problems within the Zheng family, you naturally have to start next door.
All this was informed by the innkeeper.
Bai Song originally wanted to ask more questions, but when he thought that if he continued to ask like this, he was afraid that it would arouse suspicion, so he put his thoughts away and waited until he had the opportunity to ask again in the future.
I talked a lot with the shopkeeper, and when I saw that it was getting late, I went back to sleep.
Niu Da returned in the middle of the night. When he first arrived in Jixian, he didn't gain much. He just walked around and got familiar with the terrain.
…
Early the next morning, Bai Song went out to the inn early and walked twice around the Zheng family's house opposite.
Apart from the feeling that the Zheng family's house is very big, there is nothing else to gain from what I saw.
However, the servants of the Zheng family inside noticed it and asked Bai Song why he kept wandering around here.
Bai Song didn't agree, but he stopped wandering around and saw a chess stall under the banyan tree on the corner of the street. He was standing among a few people pretending to watch chess.
If we want to get news about the Zheng family today, there is no point in being impatient. We can only observe patiently.
The two old men playing the game seemed to have some ability. There were many spectators around, but none of them made a sound.
Bai Song didn't care about the chess game, just watching the people coming in and out of Zheng's house.
Whenever a farmer delivering vegetables comes in or out, Bai Song silently records it in his heart.
These scattered pieces of information may seem useless, but there is no telling which day they may be used.
Staying in place is a time-consuming task. Bai Song didn't know how long it had passed when suddenly someone patted his sleeve.
For a moment, Bai Song looked at the old man with kind eyes and looked at him: "Old man, what's the matter?"
"My little friend, do you want to play a game of chess?"
Bai Song waved his hands and smiled.
The old man continued: "Young man, don't be cautious, just play chess with me."
"Old man, you'd better invite someone else..."
While he was talking, Bai Song suddenly noticed that a large number of people before had disappeared.
There was only Bai Song left at the chess table.
Bai Song suddenly realized that it was almost dusk.
He looked at the people going in and out of Zheng's house, but he didn't notice the time.
The old man smiled and stroked his long beard: "My little friend, there are many people watching chess here, but they all have their own thoughts. Only my little friend is watching the chess sincerely. Although I was in the chess game before, my mind was clear.
Among many young people, I am the only one who puts his mind on the chess game. Seeing that my kid is so obsessed with the chess game that he loses track of time, he must be a chess-crazy person."
It is true that he forgot the time, but his mind was placed near the Zheng family's residence. This old man had misunderstood.
Just when Bai Song was about to explain, he saw the door of the Zheng family's house opened in front of him.
The maid who bought pork knuckle for Miss Zheng yesterday came out.
Bai Song thought it was the maid who wanted to buy the lady elbows again, but she didn't expect that she was running towards Bai Song.
Bai Song was shocked. What was going on? He didn't do anything, so he could be exposed?
But Bai Song saw in the next second that the maid's target was not Bai Song, but the old man beside Bai Song.
Bai Song took advantage of the situation and sat down, pretending not to notice, nodded and said: "Since the old man is so kind, I would like to ask you for advice."
The old man was cleaning up the chess game without paying attention to his surroundings.
Seeing Bai Song sitting down, he was very interested and wanted to find out what level this young chess fanatic was.
The two of them hadn't finished clearing the chess pieces, and the maid from the Zheng family's house came with a tray.
There was a familiar smell of meat coming from the tray. Isn't that the sauced pork elbow in the inn?
The maid came over and without saying a word, she just put the tray aside and saluted the old man.
The old man waved his hands calmly, and the maid left.
In addition to a plate of sauced pork elbows, there are several exquisite side dishes on the tray, as well as a bottle of wine.
The old man had no intention of eating now. Seeing that he had sorted out his expectations, he carefully wiped the dust on the chessboard and looked at Bai Song with a smile: "You're not a local, are you?"
"Bai Yutang came from traveling in Sichuan."
"Sichuan?" The old man was quite surprised, "That's really a thousand miles away."
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. As long as you are willing to walk, it will never feel far away."
The old man nodded approvingly, looked at Bai Song and said, "No wonder."
Bai Song asked casually: "Where is the old man from?"
"I am just a bad chess player. I have lived in Jixian all my life. I have learned the chess skills of young people from all walks of life in Jixian, but I have never learned how to play chess from young men from the Sichuan and Sichuan areas thousands of miles away."
While he was talking, the old man dropped his piece on the chessboard.
…
The maid who delivered the food came back and went all the way to the hall of the Zheng family's house. She first reported to her master: "Master, all the food for the old master has been delivered."
A short, fat middle-aged man in the hall held a small abacus in his left hand and flipped through the books on the table with his right hand. He fiddled with it from time to time without looking back: "How many chess players are there today?"
"Earlier, I saw there were seven or eight others, but now there is only one good-looking young man left."
"It's rare for this old man to be in the mood today. He refused to return even after this order."
"It's rare for the old lady to come to our house. It's good if we can entertain the old lady. If he is bored at home, he will be criticized if word gets out."
"This old man has been bored for a long time, and he can do all kinds of strange things. In order to find someone to play chess with, he actually made an engagement with the eldest daughter of the Zheng family... This caused a lot of trouble in the city, and there were so many young people in the most desolate area in the north of the city.
Come here. Fortunately, it's not my daughter. Being tortured like this by the old man, no matter how big the family is, the reputation will be ruined."
"My servant thinks that the old man is interesting. He wants to eat pork but it's hard to spread the news. He just said that our lady likes it, so he asked me to buy it secretly. Today, my servant heard someone say that our lady likes to eat pork knuckles and has long hair.
She must be a fat woman. If you take the young lady out and show them, won't you scare them all? Our young lady is even prettier than the owner's!"
Talking about this, Zheng Ke also had a headache. He sighed and shook his head repeatedly: "Hey, who dares to say a word about what the old man said? I just ask the old man to leave early after playing against the chess players in the north of the city. He will be here for a day
, I won’t be stable for a day.”
"Master, that maid has to leave first."
"Wait a minute, go to Liu's house immediately and ask for this month's interest... I've been dragging it out for more than ten days, and I said if I don't pay interest, the Zheng family will fall out."
The maid gave the order and left again.
The maid went to Liu's house two streets away and coaxed and coaxed her to complete the work arranged by her master.
When I came back, it was already dark. When I passed the old banyan tree, I found that the old man was still playing chess with the handsome boy, and he was a little panicked.
I want the old man to go back early, but the old man has a distinguished status and doesn't like people talking to him while he is playing chess.
I also heard that the eldest son of the head of the main hall once asked the old man something while he was playing chess, and the old man was so angry that he spat on him in public.
The elder was stunned and did not dare to say a word.
The maid came to the old man, looked at the sky and the ground, thought about it and hurried back to the house.
In half a minute, he ran back with a lantern and a cloak.
The maid didn't dare to say anything, holding a cloak in one hand. Seeing that the old man didn't move, she didn't dare to put it on the old man without permission, so she just held a lantern and stood aside, like a street lamp.
The old man had a solemn expression, gritted his teeth, and stared straight at the chess game.
He pulled out his beard rhythmically with his hands, one by one. He didn't know how much he pulled, and it fell all over the floor.
"Boy, who did you learn from? How can you be so good at such a young age?"
Bai Song thought for a while and said with a smile: "Learn from Alpha Dog."
"Afa...dog? What kind of expert is this?"
"The name suggests that it comes from the Western Regions. Shu is located to the west, and there are many capable people and strangers coming and going."
"There are also Go masters in the Western Regions?"
"The world is vast and full of wonders. My chess skills are only superficial."
"Tsk tsk... I have been studying chess for decades, but I am not as good as you... Oh, there are so many talented people in this world! If I could be twenty years younger, I would travel with you to the mountains and rivers of the world, and I would go too.
After a while, he will become a master in the world."
Bai Song looked at the obedient maid beside him and asked, "Is this the old man's maid?"
"That's right."
"Why bother leaving others alone?"
The maid looked grateful after hearing this, and then she said, "Master, it's getting late."
"Boy, how long will you stay in Jixian?"
"The jury is still out."
"Okay! I will fight with you tomorrow! I have to come!"
"The old man is the most skilled chess player I will ever meet in my future life, so I should ask you for advice on two more games."
