After hearing Zhang's words, Wu Zhao couldn't help but glance at Yuan Xi, and found that the other party had no reaction, secretly thinking that he was really a bad learner.
Yuan Xi had no expression on his face, but he was actually very happy in his heart. If this matter came to pass, it would be of great help to his future plans.
If you want to blame Yuan Shang, what he did was so extreme that he forced the Zhen family to a dead end. A rabbit can bite people when it is anxious. I am afraid that Yuan Shang was also driven to a coma by himself at that time, and he was eager to frame himself, so he had a flaw.
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If he could wait a little longer and confirm the news of Gao Lan's death before making plans, Yuan Xi would not be able to negotiate with the Zhen family.
But maybe Yuan Shang thinks very highly of himself and feels that no nobles dare to resist the Yuan family?
He opened his mouth and said, "Auntie, please don't be too polite. From now on we are a family and we should work together to help each other."
After hearing this, Zhen Mi blushed and quickly lowered her head.
Yuan Xi said to Zhen Rong again: "General Gao went to Beixin City. It was the third brother who planned it. He wanted him to offend me and my eldest brother."
"He is doing well in Beixin City now. I will talk to my elder brother in a few days and let him return to Yecheng to reunite with his wife."
After hearing this, Zhen Rong burst into tears and said, "Thank you, Master, for your great kindness!"
Yuan Xi saw Zhen Rong's exquisite body curves and thought of the scene when the two of them ate five stone powder that night and rolled around for a while.
Although Yuan Xing and Wu Zhao arrived in time and no big mistake was made, Yuan Xi's desire had been completely aroused by that time, so what happened to Wu Zhao later happened.
He quickly calmed down and said to Zhang: "Now the Zhen family has been involved in the fight between my third brother and I. My father will not do anything to the two of us, but he may anger the Zhen family because of this."
Mrs. Zhang hurriedly bowed and said, "Please save me, Master!"
Now Zhen Yao is the only adult male in the Zhen family. If Yuan Shang had bad intentions and asked Zhen Yao to go to the battlefield and trap him to death, how could she be worthy of the deceased Zhen Yi!
Yuan Xi nodded and said, "In that case, I will help the Zhen family clear up the misunderstanding in front of their father."
"But if I leave Yecheng, there is no guarantee that my third brother will not have thoughts about the Zhen family."
"My idea is that the Zhen family can no longer stay in Jizhou, so it is better to go to Youzhou."
As soon as these words came out, all the daughters of the Zhen family, including Zhang, were a little hesitant.
A merchant's home is not something you can just leave. Regardless of the loss of property, local connections, business routes, and relationships will all be lost with the move.
Moreover, Youzhou is not a safe place now. Most of it is occupied by Gongsun Zan, and there are foreign horse thieves and bandits everywhere, which is much more dangerous than Jizhou.
When Yuan Xi saw it, he said confidently: "I know what the old lady is worried about."
"But there are still risks in doing business, let alone opening up a new place."
"But think about it, old lady, if you stay in Jizhou, the Zhen family will become a wealthy businessman."
"Someone will definitely threaten the 2,000-stone hereditary position held by the ancestors of the Zhen family. There is no telling whether they can inherit it in the future, right?"
"It's different in Youzhou. Most of the nobles are dependent on Gongsun Zan. After they are wiped out in one battle, these nobles will not end well. There are many vacant positions, but there are many more opportunities than in Jizhou."
Yuan Xi would definitely not keep the Youzhou nobles. Not only did they betray Liu Yu, but later Yuan Xi's general Jiao Chu and Zhang Nan also rebelled at the critical moment. It is also dangerous to keep these rebellious people, so it is better to get rid of them.
After hearing this, Mrs. Zhang started to get excited.
Because what Yuan Xi said is indeed true. After the princes occupy a place, although they will bribe the local nobles, they will also give a considerable part of their positions to the foreign nobles under them as a check and balance.
Yuan Shao's current conflict between the Yingchuan Runan gentry and the Jizhou gentry was deliberately created in this way.
The way to govern is to let subordinates fight with each other and strive to show their loyalty to the master. Only in this way can the master's dominance over the group be guaranteed.
Therefore, the monarch not only did not prohibit internal fighting, but encouraged internal fighting within a certain range, just like the emperor used his nobles and eunuchs to check and balance.
If one day the nobles and eunuchs join forces to deal with the emperor, that will be the most terrifying thing.
If the subordinates are harmonious and have no disagreements, the lord will be worried. Are these people ready to gang up on him?
The way to be an official is to slander the superiors and flatter the subordinates, and to flatter the subordinates is to incite the subordinates to fight with each other, and the subordinates fight among themselves and feel complacent.
Zhang thought for a long time before speaking: "I have no objection to the Zhen family's move, but if we just sell our property and exchange it for goods, we will only be left with nothing when we get to Youzhou, which is not a long-term solution."
Yuan Xi nodded and said: "Of course we can't give up our wealth."
"The Zhen family can slowly shift their trade routes to the seaside in one or two years, focusing on shipping."
"What!" Mrs. Zhang was surprised, "Not to mention that shipbuilding is expensive, now several coastal states are enemies of the Yuan family, I'm afraid it will be difficult to control the trade routes in the future."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi praised: "Auntie's eyes are really bright, but I must have some basis for saying this."
"Although Jizhou is stable now, it is a place of four wars. There have been wars all around for years. I'm afraid the Zhen family's trade route is not that safe, right?"
Zhang nodded and admitted, especially in the past few years, in addition to the melee between the princes and the chaos of the Yellow Turban thieves, the Zhen family's trade routes always had to pay a huge amount of protection fees in order to be able to pass, resulting in a sharp drop in profits from the goods.
The advantage of the sea route is that as long as the destination port opens the joints, the journey can be smooth.
Yuan Xi added: "Although the Youzhou, Qingzhou and Xuzhou along the coast are not currently in the hands of the Yuan family, in time, these will be controlled. When the time comes, how can the Zhen family quickly outpace the local gentry?"
"So the Zhen family can make arrangements in advance. Of course, this is also a gamble. Whether you gamble or not depends on Auntie."
"And Jizhou may not be safe in the next few years."
Zhang Zhenmi and others felt their hearts sinking. Since Yuan Xi said this, it was obviously not groundless.
After Yuan Xi finished speaking, he looked at everyone with a smile.
The Zhen family is an important part of his plan. Without money and no one, nothing can be done.
At that time, there was no Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and he could not dig it out. Sea-going ships were not taken seriously due to frequent banditry, but Yuan Xi knew that sea transportation had great potential.
It saves manpower and material resources, does not require road construction, is fast, and is less affected by weather.
If during a war, only one out of ten land routes would be used to transport food for thousands of miles, at least half would be left by sea routes.
All that is needed are stable sea routes, good enough ships, and inland routes that control the rivers leading to the sea.
The next step for Yuan Xi is to acquire the coastal land of Youzhou and establish a port.
Help Yuan Tan capture Qingzhou and capture the coastal ports of Beihai and Bohai.
Xuzhou is more troublesome. At that time, it is best to make friends with Liu Bei, or to use Lu Bu to contain it. He has not decided yet.
Moreover, having good sea ships can quickly transport soldiers' money and food during wars, which is much more convenient than land transportation.
It could even be a good move to deal with Jiangdong in the future. If we could share the north and south of the Yangtze River with Jiangdong and control the Yangtze River shipping, we could strangle Jiangdong's lifeline.
Of course, the initial investment in shipping was indeed not small, so he targeted wealthy businessmen like the Zhen family. Only the Zhen family could afford a fleet.
Zhang was also thinking at this time. The risk of moving the Zhenjia business center from Jizhou to the coast is indeed very high, but once it succeeds, the benefits will be huge!
Yuan Xi knew that although the Zhen family was a noble family, it was also a family of merchants. Without some substantial benefits, it would be difficult for a woman like Zhang to make up her mind.
Yuan Xi said: "Auntie, do you think that with Zhen Yao alone, it will be difficult for the Zhen family to revitalize the Zhen family even if they get back the two thousand stone title?"
"I have an idea. If the nobles who go to Youzhou in the future can contribute to establishing voluntary schools, digging rivers, etc., I may not be able to fight for some titles."
"Zhen's eldest son and second son died young, and he also has several younger sons. I will find a way to let him inherit it. It is not impossible for the Zhen family to have a few more titles by then."
This was like selling an official position to get a title during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, but Yuan Xi had no psychological pressure. In a place like Youzhou, if you don't give others benefits, who would be willing to be taken advantage of and invest money?
Mrs. Zhang was finally moved and bowed down and said, "In that case, I will entrust the Zhen family to the Young Master!"
She is not stupid either. The Zhen family is already on the boat and it is impossible not to take sides. Moreover, the Zhen family is not big enough to resist the Yuan family.
Compared with Yuan Shang who directly plotted to harm the Zhen family, Yuan Xi could at least negotiate terms.
At this time Zhen Mi said softly: "I am worried that Mr. Yuan San will definitely oppose the marriage between the young master and the Zhen family."
"Sir Yuan Sangong believes in prophecies and is very famous among the nobles."
When Yuan Xi heard about this from Gao Lan, he thought that the pot came from the sky. Yuan Shang was extremely afraid of the prophecies between himself and Zhen Mi.
He felt unhappy because Yuan Shang, a bitch, had no lower limit for what he could do, but he had a biological mother, Mrs. Liu, to protect him.
When the time comes, you will be defeated by Cao Cao, and I will not save you!
He said aloud: "Don't worry, girl, there will be a way to reach the mountain."
After hearing this, Zhen Mi blushed and nodded.
Seeing that the matter was almost settled, Yuan Xi bowed again: "If the Zhen family doesn't let me down, I will never let down the Zhen family."
Zhang and others saw this and quickly returned the gift.
Yuan Xi stood up to say goodbye and took Wu Zhao away.
Zhen Rong and Zhen Mi followed Zhang to the door. When Yuan Xi got on the carriage and left, the door of Zhen's Mansion was closed, and the three of them went back separately.
When Zhen Rong heard that Gao Lan was still alive, he suddenly felt relaxed. When he saw Zhen Mi staring at the direction the carriage was leaving, he smiled and said, "Why, your future husband is so powerful. Is this a secret promise?"
Zhen Mi shook her head and said: "Sister, where are you thinking about? I was thinking that the maid next to the second young master is not simple."
Zhen Rong thought about it and suddenly said: "Indeed, the second young master asked us to send away the idle people, but he naturally kept his maid, obviously he has great trust in him."
Zhen Mi was thinking more than that. The maid and Yuan Xi looked at each other several times. Both of them stared at each other with their eyes involuntarily smiling. This is not the relationship between a master and an ordinary maid!
Moreover, when he went to see Yuan Xing in disguise, the maid saw through it at a glance. He was not an ordinary person.
Seeing that Zhen Mi was silent, Zhen Rong said she was shy, and made fun of her a few more times. Zhen Mi got annoyed and said, "Sister, you better go and take off these clothes. Since my brother-in-law is not dead, what else are you wearing?"
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"Thankfully, you were deceived by Third Young Master Yuan into being like this. If Second Young Master and Sister Yuan Xing hadn't rescued you, I don't know what would have happened."
When Zhen Rong thought about what happened that night, she felt guilty. She didn't know how much Yuan Xi remembered, but she took less Wu Shi Powder, but she still remembered most of it!
She quickly covered it up and said: "My elbow is bent out before I get married, so I won't tell you!"
She hurriedly left Zhen Mi behind, returned to her room, took off her mourning clothes and threw them in the corner.
When she changed back into her skirt, her hand touched the place she had touched that night, and the strange yet familiar touch was awakened again.
The sense of taboo and transgression was so clear that she couldn't help but cry out.