Although the autumn and winter in the south of the Yangtze River are not as harsh as those in the north, the layers of dark clouds and the gentle breeze from the river make people feel extremely cold and depressing.
In the backyard, there is still the garden pond and stone terrace, but it lacks the vitality of summer. The most obvious thing is that the lotus flowers in the pond have withered, and the water plants are dry and soft, and they are no longer green and bright.
Zhu Zhi and his son, plus his second uncle Zhu Yang, sat on their knees opposite each other on the stone platform, discussing. The fire of the tea beside the stone platform had been extinguished and the tea cups were empty. Obviously, the three of them should sit together.
We chatted for a long time.
"You bastard! That kid from Moling is really arrogant and presumptuous. He really thinks he has got an official position in Luoyang, so he can really show off his power like this." It was Zhu Yang, the second eldest son of the Zhu family in Wu County, who kept scolding.
"I, Mrs. Zhu of Wu County, really want to be friends with him, and even sent 100,000 shi of grain to help him donate food and charity. Not wanting him to get married, I invited famous families from Jiangdong from all over the country, including Lu, Zhang, and Gu.
Only the Zhu family, the main family, can be left out."
Zhu Yang's reasoning was relative to his Zhu family in Wu County. He had completely forgotten their original plan to use Zhu Laoshi's relationship to obtain other people's money. Although it did not cause large-scale damage, there was no conspiracy.
You succeeded, but it's all because of your own insecurities and good intentions.
Compared with the anger of the old man Zhu Yang, the father and son Zhu Zhi opposite him looked much calmer.
"Second uncle, it's useless to be angry. It's all my nephew's scheming. I don't think Danyang Prefect Zhou Xin has no faith and took our gold but did nothing. So he didn't take action against the county magistrate Ma Jun.
Instead of diverting Zhu Kui's attention, he secretly informed Ma Yuanyi, which was self-defeating. Otherwise, the Zhu family of Wu County and his Moling family should have been able to repair the previous misunderstanding."
Seeking other people's property is a misunderstanding, not malice. This is the explanation Zhu Zhi told himself. However, he could feel the deep hatred in his words, but he didn't know whether it was towards Zhou Xin or Zhu Kui. It might be both.
have.
"Governing children, don't worry. People make plans and God makes things happen. The move to send food to repair the relationship with Zhu Kui is right. At least for more than half a month, there has been no counterattack from Zhu Kui. He has not united with others.
We have good relationships with various merchants in Jiangdong, but they maliciously entered Wu County to rob and attack my Zhu family's property, otherwise the three of us would not be able to work together so easily today."
"However, my father is very strange about this. I always feel that Zhu Kui is a violent person who has made meritorious deeds by killing. How could he swallow this easily? I always have an ominous premonition." Zhu Fa
While comforting his son, he frowned and felt very worried. Zhu Kui's performance was too calm. Did he really take this breath? Anyone with a discerning eye could see the plans and purposes of the Wu County Zhu family earlier.
"Brother, what's the point of worrying too much? I think the reason why that kid was able to control the Yellow Turban Ant Thieves was because of his brute strength and the mob of Taiping Road, which gave him power. In Jiangdong, he Moling Zhu
The family's rise is too fast and its foundation is shallow. How can it compare with the rich foundation of the Zhu family in Wu County for hundreds of years." Zhu Yang said disdainfully.
To be honest, he was a little jealous of Zhu Kui's fame and achievements. It was all luck, and the heavenly favor was strong. He cursed viciously in his heart that one day, the energy would be used up, and the Zhu family in Moling would be like a flash in the pan.
As for those things, Zhu Yang must show off to this arrogant kid.
"Haha!" Zhu Zhi covered his mouth and said with a smile: "Luck is also a person's ability and strength. Now Zhu Kui is so powerful. I wonder if the second uncle has any ideas to ruin his luck, or that the second uncle intends to destroy the farm.
The tenant farmers and guards there led everyone to Moling to have a real battle with Zhu Kui...
It was very common for aristocratic families to raise private soldiers in the late Han and Jin Dynasties, not to mention in Jiangdong, which was far away from the Central Plains. Therefore, the political system of the Eastern Han Dynasty was that the emperor commanded the princes of each county, the prefects of each county commanded the county magistrates, and the wealthy families
It is the existence of auxiliary county magistrates and even prefects. This can be seen in the history books. In the official history, Liu Biao entered Jingzhou and used the two major families of Cai and Kuai. When Sun Ce swept across Jiangdong, he still compromised with Jiangdong families and made many marriages.
Is it because people from these aristocratic families are in the county magistrate's mansion, and there are people in the county magistrate's mansion who are officials? There are also aristocratic families who control the economy of various places? No, these alone are not enough, what's more important is that the aristocratic families have private soldiers, and
There were quite a few of them, ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands. Although they were partly trained by tenant farmers, their combat power was higher than that of the poor peasant soldiers of the Yellow Turban Thieves. After all, some of them had undergone long-term training, even if the amount of training was not large.
If there is force, then the county guard is what the county magistrate takes into consideration. Otherwise, if you rely solely on political power and the power of the county guard to remove your subordinates from office, why should you care about it? It is not just because you are afraid that aristocratic families will use the business in their hands to cause trouble.
Regarding the economy, if your government sends troops, they will recruit tenant peasant guards to fight with you. This is a bad local rebellion. If it spreads to the court, if you fail to govern, you will be dismissed from office.
The government acquiesces to the existence of a large number of private soldiers from powerful families, which leads to these wealthy families often secretly using their private soldiers to do shady things. For example, the Zhu family of Wu County once used private soldiers to attack and destroy many small households.
business rivals, thereby amassing wealth.
"Nephew, don't underestimate your uncle. I, the son of Wujun, are not afraid of him. If you allow me, my eldest brother, in the near future, I will have my sons disguise themselves as bandits, sneak into the outside of Moling City, and kill those men from the Farm Escort Bureau."
Clean." Zhu Yang argued forcefully with a stern face.
"Stop talking nonsense!" However, as soon as he said these cruel words, he was reprimanded by Zhu Fa, who shouted: "In the past few years, Zhu Kui has been recruiting people in the name of the escort agency. You also know this. There are at least some escorts in the escort agency."
There are thousands of people under his command, plus the tenants of the farm, and they can recruit at least 2,000 people by force. In addition, he, his two adopted brothers and others are all highly skilled in martial arts. Kaohsiung was even greener before the recruitment.
A well-known knight-errant and strongman, if you are going to fight with him, are you prepared to lose both sides?"
"Hey!" Zhu Fa sighed and continued: "Today, our Zhu family in Wu County has only three thousand trained tenant farmers and five hundred guards in our house. These are the foundation of our current status as Zhu family in Wu County.
, must not be lost, let alone be touched lightly. Once there is a large amount of losses, that will be the time when our Zhu family in Wu County will be in catastrophe."
Zhu Fa's words are correct. Once the private soldiers supported by a wealthy family suffer heavy losses or are destroyed, and are known by the rival wealthy family, it will lose the deterrence of force and seize your money and business. It is a very common phenomenon. Stop today.
How many carts of rice you have, how many ships of cloth will be taken from you tomorrow, the whole business chain will collapse, you will not be able to resist, and you will be left to your own devices. You must know that these days, robbing the newspaper officials is not an option.
It is useless to complain to the officials. The government will not just send troops to suppress the bandits. That is something that only accomplished county magistrates will do. Unfortunately, most of them are not accomplished officials, so they can only rely on themselves for everything.
solve.
This phenomenon of aristocratic families raising private soldiers on a large scale gradually disappeared from the traces of history until the fall of the Tang Dynasty. Starting from the Song Dynasty, Taizu Zhao Kuangyin released his military power after a cup of wine. However, the process of disappearance was due to Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty blocking him.
What the Yang family has gained in the world.
Today, the Zhu family of Wu County is involved in the rebellion of Xu Sheng from Kuaiji a few years ago, and the main force of the Zhu family's industry is there, so naturally they also support the most private soldiers. It is a pity that a rebellion has been baptized by three years of war.
, the Zhu family of Wu County suffered heavy losses. A large number of private soldiers died in the rebellion, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of the family's private soldiers. Coupled with the fault of the family industry, the funds shrank, and they were unable to continue to expand the number of private soldiers. They have remained at the same level.
Less than 4,000 people…
The ranking of Lu, Zhang, Gu, and Zhu is not unrelated to these private military forces. In short, Zhu Fa's meaning is that if the family's military force is greatly damaged, the family may be destroyed.
"That's what the elder brother (father) taught me!" Zhu Zhi and Zhu Yang were the first to listen.
After a while, Zhu Zhi suddenly said with a smile: "Father, actually things may not be that bad, and there may be a chance of a turnaround."
"Oh, tell me?" Zhu Fa and Zhu Yang looked at their son's words with interest.
"Hai'er feels that judging from the news sent back by Zhu Liao, they were expelled in Moling without Zhu Kui's return. Ma Yuanyi and others refused to report their purpose of going to Moling in order to take the opportunity to infiltrate and steal.
Zhu Kui didn't touch them, I think it's all thanks to Zhu Laoshi."
"Our strategy of trying our best to please Zhu Laoshi from the beginning was right. He was treated and greeted by uncles and relatives, and his name was also registered in the ancestral hall. I think he is not as cunning as his son, and he has a weak heart.
Those people will definitely receive us sincerely and make good friends with us."
"Looking at it this way, if we continue to stay close to Zhu Laoshi, we may not be able to eliminate Zhu Kui's misunderstanding about us. Now my father and his father may be "brothers of the same clan", and Zhu Kui has to call his father uncle. This is
As long as Zhu honestly admits it, how can Zhu Kui disgrace his father? Is he not afraid of being accused of being unfilial?"
Zhu Zhi's words made Zhu Fa and Zhu Yang sound reasonable, and they nodded in agreement.
Seeking someone's property is just a misunderstanding. He is really doing evil things. He doesn't know what a bad person is!
"It makes sense to govern the children. I, a big man, govern the world with filial piety and benevolence. It is a very wise route to continue to start from Zhu Laoshi in depth. As time goes by, I will ask my brother Zhu Xian to be an intermediary and formally meet with Zhu Kui for a banquet."
After a while, the misunderstanding should be eliminated, as long as we are willing to shed a lot of blood, such as officially transferring the name of one of the four major surnames in Jiangdong to him, the Moling Zhu family." Zhu Fa said with a cruel heart, a dark face, and a heartbroken expression.
Said.
"Brother, how is this possible!" Zhu Yang shouted.
"There's nothing wrong with it. Now that the fortune of our Zhu family in Wu County is declining day by day, we are hiding behind Zhu Kui's son, secretly planning to develop, and will avenge this humiliation in the future. My second brother must know that a gentleman's plan is for ten years!" Zhu Fa