At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 7

Although the relationship between the two has long been very distant, and there are still many offshoots of the Zhou family like Zhou Qi's in Peiguo, everyone is from the same line after all. Every year when the family sacrifices, the Zhou clan of Peiguo will still invite many famous people from the offshoots. People involved.

Even though Zhou Qi's grandfather was only a poor man in the village, his reputation was only limited to ten pavilions. After all, he was still the second in command in the countryside. Therefore, the old man was also invited to participate in the family festival every year.

In this way, the relationship between the two parties is not close, but they have not completely severed contact.

The so-called imperial power does not go to the countryside. The Zhou family of Peiguo has been cultivating Peiguo for hundreds of years, and has intertwined relationships with various local wealthy families.

Shi Changshi dared to attack high-ranking officials of the gentry in the court, and Wang Ji dared to run rampant in Peiguo, but he might not dare to offend the Zhou family.

When Shi Changshi offends high-ranking officials in the court, he will most likely be scolded and targeted by scholar-bureaucrats. If Wang Ji dares to touch the foundation of the Zhou family in Pei State, hundreds of thugs may break into the Prime Minister's Mansion at night and exterminate him the next day.

Even though the National Prime Minister's Mansion was heavily guarded, Wang Ji might be killed by the bandits who suddenly appeared when he went out to inspect the city.

An iron-clad official of a wealthy family.

No wealthy family that can be passed down for hundreds of years is easy to deal with. Compared with those aristocratic families whose people have held high positions in the court for generations, the wealthy families lack the fetters of fame and their methods are more ruthless.

Local wealthy families were worth tens of thousands, owned countless fields, and had as few as a hundred, as many as thousands or even tens of thousands of tenant farmers and private slaves.When they were busy, these private slaves were engaged in farming, and when they were free, they were bandits. They gathered in local areas, ran rampant in the county, robbed merchants and travelers, and eradicated their opponents.A wealthy family like the Zhou family in Pei State would be almost impossible to decline unless their rebellion was wiped out by the imperial army.

Of course, a wealthy family that can be passed down for a long time must have its own way of survival.They often do not embarrass officials from various counties and counties, but instead offer a lot of benefits to establish good relations with them. They will not conflict with these officials unless they have to.

Even if they are deliberately targeted by new officials at certain times, they will only use gentle means and try their best to get these unfriendly officials away from the place.

After all, killing an official is a serious crime. Unless the family foundation is passive, the wealthy family will basically not do such things, let alone Wang Ji, a prime minister with a sky-high background.

The two sides are afraid of each other and may test each other, but they will not completely break up.

If Wang Ji wants to promote water donations in Xiang County, the headquarters of the Peiguo Zhou clan, he must first pass the Peiguo Zhou clan's hurdle. Without the cooperation of the Peiguo Zhou clan, even if Wang Ji has been the prime minister of Peiguo for four years For a long time, many officials in the county will obey Wang Ji's orders.

The old grandpa, who is a villager, is the stepping stone for Wang Ji to test the Zhou family in Peiguo.

Zhou Qi had been an official for many years in his previous life and was no stranger to intrigues. He quickly figured out the key and immediately frowned and asked, "In this way, my grandfather will be pushed to the forefront."

The old man sighed deeply and said: "Our family has been passed down for four generations until you. Although we are quite popular in the countryside, we are ultimately alone and have no hope of promotion. Even though we belong to the same lineage as the Zhou family of Peiguo, our relationship is different. It has been generations away and is no different from a passerby.”

"Pei Guo Xiangyu used me to test Zhou's attitude, this move is absurd!"

Zhou Qi's heart sank slightly and said: "In that case, we have no external help, how can we disobey the order of the Prime Minister?"

Now there are only two roads before the old man.

The first is to obey the orders of Prime Minister Pei and assist Wang Ji in collecting water donations. Although this can save his life, it will destroy the Zhou family's reputation accumulated in the countryside for generations, and the grandparents and grandchildren will inevitably be cast aside by the villagers.There will also be many people in the village, whose families will be ruined because of high taxes.

The second way is to refuse to help Prime Minister Pei collect taxes. Although this can preserve his reputation, it will put the Zhou family in danger.With the cruelty of Wang Ji's methods, the Zhou family is in danger of destruction.

After thinking this through, Zhou Qi asked with some concern: "Does grandfather have any countermeasures?"

The old man did not answer the question. Instead, he slowly drank some water. Then he stared at his grandson and said, "Your father was very studious when he was young. He wanted to enter the court and serve as an official to protect the country, so he went out to study in his thirties. However, his luck was not good. I met a bandit on the road and died in a foreign land.”

"You lost your father when you were young, and your mother died early, so I don't want to expect too much from you, lest you follow in your father's footsteps."

"However, in the past three years, I have noticed that your temperament has changed drastically. Although you seem to be bohemian, you are still full of ambition. Occasionally, you make casual remarks, which are like a bolt from the blue and a rock-shattering shock."

"Today I would like to ask, what is your ambition?"

Zhou Qi was silent when he heard the words.

As a time traveler, he knows that the world is about to be in chaos, so he naturally has the ambition of Lingyun in his heart.However, the reality is very cruel, with no name, no money, no soldiers, no food, and no family background. It is obviously a fool's dream to want to do something under such circumstances.

In Zhou Qi's situation, not to mention rising up in troubled times and occupying one side, even if he wanted to defect to a certain prince in the future, he might not be reused.

The only two who are likely to reuse him are perhaps Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

The former has a suspicious, changeable, and elusive character, so he is not a good choice; the latter is good, but due to his poor background, he will inevitably wander around before becoming famous. If he does not have the halo of the protagonist, he may not be able to survive with Liu Bei. By the time the other party develops, he may have already lost his temper.

Under such circumstances, what is the use of talking about ambition?
Watching Zhou Qi remain silent, Xiang Hong, who had been listening quietly, suddenly said, "Today by the pond in my courtyard, Ayu composed a poem casually."

The old lady looked strange and asked, "What poem did you make?"

Xiang Hong glanced at Zhou Qi, seeing that the other party had no displeasure, he immediately chanted loudly:

"Sitting alone in a pond is like a tiger squatting, under a green poplar tree raising the spirit.

When spring comes, if I don't speak first, which insect dares to make a sound? "

After hearing the words, the old lady read it back and forth several times, but her eyes became brighter and brighter.

The Han Dynasty was relatively open to the creation of poems and did not have as strict requirements for metrical poetry as the Tang Dynasty. For example, in the "Collection of Yuefu Poems" that was widely circulated in the Han Dynasty, in addition to the gorgeous and elegant suburban temple songs, many were collected from the folk, with various genres and forms. There are all kinds.

If this poem is viewed according to the requirements of metrical poems, it is flat, flat, and antithetical, but it was acceptable in the Han Dynasty.The most important thing is that the aura of looking down on the world when reading this poem has already made the old man understand his grandson's intentions.

But soon, the old man's eyes became a little melancholy.He didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse for his grandson to have such an ambition.

After a long time, the old lady sighed softly: "Well, since you have great ambitions, I will help you!"

(End of this chapter)