Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 618 The Yang Family's Thigh Is Thick and Strong Enough
Hearing Li Dagui's words, Li Baoshan slowly sat up and asked, "Who are you?"

"I have met you once, maybe you still remember me!" said Li Dagui.

Li Baoshan held the long knife and opened the curtain, looking at the figure sitting next to his bed.

The light in the room was very dim. He could only see a silhouette and could not make out the person's face at all.

"Can you light a candle?"

Li Dagui took out a lighter as if nothing had happened and lit the candle next to him.

The flickering candle flame lit up, adding a patch of light to the dark room.

Li Baoshan got off the bed, put on his boots, and then carefully looked at Li Dagui's face.

"Who is your Excellency?"

Unfortunately, he didn’t remember Li Dagui!

Li Dagui didn't care either. He took out Yang Mingzhao's letter and handed it to him, "This is a letter from my young master to you!"

Li Baoshan hesitated for a moment, but he still took the letter.

He thought a lot in that moment.

The person in front of him was definitely not someone he knew, but since the other party said that he had met him before, he must have dealt with him before, or it should be said that the force this person belonged to had dealt with him before.

And it can be confirmed that this person is related to the rebels outside the city.

Apart from the rebels outside the city, he couldn't think of anyone else who would visit him so late at night.

Opening the letter, he read its contents silently.

Yang Mingzhao's letter was very long. It not only revealed his identity, but also explained the situation in Taiping County and even clearly stated how he would deal with the officials and wealthy families in the city next.

This naturally includes the Li family represented by Li Baoshan.

Yang Mingzhao would naturally not kill all the martial arts forces. As long as the martial arts forces were willing to join him, he would give preferential treatment.

When the land was divided, more land would be left for them.

At the same time, some profitable businesses will be handed over to martial arts forces to operate.

For example, Yang Mingzhao agreed to provide ten salt wells as compensation for the land distribution to the Li family where Li Baoshan lived.

In addition to the fields, the Li family was able to retain the houses and shops in the city.

In fact, when you really count it all, the Li family only suffered a small loss.

Salt wells are definitely more profitable than fields, but to Yang Mingzhao, fields are more important than salt wells.

The land can be distributed to ordinary people, but the salt wells cannot be distributed to ordinary people. Ordinary people do not have the ability or the financial resources to operate a salt well.

The Li family will be in charge of operating the salt wells, and they will also have to employ cooks. As long as they can guarantee the cooks' income and the stability of the well salt price, it will be a beneficial and harmless thing.

As for where the salt wells come from?

Naturally, they would snatch it from those wealthy families or martial arts families who were unwilling to surrender.

To put it simply, it means beating one group and pulling another group back, using the assets of the group that was killed to win over those martial arts forces that are willing to join.

In this way, Yang Mingzhao would not become the public enemy of all martial arts forces, and at the same time he would be able to obtain a large amount of land to distribute to the people.

Of course, this is only preferential treatment for martial arts forces. If it is an ordinary gentry or landlord, we can only say sorry.

If they cooperated in the land division, they could keep their floating assets. If they did not, the men would be forced to do labor and the women would be forced to remarry.

Rebellion is a cruel thing, which means the redistribution of wealth and interests.

It was after Yang Mingzhao figured this out that he made these plans.

Moreover, he has his own principles. He will not accept any martial arts force with a bad reputation even if they offer to join him.

After reading the contents of the letter, Li Baoshan's eyes fell on the last private seal.

"Yang Mingzhao, the fourth master of the Yang family!"

He thought silently in his heart that he had some understanding of the Yang family.

For example, Yang Zhengshan has four sons, Yu Qingyi is Yang Zhengshan’s second wife, and the fourth master of the Yang family is the biological son of Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi.

These are not secrets. You can find out by asking around in the Martial Arts Pavilion.

"Why is the Fourth Master here?" Li Baoshan asked.

Li Dagui grinned, "This is a long story, you just need to know that the Fourth Master is the leader of the Taiping Army!"

Li Baoshan nodded, then placed the letter on the candle and lit it.

"Is the old marquis all right?"

The old marquis he was referring to was naturally Yang Zhengshan, not Yang Mingcheng.

"That's great. I've been traveling for three years and haven't returned home yet!" said Li Dagui.

"So the old marquis doesn't know about this!" said Li Baoshan.

"I don't know!" said Li Dagui.

"This is really a difficult decision! If the old marquis agrees with this, I will surrender the city without hesitation, but if it is just the Fourth Master, I need to think about it!"

The light from the burning letter illuminated Li Baoshan's face clearly. His expression was calm and his eyes were deep.

Li Dagui looked at him silently, then raised the corner of his mouth slightly, "Okay, I'll give you a day to think about it. I'll come over at this time tomorrow!"

Li Baoshan nodded slightly, "Goodbye!"

Li Dagui stood up and looked at the ashes on the ground. "This is an opportunity for you. I hope you don't miss it!"

Li Baoshan looked at his leaving back for a long time in silence.

Any chance?
It is indeed an opportunity!

This is an opportunity for both him and the Li family.

He now has the seventh level of acquired cultivation, but he is almost forty years old. If he does not have opportunities, his highest level of cultivation in this life will not exceed the eighth level.

As for the Li family, with him around, the Li family is considered a powerful force in Baoning Prefecture, but once he passes away, the Li family will instantly be reduced to its original state and become an insignificant small family.

For him, the Yang family is a strong and thick thigh. Once he can hold on to it, it will definitely be an opportunity.

But it was Yang Mingzhao, not Yang Zhengshan, who recruited him.

He had to question whether Yang Mingzhao could represent the Yang family.

But for him, Yang Mingzhao is also a strong supporter.

Even if Yang Mingzhao cannot represent the Yang family, he is still a very important figure for him.

Li Dagui's arrival can illustrate this point.

Although he could not see through Li Dagui's cultivation, he understood that Li Dagui's cultivation was far above his.

Li Baoshan sat and waited until dawn. After dawn, he immediately went to the city wall and observed the camp outside the city with a telescope.

Li Baoshan is not a reckless person, on the contrary, he is an extremely cautious person.

He observed the camp outside the city to see Yang Mingzhao's ability. He wanted to see the quality of Yang Mingzhao's thigh.

Yang Mingzhao should be a good person, after all, he governed Taiping County very well.

So what are Yang Mingzhao's abilities?

We can't hug someone's thighs randomly. The leg must not only be thick and strong, but also solid and reliable.

The camp outside the city was in good order. Although some soldiers were poorly equipped, it was obvious that they were soldiers who had undergone long-term training.

This is enough to show that Yang Mingzhao is not acting recklessly, but is really training his troops seriously and doing his work in a down-to-earth manner.

After observing for a while, Li Baoshan stood on the city wall and pondered for a long time before turning around and walking back into the city.

He returned home and called the housekeeper.

"Go and get all the land deeds for our family!"

The housekeeper asked doubtfully, "Master, all the land deeds and title deeds?"

Li Baoshan nodded, "All of them, and all the IOUs."

Although the housekeeper didn't know what Li Baoshan was going to do, he still obediently moved all the land deeds, property deeds and IOUs over.

There were three large boxes placed in the hall, and Li Baoshan checked them one by one.

In Dayong, the Li family is just a small family, but in Baoning Prefecture, the Li family is a powerful family.

There are not many people in the Li family. Li Baoshan's father has three brothers, and Li Baoshan has four cousins. The younger generation has more, with four adults and five boys who are not yet adults.

As for the side branches, there are many of them. The Li family has been passed down in Baoning Prefecture for many years, and the number of Li family members in Baoning Prefecture is difficult to count.

Some of the collateral relatives were close to Li Baoshan, but most of them had already separated from the main line and were becoming self-reliant.

The so-called Li family actually only refers to the three brothers of Li Baoshan’s father’s generation. Although Li Baoshan is not the oldest in the Li family, he is the head of the Li family.

Therefore, the land deeds in his hands belong to the Li family.

Looking at the land deeds and land deeds, Li Baoshan frowned.

Looking at the IOUs again, he couldn't help but sigh.

IOU is also known as loan sharking!
Lending at high interest rates was the most common method used by gentry and landlords to annex land.

Ordinary people have very low disaster resistance. No matter whether it is a natural disaster or a man-made disaster, they may not be able to survive if they encounter the slightest difficulty.

Many gentry and landlords would lend money at high interest rates to help their fellow villagers tide over difficulties. They said it was to help, but the interest was very high, and it was most common to get nine out of thirteen back.

Often, before the common people have even managed to overcome their current difficulties, they are already unable to repay the high-interest loans they have borrowed.

Small landlords and self-employed farmers used their land to pay off debts and became tenants. Tenants had no land to pay off debts, so they could only sell their children and send them to the homes of gentry and landlords to serve as slaves and maids.

Some tenants even owed their landlords high-interest loans for generations, and they themselves didn't even know how much they owed after looking at the IOUs.

The gentry and landlords controlled each tenant with the help of these IOUs.

The tenants became poorer and poorer, owed more and more money, and their descendants were unable to make ends meet.

These IOUs were like a huge mountain weighing down the tenants.

What Yang Mingzhao did in Taiping County was not only to divide the land among the people, he also burned all the loan notes and issued a notice in the name of the county government, stating that all previous usury would no longer be recognized.

The conditions that Yang Mingzhao gave to Li Baoshan naturally included the cancellation of all IOUs.

After reading the land deed and the loan agreement, Li Baoshan understood why Yang Mingzhao did this.

Get a glimpse of the whole leopard.

The Li family alone has 30,000 acres of fertile land and thousands of IOUs. What about other families?

"Forget it, there's no point in keeping these things!"

Li Baoshan threw all the deeds and IOUs into the box, and then told the housekeeper, "Put these away. I'm going to need them these days. Don't give them to anyone except me, including my father!"

He doesn't value these things, but that doesn't mean other people in the Li family don't value them.

Family members know their own business. If the Li family knew that they were going to take all these out, many of them would probably cry and scream.

Now Li Baoshan doesn’t have time to persuade the elders in the family one by one. As for the future, he will persuade them if he can, and force them if he cannot.

He is the head of the family, he is the person with the highest cultivation in the Li family, and he is the face of the Li family.

Although he has a father and two uncles above him, he has the confidence to act on his own.

"Yes!" the butler responded immediately.

As the housekeeper, he naturally knew best who was in charge of the family, and he dared not disobey Li Baoshan's orders.

At night, Li Baoshan returned to the Shangwu Division Yamen and sat in his bedroom waiting for Li Dagui's arrival.

"It seems you have made a decision!" Li Dagui arrived as promised.

Li Baoshan stood up, poured tea for Li Dagui, and said, "Senior, please have some tea!"

Li Dagui was not afraid of him poisoning him, so he picked up the tea and drank it casually.

"I am willing to work for the Fourth Master, but I have two conditions!" said Li Baoshan.

"Please speak! As long as it's not too excessive, I can agree to it!" Li Dagui said.

Li Baoshan said: "First, I can open the city gate and invite the Fourth Master to lead his troops into the city, but I hope that the soldiers under the Fourth Master will not act recklessly in the city!"

Li Baoshan had also heard about the nature of the rebels.

The rebels in southern Bashu committed all kinds of atrocities, including burning, killing, looting and so on. Although he felt that the soldiers under Yang Mingzhao's command would not do such shameless things, he still wanted to mention it.

Maintaining stability in Baoning Prefecture is beneficial to both him and Yang Mingzhao.

He is from Baoning Prefecture. His Li family has lived in Baoning Prefecture for generations. He does not want himself and the Li family to be criticized by their fellow villagers in the future.

After Yang Mingzhao took over Baoning Prefecture, he also had to govern it. For Yang Mingzhao, a stable Baoning Prefecture would definitely be better than a chaotic one.

"Haha, don't worry about that. We, the Taiping Army, will never harm the civilians! We want to maintain the stability of Baoning Prefecture more than you do!" Li Dagui said with a smile.

Li Baoshan nodded and said, "Second, this is not a condition, but a suggestion. I suggest that you kill the prefect Li Wenchun as much as possible and try your best to persuade him to surrender!"

"Li Wenchun is a capable and good official. If we can subdue Li Wenchun, it will only benefit the Fourth Master and not harm him!"

Li Dagui thought for a moment and said, "I can't guarantee this for you. If Li Wenchun is stubborn and stubborn, it will be difficult for us to persuade him. But I can assure you that we will not kill him or persecute his family."

Upon hearing this, Li Baoshan bowed and saluted, "I understand your intentions, Senior. I am willing to serve you as a dog and horse. Please introduce me to you, Senior!"

Li Dagui looked at him with satisfaction, "Get up, and tell me how you plan to open the city gate first!"

"This is easy. Tomorrow morning, senior just wait outside the north gate and I will open the gate myself!" said Li Baoshan.

For Li Baoshan, opening the city gate was easy.

None of the soldiers and servants guarding the city gate dared to disobey his orders.

More importantly, he had long since placed the Shangwusi's guards between the soldiers and runners. It could be said that he was the highest military commander in the city, and the Shangwusi's guards were all middle-level officers in the city's army.

Of course, he had made such arrangements not to facilitate the surrender of the city, but to better command the soldiers and servants in the city to fight.

(End of this chapter)