Aoyama

Chapter 350 Salt
Chen family property?

Chen Yu looked at the servant and asked, "Have the gentlemen come to an agreement? What do they plan to hand over to us? The grain bank? The salt plantation? The Yingkou Port fleet? The porcelain kiln? The tea plantation?"

The servant said angrily, "How would I know? I just heard it when I was summoned, and I didn't dare to listen more."

Chen Yu's eyes widened: "You don't want to listen to the most important thing? Return the silver to me."

As he said this, he actually reached out to take the silver coin in the servant's hand.

The servant hurriedly stepped back and said, "No, no, no, I have some other news. The second wife has been on a hunger strike for several days. I heard she won't survive tonight."

Chen Yu was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand: "This is also expected, just lead the way."

The servant led the way in front, and Chen Yu and Chen Ji followed behind, slowly passing through the huge Chen family mansion.

The servant walked a little slowly, so Chen Yu kicked him on the butt: "Hurry up! You are so close to us, are you trying to eavesdrop on us and then sell it to someone else for silver?"

"I dare not, I dare not," the servant hurriedly took a few quick steps to distance himself.

Chen Ji was helpless. In the large and deep courtyard of the Chen Mansion, even the servants and maids lived like spies.

Chen Yu walked among the landscape gardens of Xiaoyingzhou, and casually said to Chen Ji beside him: "I won't hide it from you. If you hadn't made great contributions in Guyuan this time, the adoption would have fallen on my head a long time ago. Later, you caused so many troubles in the Eight Great Hutongs, forcing Prince Fu to abandon the car to save the king, which actually overshadowed me who had worked diligently for many years."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "You just returned to Beijing today, but you didn't miss a single thing in Beijing. You know everything."

Chen Yu laughed and casually broke off a willow branch when passing by a willow tree and held it in his hand: "If you want to fight for something, you must be sharp-eyed and sharp-eared. But I also admire you very much. You made such a big fuss just after returning to Beijing. Yesterday, Prince Fu threatened to deal with you in Yujing Garden in Baishun Hutong."

Chen Ji frowned. Is there such a thing?
He turned his head and looked at Chen Yu. This man seemed to have the ability to see and hear from afar. Could he also be a Saker Falcon?
Chen Yu waved the willow branch casually and said, "The reason why the head of the family has handed over the family affairs to you and me is to see if we have the ability to protect the Chen family's foundation. After all, it is a major event to pass on the incense, so he probably wants to wait and see."

Chen Ji hummed.

Chen Yu smiled and said, "This competition is a bit unfair to you. After all, you just returned to the capital and have no connections. You are also a military officer. You have no place to use your talents in the capital. I have been in the capital for many years and I am a civil servant, so I have more conveniences. You and I have been friends for many years, and I shouldn't take advantage of you. But Chen Ji, I have too many things to do, and I can't do it without the help of the Chen family, so I will definitely not let you this time."

Chen Yu looked back at Chen Ji and said, "I hope that our friendship will not be hurt by then."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Why do you make it sound like I've already lost?"

Chen Yu patted his shoulder in fear: "Don't worry, I won't blame you even if you win. By the way, do you remember the agreement between you and me?"

Chen Ji: "..."

Seeing that he didn't answer, Chen Yu smiled self-deprecatingly: "Forgive me, I shouldn't always bring up the past."

After they left Xiaoying Island, they saw from afar the maids and servants outside Wendan Hall, with their heads lowered, shoulders hunched, and as silent as a mouse.

The servant who led the way stopped and said to Chen Ji and Chen Yu in a low voice: "Please wait a moment, my two lords. I will go in and report once things calm down a bit..."

In the Wendan Hall, Chen Liqin said loudly: "Chen Yu was familiar with the classics at the age of twelve, and passed the imperial examination at the age of eighteen. Now at the age of twenty-two, he has been promoted to the head of the Thirteenth Ministry of Personnel. He is a pillar of our Chen family. But Chen Ji is a stubborn boy with a bad nature and got into gambling at an early age. He is really not up to the task."

Chen Yu, who was outside the Wendan Hall, heard this and subconsciously turned to look at Chen Ji. But Chen Ji's expression did not change, as if he was not the one being talked about.

Chen Ji stood outside the yard and looked inside. The five red doors of Wendan Hall were all open, and Elder Chen, wearing a red robe, was sitting at the top with his eyes closed, resting.

Chen Lizun, Chen Lizhi, and Chen Liqin sat on the left and right, while Chen Wende stood behind Chen Lizhi without saying a word.

Chen Lizun opened his mouth to refute, "Third brother, what you said is wrong. As far as I know, the rumors that Chen Ji is a gambling addict were framed by your second son Chen Wenxiao. The matter has been clarified long ago. Why are you still talking about it? As a father, you should speak up for your son. How can you slander your own son? Wouldn't Chen Ji be disheartened to hear this?"

Chen Liqin was stunned. The affair between Chen Wenxiao and Chen Ji was a scandal of the third house. When Yun Yang and Jiao Tu came to visit him, he strictly ordered the servants in the mansion not to spread the news.

It seems that the first wife had already placed spies in the third wife's courtyard.

Chen Liqin changed his words and said, "He is a military commander. What use is his martial arts in the capital? If you want to keep the business, you can't rely on official connections. You need intelligence. Chen Ji has not read the classics and does not understand the principles of Taoism in recent years. How can we hand over the foundation accumulated by our ancestors to him?"

Chen Lizun said slowly, "Third brother, what you said is wrong. If Chen Ji is brave but not wise, I'm afraid he wouldn't have been able to escape unscathed in front of the emperor a few days ago."

Chen Liqin was speechless.

Chen Lizhi picked up the teacup and leisurely smelled the aroma of Longjing tea in the cup.

He watched the first and third houses arguing endlessly until Chen Liqin was speechless. Then he slowly said, "Brother, it's useless for us to argue here. Everyone knows that you and the third brother are actually arguing about whether Chen Ji should be adopted into your first house. But you have never thought about whether Chen Ji himself is willing to be adopted into your first house? After all, the third brother and he are father and son. What if they have a deep father-son relationship?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Liqin clenched his fists involuntarily.

Chen Lizun was calmer and picked up the teacup beside him nonchalantly: "Then call him to ask."

Without even raising his eyelids, Elder Chen said hoarsely, "Call Chen Ji and Chen Yu in."

A middle-aged man beside him walked out of the door, came to Chen Ji and the other man and bowed: "Two young masters, the master wants you to come in."

The middle-aged man led the two into the Wendan Hall. Chen Ji and Chen Yu bowed together and said, "Greetings, Master."

Chen Ge Lao opened his eyes and winked at the middle-aged man, who immediately dismissed the servants and maids outside the door and closed the five red doors of Wendan Hall.

Most of the things said with the door open are not important. When the door is closed, those standing outside are spectators, and those standing inside are our own people.

Elder Chen asked slowly, "Chen Yu, Chen Ji, do you two know what our Chen family relied on to build such a great foundation?" Chen Yu answered first, "Back to the master, it was the contribution of my Chen family from generation to generation."

Elder Chen nodded slightly, "Yes, the Chen family has existed for thousands of years, but you and I have only been here for a hundred years, and are just passers-by in this Chen family. My Chen family's ancestor followed Taizu to start an uprising in Haozhou, and then Hongdu was besieged. My ancestor led 20,000 people to defend the city to the death. The city wall collapsed more than ten times, and the bloody battle lasted for 80 days. Only then did the Chen family gain the foundation to survive. Therefore, the first page of my Chen family's family motto is not the great principles in the scriptures, but the word "literary courage."

"In the 160th year of Daning, the Chen family was in decline. The five sons of Emperor Ning Xuanzong competed for the throne. Our ancestor Chen Jiye made a desperate bet on the twelfth prince and established a great feat of following the emperor. This is how the Chen family came back to life."

"But the good times didn't last long. In the 190th year of Daning, Emperor Ning Wenzong died suddenly, and the Chen family lost power and was demoted by the young emperor. It's a shame to say that the Chen family didn't rely on men to rise to power this time, but sent women in the family to the palace as concubines. They waited until the concubine won the emperor's favor and became a concubine before taking the opportunity to return to the court."

"But the glory and favor in the palace was short-lived. In just eight years, the situation changed. My Chen family's ancestor Chen Xuanyun learned from his mistakes and hibernated in Luzhou. He no longer fought for power, but closed the door and devoted himself to teaching children to recite scriptures and learn the truth of the world. The Chen family hibernated for thirty years, but thirty years later, the Chen family produced two geniuses who brought my Chen family back to the capital..."

Elder Chen spent a full hour recounting the origins of the Chen family, how it had gone through many ups and downs, and how it had finally become what it is today, growing into a towering tree.

After saying that, he looked at Chen Ji and Chen Yu and asked, "What truth have you two figured out?"

Chen Yu bowed and said, "Return to the master, the rise and fall of a family depends on people."

Elder Chen turned and looked at Chen Ji.

Chen Ji bowed and said, "Taking advantage of the situation is only temporary, you have to build your own situation first."

Elder Chen smiled and said, "You two are both right. Now that I am old and your uncle has no children, we need someone new to support the Chen family. Are you two willing to share some of the family affairs?"

Chen Yu said without hesitation: "Reporting to the Patriarch, I am willing."

As soon as these words were spoken, Chen Lizhi and Chen Liqin looked up at Chen Ji at the same time, and Wendan Hall suddenly fell silent.

After a long time, Chen Ji said calmly: "Reporting to the Patriarch, I am willing."

Chen Lizun breathed a sigh of relief and drank the tea in his hand. Chen Liqin's face darkened and he slowly leaned back in his chair.

Chen Lizun put down his teacup and said, "That's great. Now there are two businesses in the family that no one is looking after, one is the grain store and the other is the salt store. The grain store's revenue has dropped by 30% in recent years. We sent several groups of people to investigate, but we couldn't find any results. The salt store was squeezed by other salt merchants and almost lost its register last year. You two should discuss who will take charge of the grain store and who will take charge of the salt store?"

Chen Yu cupped his hands and said, "My nephew is willing to take over the grain store."

Chen Lizun frowned slightly: "You are in charge of salt tax in the Qinglisi, why do you need to receive grain?"

Chen Lizhi laughed: "Brother, you let them choose, and you disagreed after they chose. What's the meaning of this? I'm afraid you already knew where the grain bank was losing money, and you wanted to cheat for Chen Ji?"

Chen Lizun's face darkened: "Second brother, don't bully me with words. I just have some doubts."

Chen Yu turned around and bowed to Chen Lizun, saying, "My uncle, I am now in the Ministry of Personnel, specializing in the salt tax collection in Beijing and Tianjin, so I should avoid suspicion. If I am reported to the censor for the matter of the salt company, I am afraid I will not be able to explain myself even if I am right..."

Before he could finish, Chen Ji interrupted and said, "My nephew is willing to take over the Salt Company."

Chen Lizun said anxiously: "Chen Ji, please think about it again and don't make a hasty decision."

Chen Lizhi said sarcastically: "Brother, why don't you just choose for him? Chen Yu has already chosen, what do you mean by this?"

Chen Lizun was about to refute, but Lord Chen coughed twice and everyone fell silent.

Elder Chen said slowly, "It is settled now. Chen Ji will take over the salt company, and Chen Yu will take over the grain company. You should all go back first and don't make a scene in the Wendan Hall. Yong Xiu, you stay for a while."

Yongxiu is Chen Lizun's courtesy name.

Chen Lizhi stood up and laughed, then bowed to Chen Lizun and said, "Goodbye, brother."

When the Wendan Hall was empty, Chen Lizun said in a deep voice: "Father, this is not fair."

Elder Chen looked up at him and asked, "What's so unfair about this?"

Chen Lizun pointed outside the door and said, "This salt shop was originally owned by the Second House. All of them are from the Second House and will not listen to Chen Ji's orders. Chen Lizhi has not been able to compete with the Eight Big Banks in the South in recent years, which has caused our Chen family's salt shop to be controlled by others. Now he has thrown this mess to Chen Ji, and Chen Yu is in charge of the salt tax. How can Chen Ji win? This Chen Yu has evil intentions. He deliberately chose the grain shop and left the salt shop to Chen Ji, just to use his position to control Chen Ji."

Chen Ge Lao didn't care at all: "Doesn't this just show that Chen Yu is smart? Everyone thought he would use his position to choose the salt company, but he did the opposite."

Chen Lizun emphasized: "Father, Chen Yu is from the second house!"

Elder Chen stood up slowly. "Yong Xiu, it doesn't matter which branch he belongs to. As long as he is a concubine's son, he will only have my eldest branch in his heart after he comes to my eldest branch. When he has tremendous power, if Chen Lizhi wants to control him again, it will only push him further away."

Chen Lizun remained silent.

Elder Chen walked out, pushed open the red door of Wendan Hall, and looked at the setting sun outside. "I just said so much, but you didn't hear a word. You and I are just passers-by in the Chen family. We have to choose the right person to inherit the family business so that we can face our ancestors. As for whether he is from the second or third house, it doesn't matter. In my position, I can't make decisions based on my personal likes and dislikes. I have to stand in the Wendan Hall of the Chen family and look outside to see who can be the pillar of this Wendan Hall and support the entire Chen family."

Elder Chen continued, "Everything in this world is a mirror. What you think in your heart is what you see. Do you remember how they answered when I asked them how they viewed the ups and downs of my Chen family?"

Chen Lizun recalled: "Chen Yu replied that the rise and fall of a family depends on people; Chen Ji replied that taking advantage of others' power is only temporary, and you have to establish your own power to succeed."

Elder Chen stroked his gray beard and said: "If my Chen family encounters a crisis, I should use Chen Ji to burn my boats, but my Chen family is now thriving, so I should use Chen Yu to maintain the business."

He turned around and looked at Chen Lizun: "Yong Xiu, I know you value Chen Ji more, and he is more worthy of the title of 'literary courage'. But he is too independent, we need to take another look."

(End of this chapter)