The World of Yellow Sky

In the house, apart from Zhen Yan, several important elders and old patriarchs of the Zhen family were also among them.

"Although the disaster of moving to the north has been avoided this time, all the land and mines have been lost. Our sources of income have been cut off. At that time, we can only accept the appointment of the Ming court and carry out farming."

"We and the caravan have no papers, can't pass through, can't trade, and what's left is just a waste of money and food. Now, except for the last few secret vaults, all the wealth accumulated by my Zhen family over the past few hundred years has been handed over."

"Those secret vaults are even more inaccessible now. That is the last hope of my Zhen family. The last surplus money left in the family is not even enough to support the basic expenses for half a year. It will not be long before they will fall apart."

An old man with half hair and beard sighed in a low voice. He is Zhen Xuan, who has been in charge of the Zhen family's money affairs for a long time. It can be said that the current Zhen family has really reached the end of its rope.

"Hey, if I had handed over [-]% or [-]% back then, and had been less greedy, I'm afraid I could have concealed it, so that the situation would not have deteriorated to such an extent."

Another middle-aged man in dark red clothes and an iron crown said in a deep voice with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Now that the matter has come to this point, it is irreparable. Now it is time to think of a countermeasure instead of making useless complaints here. The original decision was made unanimously by everyone."

"At the beginning, I insisted on handing over [-]%, but you were the first one who refused to insist on..."

Zhen Xuan glared and raised his voice a little.

"Didn't you agree later?"

Not to be outdone, the middle-aged man replied.

"you……"

"winter!"

A muffled sound interrupted the quarrel between the two of them, and also attracted the attention of everyone in the house.

The voice came from the old patriarch sitting at the head seat, and it was the sound of him hammering the table with his hand.

"If you want to quarrel, you can go to the eagle wolf guards guarding outside the mansion to quarrel. If you quarrel here, what can you quarrel with?"

Zhen Xuan and the man with the iron crown looked at each other, then turned their heads away, and finally stopped complaining.

Seeing that the quarrel had stopped, the old patriarch who was sitting on the side also set his eyes on Zhen Yan at this moment, and his tone slowed down a bit.

"What does Bokang think I, Mrs. Zhen, should do next?"

"Ok?"

Zhen Yan's expression changed slightly, he didn't expect the patriarch to ask his opinion.

Although he was filial and honest, he was appointed as a general and served as the head of Quliang. After he was attached to Wei Ting, he was also added as a general, but he was only in name and did not have much actual power.

But soon, Zhen Yan realized that it was what he said before that made the old patriarch want to ask his opinion now.

But of course he couldn't say that Zhen Mi told him these things and made him act like this.

"now……"

Zhen Yan was a little overwhelmed, he didn't expect to ask him, so he didn't think about what to do next.

Seeing that Zhen Yan didn't continue to speak, the old patriarch sitting in the first seat also sighed, he felt that he was in a hurry to go to the doctor, Zhen Yan might have just had a chance at that time, and was lucky to save the Zhen family.

A flash of lightning suddenly flashed in Zhen Yan's mind, and he remembered the short conversation he had with Zhen Mi before.

"In my opinion, now is my opportunity, Mrs. Zhen..."

Zhen Yanfu spoke to his heart, slowly.

Zhen Yan's words were astonishing, and everyone in the house looked at Zhen Yan one after another.

"Now my Zhen family is almost hard to maintain, why is it an opportunity now?"

Someone is puzzled.

"Zhongkang speak carefully."

There were also people who stopped talking coldly.

But Zhen Yan was determined at this time, and figured out the key points.

Zhen Yan stood up slowly, walked to the center of the house, knelt down slowly, facing the patriarch who was sitting in the first seat, then looked around the people in the house, and said solemnly.

"When misfortune comes, good fortune rests; when good fortune comes, misfortune rests."

"Blessings turn into misfortunes, and misfortunes turn into blessings. It is unpredictable and unfathomable."

"Wei Ting's collapse has indeed caused my Zhen family to lose support and suffer a heavy loss."

"But now, it is indeed my opportunity, Mrs. Zhen!"

Zhen Yan looked ahead and said in a deep voice.

"Xu An previously occupied the four states, and has always stood on the opposite side of our aristocratic family, collecting fields, woodlands, mines, and lakes, and not allowing slaves."

"But I don't know if you have discovered that most of the powerful families in Bingzhou died out because they communicated with Han soldiers in private and sent assassins to assassinate Xu An."

"The powerful families in Yizhou did not suffer too heavy a blow because they needed to restrain the tribes in southern Xinjiang."

"However, all the powerful families in Liangzhou appeared in the court hall of the Ming Court..."

As Zhen Yan spoke, the expressions of everyone in the house also changed.

"The central government of the Ming court implements the system of three mansions and six ministries. The minister of the household is Fu Qi, the minister of rites is Yang Ji, the second of the six ministries is from a Liangzhou family, the head of the Zhongjun mansion is Jia Xu, who is also from a Liangzhou family, and Yan Zhong is the chief assistant of his cabinet and concurrently serves as the governor of Liangzhou."

"Liangzhou's aristocratic families have many officials in the Ming Court, this is not an exception."

Zhen Yan paused and continued.

"Actually, the Dao of Taiping does not intend to wipe out all the powerful families like us."

"Those aristocratic families who are willing to support Taipingdao, and those aristocratic families who are willing to accept changes, Taipingdao has always raised their hands to welcome them."

"Shen Shi is the best example."

When Zhen Yan mentioned Shen Shi, everyone came back to their senses.

They all knew why the judges chose to surrender.

Yuan Shang was enfeoffed as Marquis of Wei, and the treatment was not bad, but he was confined to the fief, and there was no fear of his life. Yuan Shao's family was preserved because of the trial and assignment.

Moreover, the trial and appointment is now called Jizhou's procuratorate, who is in charge of the criminal names of the entire Jizhou.

After the Shen family donated their land, money and food, they basically kept them intact.

Of course, those who ran rampant in the countryside and had other crimes were arrested and brought to justice.

Taipingdao does not talk about concealment between relatives. It is a crime to conceal relatives within the jurisdiction of Taipingdao, and one must bear joint and several responsibilities.

"Nowadays in the land of Hebei, all the powerful families are afraid of the way of peace, and only the Shen family follows it. Although the Shen family's fields are gone and their money is scattered, many people are still officials, while the officials in the other powerful families But most of them were dismissed and replaced by officials from Taipingdao."

"I'm waiting to change my attitude now, but it's still too late."

"My Zhen family has nearly a hundred caravans, thousands of family soldiers, and tens of thousands of children and servants. This is what my Zhen family relies on now."

"Taiping Road encourages commerce, develops provinces in the north, expands the Western Regions in the west, and pacifies the eastern barbarians in the east."

"It is only necessary to obtain the name of an official businessman and register for naturalization. After I get the trade permit, I can reopen the business route and start over."

"Qianjin Shigu, I don't need to say more about how Taipingdao treats Shenshi."

"My Zhen family has a dedicated person to burn porcelain, and also has a dedicated person to raise silkworms and weave cloth. Now the Western Regions have smooth trade routes, and there is no need to worry about sales. The three provinces in northern Xinjiang need food. Salt and iron are now a monopoly. I remember that there was an order from the Ming court to transfer food to the north. People from the three provinces can exchange for Yanyin, and with Yanyin, they can lead the salt transportation and sales to designated areas."

Zhen Yan's words caused a commotion to slowly resound in the house.

None of them are idiots, and they all remember some news released by the Ming court.

The commerce in the Western Regions is indeed beneficial to them. When the Governor of the Western Regions was there, their caravans also went to the Western Regions and exchanged silk, ceramics, and tea for a lot of money and treasures.

The Yanyin mentioned later by Zhen Yan is a decree issued by the Ming Court after the establishment of the three northern provinces, called "Opening the Chinese Law".

In the law of Zhongyan, the army guards the border, the people pay, and the salt lives in it, which is the hub, so it is called Kaizhong.

"Winter—winter—"

The sound of knocking on the table came from the upper seat, and everyone's eyes shifted from Zhen Yan to the patriarch sitting in the first seat.

"Jing Ping, what do you think..."

The patriarch looked at Zhen Xuan at this time and asked.

Zhen Xuan has always been in charge of Qian Zheng in the clan, and he has the most sensitive sense of this aspect.

Zhen Xuan's expression was complicated at this time. He looked at Zhen Yan and suddenly felt that he couldn't see through this young nephew.

"As long as Zhongkang said, you can get permission from the government and businessmen, I think this is feasible, but the permission from the government and businessman..."

"The matter of applying for government and business, you can rest assured to entrust it to me."

Zhen Yan straightened her body, faced the chief patriarch who was sitting above, and said solemnly.

He already has a plan in his heart, he is confident that he can persuade Xu An, and he is also confident that Zhen Shi can recover...

Misfortune comes with blessings, and blessings come with misfortunes.

Chapter 811 Officials and businessmen, Kaihai

In the government office of Yecheng, khaki flags fluttered on the courtyard wall, and prayer flags full of scriptures fluttered slowly in the wind.

In the courtyard, a group of Tengxiang guards wearing full armor, armed with knives and guns stood guard at their posts, and anyone who wanted to plot evil would have absolutely no way to escape their eyes and avoid their attention.

Zhen Yan knelt on the corridor outside the courtyard of the house, waiting respectfully for the summon from the hall, but he had been sitting here for nearly an hour, and Xu An didn't have the slightest intention to summon him.

Although it is late autumn, the weather has turned cold, and the guards of the Ming army in the courtyard have already put on jerseys under their armor.

Zhen Yan was only wearing a relatively thin coat, so she should feel quite cold, but now Zhen Yan's forehead was already dripping with sweat.

Zhen Yan raised his hand and loosened his neckline, he felt a little hard to breathe.

Whenever the guards of the Ming army in the courtyard glanced over him, his heart would involuntarily tighten, and he could feel the undisguised killing intent.

Zhen Yan tried not to meet his gaze and avoided his gaze, and then forcibly stabilized his mind.

God knows how many people these soldiers killed to develop such a terrifying murderous aura.

When he walked all the way in from outside the government office, his steps were almost floating in the air.

Zhen Yan grinned, he felt that his feet didn't even belong to him, there was no seat under his knees, he was sitting directly on the wooden floor.

Zhen Yan closed her eyes, and breathed as steadily as possible. The hope of Zhen's family's final recovery was now pressing on him, and he had no choice.

I don't know how long it has passed, when Zhen Yan felt that her consciousness was a little fuzzy.

"promise!"

A tidy sound of promises suddenly came from the hall not far away, which made Zhen Yan's sanity recover a little.

Zhen Yan opened her eyes and looked up.

The wooden door of the house in front had already been opened at this time, and a group of generals and schools of the Ming army, either wearing war robes or eagle wolf uniforms, came out of the house.

The eyes of those Ming army generals swept over Zhen Yan's body, and they didn't stop for a long time. They seemed to have received orders, and they all walked out in a hurry.

Zhen Yan straightened up again, gritted his teeth and persisted. He raised his head as much as possible, looked ahead, and maintained his posture as much as possible.

This time, he didn't wait too long.

With the sound of footsteps, a black shadow completely blocked his vision and covered the affairs in front of him.

Zhen Yan raised her head with some difficulty, and in front of her was a young man with an iron crown on his head, with sword eyebrows and starry eyes, imposing manner, and a plain military uniform could not hide his sharpness.

"You are Zhen Yan?"

The young man looked down at Zhen Yan and said condescendingly.

Zhen Yan's expression changed slightly. He had already given his name in the report before, but now the young man is calling him by his first name.

"This is Zhen Yan, who came here this time to ask the Taoist Lord for approval regarding the application for official business."

Zhen Yan didn't refute, and his expression didn't change too much. The situation was stronger than others, and people had to bow their heads under the eaves.

He waited here for more than an hour, and he had already made up his mind, but he just called him by his first name, which was nothing at all.

"Oh?"

The young man raised his eyebrows and looked down at Zhen Yan with a hint of sarcasm on his face.

"You Zhen family actually want an official business pass? It's ridiculous, hahahahaha."

"Dao Jun once said: 'People cannot stand without trust, things cannot succeed without trust, and businesses cannot prosper without trust.'"

"Chen Zhen broke his promise first, claiming to pay [-]% of the money and grain, but in the end he only paid less than [-]% of it. Such a lack of faith, is he worthy of being my official businessman?"

Zhen Yan looked embarrassed, the other party didn't show him any kindness at all, but he couldn't walk away, there was only one way to go.