Chapter 118
After Lin Hai left, Wu Mengren came to the courtyard where his fourth brother Wu Mengwen lived.

Before his death, the old man of the Wu family presided over the family property analysis. The Wu family's real estate, floating wealth, and business have been divided, basically according to the principle of equalization.

In fact, the distinction between direct descendants and concubines in ancient times was far less great than many people in later generations imagined. As early as the Han Dynasty, the principle of equal inheritance among all sons was established.

In the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the ancient system was restored again, and starting from the Tang Dynasty, the distinction between concubines and concubines began to become increasingly blurred.

This can be seen as a microcosm of the process of centralization of power and the subjugation of society in ancient China. The weaker the central authority and the richer the aristocratic culture, the more popular the eldest son inheritance system has been. This is true at all times and in all countries.

By the Ming Dynasty, even sons born through adultery could inherit half of the inheritance of good sons. There was no difference between a bastard son and a legitimate son in terms of sacrifices and property inheritance. Of course, if your family has a throne or title to inherit, that would be a different matter.

Wu Mengren got what he wanted and got the Wu family's overseas trading business, but the raw silk supply in Zhejiang fell into the hands of his fourth brother, while their eldest brother Wu Mengming inherited the canal business.

"How about it? Is the man named Lin willing to pay a deposit?" Wu Mengwen asked. He was more than ten years older than his fifth brother. In addition, he was holding Wu Mengren's source of goods, so he still spoke in the same condescending way as before. tone.

Wu Mengren shook his head with a livid face. He did not mention the specific process of negotiating with Lin Hai.

Otherwise, once Wu Mengwen finds out that he made up his own family scandal when his father's body was still cold, he will definitely be reprimanded again.

"I've told you this method won't work, but you still don't believe it and insist on being angry with me. How about now?"

Wu Mengwen said and added: "Even if Lin agrees to it, you can only lie to him once. If he doesn't buy from you next year, what are you going to do?"

Wu Mengren was already very angry, but he couldn't bear it anymore when he heard this: "Are you going to raise the price next year? It's obviously the fault of the big brother, why are you looking for compensation from me? If you have the ability, you can increase the price for the big brother. Price goes.”

"You have grown up, Fifth Brother, and you will no longer criticize your elder brother and me." Wu Mengwen's tone was very calm, but it made Wu Mengren shudder involuntarily.

From top to bottom in the Wu family, the person whom Master Ren admires the most is his fourth brother, who would not dare to offend a hundred people.

"Fourth brother, didn't I just complain? If the eldest brother was still in Beizhen Fusi, how could our Wu family end up in this situation..."

"You know nothing!" Wu Mengwen interrupted his fifth brother with a light scold.

He was not in a very good mood either. The Wu family has had bad luck one after another in recent months. First, Wu Meng, the second eldest son who was the prefect of Yunnan, died, then the old man burped, and finally the eldest brother Wu Mengming was dismissed from office for offending the eunuchs. .

After all, the Wu family is not an ordinary family. As the eldest son, Wu Mengming still has an advantage in inheriting the ancestral legacy. Moreover, he himself also passed the martial arts examination, so as early as the 48th year of Wanli, he was actually awarded the title of Jin Yiwei Zheng Qianhu.

Before his dismissal from office, Wu Mengming's commissioner was Deputy Li Xing of Fusi, Jinyi Weibei Town, and Zheng Lixing was Xu Xianchun, one of the "Five Biaos" who was the core figure of the Eunuch Party.

Ordinarily, in this position, it should be the backbone of the eunuch party.However, Wu Mengming favored the Donglin Party. When the so-called Six Gentlemen's Prison emerged, he repeatedly persuaded Xu Xianchun not to be too involved.

At the beginning, he was quite strategic, saying things like not being too desperate and leaving a way out for himself, so Xu Xianchun listened to it, and released more than 40 people from the prison of Fusi, Beizhen. People come out.

But as the Six Gentlemen's Prison intensified, Wu Mengming gradually began to lose control. When Xu Xianchun forged Wang Wenyan's confession, he jumped out to express his opposition. As a result, he was involved in it.Fortunately, Xu Xianchun and his second assistant officer should still have a good relationship, so he was not killed in the end. Wu Mengming was only tortured, convicted of hiding and escaped, and then dismissed from office and went home.

At this time, the last powerful figure in the Wu family in Shanyin had fallen, and all that was left was the huge network of in-laws.Moreover, many of the in-laws of the Wu family are just mere showpieces. For example, the heir to the title of Prince Xinxin's family has not yet been decided.

As a result, many people began to stop buying into the Wu family's account, especially the various immortals who were hanging around the Grand Canal. There were many who had great magical powers. The Wu family's expenses for up and down management suddenly surged.

In view of this, Wu Mengwen decided to greatly increase the price of raw silk for Wu Mengren, asking him to find ways to make up more money from overseas trade. This is why the fifth master Ren is eager to slaughter Lin Hai, the fat sheep.

Although the fifth master Ren is not as scheming as his fourth brother, he still understands the principle of making the most of the lake.If he hadn't been squeezed too hard by Wu Mengwen, he would have done business with Lin Hai for a few more years, and he would be killed when he was at his most fertile.

Master Ren Wu felt so miserable when he heard his fourth brother Wu Mengwen continue to say: "Brother, this is a strong man's wrist-cutting. In the current situation, if he doesn't draw a clear line with the eunuchs, our brothers will probably die without burial in the future." place."

"Wang Zhen in the Yingmiao period, Wang Zhi in the Xianmiao period, Liu Jin in the Wumiao period, and Feng Bao in the temple period. Which one will end well? Eunuch Wei is so arrogant today, how will he end up in the future? ?”

There was a hint of fear in Wu Mengwen's voice. During the years when Wei Zhongxian was favored and controlled Jin Yiwei, Fourth Master Wen didn't know how many people he had tricked with the help of his eldest brother Wu Mengming. If you block and kill the Buddha, you will be invincible.

But in the fifth year of Tianqi, because a large number of Qi, Chu, and Zhexiang parties joined Wei Zhongxian's command due to the crowding out of Donglin people, Eunuch Wei gradually evolved from the emperor's favorite to the leader of the eunuch party, and began the journey of bloodbathing the Donglin party.

This made Wu Mengwen a little scared. Wei Zhongxian had offended too many people. Once he fell, the eunuchs would inevitably be counterattacked.Judging from the intensity of the party struggle between North Korea and China since the Wanli Dynasty, a big prison will definitely be inevitable by then, and the Wu family will most likely be implicated in it.

This is why Wu Mengwen handed over overseas trade half a year ago. At that time, he began to persuade his eldest brother to draw a clear line with the eunuchs, but he did not expect that Wu Mengming would eventually take such drastic measures and almost die. They're all in.

"Eunuch Wei is at the height of his power. I'm afraid he won't fall so easily?" Wu Mengren disagreed with his fourth brother's words.

"This dynasty is not the Han and Tang dynasties. The so-called eunuch is just taking advantage of the favor of the Heavenly Family to fake the power of the tiger. It will be easy to fall."

"Spring and Autumn are in full bloom today..."

Wu Mengren was mid-sentence when he was interrupted by his fourth brother. The latter seemed not to want to go further on this topic: "Let's not talk about this. Since the man named Lin won't accept your words, what are your plans next?"

"Although he refused to pay the deposit, he agreed to increase the price higher than the original price. This is the only way for Zhejiang for the time being, and the rest depends on Dengzhou."

"You need to be more careful in Dengzhou. The water there is not much shallower than the partisanship between the DPRK and China." Wu Mengwen reminded him that he had thrown this hot potato away, but the person who took over was his brother after all, and it was not a last resort. He doesn't want to give up his car to save his handsome man.

"I'll teach you a trick, let's find a way from this guy named Lin. Although it's not as fast as your method of getting money, it's better than a long stream of water..."

"As expected of Fourth Brother, this move killed people invisible. In the end, he didn't even know who was tricking him." After listening to Wu Mengwen's damaging move, Master Ren finally showed a smile on his face.

(End of this chapter)

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