Ji Tang

Chapter 899 Lao Zheng’s inner monologue

The matter between the children is just a small episode. The end of the year is approaching. Whether it is the manager who is far away in a foreign country or the shopkeeper of Chang'an who is close at hand, except for those who really can't make it back, they all rushed back before the end of the year!
Ji Song did not celebrate the New Year in Chang'an this year, but returned to Jijiazhuangzi.

Even for the Lantern Festival, he asked for leave in advance and could not go. This made Fang Xuanling, who approved the leave, a little puzzled. But when he saw the emperor's approval, he could only hold his nose and admit it.

After the matters in Chang'an were settled, Ji Song returned to Zhuangzi with Ji Ze, Mao Mao, Wu Mei, his disciple, and Lao Zheng who had worked hard for the Ji family for half his life.

As the chief steward of the Ji family, Lao Zheng knows the thoughts of some family heads, but he doesn't know exactly what will happen!

But what excited him was that the head of the family actually asked him to participate, and also asked his eldest son to follow him. If he didn't understand what was going on, half of his life would be in vain.

I have served the Ji family for so many years, firstly to repay the family master for surviving, and secondly, I hope that my descendants can board the big ship of the Ji family and benefit future generations!
Now his eldest son is the steward of Ji's fur business in Mobei. Although he has not made any big contributions, he is conscientious and has never made any major mistakes.

My daughter is married to an academic who is a student in an academy. She has been promoted to the county magistrate in the past few years. Recently, the head of the family said that her son-in-law is doing well and if nothing else happens, he will be promoted next year!

My grandchildren are all studying in Ji's Academy. It is not impossible to enter the academy when they are older!

Ji never signed anything that was included in the contract of sale, and the previous one had been burned long ago.

I think there are so many people coming to Ji's family, why don't you still need a contract to sell yourself?

Every year, not only the daughters of Zhuangzi clan members, but also the people in Ancheng, Changchang want to send their daughters to the mansion, just to have a good appearance when they get married!
There are only a few masters in the family. Although the eldest young master has a bad temper, he is not bad-hearted and has never done anything evil. The eldest wife has never bullied her servants. The second young master is just a boring gourd. He studies his own things all day long. I don't go out very much, but I just ask for a few helpers, and I usually give a lot of rewards!

The third young master has just been weaned and has nothing to say.

I just heard that the Second Madam and the Third Madam are pregnant again. This is a great joy. With such a big family fortune, we should have many children, but the number of people is still too small now!

Which of the nobles in Chang'an City doesn't have sons and grandsons running around everywhere?There are only a few people in the family, which is not good. Otherwise, who will inherit the family business in the future?

The reason why the head of the family calls his eldest son also comes to mind. This time, not only him, but all the stewards and shopkeepers who have made great contributions to the family have been informed that they can bring their son to Zhuangzi. As for what happened, the head of the family did not say anything. , but it is not difficult to imagine that this is definitely a great thing!

Isn’t it that among their managers these years, which one has made a lot of money?
Our family is not one of those noble families who eat people without spitting out their bones!

Anyone who is in the position of shopkeeper or manager, who doesn’t have some elements?Not to mention the huge remuneration and rewards every year, the annual contribution allows them to live a life that they could not even imagine before.

Some people say that since you are so rich, why do you still work for others?Wouldn't it be better to go out and work alone?

Ha ha!

It's a good idea, but don't you look at what the world is like now?The nobles of the imperial court control important industries, and the aristocratic families have tentacles all over the Tang Dynasty. You, a person with no backing, want to steal money from them?This is the old man who has eaten arsenic and is tired of living!
It’s not that no one has tried it, but guess what the result was?
In less than half a year, all the thousands of money earned in Ji's family were lost.Not to mention, in the end, I still owed the Wang family of Taiyuan thousands of guan. In the end, if he hadn't knelt in front of the house owner's door for three days and three nights, the Marquis at that time was soft-hearted and settled the matter, otherwise the family would have been destroyed in the end!
But it was impossible to enter the core of Ji's family at that time. If that person hadn't betrayed Ji's family even when he was at the end of the road, could the Marquis help him?

With the lessons learned from the past, everyone is awakened. If no one is behind you to support you, you will not be able to hold on to your wealth even if you have millions of dollars. You don’t know how you will be eaten by others!
From then on, some thoughtful people in the family gave up their thoughts and just hoped to keep what they had now under Ji's protection, and if possible, let future generations enjoy the protection!

When the imperial court heard that the title of Marquis Hao was retiring from the world, who knows how they felt at that time!
What this means, no one knows better than them!
Stay away from the world!As long as the Tang Dynasty is still there, the title of Marquis of Hao will always belong to the Ji family, and with the tail of the Ji family, they can also ascend to heaven and become unparalleled in wealth!
There will still be no problem for at least two to three hundred years. This is more iron rice bowl than iron rice bowl. Who is stupid enough to break away from the Ji family?

Now that I am old and will not live for many years, it is time to push my son out.

The head of the family seems to have this intention. The news of Ji's branch has been spread out for a long time. When the time comes, it may not be a good way out for his son to follow the head of the family to start over somewhere else!

My son himself knows that he is an honest man, but he has no talent. He can do some routine things, but he is too conservative and not innovative enough. It is impossible to enter the core of the Ji family.

It would be a good idea to let him follow the Second Young Master, the Third Young Master, or the disciples of the family master and other Ji clan members!
The Ji family is not only from the family head's lineage, the family head's grandfather has three brothers of the same generation. The family head's grandfather passed away early, leaving only one son, the family head's father, and the family head has no real brothers.

The second wife is from the same lineage as the second uncle. Although the eldest and second sons left early, the children were left to continue the family relationship, and Uncle Ji was still there.

The third uncle was a third-brother, with five sons, led by Ji De, the current head of Zhuangzi, with dozens of descendants, making him the largest family lineage.

The second and third bedrooms were now in full bloom. As the Ji family continued to expand, not many remained on Zhuangzi!
These people have the Ji family behind them, and they do their duty under the constraints of the family leader. They never bully others. Even if they are some bastards, the second uncle will handle it personally without the family leader having to step forward. It is not the family leader's turn to come forward at all.

Some of them are in business and some are officials, but most of them teach and educate people!

I don’t know why, maybe Ji has a gene in her bones that she likes to be a teacher. Starting from the head of the family, she has constantly emphasized the importance of reading!
The previous generation was just that, they didn’t read many books, most of them were on Zhuangzi.But it is different for people of the same generation as the head of the family. They have received the education of the head of the house since they were young and have the greatest influence.

I obviously have the opportunity to study, but I still refuse to go. I insist on saying that I wish it would take ten years to grow trees and a hundred years to cultivate people.

This would have been beaten half to death in other families. When you become a talented person, you don't contribute to the family, but you want to teach?What's going on in your head?

But what is surprising is that the head of the family not only did not stop it, but also strongly supported it!

For this matter, he personally begged his grandfather and grandma to arrange for them to move to various places in the Tang Dynasty. He also spent his own money to settle them down and to build a school.Now there are no fewer than a hundred schools in the Tang Dynasty alone named after the Ji family, and the number of people who graduate from Zhuangzi's Ji family school continues to increase every year!

They didn't understand why the head of the family did this. Although they didn't understand, no one stopped them, and they carried them out without compromise!
In their opinion, although teaching and educating people is respected by others, if they want to benefit their families, the results are still too slow. If they want to see results, it will take tens or hundreds of years!

There are only a hundred schools, and each one can only teach dozens of students. What can this do?You must know that with the establishment of Taibai Academy, those aristocratic families also saw the benefits of establishing a large academy. Not only can it gain a good reputation for their own family, but it can also select many good talents!
Since the book monopoly cannot be achieved, then join in.The mentality of joining if you can't beat him is clearly revealed!
Not only them, the imperial court also vigorously promoted the establishment of official schools. Now there is at least one county school in every county, a state school in the prefecture, and an imperial school in Chang'an. Countless students graduate from the Tang Dynasty every year!

Having said all this, I just want to say that the current Ji family is very large, with many branches and branches spread across every corner of the Tang Dynasty. In terms of influence, it is no worse than those aristocratic families!

Therefore, it is an opportunity to follow the collateral line to establish a branch sect.These people must need some trustworthy old people in the early stages of their establishment, and all the managers, shopkeepers, and even workers under the Ji family are all the people they need!

They can't even think about these old people, but their children can!

These children have been studying in schools since they were young. The education they received is no worse than others, and they have been taught by adults at home. Their abilities are not bad, but now they just lack experience!
Being able to win over these young people to follow him to establish a branch sect is a piece of cake in the sky!
The sect leaders who can establish branch sects are all the elites of the Ji family. These people must be capable and wealthy, and their families must be extremely wealthy.And with the support of the Ji clan leader, the head of the family, there will be no problem with officialdom and connections!
In this way, within a few years, the branch sect will develop rapidly. Although it is not as good as the main sect, it is definitely not bad, and it can also become the direct descendant of the branch sect. This is a rare opportunity. If you miss it, you will regret it in the future. !

Therefore, what he can fight for for his son now is to be assigned to the branch of the family head's lineage.

The eldest son is the best choice, but with his son's ability, it is probably impossible. How can those old bastards who have been envious of their position for many years let go of this opportunity?

Since the eldest son has nothing to do, he should go to the second son. Anyway, the second son is also the legitimate son of the head of the family. No matter how good he is, he will definitely not treat his son badly.

Once again, there are the four disciples of the family master. Now they all have titles. Ji Qing and Xue Li are even marquises. Their future achievements will be limitless!
But what makes him hesitate is that Ji Qing is not bad, he is a member of the Ji clan, Liu Xiancheng is also half a member of the Ji clan, and Wang Xuance is not bad and has no foundation. When he needs help from his family, he will not treat him badly. , but Xue Li.
Thinking of this, he hesitated. In his opinion, Xue Li had the greatest potential among these disciples, but he had a solid foundation. Do you know if someone will want Ji's family?
Finally, there are the ordinary Ji clan members. The most outstanding ones here are the more than a hundred students who have returned from the voyage. Their abilities have been tested. I don’t say how good their future achievements will be, but they will definitely not be bad!

Although there is no knighthood this time, there are various lords. The worst one is the Cavalry Captain, which has no real power, only reputation.

There is also the honor of being a doctor, and being named a doctor of Taixue, anyway, it has everything.

Although these people will not be the heads of branch sects in the future, they may also be the heads of branch sects and collateral families.If you are lucky, you will be no worse than the four major disciples of the Patriarch!

Suddenly, he thought of the family master's only female disciple - Wu Mei!

Thinking of her, Zheng Li hesitated.It's not that she's not good, but on the contrary, this female disciple who no one else cares about, how could he not know Wu Mei's ability after seeing her all day long?

To put it bluntly, the four major disciples are not as good as the two grown-up sons of the family master.

It's a pity that she is a girl. If she were a boy, his achievements might not be as good as the head of the family, but he would definitely be an outstanding figure in the next generation.

Thinking about what happened between her and the second young master in the past few days, and then thinking about the attitude of the head of the family, he suddenly realized
"Old Zheng, what are you thinking about? You haven't heard anything for a long time?"

Liu Laoer pushed Lao Zheng and said somewhat dissatisfied.

"Hey! It's nothing, just thought of something!"

Seeing Lao Zheng's appearance, Liu Laoer, who was familiar with him, felt that it was not that simple!
He stepped forward and put his arms around Lao Zheng's shoulders and whispered: "Have you made a decision? You old boy, don't be a solitary eater. You don't know what I, Liu Lao Er, have done to you over the years? When did the benefits stop? your?"

"You also know that if you want me to fight and kill, you won't say anything. But this is a major event that determines the future of future generations. This is very difficult for me."

"You have to help me no matter what I say this time, otherwise... haha, I am not successful enough, but I am more than capable of failing, hehe!"

Lao Zheng pointed at Liu Laoer, looking at his proud face, he wanted to slap him.

"Why don't you look for old money, Lao Lin and the others? Why are you pestering me?"

Liu Laoer chuckled: "You, how can I still know? You have been the closest to them in these years. If I want to know, the only one who understands me is you except the head of the family. Who else can I look for if not you?"

Old Zheng raised his forehead and smiled bitterly. From now on, if anyone dares to say that this bastard is a rough man, I will be angry with him. Have you ever seen such a rough man?
I lamented in my heart, for the future of my children and grandchildren, I had no choice but to admit defeat this time.But it’s not bad to think about it. With Liu Laoer’s son who is highly skilled in martial arts, his own son can also take advantage of it, right?
Thinking of this, he was relieved and deliberately took a few steps back. Liu Laoer was stunned for a moment, and then immediately followed suit!

It wasn't until others could no longer hear their conversation that Lao Zheng said, "What do you think of the second young master?"

"Second son?"

Liu Lao Er suddenly hesitated. Although the second young master was good, in terms of knowledge, the second young master who inherited the master's knowledge of objects would definitely be extraordinary in the future, but because of his temperament
"What if we include the female disciple of the family leader?"

Old Zheng looked at Liu Laoer with a smile.

Hearing this, Liu Laoer's eyes narrowed, and his gaze when looking at Lao Zheng was almost shining.

For a long time, the two of them looked at each other and both smiled like idiots.
(End of this chapter)