A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 284 Secretly assassinating Chen Cang
In the west of Zaoqiang County, there is a grain store. This is the store of the Xin family in Zaoqiang County, which specializes in distributing grain.

The Xin family is a small family in Zaoqiang County. They are the landlords of Heyangli in Zaoqiang County. Heyangli is located on the bank of Zhangjia River to the west of Zaoqiang. Half of the land in Heyangli belongs to the Xin family. Two-thirds of the villagers in Heyangli are tenant farmers of the Xin family and make a living by renting the land from the Xin family.

These tenant farmers rented the Xin family's fields, and had to hand over 70% of the year's harvest to the Xin family. The remaining 30% was barely enough to keep the family from starving to death.

Originally, they all owned their own land, but whenever there was a big event, famine or serious illness, in order to survive, they had to mortgage the land to the Xin family in exchange for money.

If it can be repaid, there is still a chance to get the land back. If it cannot be repaid, it will be reduced to a tenant farmer of the Xin family.

But fortunately, the Xin family has a set of "The Analects of Confucius" and has a certain degree of benevolence. Unlike those ruthless tycoons of the Li family who buy and sell by force, the Xin family will even provide some food for charity in years of famine. Porridge to ensure that the villagers do not starve to death.

Therefore, the Xin family has a very good reputation in Heyang and is deeply supported by the villagers.

It turns out that the Xin family has always been attached to the Liu family. A legitimate daughter of the Xin family married Liu Shi's second uncle as his wife. Therefore, the Xin family was not destroyed in the troubled times, and Heyangli was not greatly harassed.

One is because the Xin family gathered villagers themselves and formed a 300-strong escort team; the other is because they have the protection of the Liu family.

Later, the Liu family was overthrown by the Li family. In order to avoid suspicion, the Xin family decisively severed the relationship with Liu's daughter and sent a large amount of grain to the Li family. They also expressed that in Zaoqiang County from now on, the Xin family would regard Li as their leader. The meaning of respect.

The Li family also wanted to rely on the Xin family to govern Heyangli, so they agreed to their submission, so that the Xin family did not get into trouble in this incident.

The daughter of the Xin family who was married to the second uncle Liu Shi at that time was the eldest sister of the current head of the Xin family. No one knew what the head of the Xin family was thinking when he came forward to sever the relationship with his eldest sister in front of the Xin daughter. Feel.

But presumably, except for the Xin family siblings, no one else cares, because everything is for profit.

"Guest, do you want to buy food?" The shopkeeper of Xin's Grain Store smiled when he saw a middle-aged man wearing coarse cloth and looking like a businessman.

This person is none other than Liu Shi, who has dressed up elsewhere.

"Exactly, I am a businessman from Xindu County next door. I heard that the grains of Qinghe Zaoqiang are large and abundant. I want to buy some and sell them in Xindu. I wonder what the shopkeeper can teach me?"

When the shopkeeper saw the big business coming, he said with a smile: "Guest, you are here at the right time. Our Zaoqiang Grain is famous for its high-quality grain in Hebei, and the best among them is the grain sold by our Xin family." , these are all produced from Heyangli, and are irrigated with water from Zhangjia River.

Zhangjia River is a big river that flows through Qinghe and Xindu counties. Since you are from Xindu, you should often drink the water from Zhangjia River, and then you should eat the food of our Xin family.

I heard you say that you were born next to the Zhangjia River. These people are all inert, and the body is the same. If you are used to drinking the water of the Zhangjia River and eating other water, it just doesn’t taste good. And our food comes from the Zhangjia River. You say , how delicious does this food taste? "

Liu Shi listened to the shopkeeper's nonsense and didn't care. Instead, he cooperated and said: "Oh, there is such a saying. It seems that I came to Zaoqiang at the right time, so I will choose the food from your Xin family. "

The shopkeeper's smile became even brighter: "Really, guest, you are discerning, how much do you want?"

Liu Shi stretched out a finger.

"Ten stones?"

Liu Shi shook his head: "One thousand stones."

The shopkeeper was shocked. This was a big customer. This one stone of grain was enough for one person to eat for nearly a month. A person only eats more than ten stone of grain in a year.

One thousand shi is enough food for nearly a hundred people for a year. The magistrate of Zaoqiang County only gets 600 to 1,000 shi per year. The rich ones in the county can get 1,000 shi, and the poor ones can get 600 shi.

"This, guest, I'm afraid I'm not joking, and I'm not raising soldiers and horses. With so much food, I'm afraid I'll be investigated by the county government."

Liu Shi pretended to be angry and said: "Humph, a thousand stones is just a test of the water. If it is good, I will add more. Don't say anything. If you can't make the decision, let the person who can make the decision come and call your master." "

The shopkeeper had no choice but to lead him into the inner room, offer him cold water, and ask the waiter to call the owner of the house.

Fortunately, Heyangli is not far from the county seat. It only takes two glasses of water. The head of the Xin family hurried to the grain store. The shopkeeper introduced the head of the Xin family to Liu Shi and said, "This is my master."

"The guests are polite."

Looking at this customer, he looked familiar, but he didn't think much about it and asked the shopkeeper to go to the shop and receive the customer himself.

"I wonder if the guest really wants a thousand shi of food?"

Seeing that the shopkeeper had left and the door was closed, Liu Shi fell to his knees and said, "Uncle Shi, I am Liu Shi."

The head of the Xin family looked at Liu Shi, who had a similar face to his brother-in-law, and asked uncertainly: "Are you Liu Shi?"

Liu Shi nodded with tears in his eyes. The head of the Xin family also had wet eyes: "It's just like Huair'er."

Liu Huai is Liu Shi's cousin, the son of his second uncle. He was born to the daughter of the Xin family. He was raised at home because he was too young. Unexpectedly, he was killed by the Li family, and the Xin family daughter also had some reasons. Liu Huaicai was unwilling to leave the Liu family.

"Why are you back? Let's go quickly. This Zaoqiang County is full of Li family's eyes and ears. If someone sees you, you're doomed. Change your clothes immediately and get on the carriage with me. I'll take you out of the city!"

The head of the Xin family thought of something and said immediately.

"Uncle Shi, don't panic, I came back this time to avenge my Liu family."

"You are so reckless. The Li family is powerful and has a lot of troops. Then Li Marquis is still the captain of a county, and tens of thousands of people obey his orders. How can you take revenge.

Listen to Uncle Shi, we have a long time to come. Li's many cruel behaviors will definitely lead to disaster. When the time comes. It's not too late for you to take revenge. Now you still need to be useful. "

Liu Shi stood up, took out a copper seal, and showed it to the head of the Xin family. It was the seal of the magistrate of Zaoqiang County.

"This"

The head of the Xin family was stunned.

"Uncle Shi, now is the time for the Li family to perish."

Seeing that the head of the Xin family was still a little confused, Liu Shi invited him to his seat and explained: "Uncle Shi also said before that Li's behavior was mostly tyrannical. He engaged in large-scale mergers and forced buying and selling on ordinary people. As a result, most of the land in Zaoqiang County belonged to the Li family.

They also hid the population and imprisoned officials, which were all acts of chaos. As early as the beginning of this year, the imperial court issued an edict to inventory the fields and population of each county.

Just to avoid alerting others, this edict has not yet been posted to Qinghe County. The Li family is the biggest lawless tycoon in Qinghe, and has become a thorn in the side of the court and a thorn in the flesh.

If it weren't for the worry that the war would lead to chaos, the imperial court would have sent troops to annihilate Li Hou. Now Bai Li, the governor of Jizhou, was sent to carry out an investigation in Jizhou, and the first one to kill him was Li Hou.

Your Majesty knew that I had a great enmity with Marquis Li, so he ordered me to be a vanguard and appointed my nephew as the magistrate of Zaoqiang County to collect evidence of Li's crime and to contact those who were unwilling to attach themselves to Li.

At the same time, when the time comes, the entire Li family will be uprooted. By then, the sky in Zaoqiang will be clear, and the people of Zaoqiang will no longer suffer the bullying of the Li family. "

The head of the Xin family was shocked by Liu Shi's words. He didn't expect that his nephew would now be associated with the Bai family, a famous family in Hedong. That was a very close relationship.

But he was also uneasy about whether Liu Shi could defeat the Li family. After all, Li Hou controlled tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Qinghe. If Li Hou was not careful, they would be the first to suffer, and they would not be able to escape.

"Shi'er, you couldn't have been sold by the Bai family, right? It's a good thing that this matter works out. If it doesn't work out, you and I will die without a burial place, and we won't even be able to escape with our families. And Bai Li, I But I heard that in Xindu, even if something happens, it won’t hurt him.”

Liu Shi smiled and said: "Uncle Shi, don't worry, not only the envoy, but also Baicang Fujun, the prefect of Qinghe County, is also my nephew's backing. Fujun has already told his nephew that his nephew is in Zaoqiang, and Fujun In Qingyang, let’s move together when the time comes so that even Li can’t escape.”

The head of the Xin family was caught in a decision, and finally agreed, not only to avenge his eldest sister, but also because the Li family had gone too far in the past two years, not only forcing ordinary people to trade their fields.

He also tried to insert his hands into Heyangli and other towns under Zaoqiang's jurisdiction. The Li family's children became more and more domineering, not only robbing women, but also buying and selling them.

The business environment in Zaoqiang has become a smoky mess. Now in Zaoqiang, whenever people see a descendant of the Li family, they have to walk around for fear of being contaminated and ruining their family. Even if they want to sue the officials, they have no way to do it. Even the county The capital Li has been imprisoned, so why should he sue? I'm afraid he doesn't want to live too long.

No matter how this continues, in a short time, as long as the Li family is strong enough and has a firm foothold, according to Li's personality, she will definitely want to drive these small families in the county out of Zaoqiang, so that the Li family in Zaoqiang will The strong family dominates.

I'm afraid that by then, Zaoqiang will no longer be called Zaoqiang, but Li County.

For the revenge of the eldest sister, for the future of the Xin family, and with the endorsement of the imperial court, and the support of the two young masters of the Bai family, they are not ordinary young masters, one is the governor and the other is the prefect.

If he succeeds, and according to the merits of the Xin family, he climbs into the Bai family, and according to the family tradition and knowledge of the Xin family, he might also be able to serve as a county magistrate.

A hundred years later, the Xin family will no longer be called the Xin family, but can be called the Xin family. Zaoqiang Xin family sounds very emotional.

After contacting the Xin family well and becoming allies, it was already getting late, and Liu Shi was about to return to the county office to avoid Li's suspicion. As for other small families who were dissatisfied with Li's, Liu Shi would hand over the letters in the future. The head of the Xin family asked him to contact him on his behalf.

The waiter at the tea stall saw the two guards of the new county magistrate entering the backyard carrying two food bags. Since their backs were to him, he couldn't see their faces clearly, but it didn't matter. They were probably the two who went out at noon.

Liu Shi's bodyguards go out to buy things almost every day. They are probably afraid that someone will poison their food, so they are used to it.

(End of this chapter)