Dominate the Country

ps: New book uploaded, please collect, recommend, click, and support!

The old lady returned to Tumen and brought back the eldest son of the Chen family. The news immediately spread throughout the Tumen market like the wind. Two days later, even the people of Xiaonangou showed their faces in front of Chen Ming.

Chen Ming did not do anything easily in the past two days. He just silently understood Tumen and looked at the Chen family carefully.

As a mountain valley, Tumen is not large in area. Not to mention compared with Zhaoping Town and Qilihe, even the Wawu and Shuangyin Temple to the east of Tumen are not comparable in area. The entire Tumen market area is only 3,000 acres. After deducting a market, the good and bad fields are only 1,500 acres.

The reason why this place has slowly developed from a grass market to the current Tumen market is half of the credit to the Chen family. Xiaonangou is too remote, but Tumen is located on the banks of the Yinma River. From here, it can go all the way to Zhaoping Lake along the Yinma River and directly connect to the official road. Moreover, as a tributary of the Zhaoping Lake-Shahe River system, Yinma River also has countless tributaries. They may only be said to be mountain streams, but where there is water, there are people.

Lushan County is 70% mountain, 10% water and 20% field. Most of the vast mountain villages are near the water, because as long as there are streams, there will always be valleys between mountains, and small plains will be impacted one by one. Such places have long become villages in the era when humans have multiplied to this day. When the Chen family walked out of the mountains, Tumen, which was just a village at that time, was their best choice.

It was too big and they couldn't eat it, because each village had its own power. The Chen family also went from weak to strong. Big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimps, and if small fish are not eaten by big fish, then they will one day become big fish by eating shrimps.

The Chen family has been operating in Tumen for sixty or seventy years. Here, the Chen family is the master. The local villagers have long accepted the Chen family. This is all because Chen Ming's ancestors and Chen Ming's cheap father used the taxes that should have belonged to the court to buy people's hearts for themselves. The Chen family has been working in the household office for several generations, so it is not too simple to take care of Tumen.

With interests, there are connections. After sixty or seventy years, the two sides have long become a family. Therefore, the Chen family is the only one in Tumen and is a standard local tyrant.

Originally, Chen Ming was too deeply influenced by Chen Hui. His impression of Tumen only stayed in the very general concept of "own territory", and he did not know much about the detailed situation of Tumen.

Now it is different. After two days of observation, Chen Ming realized that the situation in Tumen is much better than he originally thought. I am afraid that even if I make a big cannon here, no one will report it to the government.

There are less than 2,000 people in Tumen, and the chief is a member of the Chen family. In terms of seniority, he is of the same generation as Chen Ming. The three restaurants and hotels in the market are all owned by the Chen family. There are 15 shops, and 10 people behind them are surnamed Chen. The rest are wives or mothers, daughters-in-law, or brothers, and they are all related to the Chen family.

In addition, the private salt team in the hands of the Chen family has 50 to 60 people, led by Chen Erbao, who Chen Ming should call his second uncle. But this number is just a standing number. If there is a big fight, the whole Tumen can pull out another 100 or 200 without going to Xiaonangou.

There are 302 households in Tumen. If you look at the assets and livelihoods of these people, some of them work directly for the Chen family, such as the salt and iron transport teams; some of them work directly for the Chen family, such as the shops, restaurants, kiln factories, iron shops, and mines that need people; some of them have received favors from the Chen family, such as when they are in urgent need of money or are short of money when paying taxes, and the Chen family helps them out of their urgent needs. This is a great favor, saving a family; at the very least, they are related to the Chen family's in-laws. In short, 18 or 19 families in Tumen can be related to the Chen family. The foundation laid by the Chen family in Tumen really exceeded Chen Ming's imagination.

In the past two days, Chen Ming has been thinking, if he hadn't encountered a time travel, what would the fate of the Chen family be?

Today's Chen family is just like those dynasties in history that have risen, thriving and shining brightly. If Chen Gang can pass the imperial examination this time and win the first prize next year, the status of the Chen family can be further improved - breaking through Lushan and directly jumping to the level of the prefecture. Then the Chen family can continue to develop and eventually expand its roots from Tumen to the entire Lushan County, which is the top. Unless the descendants of the Chen family can continue to take the imperial examinations, so that the Chen family becomes an official family, this is another level.

But if Chen Gang fails this year and fails in the future, or passes the imperial examination when he is forty or fifty years old, then in Chen Ming's eyes, the Chen family's strength and influence have reached the top without the social structure changing. If it continues to develop, the official umbrella of protection will not be enough to shelter from the wind and rain, and it is not difficult to know what the fate of the Chen family will be. Or just stay still honestly. According to Chen Ming's understanding of his cheap father in the past few days, Chen Hui is likely to choose this. He is a very self-aware person!

However, the prosperous Chen family suddenly hit the ceiling, just like a mighty flood suddenly hitting the Three Gorges Dam. The consequence was not to destroy the dam, but to reverse the torrent, and the family members began to think and calculate. The vigorous momentum of the entire Chen family came to an abrupt end at this moment. It was inevitable that it would decay and decline.

If the Chen family can still produce outstanding people in the future, they can continue the wealth of the Chen family. Otherwise, the Chen family will fail in a few generations.

Just like the class leaders and clerks who work in the third class and sixth room of the county government, the Chen family's path is an old road that many people have walked, but look at the current fate of those who have walked this way.

The Qian family is in decline. In its heyday, it controlled the Cang official and the Hebo ambassador, two fat and wealthy people. But what about now? Qian Lao Er still has a full-time job in the Yamen, while Qian Lao Er can only work as a white servant behind the Yamen.

And in Lushan County, there are countless families that have been prosperous like the Qian family for a hundred years, but there are already countless families that have disappeared from the public early. The longest period of their prosperity is fifty or sixty years, and the shortest period is only three to five years. Either their descendants are unworthy, or they are in the eyes of the county boss, or they are too complacent and careless to be plotted, or they are too late. Those who are too prominent are regarded as fat pigs, and some people even lose their position without knowing why, and their old seats are given to newcomers.

In an era when imperial power did not go to the countryside, and when government officials were hereditary, it was not unusual at all for the Chen family to appear. The difference is only in strength and weakness, and the quality of reputation, there is no essential difference. Not to mention the whole of China, just Henan Province, it is easy to find dozens or hundreds of companies.

"Second uncle!" Chen Ming behaved respectfully in front of this middle-aged man in his thirties. His second uncle Chen Cong.

The name doesn’t quite match the person he is. Chen Cong is a rather rigid person. I don’t know whether it’s because of his status or because he has a big mountain on his head from beginning to end. Chen Cong is truly honest and does his best for the Chen family. Manage the mines and porcelain kiln factories. Of course, Chen Hui didn't treat this second brother badly. It was more like his mother was in Tumen, and it was his second brother who was taking care of him.

Chen Ming has no objections to Chen Cong's life. There will be too few such honest people in future generations. In the 21st century, where morality has become corrupt and everything is focused on money, whoever is in charge is simply synonymous with incompetence if he does not take some benefits from the public accounts.

Looking at Chen Cong's 35 years of life, apart from his silent "work", he did not cause any trouble for Chen Hui and Chen Hui's father. This may be the effect of moral concepts passed down for thousands of years. The identity of a concubine and Chen Cong's experience made Chen Ming not know what to say.

He never thought that Chen Cong was as loyal as a traitor, doing one thing in front of his face and doing another behind his back. He didn't believe that his father couldn't see through this second uncle for decades!

If Chen Cong really has such a heart, Chen Ming can only say that he was really humbled to be born in a small nest like the Chen family.

If he were born into the royal family, he might become Zhao Kuangyi’s second best!

"Bone china???" Chen Cong looked at his eldest nephew in confusion. He had owned the Chief Porcelain Kiln for more than ten years and had never heard of bone china.

"Bone charcoal, clay, feldspar and quartz..., high-temperature biscuit firing, low-temperature glaze firing..." Chen Cong looked straight at Chen Ming. He was convinced that he had never seen such a formula and production technique before, " Shitou, where did you get this recipe? My uncle has been in charge of porcelain kilns for many years. He is very proficient in making porcelain. Why is this so unheard of?"

Shitou is Chen Ming's nickname, which means the same thing as dog's egg, tree stump, and tiger's head. To put it more seriously, it is compared with Cao Cao's Ah Man and Liu Chan's Adou. It was not easy for Chen Ming to come here. He was given a nickname when he was young so that he could stand firm. The old lady talked about stones and wanted her grandson to be as strong as a stone.

Chen Ming is only 15 years old now. He is not an adult. In Chen Cong's eyes, he is still a child. He talks very casually, but this casualness is full of intimacy.

"My nephew picked it out from a broken book. I don't know if it will come true. Can my second uncle let someone try it? It won't cost a lot of money anyway. If it can be done, it will be as delicate as what was said in the broken book. If it is transparent and moist like jade, our family will be rich!”

Chen Ming said, his eyes gleaming, this was the first step in his plan. If he takes this step firmly, he will have the right to speak. He will gain a lot of trust from Chen Cong. In the future, when he goes to the earth kiln to make steel, the obstacles will be much smaller.

However, when Chen Cong came here, he looked like he was blinded by money and confused by his whims. With almost no silent consideration, Chen Cong agreed. As Chen Ming said, it doesn't cost a lot of money anyway. The small and negligible effort and the huge benefits that may be received, no matter how slim the possibility is, Chen Cong doesn't mind giving it a try. What's more, this is the intention of his nephew, the future head of the Chen family.

Chen Cong had no intention of hugging Chen Gang's thigh. As long as there were people in the entire Chen family who had eyes for him, few would press on Chen Gang. Although Chen Gang was admitted as a scholar at a young age, Chen Gang was not the head of the case. Not only was he not the head of the case, he was not even among the top ten in the county. With such a ranking, if knowledge does not improve by leaps and bounds, how easy is it to pass the exam?

We must know that there are nearly a hundred counties such as Lushan in Henan Province, and the number of successful candidates in each rural examination is only a hundred. The proportion of people who pass the imperial examination is smaller than that of Jinshi. There are also 300 people who are successful in each subject. Moreover, the number of candidates who participated in the imperial examination across the country was no more than the number of scholars who participated in the provincial examination in one province.

Chen Gang's results do not give people confidence. Chen Ming had spent a lot of time at his home in the county town. Under the influence of his father, he always considered it a high possibility that Chen Gang would pass the examination, but he didn't really know much about the thoughts of Tumen, the upper-class backbone of the Chen family.

Moreover, after the reforms of Emperor Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty, the energy to lift people was greatly reduced. If you want to lift people with one move like in the Ming Dynasty, your status will immediately rise to the top of the county, and countless people will come to cash in. This is not feasible in the Qing Dynasty.

Officials and gentry worked together and paid taxes together. The biggest difference between the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty was here. The contribution that Emperor Yongzheng made to the Qing Dynasty was definitely not comparable to that of his vain son. Qianlong was in power for 64 years. There were so many wars and disasters, but the Qing Dynasty still had the nerve to praise it as a "prosperous age". The foundation was all laid by Yongzheng. Especially the White Lotus Rebellion in Chuanchu during the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods. Although it brought the Qing Dynasty down from its peak, the Qing Dynasty was able to support such a large uprising and such a heavy blow. It mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops and spent 200 million taels of military expenses. Such financial capacity was definitely not comparable to that of the former Ming Dynasty. Qianlong had a good father. Otherwise, after hundreds of years of land annexation, the White Lotus Rebellion in Chuanchu would have opened the curtain to bury the Qing Dynasty!

Therefore, the Juren of the Qing Dynasty was not as good as the Juren of the former Ming Dynasty, although it was still a master. But Chen Gang gave people too little confidence. No one was optimistic that he could pass the exam as expected and then compete with Chen Ming for the power of the Chen family in the future!

Chen Gang, who had almost no chance of passing the exam, had a 90% chance of being a scholar for life. Why would he compete with Chen Ming, who had the Gao family as his backing, for the power of the Chen family? Anyone who bet on Chen Gang so early before leaving get off work must have a mental problem!

…

Thanks to the book friend Qiu Sheng for the reward, thank you for your support!