Dominate the Country

The next day, before noon, Chen Ming had just returned from visiting the prison with the families of Ren Meng, Zhang Chi and other five people. He sent someone to hire a carriage to take them back to their homes, and then he heard from Lao Liu that Chen Gang had arrived.

Chen Ming entered the main hall and saw a cheap elder brother who was confused and at a loss. "A scholar is useless!"

"Brother." Chen Ming slandered Chen Gang in his heart, but he called him affectionately on the surface.

"Brother Ming, how is father? Did he suffer in prison?" Chen Gang, don't call him a waste, at least this man has feelings. If Chen Gang's anxious face and endless pain in his eyes were fake, Chen Ming would admit it. This is an acting that is more Oscar-like than Oscar!

"Brother is a scholar, and he is older than me. I will trouble you to deal with the government in the future."

Chen Ming made a good move. Chen Gang didn't want to deal with the government in his heart, but he had to agree. If he doesn't come forward, will a younger brother who is only 16 or 17 years old and has no achievements come forward?

"Uncle Nan, how much cash is left in the family account? Has anyone asked about the three properties?"

"Master, there are still 3,700 taels of cash in our family account. No one has asked about the three properties yet, but I think it will be soon." Chen Nan replied. The Chen family has 4,300 or 4,000 taels of silver in the city on the account, 500 taels were given to Chang Rui, and the county government and prison were managed. There are also some people from Ren Meng, Zhang Chi and other five people who gave some more. Now there are more than 3,700 taels left.

"Brother, if you need it, you can withdraw it. If it is not enough, I will raise it again." Chen Ming completely threw the blame, but he would not leave the county immediately. He wanted to wait for Chen Erbao, who had escorted the goods to Xiang County before. Since the construction of the Iron Village, the Chen family's iron production has risen rapidly. Now the monthly steel production has exceeded 600,000 catties, which is more than half of the peak monthly production of 400,000 catties in the first half of the year, and the production of crucible steel has also exceeded 20,000 catties. So much iron has brought a lot of profits to the Chen family, and also greatly increased the labor of the Chen family's armed forces guarded by Chen Erbao. Of course, Chen Erbao and his men are busy with happiness and harvest. Every time these people make a trip, they get a lot of silver.

Although the Chen family has organized a 200-man mining protection team in the deep mountains, and the three villages also have armed teams, in terms of the highest quality, the highest loyalty [Chen family children density], the most daring and the most ruthless people are still Chen Erbao and his men. Now Chen Erbao's armed forces have expanded to 120 people. 50% of them are Chen family children or Tumenji people, and the rest are mountain people recruited from the surrounding mountains, and they are all tough people.

As long as those people joined the team, they would bring their families to Tumenji, and their reliability would be greatly guaranteed. Moreover, because of the tasks they were engaged in, the discipline and organization of this army were extremely strong, which was why Chen Ming valued Chen Erbao the most.

Tomorrow, at the latest tomorrow afternoon, Chen Erbao would rush to the north gate of the county town, and Chen Ming would send someone to wait for him there, not letting him enter the city, and go back to Tumenji with him.

Chen Gang washed and dressed up, and handed in a post to Chang Rui in the afternoon, then met with the teacher, and sent a post to invite many classmates from the county school to gather at Songheju, the best restaurant in Lushan County in the evening. This was a set of fixed procedures for scholars in this era to take on things, handing in a post, visiting school officials, and contacting classmates and friends.

In the afternoon, Gao Pengqi, his uncle who was far away in Luyang Pass, also rushed to the county town.

"Uncle." Chen Ming looked at Gao Pengqi with a complicated heart. If the Chen family became bandits, the Gao family would be pitted by them.

Gao Pengqi was sure to lose the important job in Luyang Pass. The entire Gao family will lose a layer of skin because of this, and even suffer bruises.

Gao Pengqi didn't say anything else, and went straight to the point. Chen Ming recounted what he knew and the process of visiting the county government, and Gao Pengqi's face, which was already stern, turned blue.

"Chang Rui is not going to let your family go. He wants to completely squeeze the Chen family dry. What a vicious heart." Gao Pengqi cursed. Chen Hui has done his best to "open up the situation" for Chang Rui in the past one or two months, and has made great contributions to Chang Rui's current foundation in Lushan. This Chang Rui turned around and pointed the knife at the Chen family! Gao Pengqi is also well-informed, but he has never seen someone as cruel as Chang Rui.

"Uncle, in my opinion, Chang Rui, the dog official, has probably already made a plan to eradicate my Chen family as soon as he arrived in Lushan. Who is Li Tianhe? Uncle, don't you know? Without Li Zhoutong's support, he would never get involved. Since he got involved, it means that Li Zhoutong got involved. How can Chang Rui and Li Zhoutong's appetite be satisfied if we don't squeeze my Chen family dry!"

Chen Ming didn't intend to tell Gao Pengqi about his family's plan to become a bandit. This was not only for confidentiality, but also because the Gao family could not follow the Chen family into the mountains.

Don't think that the Gao family only occupies Luyang Pass, that Luyang Pass is the only official road connecting the Nanyang Basin and the hinterland of the Central Plains. The position of Luyang Pass patrol is lucrative. The Gao family used the way of the prefect in the past, and only then did they spend their family wealth to get this lucrative position. The prefect has been away from Ruzhou for many years, but the Gao family has not cut off contact with him, and there is a filial tribute every New Year and festival.

It was also because of the prefect's face - he was still in the officialdom, although he was far away in Guangdong - and Gao Pengqi knew how to behave, he was filial and shared the profits, so the Gao family could always hold on to this Feng Shui treasure land. After a year, they could make at least three or four thousand taels of silver. This silver was pure "profit", and the Gao family's income was not inferior to that of the Chen family before Chen Ming traveled through time.

The income of the Chen family was earned by Chen Hui through his job in the county government, more than a thousand acres of land, and the profits from the entire Chen family industry.

Gao Pengqi drank two sips of water at the Chen family, clapped his hands, and went out to build relationships. Chen Ming saw him out and said that as long as it was about money, he should not be polite and just come to the house to get it. Gao Pengqi waved his hand and walked quickly to the carriage.

Chen Ming looked at the carriage going away and felt sorry that the Gao family's relationship could only reach the former prefect. This prefect is now the prefect of Zhaoqing, Guangzhou, but he has been away from the officialdom of Henan for many years. His influence is no longer worth mentioning. It can only be said that there are still some relationships left. And other officials, seeing that he is rising step by step and still has a future, did not make things difficult for Gao Pengqi, an old man, which is already a great face. If the Gao family wants to really work, they still have to use money to solidify those relationships with gold and silver, but this path is not something the Chen family can take.

Now standing opposite the Chen family are Chang Rui and Li Zhao, the former is the county magistrate, and the latter is the prefect. To suppress them, at least the prefect must be the prefect, right?

However, Wang Jun, the prefect of Ruzhou, is a well-known good guy, a confused prefect, and believes in the official philosophy of "less trouble is worse than more trouble". Even if you put the relationship in front of him and let him quarrel with the prefect and the county magistrate for a mere clerk, how much money will it cost?

This path of my uncle is destined to be useless.