"Dad, what's going on in the village recently? Why are the villagers always whispering. Why do they look at us strangely?"
The village chief's son looked at him with confusion.
The village chief sighed, looked at his son with some disgust, shook his head and said, "I have been so smart in my life, why didn't you learn even half of it from me?"
The village chief's son said with a look of shame on his face: "I... I reacted slower."
The village chief looked at the sky in the distance and said calmly: "The sky is going to change."
The son looked at the floating clouds in the sky in confusion and said puzzledly: "The sky is going to change? Why can't I see it? Isn't the sky pretty good?"
The village chief's son gave a wry smile and said: "The changes I am talking about are the days to come. We cannot live like this. From now on, this place will not be decided by us."
The son looked at the village chief and said in confusion: "Why? Aren't we the village chief?"
The village chief closed his eyes slightly and said: "Village chief, is the village chief very big? No matter how big the village chief is, he can't go to the imperial court. If the imperial court wants to take over our village, what can I, the village chief, do? ?”
The son said: "But, but...but you are the patriarch."
"However, the imperial court can control our village. But they can't control the clan's affairs, right?"
The village chief smiled bitterly and said: "Your remarks are really childish. Don't you see it? The imperial court is also aware of this. It is obviously to deal with me, the leader of the clan. It will not allow me to manage the affairs of the clan. .”
The son said: "That can't be done, that can't be done. Since ancient times, the court has never been able to take care of other people's household affairs. The affairs of the clan are our household affairs. If we don't let the court take care of it, what can the court do?"
The village chief sneered: "What can the court do? Several clan leaders have been killed in several nearby villages."
"Everything managed by the clan leader was divided among the villagers."
The village chief's son said angrily: "Those villagers are really stupid. They don't even think about how long they can survive without the protection of their clan."
The clan leader hummed and said with emotion: "Yes, those villagers are really stupid. But... let them do whatever they want. Maybe many years later, they will regret it."
"Actually, I have realized over the years that we have no way to fight against the imperial court. We can only cooperate with the imperial court and help the imperial court do things."
"But this court is different from the previous court. The previous court was not able to stretch its hands so far, so the previous court needed us and needed us to help them do things."
"But this court is different. This court is very ambitious and very capable. We have become useless waste."
"So, they are going to take direct control of these villagers, and we are not far from death."
The village chief's son was silent.
After a long time, he said to the village chief: "Is there no other way?"
The village chief thought for a while and said to his son: "There are no other ways."
"It means that we surrender to the emperor, admit our mistakes, give up all our property, and live an honest life like the villagers."
The village chief's son said: "I don't want to. We have earned these family properties through hard work. Why should I do this?"
The village chief smiled: "Besides, there is another way."
The village chief's son asked curiously: "What is the solution?"
The village chief said: "We are not the only ones who are village chiefs. We are indeed country folk, but some people are not. I know some courtiers who retired and returned to their hometowns, and they also became village chiefs."
"I don't know if these village chiefs are from Fish and Meat Township, but I know that these village chiefs have the final say in the village, and they have greater authority than me."
The village chief's son said: "But... so what? What does it have to do with us?"
The village chief smiled slightly and said: "It has a lot to do with us. Think about it, if the court wants to crack down on powerful forces, will these people be angry or not? What will these people do when they are angry?"
The village chief's son thought for a moment and said, "Will you rebel? Resist the imperial court?"
The village chief shook his head: "No, how could they have the guts to resist the imperial court. The only thing these people can do is to force the imperial court to change the decree and no longer deal with the clan forces."
"You know, the imperial court is not monolithic. There are also various forces. Only if you understand this truth can you be able to handle it with ease."
The village chief's son shook his head and said with a confused expression, "I don't quite understand."
The village chief said: "If you don't even understand this truth, how can you take over from me and become the clan leader in the future?"
The village chief's son said: "It's not certain how long this clan chief will be able to pass on in the future. Maybe he will be banned by the court next month."
After hearing this, the village chief fell silent.
He thought for a long time, then nodded: "Yes, maybe by next month, there will be no more clan leaders. All clans have been shattered."
"But give it a try and do as much as you can."
"Let me tell you first why I think we still have a chance."
The village chief's son nodded.
The village chief said: "The imperial court is not monolithic, there are also different factions, just like our village. Although we have the same clan and the same ancestor, there are also some closeness and distance between the villagers."
The village chief's son nodded and said, "I know this."
The village chief nodded with satisfaction: "It's good that you know this. If you know this, things will be much easier to handle."
He thought for a while and then said: "I heard that in the imperial court, there was a man named Ban Xian."
The village chief's son said, "Yes, I have heard of the banishment of the immortal Huai Guzi."
The village chief hummed: "It is said that this banished immortal has a bad relationship with many courtiers. Everyone hates him with all their teeth."
The village chief's son said in surprise: "No way? How come I heard that the Immortal is very loved and respected by others? Almost everyone in the court is the best friend of the Immortal."
The village chief laughed and said: "You must learn to distinguish the authenticity of rumors. Many courtiers suffered a great loss due to what he did to banish the immortal. Why do those courtiers love and respect him? Why do they want to have sex with him? Best friend?"
"For example, I am in charge of the whole clan in the village, and I can be said to have a high position of power. I no longer hide in front of our father and son. Over the years, I have used my position as village chief to seek solutions for our family. Got a lot of benefits.”
"Look at the villagers, after meeting me, they all nodded and bowed, and they were extremely polite. Do you think they really respect and love me?"
"No, they respect me on the surface, but in their hearts they wish I would die soon."
The village chief's son suddenly understood and said, "So, the courtiers also hate banishing immortals?"
The village chief hummed: "That's exactly the truth. Whether two people are true friends depends on whether they have the same temperament and whether they have common interests. If they have all of these, then they are real friends. Where are my friends?"
The village chief's son said, "I understand."
The village chief said: "It is said that the policy of banning clans was proposed by banishing immortals. That is interesting. There must be many people in the court who are opposed to it."
"What will happen to these people who oppose it? Naturally, they will attack the banished immortals. Because they are either the patriarchs of a clan, or they have a close relationship with those clan leaders."
"It can be said that the banishment of immortals touched their interests and caused them harm."
The son of the village chief suddenly realized: "That is to say, the court is now in chaos. Many people are attacking the banished immortal. We just need to be patient and wait until the banished immortal can no longer bear it. Then we will ask your majesty to take back the order. This matter Is this over?"
The village chief hummed: "If the banishment of the immortal fails, we can sit back and relax for hundreds of years."
The village chief's son said: "What if the banished immortal wins?"
The village chief said nothing.
If the banished immortal wins, their family will be in a desperate situation.
The village chief couldn't even imagine such a situation, so he never imagined what consequences such a situation would bring to him.
He shook his head and said to his son: "Don't think about what will happen if the Immortal wins. It's useless to think about that now. Now, let's just do something within our power."
"We must not die before the banished immortal is defeated. That would be too unfair."
The village chief's son nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, it makes sense. But... what should we do?"
The village chief said: "Those two patrolmen are obviously here to support the villagers. As long as some villagers believe them and challenge us, we will not be able to stop them."
"So, we have to hold off the two patrolmen so that they can't do anything. As long as we delay it for a month or two, Immortal Exiled will definitely be defeated. By then, our father and son can run rampant in the countryside again."
The village chief's son asked: "What exactly should we do to hold them back?"
The village chief closed his eyes slightly.
He thought for a while and said to his son: "It's actually simple. Now you can find some close and reliable people, people who are completely loyal to us."
When the village chief said this, he looked up at his silly son again. After a little calculation, he felt that this silly son might not be able to tell which people were reliable and who were unreliable.
So he said to his son: "You only need to look for my descendants. Then you divide these descendants into two groups."
"For the first group, choose some smart people and ask them to help you think about how to control the villagers' mouths so that they don't dare to talk nonsense. How to control their hands so that they don't dare to act rashly. How to control their hearts so that they don’t dare to do evil things.”
The village chief's son clasped his fingers and began to chant: "Control their hands, control their mouths, control their hearts..."
The village chief hummed and said to his son: "Then, you pick some stupid ones that can't accomplish anything."
"You ask these people to follow the two patrolmen to see who they have come into contact with and who they have met. Then you follow closely and threaten these people to stop talking nonsense. Otherwise, let them The family was destroyed.”
"When necessary, you can even kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, show some disobedience to one or two disobedient people, and scare others."
The village chief's son reacted for a while and suddenly understood what his father said.
He nodded excitedly and said to his father: "I understand, I understand, what a good plan."
The village chief nodded and said with a smile: "It's good if you understand. If you understand, you will feel relieved as a father."
The village chief's son left happily, while the village chief sat on his chair, becoming more and more worried: he didn't know what was going on in Xianyang City.
Gumai Village is indeed not far from Xianyang City, but the road is difficult. A visit to the city often takes several days.
But...it seems like we should really send someone to inquire about it. If something goes wrong, you can leave early to avoid being killed.
Thinking of this, the village chief called a member of the clan.
…………
The city of Xianyang looks very peaceful, but in fact, it is choppy.
Wang Wan's home.
Wang Wan was drinking tea with Feng Quli.
These two people were originally bitter rivals in the court. Unexpectedly, after they retired, they became good friends.
Wang Wan said to Feng Quli: "Mr. Feng, have you heard about the recent events in the court?"
Feng Quli laughed and said, "Brother Wang, you are no longer the prime minister, are you still so concerned about the affairs of the court?"
Wang Wan snorted: "We are doing business now, and business people should be more concerned about the affairs in the court. Every disturbance in the court is related to the success or failure of our business."
Feng Quili nodded: "That's right, it makes sense."
Wang Wan said: "Recently, the banished immortals are cleaning up the clan. Have you heard about this?"
Feng Quili snorted: "I heard it. As far as I can see, this is completely laborious and not good. Why is it necessary to banish an immortal like this? Isn't it good to be a happy and wealthy man with peace of mind?"
Wang Wan said: "Who says it's not the case? The patriarchs of those clans are either rich or noble, and many of them are officials in the court. This banishment will offend everyone."
Feng Quili said, "Has he offended you, Prime Minister?"
Wang Wan said: "That's not the case. In the past, when I was in the Wang family, I did say the right thing. But after I retired and returned home, my prestige was not that great."
"After I started doing business, I was simply kicked out of the clan. The reason was very simple. It was too embarrassing to do business. It was too embarrassing to the clan."
Feng Quli smiled bitterly.
Wang Wan said to Feng Quli, "Brother Feng, what about you? Has the recent banishment of immortals against the clan had a big impact on you?"
Feng Quili said: "Like Brother Wang, I have also been removed from the clan. The reason is the same. It is too shameful to do business."
The two of them looked at me and I looked at you, and suddenly they burst out laughing at the same time.
