"Natalie, the Grand Duchess of Rakshasa, seems to have no chance of meeting my emperor, but the emperor is already grown up, and his marriage can no longer be entrusted... So the Ai family took over the power a few days ago. I asked King Cheng to act as a matchmaker and proposed marriage to King Zheng of Siam. You won’t blame the Ai family for breaking the rules, right?"
The person who said these words in the main hall of Xishan Palace was Zhuge Weidao's "good sister" Empress Dowager Zheng Zheng Yuhuan. The people listening to her words were the heads of the eight great families, namely King Cheng Zheng Guozhong, King Wu Zhuge Weijiu, King Kui Li Tieshan, King Jin Li Baozhong, King Shu Liu Deming, King Mu Jiannan of Guizhou, King Zhennan Wang Zhenwu, and King Zhendong Zhang Yongbin. . All of them are the most powerful people in the Ming Dynasty. In addition to the standard prince title, they all have official positions such as prime minister and minister.
Among them, Zheng Guozhong and Zhuge Weijiu are the left and right prime ministers, Li Tieshan, a descendant of Li Laiheng, is the minister of the Ministry of War, Li Baoyi, a descendant of King Li Dingguo of Jin, is the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, King Liu Deming of Shu is the minister of the Ministry of Rites, King Mu Jiannan of Guizhou is the minister of the Ministry of Households, Zhennan Wang Zhenwu is the minister of the Ministry of Communications, and Zhendong Wang Zhang Yongbin is the minister of the Ministry of Posts and Communications... They all hold heavy fists, and they are not in power alone, but as a family.
Moreover, the power of these big families is not limited to the officialdom of the court, but is also extremely influential at the grassroots level. Otherwise, the eight great families would not have been able to isolate the royal family for more than a hundred years, and they are still difficult to shake.
The eight major families have their own emphasis on basic power. Among them, the Zhuge family, the Zheng family, the Zhennan Wang family, and the Zhendong Wang family mainly influence the industrial and commercial circles. Of course, they also control some farmers' mutual aid associations in Jiangnan and South China - this The Farmers Mutual Aid Association...you can tell at a glance that it is also the handiwork of King Wu Zhong!
While King Wu Zhong was dividing and limiting land, he certainly did not forget to help and organize farmers.
This is what the Farmers Mutual Aid Association, the Farmers Mutual Aid Conference, and the Farmers Mutual Aid Federation do. The Farmers Mutual Aid Association was initially a huge organization jointly controlled by eight aristocratic families. In addition to helping farmers, it was also responsible for grassroots governance, promotion of compulsory education and military recruitment. The backbone of them are all veterans who have followed the generals of the eight great families in their expeditions.
But this organization began to split after the death of King Zhuge Wuzhong, and each of the eight major families controlled part of it. However, the four aristocratic families of Zhuge, Zheng, Wang, and Zhang, who were based in the prosperous southeastern region and invested heavily in industry and commerce, controlled relatively few farmers' mutual aid associations. Li, Liu, and the Mu family invested relatively little in industry and commerce, but invested more in the Farmers Mutual Aid Association.
Therefore, the farmer mutual aid conferences in most provinces and the industries operated by the mutual aid conferences (issuing small low-interest loans, selling agricultural products, promoting improved varieties of fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) are controlled by these four families... So These four aristocratic families are not easy to mess with!
But Zheng Yuhuan wanted to seize the opportunity of Zhuge Weidao and Natalie getting together, and provoke the eight aristocratic families in a small way.
Of course, she herself is also the eldest daughter of the Zheng family, the top of the eight aristocratic families, and she knows the strength, rules and bottom lines of the eight aristocratic families very well.
Therefore, she chose to expand her authority in two ways. One was to protect Zhuge Dao... The Zhuge family would not object to this, and the Zheng family would not object either. Firstly, Zheng Yuhuan had already discussed with Zheng Guozhong that he would accept Zhuge Weidao as a "dog", and secondly, Zhuge Weidao pried Natalie away so that the Zheng family could arrange for one of their own to take over.
The Zhuge family and the Zheng family acquiesced in Zheng Yuhuan's cover for Zhuge Weidao, and the other six families would not come out as villains.
After all, among the eight aristocratic families, the Zhuge family and the Zheng family are the real two leaders!
The second focus of Empress Dowager Zheng was to directly conspire with Zheng Guozhong of the Zheng family to arrange for the princess of Siam to marry the young emperor Zhu Xijin without consulting seven of the eight aristocratic families in advance.
After saying this, Empress Dowager Zheng's beautiful eyes moved around, looking at the heads of several aristocratic families in the hall, and finally landed on Zhuge Weijiu. The bosses of the other seven aristocratic families also looked at this capable person. An old man who knows how to calculate.
The old man is already pinching his fingers to forget it - this Queen Mother is not very peaceful! But she is Zhuge Weidao's woman, and she and Zhuge Weidao are extremely close. If Zhuge Weidao were an ordinary Zhuge, then the old man could have stopped this marriage, but Zhuge Weidao was a military advisor! Moreover, he is the youngest and most talented strategist in the Zhuge family strategist group!
Therefore, Empress Dowager Zheng should be controlled by Zhuge Weidao. This should not be a problem, because Zhuge Weidao (original version) has always been very good at coaxing women, and Empress Dowager Zheng has been "captured" by him a long time ago.
After thinking about it, the old man laughed: "Okay, this is a good marriage, you can't go wrong!"
Can't be wrong?
The heads of several big aristocratic families frowned. You didn't even ask about your birth date, and you don't even know the name of the Siamese princess. Is that okay? How do you calculate it? Did you, old man, make any deal with Queen Mother Zheng?
Everyone has questions in their hearts, but no one is willing to go out and go against the Zhuge family and the Zheng family...
...
At this time, Zhuge Weidao had already dressed up in red and colorful clothes. After finishing dressing up, he sat with his legs crossed under the eaves of the main building of his villa, watching Yu De, He Tianran, Wang Wen, Guo Xiaobao and Ali inside and outside. Busy work outside. Under the command of these people, the team to receive the bride has been completed. Just waiting for the auspicious time, Zhuge Weidao can lead the team to greet Natalie.
This auspicious time is calculated by Nalandili, who is dressed as a Taoist nun. It seems quite difficult to calculate. I saw this beautiful Taoist nun pinching her fingers while looking at Zhuge Weidao with a pair of watery eyes. Her cheeks were blushing... She even counted the time and her face turned red. There is no one else!
Zhuge Weidao was also sizing up Nalandili at this time, and he had to say that this girl was indeed pretty!
Natalie's facial features can be considered beautiful, but compared with hers, they seem a bit rough. Of course, Natalie's figure is definitely what makes Natalie hot, this is a female furbear who hasn't gained weight yet!
But Nalandili doesn't seem to be bad in terms of figure. She is a mixed-race Orchid, and she is also a double-educated product of generations of "eugenics"! No wonder Natalie fell in love with her... I wonder if we should deal with Natalie first during the wedding night tonight? Or should we take Nalandili first?
The challenge seems a bit big!
Just when Zhuge Weidao was a little worried about his physical fitness, he saw his brother Zhuge Weixue running in quickly: "Second brother, the Shanghai Navy Commander has brought Dahei Qiping to congratulate you!"
Shanghai Naval Advisor is Zhuge Yangming's nickname. Zhuge returned to the Military Advisor test on his way to Shanghai. He was busy with business in Shanghai and did not come to participate. But this time Zhuge Weidao got married, and no matter how busy he was, he had to come - Zhuge Weidao was now attending the meeting of the military division, and he was already the 18th most important figure in the Zhuge family. How could he not come?
But the big black flush is...
"Who is Dahei Qiping?" Zhuge Weidao asked.
"It is the great black Changshi of this generation," Zhuge Weixue replied. "The head of the Dahei family has been named Changshi for generations, and Qi Ping is the real name of the great black of this generation."
In fact, this "Qi Ping" is not his real name. The word "Qi" comes from the shogun Tokugawa Ie Qi.
"What? Is it him?" Zhuge Weidao was startled and jumped up from his chair. He reached out and took the invitation from his brother. The greeting card is bright red, with only four big characters on it, and the big and black characters are flush with each other!
"Where are they?" Zhuge Weidao asked again.
"We've arrived at the side hall..." Zhuge Weixue said with a smile, "And there's a little girl with him!"
"That's..." Zhuge Weidao frowned. It was his ex-girlfriend who brought his father to the door to make trouble!
Zhuge Weixue saw his brother's deep frown and sighed in his heart: "My brother is good-looking, well-born, and talented. Although he likes to play with flowers, he will never get used to them, even if it's Zheng Zheng. He also eats the Queen Mother's soft food. Why is it a bit..."
Just as he was thinking of this, Zhuge Weidao gritted his teeth and said: "Forget it, I'll go see them right now!"
