In a spacious hall in the back house of Dugu Mansion, seven old men with white hair and beards were sitting on their knees. These old men were dressed simply and neatly. Their necks were straight and their waists were straight. Their spiritual temperament did not look like that of the elderly at all.
Obviously sitting, lying and walking have penetrated into their bones and souls, so everyone's speech and behavior at this moment are very natural, revealing a dignified, graceful and calm demeanor.
They had obviously settled down to business and were telling anecdotes, causing laughter from time to time.
Compared with these young-looking and fair-haired old men who chatted and laughed happily, Dugu Tuo and Dugu Zheng, who were sitting at the bottom in a reserved manner, seemed to be ten or twenty years younger.
After a while, Dugu Shun, who had rushed from the palace, appeared at the door. Seeing the old man looking at him, he saluted to the ground. Then he took off his boots and walked into the hall. When he reached the throne, he saluted again: "My nephew is unfilial and makes my uncles wait too long."
"It doesn't matter."
"No problem."
"We old brothers haven't gotten together for a long time. If our parents hadn't called us, we might never have the chance to reminisce in this life."
"Isn't it? Remember five years ago, there were thirty-nine of us. Now..."
"..."
The old people all made sighs of emotion.
They are all the elders of the Dugu family. They have devoted their whole lives to the glory of the Dugu family and are now retiring in various places in Guanzhong. Due to their old age, they almost never stepped out of their own homes, but even so, they came without hesitation when the head of the family, Dugu Shun, summoned them.
"Uncles, please live in peace in this house from now on! My nephew will always listen to the teachings." Dugu Shun sat down and said with a smile.
"That won't work." An old man shook his head and said: "The square and square Daxing City is a big cage with countless small cages inside, and there are countless smaller cages inside the small cage. It's not easy to live in it at all. It’s uncomfortable. How can there be such openness and fun in the mountains?”
"What brother said is absolutely true."
"..."
The old people responded one after another.
A taciturn old man coughed lightly and interrupted: "That's enough."
This old man was obviously more prestigious. When he spoke out, the whole hall fell silent, and everyone looked at Dugu Shun in the main seat.
My nephew asked all his uncles to come out this time because he made two decisions related to the fate of the whole family. "Dugu Shun glanced at the old man who was looking down, and said slowly: "First of all, it is an internal matter within the family. My nephew intends to give up the grain and salt business, because he feels that controlling grain and salt is always a taboo. Although the benefits are great, there are risks. Also big. "
Thanks to Queen Dugu's act of "nothing is needed," although the Dugu family lost their apparent power, they also avoided the intrigues in the officialdom. Over the years, they have focused on annexing land and managing daily necessities such as salt and grain, and have become the richest wealthy family in the world. Having grain and salt in hand is a symbol of strength. No matter in prosperous times or troubled times, whether ordinary people or dignitaries, no one can leave. The Dugu family cannot control food and salt. Even the repeated food shortages in Guanzhong were caused by the Dugu family in order to protect the interests of the Guanlong nobles.
Although he gained the support of the Guanlong nobles, it also put the Dugu family on the road of becoming enemies of the emperor. This ran counter to the Dugu family's path of "not being a king, but being a king", so Dugu Shun decided to make money but was taboo. He gave up the salt business and expressed his attitude and position to Yang Jian so that he would not keep an eye on the Dugu family all the time.
"Brother, are you making a fuss out of a molehill? Is it possible that the Dugu family is rebellious in making their business bigger?"
Dugu Tuo said with some displeasure, that was a very profitable business, earning tens of millions of dollars for the Dugu family every year.
Dugu Zheng said: "We created food shortages in Guanzhong many times, forcing Yang Jian to take Daxing people to Luoyang for food many times. This not only caused him to lose face, but also caused the court to lose huge wealth. In the past, when the queen was alive, Yang Jian endured Yes. But what about the future? Even if we are not responsible for the food shortage in the future, Yang Jian, Yang Guang, and even all civil and military officials will definitely be blamed on us because of the evil deeds in the past."
"Then Yu Wenshu is still running pig iron. Not only is he not worried, but he is also working hard to expand the business." Dugu Tuo could not feel Dugu Zheng's anger and continued to argue.
"The Xiao family and the Yuwen family of Lanling in the future will be the Dugu family of the past and today." Dugu Zheng said coldly: "This is called one emperor and one court official. Do you understand?"
Speaking of which, the three-legged power of the Guanlong nobles was entirely caused by Dugutuo.
Although Yang Jian and Queen Dugu did not give the Dugu family real power, they initially supported the Dugu family to recruit the Guanlong nobles and become the "spiritual leaders" of the Guanlong nobles. However, Dugu Tuo, an idiot, failed because he asked Queen Dugu for an official position. , in a rage, she found a wizard to curse her. Although Yang Jian and Queen Dugu did not have the same experience as Dugu Tuo, the incident was ignored. But even if nothing was done, many Guanlong clan officials were worried about the emperor and empress settling accounts in the fall, and each and every one of them were afraid of harming Chi Yu, so they all sought refuge with the Yuan family and the Dou family, thus turning the situation where the Dugu family was the only one in power, into the current three-legged relationship. .
Lao Qi, Dugu Zheng, felt deep hatred for Dugu Tuo, the chief culprit who had brought trouble to the family and damaged interests. If he had been the head of the family, he would have ordered this idiot to commit suicide to apologize and put an end to the incident.
"The reality is what Lao Qi said." An old man said: "Although grain and salt make money, they can also easily kill people. We have plenty of ways to make money. There is no need to continue doing this kind of business that aristocratic families are jealous of and emperors hate. Just do it when you see it. Harvest is the long-term solution.”
Other elderly people also expressed their support.
Dugu Tuo knew that he was very unpopular with the family elders, and talking here was as loud as farting. Seeing the general trend, he had to reluctantly keep his mouth shut.
"Since all the uncles have no objections, then my nephew will take advantage of the opportunity that everyone is jealous of to sell the grain and salt shop and try to sell it at a good price." After Dugu Shun finished speaking, he added: "The second thing is, with the Dugu family , Guanlong nobles, and the royal family, once this idea is realized, it is not impossible for the world to change hands. "
Dugu Shun glanced at the elder of the Shou clan and said in a deep voice: "It is inevitable that in the future, I will be alone and defeated by the emperor one by one. My nephew has reached a consensus with the Yuan sect and the Dou sect. The three sects will fight against the emperor as a whole. In the future, In the days that followed, everyone continued to cover up by supporting Yang Yong's comeback, but secretly supported Yang Liang's rebellion. Regardless of Yang Yong's comeback or Yang Liang's victory, they could only rely on the Guanlong nobles to govern the world, which also made Guan The Long nobles achieved their goal of "bringing the Emperor to command the world." Even if both of them lost, Yang Liang, who owned the entire Northern Qi land, was able to weaken Yang Jian and Yang Guang to the extreme. They and their son needed us to govern the world and resist foreigners. , they neither dare nor are willing to fight us with open swords and guns at the cost of chaos and foreign invasion; at that time, no matter what demands we make, they can only give in step by step, which will also allow us to finally threaten reality. The purpose of the emperor to command the world."
"This idea is very good and can make people's hearts move." An old man twirled his beard and said, "But does the head of the family think that the three major factions who have been fighting openly and secretly for many years can put aside their past grudges and work together with one heart and one mind?"
"This is impossible." Dugu Shun replied calmly: "I don't expect everyone to be of the same mind. They are just using the Yuan sect and the Dou sect to weaken the emperor's majesty and strength. In fact, Yuan Zhou and Dou Yi are also fighting in this way. The idea; so before the goal of 'weakening the emperor's majesty and strength' is achieved, even if we have disputes, we can resolve them through peace talks and mutual compensation."
"Then what?"
"Then?" Dugu Shun smiled slightly and said: "If Yang Guang defeats Yang Yong and Yang Liang, then we will solely support Yuzhang King Yang Jian to fight Jin King Yang Zhao, and vice versa. When we take advantage of the situation, we will take another step Devour Yuan sect and Dou sect at every step."
"During this period, we naturally cannot allow the Yuan family and the Dou family to grow; so the hugely profitable grain and salt business is the sugar-coated poison prepared by my nephew for them. The huge crisis that the grain and salt business has brought to ourselves, Now there are no signs of it. I'm sorry they can't refuse the temptation of tens of millions of dollars a year. After they take over, they may be complacent that they can hold the emperor hostage." Dugu Shun said with a smile: "If they are annihilated by Yang Jian for this, So the Yuan sect and the Dou sect, which are leaderless, are not our Dugu family in the end?"
"Yes!" The old man at the head nodded approvingly: "It seems that the head of the family has a detailed plan, let's talk about it together."
"Yes!" Dugu Shun said: "My nephew plans to make up for the losses caused by the ceding of the grain and salt business with the Silk Road, a golden trade route. However, Dugu Min, who occupies this trade route, has the Liangzhou general as a spear and the emperor as a shield. . We tried our best to change a local official, but he was quickly bribed by her, and then another one was bribed by her. So if we want to seize this business road, the best way is to attack Dugu Min and his son Yang Ji directly. .”
"Yang Ji, who is worshiped as the governor of Liangzhou and the general manager, is just a dandy. How capable can he be?" A playful smile appeared on Dugu Shun's face: "I have prepared two enemies for Yang Ji: one is to hate Yang Shuang. The Turks who are deep into their bones; the second is the powerful, bad-tempered, low-status general manager."
"The assistant officers I recommend to Yang Jian today come from all over the world, and no one knows anyone. They are all arrogant and boast that their talents are not recognized. They finally get the opportunity to display their talents, so naturally they work hard to express themselves; usually they also That's it. If war suddenly comes, these talented assistant officers will definitely offer suggestions and express their own opinions. Once the fledgling Yang Ji cannot make a decision, the talents of these assistant officers will be the most deadly poisonous dagger. If Yang Ji dies in Liangzhou, he will be regarded as his lifeblood. Dugu Min will definitely collapse, and in this case, the obstacles for us to seize the Silk Road will no longer exist."
All the clansmen were amazed when they heard this. Once this huge plan is successful, it will be much easier to realize the Dugu family's goal and ideal of becoming a king without being a king.
