Although the Wuji Zhen family is famous for being the richest businessman in Hebei, they are still fundamentally different from the Xuzhou Mi family.
The Donghai Mi clan headed by Mi Zhu was a pure businessman, at the bottom of the hierarchy of scholars, farmers, industry and commerce.
The Mi family has a net worth of over 100 million, but because of his low status, he is not recognized by the wealthy families.
This is why Mi Zhu had to fully support Liu Bei.
Without Liu Bei, the Mi family of Mi Zhu would always be a humble businessman.
But the Zhen family is different. If they can be traced back to their ancestors, they are a veritable family that has inherited the family name.
Regarding Zhen Mi, there is another obscure story among the Yuan brothers.
It all starts with the origin of the Zhen family.
The Wuji Zhen family originated from Zhen Han during the period of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty.
It was precisely because of Zhen Han that the Zhen family was able to prosper for a while.
Zhen Han's father-in-law was Boshan Hou Kongguang, the fourteenth grandson of Confucius and the son of Taishi Kong Ba.
From Kong Guangguan to General, Prime Minister, Taifu, and Taishi, he was an auxiliary minister in the four dynasties. He was of high moral character, proficient in Confucian classics, and held the position of a very popular minister.
He was respected by the Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun, Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty.
Later, as a famous Confucian in the world, he was appointed as the teacher of Han Ping Emperor Liu Chan.
Therefore, Zhen Hanhe's descendants entered the court as officials, and had the opportunity to gain the trust of the powerful minister Wang Mang because of their talents.
When Zhen Han became the Great Sima, Zhen Feng, a member of the same clan as Zhen Han, paid homage to the Great Sima.
The Wuji Zhen family has since become the top family in Zhongshan.
Zhen Han originally thought that the Zhen family was beginning to reach the peak of the Han Dynasty, but he did not expect that this was already the peak of the Zhen family.
The Wuji Zhen family prospered in Zhen Han, but also declined in Zhen Han.
Everything is because of one person, Wang Mang.
Both Zhen Han and Zhen Feng were favored by Wang Mang. After Wang Mang's defeat, the Zhen family began to decline.
After Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu established the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Zhen family suffered heavy losses again.
In order to make ends meet, the Zhen family had to choose to go into business.
It can only be said that it is an extremely wise decision to put the family's focus on business.
No matter how bumpy the Zhen family's official career was, it was just as smooth as doing business.
In just over a hundred years, the Zhen family has grown from a family abandoned by the Han Dynasty to the richest family in Hebei.
But even so, wealth has only changed the quality of life of the Zhen family.
Wanting to rely on wealth to regain the Zhen family's status in the family during the peak period of Zhen Han is tantamount to fantasy!
In particular, the two party-related disasters launched by Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty caused frequent damage to the family that once relied on Wang Mang.
Therefore, Zhen Mi's father Zhen Yi only paid homage to Cai Ling.
The Zhen family also officially fell from the two male families who worshiped Da Sikong and Da Sima at the same time to a small family of county magistrates.
In Wuji territory, the Zhen family still has some say.
But if you look at the entire Jizhou, the Zhen family has no influence at all.
Not to mention looking at the whole of Hebei or the whole world.
Originally, the Zhen family thought it was already miserable enough, but in fact God's persecution of the Zhen family was far from over.
In the Cai Ling, Zhen Yi, the head of the Zhen family, died suddenly in 186 AD, the third year of Zhongping, at the age of only thirty.
Zhen Yi's death immediately cast a shadow over the entire Zhen family.
This indicates that the Zhen family has completely lost its only official position in the Han Dynasty.
In this troubled world, wealth is meaningless.
Not to mention a state pastor, even a county guard or even a county magistrate can make things difficult for the Zhen family in every possible way.
The Zhen family's wealth was astonishing, and it immediately aroused the covetousness of all the major families in Hebei.
The bad news doesn't end there.
Zhen Yi has three sons and five daughters.
But the eldest son died earlier than Zhen Yi.
The burden of the entire family fell on the shoulders of the second son Zhenyan.
At this time, Zhen Yan was only sixteen years old.
Taking over the position of head of the family at the age of sixteen was naturally criticized by the clan members.
The struggle for power within the Zhen family also began.
There is the worry of fighting internally, and the covetousness of other powerful clans externally.
This completely put the Zhen family, which had no backing, on the verge of destruction.
In this desperate situation, Zhen Yi's eldest daughter Zhen Jiang stood up and used severe measures to quell the civil strife.
At the same time, Zhen Yan spent a lot of money and finally climbed up to the general He Jin.
With the joint efforts of Zhen Yan and Zhen Jiang, the Zhen family finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Just when the Zhen family was about to turn around, fate once again made things difficult for them.
Han Ling Emperor Liu Hong passed away, and He Jin, who was supposed to take over everything, was killed by Zhang Cang.
The power of the entire Han Dynasty was manipulated by Liu Zhang and Dong Zhuo.
The Zhen family lost its great backer, He Jin, and fell into crisis again.
At this moment, a man suddenly came to Hebei.
It was Yuan Shao, the eldest son of Yuan who fled from Luoyang.
Under the strong pressure of the Yuan family, Dong Zhuo had to forgive Yuan Shao and worship him as the governor of Bohai.
Zhen Yan and Zhen Jiang immediately decided to devote all the Zhen family's efforts to support Yuan Shao.
It is precisely because of the support of the Zhen family's huge wealth that Yuan Shao is like a fish in water in Hebei, which makes Han Fu, the shepherd of Jizhou, breathless.
Facts have proved that the Zhen family's decision was right, and Yuan Shao gradually rose to power relying on his status as the fourth generation and the third prince.
Everything seems to be fine again, and the Zhen family is welcoming Nirvana and rebirth.
Just then, something happened again.
In AD 196, the first year of Jian'an, Zhen Yan, who had just been recruited as a general, suddenly died of illness.
Zhen Yan is also a short-lived ghost!
All the efforts made by the Zhen family are rewarded by Zhen Yan.
When Zhen Yan died, it seemed like everything was in vain!
Fortunately, Yuan Shao is not a ruthless person. As a general, he personally went to Wuji to pay tribute to Zhen Yan and thank Zhen for her help over the years.
In fact, Yuan Shao doesn't care about Zhen Yan's life or death at all. He hopes to win people's hearts through Zhen Yan's death.
Coming to express condolences in person is more of a friendly signal to the Zhen family, allowing the Zhen family to continue to support him unreservedly.
What a smart woman Zhen Jiang is!
She saw Yuan Shao's true intentions at a glance, and immediately promised that the Zhen family would increase their support for Yuan Shao.
After hearing this, Yuan Shao was naturally overjoyed and said that he would not treat Zhen badly.
At this time, Zhen Jiang suddenly made a request, hoping to marry Yuan Shao and become friends forever.
At that time, Yuan Shao was in high spirits, with a cloud of advisers under his command, a rain of fierce generals, and an imposing manner that intimidated the world.
If there are no accidents, Yuan Shao, who has strong soldiers and horses, is most likely to end the chaos in the world and re-unify the world.
If Yuan Shao finally reaches that point, Zhen will be the minister of Conglong.
But after all, the Zhen family has transformed from a family of princes to a family of merchants. No matter how large the funding is, it will be difficult to get an improvement beyond the essentials.
But the marriage with Yuan Shao is different. The Zhen family and the Yuan family become in-laws, which is an essential leap.
Here we can only sigh that Zhen Jiang is indeed a hero among women, because Zhen's status is not qualified to marry Yuan Shao.
But Zhen Jiang seized an opportunity!
