Wu State, suburbs of Songjing, Baishi Town, Lu Mansion.
For more than a month, Lu Mansion has been full of guests.
People from the Lu family gathered from all over the place to negotiate and discuss the development of the southern Xinjiang fiefdom.
With the entire Lu family mobilized, money is a trivial matter, and gold, mountains and silver are not impossible to come up with.
What is really troublesome is how many people, how many guards are dispatched, how many livestock are recruited, how much food, supplies and medicines are transported, etc.
How to transport these things, how to build a local walled fortress, and how to prevent local savages from killing and harassing them.
If these problems are not solved, the Lu family will definitely not be able to gain a foothold in southern Xinjiang.
Even for a large merchant like Lu Jinhe, Lu Jinhe would not be able to develop two official fiefdoms without the help of the entire Lu family.
The organizational system of Wu State is mainly based on the county system, which is slightly different from Chu State.
The main reason is that the Wu State lost the land of five prefectures north of Lanshui. After escaping Lanshui, although it tried hard to develop its territory, it could only open two new prefectures. The total area was only four prefectures, covering an area of about 39,000 square miles. , basically equivalent to Vietnam.
Countries generally use a number of nine or more to enclose their territories. As a state of Wu, the four prefectures sounded too unpleasant, so it was changed to a system of prefectures and counties. Both prefectures and counties are much smaller than the prefectures and counties in other countries in the Central Plains.
The Kingdom of Wu is currently divided into eleven counties. The two pieces of land allocated to the Lu family are both located further south in the newly opened Nanshan County and Nanyun County. They are the twelfth newly established county and the new one under Pishan County. Yuan County - The two official fiefdoms of the Lu family together cover almost the entire Xinyuan County.
The Lu family has sent people to check it out. Xinyuan County has lush vegetation, abundant water resources, and is close to mountains and rivers. If the land can be developed, it will not be a problem to feed hundreds of thousands of people - it is truly a treasure land that can pass down the family line.
However, another meaning of this undeveloped place, with lush vegetation and abundant water, is that poisonous insects are rampant, miasma is breeding, wild beasts are infested, and the local savages are not convinced by the king--maybe there are also evil spirits.
It may be an exaggeration to say that this kind of place is a wilderness, but it is indeed not easy for outsiders to gain a foothold.
Almost all the Lu Family Elders' Association came. There were more than thirty elders from the five major branches and twenty-three small branches of the Lu Family. It took half a month to finally come to a conclusion.
The head of the Lu family occupies two official positions. This is a gift from King Wu and the head of the family fought for it. There is no dispute.
The Lu Clan Elders' Association was transformed into an elders' hall, which was similar to a clan house. It was responsible for the Lu family tree, education, and adjudication of conflicts within the clan. Even the two doctors, Lu Jinhe and Lu Wu, were not allowed to cross the elders' hall to torture clan members.
The eldest son of the local branch recognizes his ancestor and returns to the clan and changes his surname back to Lu. However, the second or third son needs to branch off and inherit the name of the local branch. This is to hedge his bets in case something goes wrong with the Lu family. Being harmonious will prevent you from being caught in one fell swoop.
Of course, everyone is generally very optimistic about the prospects. The reason for making this decision is just the habit of businessmen to protect themselves carefully.
"Jinhe!" A white-haired old man, leaning on a deer stick, waved to Lu Jinhe.
This man is Lu Jinhe's direct second uncle, named Lu Yinshan, and was the head of the Lu family of the previous generation.
He did not pass on the position of head of the family to his son, but to Lu Jinhe, who was willing to move to the foot of King Wu of Songjing. He supported Lu Jinhe so much that he was almost equivalent to Lu Jinhe's father.
(Back then, the State of Wu crossed the Yangtze River, rebuilt Songjing, and moved the wealthy families from all over the world to consolidate the capital. Some wealthy families moved there obediently, but some wealthy families were worried about unexpected events, but they introduced a scapegoat to move here.
The rules of the Lu family are relatively strict. Although Lu Jinhe was pushed out, Lu Yinshan really gave him the authority of the head of the Lu family and gave him full support, so Lu Jinhe quickly became rich and allowed Lu Wu to Be comfortable and be a dandy. )
"Second uncle, what are your orders?" Lu Jinhe walked over quickly.
"Call your fifth son back quickly. The Lu family is employing people now. What's the big deal if he runs away like this? How did you educate him?" Lu Yinshan paused hard on the deer stick in his hand and said, "You're welcome." asked accusingly.
Lu Jinhe suddenly looked troubled - if he could control Wu'er, how could he let Lu Wu escape?
"Huh? Why, you still can't control your son?" Lu Yinshan glared at him.
There must be a struggle to develop a land like Southern Xinjiang that does not accept the king's rule. It is said that the five sons of the Lu family are brave enough to be worthy of ten thousand men. He must be in charge of the early development in order to convince the local officials and savages.
This is not the decision of Lu Yinshan alone, but the decision of the entire Lu Yinshan Elders' Association - even if two connected doctor fiefdoms are actually developed, wouldn't the main family benefit the most?
If the main family is not willing to go all out, who will be willing to go all out in the branch families?
Just when Lu Jinhe didn't know how to explain it, a sound suddenly came from outside. Although it wasn't very loud, it clearly reached everyone's ears.
"The King of Wu has an edict. Please ask Dr. Zhang Hua and his three wives to accept the edict!"
Everyone in the lobby stopped talking immediately and looked at Lu Jinhe.
For something as serious as the king's decree, how could it be reasonable for his wife to accept the decree together?
As a result, this thing definitely happened before my eyes.
Lu Jinhe quickly complained to the clan elders and ordered three ladies to join him and go to the front to receive the order.
The clan elders naturally watched from a distance.
They are not qualified to accept the king's decree.
Who told the Lu family to disperse and even change their surnames in order to protect themselves? On the surface, they are not even the Lu family - so the eldest son of each branch needs to change his name and recognize his ancestors. Zong, otherwise you won't even be able to enjoy the treatment of aristocrats.
Lu Jinhe, Lu Chang and others set up the table, first bowed to the two volumes of decrees, then straightened up and stood with their hands crossed, waiting for Liu Qing, the official in charge of the Taichang Mansion, to read out the decrees.
Due to the fiefdom, Lu Jinhe traveled quite a lot these days, and he was almost familiar with the main officials from Taichang Mansion and other yamen.
The four master guards stepped aside, Liu Qing unfolded the first black scroll and read:
"Lu Wu, the official of Jin Wu, was bullied by the Chu State and was angry to open up territory in the old territory. He won consecutive battles, and the Chu people were frightened when they heard about it. He was a man of great virtue, and he surrendered his troops to watch the wind and follow the scenery. He looked majestic, and he immediately raised his horse and halberd to the army. Before; benevolence and righteousness were widely covered, and the soldiers died in the army.
Today, King Wu of Wu, in accordance with the will of heaven and the will of others, appointed Lu Gong named Wu as the Bo of Zhenjiang, granted him the title of Zhenjiang Prefecture, and allowed him to build a national palace, suppress evil and protect the people - an edict! "
After reading the royal edict, Liu Qing put the scroll together on the desk, with a smile on his face: "Brother Lu, rejoice! Brother Lu, rejoice! In the past hundred years, all the kings in the world have only sealed six names." Bojun, this is the first time for our country of Wu - Brother Lu is now also the father of the king of a country!"
"Uh, this, this-"
Lu Jinhe was a little incoherent and rarely stuttered when speaking.
He was relatively well, as several older clan members had already passed by in the corridors on both sides.
