knife

Chapter 262 Both Acting and Acting
Chang Xin walked out of the Protectorate's gate with some disappointment.

He knew very well that once something started, it was hard to stop.

When a snowball first starts rolling, it's just a small clump, but if you keep rolling it and have the strength, it's possible to roll it into the size of a mountain.

The business competition hasn't even started yet, and it's still uncertain who will win or lose, but the rift within the Chang family has already begun.

The news of the family division had barely spread when the ninth branch of the family jumped out impatiently.

With the first one, how far away is the second?

But I was powerless to stop it.

Clearly, Li Dachui saw this incident as the beginning of a split within the Chang family, a prime example, and he would not tolerate anyone sabotaging it.

A familiar figure flashed past the corner of his eye, and Chang Xin suddenly looked up.

It really was Chang Wei.

He was looking down, hunching his shoulders, and turning to hide at the street corner.

"Twelfth Brother!" Chang Xin roared as he strode toward Chang Wei.

Seeing that he couldn't avoid it, Chang Wei, who was in his early thirties, walked over with his head down.

"Twelfth brother, where has the Chang family wronged you?" Chang Xin glared at him hatefully. "Are you so eager to separate from the family? Think about it yourself. Your parents died early. Who raised you without worrying about food and clothing? Who nurtured you and helped you get married and start a family? You're ungrateful. Are you even human?"

Chang Wei slowly straightened up, his hunched shoulders relaxed, his chest puffed out, and although he had been somewhat timid, he gradually straightened up as Chang Xin accused him.

"Brother, how did my parents die?" Chang Wei said coldly, "They died fighting for the Chang family. Yes, it is true that the Chang family raised me, sent me to school, and taught me skills, but brother, what about the property my parents left me? How much is left now?"

"For decades, mismanagement and bankruptcy have been common occurrences! The Chang family has never skimped on your expenses. When have you ever suffered any hardship because of money?" Chang Xin said angrily.

"Yes, it's just a little bit of money!" Chang Wei laughed. "And over the years, elder brother, how much money have I made for the Chang family? The wine brewed by our Ninth Branch is unique outside the Great Wall, and it's even sold as far as the Yuan Kingdom, the interior of the Great Wall, and even as far as Southern Chu. We sell tens of thousands of catties every year, but how much has our Ninth Branch actually received? Third Brother buys wine from us at prices that are practically razor-thin. But what is your profit margin when you sell it? Do you really think I don't know?"

"You know how big the Chang family is. What's the point of all the money you earn going to the clan? Twelfth brother, you can brew wine at home in peace because the Chang family is there. Otherwise, you wouldn't even be able to live!"

Chang Wei nodded: "Now I can live and brew wine well without relying on you. Brother, I won't lie to you, it was I who found Protector Li. Xuanwei County itself has a lot of grapes, and the Protectorate gave me 10,000 mu of land. I will go there to brew wine, and the Protectorate has people in charge of marketing. They only take 40% of all the profits!"

"Twelfth Brother, think this through carefully. If the skin is gone, where will the hair attach? Once you leave the Chang family, will Li Dachui and the others still value you as much as they do now? He just wants to divide us!"

Chang Wei shook his head: "It's not like that, elder brother. I've wanted to leave for more than just a day or two. This has nothing to do with Protector Li and the others. In the Chang family, what am I? Just a guy who can brew wine? My status is even lower than the stewards of the old house. Every time I go back to the old house, I have to watch their faces. The only time I feel like I have status because I'm surnamed Chang is when I can enter the ancestral hall during the few days of ancestral worship each year. Otherwise, I'm just like your servant, your subordinate."

Chang Xin stepped forward and took Chang Wei's hand: "Twelfth Brother, I was wrong in the past. I didn't pay attention to your feelings. Come back. I can give you anything you want!"

Chang Wei smiled and shook off Chang Xin's hand: "Brother, Uncle often taught us that a gentleman's word is as good as his bond, and a person who breaks his promise is worthless! Now that I have made my decision and agreed to Protector Li's conditions, there is no reason for me to go back on my word."

As Chang Wei strode into the Protectorate General's residence, Chang Xin's face gradually darkened.

The departure of the ninth branch was another heavy blow to the Chang family.

Li Dachui is right. The emergence of the large market outside the pass and the competition of free trade will quickly crush the manor economy represented by the Chang family, especially those places like Tai'an City that have already gone far in commerce.

The winemaking business that the Ninth Household has always been in charge of is not easily affected, and it is also one of the most profitable businesses of the Chang family.

However, this business is greatly influenced by human factors.

It can be said that with the departure of Chang Wei's ninth wife, the Chang family's business has essentially come to an end.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of strings of cash disappear.

Chang Wei's departure will inevitably have a demonstrative effect.

However, many of the Chang family's businesses and assets were controlled by their concubines.

If they all leave, the Chang family will truly be scattered and destitute.

If morale is low, the team becomes unmanageable.

We must find a way to stop this wave of exodus; we must never allow a second case like Chang Wei's to happen.

With his father advancing to the Innate Realm, he has officially handed the Chang family over to him, and he will never allow the Chang family to fall in his hands.

Watching Chang Wei's retreating figure, Chang Xin took a deep breath, turned around, mounted his horse, and rode away.

"No regrets?" Inside the Protectorate, Li Dachui looked at Chang Wei and asked. "No regrets, but I'm afraid my elder brother will send someone to kill me!" Chang Wei said, "He's capable of doing that. If I die, the Ninth Branch will naturally not be separated. Protector, once our Ninth Branch leaves, the highest brewing technique will go with us."

"He wouldn't dare!" Li Dachui said calmly, "Chang Wei, go to Xuanwei and do a good job. In the future, you can sell a lot of your brewed wine to the Jiangnan region. Right now, the Yuan Dynasty is in turmoil, and the Qin Dynasty is in turmoil, but the South is peaceful and prosperous. In previous years, your Chang family sold very little wine there. In the future, we can sell a lot of wine there. No matter how much you brew, we can sell as much as you can! You will become rich!"

"By water?"

"Of course!" Li Dachui laughed. "Now we have opened up the sea route from Danyang to Xuanwu, and trade between the two places has begun in full swing. I call it the Maritime Silk Road. In fact, we also have good channels to sell to the Yuan and Qin kingdoms. No matter how chaotic the world is, those who are meant to enjoy life can still do so. It is only the ordinary people who suffer. And the ordinary people basically cannot afford the wine you make."

Chang Wei nodded: "Compared to the cheap Green Ant wine, the wine is indeed too expensive."

"Go ahead, grow grapes well, and make good wine. Maybe in a few years, the people outside the Great Wall will be able to buy a jar of your wine to drink!"

"That's probably very difficult!"

"What's so difficult about it? Even if you can't afford to drink it normally, you can still buy a can during holidays! You brew your wine, increase the quantity and quality, and whether the common people can afford it is my business!"

Li Dachui stayed in Qingtongxia, single-mindedly thinking about how to break up local powerful families like the Chang family. There were quite a few families similar to the Chang family but weaker in strength outside the pass.

This is mainly due to the unique local characteristics of the area outside the Great Wall in the past.

Due to constant warfare and banditry, people had no choice but to build fortified villages and strongholds to protect themselves. Gradually, this led to the formation of numerous clans, who banded together for mutual support.

It is indeed not an easy task for Li Dachui to split things up now.

These families, unlike the Yan family, did not collude with the Yuan people, giving Li Dachui and Xiao Changche a real reason.

Many of these fortified villages and settlements outside the Great Wall actually neither respected the Qin people nor the Yuan people.

The main theme is to take life and death lightly and fight if you disagree.

As for whether we can succeed, we'll have to wait and see.

The people outside the Great Wall are known for their fierce and unruly nature.

But now these fortified villages have become the biggest obstacle for Li Dachui in governing the area outside the Great Wall.

In these fortified villages, laws and rules are practically nonexistent; the clan and the head of the household have the final say.

And this is precisely what Li Dachui absolutely cannot tolerate.

If everyone does it this way, where will the taxes come from? Where will the local militia come from? How will a large market be formed? How will the area outside the pass be integrated into a unified whole? How can we create the greatest synergy in the shortest amount of time?

The physical walls of these fortified villages are irrelevant, but Li Dachui intends to shatter the invisible wall that separates them from the government.

Be polite before fighting.

Zhang Ruo, the inspector, doesn't have much to do right now, so he can go from village to village as a persuader. He can try his luck, whether it's fruitful or not. There should be some discerning people in these villages and fortresses. If he can persuade a few, then he'll have role models.

Finally, for those who insist on resistance, the only option left is to use knives.

In truth, all Li Dachui wanted were the common people below him; as for those leaders, it would be best if they were dead.

These things are much more difficult than fighting a war.

In war, you can stop at nothing to win, and no one will criticize you.

However, when it comes to governing, sometimes it's truly a case of wanting to have your cake and eat it too.

You really can't do something like this if you don't have thick skin and a strong mentality.

Anyway, Xiao Changche is no good.

She never cared about these things. While Li Dachui was racking his brains for a solution, she was patrolling the Qingtongxia and Yezhuling area, and also taking care of the remaining stragglers along the way.

The Qin Dynasty lost these areas for thirty years, causing most of the people around this line to consider themselves Yuan people, even though they looked like Qin people.

Now that the Yuan people have gone far away, those who remain behind, trembling with fear, still harbor considerable wariness towards the Qin army. Winning them over is a long and arduous task.

The Qingtongxia and Yezhuling areas are important because they offer a commanding position over the areas outside the Great Wall, allowing for attacks on these regions at any time.

Now that these two places have been reclaimed, the Qin army has a foothold and is no longer as passive as before.

(End of this chapter)