The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 140 Clan Discussion
The one who could point at the entire clan and curse them in the ancestral hall was naturally the venerable Wu, the great general. It was thanks to his guidance that they found the Murong family's Swallow's Nest back then.

The old man is almost 110 years old this year. Time waits for no one, and his spirits have declined in recent years. Usually, when Wu Chengyu happens to meet him, he is leaning against the wall sunbathing and doesn't bother to talk to anyone. But unexpectedly, he got very angry today.

"This Shi Miyuan actually dared to restore Qin Hui's title and posthumous name. Bah! Then he is a great traitor, and everyone should kill him."

Now that you're actually cooperating with the Shi family, doesn't that make my Wu family an accomplice and lackey of treacherous officials?
Do you have done right by your ancestors and the heroic souls who died on the battlefield?
……………….”

After finishing his long speech, General Wu was panting heavily. Some of the younger generation tried to help him up, but he slapped them away. Only when the clan chief walked up to him did he give him some face and be helped to a chair.

General Wu's words caused a stir among the direct descendants of the Wu family, but the pillars of the Zheng generation remained silent. Some had ashen faces, some sneered, and others were flushed.

The clan chief returned to his chair and sighed. He was a generation younger than General Wu and was considered Wu Chengyu's grandfather. Over the years, he had entrusted all the clan's affairs, big and small, to Wu Zhenghong and others, but now he had no choice but to step in.

“Zhenghong, tell me your thoughts. I was fortunate enough to meet Marshal Yue back then, and the clan members have always admired him. Shi Miyuan’s actions are truly disheartening. You are the next clan leader, so you must be careful in making any decisions.”

Wu Zhenghong bowed deeply to the elders. In fact, General Wu was his grandfather. The clan chief had only one daughter, so he had supported Wu Zhenghong from an early age to make him the head of the eldest branch of the family.

He is exceptionally capable, and has contributed significantly to the development of the Wu family in recent years. He enjoys great prestige within the clan, and his appointment as the next clan leader is a foregone conclusion.

"Clan leader, grandfather, Zheng Hong also admires Marshal Yue, but everything Zheng Hong does is for the sake of the clan."

Ultimately, restoring Qin Hui's title was to seek peace with the Jin Dynasty, and Shi Miyuan should not be deemed a traitor because of this.

Most importantly, Wu Chenglian is now a disciple of Lord Zheng Qingzhi, who has many collaborations with Shi Miyuan in the court.

Shi Miyuan will surely become the prime minister of the court in the future. My Wu family will follow Lord Zheng and cooperate with him. In the next few decades, the Wu family will surely rise to prominence and become the number one family in Suzhou, or even one of the major families in the entire Southern Song Dynasty.

What do a little bit of criticism matter when it comes to the prosperity of the family? Tangible benefits are what matter most.

When the Shi family came to Suzhou to expand their influence, all the major families in Suzhou actually suffered losses, but they all forced themselves to endure it. Only my Wu family secretly benefited.

With just those two coal mines, my Wu family's profits will double next year. At that time, everyone in the family, regardless of whether they are direct descendants or collateral branches, will receive at least twice as much monthly income.

Lord Zheng also promised me that he would open up trade routes for my Wu family in Hangzhou in the future. Everyone knows how much profit is involved.”

Many of the Wu family's direct descendants nodded in agreement with what he said, especially Wu Zhengfan, the head of the second branch, who listened with great interest.

Wu Zhenghong then turned to General Wu and said, "Grandpa, don't forget Cheng Lian, he is your most beloved great-grandson."

Now, with the recommendation of Shi Miyuan and Lord Zheng, Cheng Lian has not only entered the Hanlin Academy but has also become a lecturer to the prince. Given time, if this prince ascends the throne, Cheng Lian will surely become a trusted confidant and pillar of the future emperor. At that time, our Wu family will truly become a prominent family in the Song Dynasty. Cheng Lian is intelligent, knows how to advance and retreat, and is shrewd and calculating. Everyone regards him as a valuable talent. He is already on the rise, and his future status may not be inferior to Shi Miyuan's. It is not a pipe dream for him to be remembered in history.

"Grandpa, if we sever ties with the Shi family now and offend Shi Miyuan, it would be tantamount to personally cutting off Wu Chenglian's future. Can you really bear to do that?"

After he finished speaking, General Wu's face turned red, but he had nothing to say. He had always been proud of his great-grandson's success in becoming a third-ranked scholar and had no intention of cutting off his grandson's path to success.

A group of people were making a lot of noise, but most of them gradually calmed down from their initial indignation and began to consider what benefits the Wu family could gain from cooperating with Shi Miyuan.

Finally, Wu Zhengfan, the head of the second branch of the Wu family, made the final decision. He was in charge of managing the coal mine that he had just taken over, and he was also the Wu family's most skilled businessman.

Wu Zhengfan walked to the front of the hall and listed out the benefits of cooperating with the Shi family one by one. Wu Chenglian's political future represented the future status of the Wu family, and what Wu Zhengfan was talking about were benefits that everyone could obtain. They were not just illusions, but real and within reach.

Only Wu Zhengliang, the head of the third branch, remained silent. However, the third branch could not influence the overall situation. Although the third branch had made great progress in recent years, it did not have much say in the Wu family. The decisions made by the eldest and second branches were not opposed even by the clan head. The third branch could only go with the flow.

The eldest and second branches of the family have nearly a hundred uncles and elders in the "Zheng" generation alone, while the third branch only has ten people. Even if each person gets one vote, it won't be enough.

Wu Chengyu had been observing from the sidelines with a cold eye, and he had to admit that the decisions of the eldest and second branches of the family were indeed correct from the perspective of the family's development, but he just didn't like them. If everything was about profit, how would it be any different from the companies of later generations?

The meeting ended amidst much commotion. Although the clan leader remained silent, he had made his stance clear. The final conclusion was not explicitly stated, but everyone understood that the Wu family had decided to board Shi Miyuan's ship.

The grand performance in the ancestral hall eventually came to an end, and everyone from each branch of the family quietly left. Wu Chengyu followed Wu Zhengliang and the others back to the council room of the third branch.

Wu Zhenghui was the most impulsive: "Fourth Brother, does this mean we're really going to cooperate with that treacherous minister from now on?"

Wu Zhengliang remained silent, and the other uncles also had gloomy expressions. Wu Chengyu suddenly felt puzzled. Why did the people of the third branch behave differently from the other two branches? The third branch must have a share of those benefits, so they should have been tempted.

Wu Zhenghui paced back and forth in the room, unable to sit still. Wu Zhengliang, however, noticed Wu Chengyu's bewildered expression and couldn't help but speak.

"Chengyu, do you know why my third branch of the family is not as excited as they are?"
Do you even know why there are so many fewer people in my third branch than in the first and second branches? In the Wu family, the generations with the character "Zheng" in their names (大, 方, 正, 成) were originally quite numerous, but the siege of the "One Gust of Wind" resulted in heavy casualties. And you've been back in the Wu family for five years now, and you haven't seen many of the "Fang" generation members from the third branch, have you?"

Wu Chengyu shook his head somewhat blankly. He usually practiced martial arts behind closed doors, and now that he thought about it, it was indeed true. The Fang generation of the third branch were all grandfathers, and now they were probably at most sixty or seventy years old. The Wu family had good living conditions, and the elderly generally lived long lives, but there really weren't many Fang generation members in the third branch.

"That's because, back then, the Wu family had the most members who joined Yue Fei's army, and most of them died on the battlefield against the Jin."

(End of this chapter)