Chapter 304: Old Zhang Maosheng Pays a Visit to the General

Just as Yang Zhengshan entered the Zheng Mansion, the Zhang family also received news from the west gate.

The Tenglong Guards entered the city, Luo Fu and Xu Huazhen were captured, and the Tenglong Guards took over the city defense and sealed off the Salt Transport Office.

As news came back one after another, Zhang Maosheng, the head of the Zhang family, stood under the eaves, looking at the bright sky.

Zhang Maosheng is already in his seventies this year. He has a slightly hunched back, white hair and beard, and a face full of wrinkles, but his pair of cloudy and deep eyes are like a deep pool that makes it impossible to see through.

In the hall behind Zhang Maosheng, Zhang Qingsong, the eldest son of the Zhang family, and Zhang Qingyun, the second son, both looked anxious.

"Dad, Lord Luo has been captured. Should we do something?" Zhang Qingsong asked.

Zhang Maosheng did not say anything, but walked into the hall, picked up the pipe on the table, slowly pinched a pinch of tobacco and put it in the pipe, and then lit it with a flint.

He took a deep puff and then exhaled a long stream of smoke.

"Our Zhang family has been in business for more than three hundred years. In the past three hundred years, we have encountered countless crises, but we have been able to get through them safely every time. Do you know why?"

Zhang Maosheng asked softly.

Zhang Qingsong and Zhang Qingyun exchanged glances, both of them anxious, but they still patiently asked, "Why?"

"Why?" Zhang Maosheng smiled, holding his pipe and standing under the eaves again, "Because we never participate in officialdom struggles!"

"Go and take out all the cash in the treasury, and also fetch the account books of the masters, especially Master Luo's account book!"

What do businessmen fear most?
It’s the suppression from the officialdom.

If merchants want to grow and develop, they cannot do without the support of officials. Merchants cannot be at peace without officials, and officials cannot be rich without merchants.

Officials and businessmen are two intertwined veins, as if there is a huge net that closely links the two together.

The Zhang family’s current wealth is inseparable from the support of officials.

However, the Zhang family would never be tied to any official, nor would they be tied to any force in the officialdom.

This is how the Zhang family continues.

Zhang Qingsong and Zhang Qingyun's faces changed. All the cash in the warehouse!
How much cash does the Zhang family have?
To be honest, neither of the two brothers had an accurate concept.

Because there are too many!
"Go quickly! It will be too late if you don't go now!" Zhang Maosheng urged in a hoarse voice.

"Yes, yes!" Zhang Qingsong responded quickly, and then the two brothers trotted out of the main hall and called on the servants to go to the storehouse to carry the silver.

Soon, boxes of heavy silver were carried to the front yard, filling the open space in front of the hall.

But before they could finish carrying the things, Song Dashan rushed into Zhang's house with a group of soldiers.

After a burst of panic and commotion, Song Dashan arrived at the Zhang family's hall like a dragon and a tiger.

Looking at the large boxes in front of him, Song Dashan was stunned for a moment, and then looked at the Zhang family members in confusion.

"I, Zhang Maosheng, greet the general!"

Zhang Maosheng had expected this. When he saw Song Dashan and a group of aggressive soldiers, there was no panic on his old face. He stepped forward calmly and bowed with his fists clasped.

Song Dashan glanced at him and said, "I'm not a general. I'm Song Dashan, the commander of the Tenglong Guard. I'm following the orders of the commander of the Tenglong Guard to seal up all of the Zhang family's properties. Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!"

“Seal it up!”

Song Dashan is an honest man. Although he wondered why there were so many boxes here, he still did not forget Yang Zhengshan's order and firmly carried it out.

Yang Zhengshan said to seal up the place, so he sealed up the place. If Song Dashan said anything more, it would be considered dishonest.

Song Dashan waved his hand, and the soldiers behind him immediately rushed into Zhang's house and began to seal off everywhere.

"Wait, Lord Song, I have something to say!" Zhang Maosheng said hurriedly when he saw the soldiers running towards the Zhang family's backyard.

"What? If you have anything to say, wait until you see my master. It's no use talking to me!" Song Dashan's eyes swept over the Zhang family members.

He didn't care what Zhang Maosheng had to say. What he cared about was whether there were any warriors in the Zhang family, whether there were any threatening warriors. If there were, he would focus on them. If the other party dared to resist, he would kill them on the spot.

Zhang Maosheng was a little panicked at this time. If he was willing to admit his mistake, the visitor would definitely calm down a little and at least be able to talk to him for a few words.

But Song Dashan in front of him didn't give him any chance to admit his mistake, making him feel like a scholar meeting a soldier, unable to explain himself clearly.

"If you are old, don't act recklessly. Otherwise, my sword will not care how old you are!"

Song Dashan felt that this old guy was a bit of a nuisance, so he raised the knife in his hand, wanting the old guy to move away.

"Sir!" Zhang Maosheng looked at the knife in his hand, his expression changed slightly, and he took a few steps back.

He is also a warrior and once had a high level of cultivation, but now he is over 70 years old and less than 30% of his cultivation remains.

Furthermore, he was a businessman who believed in making money through harmony and never liked fighting with others, so he practiced only to strengthen his body and had no fighting ability at all.

Simply put, when he was young, he was just a show-off with cultivation, but now he is not even a show-off.

"Open the boxes!" Seeing that Song Dashan was unmoved, Zhang Maosheng quickly asked the servants behind him to open the boxes one by one.

Bang bang bang~~
The box was opened, revealing ingots of silver.

The silver that the Zhang family deposited in the warehouse was all newly cast silver, all of which were silver ingots of fifty taels.

The brand new silver ingots were neatly placed in the box, sparkling under the bright sunlight, and particularly eye-catching.

When the soldiers who followed Song Dashan saw this, their eyes almost popped out.

So much silver!

This is the only thought in their minds!
There is really a lot of silver.

Each box weighed one thousand taels, and there were hundreds of boxes in front of them. The key point was that these boxes had just been carried out, and there were many more boxes on the way out. Because of the sudden intrusion of the soldiers, the servants of the Zhang family just put the boxes on the ground.

Thus, the white silver spread from the open space in front of the hall to the depths of the Zhang family, like a long dragon with no end in sight. With so much silver in front of them, few people could resist being tempted.

Of course, some people are not moved at all.

Song Dashan glanced at the glittering silver and shouted with clear eyes: "What are you standing there for? Find all the people in the Zhang family!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers immediately came to their senses and continued to do their work.

However, there were still many soldiers who secretly looked at the silver.

They all came from poor backgrounds and had never seen so much silver. When they saw so much silver, they couldn't help but become greedy.

But among the soldiers were officers from the Anyuan City Garrison Camp. They saw the greed of their soldier at a glance and said coldly, "Behave yourself! Anyone who dares to hide the money will be punished by military law!"

"hurry up!"

Only after the shouts of rebuke were heard did the greed in the soldiers' hearts be suppressed.

As for the soldiers from the Anyuan City garrison camp, they would not be greedy.

Do you really think they have never seen silver?

When they were in the north, the savings of those Hu tribes were much more than the silver in front of them.

They are also people who have seen big scenes, and facing the current situation, they will not waver at all.

The soldiers continued to seal off the Zhang family's home, searching each room one by one, and drove all the members of the Zhang family to the front yard.

At this time, Zhang Maosheng was completely panicked!

what does this mean?
How come even silver is useless?

Seeing that everyone in the family was being driven over, he was a little panicked, "Don't do it!"

Fortunately, he was still calm. Seeing that someone in the mansion was resentful and angry and had the urge to take action, he quickly stopped them.

As a family that has been passed down for more than 300 years, the Zhang family has a large population, with dozens of people, hundreds of servants, and a large number of servants and guards.

If a real fight breaks out, the soldiers brought by Song Dashan may not be able to suppress it.

Just at this time, Yang Zhengshan and Zheng Xiao came over.

Seeing the silver in front of the hall and the honest people of the Zhang family, Yang Zhengshan stopped in surprise.

The Zhang family is a wealthy family with a lot of money, and with money they can make many martial artists work for them.

Even a warrior at the eighth or ninth level of the acquired realm might bow his head for the sake of silver, not to mention those lower-level acquired realm warriors.

With the financial resources of the Zhang family, it is not difficult to recruit dozens or even hundreds of acquired warriors.

Yang Zhengshan rushed over because he was afraid that the Zhang family would not be willing to surrender and would resist with force.

It now seems that the Zhang family is still rational.

"grown ups!"

Seeing Yang Zhengshan coming, Song Dashan hurriedly clasped his fists and saluted.

"Ok!"

Yang Zhengshan walked forward calmly, looked at the boxes of silver, and asked, "What's going on?"

"They moved out by themselves. I don't know why?" Song Dashan replied honestly.

"I, Zhang Maosheng, am here to greet the general!" Zhang Maosheng found an opportunity and immediately stepped forward to pay his respects with an extremely humble attitude.

Yang Zhengshan looked at the old man, and a strange look flashed in his eyes.

"Is the old man the head of the Zhang family?"

"Yes, I am the head of the Zhang family!" said Zhang Maosheng.

"So what are you doing?" Yang Zhengshan pointed to the boxes full of silver.

Zhang Maosheng waved behind him, and Zhang Qingsong came forward holding a stack of account books. Zhang Maosheng handed the account books to Yang Zhengshan and said, "General, this is the money that the officials of the Salt Transport Bureau have deposited in our Zhang family over the years. It includes the capital and interest for lending."

Yang Zhengshan casually opened an account book and glanced at it, and the surprise in his eyes became even more intense.

interesting!
The Zhang family actually recorded all transactions with the officials of the Salt Transport Bureau over the years, and the records were very detailed.

"If the general needs it, my Zhang family can provide more account books for your review. However, some of the account books are just normal business accounts and may not be useful to the general!" Zhang Maosheng finally found someone with whom he could communicate normally, and hurriedly expressed his needs.

His idea was very simple, that is, one must pay for what one has done, and when one pays back, one must stand at attention when being beaten.

Don't resist, don't resist, just tell everything honestly.

You have to pay as much silver as you need to pay, even if you have to pay more.

This is the essence of the Zhang family's 300-year heritage. The Zhang family has experienced ups and downs since its continuation. Sometimes it prospers for decades, and sometimes it is hit rock bottom, but the Zhang family's heritage has not been cut off until now.

It all depends on your willingness to give up.

When it is time to spend money to avoid disaster, don't be stingy and hand over all your assets just to stay alive.

If you save the land and lose the people, everyone and the land will be lost; if you save the people and lose the land, everyone and the land will survive.

This sentence is also true when it comes to money. As long as the Zhang family's heritage remains, the Zhang family will one day make a comeback.

In fact, even if the Zhang family fell to the bottom, they were still not comparable to ordinary businessmen.

The heritage of more than three hundred years should not be underestimated.

(End of this chapter)