The head of the Li family, Li Jin, went to Longxi a few days ago for family affairs. At present, Li Jin's eldest brother Li Ze is temporarily the leader of the Li family in Dunhuang.

In the Li family, the general affairs of the family are decided by the head of the family. Even if the head of the family leaves temporarily, one person will be appointed to act on the family affairs.

However, if it is a major event involving family interests, the Presbyterian Church must make a decision, which is mainly to balance the interests of all parties.

The Presbyterian Church is composed of one person selected from each house, most of which are respected elders. Currently, there are five people in the Presbyterian Church of Li, and Li Ze is the representative of Chongming Hall, the direct descendant of Li's family in Dunhuang.

Li Ze also has a martial arts background. He is tall and burly, and has a very irritable temper. He is the eldest son of the Li family. He had the opportunity to become the head of the family, but because of his bad temper, he offended too many people in the tribe and did not get what he wanted.

However, as he grew older, he became smarter, especially in his personal interests, he would never lose a penny.

The head of the family Li Jin went to Longxi and became the acting head of the family. Just then, a major incident happened. The Holy Emperor was going to build a statue of Maitreya in Mogao Grottoes. This incident had spread.

In fact, before this, Suo Qing had already made a deal with the head of the family Li Jin. The Li family did not participate in the construction of the Maitreya statue. For this matter, the Presbyterian Church was quite dissatisfied with Li Jin and decided without permission without the discussion of the Presbyterian Church, which violated the power of the Presbyterian Church.

But the turn of things turned around and things turned around again.

In the House Temple Assembly Hall, Li Ze said to the other four members of the Presbyterian Church: "I have received the exact news that the only stone wall of our Li family in Mogao Grottoes is suitable for building the Maitreya statue. The two stone walls of the Suo family can only make mud statues, which cannot meet the requirements of the court."

Everyone was talking suddenly, and someone said, "Since that's the case, this statue should be repaired by our Li family. What does it have to do with the Suo family?"

"That's it! The Lord of the Lord will personally pay attention to the progress of the statue. Why should this opportunity be given to the Suo family?"

"But the head of the family has agreed to Suo Qing, which is probably a bit difficult."

"It's useless for him to agree!"

Li Ze said decisively: "This matter must be decided by the Li Presbyterian Church. This is the rule of the Li clan, so Suo Qing would not know it."

Li Ze is Li Pan's father. Although his son Li Pan finally got a quota for Beijing in the martial arts examination not long ago, Wang Xiaojie agreed to the letter of recommendation.

Li Ze knew very well the consequences of not having a recommendation letter. His son’s martial arts skills were average. Without a recommendation letter, the capital would be in vain.

For this matter, Li Ze was extremely dissatisfied with the head of the family Li Jin. He agreed to Suo Qing's request without authorization, but failed to get a letter of recommendation. This loss was too great.

"And the Suo family did not fulfill their promise, so even if the head of the family agreed, he could not count. I mean, there was no conclusion on this matter without the consent of the Presbyterian Church.

Everyone else was excited and talked a lot, saying that they must get the portrait immediately and start construction as soon as possible.

"But there is another troublesome thing."

The meeting hall suddenly became quiet, and four pairs of eyes looked at Li Ze together. Li Ze slowly said: "I specially checked the family property records today. The stone wall is not in the family's shared property and has been distributed to the tribe members."

"If you have assigned it to, just let them hand it over. What's the trouble?" an elder said impatiently.

Li Ze continued: "That stone wall was given to Li Danping during the family property division twenty years ago. Li Danping has passed on this stone wall to his grandson, and the contract of power is also in his hands."

Li Ze spoke very slowly and spoke very seriously. The meeting hall was quiet again. An elder asked, "What Dalang meant is that Li Danping's grandson refused to hand over the power contract?"

"Li Danping's grandson is Li Zhen, who made a big fuss in the Wuju provincial examination some time ago. The head of the family told me that it was difficult for them to talk to and refused to sacrifice for the interests of the family."

When they heard that Li Danping and his grandson were Li Zhen, who was making a big fuss in the martial arts examination, the elders looked at each other and said angrily: "So what? Unless he is not surnamed Li, since he is also a member of the tribe, he has the obligation to hand over the Shibi Power Deed."

All the people from the Presbyterian Church have forgotten that every year when the family distributes benefits, they will remove Li Quan and his brothers, and now they will have to discuss obligations again.

Li Ze smiled coldly, "I checked it. It was twenty years ago that the stone wall was distributed to Li Danping. The family stipulated that if the allocated land was left deserted for ten years and did not plant it, the family would take it back. Although this stone wall is not land, it has not been dug for 20 years. Shouldn't it be handed over?"

"Can we change it!"

A white-bearded elder said: "Change it now and add a note. The stone walls of Mogao Grottoes are also included in this clan rule. Since we are all here, the clan rule will be passed now. Let the head of the family tell him when he comes back."

"Then hurry up! I guess the Suo family will look for them."

"Uncle Second is right!"

Li Ze nodded and said, "I just got the news that the Suo family has already gone to find them this afternoon and offered a sky-high price of 5,000 guan!"

Everyone exclaimed, and many people's hearts were trembling, five thousand guan!

"No, this money must be handed over to the family!" Someone shouted angrily.

Li Ze waved his hand and stopped everyone, "Thank you, they did not agree today. I guess they wanted a higher price. The Suo family will talk to them tomorrow. I infer that the deal will be completed in the end."

This time, everyone was silent and their faces turned pale. Although the Li family was ranked among the great family in Shazhou, the family's foundation was a little empty in recent years and had a false reputation. In terms of family wealth, the Li family was already at the end, and the Suo family was the first.

These elders of the family are only of higher seniority. Except for Li Ze, the other four are not wealthy, with a lot of children and grandchildren, and they are very expensive.

Every year, the family will fight for each other's money for a few stakes. Now I heard that a concubine of a side-family house can get ten thousand stakes. Not only does her face turn white, but her eyes are red.

Li Ze had his own plans. He actually didn't really want to build a Maitreya statue. Even if he built a large statue, the credit was still the head of the family. What's the matter with him? Maybe the head of the family wanted to build it, but he didn't.

Today he heard that the Suo family was going to pay 5,000 guan to buy this stone wall, and he immediately discovered that this was an opportunity to make a fortune. He wanted to get the stone wall while the head of the family was away.

Then he sold 10,000 guan to the Suo family, and he could get at least 4,000 guan and give each of these elders one thousand guan. This matter became the decision of the Presbyterian Church.

Li Ze led the other four elders into his plan step by step. He saw that the four of them showed greed in their eyes. Knowing that the time was ripe, he whispered: "I plan to take back this stone wall and transfer it to the Su family. The family will get some benefits. Of course, the five of us can also get a part of it after working hard."

Although Li Ze did not clearly state how much this part was, the four of them knew in their hearts that each person could get at least a thousand guan. Inspired by money, everyone was excited.

"It must be brought back tonight, and it cannot be delayed until tomorrow!"

Li Ze smiled sinisterly, "I have asked the butler to find them. We asked them in the family temple, and they dare not hand over it over and serve the family law!"

.........

Li Zhen has not been to the Li family's home for nearly ten years. The last time he just stood in front of the gate with a group of Li children, each of whom received a few cents. As for the reason, he had forgotten.

He had never stepped into the gate of Li's mansion before, and he did not want to step in again. However, today he did not seem to have to step into Li's mansion, and the housekeeper led the siblings to the family temple.

"There are many people today. The head of the family is afraid that the tribe members will destroy the flowers and trees in the mansion, so he changed to register at the ancestral temple. You should hurry up and leave after registration, and don't stay there."

Li Quan was still thinking about rushing home to cook, so he would not want to stay in the ancestral temple. Moreover, she was married and was not considered a member of the Li family, and the ancestral temple had nothing to do with her.

Li Zhen and his brother entered the family temple from the side and came to the lobby. They were stunned at the same time. They saw the lobby brightly lit and five old men sat in front of them. They were surrounded by young children and servants holding sticks, full of murderous intent, and there was no registered table.

Li Zhen suddenly realized that he had been fooled. He pulled his eldest sister and turned around and walked out. There were more than a dozen servants holding sticks standing behind him, blocking their backs.

"What are you going to do?" Li Quan asked angrily.

"This is a family temple, a place where the heroes of ancestors gather. Why don't you kneel down?" Li Ze said coldly.

Li Zhen had calmed down at this time. He realized that it must be for the matter of the stone wall. It seemed that not only the Suo family had the idea, but the Li family also planned to interfere. Judging from the surrounding situation, if they didn't give it to them, they would take action.

However, it is no wonder that Li Zhen and his brother were not alert for this matter. Their grandfather assigned this stone wall twenty years ago. Li Zhen was not born yet and Li Quan was only a few years old. They didn’t know the source of this stone wall at all.

This stone wall only once belonged to the Li family, and the current property rights belong to Li Zhen. If the Li family wants to take it away, Li Zhen must sign and seal the transfer, and also have to be registered by the government. Li Ze also understood in his heart that apart from coercing Li Zhen to agree to the transfer, they could not get the right deed back.

Li Zhen said disdainfully: "You always say that the place where the heroic spirits of the ancestors gather, but you guys sit carelessly. Is this your respect for your ancestors?"

"Bold!" The five elders of the clan were furious. It seemed that even if they did not have the right to deed, they would have to teach this disrespectful junior a lesson.

Li Ze waved his hand and stopped the anger of several elders. It was not the time to turn against each other.

"Okay! I won't care about your attitude for now. I will tell you clearly that the stone wall of Mogao Grottoes is the shared property of the Li family, and you must hand over the power contract."

Li Zhen laughed loudly, and everyone glared at his voluntaryness. Li Quan gently pulled his brother's sleeve and told him not to be rude in the family temple.

Li Zhen didn't care at all. He stepped forward and looked at Li Ze with sharp eyes and said, "I really don't understand. Since it is the shared property of the Li family, why is the contract in my hands? Which family's reason is this?"

Li Zhen took out the wooden box from his arms, took out the power deed, and whispered to everyone: "Please look! This is the power deed on the stone wall of Mogao Grottoes, but it contains my name Li Zhen and the seal of the government. You can tell me your conscience and say, is this the shared property of the Li family?"

The lobby is silent. Although most people don’t know what happened, the facts are obvious. The property divided by the clan belongs to the individual family. If you want to get it back, you must first obtain the other party’s consent and then use money to redeem it. This is a practice, unless you die without a son inherit it.

Since the title of Li Zhen is written on the contract, the property rights belong to Li Zhen, but the Presbyterian Church insists that it is the family's shared property, which is obviously bullying the siblings.

However, although everyone knew in their hearts, who might offend the family's Presbyterian Church for the siblings? Everyone was silent.

Li Zhen put away the contract and said to Li Ze: "I don't know who you are? But I know why you want this contract. You can do it if you want it, but please ask the head of the family to come out and we sit down and talk. As long as the conditions are reasonable, I can hand it over, but you put forward this situation and want to force our siblings to surrender. Let me tell you to dream!"

Li Zhen's decisive answer made the five elders' faces turn red and white. The head of the family is not in Dunhuang. How can we talk about it? If the head of the family is really there, it will not be their turn to benefit.

Li Ze's eyes were even more furious. There was something to talk about. The other party was just asking for money. Could he, Li Ze, still be able to spend 5,000 guan or even more money?

He stared at the wooden box in Li Zhen's hand. He thought about it, but pointed at Li Quan and said, "This is the Li Family Temple. Since your sister is married, she shouldn't stand here and let her go back!"

"Don't think about it!"

Of course, Li Quan would not leave his younger brother here alone and be bullied. She said without giving in: "Since we come together, let's go together!"

Li Zhen understood Li Ze's intention. They wanted to catch the eldest sister first and then use the eldest sister to threaten him. It seemed that if he did not hand over the right deed today, it would be a fierce battle. He glanced out of the corner of his eyes and saw a servant holding a wooden stick not far behind him.

At this time, a family elder said impatiently: "Dalang, let's announce what to say to them!"

Li Ze coughed heavily and said, "Our Presbyterian Church has cleaned up the family property again. According to the clan rules, the land or rock walls allocated. If there is no cultivation or excavation for ten years, the family will take it back to other clan members.

Twenty years ago, the grandfather of the siblings and brothers got a piece of Mogao Grottoes wall worth about 200 jin, but there has been no movement in the past twenty years, so we decided to take back the wall today."

"What if I don't agree?" Li Zhen said tit-for-tat.

Li Ze pointed to the lobby, "This is a family temple. If you don't agree, you will act on the family law. You will beat two hundred sticks and expel the family. Your eldest sister, as long as her surname is Li, you will be punished together!"

Exiting the family was the most serious punishment for the Tang Dynasty. Li Quan was a little worried. Although she would never give up her principle and sell Shibi to the Suo family, if her younger brother was expelled from the family because of this, it would be too unfair to her younger brother.

Although the family is very rude, she does not want her younger brother to suffer such severe punishment because of a rock.

"A Zhen, give them the power!" Li Quan whispered.

At this time, Li Zhen's wildness was also aroused. He had an extremely weak concept of the family. Now that the other party forced his property and wanted to beat his sister, how could he swallow this anger? How could he bear such humiliation?

Li Zhen straightened his neck and said word by word: "I will never give it to you!"

Li Ze was furious and said, "Call me!"

He issued a warrant, and dozens of servants swung their batons and called them to the siblings. Li Zhen was ready, but he flashed and rushed to a servant behind him. He pushed his knee heavily, and the servant bent over in pain.
To be continued...