Chapter 42                                                             �

Zhou Mengchen had attended a palace banquet, and he still knew about the banquet etiquette. So overall, he would not be rude. Zhou Mengchen only picked up one chopstick for each dish. Zhou Mengchen could not estimate how many dishes there were, but he knew that if he could eat enough for a dish, he would be able to eat enough for one chopstick for a dish. If he didn't keep his stomach, in the end, the dishes would come up, and Zhou Mengchen was already full and could not put the chopsticks on it, which would make him feel embarrassed.

Even so, Zhou Mengchen felt that this meal was the best he had eaten in the Ming Dynasty.

Although Zhou Mengchen had a palace banquet, he was still a little cold when he had dinner outdoors in winter.

Even if the dishes made by a chef are so good, how can you talk about what delicious food at this time?

Even Guanglu Temple learned its lesson. On New Year’s Day banquets, the ones they brought were cold dishes. It seemed that they had thrown apart.

This also caused most of the ministers who attended the banquet to eat first. At the banquet, they were just a formality.

When he was in Beijing, Zhou Mengchen had also seen banquets from noble families and had private invitations from the emperor, but he had to admit that compared to enjoyment and heritage, Beijing was far inferior to Jiangnan.

The nobles in Beijing seem to have a foundation, but most of them started their own business after Jingnan, and even some of them are in the army. Now these families in Jiangnan are different. The ancestors written in the Xiang family genealogy are traced back to the time of Jingnan. The ancestors of the Xiang family followed Emperor Gaozong of Song to the south as the official position of Dali Temple, and then settled in Jiaxing.

The Jiangnan Shijia generally migrated south in this era. Before moving south, they were also prominent families in the Central Plains, not to mention that there were large families in Jiangnan, such as the Gu family and the Lu family.

It is normal to just pluck a few families for thousands of years.

The Xiang family rose because of Xiang Zhong during the Chenghua period, but it does not mean that the Xiang family was a farmer before Xiang Zhong.

What is a family of generations? Most families in Jiangnan are.

From the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, other places were in a white land, but Jiangnan suffered the least military disasters, and these families were retained the greatest retention. Of course, there were also one after another among these families, just like the Xiang family was the first in Jiaxing in the Ming Dynasty, but by the Qing Dynasty, the Xiang family was gone. I will not explain what happened to Jiaxing during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but the treasures that the Xiang family fought desperately to protect were all treasured by the Qing court. Especially the "Princess of the Female Historian" was later stolen by the British and French coalition forces. There is no need to say much about the Xiang family. What emerged later was the Chen family of Qianlong's family rumored online. But they were still in the same circle.

Even in modern times, if you are interested, take Mr. Jin Yong as the entry point, go and check out the website of Mr. Jin Yong’s kinship.

It was almost time for these Southeast powerful families to be disintegrated by the times. The Ming Dynasty was the era when they were the most powerful, which was why Zhou Mengchen had never thought about using a knife in Jiangnan as soon as he understood the situation.

It's really impossible to cut.

Zhou Mengchen never expected that the two of them had more than 100 dishes in total.

After almost the meal, Xiang Yuanbian was about to talk about the serious matter. He clapped his hands gently. The maids and dancers around him, and even the band team behind the screen, were all removed. The band team found somewhere and started playing again.

The music sounds are as the background sound for the two of them to talk. But the distance is far enough for people outside to hear what they say. The music sounds outside also make it impossible for people in the distance to hear the sounds in the building.

Xiang Yuanbian was slightly silent for a while, but he also knew that he was here to bow his head today. He sighed and said, "The Japanese pirates in Jiangnan have been suffering for a long time. Your Majesty has been instructed to enter Jiangnan. The people in Jiangnan are sure of their hearts and know that Japanese pirates will go. However, there are some things that students are ignorant and are really confused. Please give me some advice."

Zhou Mengchen said in his heart: "The playful meat is coming." He said, "If you have any questions, please ask me, and I will definitely answer Mr. Xiang's doubts."

Xiang Yuanbian said: "Sir, what do you want to come to Jiangnan?"

Zhou Mengchen said: "Of course, it is to calm the sea and relieve the suffering of the people's upside down."

Xiang Yuanbian said, "It is also our wish to calm the sea. It is just an adult's action, and it seems to be a completely different person?"

"Because it is easy to break the thief on the sea, but it is difficult to break the thief on the clothes and hats." Zhou Mengchen said meaningfully.

When Xiang Yuanbian heard this, he felt a little worried and said, "Sir, I admit it. My Xiang family has some sea business, but it is just a business, and there is no such thing as a Japanese. My Xiang family has been in charge for generations, so how could it go against the court in this matter? After Governor Zhu, my family has cut off its sea business. Now everything has nothing to do with our Xiang family."

Zhou Mengchen said, "Sir, I've been obsessed with the appearance. Have I said that the Xiang family is a thief in clothing?"

Zhou Mengchen actually believed Xiang Yuanbian's words. The reason is very simple. The Xiang family is too large. As the first family in Jiaxing, the Xiang family is in Jiaxing, just like Xu Ge Lao's Xu family is in Songjiang. But the Xiang family also knows their biggest shortcomings. That is, there are no high-ranking officials in the court. If there are middle-level officials, prefects, county magistrates, and head of the Ministry of Works, the Xiang family has offices. As for higher-level officials, only marriages can be found.

So the Xiang family is very low-key and is unwilling to cause trouble.

Compared with the interests of the sea trade, although it is attractive, the most important thing for the Xiang family is not to expand the Xiang family's industry, but to maintain its current foundation and pass on the Xiang family as the first family in Jiaxing.

It’s just that Zhou Mengchen understands it, but he will never give up on this suspicion. After all, it’s simple to doubt a person, but it’s difficult for a person, or a family to prove his innocence.

Xiang Yuanbian's forehead was slightly sweating.

Xiang Yuanbian was a famous scholar, not a politician. Although his IQ was online and he was smart, he had never experienced fierce struggles in the court, so Zhou Mengchen's scare of him was shaken in his heart.

He speculated in his heart whether Zhou Mengchen wanted to establish his authority as the scholars and officials in Jiangnan, and he happened to choose the Xiang family in Jiaxing Prefecture.

He also felt that Zhou Mengchen did not dare to smash the entire Jiangnan circle of scholars and officials, but the emperor might not dare, but he would dare to smash a certain family. As the head of the Xiang family, what he had to consider was the Xiang family, so that he would not think about other families.

Xiang Yuanbian said: "Sir, the Xiang family can give up all the land in Haining County. I just want the adults to give up their hands and let my family go. I can guarantee that Zhu Gongting's affairs are definitely not from our Xiang family. This time, the organization of scholars to cause trouble has nothing to do with my Xiang family."

At this time, Xiang Yuanbian was bleeding in his heart. As the most wealthy family in Jiaxing, his land was not only in Jiaxing County, but also in Tongguo County of Jiaxing Prefecture, but in the entire Jiaxing Prefecture, and there were some in Nanzhili.

It is normal for a large family to have land distribution in several counties.

Xiang Yuanbian felt that if he remembered correctly, the Xiang family had at least tens of thousands of acres in the original Haining Wei and Haining County, not just one village.

These lands are worth at least tens of thousands of taels, or even more. Not to mention, for large families, land is the foundation.

Zhou Mengchen was a little moved for a moment, but soon shook his head in his heart. He could not do this because the Xiang family would feel resentful. Yes, Zhou Mengchen didn't care whether the Xiang family was resentful. After all, the local family in Jiaxing had no influence on the center.

But Zhou Mengchen understood one thing very well, that is, if he attacked the Xiang family too ruthlessly, it would affect his cooperation with other Jiangnan families. Without cooperating with the Jiangnan family, he would be unable to do anything in Jiangnan.

Politics is to increase your friends and reduce your enemies. If Zhou Mengchen can successfully pull the Xiang family into his own camp, then there will be a good template and bargaining chip for other families in the future.

Zhou Mengchen said, "Why did Mr. Xiang say this? Does Mr. Xiang think that I, Zhou Mengchen, are people who will wrongly accuse good people without any evidence?"
Chapter completed!