Daming: The system rejected my request for salted fish

Chapter 1039

When Zhou Li was talking, Zhou Zhuohua just watched silently, but there was no expression on his face.

He remained silent for a long time until Zhou Li finished speaking before he slowly opened his mouth and said:

"Tell me your reasons."

Just like Zhou Zhuohua's expression, his voice and tone were also devoid of emotion.

But Zhou Li didn't take it to heart, because he knew very well that Zhou Zhuohua was not born like that.

In fact, Zhou Zhuohua treats his family's direct descendants in a completely different way, and he is just cold to the collateral descendants.

Especially for a businessman like Zhou Li, he may be very successful outside, but he has no status at home.

Zhou Li has been used to it for so many years, and even if he is dissatisfied, he keeps it to himself.

So even though Zhou Zhuohua spoke like this, he still responded in a normal tone.

"I went to discuss this with them on behalf of the family twice and found that their ideas were beginning to become extreme."

"Bao Guanjiao, filled with resentment over his son's affairs, actually proposed to kill the Duke of Zhenguo once and for all."

"I had originally suppressed it, but yesterday the Duke of Zhenguo arrested the young descendants of seven families and forced them to perform forced labor."

"Now, these families headed by Bao Guanjiao have already shown signs of doing things they shouldn't do!"

Zhou Li couldn't help but sighed when he said this, and then continued:

"We are just looking for money. Even if the land tax is fully implemented, at most it will reduce our future income."

"Overall, it won't cause any serious damage to the family, but if we go against the imperial court, the consequences will be something we can't bear."

"I can be sure that if the Duke of Zhenguo dies in Suzhou, none of us, the wealthy merchants and gentry families in Jiangnan, will be able to escape."

After expressing his concerns, Zhou Li looked at Zhou Zhuohua, waiting for his response.

However, Zhou Zhuohua was like a programmed robot, remaining silent and expressionless once again.

People who are not familiar with him will think that he is really thinking, but people who are familiar with him know that he is not thinking about anything at all.

The reason for his silence was entirely intentional. He liked to act like he was showing off his status.

"I've read about the land tax system. If it's fully implemented, it will cause serious damage to the interests of our Zhou family."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Li knew what Zhou Zhuohua was thinking, and couldn't help feeling helpless.

But he is a member of the Zhou family after all, and he cannot let the Zhou family go astray, so he spoke again:

"Chief, even if the land tax is implemented, we only need to pass the losses on to the tenants. In fact, the losses..."

Zhou Li wanted to continue speaking, but Zhou Zhuohua raised his hand to interrupt him.

"I said, the interests of the family cannot be harmed, Zhou Li, don't you understand what I said?"

Zhou Zhuohua's words were completely an attempt to pressure others by using his status as the clan leader, and Zhou Li had no way to deal with it.

Seeing Zhou Li remained silent, Zhou Zhuohua nodded in satisfaction and continued:

"Our Zhou family owns a large amount of land. If we don't rise up in resistance, these lands will just become the imperial court's wedding dress for nothing."

"Only by uniting with other families can we protect our own interests, so we absolutely cannot withdraw."

"As for what you said about the Bao family's plan to assassinate the Duke of Zhenguo, did they ever say which family was responsible for this?"

Zhou Li was stunned. He didn't expect Zhou Zhuohua to be so short-sighted. This was completely different from what he expected.

Moreover, it is not difficult to hear from Zhou Zhuohua's words that he actually agrees with taking action against the Duke of Zhenguo.

The reason I asked this question was simply to weigh the pros and cons. I guess I was afraid that this incident would happen to my family.

Simply put, they want to enjoy the benefits brought by the alliance, but they don't want to contribute a bit. It can be said that they want both.

To be honest, Zhou Li didn't think there was anything wrong with having both, but at least he had to see the situation clearly!

In the current situation, the best way is to withdraw. If you continue to get involved, the entire family may be implicated.

Just as Zhou Li was thinking quickly about how to persuade Zhou Zhuohua, he heard Zhou Zhuohua's voice.

"Can't you hear me? Or do you want me to ask you the same question again?"

Zhou Li came back to his senses and looked at Zhou Zhuohua. He noticed the hint of anger between his brows and sighed inwardly.

Knowing that it was useless for me to say anything more, I could only answer his question.

"Bao Guanjiao didn't intend for us to take action. He wanted 'them' to take action so they wouldn't be implicated."

"'them'?"

Zhou Zhuohua muttered softly, then quickly nodded in agreement and said:

"Yes, Bao Guanjiao's idea is very good. As long as 'they' take action, it has nothing to do with us."

Hearing that Zhou Zhuohua agreed with Bao Guanjiao's idea, Zhou Li couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

"Chief, this cannot be done! This is absolutely unacceptable! If we only resist the tax increase, we might still have a chance of survival."

"But if I get involved in this, my entire clan will be executed! If I do...how can I be worthy of the ancestors of the Zhou family?"

boom!

As soon as Zhou Li finished speaking, Zhou Zhuohua suddenly raised his hand and slapped the table.

"Zhou Li! You should figure out who is the head of the Zhou family and what the Zhou family should do. It's not your turn to dictate what to do."

"It seems that I have been too indulgent towards you, which is why you are so unruly. It just so happens that I called you back today to tell you."

"From now on, you don't have to take care of the Zhou family's business. I will hand it over to Feng'er!"

The Feng'er that Zhou Zhuohua mentioned was actually his son, but this son was born to a concubine, which Zhou Li also knew.

He also knew that Zhou Feng was a prodigal son, and that Zhou Li had to help clean up the mess many times when he got into trouble.

But every time Zhou Feng asked him to help keep it secret, and at the same time he would show it in front of Zhou Zhuohua, so Zhou Zhuohua was not aware of it.

The key is that Zhou Feng has a very scheming mother who taught him how to please his father, so he is quite liked by Zhou Zhuohua.

But what Zhou Li didn't expect was that Zhou Zhuohua actually withdrew himself and handed over the family business to that prodigal son.

If it weren't for my hard work, would the Zhou family have achieved the wealth they have today? But now they are being abandoned!

Unfortunately, facing Zhou Zhuohua's dominance, Zhou Li was powerless to resist because that was the Zhou family's business, and he was not the head of the family.

In the end, Zhou Li said nothing, saluted Zhou Zhuohua, and turned away in despair!