85: Chapter 85 Conditions for Advancing to a Noble Family

Pei Qingyun scratched his head and asked in confusion, "Brother Chen, what do you mean by that? Is it possible that the Li Family has some special relationship with the Prefecture?"

According to his memory, the three major families were not only similar in strength, but none of them had any backing.

If that were not the case, the Pei Family would not have been able to strike so decisively.

Chen Yuanba smiled and did not play hard to get at this moment. "Brother Pei, rest assured, there is no big shot behind the Li Family. However, the Li Family has something that is urgently needed by all the major forces."

After pondering for a moment, Pei Qingyun had a vague guess in his heart, but he still asked for advice, "What is this thing? I ask that you clarify, Brother."

Chen Yuanba took a small sip of tea and spoke slowly, "Grain and exotic beast meat are things that all major forces in the Prefecture need. In previous years, the Calamity of Demons was under control, and the merchant routes to the Prefecture were unobstructed. But starting from May this year, something went wrong at the source of the Demons. This led to a reduction in grain production in all the counties, including Wuyang County, where the harvest decreased by several tens of percent."

"Not to mention the situation in the Prefecture. The major families in the Prefecture mainly rely on unique resources or production through operations for their main industries. Few families grow crops on a large scale for basic industries like grain. Therefore, this leads to the Prefecture's grain supply mainly relying on tax grain handed over by the counties or purchased through merchants, and the Li Family is one of the major grain sellers."

"In mid-June this year, the merchant routes had to be closed early due to the Calamity of Demons. Fortunately, before the merchant routes were closed, the government offices of each county had already handed over the tax grain for the first half of the year."

"Half a year has passed since June. The Prefecture has likely fallen into a state of grain shortage. Looking at the tax grain collected by the government offices in the second half of the year, it will certainly not be able to meet the needs of the Prefecture. By then, they will have no choice but to turn to the Li Family."

Speaking of this, Chen Yuanba's throat was a bit dry. He watched Pei Qingyun's reaction while drinking the tea in his cup.

Pei Qingyun basically understood what Chen Yuanba meant.

As one of the granaries of Jinhuai Prefecture, Wuyang County provides 30% to 40% of the grain for the Prefecture every year.

Among them, tax grain accounts for the majority, followed by the major grain households in Wuyang County. Before annexing the two families, the Pei Family also had a grain industry, but it was not the Pei Family's main business.

But even so, the Pei Family's grain was completely sufficient, and they would even sell a large batch of grain to the grain households in the Prefecture.

But compared to the Li Family, the Pei Family's total grain production was far behind. Although Pei Qingyun did not know the specific numbers, he estimated that there was definitely a tenfold difference.

With memories of his past life, Pei Qingyun knew very well how terrifying a famine was.

In the Face of famine, grain easily becomes a scarce resource. But the premise is that you must have the strength to protect the grain.

Otherwise, when people are starving to death, why would they bother talking to you about rules?

Although Chen Yuanba did not speak directly, Pei Qingyun still sensed a hint of meaning.

If the major forces come to buy grain, which one should he sell to? How much quantity, what price? These are all difficult problems.

However, since Chen Yuanba asked him to come over, there must be a solution.

Therefore, Pei Qingyun did not mince words and said directly, "Brother Chen, you might as well speak plainly. If the major forces of the Prefecture come to my Pei Family to buy grain, how should we handle it?"

Chen Yuanba laughed; he was waiting for this sentence from Pei Qingyun. "Brother Pei, there is no need to be too nervous. Since everyone is coming to buy grain, there is naturally buying and selling. Since you trust me so much, I won't hide it from you. Asking you to come here actually has my own selfish motives. But if you feel it is inappropriate, there is no need to force it. I don't want to have an unpleasant time with you because of this."

Upon hearing this, Pei Qingyun felt a bit more favorably toward Chen Yuanba and smiled, "Friendship is friendship, and business is business. Brother, please speak; I am all ears."

Chen Yuanba chuckled, "Before saying this, you should also be clear about the major forces in the Prefecture."

Pei Qingyun searched his memory, and information about Jinhuai Prefecture appeared in his mind.

Pei Qingyun said slowly, "As far as I know, there are seven major forces in Jinhuai Prefecture, namely the Prefecture Governor, the Evil Suppression Bureau, the Garrison General, and the four second-rate families: Qian, Chen, He, and Lü. Besides that, there are quite a lot of third-rate families, probably dozens of them."

"Roughly speaking, you are not wrong, but one point needs to be corrected. There are not seven major forces in the Prefecture; to be precise, there are only four major families in the Prefecture. You will understand this point later, so I won't explain too much. I believe you must have guessed that I come from the Chen Family, one of the four major families, and I am a sixteenth-generation direct descendant, Chen Yuanba." Speaking of this, Chen Yuanba also carried a trace of pride.

The Jinhuai Chen Family has a certain influence even in the surrounding prefectures. As a direct descendant of the Chen Family, Chen Yuanba naturally has a sense of shared honor and disgrace.

However, there is one thing Chen Yuanba guessed wrong.

At first, Pei Qingyun thought Chen Yuanba would say he was a direct line of the Chen Family.

It turned out to be just a direct descendant.

But after thinking carefully, he felt this was reasonable. The strength of the Late Stage of Five Viscera is not weak in the Prefecture.

But if Chen Yuanba were a direct line of the Chen Family, that would not be right; he should have broken through to the Six Viscera Realm by now.

However, Pei Qingyun would not look down on Chen Yuanba because of this.

Since Chen Yuanba is a direct descendant of the Chen Family, there must be a Six Viscera Grandmaster in his lineage.

Not to mention, Pei Qingyun quite likes Chen Yuanba as a person.

Although he guessed it, on the surface, Pei Qingyun gave Chen Yuanba enough Face and said in surprise, "I didn't expect that you, Brother Chen, are actually a direct descendant of the Chen Family. Being transferred to the Evil Suppression Bureau to serve as a director is really a waste of your talents. I hope you will take care of me in the future."

Chen Yuanba waved his hand and signaled, "Brother, don't say that. If it weren't for your efforts in the Calamity of Demons and the Ling Ziwen incident, my status as a direct descendant of the Chen Family wouldn't be very useful. I keep your care for me in mind."

"Time is tight. We can talk later when we have time. Let's talk about business first."

Just like that, the two chatted for a while longer.

Pei Qingyun then left the Evil Suppression Bureau.

Returning to the Pei Family territory, Pei Qingyun went straight to the Family Head's courtyard.

Seeing Pei Qingyun arrive, Pei Tianrong, who was still busy, immediately put down his work and bowed.

Pei Tianrong also knew about his Old Ancestor going to the Evil Suppression Bureau, so he asked curiously, "Old Ancestor, Director Chen summoned you to discuss something. Did something happen?"

Pei Qingyun said, "Nothing major. It's just that the merchant routes to the Prefecture will be opened in the next few days."

Once these words were spoken, Pei Tianrong immediately became excited, his Face flushing, "That is great."

The Pei Family has a large amount of resources in their hands, and he was worried about not having a sales channel. Once this merchant route is opened, the Pei Family will take off immediately.

Pei Qingyun said seriously, "Don't be too happy too soon. Opening the merchant route is naturally a good thing. But before that, there is one more thing you need to do, and the sooner the better."

Pei Tianrong's expression became serious, and he restrained his smile. He knew his Old Ancestor's character very well; generally, when the Old Ancestor spoke, it was definitely not a small matter. "Old Ancestor, please speak."

Pei Qingyun said slowly, "The merchant route is about to be opened. I plan to sell a batch of grain to the Jinhuai Chen Family and the Jinhuai He Family. Because the amount of grain sold this time is huge, I need to know clearly how much usable grain the Family has."

"Old Ancestor, wait a moment. I will have the accounting department verify it right away." Saying this, Pei Tianrong did not bother to instruct the servants and ran out by himself.

On the way running, Pei Tianrong kept recalling what Pei Qingyun had said.

Grain is not a scarce item in Wuyang County. Even if it is sold outside the Prefecture, the price will only rise a lot, but it is not worth the Old Ancestor asking about it solemnly.

Jinhuai Chen Family, Jinhuai He Family...

When he recited these eight words, the more he felt something was wrong.

In his memory, among the third-rate families in the Prefecture, there was no Chen surname at all. There was a third-rate Family with the He surname, but the He Family was just a down-and-out household. The only Five-Viscera Martial Artist was only in the Early stage of Five Viscera Realm.

If it were a few months ago, he, Pei Tianrong, would naturally hold them in high regard.

But now, the Pei Family is no longer what it used to be.

Once the merchant route is opened, Pei will soon give birth to the fourth Five-Viscera Martial Artist. In front of the Pei Family, the mere He Family is not enough to look at, and it is completely unworthy of the Old Ancestor doing this.

Jinhuai Chen Family, Jinhuai He Family...

Pei Tianrong repeated it silently.

Suddenly.

A shocking idea appeared in his mind.

"No! The Old Ancestor wouldn't be talking about the Chen Family and the He Family, two of the four major families in Jinhuai Prefecture."

In the Great Jing Dynasty, except for the unranked families that have no promotion requirements.

From being promoted from an unranked Family to a third-rate Family, there are strict requirements.

One of the conditions for promotion to a third-rate Family is that there is at least one Five-Viscera Martial Artist in the clan. Secondly, there are corresponding requirements for the number of Divine Strength Martial Artists in the clan and the total number of clansmen.

In addition, to be promoted to a third-rate Family, one must also accumulate enough battle merits.

For example, assisting the Evil Suppression Bureau in eliminating Demons, assisting in city defense, capturing Blood Demon Evil Servants, or going to the Outer Lands to fight are all ways to accumulate battle merits.

Most third-rate families are promoted through the accumulation of eliminating Demons.

However, it is not that you can be promoted to a Family immediately just because all conditions are met.

The promotion review for a third-rate Family can be applied for once every three years. If there is promotion, there is naturally deprivation.

However, the Great Jing Dynasty is relatively lenient in terms of stripping the Family title.

It is assessed only once every five years, and the Family title will be stripped only if it fails to meet the standard twice in a row.

But often, many families cannot survive the first assessment and choose to give up voluntarily.

Having no strength but occupying a Family title.

The consequences are serious.

Behind them, I don't know how many families covet their position.

If they don't give up, they will become targets for these forces to attack.

The Law of the jungle.

Is the only Law of survival.

The same is true for families.

As for the promotion to a second-rate Family, it is even stricter.

After all, for a privileged class like a Family, how could the imperial court easily let people rise to power?

As far as Pei Tianrong knows.

The first condition for promotion to a second-rate Family is that there must be no fewer than three Six Viscera Grandmasters in the clan, and at least one must be in the Late Stage.