But Tao Zhugong's eldest son rushed to Chu State, and after seeing Zhuang Sheng, he couldn't help but be disappointed. It turned out that Zhuang Sheng's home was just a few dilapidated houses, the weeds in front of the door were grown, there were few people, and Zhuang Sheng's figure was sparse, his appearance was not amazing, and the clothes he wore were all patches, so he didn't look like a wise man with great ability.

Nevertheless, the eldest son did as his father had commanded, and gave Zhuang Sheng a great gift, and presented his father's letter and the 1,200 eridium gold.

After reading the letter, Zhuang Sheng said: "I will definitely do what your father has entrusted me, and within ten days, your brother can return to Taoyi, and if you leave the gold, leave here quickly, and don't stay, even after your brother is released, don't ask why." ”

Although the eldest son left the gold, he did not leave the state of Chu, but visited the three ruling ministers of the state of Chu one after another, and gave each of them a hundred pieces of gold that he had brought privately, and asked them to try to relieve his brother of the death penalty.

It turned out that the eldest son saw that Zhuang Sheng was poor and destitute, and thought that he had no ability and would definitely not be able to save his younger brother. When he was young, he followed his father to do business in various countries, and whenever he encountered a difficult thing, his father would give gold to the powerful ministers of various countries, and then all the difficulties would be solved. Therefore, the eldest child also wants to learn his father's methods and rely on his own ability to save his younger brother's life.

After the three ruling ministers of the Chu State accepted the gold, they agreed to the request of the chief and asked the chief to wait for the good news in the pavilion, but everyone was thinking about how to spend the hundred gold in their hearts, not how to save the second son of Tao Zhugong. Because Tao Zhugong did not have any power in Chu, and the gold was already in his hands, the powerful ministers of Chu would certainly not spend effort to save the son of an ordinary foreign businessman. But Tao Zhugong's eldest son believed it, so he lived in the pavilion and waited for the good news.

And a few days later, there was really good news, it turned out that the king of Chu was going to announce an amnesty, as long as he was not a criminal of treason, he could be pardoned, and Tao Zhugong's second son was naturally among the amnesty.

It turns out that Zhuang Sheng is proficient in the science of star images, and has always been famous for his honesty and integrity, he does not admire high-ranking officials, is not greedy for money, and is willing to live in a dilapidated house, the king of Chu often gives Zhuang Sheng rich rewards, but Zhuangzi only leaves a little to live, and the rest are all scattered to the poor people in the country, and the king of Chu repeatedly wants to worship Zhuang Sheng as an official, but also Zhuang Sheng politely declined. Because Zhuang Sheng said that he had no wealth in his life, and if he left too much wealth, it would only bring disaster to himself, so in the state of Chu, from the king of Chu to the bottom, Zhuang Sheng was very respectful. And the king of Chu also trusted Zhuang Sheng very much, and often invited Zhuang Sheng into the palace to listen to him explain the changes of the star image and discuss the evil omen.

After Tao Zhugong's eldest son left Zhuang Sheng's house, the king of Chu invited Zhuang Sheng into the palace to explain the star statue, and Zhuang Sheng persuaded the king of Chu to implement moral government on the grounds that the celestial phenomena had a bad omen and the state of Chu was in danger, so the king of Chu was ready to implement amnesty in the country.

The three ruling ministers of the Chu State, who received the gold from the eldest son, saw that the king of Chu was going to implement an amnesty, and immediately summoned the eldest son of Tao Zhu Gong and showed him his merits, saying that the amnesty of the king of Chu was the result of their advice, and it was entirely to save Tao Zhugong's second son, and hinted that the eldest son would give them an additional hundred gold for each person.

When the eldest son of Tao Zhugong heard that his younger brother was about to be rescued, he was very grateful to the three ruling ministers of Chu State, and immediately rushed to Zhuang Sheng's house and demanded back 1,200 eridium gold from him. Because the eldest son thinks that the younger brother is about to be rescued, it is not the credit of Zhuang Sheng, and of course the gold cannot be given to Zhuang Sheng.

Zhuang Sheng was taken aback when he saw that Tao Zhugong's eldest son was still in the Chu State, and he sighed a few times, and let Tao Zhugong's eldest son move away the 1,200 eridium gold. After Tao Zhugong's eldest son took away the gold, he gave another hundred eridium gold to each of the three ruling ministers of Chu State, and then took the remaining nine hundred eridium gold to wait for his younger brother to return in the pavilion, and he was also very proud in his heart, he did not listen to his father's words, but he also saved his younger brother, and he spent a lot less gold, and after returning to Taoyi, he will definitely get his father's praise.

Before the king of Chu issued an amnesty decree, he invited Zhuang Sheng into the palace and presided over the ceremony of praying to the emperor, and Zhuang Sheng took the opportunity to say to the king of Chu: "When I came to the palace, I heard that many people outside were talking about it, saying that the son of Tao Zhugong, a wealthy merchant in Taodi, was imprisoned and waiting to be beheaded after killing people in Chu State, so Tao Zhugong bribed the courtiers around the king with money, so that the king of Chu issued an amnesty decree. If God knew about the slander of the people, I am afraid it would be difficult to accept the king's act of respecting heaven and virtue. ”

When the king of Chu heard this, he was furious and said, "Although the widow is not virtuous, he will not issue an amnesty decree for the sake of a merchant's wife. So the king of Chu immediately issued an edict, ordering that the second son of Tao Zhugong be killed first, and then the edict of amnesty was issued.

As a result, the king of Chu issued an amnesty decree, and the other criminals were reunited with their families, only Tao Zhugong's eldest son received a corpse with a different head. After the three ruling ministers of Chu accepted the gold, they all turned their faces and refused to see Tao Zhugong's eldest son, and as a result, Tao Zhugong's eldest son wanted to cry without tears, so he had to return to Taoyi with his brother's corpse and the remaining 900 eridium gold.

Tao Zhugong's family members were extremely sad and cried, and when all the neighbors and friends came to comfort Tao Zhugong, they were also sad and wept.

Unexpectedly, Tao Zhugong did not have a sad color at all, but looked up to the sky and laughed, as if he was very happy. The crowd was shocked, and thought that Tao Zhugong was in a sad transition, and his mind was in chaos.

Tao Zhugong laughed enough before he said: "I knew that if my eldest son went to Chu, he would kill his younger brother." The eldest son is not unloving his brother, just because he has been starting a business with me since he was a child, suffering from hardships, knowing that gold is not easy to come by, so he can't bear to abandon it, and when the young son was born, I was very rich, I don't know that gold is difficult to come by, all day long fighting cocks and horses, enjoying the joy of sound and lust, spending money like earth, I want to make him go to Chu to save my brother, because he does not hesitate to gold also. And the eldest child didn't know my intentions, so he had to go to Chu to save his brother, and he didn't hesitate to force him to die, so I had to order him to go. However, the eldest son is out, I know that the second son will die, this is still the will of God, non-human can be recovered, I have always been like God, I know the will of God, so there is no sadness. And it is not ridiculous that you do not see the will of heaven, and grieve in vain? ”

After listening to Tao Zhugong's words, everyone looked at each other unconsciously, and at the same time a chill was born from the bottom of their hearts, seeing the corpse of their son, they could still laugh, and even if the death of the second son was the will of heaven, but they should not laugh so loudly, and they were complacent with their own calculations. Therefore, from then on, neighbors and friends were afraid of Tao Zhugong and did not dare to get close. After hearing this story, all countries also felt that Tao Zhugong was a thin person, and they did not dare to invite Tao Zhugong as an official again.

Since then, Tao Zhugong's eldest son has been depressed, and he died of illness not long after. Tao Zhugong handed over all his property to the three children to take care of, retired to the countryside, and enjoyed his old age in peace. At the ceremony of the teaching industry, people who saw Tao Zhugong felt that Tao Zhugong was much older.

A few years later, Tao Zhu Gong also died, and Tao Zhu Gong's three sons officially inherited Tao Zhu Gong's property and also inherited the title of Tao Zhu Gong, and each generation of Tao Zhu masters took Tao Zhu Gong as their own title. Tao Zhugong's three sons became the second generation of Tao Zhugong. At this time, Taoyi was occupied by the Qi State, so the second generation of Tao Zhugong moved his family to Linzi, the capital of the Qi State, and took root in the Qi State.

Up to now, he is the tenth generation of Tao Zhugong. And the Tao Zhu clan has also become a big clan of the Qi country, with a population of more than 10,000 people, and industries all over the world, in terms of commerce alone, the Tao Zhu clan is far more than the Tian family and the Duanmu clan, and it is not an exaggeration to call it the richest merchant in the world. However, Tao Zhu Gong in the past dynasties was only in business, and only because of the needs of business did he make friends with some officials, but he did not participate in politics, and if the younger brothers in the clan had a Shi Shi as an official, Tao Zhu Gong gave them a sum of money, let them change their names and surnames, and removed them from the clan. And I will not associate with them again.

Because of this, the Tao Zhu clan's ranking in the Qi State should be after the Tian clan and the Duanmu clan. However, the Tao Zhu clan has a huge influence in the commerce of the Qi country, even surpassing the Tian clan and the Duanmu clan, and also has a lot of contacts with other countries, so the Tao Zhu clan still has a pivotal position in the Qi country. In the past, Lin Wenqing did business with the Qi State, mainly to cooperate with the Tao Zhu clan.

The last Guan clan, although it is much worse than the Tian clan, the Duanmu clan, and the Tao Zhu clan, but it also has a great history in the Qi country, and they are the descendants of the famous Guan Zhong during the reign of Duke Huan of Qi.

Guan Zhong was a generation of famous ministers in the Spring and Autumn Period, assisting Qi Huan Gong to become the first overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period. Later, Guan Zhong became the prime minister in the Qi country, and many of the measures in his governance were to encourage business. After Guan Zhong's death, although his grandson inherited Guan Zhong's title, there were also people who returned to their old business and started to run business again, of course, this is only a phenomenon that can only be seen in a country with a highly developed business like Qi.

Later, the Tian clan rose in the Qi State, squeezed out other ethnic groups in the court, and monopolized the power of the Qi State. The Guan family saw that the Tian clan's power had become and it was difficult to resist it, so he no longer cared about political affairs and devoted himself to business. As a result, it has developed to the present, and Guan has also become a large merchant in Qi State.

Therefore, the four merchants who came to Daijun this time are all wealthy businessmen of Qi State, and they have a lot of influence in Qi State, and even the current powerful ministers of Qi State must be taboo for three points, if these four families are united, it is enough to affect the government decision-making of Qi State. Moreover, the family representatives sent are called Tian Qing, Duanmu Shao, Tao Zhuqi, and Guan Ke, although they are not the decision-makers of the family, they all hold more important responsibilities in the family.

Of course, the wealthy merchant families of Qi are not only these four, but also Bao's, Guo's, Luan's, Guo's, and so on, and they are also interested in the paper produced by Daijun. But this time, only four families sent people to Daigun, after all, each family's considerations are different, some people think that there is a great business opportunity here, and some people think that this is just an ordinary best-selling product, and the attitude of importance is naturally different.