In the world, the "service system" was used to determine the kinship of the bloodline, and it was divided into five types of mourning clothes: chopping and decaying, Qi decay, great gong, small gong, and hemp.

When the king, father, and husband die, the ministers, sons, and wives and concubines must wear decay clothes and mourn for three years, in order to behead the declining relatives.

"Qi Yuanqin" refers to paternal relatives, "Great Meritorious Family" refers to grandfather relatives, "Small Meritorious Family" refers to great-grandfather relatives, "Maternal Family" refers to great-grandfather relatives, and maternal relatives are also included in "Maternal Family".

Usually the family refers to the clan blood relatives within the five suits, once the clan blood relationship exceeds the five suits, like Lin Bind, Lin Mengde, and Lin Jingzhong to the Lin family, they must be regarded as collateral children.

Although the Lin family is a wealthy family in Dongyang Mansion, only the clan blood relatives within the five suits can really benefit, like Lin Lian, Lin Jingzhong, and Lin Mengde, who are all from poor backgrounds, and they can stand out because of their own talents.

Of course, there is also a difference between the clan blood relatives within the five suits, and the clan blood relationship between the great-grandfather of the Xiaogong family and the family of the great-grandfather of the Ma family is much more estranged after all.

For a long time, the main affairs of the Lin family were controlled by the clansmen within Lin Tingxun's grandfather's line. Specifically, among the elders is Lin Tingxun's own uncle, in the ordinary generation, Lin Tingxun's brother and cousin, and in the younger generation, Lin Xunting's nephew and cousin.

Among the people who took refuge in Jiangning with Lin Tingxun this time, those who were close to Lin Tingxun included two uncles and uncles, one cousin, five widows, one young son, one young grandson, one cousin, three daughters, and two sons-in-law.

Everyone gathered in the thatched hall to discuss Lin Tingxun's funeral, which was actually to discuss the future way out of the Lin clan. Due to the relationship of the system, in addition to Lin Tingxun's two uncles, one cousin, five wives and Lin Tingxun's cousin Lin Xuhong, Lin Tingxun's three daughters and two sons-in-law were excluded.

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Lin Jian walked into the front hall of the grass hall, his eyes swept over everyone very quietly, and suddenly remembered something, and asked, "It's really negligent, why didn't you invite the young lady and the young master Sun to come over to discuss the funeral of the head of the family?" ”

The relationship between the second son, Lin Xuzong, and his wife has always been bad, Lin Xuzong and his concubine live in Wangxianglou on the south bank of Shanglin River all the year round, but his wife and his five-year-old son live in the mansion. Wangxianglou burned Zhao Neng and the horse thieves who devoured them, and his wife and son escaped and brought them to Jiangning with Lin Lian.

The young lady and young master Sun mentioned by Lin Jian are the orphans and widows left by the second son, Lin Xuzong.

Two of the three clan elders were Lin Tingxun's uncles, and one was Lin Tingxun's cousin, and they were all stunned when they heard Lin Tingxun's words.

It is said that the orphans and widows left by the second son are one of the female streamers, and the other is a five-year-old child.

At this time, Mingli said that the funeral was actually to determine the way out of the Lin clan in the future.

The meaning of Lin Lian's words is very clear, the three clan elders and Lin Tingxun are "great meritorious relatives", but when the Lin family is passed on to Lin Xuxi's generation, their relationship with the Lin family will be alienated as "small meritorious relatives".

According to the service system, the Lin family has been passed down to Lin Xuxi's generation, and in addition to the designated heir Lin Xuxi, who has decision-making power over the major affairs of the Lin family, there are only Lin Tingli (uncle), Lin Tingli's son (cousin), Lin Xuwen (brother), and the son of Lin Xuwen and Lin Xuzong.

Discussing the future way out of the Lin family, the orphans and widows left by the second son Lin Xuzong have the right to speak, but now the three elders of the Lin family will be kicked aside, and Lin Tingxun's cousin Lin Xuhong will also be kicked aside.

In fact, except for the third lady who is the main family and the sixth lady Shan is the biological mother of the little son, the other ladies have no decision-making power over the Lin family's major affairs in the future, except for the needs of the widowhood provided by the Lin family.

After Lin Tingxun died, the last words he left behind made everyone scratch their heads.

The three clan elders and Lin Xuhong were worried that Lin Jian would take the opportunity to control the Lin family's affairs in his hands, and then occupy the huge clan property in the past.

Lin Lian's simple words, these four people seemed to have given a heavy punch, and they were stunned for a long time without saying a word.

"Yes, I'm really in a hurry, I'll go find someone immediately......" Lin Mengde patted his head, turned around and walked out to personally invite the orphans and widows left behind by Lin Xuzong.

Lin Xuzong's wife Ma is a young woman with a thin face, there are a few white pockmarks on her face, barely a middle-aged posture, changed into a white filial piety, and walked in with her young son Lin Zhaoyi's hand, she first gave Lin Tie a salute: "We orphans and widows thank Lord Lin for taking care of ......" and saluted the third lady and several other ladies, and finally gave a salute to the three clan elders.

The third lady is Lin Xuzong's mother, but she has a long-term discordant relationship with her daughter-in-law Ma, at this time, she watched her walk in and salute, and wanted to pull her grandson Lin Zhaoyi into her arms.

Ma is a woman with a strong temperament, discussing the funeral of her father-in-law Lin Tingxun in the grass hall, she was excluded, and she complained very much about the three elders and her mother-in-law, but she was a female streamer, and she had no support in Jiangning, and she couldn't fight for anything, at this time Lin Mengde ran over and said that Lin Lian invited her orphans and widows to participate in the decision-making process, and she was naturally very grateful to Lin Lian.

Lin Xuzong hated Lin Xuan because of humiliation and other things, but Lin Xuzong died in the hands of Zhao Neng after all; Ma and Lin Xuzong have been at odds for a long time, and the relationship with Lin Xuzong's mother, the third lady, has always been very poor, and she naturally has no resentment towards Lin Xuzong.

Ma also understood in her heart that if she wanted to meddle in the affairs of the Lin family as a woman, she had to catch her young son Zhaoyi in her own hands, and she couldn't give her mother-in-law, the third lady, an old widow, to snatch Zhaoyi over.

Ma was isolated in the Lin family, and her mother's family was in decline and could not rely on her, so Lin Jian asked Lin Mengde to invite her over personally, as if she saw a big tree floating in front of her when she was drowning, and she instinctively wanted to hold on to it.

Gu Yingsleeve was amused in her heart, she didn't know what Lin Jian and Lin Mengde had to discuss for a long time, just inviting Ma's mother and son out, she ruthlessly generalized everyone here.

The three clan elders and Lin Xuhong were all like frosted eggplants, and the other ladies all had different faces.

"The last instructions of the head of the family, Uncle Mengde told me," Lin Jian saw that the people who should be there and those who could arrive were all there, so he began to talk about the right thing, "The head of the family is kind to me and my parents, I made a big mistake, and the thing that the head of the family was thinking about on his deathbed actually allowed me to return to the clan, so how can I repay the grievances of the head of the family?" Lin Bin's tone was earnest and sobbing, as if he was repenting of the big mistake he had made, "In order to be able to justifiably clothe the head of the family and keep filial piety, I naturally have to follow the instructions of the head of the family and return to the clan, and I don't need your ladies to persuade the clan elders." The changes in the forest, you also know that I, Lin Lian, have always thought of the Lin family, and I can also make up for the big mistakes I made in the past. It's just that I don't know how to comfort the head of the family under Jiuquan, and I want to ask the ladies and clan elders to help me get an idea. Although Jiyun Club is said to be created by me in Jiangning's self-established portal, but Jiyun Club is not my Jiyun Club after all, Jingzhong is also a child of the Lin family, things are easy to say, but Jiyun Club still has the Gu family and Zuo Sikou to join the army Master Zhang's silver shares, so let Jiyun Club return to the Lin family, it really makes me embarrassed......"

When Lin Lian said this, everyone present was shocked, even Gu Yingsleeve was quite surprised, after all, she had always been on the side of the cottage, and she didn't know what the result of Lin Lian and Lin Mengde had gone out for a long time to discuss.

In order to win over Lin Tie, Lin Tingxun passed Lin Tie to a distant cousin who had passed away but had no heirs to inherit him, which was included in the five suits and became a real disciple of the Lin family.

Lin Tie has been in Jiangning since then, and the Lin family has never proposed to expel Lin Tie from the clan, and there is no such thing as him returning or not returning.

The Lin family has been passed down to Lin Xuxi's generation, and the relationship between Lin Lian and Lin Xuxi is another layer away, and it can only be regarded as a close relationship, which is farther than the relationship between the three clan elders and Lin Xuxi.

According to the current court uniform system, Lin Jian could not participate in the decision-making of the Lin family's major affairs, but after the Jiyun Society returned to the Lin family, Lin Jian could have the decision-making power over the actual affairs of the Lin family by occupying a certain proportion of silver shares in many industries of the Lin family.

Whether the Jiyun Society returns or not is actually the key to whether Lin Jian can control the Lin family's power.

Lin Tingxun's last words asked everyone to persuade Lin Tie to agree to make Jiyun Society return to the Lin family, everyone was worried that Lin Tie would take the opportunity to fight for clan power, and they never thought that Lin Tie would refuse to return Jiyun Club to the Lin family, at this time, they were all stunned and didn't know what to say, did they really want to persuade him and ask him to agree to make Jiyun Club return to the Lin family?

"It's just that my Uncle Tingxun's last words said so......" Lin Tingxun's cousin Lin Xuhong said hesitantly.

"Don't persuade me, I don't want to disobey the master's teachings, but this matter is really difficult to do, I'll kowtow to the head of the family and admit my ......mistakes," Lin Jian said in a decisive voice, "The future affairs of the head of the family, I still want a few ladies to discuss with the clan elders, it is best to send someone to Dongyang tonight to report the funeral with Yanjing, ask for money and place, tell me, tell Jingzhong the same, I will do it all here." ”

Lin Jian expressed his attitude, and removed the biggest doubts that were pressing on everyone's hearts, and the next things have rules and laws to follow, there is nothing difficult to decide, and there is no need for everyone to gather in the grass hall to discuss.

The corpse should be temporarily parked in the Yizhuang of the Leaky Zeyuan at the mouth of the river, and then transported back to Shiliang and buried in the ancestral grave after the situation has stabilized; That night, he sent people into the city to invite the wives and mortuaries to embalm Lin Tingxun's body. Afraid that there would be changes on the way, he sent two groups of people to the eldest prince of Yanjing and the second master of Dongyang to deliver the funeral letter; In the letter, Lin Tingxun's death, last words, and the amount of property brought to Jiangning in a hurry were all written down, and the three clan elders, five wives, and other people who had decision-making power over the Lin family's major affairs all signed the letter.

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After Gu Yingsleeve arrived at the estuary, she lived in the same single courtyard with the fourth lady and the fifth lady in the surrounding house, and at this time, she and several ladies had to go to the Yizhuang of Drain Zeyuan to keep Lin Tingxun's spirit, and there were many people in the estuary and the surrounding house, so Lin Lian could not get along with Yingsleeve alone and talk in detail.

After Lin Jian finished other things, he went to the mortuary Yizhuang at night to worship Lin Tingxun, and brought Liu Yue'er and Xiaoman over.

Several ladies and Ma's family, Xiao Gongzi, and Young Master Sun were all resting in the side room, and Lin Jian asked Liu Yue'er and Xiaoman to find Ying Sleeve and tell her his plans, so that she could feel at ease for the time being.

In the main house of the morgue, Lin Tie sat under his buttocks with a stack of yellow paper, burned a few stacks of paper money for Lin Tingxun, looked at the Nanmu giant coffin, and the most honored after death was only a cold corpse, thinking that Lin Tingxun's life was also magnificent, enjoying all the wealth, his talent and courage were actually far stronger than his brother Lin Tingli, until he was bedridden and could not speak, could not move, the Lin clan was out of his grasp, if he was born in troubled times, maybe it was a hero.

"Lord Lin is here......"

Lin Lian glanced back, Lin Tingxun's cousin Lin Xuhong walked in, he gave way to the side, gave Lin Xuhong a place to sit down, and said: "Seventh brother can call me Lin Lian, if you are ranked according to the seniority of your family, I will be the seventeenth, and the seventh brother can call me the seventeenth, each other's brothers, don't call me Shengfen." He handed him two stacks of paper threads and burned them to Lin Tingxun under Jiuquan together.

Lin Xuhong is only twenty-eight years old this year, among the many brothers in the family, ranked seventh, and has been the chief steward of Lin Ji Warehouse for several years, although his ability, knowledge, and experience are not better than Lin Mengde, but his father who died early is a cousin with Lin Tingxun and Lin Tingli, and his actual status in the Lin family is much higher than Lin Mengde.

Now that Lin Tingxun has passed away, the Lin family has passed down to Lin Xuxi's generation, and according to the rules, several of the main stewards of the Lin family before will be replaced.

"Hehe, old seventeen," Lin Xuhong smiled, feeling that the relationship between the two was really much closer, although Lin Lian was included in the clan after showing off his talents in the examination, there was no one in the family who looked up to him, and they were commensurate with each other, and they deliberately left Lin Lian in the past, Lin Xuhong sat next to Lin Lian and burned paper for Lin Tingxun, and said, "It's not that I said it afterwards, there are so many children of the Lin family, I was most optimistic about you early on, and as I expected, such a big plate in the estuary can't be made by others......"

"What plate is not a plate, tos......s blindly" Lin Lian said, he has no contact with Lin Xuhong, so naturally he has nothing to do with it, but he takes retreat as advance, and forces Lin Xuhong and the three clan elders to the corner where the power is about to fall, so Lin Xuhong and the three clan elders have to think clearly, suppressing him Lin Lian will not benefit them at all, so Lin Xuhong took the initiative to get married, and Lin Lian naturally will not refuse people thousands of miles away.

"Old Seventeen, what do you say the second master and the eldest son will do when they receive the funeral letter...... Lin Xuhong asked.

"The second master can't get away in Dongyang, and he will probably send the fourth or sixth child to guard his filial piety, but the eldest prince is not clear." Lin Jian said vaguely.

Lin Jian took the initiative to take a big step back, and the power struggle of the Lin family would not be transferred to him and Lin Tingli, Lin Xuwen and others.

According to the regulations of the court's uniform system, as the designated heir, the little son Lin Xuxi is still young, and those who can participate in the decision-making of the Lin family's affairs, in addition to Lin Tingli and Lin Xuwen, there are also the third lady of Lin Tingxun's main room, and the sixth lady of the little son Lin Xuxi's biological mother, Shan, one is the biological mother of Young Master Sun Lin Zhaoyi, Ma Shi; Obviously, the third lady, the sixth lady, and the Ma family are all women, and they can't really show up and stand up to take charge, even if Lin Tingli and Lin Xuwen can't come over in person, they will appoint an agent to participate in the affairs here. Several principals before the Lin family, including the three clan elders, Lin Xuhong, Lin Zonghai, and the seventh lady Gu Yingsleeve, were all marginalized.

Lin Xuhong came to Lin Tie at this time, of course, he didn't want to be marginalized.

"By the way, Uncle Mengde just talked to the three clan elders and me that he wants to take care of Jiangning's affairs for us. It is said that the children of his family are all in Jiangning, and it is not appropriate for him to continue to grasp Jiangning's affairs in his hands," Lin Xuhong said, "It's just that even if the second master and the eldest prince will send someone over, they won't be able to come for a while, and no one here can get an accurate idea of everything, so you can't just let it be a mess, right?" ”

"The second master is fast, send someone across the river to report the news, Ning Duo will have a response in three days," Lin Jian said, "Let the second master take the idea first, and wait for the eldest master to come over in person or send someone over, and then discuss it together, and there will be no delay." You live in the estuary, and although the conditions are difficult, you don't have to worry about anything else. ”

Lin Tie was sure that Lin Tingli would not be able to get out and come to Jiangning, and he only asked for two points to be met in this arrangement: first, Lin Tingli would leave Lin Zonghai in Dongyang, and it would be okay to send one of his two sons over; The second is that Lin Xuwen is still in Yanjing for the time being.

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PS: Brothers have to get used to voting for red!