He praised me when he spoke? This person is very good at winning people's hearts! Zhu Yuanzhang quickly said, "I'm too much, these are what villains should do."

Ma Zhixiong said expressionlessly: "It's not a reward at all. Don't pretend to be modest. I don't like to talk about social engagements. Let's just talk straight to the point."

He paused here, turned to Ma Qianjiu and said, "Go to my account to pay a hundred taels of silver to Zhu Ba. If I am not in the mansion, you guys are not careful in doing things. Zhu Ba has made such great achievements, why don't you even give some decent rewards?"

Ma Qianjiu whispered: "The master rewarded twenty taels of silver, and the third lady also rewarded him with several sets of clothes, shoes and socks..."

"Go! What's the use of this reward?" Ma Zhixiong waved his hand and said, "My face of the Ma family and the safety of my second brother are only worth twenty taels of silver and a few sets of clothes? One hundred taels are less, but if you give too much, you are afraid that others will be jealous. I will only give him one hundred taels for the time being and reward him later."

Ma Qianjiu quickly paid the money.

Ma Zhixiong said to Zhu Ba again: "My second brother, alas... my father and third sister know to reward you, but he, the real master, did not express any of it. My second brother on behalf of you, don't take it to heart, and help my family do things in the future."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and thought to himself: This Ma Zhixiong is indeed a powerful character. While rewarding me heavily, he deliberately used rewards to highlight the differences between him and the second young master, making me hate the second young master even more and thank him for his appreciation... If I were just an ordinary cowherd who had no knowledge, I would be fooled by his two words and would become his loyal dog.

Controlling people's hearts was originally Zhu Yuanzhang's specialty, but now a guy of the same type as him came, and he couldn't help but become alert.

Ma Zhixiong pointed to the chair next to him and signaled Zhu Yuanzhang to sit down and speak, and said, "By the way, Zhu Ba, this time the matter of dealing with County Magistrate Chen made me look at you with admiration. I want to ask you, what is going on with our Ma family and the Zhang family in Chengcheng?"

The other party was a person who did practical things and did not speak illusions, so Zhu Yuanzhang did not cover up and stretched out his two fingers and said, "Two ways."

"I hope to hear it carefully!"

Zhu Yuanzhang whispered: "The first method is to borrow the power of the Shan family to completely kill the Zhang family in Chengcheng... The second method is to borrow the power of the Shan family and the Zhang family in Chengcheng turned swords into jade and silk..."

Ma Zhixiong laughed in silence: "Your two methods are the momentum of borrowing the Shan Family, but the specific plans are in the opposite direction and cannot reach the same direction. What are your considerations?"

"The first method is to consider that the two sides have already made enemies, if they do not kill each other, we may be trapped by each other at any time." Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice: "The eldest young master cannot stay at home all the time. He will soon go to Xi'an to run a rice village. In order to completely solve this problem, he must slap the Zhang family to death to avoid leaving any future troubles."

"Well said!" Ma Zhixiong smiled: "But since ancient times, the people have not fought with officials, so we are not able to kill the Zhang family. If you want to frame Zhang again, Shan Da may not be fooled. I guess now, Shan Da also guessed that Chen Guanyu is not a member of the Donglin Party and was misled by you, but he wants face and will not tell this."

"That's right, that's why I considered the second method." Zhu Yuanzhang said with a sneer and said, "The Shan family and we have joined forces to scare Chen Guanyu away. The Zhang family in Chengcheng must have known it. The Chengcheng* County is more than 70 miles away from Baishui* County. The news spread slowly and chaotic. Now he must still not know what the relationship between the Shan family and our Ma family is. We just borrowed the power of the Shan family and went to the Zhang family in Chengcheng to show kindness at this time... Zhang family under the pressure of the Shan family, will definitely get rid of the past grudges with us... If he delays a little longer, when he finds out the real relationship between the Shan family and our family, he might make a monster again."

"Okay!" Ma Zhixiong slapped the table and shouted: "Good plan! You are indeed a Lingli person."

After listening to the story told by Ma Qianjiu, although he was amazed at Zhu Ba's outstanding ability, he still felt a little unbelievable. How could a cowherd in the countryside be so powerful? Most of them were inaccurate or accidentally hit. However, after hearing Zhu Ba's words, his feelings had completely changed, and he unknowingly regarded Zhu Ba as a think tank.

He could actually take advantage of the Shan family's remaining power to this point. This insight, even if it is placed in the prosperous Xi'an Prefecture, would be one in a hundred.

Ma Zhixiong thought about it carefully for a while. He was a businessman, and he paid attention to everything, and harmony was the most important thing. So when he heard Zhu Ba’s second method, he immediately agreed. His mind was also very fast, and he immediately thought of a question: "If Zhang found out that the Shan family had no friendship with our family, what should he do if he regretted it?"

"This is not difficult. From now on, our family will work hard to establish a good relationship with the Shan family. As long as this relationship becomes a real relationship and can withstand the Zhang family's examination, he will not dare to act rashly." Zhu Yuanzhang said seriously.

"No!" Ma Zhixiong actually refused: "Our family has a Jinshi pole, and the Shan family is just a rich man. This time I have lost face when I put it on and send it to the land and people. I will not have any contact with the Shan family in the future."

"This..." Zhu Yuanzhang laughed silently. Although Ma Zhixiong was a powerful figure, he also had this kind of blind pride? Sure enough... he passed the imperial examination and was somewhat disdainful to scholars when they saw the prosperity. With this kind of arrogance, he would never be able to become a great person. Well, the Ma family is a family of gentry in the countryside. How could it be so easy to become a great person?

Zhu Yuanzhang stopped giving his opinions and waited for Ma Zhixiong to make his own decision.

After a few breaths, Ma Zhixiong raised his head and chuckled, "By the way, since ancient times, there has been an excellent way to talk and talk tightly tie the two families together, and it is impossible to turn against each other..."

"Are you talking about marriage?" Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but be stunned.

"Yes, marriage!" Ma Zhixiong became proud: "Although the second brother is twenty-four years old this year, he has not yet married his wife. The third sister is fifteen years old this year and is already at the age of marriage. I heard that Zhang Douyao in Chengcheng has a son and a daughter, and he is also at the right age to marry, so he simply matched the two pairs together. The third sister married the son of the Zhang family, and the second brother married the daughter of the Zhang family, which was a killing two birds with one stone."

Marriage? Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly became disgusted. He was very disgusted with the policy of marriage ties in his previous life. Under his influence, in the 276th year of the Ming Dynasty, he did not marry, did not pay compensation, did not cede land, and paid tribute. The emperor guarded the country and the king died. Although many foolish emperors were produced in the Ming Dynasty, no stupid emperor was still guarding the strong bones of the Ming Dynasty. No descendant had ever given him a face of marriage. Unexpectedly, he actually met a patriarch who used his younger brothers and sisters to play marriage. It really made him not know what to say.

Ma Zhixiong smiled at Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "What do you think of this plan for marriage?"

Ma Zhixiong was very proud, but Zhu Yuanzhang was completely unhappy and whispered: "This kind of thing is related to the second and third ladies. There is no room for me to interrupt. The eldest ladies himself will make the decision."

Ma Zhixiong did not notice Zhu Yuanzhang's unhappiness. In fact, even if he noticed it, he would not take it seriously. He smiled and said, "That's right, you are not qualified to speak like this, I have to deal with it myself. The third sister is easy to deal with, but the second brother is a troublesome... Come on, go to the inner courtyard to invite the second young master."

After a while, Ma Qianjiu came back first. One hundred taels of silver were put in a small blue cloth bag, heavy. He handed the silver bag to Zhu Yuanzhang. This was quite a lot of money. The purchasing power of silver in the Ming Dynasty was extremely strong. A high-quality maid was only worth twenty taels of silver. A little maid who was a little less could only buy five taels of silver. If you use silver to buy food, one tael of silver could buy one thousand sesame cakes. The price of the later generations was calculated using one yuan per sesame cake. One tael of silver was equivalent to one thousand yuan. One hundred taels of silver was 100,000 yuan.

Ma Zhixiong did not frown and rewarded Zhu Yuanzhang with such a large sum of money. He was indeed willing to give up the capital to the people.

Zhu Yuanzhang pretended to be grateful and accepted the money. He was about to say goodbye to his hut, but the second young master Ma Zhibin walked in. While walking, he shouted dissatisfiedly: "Is the eldest brother back? Oh! Why don't you go to the inner courtyard first when you come back, but call me to the front courtyard? What's wrong again?"

"Second brother! You've been having fun at home recently..." Ma Zhixiong's face darkened.

Seeing his face change, the second young master, who was usually out of tune, suddenly became timid. Obviously, he was a little afraid of his elder brother. Although the second young master always showed off his might at home and acted in a mess, and also showed off his posture of "I'm not afraid to call the elder brother" to Ma Qianjiu, when he really stood in front of Ma Zhixiong, he still felt his stomach slam and his speech was not very straightforward.

"I'm not making a fuss!" The second young master hesitated for a long time before protesting: "Zhang comes to our place to grab the water first, and I will ask the people from Xigu Village to fight back. They will beat the people from Xigu Village again. I will ask the Qiguanshi to organize the people to fight back... This is all due to cause and effect."

"It's a big deal if there is a cause and a result!" Ma Zhixiong was furious: "He is the county magistrate of Chengcheng County. What are you? A Jinshi? A Juren? A scholar? You are not even a big deal. Why do you fight with him?"

"I... we have a Jinshi pole in our family!" The second young master argued forcefully.

"The Jinshi pole is my father's, not yours. But Zhang Douyao can become the county magistrate himself, which means his Jinshi pole is his own!" Ma Zhixiong said angrily: "You will only cause trouble for our family, and make your father still worry about you when he gets old."

The second young master was silent and dared not fight again.

Ma Zhixiong waved his hand and said, "I have decided to send someone to Zhang's place tomorrow, and propose marriage to the Zhang family and repair the relationship between our family and the Zhang family. Don't mess around anymore."

"Proposal?" The second young master was confused: "What are you going to do?"

Ma Zhixiong said in a deep voice: "I want you to marry Zhang Douyao's daughter and marry his third sister to his son."

"What?" The second young master jumped up suddenly.
Chapter completed!