Chapter 798: Zheng Ge's Words

After I finished speaking, Zheng Ge just smiled.

He took a drag of his cigarette,

"Today, talking with you, I want you to understand that what seems difficult to you is actually quite easy for me."

Because we are in different positions. Facing different crowds, the weight of our words differs.

You may have a USB drive, but who would you give it to? Who would believe you?

These items only have value when placed here with us.

Zhao Jianqiang, it's still the same saying: don't fear being used by others. Being usable by others shows you have value to be used.

Otherwise, who would use you.

I wonder if you like reading.

Do you like history books?"

"Yes, Mr. Zheng, I just haven't read many books, I didn't expect you to have so many books," I said, looking at Zheng Ge's study.

"These are only a part of my books,

because my legs are weak, I can't go out, so I can only read in my study,

thus reading is my only pleasure,

just now I mentioned history books,

many events in history repeat in each dynasty.

People always say to learn from history, but many actually never draw lessons from it.

Let me ask you a fun topic,

Do you know how landlords formed in past history?" Zheng Ge suddenly lifted his head and asked me.

"How landlords formed? I read a book that said it was through land consolidation, gradually expanding.

In history, a large landlord in a region would own over a thousand mu of good fields," I explained to Zheng Ge.

"Your view isn't comprehensive,

our family has always faced scarce arable land; under limited farmland, the fertile, water‑proximate, easy‑to‑farm lands have long been developed, such as the plains of the Yellow River basin.

Some say reclaiming wasteland, but actually the cost is very high; in the past labor was scarce, relying only on slash‑and‑burn, how much farmland could be opened? Without draft oxen, relying solely on human labor,

the land would remain undeveloped and people would starve.

Thus land is scarce, making it not only a means of production but also an investment asset in ancient times.

If a village has a thousand mu of good farmland, each household has ten mu,

because some heads of households fall ill or due to taxes, gambling, etc., they sell their land. As time passes,

very quickly in the village, some people hold more land than others.

We'll call this person Lao Wang,

With the extra land, Lao Wang can send his son to study.

to take the imperial examinations.

After attaining a title,

his son can associate with the government officials.

With official backing, Lao Wang intensifies his land consolidation.

He begins to forcefully seize land in the village. Many complaints to officials are useless.

Soon Lao Wang becomes a local strongman.

Other villagers can only become his tenant farmers.

With strong financial support, Lao Wang befriends more higher‑status individuals.

forming a protective umbrella around himself.

Eventually he builds his family into a wealthy, region‑dominant landlord, even a famous strongman.

Thus land resources become held by a few.

Moreover, after attaining a title, they stop paying taxes. This means Lao Wang's lands earn a full pot.

When can Lao Wang's family collapse? It is when a dynasty changes.

Land resources are redistributed.

History demonstrates this: land disperses, circulates, and consolidates among people.

Why am I telling you this,

just to tell you,

what is most valuable in today's society? It's houses.

Thus this resource will become a new point of contention.

I am older than you by a few years,

I have read more books than you, so I understand these matters.

Today, telling you this is to inform you.

From the start, your desire to change fate is impossible; you can only cling to people like us.

Whether the Zhou Family, Wen Family, or even other families, they mean nothing to me. They are people without foundations."

After hearing Zheng Ge finish, I fell silent, smoking.

It feels Zheng Ge is right, yet not right.

I just can't find any point to refute.

He means to tell me that I can only rely on them for a lifetime,

letting them forever drain our blood.

Just like the tenant farmers of the past.

I let out a sigh,

"Mr. Zheng, let me speak honestly, I'm just an ordinary civilian.

My only wish now is to live peacefully.

I don't want to change fate either.

The so‑called changing of fate is a nonsense topic.

An ordinary person's destiny should closely follow the nation's changes; how could one possibly change it?

These years, society has been developing, and our lives have been changing.

We have cars now, we have houses,

We enjoy a life even better than the so‑called landlords of the past.

Can the village landlords eat meat every day? Absolutely not.

The times are progressing.

Mr. Zheng, perhaps you are right.

But my understanding differs from yours.

Our ordinary people's thoughts are simple,

We have jobs and food, a wife and children,

We have a stable home and steady income.

"Not everyone is willing to change anything."

After I finished speaking, I smiled at Zheng Ge.

Zheng Ge listened to me finish, and he didn't speak immediately,

He looked at me, repeatedly sizing me up.

After a while,

"It seems you really want to quit."

"Yeah, I'm truly exhausted."

"Actually, I haven't finished what I was saying,

I feel talking with you is quite nice.

"Looks like you're someone you can chat with," Zheng Ge said with a smile.

At that moment, a shouting argument rose from outside the main gate,

"Release my brother now, or I'll flatten this place."

I recognized the voice as Ding Li's.

Because I had arranged a ten‑minute meeting with Ding Li.

When the time ran out, Ding Li didn't leave; instead, he rushed into the courtyard.

The young man ran into the house and said to Zheng Ge, "Zheng Ge, someone broke in; what should we do?"

I quickly stood up,

"Mr. Zheng, that person was brought by me; I'll go out now and take him away."

Zheng Ge gave a slight nod,

then turned and pushed the wheelchair into the study.

I stepped out of the room,

and saw that several people were already holding Ding Li down.

I hurried forward,

"Brothers, it's a misunderstanding. We came to visit Mr. Zheng,

He was waiting for me anxiously.

So they barged in looking for me.

Mr. Zheng has already agreed that I can take the person away.

"I hope the big guys can make it convenient."

At this moment, that young man also came over and said a couple of words to them.

Thus the group released Ding Li.

When one of them bent over, I saw the thing at his waist.

This place is truly dangerous; we must leave quickly.

When Ding Li saw that I had emerged safely,

he still wanted to say something.

I grabbed Ding Li firmly,

"Ding Li, let's hurry. Thanks to the big guys, no need to see us off. We'll get in touch later."

I finished speaking and, pulling Ding Li, hurried out through the courtyard gate.

We quickly got to the car,

"Brother, why did you come out so late?" Ding Li asked.

"Ding Li, we were just chatting and lost track of time. Let's go quickly," I said to Ding Li.

Ding Li started the car,

pressed the accelerator, and we drove out of the alley.

But just as we exited the alley entrance,

I just saw someone inspecting the passing vehicles.

What can we do about this,

I quickly had Ding Li reverse the car.

Seeing us reverse, they quickly surrounded us.