Chapter 853

The Su family is a big family that originated in Huizhou but has stood in Yanjing for a hundred years.

During the Qing Dynasty, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement swept across China, the Su family followed the red-topped merchant Hu Xueyan and risked their lives to transport arms and food for the Qing army, which won the appreciation of the Qing government.

Later, the Su family accumulated wealth and moved from their hometown in Huizhou to Yanjing with a solid family business. Since then, the family has been in business for generations, and its strength has always been at the forefront of the country.

In the past few decades, the Su family competed with the Ye family. Originally, under the sniping of Ye Chen's father, Ye Changying, they were already slightly exhausted, but after Ye Changying died young, the Su family immediately stepped on the Ye family and became the number one in the country.

The old master of the Su family, whose full name is Su Chengfeng, took his name from Su Shi's famous poem "Inscribed on the Wall of Xilin Temple".

As the saying goes:

Viewed from the side, it is a range, from the front, a peak, far and near, high and low, all different.

I do not know the true face of Mount Lu, only because I am in this mountain.

Su Chengfeng got his name from this.

Su Chengfeng is seventy-six years old this year. Although he is not very old, he is no longer in his prime.

Logically speaking, his life can be considered a great success, but he is still not satisfied.

He hopes to lay a solid foundation for the Su family that no one can match before he retires. At the very least, he wants to realize the wish of "1 is greater than 2+3".

Since ancient times, no one in the business field has been able to truly dominate.

The true meaning of this so-called "1 is greater than 2+3" refers to: the comprehensive strength of the number one family must be greater than the sum of the number two family and the number three family.

More specifically, it is equivalent to the Su family's comprehensive strength being greater than the combined strength of the Ye family and the Gu family.

In this way, even if the number two and number three join forces to oppose him, he doesn't have to worry at all.

Only in this way can the Su family truly be worry-free.

Now, the gap between the Su family and the Ye family is indeed getting wider and wider, but to truly achieve "1 is greater than 2+3", there is still a gap of at least hundreds of billions in asset scale.

Therefore, the Su family is now actively seeking breakthroughs overseas, hoping to realize this grand wish in one fell swoop.

As long as this goal is achieved, Yanjing will no longer have the concept of the three big families, and it will be replaced by a new pattern where the Su family looks down on all heroes.

Therefore, Su Chengfeng attaches great importance to this shipping business.

Hearing that the old master attaches great importance to ocean shipping, a Su family descendant couldn't help but show off in front of the Su old master, "Grandfather, grandson feels that the development of the world economy is now encountering significant resistance, and import and export trade in various countries has shrunk significantly. It is not known when foreign trade will fully recover. Under such circumstances, rashly betting on ocean shipping actually carries very high risks. It is very likely to buy at the bottom but end up halfway up the mountain, so grandson advises you to think twice before acting!"

"Think twice?" Su Chengfeng snorted coldly, ignoring him, but looked at the middle-aged man beside him and scolded sternly, "Old Five, is this how you discipline your son? He hasn't even grown his hair yet, and he dares to question my decision here. Does he really think I am like Lian Po, who is old but can still eat?"

The one called Old Five is the Su old master's fifth son, Su Shouxin.

This generation of the Su family has five sons and two daughters.

The middle character of these seven children's names is "Shou" (guard), and the last seven characters, from oldest to youngest, are Dao, De, Ren, Yi, Li, Zhi, Xin.

And these seven characters are the seven levels of morality mentioned by Laozi in the "Tao Te Ching".

Su Shouxin is the Su old master's fifth son and the youngest of the seven children.

And the young man who spoke just now is Su Shouli's youngest son, Su Zhiyuan.

Su Zhiyuan is just eighteen years old this year and can be considered a genius in his studies. Last year, he relied on his own strength to get into Harvard University in the United States.

Because he is young and has always been spoiled at home, Su Zhiyuan has a very strong desire to perform.

However, he used to perform in front of his parents and had no chance to perform in front of his grandfather. Today, he finally seized the opportunity to debate with the old master based on his thoughts, so as to show his extraordinary talent and wisdom, but he didn't expect that just one sentence would anger the Su old master.

He was about to explain, but he didn't expect his father, Su Shouxin, to stand up and slap him left and right, slapping him until his mouth was full of blood, and then roared with extreme anger, "Have you read books into a dog's stomach? You dare to question your grandfather's decision here?!"

"I..." Su Zhiyuan covered his face, feeling so aggrieved that he wished he could die there.

Having never been beaten since he grew up, he couldn't understand why, after angering his grandfather with one sentence, his father, who had always spoiled him, would beat him to death like this.

And it was in front of the whole family.

Su Shouxin, however, was crazy with hatred for this unpromising son!

He knew the old master's majesty very well. Even his eldest brother, Su Shoudao, didn't dare to contradict the old master, let alone his own unpromising youngest son?

This is not how you show off!

It is very likely that because of this sentence, he will be completely put into the cold palace by the old master in the future, and after graduating from university, he won't even have the chance to return to the Su family to work!

The reason why the Su old master, Su Chengfeng, is so domineering and autocratic has a great deal to do with his growing up experience.

When he was young, he had many brothers.

At that time, it was still the Qing Dynasty. His father not only had a main wife but also married six concubines. With seven wives, he gave birth to more than thirty children, twenty-three of whom were sons!

And Su Chengfeng was just one of these twenty-three sons.

Just like the ancient princes fighting for the throne, Su Chengfeng also fought with twenty-two brothers from childhood, and it took fifty years of fighting before he finally inherited the position of the Su family head.

Therefore, fifty years of constant fighting made his personality extremely domineering and ruthless.

If anyone threatened his majesty, even his own son or grandson, he would never be lenient.

Su Zhiyuan was young and ignorant, and with the halo of a genius, he dared to contradict the Su old master to find a sense of existence. This move, in everyone's eyes, was no different from seeking death!

Su Shouxin slapped Su Zhiyuan dozens of times, slapping him until he could barely stand and was about to faint. The Su old master then snorted coldly and said, "Alright, don't hit him anymore. Have someone take him out, and we will continue the meeting!"

Su Shouxin had been slapping him until his heart was bleeding, but the old master didn't speak, so he didn't dare to stop at all.

Seeing that the old master finally spoke, he put away his hand, suppressed the heartache in his heart, and scolded the servants standing by, "Why don't you hurry up and drag this unfilial son out for me!"

Several servants immediately stepped forward and dragged Su Zhiyuan, who was spitting blood and had dizziness and tinnitus, out.

The Su old master then cleared his throat and continued, "This cooperation with the Japanese must not only take down at least 20% of the operating rights of Tokyo Port, Yokohama Port, and Osaka Port, but also make them provide various cargo ships and oil tankers with a total displacement of no less than three million tons. Whoever can provide the most resources will have the opportunity to become a member of us. Therefore, this trip to Japan must carefully investigate the true strength of the Ito and Takahashi families. In addition, we must force them to provide the most resources!"

The eldest son, Su Shoudao, blurted out, "Father, I wonder who you plan to let cooperate with these two Japanese families this time?"

The Su old master was silent for a moment and said, "Zhifei, you are the eldest son and eldest grandson, and it is time for you to take charge on your own. You will lead this matter this time!"

Su Zhifei is the Su old master's eldest grandson and Su Shoudao's eldest son. He is twenty-eight years old this year and is the most outstanding male descendant of this generation of the Su family.

Upon hearing that he was chosen, Su Zhifei immediately stood up and said firmly, "Please rest assured, Grandfather, Zhifei will definitely go all out!"

The Su old master nodded gently, and his gaze fell on the beautiful and cold girl beside Su Zhifei.

It was also at this moment that the old master's gaze was finally not so hard, replaced by a bit of doting, and he said with a smile, "Zhiyu, you are about to graduate from Yale, and it is time for you to go out and exercise. You will go with your brother this time. Learn more, see more, and accumulate some experience!"

The beautiful and cold girl stood up, bowed slightly, and said with an indifferent expression, indifferent eyes, and an indifferent tone, "Okay, Grandfather, Zhiyu understands."