Wen Liang was stunned for a moment and asked, "Why do you say that?"
Ning Xi looked down at the wine glass in her hand. The bright yellow water reflected her cold face, as if a hazy line was drawn between reality and illusion, and she didn't know which side was real and which side was fake.
After a long while, she whispered, "If Grandpa decides not to step down, from now on, the Ning family will become the target of public criticism..."
Wen Liang finally understood what was going on. He sat down next to Ning Xi, drank the wine in the glass, and then fell into a long silence.
His thoughts went back to more than a year ago when he first met Ning Huchen. At that time, the old man had been forced by Zhuang Maoxun to consider retiring. Even on his birthday, he received a fake "Picture of the Divine Turtle" from the Zhuang family. It can be seen that given the situation at the time, it seemed that only by taking a step back could the Ning family get a temporary respite.
But the word "retreat" is easy to say but extremely difficult to do, because Ning Huchen represents not only himself, nor just the direct descendants of the Ning family, but many people entangled under the towering tree of the Ning family. They prosper together and suffer together.
Take a step back, will it be a vast ocean and sky, or a cliff
Nobody knows!
Besides the kindness of two lifetimes!
Wen Liang did not dare to speak at that time because he knew clearly that after Ning Huchen stepped down at the First Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee, an unprecedented flood immediately occurred. Taking advantage of the godsend opportunity of the flood, troops stationed in various places were frequently mobilized. Zhuang Maoxun showed his talent for managing the world and used various means to pull some people and beat some people, praise some and step on some people, and completely split the power of the Ning faction in the army. Then, it took four or five years to weaken and erode them step by step, and finally suppressed the Ning faction so that it was no longer able to resist. It was not until more than 30 years later, when power changed, that the Ning faction began to recover.
A temporary "retreat" is for the sake of future "advance", but the world is like a game of chess. Except for the gods, no one knows whether the current move is a brilliant one or a bad one!
From Ning Huchen's perspective, a temporary retreat could help him extricate himself from the bizarre court situation, hide in the dark from the light, and then slowly wait for the opportunity to plan a counterattack. This should have been a good move, but who could have imagined that just one year later, a flood that had not occurred in a thousand years would occur. The army undoubtedly became the main force in disaster relief, and it also gave the Zhuang faction a natural excuse to deploy personnel on a large scale, thus shaking the foundation of the Ning faction.
If Ning Huchen was still in office, all this could not be avoided, but at least the defeat would not be so fast and so tragic. A snake without a head cannot survive, and soldiers without a leader will be in chaos. This is a famous saying in the 118th chapter of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Without Ning Huchen, or in other words, without his position and power in the Military Commission, the Ning faction lacked righteousness and confidence in the face of the crazy attack of the Zhuang faction, so they suffered defeat after defeat and eventually fell into a slump.
This is why the four maxims that Li Qingniu gave to Ning Huchen included the meaning of "being imprisoned by water". Wen Liang thought about it clearly at the time, but these matters involved too many things, and even a mysterious and awesome figure like Li Qingniu did not dare to speak out. How could he have the courage to tell Ning Huchen that he should not retreat, as retreating would be a pit
But unexpectedly, when the First Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee was about to be held, Ning Huchen actually changed his mind. I am afraid that at this moment, many people in the capital city cannot sleep at night, wondering what is wrong with this old man
Wen Liang had the same doubts. This was not a game of house. He was a mother today, a father tomorrow, and a watchdog the day after tomorrow. Who was Ning Huchen? He had a hot temper and would slam the table and curse his mother if he disagreed with someone. He might have gone from being a cowherd to where he is today, and had been standing firm in the political arena for decades. He relied on his unparalleled decisiveness. How could he change without any reason
"Do you know why the old man changed his mind so hastily?"
"It shouldn't be a hasty decision. When Grandpa decided to step down last year, he was a little reluctant. It's not that he clings to power, but being forced to step down and stepping down voluntarily are two different things. With his personality, he really couldn't bear it."
Ning Xi turned sideways and rested her head on Wen Liang's shoulder, saying, "Although Grandpa didn't say it explicitly, I guess there are probably two reasons. One is related to Chen Longqi and the Lei family. We first cooperated with the Lei family in Hengsha Mining, and the relationship is closer than before. We have an extra layer of help from the government. Also, because we predicted the economic crisis in advance and provided information to the State Council without fear of rumors, Chen Longqi was prepared in advance and was not so helpless in the face of this storm, avoiding many losses that were originally unavoidable. This time Chen Longqi's meeting with me is a signal, a signal of sending friendly information to the Ning family. At this time, it is really a blessing for the Ning family to be able to have a good relationship with Chen Longqi, the iron-faced Prime Minister. It was a timely help; the second point was related to what happened recently. The Yan faction suddenly launched an attack on the Zhuang faction, which caused too much noise. Although it has been eased under the intervention of the first elder, Zhuang Maoxun’s membership in the Politburo has been ruined. At most, he can be an alternate member. It seems that there is only a difference of two words, but it has wasted five years. After suffering such a big loss, the Zhuang faction was in a difficult situation and got support from the Lei family and Chen Longqi. That’s why Grandpa decided to stay in office. He can use the last time to protect the Ning family and wait for the people below to grow up and take over, so as not to have a lack of successors and give others an opportunity to take advantage of it. He can also sit in the court and be a stabilizer to prevent the factional disputes from making the government more and more chaotic.”
In fact, a careful analysis shows that the cooperation with the Lei family was Wen Liang's idea. It was also Wen Liang who told Ning Xi about the prediction of the economic crisis. The Yan faction's attack this time was caused by Fan Mingzhu's betrayal, which was also inextricably linked to Wen Liang. So although Wen Liang did not directly tell Ning Huchen not to abdicate in order to avoid regret, the factors that ultimately prompted Ning Huchen to change his mind were inseparable from his involvement, either overt or covert.
The tiger roars in the mountains, imprisoned by water, the sun sets and the stars appear, and the trouble is solved in Beijing!
Wen Liang understood the first two sentences, but not the last two. If he had thought of this, he would have a deeper understanding of Li Qingniu, and he would have known that the two couplets he gave him before leaving, "The Son of Heaven of the Nine Heavens is noble in the world, and the fifth-rank princes are respected outside the gate," must have had a deeper meaning.
"No matter what the reason is, the old man must have his reasons for his decision. It's useless for us to guess," Wen Liang pondered, "But if the old man doesn't retreat, the Zhuang family will recover and probably won't let it go..."
The result of Ning Huchen's concession in that life was the uprooting of the Ning faction. Of course, this result included too many accidental factors. If it hadn't been for the flood that almost destroyed half of China, there might have been a different outcome. As for the result of not concession in this life, it is still unknown what the future will be, but in the short term he will definitely be regarded as a thorn in the side by the Zhuang faction.
"So I just said, whether it's a good thing for the Ning family is hard to say, but it's definitely not a good thing for you and me!" Ning Xi stretched out her hands to hug Wen Liang's waist, and snuggled into his arms tightly, saying: "The conflict between the Zhuang faction and the Yan faction will be resolved after the First Plenary Session of the Central Committee. By then, it will be my turn."
Wen Liang sighed and tightened his grip around Ning Xi. He understood what Ning Xi meant. If Ning Huchen did not retreat, the Zhuang faction would naturally turn its attention back to this side. As the link between Ning, Lei and Chen, Hengsha Mining and Ning Xi would undoubtedly become the best starting point for the Zhuang faction's next move.
In the past, Ning Xi, due to her own weakness, could not enter the sight of those big shots at all. But now, because of the appreciation of Hengsha Mining and Chen Longqi, she can no longer hide in the shadows behind others, and is about to become the iron wall that withstands the wind and rain for the Ning family.
"Xiaoyi, you have to be careful..."
Ning Xi shook her head, sat up straight, touched Wen Liang's cheek with one hand, and said: "As long as the Ning family is here, as long as I am careful, they can't do anything to me... But you, you..."
"I?"
"I'm afraid I'll get you into trouble..."
Ning Xi was not worrying about nothing. To deal with the main trunk, one must first remove the branches and leaves. This was the other party's forte. No one except themselves knew that Ning Xi and Wen Liang were in a relationship. Even Lei Fang could only guess that they seemed to be interested in each other, but he could not be sure whether they were really together. But in addition to this, Ning Xi had huge investments in Qinghe Soy Milk and Bencao Ruolan. Although it was secretive, it could not be hidden from those who were interested. Once a fight really broke out, no one could guarantee that the other party would not use Wen Liang as a scapegoat.
Politics has never been a pure and flawless game!
"Involve me?" Wen Liang raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "Do I look like someone who is afraid of being implicated?"
Ning Xi was afraid that Wen Liang would never leave her. She had the Ning family behind her. Even if she was attacked and suffered losses, it was the Ning family's assets that were lost. As long as it was not fatal, she could be fully revived in the blink of an eye. But Wen Liang was different. It was so difficult for him to get to this point. If he was dragged into this struggle that he should not participate in at all, Ning Xi would never forgive herself even if she died!
"Ren, even if you don't want to think about yourself, you should think about me, your parents, and your friends. Only by keeping the present can you plan for the future. Besides, this is the Ning family's business, not just my business. You don't have to get involved."
Wen Liang was silent for a long time. What Ning Xi said was that in the struggle between Ningzhuang, he wouldn't make much difference if he was included or not. With his current strength, if he was really targeted by the Zhuang faction, there would be no other outcome except death. He sighed helplessly and said, "You mean, we should break up?"
Ning Xi nodded, but added: "It's an open break!"
"Others are not fools," Wen Liang scratched her nose and said, "We can't just break up like that. There must be a reasonable reason."
Ning Xi heaved a sigh of relief after convincing Wen Liang. She smiled and said, "Since ancient times, there have been only four types of disputes: fame, profit, power, and sex. We don't fight for fame, power, or sex. The only thing we have is profit."
Wen Liang also smiled and said, "It seems that my dream of making a fortune by taking advantage of the economic crisis will be shattered this time..."
(I caught a cold, and this chapter was difficult to handle, so it took two days, sorry) (To be continued)