newbobooks Chapter 1166 "They are already part of the national weapon!"
Chapter 1166 "They are already part of the national weapon!"
Li Zhengguo looked at his nephew who responded calmly and strategized, and felt a lot of emotions in his heart.
The young man who first showed his talent in the Magic City has now grown into a behemoth who can stir up the situation in the imperial capital and compete with the four major families.
The sharpness in his eyes remained unchanged, but it revealed a deeper cunning and a more magnificent vision.
Time is truly the best sculptor.
Lu Feng raised his head and drank the last sip of wine in the glass.
Putting down the wine glass, he revealed a trace of genuine confusion between his brows: "Uncle, I can understand that the Ye family was arrested."
"But the Shen and Li families were also taken away for investigation. This...especially the Li family. With you here, I believe the Li family will act with discretion and will never cross those real red lines. What's going on here?"
Upon hearing this, Li Zhengguo's lips curled up into a complex and inexplicable smile. That smile contained a bit of understanding, a bit of helplessness, and a bit of deep sophistication.
"Xiaofeng," Li Zhengguo said in a low and calm voice, with a kind of insight into the vicissitudes of life, "this is... the unspoken rule."
"Unwritten rules?" Lu Feng frowned slightly. Of course he knew this term, but when used between the aristocratic families and the highest level, it seemed to have a deeper meaning.
"Well," Li Zhengguo put down the colander, his eyes becoming deep, as if he were looking into a bottomless, cold pond. "To put it simply, this is called 'self-pollution'."
"Self-pollution?" Lu Feng was even more confused.
"Yes, self-pollution." Li Zhengguo nodded affirmatively, his tone carrying an indescribable heaviness.
"If a noble family is flawless in every aspect, has outstanding political achievements, astonishing wealth, outstanding children, and unity among the upper and lower classes..."
"Then, in the eyes of some above, it will no longer be a 'pillar', but a 'hidden danger', or even... a 'threat'."
He looked at Lu Feng, and every word he said struck a chord with him: "The higher-ups will not allow a family with deep roots, enormous influence, and seemingly flawless and impeccable appearance to exist for long."
"This is a major taboo in the balance of power, a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads."
Li Zhengguo paused as he spoke, as if he was considering his words, but in the end, all he said was a barely audible sigh.
"So, for the sake of our family's continuation, and to avoid being seen as a 'perfect' threat, we must... leave ourselves some 'tricks', or at least, at some point, give them something less lethal but still powerful enough to use against us."
"Take the initiative to expose some 'flaws' and hand over some 'initiatives'."
"Let the higher-ups know that we are not monolithic, nor are we invulnerable. We are controllable, and... we need to rely on the 'justice' of the higher-ups to clear our names."
"Only through this kind of 'self-contamination', showing our 'weakness' and 'dependence', will the higher-ups truly 'trust us'."
Li Zhengguo's voice was filled with an indescribable fatigue and heaviness, as if he was telling an ancient and cruel law of survival.
Hearing this, Lu Feng felt as if something exploded in his mind!
He appeared calm on the surface, but inside he was stirring up a storm! He had always thought that he had a deep enough understanding of the chess game and that he had a thorough understanding of the imperial capital's game.
But I didn’t expect that beneath the iceberg, there were such unfathomable and shocking "unspoken rules"!
This is no longer a simple business struggle or political infighting, but a naked philosophy that concerns the foundation of survival and the nature of power!
The depth and complexity of the game among China's top leaders far exceeded his previous imagination!
Seeing the shock that was hard to conceal in Lu Feng's eyes, Li Zhengguo spoke earnestly, his voice as deep as the sound of an ancient temple bell, each word weighing a thousand pounds:
"Xiaofeng, the Imperial Capital is not the Magic City, nor is it the business world where you dominate."
"The water here... is bottomless. Calm on the surface, but turbulent beneath. One wrong step could lead to eternal damnation."
“What you see is always just the tip of the iceberg; what you touch may just be a piece in someone else’s carefully laid chess game.”
"Remember, here, showing off your talents is the way to death, while hiding your incompetence and ignorance is the key to survival."
"Assess the situation, know when to advance and retreat, understand how to make choices, and more importantly... understand what can be touched and what absolutely cannot be touched."
“Some rules are written on paper, while some are etched in our bones and blood, silent but deadly.”
Lu Feng took a deep breath, imprinted Li Zhengguo's words deeply in his mind, and nodded solemnly. These were all real life-saving knowledge.
"Uncle, I understand. I will keep it in mind."
But then he thought of the information Li Zhengguo had revealed before, and continued to ask:
"By the way, Uncle, you said before that the higher-ups might take this opportunity to take action against the aristocratic families?"
"How come up to now, apart from the Security Department's involvement in the operation to capture Ye Tian, the rest seems to be... not much movement?"
Li Zhengguo's eyes gleamed in response to the question, and he slowly said, "The higher-ups... are watching. They're watching to see what the outcome of this 'hunt' of yours will be."
"result?"
"Yes, the result." Li Zhengguo tapped his fingers lightly on the table. "If you can successfully pull the Ye family down from the altar of the 'Four Great Families', it will fall from the altar and suffer a serious blow to its vitality."
"Then the higher-ups will use this as a breakthrough point to begin their plan against other families."
Lu Feng's eyes flickered as he pressed on, "Then... don't the higher-ups think it's possible for us to completely...eliminate the Ye family?"
"Completely eliminate?" Li Zhengguo laughed out loud, as if he had heard something amusing. His laughter was filled with an undisguised smile and a clear understanding of the world. "Xiaofeng, Xiaofeng, you are still... too young and impulsive."
He restrained his smile, his eyes became extremely deep, and his tone became distant:
"The Four Great Families are called the 'Four Great Families' because they have been at the pinnacle of China for hundreds of years. Their profound heritage and extensive roots have long been ingrained into the very bones of this land and are closely linked to the nation's destiny!"
"They are no longer simple business families, but some kind of... monstrous entity with intricate connections, where a single move can affect the entire structure!"
"They are like the four main pillars supporting the giant tripod of the imperial capital. You can cut them, chop them, or even knock them down until they are shaky and covered with cracks, making them lose their status as main pillars and replacing them with new ones..."
Li Zhengguo's voice suddenly turned cold, with a cold sense of reality: "But you want to completely smash this pillar and uproot it?"
"Haha... not to mention the unimaginable price you would have to pay, even if you really did it, the fragments of the giant tripod that would instantly collapse would be enough to smash the entire imperial capital into pieces!"
"The higher-ups...will never allow a situation like this, where everyone is destroyed and the stability is shaken, to occur!"
"So, don't say you can't do it. Even if you can... the higher-ups will never allow you to do it!"
"This is the fundamental reason why the 'Four Great Families' have been able to survive through the long river of history to this day—they have become an integral part of the national fabric. To tamper with them would be to cause serious damage."
Lu Feng listened quietly, the waves in his heart gradually subsided, replaced by a deeper understanding and... a hint of cold calculation.
He picked up the teacup, took a sip, and looked out the window at the dark night of the imperial capital. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth:
"I see. If we can't smash it completely, then fatten it up and kill it later?"