Chapter 213 Don’t look back until you hit the wall

The fifth day of the first lunar month in the first year of Chuping.

Zhou Yu led Zhang Fei, Dong Xi and a total of 2,500 combat soldiers and 2,500 baggage carriers and civilians, and set off towards Wuling County.

Sun Ce, who set out with them, was puzzled as to why they were heading in the opposite direction, but as he had no real power, he did not ask any questions.

Little did he know that Sun Ce's good friend Zhou Yu had already dug a trap for him, waiting for him to jump in and bury him.

Between friendship and career, Zhou Yu chose the latter, but Sun Ce still retained his trust in his friend.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Sun Jian did not lead out his troops to attack Liu Biao as planned.

On the same day, Xi Zhicai finally arrived in Jiangling County.

"Zhicai, is everything going well in Changsha County?"

Xi Zhicai said casually: "That's it."

"Sun Jian has made a mess. The problem of the aristocracy is more serious than anywhere else."

"Oh?" Jin Mao couldn't help but ask, "Is it really that serious?"

Xi Zhicai did not hide anything and explained Sun Jian's pattern in Changsha County.

In other words, he left all administrative matters to the local gentry and collected a certain amount of taxes every year.

It is simple, crude and easy to use, but it brings endless troubles to latecomers.

Chaos has already emerged. Various clans are developing their own "militias" in order to protect themselves, and private armed forces are gradually becoming popular.

After two years of development, the Changsha County gentry has begun to take shape, and the small number of troops Xi Zhicai brought with him are unable to control the overall situation.

Even if Jin Mao was not recalled, Xi Zhicai would take the initiative to send people to ask for support. He is not Xun You, and he does not have any aristocratic complex.

Now Xi Zhicai and Jinmao are tied together, they prosper together and suffer together!
Xi Zhicai would try his best to realize Jin Mao's ideas.

Thanks to Zhou Yu's advice, Jin Mao suggested: "Zhicai, I have an idea, can you give me some advice?"

"My lord, please speak!"

"I heard that the barbarians in the four counties of Jingnan worship me as if I were a god. Is this true?"

Xi Zhicai said with certainty: "It is true!"

"During the time I was in Changsha County, the area near the county seat was the most difficult to govern. On the contrary, the people near the mountainous areas were extremely cooperative."

"I think that the lord's reputation has been strengthened twice, enough to be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people!"

The first time, Qu Xing in Changsha rebelled, and Jin Mao led his troops to suppress the rebellion. He brought back a lot of prisoners and also recruited soldiers locally.

The second time, Bai Shi infiltrated with the Shinshin religion, and believers were rapidly developing among the mountain people.

Combining the two, Changsha County and Lingling County already have a sufficient base of mountain people.

But even so, the two counties were still not taken, which shows that the gentry is much stronger than before.

"In that case." Jin Mao's face showed a fierce look, and he said, "I intend to incite the mountain people to riot, attack the counties, and massacre the nobles!"

Xi Zhicai did not object directly, but carefully considered the feasibility.

"This method is feasible, but there are a few points that need to be paid attention to."

"Haha!" Jin Mao was very happy: "I knew it!"

These days, Jinmao has been really frustrated, with one or two of its advisers all singing a different tune.

Sure enough, Xi Zhicai and I are of the same mind!

"Zhicai, tell me quickly, what should we pay attention to?"

Xi Zhicai pondered and said, "Time is short, I can only think of a few points. If there are other things, how about adding more?"

Jin Mao nodded and said, "That should be the case. Then the limit is three days."

After receiving a positive answer, Xi Zhicai said, "The first thing is what should the people in the county do? Doing so will inevitably hurt innocent people."

"Second, not all of these nobles are evil. There are always some kind people among them. Will you not let them go, my lord?"

"Third, if the mountain people are going crazy, how can we stop the war?"

These three points hit the nail on the head, and Jinmao has to carefully consider the pros and cons.

To sum up, it is easy to start a riot, but it is difficult to launch a targeted riot.

From now on, Jingzhou will be governed by Jinmao. It would be better to take it slow instead of making a mess of it.

"Why not let the Baiyue troops under your command pretend to be mountain people and start a riot?"

Jin Mao couldn't help but think of the bad tactics he used in the past: "During the day they are government troops, and at night they are rioters!"

Perfect solution to three major problems!

Xi Zhicai directly denied it: "This won't work. It doesn't suit the status of a lord."

"If the enemy discovers this and makes it public, the lord's reputation will be ruined."

Come to think of it, that's true.

Now that we have a big family and a big business, reputation becomes even more important.

Being both an official and a bandit, it would be strange if the people under his rule could live in peace.

"Then follow the old practice and move the nobles of Jingzhou to Yangzhou, give them farmhouses, seeds, and farming tools according to the standards of ordinary people, and let them fend for themselves after one year!"

"Those who refuse to leave will be eliminated on the spot!"

Xi Zhicai said: "You have only treated the symptoms but not the root cause. My lord still has not solved the people's problems."

"This won't work, and that won't work either." Jin Mao said irritably, "Then what should I do?"

Xi Zhicai had already prepared a plan: "My lord, you only need to use the kingly way to rule these nobles!"

"The three evils of the nobles are hiding their population, hiding their land, and hiding their taxes."

"We only need to measure the land of each household, count the population, calculate the taxes, and all problems will be solved."

This is not nonsense!

Jin Mao said speechlessly: "If I had enough manpower, why would I bother myself with troubles?"

Not to mention whether these things will offend people or not, how much manpower and resources will be needed just to accomplish them?

Xi Zhicai smiled: "My Lord, don't worry, I have a plan that can be done without so many people!"

Jin Mao was interested and said, "Tell me about it."

Xi Zhicai said calmly: "Whenever we arrive in a county, we only need to order each tribe to pay this year's taxes and report the number of households and acres of land."

"Then, we will select one or two leading families, carefully measure the land, count the population, and calculate the taxes."

"If the difference is small, we will make them make up for it. If the difference is large, we will confiscate their property and exterminate their entire clan!"

Xi Zhicai grinned and said, "Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys will scare the families and some good families will come out on their own initiative."

"All are recorded in the register. When needed, we will arrest a group of fake nobles, confiscate their property and exterminate their clans."

"If this continues for five years, all the noble families will be pacified."

Jin Mao was amazed that Xi Zhicai actually proposed the strategy of cutting leeks, and it sounded like it could not only curb the growth of the gentry, but also take money and food from them at any time.

Simply perfect!
"Then do it!"

Unexpectedly, Xi Zhicai said: "My lord, don't be too happy too soon, this plan has a big disadvantage!"

Jin Mao frowned and asked, "What are the drawbacks?"

Xi Zhicai said helplessly: "This plan looks good, but in fact it is forcing the nobles to stand against us. Once there is a slight disturbance, they will definitely surrender, or even stab us in the back!"

It seems so.

Jin Mao wanted to chop him to pieces, what an annoying guy!

"Why don't you just find a random excuse and kill him?"

After hearing what Jin Mao said, Xi Zhicai made a new suggestion: "It will take some time to set up a court."

"Wait until the common people hand over evidence to us about the nobles, then we will confiscate their property and exterminate their clan!"

Unfortunately, time is the most precious thing.

Jin Mao said helplessly: "Then do as you say first."

"By the way, what do you think of Liu Yan?"

Jin Mao recounted all of Zhou Yu's strategies.

"Too impatient." Xi Zhicai shook his head and said, "Although the plan is good, Zhou Yu is too impatient."

Jin Mao asked, "I'd like to hear the details." "My lord, you spent four years occupying Yangzhou, and now you have to fight on multiple fronts to advance to Yizhou."

Xi Zhicai shook his head and said, "If we make friends with the nobles, we only need to defeat Liu Yan and Yizhou will be ours."

"But everything that happened in Jingzhou shows that to us, seizing a state is no less than starting over again."

Jin Mao asked puzzledly: "When I was in Yangzhou, I had no power and influence, so it took a long time. But now I have a strong army, how can it be the same?"

Xi Zhicai did not explain further, and said with a smile: "If you do not believe it, you can try it in Jiangling County, the seat of Nanjun, and you will know."

Jin Mao was very curious: "How to try it?"

"I heard that seven or eight of the nobles in Jiangling County have already gone. May I ask, lord, is this true?"

After receiving Jin Mao's affirmative answer, Xi Zhicai continued, "Then my lord should try to liquidate the entire Jiangling County gentry and see what the reaction will be."

"With the military strength you have in Jiangling County, no one can make a single move."

Jin Mao agreed: "Let's do it!"

...

Jiangling County.

The only two noble families that had not yet fled were the Deng and Feng families. The rest of the small and medium-sized clans and powerful people all fled to seek refuge in Xiangyang or Nanyang County.

Some people from the Deng and Feng families also fled, but as their families were so large and powerful, there were always some people and property that could not be disposed of, and they remained in Jiangling County.

Originally, the two families were very worried about whether Jinmao would be liquidated.

Today, I suddenly saw a notice requiring each household to report their household registration, measure their land, and calculate taxes.

Even the changes in previous years should be taken into account!

This is a difficult situation for the various ethnic groups that remain in Jiangling County.

Who doesn’t know the trick behind this?
But the new commander wanted to do this.

The knowledgeable people from the Deng and Feng families held a secret meeting to discuss countermeasures on this matter.

Deng Fang and Feng Xi presided over the meeting. Both of them are outstanding figures in their families and have great influence.

There were eighteen people attending the meeting, and they were the only remaining powerful families in the city.

Originally, some people were not qualified to come, but Deng Fang and Feng Xi both believed that only by gathering the strength of everyone could the powerful participate.

"Everyone, Yangzhou Mu is bullying us by taking advantage of his power. He is trying to undermine our foundation!"

Deng Fang began to set the tone: "We must guard against wolfish ambitions!"

"What do you think we should do?"

Someone stepped forward and pointed out the doubts: "Since the governor of Yangzhou only asked us to report it ourselves, then we should just make a false report. Who can tell whether it is true or false?"

As soon as these words were spoken, many people responded.

Feng Xi stood up to suppress the noise, "Everyone, please listen to me."

"This is Yangzhou Mu's plan. If it is a false report, someone will come to investigate. By then, I will be the fish on the chopping board."

"I heard that there are tens of thousands of dead souls under the command of Yangzhou Mu, and he will definitely not show mercy!"

"Therefore, I suggest that everyone report the truth and see what Yangzhou Mu has to say!"

However, except Deng Fang, no one responded to Feng Xi's words, and everyone else thought they were smart.

As expected, the next meeting broke down. Representatives from each company gathered in groups of three or five and discussed how to falsify the information.

Feng Xi shook his head helplessly.

Deng Fang sneered, "What a short-sighted person!"

"Xiu Yuan (Feng Xi's courtesy name), you must take good care of your family and don't make any mistakes."

Feng Xi bowed and said, "Thank you, Brother Kongshan (Deng Fang's courtesy name) for the reminder. Let's encourage each other."

Deng Fang bowed before leaving.

The next day.

Jin Mao patrolled the city with three thousand personal guards.

Xi Zhicai followed around, holding the lists submitted by each family and "calling out" their names one by one.

Xi Zhicai had already instigated one family to act as an insider, and he knew exactly which family among the 18 families participating in the meeting was cheating.

Basically, every time you check it, you will get the correct answer.

Only a few royal guards in the early years had done things like confiscating property and exterminating families. Those people are now either officers in the royal guards or in the lower-level military units.

Therefore, the other royal guards had only heard of it but had never experienced it themselves.

This was the first time we experienced this and we were all extremely excited.

However, it's different from before.

This time, we need to perfect the things before we can get into the topic.

These three thousand people were all literate and worked very efficiently. Even so, it was already evening when they finished counting the seventeen households.

Except for the Deng and Feng families and the one who instigated rebellion, all fifteen families, without exception, committed fraud. So, I'm sorry, Jinmao is going to start a bloodbath.

Let’s not talk about how bloody the process was.

After one night, the three thousand royal guards were still not satisfied, and fifteen powerful aristocratic families were collectively wiped out, leaving nothing behind.

This was a rare carnival for the Shinbei.

But it was the most terrifying night for the nobles!
Day three.

With sincerity, Jinmao invited Deng and Feng families to send people to join, but was sternly rejected.

Are you kidding? Who would work with a butcher like this?
From that day on, the whole Jingzhou knew what kind of person Jin Mao was.

The gentry of the two northern counties of Jingzhou contributed money, manpower and manpower to help Liu Biao and Yuan Shu grow rapidly.

There were constant riots in the other five counties of Jingzhou. In order to survive, the gentry were determined to stop Jin Mao from ruling Jingzhou at all costs.

There were even many common people who did not know the truth and were bewitched and led by the gentry.

For a moment, the entire Jingzhou seemed to be in chaos.

The only good news seems to be that Yangzhou is the only one that has not been affected, and even Guangling County is in turmoil.

Jiangling County.

Jinmao kept receiving bad news from all over the country and couldn't help but doubt itself.

"Zhicai, did I really do something wrong?"

Xi Zhicai is like a ray of light in the darkness, illuminating the haze in Jinmao's heart.

“You did nothing wrong.”

"It's just that you are too anxious!"

Xi Zhicai said guiltily: "It's also my fault. I didn't consider the consequences of this matter."

Encouraged, Jin Mao cheered up again: "No! I was wrong!"

Jin Mao slowly stood up and looked at Xi Zhicai and said, "Long-lasting victory, even I have been blinded by it!"

"Arrogant soldiers will be defeated!"

"What a crushing defeat this was!"

Jin Mao lifted his spirits and shouted, "What a good defeat!"

"This defeat made me realize who I am and what the facts are!"

The nobles were too powerful. Just a simple attempt could cause such a huge chain reaction.

At this moment, Jin Mao began to understand why Xun You and Zhou Yu stopped him.

Then why didn't Xi Zhicai stop Jin Mao?
In fact, there are.

However, the price is a bit high, and the current situation is the minimum price to stop Jinmao from acting on its own.

The reason why Xizhi did this was because of Xun Yu's help behind the scenes.

Even though Xun Yu hasn't met Jin Mao yet, he has actually been planning for a long time.

Otherwise, no matter how smart a person is, it would be extremely difficult to change a person without any preparation.

(End of this chapter)