Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 497: The major families gathered to discuss

The reason why Liu Xie was confident in pushing forward reforms was that Lu Bu and the army under his command gave him great confidence.

Liu Xiu succeeded in unifying the country by relying on the support of the aristocratic families, so he had to make a certain degree of compromise after founding the country.

But he was different. Although he also relied on the power of the aristocratic families, he never let them get involved in the military since he officially came to power.

Today's Han army is either directly recruited or reorganized from prisoners and surrendered soldiers.

Although there were some children of aristocratic families in the middle and lower levels of the army, the proportion was very small. The core power of the army was still in the hands of high-level generals such as Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, and Huang Zhong.

And these are his confidants whom he can completely trust and rely on.

In addition, he also greatly improved the food and pensions of the soldiers, and built a cemetery for martyrs, which further enhanced his prestige among the soldiers.

If he did not have the sharp weapon of the army in his hand, he would never dare to carry out such drastic reforms.

"As long as Fengxian is here, I will naturally have nothing to worry about."

Liu Xie collected his thoughts and said with a smile, "Okay, there's nothing else to do. I still have government affairs to attend to. Please leave first."

"I resign!"

Lu Bu nodded, took out the piece of paper with "Wen Gong Po Zhen Qu" written on it from his arms, took a good look at it, and left happily.

……

After Lu Bu returned home, he immediately sent people to "invite" the best folk artists in Chang'an City.

These folk art masters happened to be gathering together for a drink, and they were all caught in one fell swoop and taken to the general's mansion.

The General's Mansion, in the lobby.

Lü Bu sat in the hall drinking tea with his sword in hand. Wei Yue led a group of soldiers in and said to him, "General! The people have been brought here!"

As he said this, he ordered his men to bring up the captured folk artists.

When Lu Bu took a closer look, he saw that these people were all tied up tightly, with sacks on their heads, and were being carried around like chickens by the tall and burly soldiers beside them.

Lu Bu was dumbfounded. After coming to his senses, he started to scold Wei Yue: "Asshole! Who told you to tie them up? Didn't I tell you to invite them over?"

Wei Yue was scolded so badly that he looked very embarrassed.

He also didn't expect that his own general, who had always been unfriendly to scholars, would really ask him to invite someone instead of just "invite".

Lu Bu was too lazy to argue with him, so he ordered his men to untie the bandages of these folk artists and take off their hoods.

"Please spare my life, Lord Wen! Please spare my life, Lord Wen!"

As soon as they were freed, one of them knelt down before Lu Bu, crying and begging for mercy, "We were just drinking together, and we have never violated any Han law!"

The others also looked at Lu Bu with fear.

His face was a little pale.

They were just drinking in the restaurant when this group of ferocious soldiers suddenly rushed in, saying that the general wanted to see them, and then tied them up.

Along the way, apart from fear, they were racking their brains to think about how they had offended the invaluable Lord Wen.

"Don't be afraid, this general has no ill intentions."

Lu Bu said this with a pleasant face. It was hard to imagine such an expression appearing on his face.

"I heard that you are Cai Yong's disciples and have great accomplishments in music. I invited you here today to compose music for me."

"This poem was written by your majesty himself, and is called 'Wen Gong Po Zhen Yue'. You are required to compose it into a song within one month."

"As long as you compose well, this general will reward you handsomely!"

Lu Bu handed the three people several copies of the lyrics that he had asked someone to copy, and said to them.

He had inquired about these people, and found out that their teacher was the once world-famous Cai Yong.

Cai Yong's attainments in music were extraordinary, and his guqin skills were known to be unrivaled. As Cai Yong's disciples, these people's music skills must have been very good.

"Compose, compose music?"

After hearing what Lu Bu said, several people were stunned.

They originally thought that Lu Bu was going to cause trouble for them, but they didn't expect that he just asked them to compose music, and the lyrics of the music were written by the emperor.

The three of them looked at each other, and one of the scholars in blue said in embarrassment: "Thank you, Lord Wen, for your kindness, but our abilities are limited and we are afraid we are not up to the task."

"Please ask Lord Wen to find someone else..."

The two people on the side also echoed.

Although Lu Bu was of noble status, he was just a commoner who climbed to a high position by relying on his military merits, while they were all from noble families.

Asking them to compose music for a crude warrior would bring bad reputation, even if the lyrics were written by the emperor.

Although Lu Bu was reckless, he was not stupid. When he saw the expressions of the three men, he knew that they were not unable to do it, but unwilling to do it.

"Humph!"

Lu Bu's face instantly turned cold, and he slammed the table and said, "If you don't accept my toast, you will be punished! You have to compose this song today, whether you want to or not!"

"Otherwise, it will be like this!"

As soon as Lu Bu finished speaking, the table in front of him shattered to the ground.

The three of them were immediately frightened by this scene and said quickly, "Compose! Compose! We must compose the song well!"

Seeing the three people's timid appearance, Lu Bu couldn't help but feel a little contempt in his heart.

They don't want to talk to them nicely, but they become willing when you use force. Isn't this just being a masochist?
"No wonder Your Majesty has to send troops to garrison various places. If you don't take a tough stance against these nobles, they will dare to push their luck and ride on your head to shit and piss."

"What a bunch of bastards."

Lu Bu snorted in his heart, finally understanding why the emperor asked him to send troops to garrison in various places to deter others. This group of people had to be dealt with forcefully.

If you are strong, he will be timid; if you retreat, he will think you are afraid.

After giving some detailed instructions, Lu Bu had them taken away, and then he set out for the military camp.

He had to show off in front of Zhang Liao.

……

Night falls at Cui’s mansion.

At the back door of Cui Mansion.

An inconspicuous black carriage stopped here, and then a man wearing a veiled hat got out of the carriage and knocked gently on the door.

Soon the back door opened a crack and welcomed him in.

Led by the servants, the man in the veiled hat walked through the beautiful courtyards and pavilions, and finally came to a dark room deep in Cui's mansion, and then walked straight in.

There are already several people waiting in the dark room.

When they saw the man in the veiled hat coming in, they all looked over there with different expressions, and the man sitting in the first seat was Cui Yan.

"Master Dou, you are a whole incense stick late." Cui Yan, who was wearing gorgeous brocade clothes and holding a heater in his hands, said to the man with a veiled hat with a hint of dissatisfaction flashing across his handsome face.

At this time, the man in the veil hat also took off his hat, revealing the face of an ordinary middle-aged man. It was the head of the Dou family, Dou Fu!
In addition to Cui Yan and Dou Fu, there were many other people in this small dark room, including Fu De, Ju Zong, Shen Rong, Dong Zhong, Chen Lin, and Xun Hong (son of Xun Chen)... all of them came from major families.

Tonight, they all gathered here.

Facing Cui Yan's dissatisfaction and the looks from everyone, Dou Fu raised his eyelids slightly and said calmly: "If you hadn't sent people to me twice or three times, I wouldn't have come tonight at all."

"To be honest, I still think that your private meeting is quite stupid. You really don't take the embroidered clothes seriously."

"If His Majesty knew that the heads of the major families met in private, what do you think His Majesty would think?"

Tonight's game was organized by Cui Yan.

He secretly sent invitations to all the leaders of the major families except the Yang family, asking them to gather at his house tonight.

Cui Yan's eyes were slightly cold, and he said expressionlessly: "Since you dare to initiate this gathering, then I am sure I can hide it from the spies of the Embroidered Clothes Envoy."

"Besides, what we are going to discuss tonight is a major matter that concerns the interests of all our families. It is safest to have a face-to-face meeting."

"If Master Dou really doesn't want to participate, you can leave now. I won't say a word."

Cui Yan was never polite when he was talking to people.

The Dou family and the Cui family are both in Qinghe. As the saying goes, there can't be two tigers in one mountain, so naturally there is a lot of conflict between the two families.

When the Dou family became prosperous in the early years, the Cui family was suppressed.

But later, with the death of Dou Wu, the Dou family had no successor and gradually began to decline. They are no match for the Cui family today.

So since Dou Fu still put on such a condescending attitude in front of him, he naturally would not tolerate it.

Dou Fu's expression changed slightly. After looking at Cui Yan deeply, he finally chose to swallow his anger and found a seat to sit down.

Cui Yan couldn't help but smile coldly when he saw this.

Dong Zhong came out to smooth things over and said, "Okay, okay, since the deadline has come, let's talk business."

"Master Cui, would you like to start?"

Cui Yan withdrew his gaze from Dou Fu, put down the stove in his hand, stood up and said, "I think you have already guessed the purpose of inviting you here today."

"It's nothing else but the recent establishment of the Imperial Academy, the survey of land, and the population census by Your Majesty."

"My Cui family had a total of 80,000 mu of land. After an inventory, 60,000 mu were confiscated. The accumulation of several generations has gone down the drain. It can be said that the loss is heavy."

"It's not just my Cui family that is being investigated. The Dou family, the Xun family, and the Dong family are all being investigated. Soon, none of you here will be able to escape."

"So we need to come up with a solution for this."

Cui Yan stated directly the purpose of inviting everyone here, which was precisely because of the recent reforms being carried out by the court.

When this matter was mentioned, everyone present looked unhappy.

Surveying land and conducting a population census were like cutting flesh from the bodies of these wealthy and powerful families.

And it's not cut in small pieces.

Just remove the arms and legs directly!

Take the Cui family as an example. Eighty thousand acres of land were confiscated for 60,000 yuan. This was the wealth that the Cui family had accumulated over many years!

"What can be done?"

Ju Zong smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty has been well prepared this time. The inspection teams of the Embroidered Uniform Envoy and the Taxation Bureau went to various places in batches to conduct investigations, and did not give us any chance to react."

"And if anyone dares to obstruct the inspection team's investigation, the Embroidered Uniform Envoy can kill them first and report later. Who can stand this?"

"Jia Xu, this old poisonous snake, is too cruel."

Dong Zhong, who was standing by, shook his head and sighed, "It's not Jia Xu who is cruel, but your Majesty. Without your Majesty's instruction, how could Jia Xu be so bold?"

"The most hateful one is that old fellow Yang Biao. Only half of his 100,000 family property was confiscated, and his son even joined the cabinet and became a university scholar!"

"Damn it!"

When mentioning Yang Biao, Dong Zhong couldn't help but grit his teeth. This old man was too insidious. He sold out everyone to show his loyalty to the emperor.

Simply unworthy of a man!
Of course, he was just jealous. If he were given the same opportunity, he would make the same choice as Yang Biao without hesitation.

"I think we should just bear with it if we can."

Xun Hong hesitated for a long time and then said, "Now that the country has just been stabilized, the treasury is empty and the court is short of money. Your Majesty must find a way to fill the treasury."

"Let's not talk about whether we can hinder His Majesty from checking the land. Even if there is a way, I think it's better not to do it."

"Your Majesty's methods are too cruel. I'm worried..."

Cui Yan raised his eyebrows and asked, "Are you worried that your Xun family will end up like your father?"

Xun Hong's eyes were dim and he remained silent.

If his father Xun Chen had not pleaded for Yuan Shao, the status of their Xun family today would not be much worse than that of the Cui and Dong families.

He was traumatized by the emperor's ruthless methods, and was very worried that if he went against the emperor, he might attract Lu Bu.

"Patriarch Xun is right."

Shen Rong said at this time, agreeing with Xun Hong's opinion, "It's just some land and people. If they are confiscated, then they are confiscated. There is no need to offend Your Majesty for this."

"You all know His Majesty's character. To put it bluntly, he is vindictive and ruthless."

"Even if we can stop His Majesty from surveying the land this time, His Majesty will definitely think of other ways in the future."

"So I think we should take the initiative to cooperate this time, so that His Majesty can see our attitude and know that we also care about the Han Dynasty and the court."

The loss of land and population is certainly painful, but it is pure bad luck that they have to bear the brunt of the new emperor's three major changes since his accession to the throne. There is nothing they can do about it, so they might as well just endure it.

"You are more generous than I thought."

Cui Yan looked at them in surprise, and then said, "But my idea is similar to yours. Since His Majesty needs money, we should give it to him."

"The land can be bought back sooner or later."

"Compared to the land survey, I think what deserves more attention is the Imperial Academy that Your Majesty asked Guo Fengxiao to establish."

When this was mentioned, everyone's expression changed slightly.

The Imperial College has become very famous recently, and common people are discussing this matter, so they are naturally paying attention to it.

Compared with the Hongdumen School founded by Emperor Ling, the system of the Imperial College is undoubtedly more complete, and the current emperor also attaches more importance to it.

Both in scale and influence, it far exceeds Hongdu School.

The main content of study at Hongdu School was the Huang Xi Pian written by Emperor Ling, but the Imperial College was completely different. It studied mathematics, politics, engineering and criminal law.

It is not difficult to see that the emperor wanted to select talents directly through the Imperial Academy and directly appoint them to various institutions of the court in the future.

This is no small matter.

(End of this chapter)