Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1111: Trap the White Wolf
Wang Yun's face was full of humility, but he was no longer as frightened as before, as if all these things had never happened.

"Your Majesty values ​​me so highly. Even if I and my family sacrifice our lives, we cannot repay you even a little bit."

After saying this, he glanced at Wang Qian who was standing beside him. Wang Qian hurriedly led many ministers and family heads to kowtow and say: "Even if we, the humble people, sacrifice our lives, it is still difficult for us to repay the emperor's grace even a fraction of the time!"

Liu He raised his eyebrows and tapped the table lightly with his fingers.

"Oh? I wonder how you, my dear ministers and the heads of the families, intend to fight to the death?"

Wang Yun gritted his teeth and said, "Although I am old and confused, I know that Your Majesty has worked hard for many years to collect all the land in the world and return it to the court. The court will then distribute it according to birth, aging, death, burial, household registration, population increase and decrease, military merit, and the number of titles. This is the so-called 'equal field system'."

Liu He thought to himself, "This old fellow is indeed a veteran minister of two dynasties. He is indeed very knowledgeable. Although I have been secretly using the Chamber of Commerce to carry out this reform, I have never made it public. He is able to understand it clearly. He is really extraordinary."

Wang Yun's reply was also what Liu He had anticipated beforehand, so he was prepared to be patient and listen to what he had to say next.

Wang Yun was somewhat confused when he saw that the emperor had not made any statement, but the arrow had been on the string and had to be shot. Moreover, he had originally intended to retreat in order to advance. Now, the emperor's attitude seemed to be to back down, so he naturally had no reason to change his words.

"I have been favored by your majesty. In recent years, I have made a lot of money from selling paper books. Although I have sold countless good fields to raise funds for purchasing books, the money I earn from selling books every year is more than tens of millions. The main and side branches of my clan have used this money to buy new land and beautiful houses, no less than hundreds of thousands of acres."

"The paper book business is a huge profit, unparalleled in the world. This is a generous gift from Your Majesty. How dare this old minister forget it? This old minister is willing to hand over all the land owned by the Wang family in Taiyuan, including both irrigated and dry land, totaling more than 673,400 acres, to the court and let the court allocate it without hesitation."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the ministers and family heads behind him were extremely surprised.

They all followed Wang Yun and participated in the sale of paper books. Each family made huge profits from it. Now Wang Yun took the lead in using this method to hand over most of the profits to the court. How could they hide away?
This caused many people to feel puzzled and even dissatisfied.

Not to mention them, even Liu He was somewhat surprised by Wang Yun's sudden decision.

"This old guy is willing to risk everything to save his own life and the honor of his family."

The Wang family of Taiyuan is an extremely large family. Their annual expenses, money, food and grain, are incalculable. Relying solely on the salaries of the dozens of officials in the family is simply a drop in the bucket.

Therefore, income from land, business, etc. is Wang’s main source of income.

When Wang Yun handed over the land to the court, it was equivalent to cutting off a major source of income for the family. Both Wang Yun and Liu He knew very well that once these lands were in Liu He's hands, Liu He would certainly redistribute them to the Wang family of Taiyuan in accordance with the established national policy. However, this would not be a matter of overnight. After all, the Wang family was not an ordinary family. Just counting the population, the prefectures and counties where they were located, and the distribution of land would not be accomplished in a short period of time.

In addition, this move will also cause dissatisfaction among the hundreds of families and ministers who follow the Wang family. After all, this also harms their interests.

But Liu He soon understood.

"Haha, a brave man cuts off his own arm and sacrifices his chariot to save his master. He is indeed Wang Yun, and indeed the helmsman of the greatest family in the Han Dynasty. He is very courageous. However..."

He looked down at Wang Yun below and sneered in his heart: "I am not a beggar. I want to send you away just by giving me some food."

While thinking this in his mind, Liu He had a look of great surprise on his face.

"Hahaha... Grand Master is so considerate of the Holy Spirit. He is truly like a white jade pillar supporting the sky and a purple gold beam bridging the sea. I am very pleased. Please stand up quickly."

After saying this, he indifferently glanced at the people present who were still hesitant, hesitant, or even dissatisfied. He casually picked up the teacup in front of him, gently blew the precious tea leaves on the surface, and said, "Grand Master is a man of high moral character. There is no need to publicize this move. My dear ministers and family heads do not need to follow suit."

Wang Yun hurriedly turned around and glared at Wang Qian fiercely.

Wang Qian was still unwilling at first, but from this one look, he suddenly realized that money and property are important, but if one loses his life and property, what is the use of these material things?

He immediately knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly: "The wealth and honor of our subjects are all given by Your Majesty. Now that the country needs it, how dare I not devote all my energy to it? Why should I be stingy with my mere land? I, Wang Qian, am also willing to donate a total of about 300,000 acres of land in my clan."

Among the ministers and family heads present, some who were more discerning also knelt down and kowtowed, expressing their willingness to donate their own land. The number of these people ranged from 70,000 to 80,000 mu to 200,000 to 300,000 mu. In a short while, including Wang Yun's share, Liu He had obtained more than 12 million mu of land.

There were still most of the ministers and family heads left, all of them with distressed looks on their faces, looking at each other, hesitating to move forward, making Wang Qian extremely anxious.

He turned around and said bitterly, "Do you think that what the old man and the Grand Master just said is untrue? Or are you reluctant to give up these acres of land?"

As he spoke, he secretly used his hand as a knife and made a gesture on his neck.

When these people saw this, beads of sweat suddenly appeared on their foreheads and they all knelt down.

"We, the humble servants, are willing to donate our family's land to express our gratitude to Your Majesty for his great grace!"

Only then did Liu He smile, squinted his eyes, walked down personally, and helped Wang Yun up.

"Grand Master and all of you, why do you have to do this? You have all made contributions to the Han Dynasty. It is not my wish to give away your land like this."

However, Wang Yun acted extremely willing, as if he would not get up unless Liu He accepted the land.

"Your Majesty, why do you say that? I, your old minister, and my entire family have been able to achieve today's glory thanks to your Majesty's support and grace. If not for this, when the traitor Dong usurped the throne and Yuan Shu created chaos, I'm afraid we would have all died."

"What's more, paper books are very profitable. Your Majesty could have reserved them for yourself, but you gave them to me, an old minister. This is a great favor. Even if we, the Wang family of Taiyuan, die nine times, we can never repay you even a fraction of it."

"I am old and incompetent, and have become useless to the country. I am offering my humble help to express my gratitude. If Your Majesty does not agree, do you think you despise me for my incompetence?"

After saying this, he actually covered his face and cried. Seeing this, Wang Qian and others also hurriedly joined him in crying.

Liu He looked at this huge group of more than a hundred people, all of whom were prominent figures today, but were crying together. He really wanted to laugh in his heart, but he had to force himself to hold it back.

"Okay, okay, Grand Tutor, you are loyal to the country. How can I let you down?"

He formally helped Wang Yun up, then returned to his seat and said to Gong Saner, "After returning to the palace, immediately issue an imperial decree that Grand Tutor Wang Yun, for his meritorious service in donating the land, shall be rewarded with eight hundred pieces of dragon and phoenix brocade embroidered by the Queen herself, as well as the Qinglang Manor that I newly built in Shanglin Garden, which shall also be given to the Grand Tutor."

He turned to Wang Yun and said, "There are natural hot springs in this manor. Even in the cold winter, it feels like spring. The Grand Tutor can enjoy a long life. As for the canonization of Prince Liu Tai, what the Grand Tutor said is reasonable. Let's postpone it for now. The rest of you will be awarded today and each will be rewarded."

Wang Yun felt as if he had been pardoned. He bowed and kowtowed again: "Your Majesty, I am deeply grateful for your grace!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty for your grace!"

A catastrophic disaster that had frightened everyone, including Wang Yun, seemed to have been overcome so easily.

Although they lost almost all the land within the clan, which was almost equivalent to giving up most of the clan's property, they managed to save their lives in the end, and even their official positions were not affected in the slightest. As long as they could control the right to sell paper books, the mere land could be earned back in full within three years.

Just when everyone felt relieved and let out a sigh of relief, Liu He spoke again.

"Alright, my dear ministers and the head of the family, please withdraw for now and wait outside the door. The Grand Tutor and I have other family matters to discuss."

In such a short time, everyone was so frightened that they were sweating profusely and were soaked all over. When they heard what was said, they were extremely happy and immediately stood up and retreated out of the door to take a temporary rest in the small courtyard.

But after a while, only Liu He, Zhang He, Gong Saner and Wang Yun were left in the huge hall of the Grand Tutor's Mansion.

(End of this chapter)