Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 513: Bingzhou Disaster
His words were like lighting a fire on the dry grassland, instantly igniting a raging fire among the young people of the two tribes.

"I am willing to sever all ties with the Wei family!"

"I testified that the elders of the clan told us that day that as long as we did not step within fifty steps of the palace gate, the imperial guards would never kill anyone."

"The elders also said that as long as we make a fuss about this, we can destroy the general's reputation. Then we can let the Yuan family and other foreign princes do some benevolent deeds, and the common people and scholars will naturally go to them for surrender. Then the princes can not only accumulate strength, but also legitimately attack the general. No, it's a rebellion against the court!"

"Oh, right, I passed by the elders' room that day and overheard what they were saying. They wanted to instigate the students and former officials of the major families to do something together. I think it's definitely not a good thing. The general must be on guard."

"That's right, they have ulterior motives and are trying to disrupt the world. We are dedicated to our country and will never go along with them!"

Seeing these juniors of theirs jumping out one by one to accuse them, Wei Yong and Wang Kun were so angry that they could not express it in words.

"You...you...are rebellious sons, rebellious sons..."

The two men were filled with shock and anger, and finally they couldn't bear it anymore. They spat out blood, and then they fell to the ground one after another.

"uncle……"

"uncle……"

The two men were lying on the ground, half breathing, their hands weakly grasping at the air, no one knew what they were expecting.

Cui Jun sneered at what he saw.

"Loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, justice, integrity, wow, wow, what a good upbringing."

"Loyang magistrate, take them all away and interrogate them strictly. Those who have performed meritorious service may be given lighter sentences, but the rest must not be pardoned. All the main and branch families of the Wei and Wang families must be raided and their property confiscated."

Liu He was originally in a dilemma on how to deal with these families, but now he has made up his mind.

"Since you guys want to play with me to the end, then I, Liu He, will accompany you. Keeping you here is indeed a disaster. If you don't remove the roots, they will grow again in the spring breeze. I learned this lesson in my previous life, why do you forget it now?"

Wang Chen received the order and immediately ordered his runners to come over and capture the people from the two tribes one by one.

The people around and the imperial guards in front of the palace gate all cheered and applauded.

Xun Yu looked at Liu He's expression and seemed to have noticed something.

"My Lord, have you already made a decision?"

Liu He looked at him and said, "That's right. Since they are destined to be on the same page with me, what's the point of keeping them?"

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Xun Yu seemed to be greatly relieved.

"Why? Could it be that Wen Ruo has been thinking this for a long time?"

"My lord is wise, I cannot compare to him..."

"Alright, alright, stop flattering me. You don't need to use the trick of keeping a low profile in front of me. You and I are both master and servant, and close friends. Why beat around the bush?"

After hearing what Liu He said, Xun Yu gave a rare cunning smile.

"Since the lord has said so, I will speak frankly. Zhou Ping and I have thought about this a long time ago. The lord is different from Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Cao Cao and others. Any of them, if they were in the lord's position today, could choose to forgive these more than 100 families, thus making friends with them and making them work for them. But the lord can't do that."

"Yes, that makes sense. I've thought of that before. Go on."

"Regardless of the fact that the lord has always been hostile to these families, today, even if the lord is willing to compromise, it is too late. The path the lord is taking is to win the hearts of the people, not the hearts of the nobles. The scholars are the leaders of the people, but they only account for a tiny fraction of the people. By gaining their support, we can quickly gain control of a large number of talents, land, food, and even soldiers and equipment. However, once we do this, after we conquer the country, we will inevitably have to share it with many families."

"The problem of the Han Dynasty today is that many families have been in power for a long time, and they are too powerful to be controlled in the local areas, so that a large amount of land has been annexed, the people are getting poorer and the aristocratic families are getting richer. However, the taxes paid by these families are very small. If there are more than three officials with a salary of 1,000 stones in a family, the annual salary distributed by the court may exceed the taxes paid by the family. In this way, the country is weak and the people are poor, while the aristocratic families are strong. How can there not be chaos in the world?"

"My lord, your path is destined to make your country strong and your people prosperous. To do this, you will inevitably come into conflict with them. If you compromise today, it will only lay the seeds for greater conflicts in the future." Liu He nodded repeatedly as he listened.

"In that case, why didn't the two military advisors give me advice earlier?"

Xun Yu and Cui Jun smiled at each other, and then Xun Yu said, "What others say is not as profound as what the lord has realized himself. Moreover, many ministers have advised the lord, and since the lord is hesitant, no matter how much we say, it will only cause confusion in the lord's mind and will not make the lord make a decision. We two predict that many families will definitely have a backup plan, and it is only a matter of time before the lord makes such a decision, so we are not in a hurry to speak."

Liu He burst out laughing.

"You two..."

Of course he knew that there was another reason that Xun Yu did not say.

After the destruction of these many families, the large number of vacancies in official positions inevitably led to Liu He's strong dependence on these families for talent supply.

Even though Yang Biao had said that even if the combined strength of many families were to be achieved, it would still be difficult to fill the vacancies of these hundreds of officials, the more this was the case, the more he would rely on them, because he still had to rely on them to contact the many neutral families that had remained so far.

Once Liu He succeeds, their families will be comparable to the families of the 28 heroes of the Yuntai of Emperor Guangwu. So even after knowing his political inclinations, they can still support him so firmly.

But precisely because of the existence of this benefit, they have to remain silent on this matter, and even persuade themselves to pardon the Chen, Wei, Zheng and other families like Yang Biao and others. Because they are sure that they will never choose to pardon, they dare to say such things to demonstrate their generosity and dedication to the public.

Of course, Liu He would not doubt their loyalty because everyone has selfish desires. As long as the other party's public spirit can outweigh their selfishness and they are on the same boat with him in terms of interests, Liu He would continue to use and trust them. If you insist on subordinates and allies being selfless saints, you will only end up being deserted by everyone.

Wang Chen had already escorted all the people from the two major families. When he was about to come over and report to Liu He, he was interrupted by another voice.

"Report... a disaster in Bingzhou, a disaster in Bingzhou..."

A messenger was riding a horse, waving a roll of cloth in one hand, shouting in a hurry.

Wang Kun and Wei Yong, who were almost dead, suddenly had their eyes brightened again when they heard the voice.

When Liu He heard about the disaster in Bingzhou, he hurried over and stopped the messenger.

When the messenger saw that it was Liu He, he quickly jumped off his horse.

"A disaster in Bingzhou... the Yellow River... Jizhou..."

The messenger was panting so hard that he could hardly speak complete sentences.

When Liu He heard the word "Yellow River", his nerves instinctively tensed up and he directly snatched the roll of cloth from the messenger.

As soon as the cloth left the messenger's hand, the man suddenly foamed at the mouth and fell to the ground.

Liu He was shocked: "What's going on?"

Xun Yu reached out and felt the messenger's pulse, then shook his head.

"It seems that this man has been working day and night, and his energy and spirit have reached the limit of the human body and are on the verge of collapse. When the letter was still in his hand, he relied on a belief to hold on. As soon as the master took the letter, his message was passed on and his mission was accomplished, so..."

When Liu He heard this, he looked at this ordinary messenger and suddenly felt a sense of respect in his heart. He bent down and took off the sword from the messenger's waist.

"Give this man a proper burial and give his family double the compensation. If he has any children, give him this sword and tell him that his father was a hero!"

After saying this, Liu He unfolded the urgent report in his hand.

"What……"

(End of this chapter)