Fu Shanhe

Chapter 51: Widespread Involvement
After the Zhou family hastily raised the banner of rebellion, other families followed suit, and in a short period of time, tens of thousands of rebels were mobilized.

Relying on their local operations, many states and counties surrendered without a fight, and five county towns were captured in a short period of time. The Lianghuai region seemed to have entered a chaotic world overnight.

Yangzhou City.

Ever since the news of the rebellion of the seven major families came, the scholars who were detained by the Five Cities Military Department have broken down their defenses one after another.

It’s really a rip-off!
It seems that these people are really preparing for a rebellion, and they are still speaking up for the salt merchants.

It was too late to regret now, they had already been trapped. It was horrible to think about running around and crying out for the rebels.

In the face of cruel reality, any explanation becomes pale and powerless.

The weapons and armor that appeared on the battlefield and the five counties that were quickly conquered all showed that these people were deliberately planning a rebellion.

The gentry that everyone knows are all respected and virtuous leaders of the village. They would never do such treasonous things as raising private armies and hiding weapons.

The most miserable ones were the gentry who had intermarried with the seven major families. They had done nothing wrong, but they were forced to become part of the rebel group.

It turns out that marriage must be done with caution.

Since my in-laws have done something that will lead to the execution of nine generations of the family, my family can't escape either.

When it comes to dealing with rebellious parties, successive dynasties have always followed the principle of killing those who have committed the crime and not letting them go.

Those who were close to the rebels joined the rebel ranks, cursing and swearing.

Those who are far away from the rebels will be in trouble.

They were pure gentry, and at most they had a few servants to guard the house, and their fighting ability was not much higher than that of yamen runners.

Even if they want to rebel, they don't have the strength to do so.

He could only mobilize his connections and work in the government to avoid being implicated as much as possible, while at the same time arranging for his children to go away to avoid disaster.

"Sir, the ones on the left were sent by the Wang Mansion in the west of the city, the ones in the middle were sent by the Liu Mansion in the east of the city, the ones on the right were sent by the Wei Mansion, and the ones in the back were sent by the Hu Mansion in the west of the city...

The students checked and found that each gift was very valuable.

Among them, the gift from the Wang family was the most valuable. In addition to some antiques, calligraphy and paintings, there was also a box of silver, with a total value of about 20,000 taels of silver.

The total value of the gifts sent by the gentry in Yangzhou City is no less than 150,000 taels."

Lan Linjie said with a trembling voice.

The numbers are staggering.

With his salary level, he wouldn't be able to earn that much money even if he worked as Li Mu's advisor for his entire life.

"I've long heard that Yangzhou is the richest city in the world. After seeing the work of Yangzhou gentry, the rumors are indeed true!
"No merit, no reward. What do they want by giving such a generous gift?"

Li Mu asked with a smile.

I thought I was doing a hard job, but I never expected that money would come to me on its own.

But the gift is too heavy and it is also very difficult to deal with.

If each family offered a few hundred taels of money and goods, he could just accept them directly.

There has been a rumor since ancient times that soldiers are as ferocious as combs. Li Mu restricted the military discipline of the soldiers, and it was also in line with the rules for the gentry to pay for peace.

Each family presented a valuable gift, which must be for something.

If the thing can be done, then there is no harm in accepting it.

Anyway, everyone came here to make a fortune. The colleagues who interrogated the salt merchants would make a lot of money, so one more person making a fortune would not be noticeable.

If things are too difficult, no matter how much money he is offered, he will not take the hot potato.

“Sir, the seven major families are deeply rooted in the Huai River and Yangtze River regions, and have many connections with the Yangzhou gentry.

Now that the rebellion has broken out, every household is in a panic.

These people are eager to get away, so they want to use your connections to get in touch with Marquis Wuyang."

Lan Linjie replied.

Connections are divided into circles, and the Yangzhou gentry also have connections in the civil service group.

They usually don't pay any attention to relatives like Marquis Wuyang.

But this time the situation was special, and the Five Cities Army took over Yangzhou City.

Now, the people who can decide their fate have become the nobles and relatives. No matter how wide the connections in the court are, they are out of reach now.

Not to mention Marquis Wuyang, even Li Mu, the captain in charge of the city's order, could easily destroy a family.

Once the accusation of colluding with traitors is put on someone, his property will be confiscated and his entire family will be destroyed.

Even if the Prime Minister of the Cabinet wanted to overturn the verdict for them, he could not match the swiftness of the sword of the Five Cities Army.

With the sword hanging over their heads, every family in Yangzhou couldn't sleep and was anxious to find an opportunity to establish a relationship with the Wucheng Bingmasi.

Although the officialdom of Dayu is corrupt, they do not accept all kinds of money. Without a middleman, even gifts cannot be delivered.

These gifts were able to appear in front of Li Mu thanks to the help of his classmate Lan Linjie.

“Tell them that things are difficult when it comes to the rebels.

If the involvement is not serious, I can do them a favor.

But the threshold for Wuyang Hou is high, especially when it comes to a case of rebellion, and I can’t guarantee that he will intervene.”

Li Mu said with difficulty.

It is a Chinese tradition not to speak too much.

Even if it is just a matter of delivering a sentence, you have to show how difficult it is so that the investor feels that their money is worth spending.

Deep down, he was already overjoyed.

When luck comes, you can’t stop it.

When he was in Beijing, he had done a middleman business once, and he didn't expect to do it again when he came to Yangzhou.

The imperial court needed stability, and the killing of the seven major families was to reform the salt administration.

The salt merchants' interest groups rebelled, and the number of gentry drawn into the rebellion was increasing rapidly.

If the imperial court wanted to quell the rebellion quickly, it could not force all the gentry in Lianghuai to join the rebel camp.

When handling cases of rebellion, it is necessary to give lenient sentences to gentry who are less implicated in order to win over the hearts of local scholars.

In this context, matchmaking is completely risk-free.

"My Lord, I will tell you the truth.

One of my classmates was from the Wang family in the west of the city. Two years ago, they had an marriage with the Zhou family, but they didn't know about the Zhou family's rebellion.

Due to our friendship as classmates, I..."

Lan Linjie said with gritted teeth.

If the Five Cities Army had not taken over Yangzhou City, it would have been difficult to figure out the relationship between each family and the rebels, and the Wang family would have already been confiscated by now.

"Mr. Lan values ​​friendship and loyalty, and I understand that.

However, rebellion is a serious crime punishable by the execution of nine generations of the clan. As the relative of the traitor, you will definitely appear on the list of rebels.

If he wants to get rid of the crime, it is not enough to just let go of the Five Cities Army, but he also needs to coordinate with the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

If things go wrong, you might have to go all the way to the left eunuch of the Imperial Household Department.

This is very difficult to do!"

Hearing "it's very difficult", Lan Linjie breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he had not followed Li Mu for a long time, he knew that his master's official position was not high, but his ways were quite wild.

All the previous party disputes were resolved through connections.

Since we have left a loophole this time, I think we have some chance of success.

"Please rest assured, sir. The Wang family has been passed down for more than 200 years and still has some wealth. We will never embarrass you!"

Lan Linjie immediately assured.

Anyway, the money is not his, so if he can make it through, he will be doing his classmates justice.

This is such a life-threatening matter, no one would dare to take it even if they were offered money.

(End of this chapter)