I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 267: The Cao and Xiahou families in Qiao County

After Yuan Shu launched his action, some powerful people knew they were no match for him, so they simply surrendered, gave up struggling, and allowed Yuan Shu to manipulate them in exchange for a chance to survive.

Some powerful people thought they were very powerful and wanted to gather people to resist, but they were taught a lesson by the elite cavalry of the Han army and their entire families were killed without leaving a single one alive.

Some powerful people tried to escape, but they carried too much valuables and could not run fast. They were caught up by Yuan Shu's light cavalry, who hacked them to death and ended up in the northwest.

Some even worse, knowing they could not survive, burned down their houses and hanged themselves with their entire family.

In short, in this land that was once ravaged by eunuchs, Yuan Shu used the same method to erase all traces of the eunuchs' existence.

Some people died, some were arrested. Yuan Shu almost used Wang Ji's method to deal with those who followed and flattered Wang Ji. It took him two and a half days to eliminate 70% of the powerful families in the entire county.

They are all remnants of eunuchs, all traitors, and they must all be killed!

Anyone who dares to plead for mercy is a remnant of the eunuchs! A traitor!
I want to kill openly and gloriously!

Yuan Shu's killing in Xiang County was open and aboveboard, and the other three people's killings in other counties were also spectacular and earth-shattering.

This fierce liquidation action constantly shocked the hearts of the locals, and the biting cold wind from the Luoyang court directly poured into their collars, filling them with chills and excitement...

In this land where political tacit understanding has been broken, everyone will pay a price and everyone will face brutal killings.

The imperial court will not hold back!

So when Yuan Shu led his army to Dan County, the Dan County magistrate and a number of officials and representatives of powerful families who heard the news knelt directly at the gate of the county, kowtowed to Yuan Shu and asked for surrender, offering everything and begging for their lives.

Seeing that they were so honest, Yuan Shu did not make things too difficult for them.

He said that he was not a cruel killer, so he agreed not to kill too many people. Those who were found guilty during the investigation could be spared from death, but they could not escape the death penalty. They would be exiled to the southern counties of Yangzhou and would not be allowed to return to the Central Plains.

It’s hard to say how successful these people who surrendered voluntarily were, but at least they could live a little longer and avoid being directly wiped out by Yuan Shu’s troops, leaving no man, woman or child alive. They at least had the possibility of passing on their family bloodline.

Yuan Shu reaped rich rewards in several counties in succession. He also learned that Fan Li, Lian Da and Shao Yuan also reaped huge rewards. Apart from anything else, even if Yuan Shu took away the lion's share, the share he distributed would be enough for all 5,000 soldiers to make a fortune.

Common prosperity was strangely achieved at this time...

The next stop is Qiao County.

Unlike other counties, Yuan Shu went to Qiao County not to kill people, but to commend righteous men.

It was similar to what we knew before. During the entire rebellion, only Qiao County, Taiqiu County and Longkang County in Pei State openly and clearly opposed Wang Ji's rebellion, and they took up troops to defend themselves and resolutely refused to obey Wang Ji's orders.

There were some losses as a result.

Qiao County was attacked by a small number of troops arranged by the magistrates of Jianping and Yin counties, so that the county was in a state of emergency and closed for defense.

However, due to the support of the two major powerful families in the county, the Cao family and the Xiahou family, the defense of Qiao County has always been very good. Wang Ji's forces did not have any better way to deal with Qiao County, and the battle situation was deadlocked here.

It was not until Yuan Shu led the Han cavalry south that this delicate balance was broken.

Wang Ji's power was uprooted, and Qiao County became the final winner because it did not surrender and insisted on resistance.

When Yuan Shu personally led his army to Qiao County, the county magistrate had already received the news and had been waiting outside the city with his men. When he saw Yuan Shu leading his troops, he immediately went to greet him, held Yuan Shu's horse, led him into the city, and set up a banquet to welcome Yuan Shu.

I have to say, he is quite a good person.

However, it was obvious that the protagonist of this banquet was not him, but the two powerful families in Qiao County - the Cao family and the Xiahou family.

In fact, it was not strange that these two powerful families, together with the Cao and Xiahou families, sided with the imperial court and resisted Wang Ji during this turmoil. On the contrary, it was very reasonable.

Because the Cao family and the Yuan family are closer.

During the two Party and Faction Persecutions, the Yuan family sought help from the Cao family to enhance the Yuan family's influence among the eunuchs, thus forming a political alliance with the Cao family in a sense.

Of course, there is a big gap between the two clans in social status and political identity. The Yuan family is a famous family in the classics of modern culture and a family of power, while the Cao family is a muddy stream among muddy streams that relied on eunuchs to get their fortunes. When the two clans cooperate, the Yuan family is more like the big brother and the Cao family is the younger brother.

However, because Cao Teng, who made the Cao family rich, was a relatively upright official who had never harmed scholars, after the Yuan family destroyed the eunuch dictatorship and established the Yuan family dictatorship system, the Cao family, who relied on eunuchs to make their fortunes, was not only not purged, but many members of their family in the court were also appointed. Cao Song currently holds a position in the Imperial Censorate, Cao Chi currently serves as the Changshui Captain in the Five Schools of the Northern Army, and Cao Yin was introduced to the Tongzhengsi. These are all important positions to maintain the Yuan family's dictatorship, which shows that the Yuan family appointed the Cao family.

So it was certainly impossible for the Cao family to follow someone like Wang Ji in rebellion.

As for the Xiahou family, they formed a symbiotic relationship with the Cao family at the local level. The two families were as close as one family, sticking together for warmth, and the Cao family was basically the dominant one. The Xiahou family would do whatever the Cao family did.

This time, the Cao family led the resistance of Qiao County against Wang Ji, and the Xiahou family contributed money, manpower and effort to help Qiao County. The two major clans mobilized their own members and clan tribes to form a team of a thousand people to fight against Wang Ji, which can be regarded as a considerable contribution.

Therefore, Qiao County would naturally not become the target of Yuan Shu's liquidation. On the contrary, Yuan Shu would praise Qiao County and the two major clans, the Cao and Xiahou clans.

This is not only a requirement on the public political level, but also a necessity on the private level.

Although Yuan Shu has nothing to do with the Cao and Xiahou families.

Because of social status issues, the main branch of the Cao and Xiahou families, Yuan Feng, had no dealings with them. The main person who had dealings with them was Yuan Wei.

Yuan Wei did not let the descendants of his own branch end up in trouble, but instead arranged for Yuan Shao to have dealings with the Cao and Xiahou families, which was somewhat due to his dissatisfaction with Cao's origin.

But the superficial work was done enough. After all, Yuan Shao is the heir of Yuan Cheng's lineage. He is a famous and prominent family, and your eunuch family is combined with each other. What else do you want?
The Cao family did not feel dissatisfied, so they sent Cao Cao, the main son of this generation, to be Yuan Shao's younger brother, and he followed Yuan Shao around.

However, when Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were together, Yuan Shu had already gone to Maoling, so he had not yet met Cao Cao.

This time when he came to Qiao County, he also wanted to see what the future Emperor Wu of Wei looked like when he was young.

Is he really short and ugly?

At this time, most members of the Cao clan were serving as officials outside the city. The one who stayed in Qiao County to lead the family was Cao Song's cousin Cao Zhong. He participated in the banquet, was extremely respectful to Yuan Shu, and after the banquet, he invited Yuan Shu to visit the Cao clan's homeland.

Yuan Shu knew what he was thinking very well. Since Cao had made great contributions, he was willing to give him face, so he followed Cao Zhong to the Cao clan's land.

The Cao clan's land is very vast, with a wall outside. Behind the wall is a small society with a dense population, many houses, and large tracts of farmland that are being prepared for spring plowing. The farmlands are connected together, and the end can't be seen from a distance.

This shows how strong the Cao family’s financial resources are.

And this is only the ancestral property of the Cao family. In other states, counties, the Cao family also has a lot of family property developed by this generation. With such wealth, it is no wonder that Cao Song could spend 100 million yuan to buy a Taiwei to satisfy his desire.

Cao Zhong invited Yuan Shu to the living room, asked him to sit in the main seat, and sat beside him.

Then he invited members of the Cao and Xiahou clans, especially the younger generation, to come and pay a visit to Yuan Shu.

Not long after, a group of young people came in one after another. When they saw the young Yuan Shu sitting in the main seat and Cao Zhong sitting next to him, they were all stunned.

Cao Zhong is currently the joint leader of the Cao and Xiahou families. He has always been the one sitting in the main seat in the past. Why is there a replacement today?
Or a young guy?

But their doubts were soon dispelled.

Through Cao Zhong's introduction, they learned that the young man sitting in the main seat was Yuan Shu, the son of the famous and powerful Yuan Sikong.

The young people hurriedly saluted him respectfully.

Afterwards, Cao Zhong identified the identities of these young men to Yuan Shu one by one.

What he meant was to briefly introduce the members of the Cao and Xiahou clans who had made great contributions in resisting the attack of Wang Ji's cronies, to see if he could gain Yuan Shu's appreciation.

Yuan Shu looked at the young people from the Cao and Xiahou families with great interest.

This group of people includes teenagers as well as young adults who appear to be in their twenties or thirties.

Cao Zhong introduced them one by one. Yuan Shu had never heard of most of the names, but he naturally heard the four names of Cao Cao, Cao Hong, Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan.

Other familiar names such as Cao Ren, Cao Chun, Cao Xiu, etc. were not heard, probably because they were too young and had not had time to grow up.

Yuan Shu focused his attention mainly on Cao Cao.

(End of this chapter)