Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 360, The Cleansing of Wuchang

More than ten days passed, and the atmosphere between the two sides became increasingly tense.

On this day, a fleet of Huaiyin troops sailed along the Yangtze River.

The Huaiyin troops defending Wuchang City saw that the flag flying on the warship was that of the Admiral!

The soldier hurriedly went back to report.

Earlier, Fang Zhi and Zhang Haicheng had a conflict in Wuchang.

When the news reached Ma Laohei's ears, he sent someone to find out the situation and basically knew what was going on.

This matter is essentially a misunderstanding. Although it involves some conflicts of interest, it's not a big problem overall. It can be resolved easily and isn't too troublesome.

However, since Fang Zhi was Zhang Yuan's subordinate, Ma Laohei couldn't come forward himself, and the details of the matter were not convenient to disclose to the outside world. Therefore, Ma Laohei did not send anyone to handle it immediately, but instead wrote a military report to Fang Yong, requesting Fang Yong to contact Zhang Yuan to replace the person.

Actually, it would have been more convenient to write a letter directly to Zhang Yuan, but Ma Laohei still chose the complicated procedure.

Because sometimes, this is the wise choice.

Anyway, this isn't something that will determine life or death if it's delayed by a day or two.

So the military report was submitted, and after reading it, Fang Yong wrote a letter to Zhang Yuan, informing him of the situation in Hubei.

Given Zhang Yuan's current position as the top commander of the navy, he is qualified to know these secrets.

When Zhang Yuan, who was far away in Weihai, Shandong, received Fang Yong's letter and learned the inside story, he cursed Fang Zhi in his heart and immediately took a fast boat to Wuchang.

When Fang Zhi of Wuchang learned of Zhang Yuan's arrival, he couldn't wait to come out of the city to greet him.

He's been under a lot of pressure these past few days.

In terms of troop strength, his troops were far from being a match for Zhang Haicheng. The conflict had been escalating in recent days, and he was very afraid that Zhang Haicheng would lash out and directly attack Wuchang to seize his military merits.

He had already sent someone to report the matter to Qing Shuai, who was not far away, and to accuse Zhang Haicheng of his crimes, but Qing Shuai acted as if he hadn't seen it, which made him suspect whether Qing Shuai was colluding with the other party.

Fang Zhi then reported the situation to the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Zhang Yuan, and also secretly submitted a memorial to the King of Wu, but there has been no news about these reports to this day.

Fortunately, Zhang Yuan finally arrived today, and Fang Zhi's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was finally at ease, and he no longer had to live in fear.

"Sir Admiral!"

Fang Zhi happily came to greet him.

Zhang Yuan didn't make a scene outside; he entered the city with a cold expression.

After entering the city and arriving at the mansion inside, Zhang Yuan ordered Fang Zhi to dismiss his men.

Fang Zhi thought Zhang Yuan had some secret to tell him, so he ordered his men to leave.

Once only Zhang Yuan and Fang Zhi remained in the hall, Zhang Yuan beckoned Fang Zhi to come closer.

Fang Zhi hurriedly stepped forward.

"Slap!" A resounding slap!

Zhang Yuan, who prided himself on being a cultured man, couldn't help but resort to violence at this moment. Fortunately, he had already dismissed those around him, thus saving face for Fang Zhi.

Zhang Yuan ordered Fang Zhi to open the main gate and welcome Zhang Haicheng's troops into the city. The specific reason was not explained, because Fang Zhi's rank was not high enough to know the inside story. Zhang Yuan only told Fang Zhi that it was the prince's order.

Upon learning that it was Fang Yong's order, Fang Zhi dared not object. He obediently went down to prepare. However, before opening the city gates, he informed Cai Shi in advance, hoping that she could make preparations.

Even the toughest man can't escape a gentle touch. Although Fang Zhi had made many contributions and killed countless enemies under Zhang Yuan's guidance over the years, he still couldn't resist softening his heart and losing his guard when accompanied by a young and gentle noblewoman.

He probably already guessed what was going on, but he still chose to inform the Cai family.

Fang Zhi was once just a minor military officer in Da Xi, ranking only in the middle to upper range in Zhang Yuan's army. In addition, military officers were three ranks lower than civil officials, so he couldn't hold his head high in front of these powerful families.

But now, these powerful families treat him with utmost respect, even giving him their illegitimate daughters as concubines. Fang Zhi is thus deeply entangled in this situation and finds it difficult to extricate himself.

Upon hearing the news, Cai was terrified and immediately packed her things, preparing to flee.

Their family had already sold off many of their properties and prepared for the worst.

However, the foundation of a family's wealth lies in this place. If they suddenly flee to another place, the family's foundation will inevitably suffer heavy losses. Moreover, there will definitely be local tyrants in other places, and the situation there may not be much better. Therefore, unless they are forced to, those aristocratic families generally will not move easily.

In the capital, after Fang Yong came to power, he issued many policies to weaken the powerful families and forcibly confiscated half of their land. However, many powerful families still chose to endure it because fleeing would result in even greater losses.

Soon after, Fang Zhi personally opened the city gates and invited Zhang Haicheng's troops into the city.

Zhang Haicheng didn't give Fang Zhi a friendly look. After entering the city, he quickly took over the city's defenses from Fang Zhi's troops, and without waiting a moment longer, he immediately began persecuting the aristocratic families in the city.

It can be said that the prominent families in the city made a very accurate guess.

Zhang Haicheng is a beast; he will stop at nothing to make money.

Perhaps out of revenge against Fang Zhi, Zhang Haicheng deliberately targeted those who were close to Fang Zhi.

Fang Zhi watched as many of his good friends from the past few days were framed by Zhang Haicheng and forced to confess under torture. He was furious and even felt a sense of shared sorrow.

After all, Fang Zhi himself was also a member of that class.

Although he was not of high rank in the officialdom, he was still far more powerful than ordinary people. Now, faced with this situation, he found it difficult to empathize with the common people and instead focused on the interests of these powerful families.

Not only Fang Zhi, but many people around Fang Yong came from noble and aristocratic families.

For example, Ma Laohei and Niu Jin came from the Duke's mansion, Zhang Yuan and Gan Ba ​​were originally high-ranking generals of the Da Xi Dynasty, Xue Da Quezi came from the Xue family, one of the four great families of Jinling, Jia Yucun was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in two examinations, and Zhai Xun came from a poor family. None of them were truly commoners.

The only people who were truly from humble backgrounds were Fang Yong himself, Wu Yuan, Zhou Shuan, Li Ni, Li Sheng, Wei Xing and other generals. As their official positions rose, these people gradually changed their original social class.

Some of Fang Yong's policies were incomprehensible to them. If other emperors in the middle of a dynasty had implemented these policies, it would probably have led to a rebellion. However, Fang Yong was a founding emperor with too much prestige in the army. Although they did not understand them, they could only act according to Fang Yong's will.

After Zhang Haicheng took over Wuchang, he quickly launched a purge, implicating many powerful families. Some of them had secretly opposed Fang Yong, but had now chosen to surrender, yet they were still purged by Zhang Haicheng.

There were also some innocent people who had no rebellious intentions, but Zhang Haicheng coveted the wealth and industries accumulated by their families and launched a purge of them as well.

The Cai family fled by waterway ahead of time after being reminded by Zhang Haicheng. However, Zhang Haicheng had anticipated that someone would escape, after all, he had already cleansed more than one city before and had experience. Therefore, Zhang Haicheng sent people to ambush them on the main route of escape from Wuchang.

The head of the Cai family was shot dead on the spot, and more than half of the clansmen were killed or wounded. The remaining clansmen were captured, including Fang Zhi's brother-in-law.

(End of this chapter)