Han officials

Chapter 111 Guan's Fate

You must believe in prophecies and divinations.

At least this is the case in the current Han Dynasty.

So, after a long time.

"Brother Shutong, would you be willing to stay at my humble home for a few days?" Guan Yue invited him solemnly, "I still have many questions about the Book of Changes. I hope Brother Shutong can give me some guidance."

Whether Guan Yue believed it or not, he couldn't let Guan Jin leave now.

Of course, he didn't kill Guan Jin yet. After all, Guan Yue really believed what he said at this moment.

So at best, they invited Guan Jin as a guest of the Guan family and kept him by their side at all times, just in case.

Guan Jin was not surprised by this result at all, in fact, he came here just for this reason.

Although Guan Jin was very confident in his attainments in prophecies and divination, he was not a fool.

The world was not yet as turbulent as the chaotic late Qin Dynasty, and the emperor had long held the throne, so Guan Jin didn't have the confidence to go to Liaodong and persuade Wei Zhe to rebel.

Even if Wei Zhe had any rebellious intentions, he would probably kill him first to prove his innocence.

Thinking of this, Guan Jin immediately laughed calmly and said, "That's exactly what I wish for."

After saying this, he went downstairs to rest with Guan's servants without any worries.

Although Guan Jin felt relieved, Guan Yue's old face became more solemn.

The already loose skin was now wrinkled like tree bark.

"Alas~ What should I do now?"

Guan Yue was half surprised and half frightened at this moment.

For a moment, Guan Yue was extremely confused and didn't know what to do.

If what Guan Jin said is true, then that would naturally be the best.

But what if Guan Jin’s hexagram is inaccurate?
It doesn’t matter whether Guan Jin lives or dies, but Zhu Xu and Guan’s family will lose everything.

After much deliberation, Guan Yue called his younger brother Guan Weng to discuss the matter together.

However, what Guan Yue could not have imagined was that Guan Weng was inexplicably surprised after hearing this.

"Brother, what else is there to consider?" Guan Weng said excitedly, pressing the table: "If you don't take what Heaven gives you, you will suffer the consequences; if you don't act when the time comes, you will suffer the consequences."

"This is the fortune bestowed upon our Guan family by God!"

Seeing that Guan Yue still looked hesitant, Guan Weng immediately stood up excitedly and slammed the table, saying, "Brother, have you forgotten the Nanyang Yin Clan?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Guan Yue's face suddenly froze.

After a moment, he smiled bitterly and said helplessly: "Such a big thing, how could I forget it?"

Strictly speaking, the Nanyang Yin clan is actually a branch of the Qi State Guan clan.

At the end of the Warring States Period, Guan Zhong's seventh-generation grandson Guan Xiu moved from Qi to Chu and served as a senior official in Yinyi. His descendants took the place as their surname and called themselves Yin.

However, compared with the main branch of the Guan family that remained in Qingzhou, the development of the Nanyang Yin family was much better.

Just because of Emperor Guangwu's words "If you want to be an official, you should be the Prefect of the Guards, and if you want to marry, you should marry Yin Lihua", the Yin family of Nanyang had four marquises and was rich and powerful for generations.

Even though the Yin family has withdrawn from the mainstream of the court for a long time, there are still many descendants with the rank of two thousand stones.

Putting aside the halo of being a relative by marriage, the Yin family of Nanyang is now also a famous family with "two thousand stones in the family".

It is precisely because of this that Guan has always been brooding over this matter.

After all, it is not a glorious thing to say that the main vein is crushed by the side branches.

Seeing Guan Yue's expression soften, Guan Weng immediately took the opportunity to encourage him, "Brother, back then, the Yin family was just a powerful local tyrant in Xinye. Although they were wealthy, they hadn't produced any high-ranking officials in hundreds of years. How similar is this to my family now?"

"But the head of the Yin family valued Emperor Guangwu's potential and gave him all he had, which led to his future prominence." At this point, Guan Weng couldn't help but clench his fists and grit his teeth, saying, "If my family is the same, then the Zhuxu Guan family may not be inferior to the Nanyang Yin family!"

Thinking of this, Guan Weng couldn't help but feel that Guan Jin's prediction made sense.

"Perhaps our Guan family was born with the destiny of being related by marriage, otherwise how could there be such a coincidence?"

Hearing him say this, Guan Yue's hope finally overwhelmed his fear.

"Well, this round... Guan's betting!"

At this point, Guan Yue gritted his teeth and said, "Second Brother, from today onwards, all business ventures within the clan must no longer prioritize profit. Everything must be based on Liaodong."

Guan Yue was afraid that he didn't understand, so he immediately made it clear: "From now on, wherever the tribe's caravans pass through, they should focus on recruiting refugees. As for trading, they should only focus on breaking even!"

Upon hearing this, Guan Weng immediately understood.

"Understood! Leave this matter to me, brother, don't worry!"

After all, Guan Weng also knew that Wei Zhe had been worried about not having enough immigrants to the border areas.

In fact, Guan has also been helping Wei Zhe recruit refugees, but he didn't pay much attention to it before.

Throughout the whole year, the Guan family sent only about 3,000 refugees over.

The real main force in relocating refugees is still Liaodong itself.

But things are different now. After all, the connections that Zhuxu Guan family has made over the years are not comparable to those of Wei family.

I have to say that Wei Zhe's father-in-law is quite reliable. At least he knows what Wei Zhe needs most now, instead of foolishly sending Guan Jin to persuade him to marry.

No, sending Guan Jin there now is not called persuading him to ascend the throne, it can only be called persuading him to rebel.

……

Not to mention how confident the Guan family was.

In Liaodong, Wei Zhe was somewhat puzzled by Guan's full support.

how? Having a hard time?

Even though he was far away in Bohai, Wei Zhe heard that there was some dissatisfaction within the Guan family, who believed that Guan Yue was too good to his son-in-law.

There were even elders of the Guan clan who complained that the clan leader Guan Yue did not distinguish between the important and the unimportant and confused the priorities.

However, most of the power of the Guan family was concentrated in the hands of Guan Yue, and with the support of Guan Weng, they were able to suppress these complaints and continue to do as they pleased.

During this period, they didn't even communicate with Wei Zhe, which really touched Wei Zhe.

You have to know that Guan didn't make any requests. This kind of unilateral help is really rare.

In fact, when Wei Zhe first learned about Guan's actions, he thought that Guan had some ideas about the share of the fur industry in the Liaodong counties.

After all, this wasn't surprising. Considering the furs looted from Goguryeo each month, Wei Zhe controlled the vast majority of Liaodong's fur production. He held influence in Xuanchu, Liaodong, Lelang, and Dongming Commanderies, and even in Liaodong's vassal states.

From sable coats to fox furs, even bearskin cloaks and tiger skin mattresses, Wei Zhe had too many things in his hands.

Among the white mountains and black waters, these furry guys are the most numerous.

To some extent, Liaodong's fur, like horses and ginseng, is a specialty product.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhe in the study thought for a moment and immediately ordered: "Zini, give another 50% of the Liaodong fur share to Guan family in the future!"

Anyway, Xuanchu Wei family has no sales channels in the Central Plains, so it would be better to give this profit to Zhuxu Guan family.

After all, Guan’s caravan is not limited to Qingzhou.

Now that we have the help of the Guan family, I believe the speed of recruiting refugees will be faster.

When he heard him say this, Guo Yuan couldn't help but look surprised.

However, he was originally Wei Zhe's retainer, and seeing that Wei Zhe did not seem to be joking, he immediately took the order and left.

After dealing with these small matters, Wei Zhe brought up another big matter.

"Zhicai, draft a memorial for me."

"Why?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe laughed heartily and said, "The harvests in Liaodong have been poor for years, the treasury is empty, and people's livelihood is in dire straits. Your Majesty, please exempt Liaodong County from taxes for two years to give the people a rest!"

When these words were spoken, Xi Zhicai was stunned.

Consecutive years of poor harvests? So the bumper harvest he saw yesterday was fake?
You should know that outside Xiangping City, even the newly reclaimed military farms have a good harvest this year.

There is no way, the soil underground is too fertile, and the black and oily soil greatly reduces the time for clearing land.

But he soon realized Wei Zhe's idea and just smiled and did it.

When this memorial from Liaodong County was sent to Luoyang by post, it soon appeared before the emperor.

……

The next day, in Hehuan Palace.

When Emperor Liu Hong saw Wei Zhe's request, he couldn't help but frown.

There's nothing we can do about it, since this emperor loves money so much.

Therefore, when faced with such memorials from local governments requesting tax reductions or exemptions, he subconsciously felt a pang of pain.

After all, it was all his money, at least nominally his.

However, the word "two years" in the memorial reminded Liu Hong that Liaodong seemed to be under great pressure.

Since Luoyang does not provide money and food, it is indeed difficult to destroy Goguryeo relying solely on Liaodong.

Thinking of this, Liu Hong calculated the investment and returns, and was unusually generous.

"Forget it!" Liu Hong shook his head helplessly and said, "Jian Shuo, pass on my decree to exempt Liaodong, Xuanshao, Lelang, and Dongming counties from taxes for two years to give the people a rest."

As soon as these words were spoken, the eunuch Jian Shuo couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

You should know that the last time this happened was when Huangfu Song petitioned to exempt the nine counties of Jizhou from taxes for one year to feed the hungry people.

Jian Shuo clearly remembered that the emperor had agreed with gritted teeth and was very unhappy.

Therefore, not long after, Huangfu Song was removed from his post as governor of Jizhou and transferred to Liangzhou to quell the rebellion.

But now...

Thinking of this, Jian Shuo couldn't help but pay special attention to Wei Zhe, the governor of Liaodong.

But no matter what Luoyang thought, after the emperor's edict was issued, the Liaodong counties cheered. No matter what happened in the future, at least they could have a good New Year this year...

(End of this chapter)