Han officials

Chapter 257 The Rise and Fall of the Aristocratic Class
In the afternoon, at Gongsha's fortified village.

Only after Gong Shakai calmed down did a fair-skinned, slender young man on the left finally frown slightly and say:

"Brother, where did Zhong Boyuan get all these extra livestock? Have the people of Youzhou stopped farming?"

This man was named Gongshabo, a cousin of Gongshalu, and they had grown up together since childhood.

Ignoring Gong Shakai, that brute, Gong Shabo continued his analysis:
"You should know that the sixty-five counties of Qingzhou together have a total of 65,000 cattle and horses. Has he gone mad?"

"And those iron plows and farming tools, wouldn't it be better to use so much iron to make weapons and armor? Why bother farming?"

Upon hearing this, Gongshakai, who had been listless, immediately perked up and nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, Guangping is absolutely right! Brother, there must be something fishy going on here!"

However, after pondering for a moment, Gongshalu shook his head:
"Have you forgotten that Duke Wei just swept across the borderlands and wiped out the various barbarian tribes? It is said that he captured no less than a million cattle and horses, which is more than enough to supply Qingzhou."

"As for the iron plow, I've heard that it's a major product of Liaodong, or perhaps it's accumulated over the years."

Compared to his two suspicious brothers, Gongshalu saw this as an opportunity.

"Now it seems that the Wei army is really prepared to govern Qingzhou properly, which is a good thing for us."

"Didn't he say he would provide cattle and horses? Then let the people below borrow more packhorses and healthy oxen, and then find an excuse to get by afterwards. Oh, and grain seeds too, borrow as much as you can, it's a free lunch."

Upon hearing their elder brother's words, Gong Shabo and Gong Shakai's eyes lit up.

Indeed, it seems that their family can actually rise against the tide in this storm.

However, Gong Shabo immediately thought of something else and asked, "Brother, is that land still fenced off?"

"Let's claim it first. After all, the people are dead and there's no way to verify anything, so why miss this opportunity?" Gongshalu said without hesitation, "Especially those thousand acres of beautiful fields on the western riverbank, don't miss them."

Hehe, how could a clan that survived the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Qingzhou possibly rely solely on holding out?
In the vast city of Qingzhou, who are the commoners? Who are the bandits?
This is something that even they themselves probably can't figure out.

If a clan grows stronger after several years of Yellow Turban Rebellion, then they are even less of a good person.

For example, the Gongsha clan of Jiaodong actually grew stronger during the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Qingzhou.

Although the Gongsha clan has only recently risen to prominence, they are a prominent family in the Beihai Kingdom.

His ancestor, Gongsha Mu, was poor in his youth but was determined to study. He devoted himself to the study of apocryphal texts and eventually achieved great success.

During the reign of Emperor Huan, this man was recommended as a filial and incorruptible official by the Beihai Kingdom and began his official career. He first served as the Chief of the Imperial Household Department and then was promoted to Chancellor of Lu. Later, Gongshamu was promoted to Commandant of the Liaodong Dependent State and eventually died in office at the age of 66.

What is most remarkable is that Gongsha Mu's five sons all had outstanding reputations, and in the capital they were known as the "Five Dragons of Gongsha, Unparalleled in the World".

His second son, Gongsha Fu, later rose to the position of Prefect of Shanggu, but was dismissed and returned home due to Dong Zhuo's usurpation of power.

However, it is quite remarkable that the Gongsha clan of Jiaodong managed to achieve upward social mobility in just thirty years.

Compared to the efficiency of the Gongsha clan, the efforts of the Xuan Tu Wei clan over the past hundred years can be described as futile.

However, Gongshalu was not a descendant of Gongshamu, but merely a member of the same clan.

After the rise of Gongshamu's branch, Gongshalu's grandfather simply became a disciple and served them.

Unexpectedly, with the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Qingzhou, the Gongsha Lu brothers gathered a group of mountain bandits and sea pirates by force and became local tyrants. Then, they deliberately lured the thieves into their house and wiped out the Gongsha Mu lineage. They then staged a rescue for the remaining clansmen.

Gongsha Lu, who was previously just the leader of the Gongsha clan's military forces, thus entered the main line as a member of a collateral branch, transforming a minor branch into a major branch.

Later, as the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Qingzhou intensified, Gongshalu simply transformed himself into a Yellow Turban leader, leading his people to betray Kong Rong, the Chancellor of Beihai, and joined the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Qingzhou, where he thrived.

Because when you are also a robber, then rampant looting is not a disadvantage but an advantage.

In fact, the Qingzhou clans that have survived so far have done this kind of thing, whether passively or actively.

They were called ordinary people, but in reality they were half farmers and half thieves.

After all, if you don't rob others, you'll only be robbed; such a world is no different from forcing good people into prostitution.

Otherwise, Gongshalu would not have been able to expand his clan and guests to thousands of households.

From this perspective, he certainly has the right to be arrogant.

Of course, Gongshalu wasn't stupid.

After finalizing his plan to enrich himself through public means, he immediately added:
"Go to the warehouse and pick out a few collectible items to send to Jiaodong City. I'm sure the agricultural commissioner will understand our predicament." When he was a soldier, Gongshalu had seen several elders of the main branch do this before and had long since learned it.

What Gongshalu didn't expect was that Wang Xiu, the agricultural envoy, was different from the previous magistrates of Jiaodong County!
……

Several days later, at the temple in Jiaodong County.

"Land grabbing?"

"Greedy for packhorses and iron plows?"

"Occupying surrounding farmland and robbing cattle and horses?"

Looking at the reports submitted by the officials in charge of land reclamation in various places, Wang Xiu's face was extremely ugly.

Without further hesitation, he decisively said, his face turning ashen:
"Order the commander of the ten battalions in Jiaodong to immediately gather troops and encircle and annihilate the Gongsha clan."

Upon hearing this, the official was greatly alarmed and quickly advised:

"Mingting, please calm down. At this moment, we should prioritize the overall situation."

"Now that the Yellow Turban rebels in Qingzhou have finally laid down their arms and returned to their fields, it would be unwise to rashly kill their young leader, as it might cause unrest in Qingzhou!"

However, Wang Xiu remained unmoved upon hearing this, and instead firmly stated:

"Since the rise of the Han Dynasty, more than 360 years have passed. The government has been corrupt and negligent, and officials have been lazy and complacent. The powerful clans have amassed enormous wealth and possess fiefdoms. They have bribed officials to disrupt the government and kept swordsmen to intimidate the common people. The people have bowed their heads, serving the rich like slaves, and leading their wives and children to serve them. For generations, they have been slaves, yet they still cannot afford food and clothing. They have toiled their entire lives and suffer the fear of being buried alive. In years of poor harvests, they are forced to live in ditches and ravines, forced to sell their wives and children, and completely deprived of the joys of life!"

"How can such a traitor not be killed?"

"The bigger picture? At this moment, land reclamation is the bigger picture!"

At this point, Wang Xiu immediately drew his sword and roared angrily:
"Anyone who dares to disrupt the military agricultural settlements in Qingzhou today will have their entire family wiped out!"

After saying that, he led the garrison troops in the city toward Gongsha Fortress without hesitation.

The Mao Family's Dragon-Slaying Technique states:

There are no classes that betray their classes, only individuals who betray their classes.

Wang Xiu was pretty much like that.

Although the Yingling Wang clan was one of the gentry families of Beihai, most of them pursued a path of learning classical texts.

When it comes to exploiting and manipulating local areas, the Wang family is not even as good as some powerful local tyrants.

Therefore, although he came from a noble family, Wang Xiu was a radical among the students of the academy.

To put it simply, he was one of the few aristocratic sons who could be selected to attend classes at the military academy.

Otherwise, Wei Zhe would not have first recruited him as an official in the staff and then appointed him as an agricultural commissioner.

It was precisely because of this that Wang Xiu understood the importance of the military-agricultural settlements better than anyone else.

If he chooses appeasement today, the achievements of the Qingzhou military settlements will inevitably be devoured by local clans sooner or later.

Even if the final results of the land reclamation project are still very significant, Wang Xiu understands that this goes against his lord's original intention.

He knew that the existence of military and civilian settlements was not only for cultivating land and harvesting grain, but also for establishing discipline, setting rules, and providing relief to the people.

Therefore, Wang Xiu absolutely forbade any clan to parasitize the agricultural settlement system, annex farmland, and expand wantonly.

If that's the case, then why are they even bothering to hoard land? They might as well just grant the land to local powerful families!
What were the eight hundred states of the Western Zhou Dynasty then? In the blink of an eye, eight thousand states could appear in the world.

However, Gongshalu never understood why Wang Xiu reacted so strongly until his death!

So what if they occupied some land, stole some horses, and killed a few people?
Is it really necessary to make such a big fuss?
Unfortunately, Wang Xiu's attack came too suddenly, giving him no chance to back out or cause trouble.

In just half a day, Wang Xiu led ten battalions of troops from Jiaodong to break through Gongsha's fortified village and kill Gongsha Lu and his brothers.

As for the Gongsha clan of Jiaodong, they have completely become history, and their households have been scattered throughout Qingzhou.

The fruits of thirty years of hard work by Gongshamu and his son have vanished into thin air...
-
OK, that concludes the transition chapter. We will now begin the Ji Province conquest.

Yuan Shikai's good days are finally over! ^_^
(End of this chapter)