The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 219: The People Who Talk
Shouchun.

Wen Qin strode into the mansion and headed towards Guanqiu Jian's study. Along the way, the officials in the mansion bowed to him. Wen Qin just nodded in return and walked all the way to the door of the study and knocked on it.

"General."

"come in."

Wen Qin then walked into the study, closed the door, and sat down in front of Guanqiu Jian with a smile.

Guanqiu Jian was not alone, there was another person beside him, and that was Guanqiu Dian.

"Those important targets have been killed, and I've recalled the people. Is it time to send someone to clean up the mess?"

If there were outsiders who heard these words, considering the unrest happening in various places, they would definitely jump in fear.

The local unrest has been going on for a long time and is not a recent phenomenon.

After Wang Yuan started the rebellion, Hebei was the first to follow suit. Killing officials and rebelling occurred in various places. This led Sima Shi to hurriedly send He Zeng to Hebei to suppress the local rebellious peasants, wanderers, merchants and other groups.

This kind of contradiction exists not only in Hebei, but also in other parts of the Central Plains, but the scale is not as large or as wide as that in Hebei.

Hearing Wen Qin's words, Guanqiu Jian nodded.

"Huainan faces Eastern Wu directly, after all. We can't let things get out of hand, nor can we allow the people to suffer too much harm. Let's suppress the rebellion, but keep it secret. Traffic control cannot be abolished. Say there's a major unrest in the county and we're in the process of suppressing it."

Wen Qin nodded and then grinned.

"Hahaha, those people usually rely on their connections in the temple and are quite arrogant. Previously, when we asked them to stockpile food, they said they had no food and only used some cattle and sheep to fool us."

"They have committed numerous crimes, colluded with officials, and protected each other. It's so difficult to investigate them thoroughly."

"That's great! We've eliminated all the officials and these bastards along with them."

"General, do you know how much food we got from them? You won't believe how these traitors..."

"All right."

Guanqiu Jian interrupted Wen Qin and said sternly, "This time, it was the imperial court's delay in distributing spring plowing supplies that led to the people's rebellion. Some soldiers participated in the rebellion because the border troops were not allocated the food they needed, meritorious officers were not promoted, and coupled with the instigation of the Eastern Wu. This is entirely the fault of the imperial court and the dereliction of duty of the Secretariat!"

"The Shangshutai caused a civil uprising, resulting in so many casualties! It also caused our army to become uneasy and disobey orders!"

"The food in the homes of the wealthy families has been looted by those rebels. I don't care how much food they have. I just need an answer from the Chancellery! What exactly do they want to do?!"

Guanqiu Jian frowned, his expression extremely serious.

When Wen Qin heard this, he quickly put away the smile on his face.

"The general is right. This rebellion has caused great losses to Huainan. The most virtuous officials have been killed, and the virtuous clans have been defeated. Our army has also suffered turmoil and has been unable to pacify them in time. How did Sima Shi manage the Secretariat?!"

"I will definitely report it!!"

Guanqiu Jian did not open his mouth to refute.

Wen Qin left the place "in anger", no longer showing the same expression as before.

Guanqiu Dian sighed helplessly.

Guanqiu Dian had just returned, and it was not until he returned here that Guanqiu Jian believed what had happened in Luoyang. Then, he met with Hu Fen again, and Hu Fen informed him of Sima Shi's order.

Then, not long after, civil uprisings broke out in several counties in Huainan.

This kind of civil unrest was not forced; it existed all along.

All they did was catalyze it.

Just like the aristocratic politics, Cao Mao brought the aristocratic politics to Sima Shi in advance and let Sima Shi deal with it, while Sima Shi also brought the civil unrest that would be caused by the aristocratic politics to the ministers in advance and let them deal with it.

Guanqiu Dian looked very sad.

"Father, Henan is not so bad. Only a few counties are implicated. But Hebei is probably different."

"In this kind of unrest, countless innocent people will be killed, countless houses will be burned, and farmland will be destroyed. Alas, these are all the people of the Great Wei."

Guanqiu Dian was obviously a little distressed.

His heart aches not for the wealthy and powerful families, but for the common people who were implicated and the buildings that were destroyed.
Guanqiu Jian's face was stern. He said seriously, "This is bound to happen sooner or later."

"Since the reign of Emperor Wen, local misrule has become increasingly severe. The sons of powerful families have become officials, and when they reach the imperial court, they seek to profit for their own clans. Their clansmen commit all sorts of evil in the local area, shielding the powerful and tyrannical, and monopolizing their power. They seize everything and leave the people with no chance of survival."

"Yangzhou is considered a good place among many prefectures and counties, but it has become so corrupt."

"Local officials are all powerful and wealthy, and officials are from aristocratic families. They have countless lands, not to mention food. More and more people are being forced to become refugees. Even if we do nothing, this uprising will break out sooner or later, and more people will die."

"But now, things are still under our control."

"These powerful families are so arrogant on a daily basis, isn't it because they have powerful crossbows?"

"That powerful crossbow can kill others, and it can also kill them. No matter how noble or pretentious they are, a single shot from the powerful crossbow will kill them all! Killing these blood-sucking termites completely will prevent them from recovering for at least thirty years, and this will save more people."

Guanqiu Dian didn't refute him. "The ministers aren't stupid. Can't they see that someone is pushing this?"

"So what if I see it?"

"Do they dare to come and kill me?"

"As for Sima Shi and his men, why are you worried about them? Even if they were wiped out by the ministers, they deserved it!"

"Besides, most of the people in the four local campaigns and four garrisons, except for Zhuge Dan and me, are close to Sima Shi. Most importantly, they have no one in the court. Sima Shi is cunning, and the officials can't threaten him at all."

Guanqiu Jian said no more about this matter. He looked at his son and said, "Don't worry about these things. Just rest in peace. You are so fast-paced that you haven't rested since you arrived."

"The child is not tired."

"Father needs someone to help here too, so I'd better stay."

Guanqiu Jian was even more relieved and was quite satisfied with his son.

"can."

Xuzhou, Xiapi.

In the General's Mansion of the Eastern Expedition.

Hu Zun looked at the many memorials in front of him, then looked at Hu Fen beside him.

"You mean, there's absolutely no movement in Qingzhou?"

Hu Fen quickly said, "Father, it's not that there weren't any disturbances. There were disturbances, but they were quickly suppressed. No major clans were harmed."

Hu Zun sneered, "Shi Bao was originally just a small-time iron dealer. If it weren't for Duke Xuanwen's promotion, how could he be where he is today?"

"How dare you disobey today?"

Hu Fen was stunned for a moment, then explained, "Father, it's not that he refused to obey, but that he didn't get the order from the general at all."

Hu Zun looked at his son suspiciously, "He and I are both former ministers of Duke Xuanwen. Why didn't the general give him the order?"

Hu Fen scratched his head. "Anyway, the general told me to come directly to you after meeting Guanqiu Jian. I asked about Shi Bao, but the general told me to ignore him."

"The general has never really trusted Shi Bao, believing him to be of bad character, lustful and immoral, though he has some talent."

Hu Zun stroked his beard thoughtfully, "Maybe so."

Although they are all aristocratic families, they are also divided by region. For example, the aristocratic families from the Central Plains do not look down on the wealthy families from the border areas. Among them, the most discriminated against are the wealthy families in Guanxi, and it is difficult for them to gain a certain status in the government.

Hu Zun was born into the Anding Hu family, and was one of those people who were not liked by the big families in the Central Plains.

He followed Sima Yi for many years and made many military achievements, which led to him becoming the General of the Eastern Expedition, who was in charge of Xu and Qing states.

But in front of the ministers, it is not enough to just know how to fight, you have to study the classics. If you ride horses and fight all day long and have a basic understanding of literary affairs, how can you still have the nerve to say that you are from a great family with a heritage of classics?
Hu Fen also asked, "Father, since the great clans nominated by the general are already gone, and the remaining ones have also suffered heavy losses, isn't it time to take action?"

"Take action? What action?"

Hu Zun frowned and asked unhappily, "Did I cause the civil unrest? Why do I have to quell it?!"

"The ministers in the court are so wise! They should be holding the Book of Filial Piety to appease these people!"

Hu Fen pursed his lips and didn't dare to say anything more.

Hu Zun narrowed his eyes. "Next, the officials in the court will determine the ranks of the various clans and recruit talented people based on the clan's rank."

"If these high-ranking people don't die, where will there be a place for us?"

"Don't stop, keep going. The more they die, the better."

Hu Fen hesitated for a moment, and could not help but say, "Father, the general said..."

"Hmph, a general is not allowed to obey orders when he is away from home. The general cannot punish me for this."

"But what about the ministers in the temple?"

Hearing his son talk about the ministers, Hu Zun's eyes were filled with disdain. "When I followed Duke Xuanwen to chop off the heads of the Hu people, they were still running around naked in their uniforms. What's the big deal if I offend people like them? What else can they do besides idle talk and cursing?"

"Do they have the guts to come and cause trouble in front of me?"

"The general has killed more people than I have, yet they dare to insult him? They took advantage of the general's illness to harm him. Ha, I don't even take such villains seriously."

"Fen, you must remember this. All those false names and classics are fake. Only military power is real. I asked you to join the army as a civilian because I wanted you to understand this."

"As long as you can fight, as long as you have an army, as long as you are healthy, no one can defeat you. Those famous scholars will come to flatter you and argue for you!"

"Ignore these villains!"

(End of this chapter)