The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 538: Officials force people to rebel

In Cao Mao's eyes, Puyang Xing is truly a saint like Sun Chen who burns himself to illuminate others!
At this moment, he was constantly consuming the national strength of Eastern Wu. While making his own people live in misery, he was also preparing to complete a huge project for Cao Wei, so that Cao Wei could have a good start in governing the southern country in the future.

Cao Mao was so moved by such a person that he was speechless.

Sun Chen has a successor!
If he knew that there was such a great sage in the country, his soul would probably rest in peace.

I hope Dawu can continue to work hard and produce more such outstanding talents.

"Nonsense!!"

Lu Kang suddenly threw the letter in his hand to the ground, his face flushed.

This gentle young man has never lost his temper at his age, but today, he really couldn't help it.

The combination of Zhang Bu and Puyang Xing is truly eye-opening.

Zhang Bu is actually okay, although he is a little narrow-minded, but his ability is still there. But Puyang Xing is really a headache.

The damage caused by this project was even greater than that caused by Wang Ji.

At this moment, Lu Kang was struggling to fight against Wang Ji, but his food supply was cut off.

Well, it wasn’t Wang Ji who cut it, it was the mob behind him who cut it!

Why did such a rebellion arise? Those who were forcibly transported to Danyang Lake Field killed officials along the way, rebelled directly, and blocked the road.

Lu Kang's scalp was really tingling.

Nai Gong wants to fight Wang Ji on the front line, but he also has to be on guard against you, his own people, right?
Which side are you on?

He really couldn't understand. If it were peacetime, it would be fine, but now the two sides are at war, and you are carrying out large-scale construction projects in the rear and forcing the people into forced labor. Is this something a normal person would do?

Are you still trying to prove your talent? I think even Sun Chen is more talented than you!!

If this continues, it won't just be the people who will rebel. The officials and the army will rebel. What's the point of fighting then? You can't bet that one day you'll be beheaded by your own people in your sleep!

Lu Kang was really furious. He never expected that his own people would stab him in the back like this!

A general stood beside him and whispered, "Commander-in-chief, how about..."

Lu Kang narrowed his eyes and said, "No, he is a close minister to His Majesty. If I kill him, His Majesty will definitely be dissatisfied."

The general suddenly stopped talking.

After Lu Kang arrived at the front line, the battle situation was no longer so weak, Wang Ji and Wen Qin were basically blocked, and the war gradually came to an end.

The reason for such a big change is not only because Lu Kang is a good fighter, but also because he has many families of Eastern Wu standing behind him.

If these big families contribute, the situation will naturally be different.

Anyway, it will be much more useful than Shi Ji and the others fighting alone.

But at this moment, Puyang Xing was more disgusting than Cao Wei.

But they couldn't do anything to Puyang Xing, so Lu Kang quickly wrote a letter and asked someone to take it to His Majesty the Emperor.

At this moment, Jianye was not affected by war or corvee labor.

Sun Xiu was still busy doing his own things, going hunting during the day and coming back to study at night.

Puyang Xing would occasionally find him and report to him about the project.

"Your Majesty, the project is going very smoothly!"

Puyang Xing grinned and said excitedly, "Nowadays, the people from all over the country are working very hard, willing to do this great thing for Your Majesty that will benefit future generations!"

"Officials didn't dare to neglect their work. In just a few days, a lot of new projects were completed. Look, this is the latest completion list. These are the officials who have made great contributions."

Puyang Xing placed the results in front of Sun Xiu, waiting for the emperor's praise.

Sun Xiu merely glanced at them, then said, "Such a major undertaking would be difficult to accomplish if we only let the common people do it. How have the various clans performed? Are there any who deserve a reward?"

Puyang Xing immediately said, "I have repeatedly ordered the cooperation of the great families in various places, but most of them are unwilling. However, I have still sent my own servants and paid money. Your Majesty, don't worry, I will make them work harder!"

"To accomplish such a great task, how can the great clans not contribute?"

Sun Xiu nodded and instructed, "Don't be too anxious. If you delay farming and sericulture in order to rush the project, that won't do. I will arrest you and punish you. Continue to handle this matter without delaying farming and sericulture."

Puyang Xing just felt a little headache.

It is easy to force the common people to do corvee labor, but it is difficult to get the big families to work.

To ensure agriculture and sericulture, corvee labor must be reduced; to ensure engineering projects, corvee labor must be increased.

In order to achieve a balance between the two, the corvée labor must be distributed more to the big families, as they have tens of thousands of servants and tenants.
However, they are already very opposed to me. If I force them to continue bleeding, they will not attack me, right?
Puyang Xing had many thoughts in his mind, but he did not show them. He agreed to the emperor and left in a hurry.

When he came out of the palace, the first thing he did was to find Zhang Bu to discuss the matter.

After hearing what he said, Zhang Bu immediately sneered.

"Oh, His Majesty is going to use you to weaken the great clans!"

"Since I won't show up myself, I'll ask you to do it. You still have to continue to attack the powerful families, otherwise, if His Majesty doesn't protect you, you will lose everything."

"As long as you can continue to suppress the powerful families and force them to bleed, His Majesty will definitely protect you." "Even if it causes rebellion or public resentment, His Majesty will think it is the work of those powerful families, trying to drag you down, and will definitely ignore it."

Puyang Xing licked his lips and said nervously, "But these people are not that easy to deal with."

"They all have their own private soldiers. If we push them too hard, Your Majesty will..."

Zhang Bu was silent for a moment before he said, "Don't worry. I'm here. I'll keep an eye on things and won't let them get any worse. You should also be careful."

Puyang Xing felt a little scared at this moment.

The emperor's orders must be obeyed, but the powerful families cannot be pushed too hard. More action must be taken on the common people, after all, these people are the easiest to bully.
Sun Xiu soon saw Lu Kang's letter.

In his letters, Lu Kang repeatedly stated that such projects could no longer be continued and that the country's strength had to be preserved to fight against Cao Wei. He also talked about the consequences of rebellions in various places.

However, Sun Xiu didn't care too much about these things.

Lu Kang was very talented, but in Sun Xiu's eyes, he was not a completely reliable person.
Shouchun.

Guanqiu Jian, wearing armor, was standing on the shore at this moment, watching the craftsmen in the distance working at the same time, his face full of satisfaction.

Zhang Te stood beside him and said hesitantly, "General, there are still too few people. It would be great if we could recruit more civilians."

"Then there's no way to defeat Wu."

Guanqiu Jian answered.

"Why have more and more generals and soldiers come to us in recent years? Even civilians are coming to us in small boats they made themselves?"

Zhang Te smiled bitterly, "Because Your Majesty governs with benevolence."

"Yes, it is for this reason that the people of Wei are not living too well, but they are much better off than the people of Wu. This is why I firmly believe that Dongwu will not be able to hold on for too long."

"If we also begin to gather the people and have them go into the mountains to cut suitable wood and transport it, perhaps we can greatly improve efficiency. However, this will actually be detrimental to our ability to defeat Wu. The purpose of building warships is to defeat Wu. How can we lose the big picture for the sake of a small one?"

Zhang Te nodded, "You make sense."

"Zhuge Dan is also lucky. His talent is far inferior to yours, yet he still gained the reputation of destroying Shu and is admired by everyone. He even dared to write a letter to humiliate you. If you were responsible for the crusade against Shu, perhaps it would be more successful."

Zhang Te disliked Zhuge Dan very much.

Because he was despised by Zhuge Dan in the past, it was Guanqiu Jian who promoted him, and he did not let Guanqiu Jian down, using his military exploits to prove Guanqiu Jian's vision and his own ability.

Not long ago, Zhuge Dan sent someone to deliver a letter from afar. The letter was full of anxiety after taking on the task of destroying Shu. He wanted Guanqiu Jian to think of a strategy for him. It seemed that he was seeking help from Guanqiu Jian, but in fact, it was full of sarcasm.

When that letter was written, Zhuge Dan had obviously just set out on an expedition, and now he has pacified the Kingdom of Shu. Zhang Te didn't want to think about what the second letter would be like.

Thinking of that man's smugness, Zhang Te felt very dissatisfied.

Guanqiu Jian was very calm. Even when he saw the letter, he was not angry at all. Instead, he looked around happily.

The same is true now.

"The purpose of attacking Shu is to serve His Majesty and unify the world, not for my own fame."

"Although the Grand Commandant has his shortcomings, he is upright and lenient towards his generals. Naturally, he is more suitable to go to Shu than me."

Guanqiu Jian gazed into the distance and said, "Besides, it's not just Shu that has been credited with destroying other countries."

Zhang Te also looked towards the direction of Wu State.

He suddenly felt excited, a little expectant, but also a little worried.

"General, when will we be able to accomplish the feat of destroying a nation?"

Guanqiu Jian laughed.

"Wait until we catch Sun Xiu."

Zhang Te couldn't help laughing.

"The General is right!"

At this moment, a scout came galloping, jumped off his horse, rushed to Guanqiu Jian's side, and handed the letter to him.

Guanqiu Jian lowered his head and read the document. After looking at it for a while, his eyes widened in shock.

Zhang Te hurried forward and asked, "General, what happened?"

"Jiaozhi surrendered to Wei."

"what??"

Guanqiu Jian said softly, "Sun Chen, the governor of Jiaozhi, under the orders of Puyang Xing, forcibly arrested several thousand people and sent them to Jianye. Those who refused to go were executed on the spot. Then, officials in the county, including Lu Xing, led their clansmen in rebellion, killed Sun Chen, and submitted a petition to the State of Wei requesting that they send troops to take over."

Zhang Te's eyes widened.

Guanqiu Jian glanced at Zhang Te meaningfully, "The day you've been waiting for may not be far away."

After saying this, Guanqiu Jian turned around and left in a hurry.

(End of this chapter)