The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 665: Are you pretending to be crazy?
Chen Tai sat in the car, swaying towards Jianye.

The shadow of war has just passed, but the wounds it brought have not yet healed.

Walking on this official road, Chen Tai could even see some corpses and even some eaten bones.

There were many ferocious beasts in the south, and the bodies of many people who died in the battle were nowhere to be found. Not only the soldiers died, but also a large number of civilians who fled. Along the way, Chen Tai's caravan stopped from time to time to bury those people.

Regardless of their identities, Chen Tai chose to bury them equally.

Sometimes, he also ordered the hunting of some wild dogs and beasts in the surrounding area. These beasts were most likely to have eaten humans. In this case, they could not be left to harm people and had to be eradicated as soon as possible.

The road conditions were also very bad. In order to stop Guanqiu Jian's advance, many counties chose to destroy the roads, deliberately using stones and dead trees to block the way forward and slow down Guanqiu Jian.

They failed to slow down Guanqiu Jian, but now they have slowed down Chen Tai and others.

The villages along the way are almost all empty. Without the protection of the city walls, the people in the villages outside the city dare not stay there.

They were afraid of bandits, the Wei army, and the Wu army.

When the carriage stopped at an uninhabited village, the soldiers first explored the surroundings to make sure there were no wild beasts or bandits. Then they cleaned up a mansion that looked pretty good and let Chen Tai and Wang Jing rest there.

Chen Tai and Wang Jing went to Jianye together, but they did not have much communication.

Chen Tai's family background is top-notch, he is the son of Chen Qun.

Who was Chen Qun? He was the founder of the Nine-Rank System, the compiler of the Wei Code, and the recorder of the Secretariat of Works. He was a truly capable official.

Even compared with Zhong Yao, they are on par with each other.

As for Wang Jing, his father was a farmer.

The two of them don't have much contact on a daily basis, and their relationship is not very good.

But Chen Tai still called Wang Jing to his side and wanted to have dinner with him.

While eating, Chen Tai looked very solemn.

He sighed, "All along the way, I've seen nothing but the devastation of the people's livelihood. Your Majesty has given us three years to govern the area, but I'm afraid it won't be easy."

He looked at Wang Jing who was standing beside him and said, "Lord, if we want to govern Wu well, what do you think we should do first?"

Wang Jing glanced at Chen Tai calmly.

What do you think?

Chen Tai was, after all, Wang Jing's nominal commander. He spoke truthfully, "I've heard that all the farmland in Wu is in the hands of the powerful families, and the common people are either tenants or servants. When a young man from a powerful family travels, he's accompanied by over ten thousand people, a more spectacular sight than even the emperor of Wei."

"A large family like the Lu family can afford to support 3,000 soldiers. These 3,000 soldiers do not engage in farming, but train all day long. They are all elite soldiers. Even small countries in ancient times might not be able to afford them. The farmland of these people is connected together, and with soldiers guarding it, they are like small countries. They are local rulers and can disobey the orders of the emperor."

"If this matter cannot be resolved, Wu will not be governed well."

Chen Tai, a guy who came from a top family, was not afraid when he heard these words. Instead, he nodded in agreement.

"The prince is right! It's exactly what I think."

He added, "I hope to get your help on this trip to Wu."

Wang Jing hurriedly said, "I'm here to assist you. How can I say I'm helping you? What are your instructions?"

Chen Tai stood up, personally took Wang Jing's hand, and was about to pull him to sit in the upper seat. Wang Jing was even more surprised. He quickly pulled his hand away and bowed to Chen Tai again.

"If Lord Chen has any orders, I will certainly obey them. I dare not do this."

Chen Tai looked up, his face somewhat distressed, "Prince, I'm afraid you might misunderstand me."

He pondered for a moment before saying, "If I go to Wu, if I'm too tough, I'm afraid we won't be able to move forward. But if I'm too soft on them, I won't be able to resolve these issues."

"When I was in Yongliang, I used this method with General Guo and others."

"You can be a little tougher with them, and I'll be responsible for winning them over. Only when we don't get along can we move forward and backward freely."

Chen Tai himself was too embarrassed to continue.

Although this kind of cooperation between two people exists in many places, it is really unkind to push the other party out to play the bad guy when facing a big family.

The consequences of offending famous people from powerful families are often not good. These people may not have any other abilities, but they are the best at fabricating and slandering others.

Wang Jing suddenly understood.

He smiled and said, "If this was the only matter, then Lord Chen wouldn't have hesitated. I just thought that Lord Chen was trying to persuade me to let these powerful families go, and was even planning to impeach you in front of His Majesty."

This sentence immediately broke the awkward atmosphere, and Chen Tai also chuckled.

"I'm afraid you'll think I'm in cahoots with these people."

"I'm not familiar with Lord Chen, but I know what kind of person Your Majesty is. If Your Majesty believes you can govern this place well, then you will certainly not collude with these people."

Wang Jing praised him a few words.

In fact, Wang Jing knew in his heart that this man was not unwilling to collude with the big families, he just would not collude with the big families in Wu.

The relationships between the great clans included marriages and geographical connections. Clans from the same region tended to be closer and would automatically form groups. When facing the great clans of Shu and Wu, the great clans of Wei were natural allies. Even the great clans of the frontier states, ostracized by the Central Plains, would be drawn into their alliance.

In today's world, the big families have been divided into three categories.

Among them, the lowest status may be the Wu clan. Who made them surrender the latest?

They have almost no one in the temple, and even if they do, they are not involved in the core of power.

For the big families, if you have no one in the court, then just wait for others to cut your flesh!

After Shu and Wu were pacified, the major families on the Wei side were very afraid that these outsiders would come to steal their lives.

Chen Tai absolutely doesn't dare to get too close to the powerful families in Wu. It's okay on the surface, but if they really join forces, you'll see whether the people of the Central Plains can tolerate you!
This is probably the reason why Cao Mao felt at ease sending Chen Tai over. When it comes to dealing with the big families, the big families have the most say.

He knew what the big clan feared most.

After getting Wang Jing's consent, Chen Tai began to discuss with Wang Jing how to deal with these people.

"What you just mentioned, their farmland, their servants, their tenants, as well as marriage alliances, the appointment of clan members as officials, etc., are actually very easy to solve. It only takes one thing to solve it smoothly."

Wang Jing sat in front of Chen Tai with great interest.

He thought it was very interesting to listen to the head of a super clan talk about how to deal with the big clan.

It feels quite absurd and ridiculous.

Chen Tai smiled and said, "The problem of the great families in Wu State has been exposed for a long time. Both Sun Xiu and Sun Hao have thought about solving it."

"Among them, Sun Hao's solution was the most effective."

"Why did the national strength increase when Sun Hao was wreaking havoc in the country?"

Wang Jing wanted to say something but stopped himself.

He felt that speaking directly would be a little impolite to the person in front of him.

Isn’t the improvement due to killing the termites?

If you want to govern Wu well, the best way is to hold a banquet and force them to drink seven liters of wine. Those who can't finish it will be beheaded.

If you drink this for a whole year, Wu will definitely be well!

Chen Tai explained, "This is because Sun Hao did three things."

"The first is administrative division. During his reign, he disrupted the counties many times and appointed many princes. Local administrative officials were rearranged, and the strongholds of the powerful families in the local areas were impacted."

"The second is exile. Sun Hao would exile several large clans from time to time, forcing them to relocate to other areas. This exile would fundamentally destroy a large clan. They would lose their farmland and wealth, and except for their classics, they could not take anything with them. It was almost like starting from scratch."

"The third is to kill them. Kill their leaders and bellwethers. The clans will lose their leaders and become directionless, at a loss, not even knowing how to resist. They will become a loose sand, posing no threat at all!"

After hearing Chen Tai's words, Wang Jing suddenly felt that Sun Hao was also somewhat unfathomable.

Is this guy pretending to be crazy?

Did they kill Emperor Jing's wife and son to prevent the powerful families from finding them? Did they kill his younger brother because he was the legitimate son and had the most right to inherit?

Killing ministers just to make sure there is no one to lead the big clans?

After thinking about it, Wang Jing shook his head and gave up the idea.

No, this person is not normal anyway.

Perhaps only such a crazy tyrant can strike a blow against a powerful clan.

Chen Tai suddenly said, "Now that we are heading to Wu, it can be said that the time, place and people are all right."

"The Wei Dynasty has just recovered Wu territory, and will definitely redistribute the counties and prefectures, and reassign officials. The great families will lose much of their protection."

"Their leaders are currently in Luoyang, accompanying His Majesty. However, there is no one in the local area who can contact them. Even if someone could, they would not dare to become our enemy and could only resist in secret."

"With these conditions, we only need to do one thing."

Chen Tai said seriously, "The powerful clans of Yongliang used to be very tyrannical, even trying to turn the Hu people into their own cavalry. After Yang Zong arrived there, he relocated those leaders and sent them to places like Nanzhong. Today, the situation in Yongliang is completely different from before."

"We can follow Yang Zong's example and relocate the major clans within Wu."

“Of course, if they are not at fault, then forcibly relocating them to places like Jiaozhou in the south would definitely cause unrest among the Wu people.”

"So, we still need the two of us to cooperate. These big families are definitely not clean. They can always find some crimes to accuse them. I'm afraid it will be troublesome for the prince."

Wang Jing looked in the direction of Jianye.

"Migration and exile must have a suitable reason."

"Don't worry, Mr. Chen. I know what to do."

(End of this chapter)