The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 666 Sing and Harmony

As soon as Chen Tai woke up, soldiers walked in.

The soldier's face looked very ugly. He lowered his head and dared not speak.

Chen Tai changed his clothes and asked, "What happened?"

"Mr. Chen, the prince left this morning."

"Oh? Left? Where did you go?"

"He went to Jianye. He..."

Chen Tai said unhappily: "Just say it!"

The soldier just stammered, "The prince said he wouldn't go with the spoiled."

"How unreasonable?!"

Chen Tai was furious. "I buried the dead along the way, which is a virtuous act. How can he say that it is so unbearable? Give me paper and pen! I must impeach this man!"

At this moment, Wang Jing was already on the way.

His face was filled with disdain as he said to his attendants, "Chen Tai only achieved his current position thanks to the protection of his father and grandfather. When I dined with him yesterday, he was extremely arrogant and kept talking about his father. This clearly meant he looked down on me and thought my background was inferior to his!"

"I have been ordered by His Majesty to come to Wu to supervise. Even Chen Tai can be impeached!"

"Since he can't endure hardship and insists on advancing slowly, why don't we reach Jianye first?"

"When we get to Jianye, I'll have something to say to His Majesty."

Both of them brought a group of officials with them on this trip. Most of the officials brought by Chen Tai were Shangshulang and assistant officials from Santai.

These are all practical people who can help Chen Tai govern the local area.

Most of the people Wang Jing brought with him were eunuchs, who were selected from Cao Mao's Yulin Lang, deputy Yuanwailang and many other officials.

To put it simply, Wang Jing and his group were sent by the emperor's confidants to monitor the country, similar to military inspectors. They did not have high status, but they had great power because of the emperor's favor.

What’s interesting is that all the people Wang Jing brought with him were from wealthy families.

After all, which young man who could serve as a palace attendant beside Cao Mao could be of low birth?

But they also showed special respect to Wang Jing simply because Wang Jing was more favored by the emperor.

To what extent did Cao Mao favor Wang Jing?

Once, Cao Mao was having a meal, when he suddenly said to his attendants: This meat is very delicious, please send it to Wang Sili as soon as possible.

The attendants were stunned and ran away with the meat given by the emperor, and put it into Wang Jing's hands, who ate it all on the spot.

Another time, Wang Jing accidentally frightened a corrupt official to death while interrogating him. Officials from the Censorate impeached Wang Jing, accusing him of cruelty and forcing prisoners to death with corporal punishment.

Cao Mao asked angrily: Should you treat a criminal prisoner with the same filial piety as you would treat your father?

The official felt humiliated and immediately resigned and went home, almost committing suicide.

Another time, Zong Zheng Cao Yan was driving out when he met Wang Jing's carriage head-on. He refused to give way and stood on the carriage and shouted: My father is worthy of being enshrined in the ancestral temple, and his son will not give way to a farmer's son!
When Cao Mao learned about this, he sent people to smash Cao Yan's carriage. Cao Yan went to Wang Jing's mansion to apologize that day.

Some people in the capital said privately: The important ministers in the temple of Emperor Taizu are no match for the favorite ministers in the palace of His Majesty today.

The reason why Cao Mao favored Wang Jing so much was also because of his loyalty.

But being too favored by the emperor is not a good thing. Take Zhang Hua for example. He originally had a good reputation, but because the emperor liked him so much, he was given the title of favorite minister.

This is not a compliment to him, but a mockery that he got his position through flattery, just like the people of Wu mocked Wan Yu.

Wang Jing continued to move towards Jianye.

It took less than six days to reach the city of Jianye.

At this moment, Wang Ji was leading the officials in the city to welcome them.

At this time in Wu, most of the local officials were still people from Wu.

There was no way for the Wei Dynasty to replace them all in a short period of time.

What's more, there are indeed some good and capable people among these people.

When Wang Jing got off the carriage, the Wu people looked at each other without saying a word.

Wang Ji hurried forward to greet him.

"Greetings, Maharaja!"

Strictly speaking, the official positions of Wang Jing and Chen Tai do not have an accurate rank. They were completely made up on the spur of the moment to deal with the current situation.

Such situations often occurred at this time. All three kingdoms did this, and the one that was best at it was Wu. They fabricated so many official positions!

Wang Jing glanced at Wang Ji at this moment, and then looked at the Wu people in the distance.

"Who are those people? Why don't they come together to greet me?!"

Wang Jing asked.

Wang Ji was a little confused.

Unlike Chen Tai, Wang Ji and Wang Jing were friends. When Wang Ji was the governor of Jingzhou, Wang Jing was the prefect of Jiangxia.

Wang Ji had a relatively good understanding of this person's personality and other aspects.

Just a while ago, the two of them were exchanging letters, and Wang Jing was very normal. How come he became so arrogant and domineering today?
Wang Ji looked at the group of Wu people with terrified faces, and suddenly he came to his senses.

He looked at those people helplessly and asked, "Why don't you come and pay your respects?" These people came to pay their respects in a hurry.

Those who stayed with Wang Ji were those who were not qualified to go to Luoyang to see the emperor.

They are usually younger and hold lower official positions, but the fact that they appear here shows that they have good backgrounds.

Most of them are the backbone of some big clans.

The leader has already gone to Luoyang, so they will stay here and follow Wang Ji, just hoping that the sharp knife of the Wei Dynasty will not fall on their heads.

During this period of time, they got along with Wang Ji and found that this general was actually very easy to talk to.

He is not a rude and rude warrior.

But why does this new guy look a little scary?
Wang Jing accepted their greeting and then said to Wang Ji, "Come with me!"

He ignored these people at all, pulled Wang Ji into the car, and left in a hurry.

Everyone looked at each other.

"Why is this prince so rude?"

Someone asked.

At this moment, someone who knew the answer said: "This man was originally a farmer's son. Because he was favored by Your Majesty, he was appointed as one of the Nine Ministers and became an important official."

Those people suddenly realized what was going on and a look of disgust appeared on their faces.

"No wonder it's so."

At this moment, sitting in the carriage, Wang Jing was explaining his behavior in a low voice. Wang Ji interrupted him before he finished speaking.

"Your Majesty, there's no need to explain. I understand the reasoning behind this. I just submitted a petition to the court requesting that the farmland issue here be addressed."

Now, Wang Jing is not worried about the situation here at all.

There are only three people in total, and all three of them support taking action against the big clan, so the big clan here has no way to escape.

If it comes to dealing with the big families of Wei State, there may be some problems. Each big family has a big figure, and the emperor cannot bring himself to deal with them.

And these ministers will not take action against themselves.

But the situation is different for the big families of Wu State.

They have lost their protection, and the Wei Dynasty doesn't care whether you are a big family or not.

Wang Jing immediately expressed his thoughts, and Wang Ji listened very carefully.

After Wang Jing arrived in Jianye, Wang Ji immediately issued an order, requiring all places to thoroughly investigate whether there were still people who disobeyed the imperial orders and did not disband their servants and private soldiers, whether there were still people who secretly stored armor and powerful crossbows at home, and whether there were still people who hoarded food and ironware in an attempt to rebel.

These three thorough investigations were each more ruthless than the last.

Wang Ji, who was originally very gentle, suddenly issued such an order. Everyone could think that this must be the order of Wang Jing.

Now, the big families in Wu were extremely panicked.

Guanqiu Jian once carried out a massacre in Wu, and his reason was that he secretly kept servants and raised soldiers.

And the solution of Dazu is also very simple.

Just take off your armor and go work in the fields.

If you ask, they are tenants, definitely not able-bodied men or soldiers.

Those who always squint one eye are because of the sun while farming, those who have calluses on their hands are from holding farm tools, and those who have bow legs are because of riding oxen for years!

But at this moment, there are more things to investigate thoroughly, and the situation has become a little complicated.

Armor and powerful crossbows are nowadays must-haves for wealthy families.

These two things have always been prohibited. Knives and bows and arrows can be brought, but armor and crossbows cannot be brought because these two things have no civilian value.

You ordinary people might carry a bow and arrow to hunt, a knife to butcher, and a sword as a ceremonial weapon, but what are you doing with armor? And what about a crossbow? Are all the creatures in the forest covered in armor? Do you need a crossbow to shoot through them?
If this was a temporary search, the wealthy families in Jianye would be in big trouble that day.

When Wang Ji's army rushed into their mansion like jackals and began to search, they collapsed to the ground.

As for hoarding food and ironware, let alone that, isn't it the norm for big families?

Don't the noble families of your Great Wei stockpile these? Don't they have armor and powerful crossbows?
Those large families that were closer to Jianye were all captured, while those that were a little further away were better off because someone tipped them off and they still had time to make preparations, such as transferring supplies, hiding armor and other items, etc.

Wang Jing's attitude was very firm. There was no need to worry about those who had thoughts of rebellion. They could behead them directly.

He had only been in Jianye for three days when he ordered the execution of more than sixty people, and many more were awaiting trial.

For a time, the entire Wu area was in chaos, and some people were even ready to raise the Sun family banner again to oppose the tyranny.

Just at this moment, Chen Tai arrived late.

As soon as he arrived in Jianye, he angrily summoned Wang Jing and Wang Ji.

Many people saw him having a big fight with Wang Jing, and Wang Jing left angrily.

Afterwards, Chen Tai hurriedly ordered to stop the thorough investigation and at the same time ordered the release of those who had been captured.

The people of Wu were deeply moved, and finally someone came to take over.

But Wang Jing was not willing to tolerate this. He found out that some powerful families had criticized the court and slandered the emperor because of this incident, and they were preparing to attack the court. He again asked Wang Ji to send people to arrest them.

The struggle between Chen Tai and Wang Ji began in the State of Wu.

(End of this chapter)