The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 703: The Great Tribe’s Suffering Day

Wu, outside Jianye City.

This is a huge mansion, it’s not quite appropriate to call it a mansion.

It should be said that this is a city outside the city.

There are city walls outside, and inside are various courtyards and houses, shady trees, gurgling streams, beautiful rockery, and the roads are smoother than those in Jianye City.

Standing on the city wall, you can see all kinds of pavilions, vermilion doors and jade tiles. The stream divides the entire courtyard into two. There are eight bridges, and the design of each bridge is unique.

Captain Wang, who was in charge of the execution, stood on the city wall and couldn't help shaking his head.

No wonder the Wu clan was mentioned. With this situation, the Wei clan really didn't dare to do this openly.

Of course, the big families in the Wei State were not without money or land.

They also have their own Wu Castle outside the city, but they would never dare to make it look like this. It would be crazy to build their own city outside!

The soldiers under his command are now constantly capturing various commanding heights.

In front of these elite warriors who have experienced hundreds of battles, the private soldiers of those big families are just that, nothing.

After seeing flags and thick smoke rising in various places, the captain led the accompanying officials down from the city wall.

They rode their horses towards the south courtyard of the city.

The accompanying official was a close minister who had followed the king. Looking at this overly luxurious courtyard, his eyes were particularly complicated.

This person also came from a prominent family, but he never expected that he would be surpassed by the people of Wu in terms of residence!

Compared to their residence, my home is like a doghouse!
They walked like this for a long time and finally arrived at where the head of the family was.

The captain and others dismounted their horses and followed the officials into the inner courtyard.

I saw a man standing in the middle with a stern face. There were a few young men beside him, most of them looked terrified, because the armored soldiers around them were holding powerful crossbows and pointing them at these people.

The official first saluted each other.

"Mr. Gu, today is the day you and your family are heading north. Why haven't you made any preparations yet?"

This man was called Gu Ji, the youngest son of Gu Yong, an important official of the Eastern Wu.

He had no special abilities and was promoted to the rank of Cavalry Commandant, but he did not make any further progress. Instead, his descendants were more active and were present during several exiles.

Facing these people, Gu Ji could only express his dissatisfaction through silence.

When we surrendered, we clearly agreed to treat the Wu people equally.

As a result, he had just sat down and couldn't wait to take action against them.

It sounds nice, saying that they will be sent north to receive education, but in fact they are sending them to those barren lands.

At the same time, everything they had here would be confiscated, including their farmland and tenants. They would not be able to take anything with them, and the whole family would be bankrupt.
Whenever he thought of this, Gu Ji wanted to draw his sword and fight the official in front of him to the death.

However, even if he had this idea, he did not have the ability to do so.

The powerful families of Wu were terrifying, but that was only to the king and people of Wu. To the emperor of Wei, they were just big bugs.

The Emperor of Wei doesn't even care about Wu's 100,000-strong army, so how could he care about you captives?
At Cao Mao's command, these bigwigs who used to be able to call the shots in Wu immediately became lambs to be slaughtered, unable to fight back at all.

The strength of a big family can only be reflected when it abides by the rules.

Seeing Gu Ji remain silent, the official asked again, "Are you unwilling to leave?"

"If you don't want to, you can write to the prince."

The official had a kind face and a gentle voice.

If Gu Ji hadn't known what happened in other places, he would have believed him.

Wang Jing was hoping that these people would disobey the imperial edict and rebel.

The situation in Wu is now very stable.

After Wang Ji entered Wu, he maintained order in all places very well and did not cause too much unrest. After Chen Tai and others arrived, the court exempted local taxes and distributed a lot of spoils to the refugees who emerged due to the war.

When these people obtained farmland, housing, and means of making a living from the Wei people, their loyalty to the Wei Dynasty suddenly increased.

In history, after the Western Jin Dynasty destroyed the Eastern Wu, it also adopted a policy of tax exemption and forced migration.

This was one of Sima Anshi's few shining moments. He encouraged the people of Wu to actively migrate to Huainan and other areas, and also forced the upper class to migrate.

However, the property left behind by the Wu clans was probably eaten up by the northern clans.

They sent their sons and daughters to the south to inherit these legacies. So after they moved south, they easily defeated the remaining large families in the south and became the rulers of the south.

The difference between Cao Mao and An Shi is that Cao Mao was more ruthless in his migration and used the legacy of war to stabilize the local area.

After the war, a large number of "ownerless" farmland and houses appeared, and they were ownerless. Chen Tai used these farmland to resettle the people, which made the post-war recovery work much smoother.

Although it cannot be said that all the people of Wu are heading north, they have accepted their current status and started to farm with peace of mind.

As for these large families, there weren't many things they could stir up. Gu Ji said, "I can go, but the burial places of my elders are all here, and some of them are very old. Can I leave them here?"

"I don't mean to oppose you, nor do I mean to disobey the imperial edict. I just can't bear to leave this hometown, and I worry that my ancestors will lose their worship."

The official looked at him with a smile, "How could my prince be so disregardful of friendship? Didn't he say that those over seventy years old can stay, and that one person can be left to take charge of the sacrifices and other matters?"

Gu Ji wanted to say something, but the captain couldn't help himself.

"What else do you want to say?!"

"You are no longer a cavalry captain! You are not the son of an important official! You are just a commoner!"

"Not long ago, your clansmen led an army to intercept the Grand Marshal! Your Majesty is kindhearted and has already given you face by not exterminating your entire clan. Do you still want to bargain with us now?!"

"Someone, take these ignorant people and throw them into the car!"

After hearing the captain's reprimand, panic finally appeared in Gu Ji's eyes.

They can die, but they cannot be tied up like livestock and thrown into a car and paraded through the streets.

This would completely disgrace his father.

He said, "I am willing to obey. I will set off now. Can you give us some time?"

The captain sneered, "Why bother?"

"Someone come, help them prepare!!"

When the soldiers rushed into each room fiercely to help them "pack up their things", Gu Ji staggered and almost fell down.

The soldiers escorted them away from here in groups.

When they were escorted out, the tenants outside were still kneeling on the ground. When they saw them being brought out, the fear in their eyes became even more obvious. Some of them stood up and wanted to run, but were knocked down by the soldiers.

The captain came out, took a look at these people, handed over to the officials, and then left.

The official registered the situations of the tenants and servants in front of him with the many clerks he brought with him.

These people don’t know yet that their lives are about to undergo a huge change.

The same thing was happening in various places in the Wu State.

Cao Mao was extremely determined to eradicate the powerful families in Wu.

Chen Tai pretended to be close to the powerful families and played a rival role with Wang Jing. However, after pacifying the people, Chen Tai was "defeated" by Wang Jing, and Wang Jing began to organize the migration of the powerful families.

Zhongli Mu stood in front of the boat on the river bank, looking at Wang Jing beside him with a smile.

At the dock not far away, the warships were like giant beasts with their bloody mouths wide open.

The children of the big families now looked ashen as death. They lined up in a long queue at the dock and boarded the ship one by one.

From time to time there were cries.

These guys who usually act so high and mighty are now covered in dust and dirt, and some of them have obvious scars on their faces. They lower their heads and move forward under the urging and scolding of the soldiers.

Military officers riding on fine horses, waving long whips in their hands, would gallop past from time to time.

Wang Jing looked at the scene in front of him and felt extremely comfortable.

I really don’t know when I can see such a scene in the Central Plains?
Wang Jing is the son of a farmer. Of course, his father is considered a wealthy man in the local area, owning hundreds of acres of arable land, but compared with the big families, it is simply... There is no comparison.

He has suffered humiliation from these people since he was young.

The same is true for his family. If he had not shown great talent and been valued and promoted by the Cui family, his family would have been taken over by others long ago.

These people who came from the bottom of society and experienced hardships in their youth are the ones most willing to cooperate with Cao Mao in carrying out reforms.

Zhongli Mu looked at the scene in front of him and also felt a little emotional.

"Alas, who could have thought that they would see such a day."

"In the past, even my former master had to wait until their head of the family died before he dared to do this."

"It's just retribution."

Wang Jing said calmly, "Because of these guys, countless people in Jiangdong were displaced. These people are still good. At least they have enough to eat and drink now. They really should be made to feel the same way as those people whose families were broken up by them. Let them beg all the way north."

Zhongli Mu couldn't help but look at Wang Jing again. It seemed that this man had a deep prejudice against the big families.

"Including the previous migrations, I estimate that there are only two more to go. I'm sorry to trouble you during this period of time."

Wang Jing bowed and said.

"I dare not. I am only here to assist the prince. Please give me your orders."

At some point, a warship had already set off. The ship sailed smoothly from the dock and slowly headed into the distance.

The warship became smaller and smaller, as if carrying the suffering of the entire Jiangdong and disappearing on the endless river.

(End of this chapter)