The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 742: Not Radical Enough

Pei Xiu no longer dared to hide anything.

He knelt respectfully in front of Cao Mao and told him all his thoughts one by one.

He didn't even hide the not-so-good parts.

"I thought the reform of the nobility system would discourage many ministers who had made great contributions, so I went to Sima Yan. I knew he was friendly with Your Majesty, so I wanted to use him to persuade Your Majesty. I never thought."

Seeing Pei Xiu's honesty, Cao Mao glanced at Zhang Hua with a hint of mockery in his eyes.

Zhang Hua couldn't help shaking his head as he looked at his emperor's bad taste.

After Pei Xiu finished speaking, Cao Mao suddenly understood.

"I see. Zhong Shiji did tell me about this title, and I think you might be able to accomplish it."

"what?"

"Your Majesty, this matter."

"how?"

"You can rest assured if I do it!"

Pei Xiu changed the subject and quickly continued what Cao Mao said.

Seeing his confident look, Cao Mao said solemnly: "Okay, then I'll leave this matter to you. Don't worry about the ministers being disheartened, and don't let me be disheartened."

"I have always valued you. Everyone says you can take on the position of Shangshu Ling in the future. Go back and think about it carefully."

Pei Xiu thanked Cao Mao again and again for his great kindness, then turned and left.

After he left, Cao Mao finally couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Zhang Hua said with a smile, "How can Mr. Pei withstand such torture from His Majesty?"

"Who made him always stand in the wrong position? He needs to wake up. If he's not constantly urged on, he won't even know whose salary he's receiving!"

Zhang Hua also resigned and left immediately. He still had to arrest those traitors and contact Wei Shu to discuss the conviction.

"His Majesty has been assassinated!!"

Deng Ai sat in the upper seat, looking solemnly at the officials on his left and right.

"Your Majesty, just as His Majesty issued the order to punish the great clans throughout Bashu, an assassination attempt was made!"

"I think this is enough to prove that this assassination is inseparable from the great families of Bashu!"

"Ever since I pacified Shu."

Guanqiu Dian sat helplessly aside, he knew that Deng Ai would mention his pacification of Shu Kingdom.

The impact of this assassination case is further expanding, but my superior obviously wants to use this incident to intensify the rectification efforts.

Guanqiu Dian couldn't tell whether this was good or bad.

In fact, since Bashu began to forcibly relocate large tribes, many of the original projects have come to a standstill.

Just as Deng Ai thought, rectifying the big families would certainly affect local officials, which in turn would affect many projects.

But the emperor insisted on doing so, and Deng Ai had no choice.

Guanqiu Dian didn't know why Deng Ai suddenly wanted to increase his efforts.

But he had not discussed this matter with everyone in advance.

Even Guanqiu Dian was completely unaware of this.

It was under such circumstances that he suddenly summoned all his ministers and insisted that the emperor's assassination was related to the great families of Bashu.

Guanqiu Dian just felt a headache.

Looking at the other officials, their faces were not very good either. They sighed and felt complicated.

Guanqiu Dian had no choice but to stand up and said, "Lord Deng, this matter can be put on hold for now. We can wait for the imperial edict."

Deng Ai dismissed the meeting, and Guanqiu Dian hurriedly followed him, and the two walked into the inner room together.

"Mr. Deng, aren't you against disposing of the great families? Why?"

Deng Ai glared at him and asked, "When did I ever say I was against it?"

Guanqiu Dian realized he had made a mistake and said, "Lord Deng, you originally said that punishing the powerful families would affect major events throughout the country. Why are you punishing them so harshly now?"

Deng Ai signaled his servants to close the door.

He then spoke seriously, "Originally, I wanted to complete the project first, and then discuss the matter of the great clan, but Your Majesty was too impatient and delayed the project. Bashu is a land of abundance, and these projects were originally designed by Zhuge Liang. The sooner we resume, the greater our political achievements will be."

"The people of Bashu today have a lot of prejudice against us."

Guanqiu Dian frowned, "What does this have to do with the assassination?"

Deng Ai looked at him again. Although there was no contempt in his eyes, the meaning was very clear.

"Anyone who does not do their best is dissatisfied with Your Majesty and may be an accomplice of the thieves."

Guanqiu Dian suddenly understood.

Then, he smiled bitterly again, "Mr. Deng, isn't this policy a bit too much?"

"Um???"

"A little bit?"

Deng Ai was furious. He immediately scolded him, "Your Majesty has appointed me to govern Bashu. All matters here are decided by me. Don't mention that your father is Guanqiu Jian. Even if Guanqiu Jian were here, I would not allow him to interfere!"

Guanqiu Dian was also a little angry.

It was extremely rude to say his father's name to his people like this, but remembering His Majesty's order, he endured it.

"Lord Deng, I will still inform His Majesty of this matter. I am the governor and have the power of supervision."

"Then go and tell them. My duty is to govern Bashu well!"

Deng Ai waved his hand and let Guanqiu Dian leave.

Guanqiu Dian left here helplessly, and Chengdu City returned to its former prosperity.

Although the demise of Shu caused a certain degree of chaos, the chaos was quickly stopped.

Deng Ai has been busy these days restoring the water conservancy projects from the time of Zhuge Liang. So far, the restoration work in Yizhou has been the most smooth, probably because Deng Ai is in charge here and there is plenty of manpower here.

Although no results can be seen yet.

But by next year, the entire Yizhou will definitely have undergone tremendous changes.

Guanqiu Dian does not like to intensify local conflicts. The biggest conflict in Shu now is the conflict between these foreign officials and local officials. If the local officials are accused of being involved in the assassination, the conflict will be intensified to another level.

Deng Ai was a very narrow-minded person.

This person is really selfish to the extreme. To some extent, he is actually very similar to Zhong Hui.

He only cares about his own affairs and will do anything to achieve his goals.

He didn't consider at all whether his behavior would cause anything else.

Guanqiu Dian got on his carriage, which was driving through the city of Chengdu. The city was bustling with traffic, and there were obviously more vendors along the streets.

The population of Wu State was actually quite large, but because they recruited a large number of soldiers, a large number of able-bodied men were on the battlefield. Now that these soldiers have been repatriated, the population in the city has increased.

This is really laughable.

The impact of the assassination spread throughout the world, but Deng Ai was the only one who dared to make use of it.

In other areas, officials simply expressed shock but did not indicate any intention to use the incident to govern the local area.

Guanqiu Dian's carriage returned to his residence. He got off the carriage and saw vendors on both sides of the road.

His steward helped him out of the car, then looked at the vendors in the distance and said helplessly, "There are more and more vendors these days. The roadside is full of them. Should we send people to drive them away?"

Guanqiu Dian said unhappily, "This road is the main road, not a private road. Do you really want to block the road?"

He looked at those people. After the temple abolished the head tax, the number of vendors increased significantly.

Because the poll tax was doubled for merchants and artisans.

Therefore, many people who do not have arable land are unwilling to engage in these industries, as this will make them unable to make ends meet.

But without the poll tax, they no longer had such concerns.

As long as it can make money and support yourself, you can do it.

This led to a rapid increase in the number of merchants and craftsmen.

Many people think that this will cause damage to agriculture and cause big problems, but Guanqiudian thinks it is not a big deal.

Many people did not have arable land. If they were not allowed to do business or engage in other industries, they would basically have no other way out except to be tenants. This was why those people were unwilling to leave the big families.

As Guanqiu Dian was about to walk into the mansion, the housekeeper hurriedly said, "Master, a guest is visiting today and is currently with the mistress."

Guanqiu Dian was a little surprised, and soon he saw the guest.

"Meet Uncle!!"

This person bowed respectfully towards Guanqiu Dian.

This man's surname was Xun, and he was the nephew of his wife's family in Guanqiu Dian.

"Please get up. Why did you come to Chengdu?"

The young man quickly stood up and said with a smile, "I just came to visit my uncle and aunt."

"Ah."

Guanqiu Dian nodded, realizing that something was wrong.

Sure enough, this guy quickly said, "Uncle, my aunt often writes to me. I have been close to my aunt since childhood, and I also want to be with her. I heard that the county is going to hold an examination, and I wonder if I can participate."

Guanqiu Dian was furious.

"You know I'm the examiner, but you still bring this up. Do you want me to help you?!"

"That's unreasonable!"

"Yizhou is about to hold an examination, and it will be in the 20th day. If you want to participate, you can stay and participate, but don't think of passing it by means like this!"

"Go back to your aunt! Don't come to see me again until the assessment is over!"

Guanqiu Dian didn't wait for the other party to explain himself and ordered him to be driven away.

After the other party left, Guanqiu Dian was still a little angry.

Over the years, Your Majesty has dealt with so many powerful families and has said so many times that power should not be abused for personal gain!

But it didn't work at all. The big families still had the same idea as before, helping each other, supporting each other, and becoming officials together!
This back door has come to me, it's really
At this moment, Guanqiu Dian suddenly felt that Deng Ai's behavior did not seem too extreme!

The officials of Bashu were no exception. Even with a sharp sword hanging over their heads, they still wanted to help each other. If this could intimidate them and prevent them from acting recklessly, it wouldn't be considered a crime.

Guanqiu Dian, who had originally planned to write a letter to the imperial court to denounce Deng Ai, was suddenly dissuaded by his own relatives.

No more playing!
So be it!

(End of this chapter)