The prince is more stable

Chapter 505 Greedy

Mr. Ge died in front of Zhao Xiaoqian.

The cries of "Oh, it hurts" before his death became the only echo he left to this world, and the sound is still ringing in our ears.

This honest and simple old man had suffered so much injustice in his life, but he was still trying to control his emotions when he was dying.

He did not blame the world or accuse the government, but only cried out "How bitter", as if he was summing up his life, and then passed away suddenly.

Perhaps the only time that Mr. Ge showed courage in his life was just now. He used the rough knife he sharpened himself to end his own life with his own hands. The knife hit his heart decisively and resolutely, leaving no room for rescue.

Zhao Xiaoqian understood the mood when he made this decision. He had also suffered in his previous life. He knew the feeling of suffering every day, and the end of the day could be seen at a glance, but the end was still the same as the feeling of suffering.

If there is no hope in life, perhaps the whole life will just pass by in confusion.

But the government gave him hope, telling him that the court would give them land, that they would be exempt from taxes in the future, and that as long as they worked hard, they would have their own big house, oxen to work with, and meat to eat every month...

Hope is so beautiful, but once the dream is shattered, the psychological damage to people is fatal.

So Mr. Ge didn't want to live anymore. He said he no longer had the strength to live.

Zhao Xiaoqian knelt in front of his body, tears streaming down his face.

He and Mr. Ge didn't have much interaction, and including today, they had only met three times.

But he was very sad at this moment. Perhaps, the reason for his sadness was not only because of Mr. Ge, but also because of the thousands of Mr. Ge under the jurisdiction of Zhending Prefecture.

Kneeling on his knees in front of Mr. Ge, Zhao Xiaoqian kowtowed three times, and then his whole body became motionless, like a statue. Everyone looked at his back and felt an inexplicable chill.

His back was as calm as his emotions, but that calmness was brewing a terrifying storm that was about to come.

After a long time, Zhao Xiaoqian was still kneeling motionless, but he finally spoke, his tone calmer than ever.

"Chen Shou."

"I am here." Chen Shou replied nervously.

"Orders are being passed. In front of the elders and villagers, those powerful and powerful servants and guards who are guarding the people will be beheaded immediately. No one should be spared. Do it now."

"Yes!"

Soon, more than a hundred men in black were brought up by the imperial guards. They were all tied up, but they cried for their parents, tears and snot streaming down their cheeks, begging for mercy in various ugly ways.

They were originally arrogant, and after being captured by the Imperial City Division, they still clamored arrogantly, showing the names of various powerful families, and then glared at the subordinates of the Imperial City Division arrogantly, asking if they dared to touch them.

Now they are convinced that Zhao Xiaoqian dares, he really dares to kill people, not only these small fry, he also dares to kill more people, including officials of the court.

These servants and guards at this moment are just a small warm-up before the massacre.

When the status and position that supported their arrogance was no longer effective, they panicked, turned around and began to beg for mercy, crying loudly, telling the imperial guards who escorted them that they had no choice but to do what they were ordered to do, and tried to shirk responsibility and try to escape in various ways.

The imperial guards turned a blind eye and just carried out Zhao Xiaoqian's orders.

More than a hundred servants were taken to the pass outside the valley. This was a Feng Shui treasure land that Chen Shou had chosen for them. It was well ventilated and could easily disperse the smell of blood.

Rows of servants were tied up and forced to kneel with their heads pinned down. The imperial guards grabbed their hair and stretched their heads outward, while another imperial guard raised the big knife in his hand.

There is no ritual before killing, these minions are not worthy.

As Chen Shou waved his hand expressionlessly, the sharp blade fell heavily, the head was separated from the body, blood gushed out, and the headless corpse was still twitching in fear. There was silence for a while.

The bodies and heads were kicked aside, and then the next group of people took over, kneeling, stretching their heads, and cutting...

The beheading of more than a hundred people, with ten people in a group, was quickly completed. The people in the valley looked terrified, but also a little pleased. Until they saw with their own eyes that all the evildoers had been beheaded, there was still a deathly silence in the crowd.

After an unknown amount of time, cheers erupted in the valley. Someone took the lead, and more people responded. The valley was filled with people's excited cheers, sad weeping, and complete respect for Zhao Xiaoqian.

After the applause, people automatically turned around and looked at Zhao Xiaoqian who was still kneeling in front of Ge Laozhang's body. Thousands of people slowly knelt down on their knees in front of him, as if worshiping a god, and kowtowed to Zhao Xiaoqian.

Zhao Xiaoqian also came back to his senses at this time, looked at Ge Laozhang's body, and sighed softly.

"Chen Shou, prepare a good coffin, bury Old Man Ge, and send his body back to the village for a proper burial. The only thing we can do for him is to help him return to his roots."

"Yes."

Zhao Xiaoqian turned around and saw thousands of people in the valley still kneeling before him devoutly. Zhao Xiaoqian shook his head and said, "Don't bow to me. I am failing the elders."

"I'll have someone send you back to Zhending City first. I'll have an explanation for this matter. Please wait a little longer. I'll let you witness the execution of all the evildoers with your own eyes, and then I'll send you back to your villages."

"The court's policy of relocating farmers and allocating land will not change. This time, I will personally preside over the matter and will not let you suffer any more injustice. If you elders still trust me, please patiently observe my actions. How about that?"

Someone in the crowd immediately shouted, "I am willing to believe Prince Zhao, I will believe him for the rest of my life, even if he sells me out!" The others immediately echoed, and the valley was filled with the simple and honest voices of the people.

…………

More than a hundred people were killed, but it was not enough.

"Go on a killing spree" does not mean that you can just kill a few small fry and get away with it.

Under Zhao Xiaoqian's order, the Imperial City Division once again worked at full capacity to search for other resettlement sites for farmers.

The existence of these temporary resettlement sites was itself suspicious. After interrogating the servants of the powerful before the execution, it was discovered that this incident had been premeditated.

Before Han Wei, Wang Yuan and dozens of other officials set out for Zhending Prefecture, the dignitaries in Bianliang had already discussed the matter.

Han Wei and Wang Yuan were in the open, while more than a thousand servants from various powerful families were guarding the house in secret.

The servants and guards were responsible for secretly clearing the area and relocating all the farmers in the village. Those who refused to obey were beaten to death on the spot. The relocated farmers were then gathered in batches and guarded as a reserve labor force for the powerful.

Officials such as Han Wei were responsible for the overt negotiations and land measurement, selecting and occupying fertile land for the powerful. Naturally, most of the high-quality land fell into the pockets of the powerful.

However, those inferior arable lands, which were like scraps of inferior material, were distributed to farmers to show the court that the land was distributed fairly.

Even so, the powerful did not let go of those inferior fields.

Their plan was to distribute these fields to the elderly, the weak, women and children, and then slowly seize them. The elderly, the weak, women and children were not able to farm, so this gave the powerful people an opportunity. They would help the elderly, the weak, women and children farm the land in the form of leasing, and then over time, leasing gradually turned into occupation.

As for the young and strong laborers, they were confined separately and forced to sign a life-long tenant contract. In this way, once the powerful and wealthy occupied a large amount of land, they would have ready-made labor available and would not delay sowing and harvesting.

In the process of diverting the farmers and refugees from Hebei, relocating and distributing the unowned land, and establishing new counties, new villages and forts on the newly occupied land, the imperial court would inevitably also re-register the farmers and refugees in a unified manner, and this would inevitably lead to a period of chaos.

Taking advantage of this chaotic process, the powerful used their power to make the household registration of many migrant farmers unclear, and most of them became tenants under the household registration of landlords.

In this way, almost all the land in the newly occupied area will be occupied by the powerful. Hundreds of thousands of farmers will be ecstatic and think they can get a share of the land. As a result, they will eventually find that they have inexplicably changed from poor but free farmers to tenants or even serfs of the powerful landlords.

If no one interferes, the carefully calculated plans of the powerful are actually perfect, the process is smooth, and there is a high probability of success. Even if they encounter obstacles, they can use their power to forcibly solve the problem, or solve the person who raised the problem.

Complain?

Don't worry, the lawsuit can't enter Bianjing, and it can't even enter the gate of the county government. Yes, power really can make people do whatever they want.

Unfortunately, the existence of Zhao Xiaoqian eventually became a variable in this conspiracy.

They misjudged Zhao Xiaoqian's character. They thought they could use benefits to lure Zhao Xiaoqian into participating in this game that only noble and superior people could play, or at least use benefits to make Zhao Xiaoqian choose to shut his eyes and mouth.

Unfortunately, they didn't know that no matter how much benefit there was, Zhao Xiaoqian would not help the tyrant to commit atrocities.

When the powerful people in Bian Jing unscrupulously touched Zhao Xiaoqian's bottom line, he could no longer bear it.

Having lived two lifetimes, he never set up the image of a "good guy". Zhao Xiaoqian knew very well what kind of person he was. He had done some cheating and deceiving people before, and sometimes he would even resort to any means to achieve his goals.

For example, he set up a Ponzi scheme for Xiao Guangjing, poisoned Empress Dowager Xiao Liang during the Western Xia period, and mobilized the Dragon Guard Battalion to threaten the Liao Kingdom like a gangster in order to rescue Su Shi...

In the eyes of a moral gentleman, what Zhao Xiaoqian did had anything to do with being a "good man"? Yet he did it anyway, and felt no guilt at all.

However, people like Zhao Xiaoqian have a bottom line after all.

The bottom line is the word "conscience".

No matter how despicable or shameless his methods are, he will never use them on the poor people, nor will he allow others to use them on the people.

If he had been kept in the dark, the people might have had no choice but to accept their fate and endure the suffering they endured.

But Zhao Xiaoqian discovered the conspiracy, so, sorry, he not only had to stop it, but also had to kill people, kill many people, regardless of the consequences.

Under the brutal interrogation of the Imperial City Administration, the servants were forced to confess before being beheaded.

Within two days, the Imperial City Administration found more than ten resettlement sites for farmers within a radius of hundreds of miles north of Zhending Prefecture.

According to Zhao Xiaoqian's instructions, all the farmers in the resettlement site were sent back to Zhending City. Temporary tents were set up outside the city, and the government provided porridge every day.

All the powerful servants who were guarding the farmers were beheaded in front of the people without exception, and their bodies were thrown into the wild to feed the wolves.

On the third day after Ge Laozhang's death, Zhao Xiaoqian received news from the Longwei Camp.

Within a radius of several hundred miles on the south bank of the Juma River, dozens of officials including Han Wei and Wang Yuan who were measuring the land were all arrested and taken to Zhending City.

(End of this chapter)