The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 428 Oath-taking Ceremony
When Emperor Qianwu, Zhao Muyun, sat on the dragon throne in Shangdu.

During the Yongtai reign, the national treasury was so empty that horses could run through it.

Zan Jiu, a local tycoon who stole the wealth of a provincial administration office for three years, was already destined for a bad end.

At this point, Zan Jiu no longer possessed the prestige of a local tyrant.
After receiving updates from the imperial army yesterday evening, I slumped down at my desk, motionless.

He stayed in the same position all night without moving.

Only one thought occupied his mind: he and his family might, possibly, be truly doomed this time.

Just like the gentry he dealt with, who had squandered their wealth and servants and lost most of their land.

The aristocratic families were no match for the Zan family a few years ago.

Similarly, the Zan family's manpower was insufficient against the regular army of the imperial court.

Despite the fact that the number of refugees in Sichuan and Chongqing exceeded 200,000, how many of them, who were not members of the Zan family, would actually follow them to fight against the imperial court?

Human nature dictates.

Zan Jiu once held a sliver of hope for the Miao King.

The mountains in southeastern Guizhou are both high and precipitous.

The Gu poison of Miao territory has been passed down for thousands of years.

Even if it doesn't result in the deaths of tens of thousands of imperial troops in southeastern Guizhou, weakening their power by more than half would be acceptable.

As a result, according to the definite news sent back by the courtesan he sent to Miaoling, not a single man aged ten or under fifty was left in the entire Miaoling region.

killed!
Hundreds of thousands of people were all killed!
Emperors who conquered empires on horseback were different from the old emperors of the previous dynasty who valued peace above all else.

He's really capable of killing!
As the Bo people retraced the old route through Miao territory, Zan Jiu had been suffering from insomnia for several days.

Can't sleep!

I can't stomach dragon liver and phoenix gall.

Even the warmth and softness of his beautiful concubines could not soothe his utterly cold heart.

His think tank argued for half a month.

Even the two people who used to be his biggest dissenters advised him to make a strategic retreat.

The euphemism was: to avoid the sharp edge of the imperial army and wait for its withdrawal before making future plans.

But where could he possibly escape to?
In the whole world, could it be the royal land?
As part of the Central Plains, Sichuan and Chongqing have a history of over a thousand years, and it is certainly not a lawless place.

Moreover, he has relatives in three counties behind him.

The Zan clan, numbering over 30,000, and their related blood relatives, has grown rapidly over the past three years, now exceeding 100,000.

Most of the people here participated in the refugee uprising.

During the uprising, under his orders, these clansmen killed hundreds of officials from fourteen prefectures and eighty counties.

What if the imperial court pins the charge of treason on the Zan clan?

That would truly result in rivers of blood!

By now.

If one lacks the strength to fight the imperial court to the bitter end, the only option left is to surrender to the court with all one's wealth.

But are the tribespeople willing to give up their wealth, even if they might be held accountable and convicted?

The Zan family ancestral halls in Baxing, Guangdu, and Jiachuan counties.

The three clan leaders were simultaneously presiding over a rally to pledge their support.

The clan head from Guangdu County was the most passionate:
"Fellow members of the Zan family, disciples and grand-disciples of the martial arts school! Today, we gather here before this ancestral hall for no other reason than that our Zan family has reached a critical moment of life and death!"
Three years ago, our Zan family rose to prominence amidst this chaos. What did we rely on? We relied on the wise leadership of Zan Jiu, and on the swords and blades in the hands of our Zan family men and martial arts students! The disciples clenched their fists and shouted:

"We'll rely on ourselves!"

"We'll rely on ourselves!"

The clan chief nodded and continued:
"Yes, relying on ourselves, we personally killed hundreds of corrupt officials from the previous dynasty, seized hundreds of thousands of acres of land from the gentry and landlords of Sichuan and Chongqing, and also received more than a hundred large tea gardens."

What were we fighting for, staining our hands with blood? We fought so that our generation would no longer suffer from hunger and cold! We fought so that our descendants would no longer be oppressed by powerful figures and could live with dignity!

Some people shouted: "We want to live with dignity, just like human beings!"

The young men below, their blood boiling, shouted in unison, "We demand dignity!"

However, the clan chief then poured cold water on their hopes:
"Don't talk about dignity. Our good days are almost over! You guessed right these past few days, the imperial army is here! The imperial court can't tolerate us! They want to take everything from us! They want to take our fields, tea gardens, and businesses, and they even want our lives!"

The young man's eyes were bulging with anxiety, almost to the point of bleeding.

"Why?"

"What right do they have to take our wealth?"

"Yes! Why should we?! We fought our way through this chaotic world to build this foundation. Why should we just hand it over to the imperial court?!"

The young people shook their heads frantically:

"No, no!"

"We will never hand over our legacy to others!"

The clan chief shrugged, looking utterly helpless.

“Boys, you have no choice but to give it to us! According to the laws of the previous dynasty, what we have done over the past three years is a veritable rebellion. The ringleader of a rebellion is to be executed along with his entire family, and even the accomplices will be exiled to the frontier and enslaved for life.”

The boys disagreed with the clan leader's words:

"We're not the only ones rebelling! Countless refugees have rebelled in the past three years. If the court were to seriously punish them, how many people would be left alive?"

"That's right! Isn't it said that the law should not punish the masses? Why should only our clan be convicted of treason? If we're going to convict, we might as well kill all the ordinary people who participated in the uprising!"

The clan chief stared at the most unruly young man as if he were a fool, shaking his head and sighing:
"You are all too young! Whether to convict, what crime to convict, and whose crime to convict—it's all up to the imperial court! If the court wants those proletarian commoners to live, then they can live!"

But right now, as long as we in Sichuan and Chongqing acknowledge the Yongtai court and recognize Emperor Qianwu as our emperor, then we are subjects of the Yongtai dynasty! As subjects of the court, we must be bound by its laws.

"Damn it! We can't accept this damned imperial court!"

"Yes, we don't recognize him! The emperor isn't our emperor either. We only recognize Zan Jiu!"

Finally hearing what he wanted to hear, the clan leader nodded in satisfaction and continued to fan the flames:
"I, the clan chief, ask you this: In these three years without government officials or the imperial court, under Zan Jiu's leadership, have you had a good time? Would you like to go back to three years ago?"

"We're living a very comfortable life!"

"We don't want to go back to the way things were!"

"I don't want to!"

"Even if it means the extermination of nine generations of your family, I wouldn't agree!"

"Good! Well said! Today, as the patriarch of the Zan family, I hereby swear: Our Zan family swears to fight the Yongtai court to the death! We will let Emperor Qianwu know that the men of the Zan family of Bashu are not cowards!"

The clan leader's words stirred the blood of the Zan family members, who shouted in unison:
"We swear to fight to the death, and we will never surrender!"

"We swear to fight to the death, and we will never surrender!"

"We swear to fight to the death, and we will never surrender!"

(End of this chapter)