Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 171 Wealth
The Zhao family had occupied Qiantang for a hundred years and had exploited the people for a hundred years. The wealth they had accumulated could no longer be described in words.

In this era, it was almost common for powerful people to use various means to annex land and take possession of large tracts of fertile land.

They used power as a knife and money as a blade to eat away at the land of the self-cultivating farmers bit by bit, and eventually controlled most of the land in a county or even a prefecture.

The common people were either reduced to tenant farmers or displaced, while the estates of the powerful expanded day by day, becoming the unshakable overlords in the local area.

The Zhao family was able to maintain its position in Qiantang for so long because there were only a few forces capable of destroying them. And among these limited forces, concerns about influence, complex relationships, and shared interests prevented them from taking action.

But for Yan Yi, none of these factors exist.

He came from a humble background, and as the saying goes, those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes, so he was naturally ruthless.

In peacetime, it would be difficult for him to shake these powerful people. But in this chaotic world, they were like the sharpest knife in his hand, and all the rules were meaningless under this knife.

As long as he has the strength and is good at strategy, he can use the knife of chaos to eliminate his enemies one by one.

Although there would be some cost, Yan Yi didn't care. He knew the trajectory of history and knew how terrifying these powerful people would be if they grew like weeds.

The history of the Eastern Wu is a history of the struggle between the Sun family and local nobles and powerful people.

Sun Quan once ruled Jiangdong and was ambitious. He tried to surpass Sun Ce and unify the world.

But as he entered middle age, his ambition to pacify the world faded, just like his aging body. So he settled for the next best thing and began employing cruel officials to strengthen the rule of law. He attempted to suppress the aristocracy and powerful families, strengthen imperial power, and leave a powerful Eastern Wu to the Sun family.

However, the powerful families who owned vast territories and populations had become too powerful for him to deal with using conventional means. And using force to eliminate them was simply impossible. If these powerful families united, they could sell him out to Cao Wei at any time.

In his later years, Sun Quan's fear of the powerful aristocrats had gradually turned into terror. Finding himself unable to break the impasse despite all his efforts, he had no choice but to resort to political struggle to maintain a balance between the various aristocratic families in order to maintain his rule, leaving a legacy of a foolish man in his later years.

The love-hate relationship between Sun Quan and the Jiangdong nobles and powerful people was a perfect mirror for Yan Yi. So from the very beginning of his business, he began to selectively suppress the powerful.

Although he knew that these powerful people were like weeds, they would grow back after being burned. It was not something that could be completely resolved in just one era or with a few systems, as there were so many aspects involved.

But for now, doing so will enhance his power, secure his interests, and maximize his power, and that is enough.

Our affairs after death will be taken care of by our descendants.

In the torrent of history, he is just a bigger ant. It is already quite good for him to be able to do well in the present and lay some foundation for future generations.

Eliminating the Zhao family and plundering their wealth is what best suits his interests at the moment.

The wealth controlled by Danfeng Manor alone is worth tens of millions of yuan.

The Zhao family has a total of four manors like this in Qiantang.

In addition, there are shops, workshops, houses, private warehouses, fields, mines, caravans, fleets, debt deeds, etc. all over Qiantang.

The saying that Heshen fell and Jiaqing was well fed is not an empty statement. The wealth in this world is always controlled by a very small number of people.

Although Zhao Shi couldn't be compared to Heshen, Yan Yi wasn't Jiaqing either. For him, just taking Zhao Shi was enough to satisfy him.

Next, it is time to transform these wealth and resources into violence and output them crazily.

Yan Yi was thinking about the follow-up plan while dealing with various matters on the scene.

These matters didn't require much of his attention; his subordinates handled most of the details, leaving him with only the final decision. "Young Master, we've found many missing civilians in the village. A rough estimate is six to seven hundred."

"Two graves were found in the maple forest west of the manor, containing approximately three hundred bodies."

"Zhao Wei is dead, but Zhao Heng is still alive. We also captured over 200 members of the Zhao clan."

"A tunnel was discovered inside the fort. It has collapsed due to years of disrepair. There are signs of excavation at the site, but it has not yet been opened."

News came to Yan Yi like snowflakes.

At this moment, he was standing at the west gate of the fort, watching the pedestrians passing through the gate, including the missing people.

The surroundings were very noisy, with cheers and crying mixed together.

The cheers mostly came from the people who found their loved ones, while the cries came from those who lost their loved ones.

He had also visited the Fenglin mass graves. The naked bodies piled up like abandoned livestock were a horrible sight. Some of the bodies were covered in whip marks, knife wounds, and burns, clearly having been subjected to inhuman torture.

Such a tragic situation directly led to Zhao Heng being overwhelmed by the angry people like a tide as soon as he walked out of the fort. Only occasionally could a part of Zhao Heng's body flash through the crowd, covered in blood, comparable to the torture of lingchi.

Soon after, some members of the Zhao clan followed Zhao Heng's footsteps.

The officials of Qiantang, both big and small, watched this scene with pale faces and trembled.

Many people have closed their eyes or lowered their heads.

Yan Yi swept his sharp gaze over the crowd and said coldly, "Everyone, open your eyes and watch. See what the power of the people means. Don't underestimate it!"

Yin Li came over at this time and presented a brief plan.

Yan Yi took the letter, looked at it for a few seconds, and then handed it back to Yin Li, saying coldly, "Read it!"

Yin Li unfolded the bamboo slips, and every time he read out a name, an official was dragged away by the soldiers.

"Young Master, spare my life!"

"I acknowledge my crime and beg for your forgiveness, young master."

Amidst the pleading, a quarter of the officials present soon disappeared.

Yan Yi looked at the remaining officials and said expressionlessly, "These are all Zhao's followers. Many of them are doing harm to the people. Don't panic, gentlemen."

In reality, he was showing mercy, only dealing with those with serious crimes. If he had investigated further, half of the officials present would have been eliminated.

Among the remaining officials, some looked pale, some avoided looking, and some looked excited.

Yan Yi then took another scroll from Yin Li and read out the names of more than twenty people.

This time, it was not a punishment, but a reward. Among them were those who had made contributions in the Qiantang Campaign, as well as those who had performed their duties diligently or had outstanding talents.

Quan Rou, witnessing all this, immediately abandoned the idea of ​​having the Quan family replace the Zhao family. He knew that from now on, Qiantang would have only one voice, and that was the voice of this young man, whose power was growing day by day.

(End of this chapter)