Wei and Jin cooks

Lu Yuan said confidently: "I will convince him to stand on our side. He has always been tolerant and will definitely understand us. Moreover, Wang Dun conspired to rebel. At this time, the Wang family is in a precarious situation. He also urgently needs to make meritorious deeds. The Wang family and our Jiangnan clan The relationship is good and we can be tied together."

Gu Rong shook his head and said: "The Wang family's children are crossing the river one after another, either going to Luoyang to study or returning to Langya. Less than one-fifth of them are left in the south of the Yangtze River. How could he choose you for such a small number of people?"

Lu Yuan wanted to say something more, but Gu Rong interrupted him and said, "And Xuan Pei won't agree."

Xuan Pei is Zhou Qi's name. Now the Zhou family is a veritable leader in Jiangnan. If he doesn't agree, Lu Yuan will not be able to do this.

Lu Yuan became angry when he heard Zhou Qi's name, "He is now prominent with Zhao Hanzhang and has made a future for the Zhou family's children. Naturally, he doesn't care whether we live or die."

He Xun was on good terms with Zhou Qi. When he heard this, he immediately stood up, threw up his sleeves and walked away. Gu Rong couldn't hold him back.

Seeing that He Xun left without saying a word, Lu Yuan was annoyed and turned to blame Jiang Feng for inviting He Xun here, "He was a little stubborn when he was young, but now he is an old stubborn. Why did you invite him?"

Jiang Feng said helplessly: "Besides Zhou Qi, they are the smartest people in Jiangnan. Xue Jian is an official in Danyang and cannot invite Ji Zhan and Min Hong. Who else can I invite besides them?"

The people on the side quickly comforted them, "Mr. Jiang is right. This matter is important and several people should be invited to discuss it. We don't know Zhao Hanzhang's temperament. If she doesn't have this intention, wouldn't it be self-defeating if we try to make it auspicious? Then..."

Lu Yuan sneered, "She has great power now. Even if she didn't have it before, she has it now. What's more, there is an arrow on the string, but she can't just say not to fire it."

"If she doesn't go further, can the Zhao family agree? Can her advisers be willing to hand over the credit to others?"

Only if Zhao Hanzhang takes a step further can their achievements be confirmed and be passed down to their descendants.

When she entered Luoyang, she was only granted an official position, but with the achievements of Ji Yuan, Bei Gongchun and others, who could not be granted the title of marquis?

It's just because they all serve Zhao Hanzhang and are not emperors. Only if she goes one step further, it is more logical for them to become marquises and extend their influence to their descendants.

Lu Yuan's heart was surging with excitement, and his heart was as excited as boiling water. This was his chance! Zhao Hanzhang did not discriminate against the Jiangnan nobles like the kings and ministers of the Jin Dynasty. If he could make a contribution in this matter, how could he find a way for himself and the Lu family?

Because of Lu Jing's execution, the Lu family's reputation in Jiangnan was greatly affected. The most direct impact was that before he sold the land to the government, a large number of tenants had left, and some slaves had even redeemed themselves.

Oh, Zhao Hanzhang issued a new decree and arrived in the south of the Yangtze River almost at the same time as them. When slaves in the world redeem themselves, their owners are not allowed to stop them, and the ransom cannot exceed three times the amount when the slaves sold themselves.

Moreover, after the slave is redeemed, he can freely choose whether to return home or establish a new household registration. No matter which way, except for himself, his parents, brothers, sisters and husband's family have no right to resell him.

Needless to say, in Jiangbei, every time a government decree is issued, the county government and schools will publicize it everywhere to make the decree accessible, even if you want people to hide the news;

In Jiangnan, Director Wang implemented this decree very thoroughly. He not only ordered all counties and counties to publicize it, but also met with them in person and asked them to notify their households.

Regardless of whether Director Wang is the governor of Yangzhou, in Jiangnan, you still have to look at the powerful families of Jiangnan, because most of the officials in the county and government offices are from them.

After all, they are a wealthy family. Aren't the so-called rural and local politicians selecting influential people in the local area?

China has a clan system. How many people dare to disobey the head of the family? Even if there are just a few of them, can they completely ignore the order of the family leader?

Therefore, whether the imperial decrees are effective or not depends on the local wealthy families. This is one of the reasons why Lu Yuan and others have always been very proud.

As long as they disagree, Zhao Hanzhang's governance in Jiangnan will still be superficial. After all, the only place she can control currently is the county magistrate.

However, Zhao Hanzhang always acted out of common sense. This was what Lu Yuan and others hated about her the most, and also admired her the most.

Not long after the decree arrived in Jiangnan, Wang Dun committed suicide. The Battle of Pingnan was over, and only the finishing work was left. Perhaps seeing that Director Wang's implementation was frustrated, she simply ordered Yuan Li and Zu Ti to help a group of Director Wang.

Zu Ti obeyed the order and sent soldiers to carry gongs and beat them everywhere to publicize the decree.

These soldiers had just experienced a great war, and they had nowhere to vent their bloody evil and depression. When they banged the gong, they found that the sullenness in their hearts was also coming out. The main reason was that these common people in Jiangnan were also very interesting and looked good. She is petite than those from the north, speaks softly and softly in some places, and acts like a spoiled brat when quarreling;

And in some places, talking is like rolling stones, talking fast and hard, acting coquettishly like a quarrel, it's so fun.

The folk customs here are also different from those in the North. When they entertain guests and celebrate festivals, they eat a delicious rice cake, which is snow-white, with a red date or other dried fruit pulp in the middle, and is steamed. When it's steaming hot, the rice smells fragrant. When you take a bite, it's soft, glutinous and sweet, and you want to swallow it with your tongue.

They have never eaten such delicate food. When they swallow it, it is like their mother stroking their hair when they were young, and their hearts and stomachs feel extremely warm.

The soldiers, who had just experienced the death of their comrades in battle, burst into tears with blood-stained eyes, holding rice cakes in their hands and started crying.

The southerners were just afraid that these soldiers would snatch their property, so they spent a lot of white rice to make rice cakes to entertain them. The fear in their hearts disappeared, and instead they felt pity.

All the wives in the village were restrained in the kitchen, while the young men and women stood far away. It was the old men and women who came to bring them food. This was their wisdom passed down orally after hundreds of years of war.

One soldier started to cry, and the other soldiers also cried silently. Everyone lowered their heads and ate silently.

An old woman sighed, raised her hand and touched a soldier's head, looked at his young face and said, "You look younger than my grandson. How old are you?"

Xiaobing grinned and said, "I'm fifteen and have been in the army for six years."

The old woman opened her mouth wide, "You have been a soldier since you were nine years old?"

Xiaobing nodded proudly.

The soldier who was slightly older than him on the side said to him: "Don't listen to him. He is not a soldier at the age of nine. He is clearly a military slave."

Then he told the old woman the legendary experience of this boy, "When he was nine years old, he fled with his family and got separated. Then he was captured by the people of the King of East China Sea and wanted to sell him for military pay. As a result, he went to war before he could be sold, and he was left behind. He worked as a military slave in the army. Within two years, the King of Donghai died and the army collapsed. Fortunately, he followed the remaining soldiers and followed the general."

"He is under fourteen years old, so he is supposed to be discharged, but he refuses to leave. He insists on staying in the army. No, he has remained there until now."

The soldier was very proud, "I have six years of military service."

"He turned out to be just a soldier, hahahaha..."

Xiaobing said angrily, "That's because I was in the logistics before, but now I'm on the front line. This time I beheaded two levels. This time I can get promoted when I go back."

The old woman looked at them with a smile and asked warmly: "Is the general good to people?"

"Okay!" said the soldier, "I have never seen a general who treats his soldiers better than the general."

"It's not only good for us, but also good for the people." Thinking of something, Xiao Bing took out half a bunch of money from his wallet and said sheepishly: "This is our food money today. I didn't expect you to do such a good job." I wonder if this money is enough for the rice cakes we eat?”

The villagers did not expect that they would still give money and quickly declined, but the soldiers insisted on giving, "This is an ironclad order of the army. The general will fine us if he knows that we are taking the people's money without giving them money."

He said: "The general said that no one's money comes from the strong wind, and the people's life is also difficult. Today we are passing by and we want you to treat us to a meal. Tomorrow the army will pass by and we want you to treat us to a meal. How many days will pass in a year?" The army can eat up the people's wealth. Who in the whole army is not from the people?"

"So military discipline must be strict. If we abide by the discipline, others will abide by it. In the future, when other armies pass by our hometown, they will do the same to our parents and relatives. This is called the old and the young, and the young and the young." He smiled sheepishly and said, "Although my parents and family are no longer in my hometown, I think they are the same elsewhere. I am very disciplined, and so are my colleagues in the army. They will not be disturbed by the army in other places. "

These words made the old woman burst into tears. She hugged Xiao Bing and kept praising: "Good boy, good boy..."

Then he went back to the village with the old men and brought more vegetables for them to eat.

How could the soldiers dare to eat such a sumptuous meal? They declined, and then hurriedly ran away. Before running away, they turned back and shouted at them, "If there is a slave in the family, you can raise money to ransom the person. The ransom must not exceed three times the price when you sold yourself. If you remember it, tell your neighbors and spread the word..."

Without their special instructions, they spread the word orally to the neighbors and encouraged them to redeem the people quickly while Zhao Jiajun was still in Jiangnan.

"They must be afraid of the army. They don't dare to say anything at this time. If they miss this village, they won't have this shop."

"If you are short of money, borrow some from relatives. Back then, you sold your children to survive the difficulties. Now that your family is richer and you have the opportunity, you have to redeem the people. You can't really let them live as slaves and maids for the rest of their lives, right? "

This was propaganda to the slaves' families, and Yuan Li took people directly to some people's homes as guests, asking them to gather the slaves and tenants from the middle and lower classes for publicity in person.

If Zu Ti had done this, several major families could blast Zu Ti out in person, but they did not dare to face Yuan Li.

Yuan Li's body still bore traces of his torture, and he looked gloomy when he stared at people. Coupled with his legendary terrifying methods, Lu Yuan and others were not brave enough to face him.

Sure enough, a gentleman is easy to offend, but a villain is more tolerant.

Yuan Li propagated Zhao Hanzhang's decree among the wealthy families in such an open and honest manner, which was much more effective than Director Wang acting as the head of each family and the principal.

Many thoughtful slaves began to think of ways to redeem themselves, or sent letters to their families, begging them to redeem themselves.

Among them, the Lu family had the largest scale of redemption.

Most of the slaves in other families are still waiting and watching. Although their life as slaves and maids is difficult, the life of good people is also very ordinary. They are comparing it.

If there is no land to cultivate and no way to survive after being well-educated, it is better to stay in the big house and be a slave.

Only the Lu family, because Lu Jing was executed, everyone knew that Lu Jing was evil, and as a result, everyone had a very bad impression of the Lu family.

Those who had children or brothers and sisters working as slaves in the Lu family would have to go back and redeem them by collecting money. The slaves of the Lu family were also afraid, always feeling that their masters would harm them next, so they all tried to find ways to redeem themselves.

This is true for slaves, let alone tenant farmers.

A large number of slaves and tenant farmers were leaving. Lu Yuan could not stop them forcefully. He could only use vague threats and inducements, but the effect was not very good.

Several big families were laughing at the Lu family for some reason behind their backs. Lu Yuan felt angry and hateful every time he thought about it. He didn't dare to hate Zhao Hanzhang, so he could only be angry with himself and hate Lu Jing.

Finally, he gave all his anger and hatred to Yuan Li.

Yes, he was very good at self-healing and quickly found an excuse for himself. Lu Jing was dead. Even if he hated him, he was his relative after all. After a second thought, he found an excuse for him.

If you and your loved ones are both right, it can only be the fault of outsiders.

Zhao Hanzhang was too powerful, so it couldn't be her fault, it would be Zu Ti and Yuan Li's fault.

Not to mention Zu Ti, the most hateful person is Yuan Li.

But he is not yet capable of dealing with Yuan Li. He is still nothing to Zhao Hanzhang, but this situation will change soon.

Lu Yuan was ambitious and was bound to create an auspicious event that would amaze the world and make Zhao Hanzhang happy.

Zhao Hanzhang didn't know what he was thinking, so he had ordered the army to leave Jiangnan in batches and left garrison troops in various counties in Jiangnan.

Jingzhou was not yet stable at this time, and Wang Siniang could not leave for the time being, so Wang Xuan led people to escort Wang Dun's coffin and his personal entourage back to Beijing;

Zhao Shen took the Zhao Jiajun from Luoyang to escort the captured treasure back to Beijing, while Zhao Ju went directly back to Yanzhou. Zu Ti also sent Zuo Min to lead the army back to Jizhou, and he took Zhao Shi to Luoyang.

Yuan Li disappeared a long time ago. He did not obey Zu Ti's orders, so Zu Ti did not know his whereabouts. He did not know whether he would continue to stay in Jiangnan to work in the ANBU, or whether he would go back to Luoyang.

Anyway, the army slowly retreated, and peace returned to Jiangnan. The New Year is coming, and the streets are slowly becoming lively.

Luoyang is more prosperous than in previous years, and it is the busiest Chinese New Year in several years.

Zu Ti was stunned for a moment when he rode to the outskirts of Beijing. This was different from the Luoyang he left last time. Several houses were built near the outskirts of Beijing, one of which was a post station specially designed to entertain officials from other places. Earn money from business trips.

Zu Ti was a foreign official. Even if he returned from victory, he would not dare to bring a large army to Luoyang, so he only brought a hundred soldiers. Zhao Shen arrived only one day earlier than him and had people send the treasure to Beijing in advance, while he stayed behind. Wait here for orders to enter Beijing;

And, wait for Zu Ti to be together.

"The general said he would meet us at the city gate in person."

Zu Ti's eyes lit up when he heard this. This was a great honor.

See you tomorrow