Chapter 28: Quiet Night Garden

  "How is Ye Wu's iron deficiency anemia?" Liu Zhang asked.

  The little official replied: "External injuries have basically healed. To say that the barbarian Agu Da really has two brushes..."

  Xiao Li's words opened again, and Liu Zhang quietly gazed at the stars thinking that if Zhang Zhongjing could cure Ye Wu Tie's injury, Xiao Fu Rong that wild girl should be in a good mood, if something unfortunate happens, Xiao Fu Rong can't help but leave a shadow, she's only seventeen after all.

  At this time, Zhang Ren came from afar and said to Liu Zhang: "Report to the lord, the notices we posted have been torn down overnight, and the soldiers who preached the four sciences have also been surrounded. Moreover, there are anti-four science couplets on the streets everywhere. On the first day of registration, there were more than a dozen people, but on the second day, they all came to ask for withdrawal. According to our investigation, they were all forced by the aristocratic families."

  Liu Zhang lay on the rattan mat with a faint smile: "This was within my expectations, the power of the aristocratic families is too great, those common people would rather offend their local officials than these local snakes, with the aristocratic families obstructing, no policy can be implemented."

  "What should we do?"

  "Keep an eye on them and investigate which clans are instigating opposition. Report back to me in three days."

  "Yes." Zhang Ren bowed and left. He had to supervise the promotion of the four sciences, as well as investigate the property of officials and the illegal activities of the aristocracy, which had exhausted him in recent days.

  After Zhang Ren left, Fa Zheng said to Liu Zhang: "My lord, you won't really implement the four categories of official selection, will you?"

  "Otherwise, why would I have gone to so much trouble?" Liu Zhang said casually.

  "This is absolutely unacceptable." Fa Zheng immediately stood up from the flower stand, indignantly saying: "Your Excellency, please listen to my advice once, the four categories of officials are the foundation of the aristocratic families, they will never compromise, Your Excellency's actions are tantamount to cutting off your own family's future!"

  Liu Zhang smiled faintly: "One sheep is also a rush, two sheep are also a roar. By the time I've dragged my family and killed hundreds of people, I'll have already cut myself off from the world. What's one more?"

  "What?" Fa Zheng stumbled backward a step: "Your Excellency, you want to exterminate the great families of southern Shu."

  The two words "exterminate the clan" were spoken, and Fa Zheng himself couldn't believe it. His eyes stared tightly at Liu Zhang, afraid that he would give a definite answer. The garrulous minor official beside him was so frightened that he collapsed onto the mat, having killed hundreds of people, this person in front of him could say it so calmly, all his previous arrogance was gone, replaced by cold sweat trickling down his spine.

  Liu Zhang felt the little official's body trembling, so he ordered him to leave. The little official hurriedly ran away. Liu Zhang sighed and looked up at the starry sky, saying slowly: "Xiao Zhi, you also saw the results of the investigation over the past few days. The so-called 3,000 taels of silver in the treasury actually have 400,000 taels. All these were hidden by Zhao Wei's annual tax evasion. What are they hiding for?

  In Jiangzhou, there are 100,000 households, and yet they collect 10,000 guan of money in just one year. Spread out among the people, each person pays less than 20 wen, truly a light burden on the people. This official knows that Jiangzhou's agriculture is its mainstay, and its finances rely on allocations from the imperial court, but surely it can't be this bad.

  The so-called countless meritorious officials who resisted the barbarians were all promoted by Zhao Wei, and they were all sons of aristocratic families who had never fought a battle. Instead, they provided countless wealth to Zhao Wei, and now they are going to be promoted as officials.

  The five officials were worried about the worship, and he didn't lie. Jiangzhou had a custom of worshipping the river god, but in recent years, the official worship had been almost completely abandoned, and the altar was not taken care of. The funds allocated by Jiangzhou for worship were even more than the total amount offered by all officials. Where did this money go? Was it really taken away by the gods?

  Jiangzhou is neither a border town nor a battleground, yet it maintains an army of 5,000 soldiers. The military officer in charge even plans to expand the military, which makes me think that he has ulterior motives. However, among the 5,000 soldiers, 3,000 are receiving empty salaries, and more than 1,000 are old, weak, sick or disabled. If the barbarians were to really invade, I reckon these officials would only be able to flee with their tails between their legs.

  "It's not that I want to kill people, killing is not fun, but they forced me. The aristocratic families are bullying and monopolizing the market, annexing the land of poor farmers, buying and selling officials, their tentacles have reached all corners of society. If we don't eradicate them completely, the entire Jiangzhou, even the entire Yizhou will be corrupted by them. Isn't Zhang Ren saying that one should punish the evil to warn others? Then let's start with the aristocratic families of Jiangzhou."

  Fa Zheng remained silent, but in his heart, Liu Zhang's words were reasonable. However, being reasonable did not necessarily mean they were correct. The harm caused by the aristocratic families was obvious to all who had insight, but who would be foolish enough to offend them? That would undoubtedly be digging one's own grave.

  The Battle of Fucheng and the Battle of Wuxi, Fa Zheng saw Liu Zhang's momentum, but now Fa Zheng feels that this momentum seems to have gone too far, completely going against the trend of this era.

  Liu Zhang saw Fa Zheng not speaking, smiled and said: "Xiao Zhī, are you very disappointed in me? Yes, Yi Zhou is still a place with relatively few aristocratic families. Jingzhou, Jiangdong, have more aristocratic families, the Central Plains and northern regions also have powerful clans intertwined. Nowadays, everywhere there are separatist forces that do not obey the Son of Heaven. Those aristocratic sons are scattered in various places to serve their lords, to preserve their ancestral temples from extinction."

  "If we do this, not only will the young nobles of Jiangzhou not come to surrender to Yizhou, but those who hold power, wealth and human resources in Jiangzhou will also desperately resist. In that case, if I really take action against the nobles of Jiangzhou, the prospects for Yizhou will be bleak. Xiaozhi, you are a man with great ambition and talent. If you have lost hope in your current position, then leave."

  Fa Zheng looked up at Liu Zhang, who slowly said: "Don't be suspicious, I'm not testing you, I'm speaking from the heart. A counselor who doesn't trust me is useless to keep around. Your loyalty since we left Fu City has been clear to me. Even if you become my enemy in the future, I won't regret sparing your life today."

  Fa Zheng smiled wryly and sat down in the same position as the little official earlier, looking at the distant black curtain: "The lord is too good at acting, talking and laughing to kill people, with a light cloud and a gentle breeze. Many times Fa Zheng can't even figure out what the lord is thinking, but this time I believe the lord's words are sincere. However, as soon as the word 'lord' came out of Fucheng's mouth, Fa Zheng never thought of taking it back."

  "Only Fa Zheng did not expect the monarch's mind to be so resolute, nor did he understand why the monarch would be so angry with the actions of the aristocratic families. In fact, the behavior of all the aristocratic families in the great Han dynasty is about the same. As long as we replace these old ministers and strictly enforce the law... never mind, it's no use saying any more, Your Majesty will certainly not listen."

  Fa Zheng lowered his head and after a while said: "Does Milord remember the story of Wang Mang?"

  Liu Zhang said: "Go ahead and speak, I'll pretend I don't know."

  Liu Zhang understood that Fa Zheng was going to make a veiled remonstrance. Wang Mang was a notorious usurper and traitor who, before he seized the Han throne, had been humble and courteous, distributing alms to the people everywhere, but after seizing power, had brought the people to the brink of disaster. Liu Zhang did not know what Fa Zheng wanted to say about this character, so he just looked up at the vast starry sky and listened quietly.

  Can I get a push?