Chapter 31: Forming Teams

  The sun shines brightly, and last night Liu Zhang only slept for two hours. The head of the Zhang family was also busy all night, discussing with several heads of large families in Jiangzhou, preparing to complete the task today and thoroughly dispel Liu Zhang's idea of taking the imperial examination. The head of the Zhang family seemed to see the scene where the Zhang family's prestige would be at its peak after the success.

  Early in the morning, hundreds of people gathered and marched towards the county government office, surrounding the entrance. People from all walks of life, including scholars, farmers, and gentry, came out to watch, almost covering the entire spectrum of society. They shouted slogans opposing the four categories of imperial examination. The Zhang family and other clan leaders watched from one side, but what surprised them was that the county government office remained tightly closed, with no sign of opening even after three poles of sunlight had passed.

  Each of the tribal leaders thought it was Liu Zhang being afraid of public opinion and became even more arrogant.

  In the government office, Liu Zhang sat in the main seat with a cold face, and Zhang Ren stood beside him with his sword. The weather was gloomy on this May day, and the atmosphere inside the hall was tense. All officials of Jiangzhou Prefecture had arrived, and Liu Zhang said in a cold voice: "Today, I have only one order for you all. Those who support the four categories of imperial examination stand on the left side, and those who oppose it stand on the right side."

  The officials looked at me, I looked at them, Zhang and others who claimed to be from the first big family in Jiangzhou took the lead and walked to the right side, other officials also followed suit, but found that not a single official had followed up, and couldn't help but glare at these people fiercely.

  In normal times, these subordinate officials would immediately follow the main official with a single glance. However, they were summoned by Wang Can last night, and it was clear from his words that Liu Zhang intended to take action against the county officials. Today, Liu Zhang's expression was unfavourable, and between being oppressed by their superiors and being sent to their deaths, these subordinates chose the former, hesitantly walking towards the left, drawing a piercing gaze of intimidation from the officials on the right.

  "Are you all right? Has nothing changed?" Liu Zhang walked down the steps and said in a cold voice.

  Just then, Deng Yuan suddenly took a step forward and quickly ran to the left side, causing other officials to be shocked and angry. Deng Yuan did not dare to raise his head, he just remembered what Deng Heng said last night, at that time he didn't believe it, but now seeing Liu Zhang's eyes, he believed it.

  "Are you all right? Has nothing changed?" Liu Zhang repeated.

  Deng Yuan's escape made the officials on the left nervous, and they all vaguely felt that something bad had happened. However, the strong backing of their family made them stand firm in their original position.

  After half a minute, Liu Zhang nodded and signaled to Zhang Ren. Zhang Ren immediately waved his hand and shouted: "Take down all the people on the right side."

  "Yes." A group of Dongzhou tiger wolf soldiers immediately rushed out, pinning all the officials on the right to the ground. Zhang He loudly roared: "My lord, what crime have we committed?"

  "I have no time to bother with you." Liu Zhang swung his sleeve and stepped out the door, saying to Yang Huai at the gate: "Open the door and welcome our guests."

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  "It seems that Liu Zhang is too timid to come out, let's go back and have a cup of tea, it's too hot standing here." said the head of the Yuan family with a smile.

  Zhang's family head nodded, and the old bones couldn't bear to be exposed to the sun for long, so they were about to leave. At this time, only Deng Heng led his clansmen from afar, shouting slogans in support of the four branches holding office. Except for Deng Heng, all other members of the Deng family followed him numbly and shouted along.

  Several clan leaders saw the Deng family arrive, shouting such slogans, and were shocked and angry. The Zhang family leader couldn't help but step forward to question Deng Heng, but Deng Heng ignored him, making Old Man Zhang blow his beard and glare with anger.

  Only Deng Heng knew how much determination he had made and what means he had used to make the Deng family surrender.

  Last night, he returned home and immediately gathered all the servants, issuing weapons to everyone. Then, under the cover of night, he sent someone to spread the word and convene an emergency family meeting. After all the family elders had arrived, Deng Heng used force to coerce these clan members into supporting the four branches of officialdom. Those who opposed him with evil intentions were all locked up.

  Deng Heng recalled that at nearly sixty years old, this was still his first time having such courage.

  The heavy gate of the county government office creaked open, and the noise from outside immediately entered the government office. The people who had been besieging the place saw that the gate was open and there were no guards, so they rushed in. However, at this moment, countless soldiers poured out from both sides, holding long spears and surrounding several hundred people.

  The elder of the outer family, who was watching from outside, saw this scene and also saw Zhang He and others being taken away by soldiers. They were all shocked and lost their color. Several elders had not reacted yet, and then another group of soldiers came out and took down several old elders.

  At this time, Deng Heng finally let out a sigh of relief and patted his chest, saying to himself that it seemed he had not stood on the wrong team.

  "Go outside the city."

  Liu Zhang gave a low order, mounted his war horse, and was surrounded by heavy troops. Behind him, hundreds of people were being escorted by soldiers in the middle, while several old men from the Zhang family were roughly pushed and shoved by the Dongzhou soldiers. The civilians near the county government building opened their windows and doors to watch, seeing that almost all the officials from Jiangzhou had been arrested, with looks of utter disbelief on their faces. Some civilians followed the procession involuntarily.

  On their way, they saw soldiers swarming everywhere, with a murderous look on their faces. Many rich people were dragged out of their mansions by the military officers, along with their families.

  The head of the Yuan family saw this scene, his heart was racing, and he trembled as he asked Zhang's family head: "Old Master Zhang, what, what is going on here? What is Liu Zhang trying to do?"

  The Zhang family head was also shocked in his heart, vaguely feeling that Liu Zhang had a big move, but he didn't believe that Liu Zhang dared to take action against all the aristocratic families in Jiangzhou, at most it was just an empty threat. He said in a low voice to the Yuan family head: "Don't worry, Liu Zhang is all bark and no bite, now he's putting on this show just to force us to surrender with military power, we can't fall for it. I've lived for 70 years, and Liu Zhang is still too young to play this kind of trick on me."

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  The waters of the Tuo River flow into the Yangtze, and Jiangzhou stands tall at the confluence of the two rivers. Since the Western Han Dynasty, Jiangzhou has used the waters of the two rivers as a moat to protect the largest city in southern Shu.

  East of Jiangzhou, outside the city moat, was a vast expanse of wilderness. When Liu Zhang entered the city of Jiangzhou, he set up his military camp here. At this time, outside the large camp, thousands of Eastern State soldiers stood with their spears at attention, surrounding a large square area. Two hundred knife-wielding men stood in the center, holding broad-backed swords.

  In the city, members of the aristocratic families were being led out of the city gate one after another, and were pressed to the ground by the arrogant soldiers from Eastern China. The passing woodcutters and fishermen couldn't help but stop and watch until Liu Zhang led several thousand soldiers out of the city. The area around the military camp was already packed with people, and these Jiangzhou civilians had no idea what was happening, and were discussing it among themselves.

  Several clan leaders, more than 20 officials, and hundreds of troublemakers and other tribal sons were detained in one place, with over two thousand people. Liu Zhang walked towards the high platform under the guard of his generals, holding a sword. Zhang Ren and Yan Yan stood on either side, while Deng Heng and Fei Zhao stood at the first step, both involuntarily clenched their fists, still unable to believe that Liu Zhang dared to take action against so many clans.

  "Calling for recommendations, don't friends have any opinions at all?"