Chapter 1082: The Powerful and the Strong

It must be said that compared to true refugees, these local magnates from Jiangnan who were relocated north fared much better—their family property was largely preserved, food and clothing were guaranteed, and they had official escorts for protection against bandits. Even if they couldn't avoid paying money to buy peace, people like them were prime targets for plunder.

For them, from the moment they set foot on the road north, the future had become blurred—the road ahead uncertain, safety and danger alike unknowable. Under such circumstances, simply arriving safely at Binzhou was already a stroke of luck.

Of course, this journey of several thousand li was no smooth road either. There were no few twists and turns, accompanied by illness, death, and escape...

This batch of relocated households totaled one hundred fifty-six families, almost all moved with their entire households—the old and young carried along, with no small number of servants and slaves following. The column stretched nearly two li from front to back, with a considerable number of carts and horses occupying nearly the entire road. Such a column was not easy to manage, but the constables had blades, whips, and clubs to make up for it.

In fact, having traveled such a long road and still being able to maintain carts and borrow draft animals showed that these families were indeed well-off. At the rear of the column, one brown-painted carriage slowly followed the main procession, its axle emitting a harsh screeching sound that showed how difficult the going was. The driver's face and hands were red with cold as he gripped the reins tightly, steam puffing from his breath with every exhale. The gaps in the carriage were stuffed tightly shut, yet still could not be made completely airtight.

The space inside the carriage was cramped, yet it was packed with four people—a family of two adults and two children—huddled together among the bedding, their mental state terrible, their bodies suffering greatly. Accustomed to the comfortable environment and climate of Jiangnan, the dry cold and bitter chill of the northwest was not something they could easily get used to, especially enduring wind and dew out in the open like this.

"Mother, I'm cold!" The pretty little girl looked at her mother with innocent eyes, saying this with a aggrieved tone.

Her face was flushed red, both from the cold and from the stuffiness. The woman had the gentle softness of a water-town lady. Without saying much, she undid her own lapels, drew her daughter into her embrace, pressing her close against her belly, then held her beloved child. At times like this, only family could huddle together for warmth.

On the other side sat a middle-aged man and a young lad—a father and son. The middle-aged man appeared to have some cultivation and refinement, yet looking at his wife and daughter, his face bore an expression of reluctance, and what his eyes revealed was helplessness and melancholy.

Many problems and troubles could not be solved with money—this was something he had come to realize even before the order to relocate north. The young lad beside him leaned against the carriage wall, his body swaying with every jolt of the vehicle, his eyes vacant and unfocused, though in occasional moments of clarity, a flash of resentment and ferocity would show through.

"Father, how much longer until we arrive?" Finally, the young lad spoke, his voice sounding somewhat muffled.

The middle-aged man was silent for a moment, then comforted him: "If what the official said is true, soon!"

The young lad said no more and closed his eyes again. This father and son were surnamed Yuan—the father Yuan Zhen, the son Yuan Ke. Along this journey, as they moved ever farther from home, suffering hardship and scattering their wealth, Yuan Ke had continuously pressed his father with questions.

Why must we sell off the family property and part from relatives and friends?

Why would the court do such a thing?

Why not relocate the poor and the peasants?

Why can some people avoid being relocated?

Is having money and land a crime?

Will those who swallow up our family property get their retribution?

Why must we go all the way to the northwest?

By the time they reached Guanzhong, the young lad had rarely asked those questions anymore. It wasn't that his father had given him clear and correct answers, but rather that the young lad had gradually matured—he knew reality could not be changed, knew he had to adapt to his environment.

Only when his consciousness drifted did he still find himself recalling the lively manor in Jiangnan, the comfortable residence, the good friends among the neighbors, the throngs of servants and tenant farmers, and the beautiful maidservant he had been so fond of who attended to his daily needs...

Yet these now could only appear in memories, be fantasized about in dreams. The moment he came back to himself, he was still on this arduous journey, surrounded by bitter cold and desolation. And every time he thought of this, the young lad Yuan Ke's heart would inevitably be seized by hatred—only, he did not know how to vent it.

Along the way, he had thought of escaping, of sneaking back to his hometown, but he had been sternly warned by his father Yuan Zhen. At first, the young lad did not understand the difficulties and consequences of fleeing, just as with his long string of questions that his father could not explain clearly. It was only later, after seeing the fate of those "practitioners," that he promptly settled down.

That's right—it wasn't just the young lad Yuan Ke who had thought of escaping; others had actually taken action. The result was that they were quickly discovered, pursued, and locked back in chains. For southerners, the farther they got from Jiangnan, the more unfamiliar the north became, and escaping was anything but simple. Even avoiding towns and cities, traveling only through villages and wilds, they could not easily conceal their tracks. Or they could flee deep into the mountains, but that would be nearly living as savages—a fate likely worse than being relocated to the northwest.

And those who were caught were not simply educated and scolded and done with it. Because they had delayed the journey and wasted time, the County Defender in charge was furious and ordered them flogged. They were all from the same place, yet there was no mercy—the whips struck without restraint, producing screams of agony, flesh and blood turning to pulp, and still they did not stop...

In the end, several of the escapees, continuing on the journey without medicine or proper care, worn out by exhaustion, died one after another. From that time on, many came to realize that although they were the court's relocated households and these accompanying officials were called "escorts" who guided and protected them, in the eyes of these functionaries, they were merely a bunch of wealthy prisoners. If they ruined their assignment or affected their mission, there would be no mercy whatsoever. Moreover, harboring a mentality of envy toward the rich, the officials caused no small amount of trouble—extortion and blackmail had happened frequently along the way.

This batch of people was almost entirely from Jurong County. Yuan Zhen and his son could be considered born and raised in Jiangnan, but strictly speaking, the Yuan family could not be counted as southerners. Their ancestral home was in Caizhou. Yuan Zhen's grandfather had moved the entire family south during the late Tang to avoid the chaos of war. His father had once joined the army and even risen to the rank of junior officer, but had been severely wounded in a war against Wuyue and thus retired to recuperate—though over the years he had accumulated no small amount of family property.

By the time it passed to Yuan Zhen's hands, the Yuan family had already integrated into Jurong and firmly established themselves there, owning over forty qing of farmland. They could not compare with the truly wealthy, but they were of some renown—how could they avoid being targeted?

Influenced by his environment, Yuan Zhen was also a cultured man—well-read in the classics, practiced in the scriptures, and possessed of some insight. Seeing the signs of the Jinling court's collapse, he did not pursue the examinations or official office, but simply managed his own land and property, quietly playing the role of a "country squire."

Moreover, although the family owned two to three thousand mu of fields, unlike those tyrants who ran rampant through the countryside, they rarely made a show of it. Their family discipline was strict, and they performed many charitable deeds, earning them considerable reputation in Jurong.

Yet Yuan Zhen, who prided himself on being law-abiding, could hardly be called "innocent" under the court's great policies. In the face of overwhelming power, so-called wealth and reputation became empty illusions—nothing against a single official document or decree from the government.

When Han Xizai took office and began handling the relocation of the magnates, many people panicked, running about and making connections, trying to evade or even resist. Like everyone else's reaction, they first did not believe it, then waited to see how things developed, then as the situation grew increasingly tense, they began to panic, and then started seeking exemption from relocation—after all, the court could not possibly relocate every powerful landlord in Jiangnan.

Yuan Zhen also made considerable efforts—pulling strings, calling in favors—but with poor results. Many of the people he had placed his hopes on could barely save themselves. Sure enough, the Yuan family also received the relocation order, given one month to prepare.

When pushed to the wall, people always resist. Yuan Zhen, though a scholar, had also entertained such thoughts. However, as news came in from all sides, he promptly backed down. Some powerful clans with a hard-line stance, in order to resist the relocation order, simply ignored it entirely, even rallying their clansmen, villagers, and tenant farmers to fortify their manors and resist. This was probably the stupidest approach—over a dozen major clans that did this had their property confiscated and were exiled, becoming examples for others.

Later, the powerful families of Jiangnan discovered that the court determined who was to be relocated based on how much land they held, so some people had the idea of dividing their land among clansmen and tenant farmers to dilute their own holdings.

It did work. Yuan Zhen followed suit as well, but not long after, an official order came requiring the people to register at the government office according to their current land holdings, which would henceforth serve as the basis for collecting the two taxes. Thus the government's intention was clear at a glance—they wanted to divide up their land. While they were angry, they also breathed a sigh of relief. In many people's view, if having less land meant avoiding relocation, that was worth it. As long as the foundation remained, there was hope for the future—the days ahead were still long.

However, the reality was that the court's policy of relocating the magnates, under Han Xizai's direction, continued apace. Yuan Zhen later received a very stern relocation order from Jurong County. It was only then that he slowly began to realize that the court perhaps was not simply concerned with the land issue.

Having paid no small price, all his efforts came to nothing. When he learned that relocation was unavoidable, Yuan Zhen had no choice but to settle for the next best option—hoping to be relocated to Hunan. The result was obvious as well: everyone wanted to go to Hunan, and in the end it came down to who got there first and who had connections.

And the Yuan family was one that had neither seized the initiative nor had strong enough connections. In the end, they could only join these hundred-plus powerful landlord families from Jurong and Lishui on the road north.