Chapter 95

Wang Family sent troops to Suzhou, and bloodlessly 'persuaded' the Gu family.

This news, like a major disaster plague, spread throughout the South of the River in just a few days.

All the great clans that had received the Wang Family's documents but were still watching and mocking were completely dumbfounded.

None of them expected that the Wang Family would actually dare to take action!

Moreover, as soon as they acted, they did so with the force of thunder!

That legendary Wang Family guard army, said to be superbly equipped and mighty as a rainbow, actually existed.

And in the descriptions of the merchants who had fled Suzhou, these guards of the Wang Family were spoken of as almost divine, just shy of heavenly soldiers and generals!

"Three thousand iron armors, blocking the sky and covering the sun!"

"That horse is taller than my family's ox!"

"Their crossbow, it's said, can pierce three layers of ox-hide armor!"

"The Gu family didn't even dare to fart; the family head directly knelt at the gate and surrendered!"

Panic spread quickly among the great clans of the South of the River.

They finally realized that the Wang Family now was no longer the low-key, modest, and seemingly pliable Wang Family of before.

This is practically a ferocious tiger that has already bared its fangs!

Moreover, this tiger holds in its hand the imperial sword bestowed by the Court, the "Imperial Mandate to Punish" precious blade!

You resist?

That is openly defying the Court, tantamount to treason!

You don't resist?

Then you must obediently hand over half of your family's grain and silver!

Just who among those foolish officials of the Court came up with this scheme.

What the Wang Family is doing now is practically an open ploy!

It is naked robbery, cloaked in the guise of legality!

Jinling, the Xie Family.

The head of the Xie Family clenched his teacup until it creaked, his face dark enough to wring water from.

"Wang Family! Bullying people too much!"

"Head of Family, what should we do now? The Wang Family's envoy has been waiting outside for three days." an elder asked anxiously.

"What else can we do?" a hot-headed young Xie clansman said indignantly, "Let's fight them! Our Xie Family isn't easy to bully! I don't believe the Wang Family would dare to offend all of the South of the River's great clans!"

"Fight? With what?" the Xie Family head gave him a cold glance, "Didn't you see what happened to the Gu Family? Our Xie Family's guards aren't much stronger than theirs. When the Wang Family's army arrives, how long can we hold out? One day? Or two?"

"Could it be… that we just have to accept defeat?"

The Xie Family head fell silent.

How could he be willing?

But the situation is stronger than the person.

Just then, a steward rushed in from outside.

"Head of Family! Not good! The He Family in Kuaiji… has also surrendered!"

"What?!" the Xie Family head sprang up from his seat.

"The He Family also surrendered?"

"Yes! I heard that the Wang Family's army hadn't even reached Kuaiji yet, and the He Family head personally brought half of the family's wealth to Yangzhou to 'beg forgiveness with firewood on his back'!"

This news became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

The Gu and He families, two of the South of the River's great clans second only to the Xie Family in strength, both chose to submit.

What does the Xie Family have left to resist with?

"Enough… enough…"

The Xie Family head slumped back into his seat, as if instantly aged ten years.

"Pass my order: open the central gate and receive the Wang Family envoy."

"Also, open the granaries, tally the assets… prepare to 'reward the troops'."

……

The Xie Family's submission triggered a chain reaction.

In the following half month, all the great clans of the South of the River East Circuit responded with unprecedented 'enthusiasm' to the Wang Family's pacification envoy's call.

Cart after cart of grain, chest after chest of silver, continuously flowed from every corner of the South of the River to the Wang Family's stronghold in Yangzhou.

After being emptied once, the Wang Family's wealth and supplies rapidly expanded at an even more terrifying speed.

Moreover, this time it was absolutely 'reasonable, rational, and legal'.

Wang Zong (Wang Xiu) looked at the long 'donation' list presented to him, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

He knew that from this moment on, the Wang Family could truly be considered the master of the South of the River.

This 'master' is not nominal but actual, after all the Wang Family now also honors the Tang emperor as sovereign.

He used a military demonstration and a single document from the Court to accomplish the integration of all South of the River's resources without bloodshed.

Although the clans forced to 'donate' hated it bitterly inside, they still had to outwardly show gratitude to the Wang Family.

Because the Wang Family did not exterminate them, merely taking half of their movable wealth.

Compared to being sacked by bandits and the whole family exterminated, this is already the best outcome.

They even had to send people to thank the Wang Family, grateful for its 'disaster relief on their behalf' that spared them from a 'military calamity', of course also fearing later reckoning!

In Chang'an, Emperor Tang Xizong and the Commandant Tian Lingzi, upon receiving the report from the South of the River, were dumbfounded; this was not what they had expected.

They had hoped to see the Wang Family and the South of the River's clans fight to mutual ruin, but they never expected the Wang Family to resolve the matter so swiftly and cleanly.

Moreover, they really scraped a thick layer of oil off those Iron Control roosters!

Tian Lingzi immediately had Emperor Tang Xizong issue another Imperial Edict, again lavishly praising the Wang Family's "loyal and brave conduct, sharing the nation's worries."

At the same time, using the excuse "northern warfare is urgent, the treasury is empty," they "borrowed" 100,000 dan of grain and 200,000 strings of cash from the Wang Family as military funds.

Regarding this request, Wang Zong (Wang Xiu) agreed without hesitation.

He immediately had Wang Jing prepare the grain and money and send them to the Capital.

He wanted to use this method to show his attitude to the Court and to the world:

"Our Wang Family takes this money and grain not for ourselves, but for 'sharing the nation's worries'."

"Our Wang Family remains loyal subjects of the Tang Dynasty."

"Even as long as you don't come provoke me, I will give you 'protection money' every month."

This move even let Tian Lingzi and others completely put their minds at ease regarding the Wang Family.

In their view, although the Wang Family is carving out a fiefdom in Jiangnan, as long as they are willing to spend money and obey orders, they are still good subjects of the Tang Dynasty.

Thus, the Wang Family achieved a delicate balance between the Court and the localities in a way no one expected.

They became the de facto local emperors of Jiangnan, yet still bore the halo of "loyal subjects of the Tang Dynasty."

Moreover, the Wang Family Fort, thanks to its vast supplies and population replenishment, began a new round of expansion.

More refugees were taken into the fort.

More able-bodied youths were conscripted into the army.

More land was reclaimed and planted with grain.

More workshops sprang up, producing weapons and various supplies day and night without cease.

The Wang Family Fort is no longer merely a fort.

It has become an independent kingdom with a population of nearly 100,000, an elite army of over 10,000, and a complete industrial and agricultural system.

The founder of this kingdom is none other than the old man sitting in a wheelchair, though advanced in years his eyes remain as sharp as an eagle's—Wang Zong.

He knows the true test is imminent.

Northern rebel Huang Chao, after parting ways with Wang Xianzhi, is now leading his force of several hundred thousand troops southward, unstoppable like a bamboo-splitting force.

Their next target is the prosperous Jiangnan.