Chapter 20: Manors Sold Out, Killing in Public

Just at this moment.

Outside the Lingyun Pavilion, a sudden commotion arose.

A short while later.

Li Er’s personal eunuch arrived to convey an imperial decree.

Su Liang understood this, having already learned of it from Li Chenggan yesterday.

Su Liang immediately accepted the imperial decree and then opened it to take a look.

He saw only twenty-some characters.

"By the Secretariat: The merits of the Prince of Chu, Su Liang, are unparalleled in history; he is hereby granted the title of General of the Heavenly Strategy!"

Su Liang immediately looked at Wang De and said, "I have troubled you, Eunuch. Please thank His Majesty on my behalf."

He then had Yu'er take some gold and silver to give to Wang De.

Wang De was also quite embarrassed; although it was not the first time, this was still in front of a large crowd.

This was precisely Su Liang’s temperament.

Afterward, he accepted Su Liang’s good intentions.

After Wang De left, the crowd offered their congratulations one after another.

A moment later, the auction continued...

"One hundred and one thousand gold..."

"One hundred and five thousand gold..."

"One hundred and ten thousand gold..."

"Two hundred thousand gold!"

A moment later, the bidding price had already reached two hundred thousand gold.

The one bidding at this moment was Wang Xing of the Taiyuan Wang clan.

During this period, Wang Xing could be said to be at the height of his glory, as his clansmen had developed a method for refining fine salt.

For this reason, Wang Xing also kept his promise and established the tenth clan leader in the family's history.

In the end, the "Zhuodong Shanzhuang" was won by Wang Xing for two hundred and sixty thousand gold.

Immediately following, the sixteen manors were auctioned off one after another...

In less than an hour.

All sixteen manors had been sold out.

Su Liang thus earned a full four million gold!

All sixteen manors were purchased by the children of officials and aristocratic families.

Among them, the two largest manors, the Yufeng Shanzhuang and the Lingyun Shanzhuang, were won by the Qinghe Cui clan and the Boling Cui clan, respectively.

The auction price was as high as three hundred thousand gold.

The Xuri Shanzhuang was won by the Longxi Li clan for two hundred and fifty thousand gold.

The Xiaoyue Shanzhuang was won by the Zhaojun Li clan for two hundred and fifty thousand gold.

The Xichun Shanzhuang was won by the Fanyang Lu clan for two hundred and twenty thousand gold.

The Liangxia Shanzhuang was won by the Xingyang Zheng clan for two hundred and twenty thousand gold.

The Yiqiu and Zhuodong manors were won by the Wang clan for two hundred and sixty thousand gold; there was no help for it, as the current snow salt business was only being run by Su Liang and Wang Xing.

The other four surnames and seven prominent clans clearly lacked the financial power at this time, as no one was buying their own coarse salt.

The four manors of Wanmei, Yunlan, Quanzhu, and Yajuju were all bought up by the "Four Young Masters of Changan."

For this, Zhangsun Chong also spent over two hundred thousand gold.

The three others also generously opened their purses to assist Yuchi Baolin in winning the Yaju Shanzhuang.

Su Liang was speechless about this, having already promised the four of them that he would build a few for them next year.

Yet, all four of them wanted to move in early.

The four manors of YINWU, Lingyu, Taxue, and Ningshuang were also successively won by the Hongnong Yang clan, the Lanling Xiao clan, the Langya Wang clan, and the Chenjun Xie clan.

The Hongnong Yang clan was the clan of Yang Guang.

The Lanling Xiao clan was the clan of Empress Xiao.

The Langya Wang clan and the Chenjun Xie clan were two of the four great aristocratic families of the Jin Dynasty, "Wang, Xie, Yuan, and Xiao," which were relatively in decline by this time.

The famous eternal line from the Tang Dynasty, "The swallows that once graced the halls of the Wang and Xie families now fly into the homes of ordinary people," refers to the Langya Wang clan and the Chenjun Xie clan; people are generally accustomed to mentioning "Wang and Xie" together.

In addition, "Yuan" is the Chenjun Yuan clan, and "Xiao" is the Lanling Xiao clan.

At this moment, the aristocratic families of the Tang Dynasty were led by the Five Surnames and Seven Prominent Clans.

They were the Longxi Li clan, the Zhaojun Li clan, the Boling Cui clan, the Qinghe Cui clan, the Fanyang Lu clan, the Xingyang Zheng clan, and the Taiyuan Wang clan.

Among them, the Shandong aristocratic families alone accounted for five: the Boling Cui clan, the Qinghe Cui clan, the Fanyang Lu clan, the Xingyang Zheng clan, and the Taiyuan Wang clan.

The ancestor of the Zhaojun Li clan was Li Mu, a famous general of the Zhao Guo during the Warring States period; from the Han dynasties to the Sui and Tang, the Zhaojun Li clan had always been a prestigious family.

The ancestor of the Longxi Li clan was Li Chong, the first governor of Longxi Commandery during the Qin Dynasty; Li Chong’s son was also a governor, and his grandson was the famous Li Xin.

Li Guang and Li Cai of the Western Han Dynasty both came from this lineage.

Li Guang’s grandson, Li Ling, offended the Han imperial family for defecting to the Xiongnu, and this family disappeared from public view for a full two or three dynasties.

Li Er came precisely from a branch of this lineage.

During the Sui Dynasty, the political faction formed by aristocratic families from the Guanzhong and Longxi regions was commonly known as the Guanlong Aristocracy.

The Guanlong Aristocracy, the Shandong aristocratic families, and the Jiangnan noble families were the three strongest forces at the time.

The original intention of Emperor Yang of Sui, Yang Guang, in building the eastern capital of Luoyang was to make the Guanlong Aristocracy and the Shandong aristocratic families check and balance each other.

The excavation of the Grand Canal was not only to achieve true unification of the north and south.

It was also to use this to restrain each other and utilize the power of the Jiangnan noble families to balance the north.

The three expeditions to Goguryeo also used the sons of aristocratic families in order to suppress the clans and weaken their power!

This also led to the eighteen anti-kings and sixty-four rebel forces declaring themselves kings.

With constant mutual attacks, the young and strong died in battle, leaving only the old, weak, sick, and disabled in their homes.

The common people suffered unspeakably; without a stable living environment, the birth rate dropped sharply.

Seventeen years of continuous war caused the population of the Sui Dynasty to drop from its peak of fifty million to fifteen million in the early Tang.

The number of households also plummeted from nearly ten million to less than three million.

There was also a great deal of inflation in this data.

During the Sui Dynasty, the territory was at least larger than in the first year of Zhenguan, including Liang Guo, Later Sui, Tuyuhun, and Western Turkic lands.

Moreover, the administrative efficiency of the early Tang Dynasty was low, population statistics were rough, and many people did not report their household registration to avoid taxes.

Compared to the fifth year of Daye, when the Sui people lived and worked in peace and contentment and administrative efficiency was relatively perfect, the 50 million population calculated was accurate.

As for the claim that Emperor Yang of Sui caused countless people to die of exhaustion and hunger while building major projects, that is even more nonsensical; granaries built by Emperor Yang of Sui are still being discovered today.

Behind all of this, the shadow of the aristocratic families was indispensable.

In the early Tang, the Five Surnames and Seven Prominent Clans were already in their final flicker of light.

At the hour of the Horse (noon).

The sixteen manors had all been sold.

Su Liang was also listening to music and drinking Dahongpao tea inside the Lingyun Pavilion.

At this time, most of the little fairies in the Lingyun Pavilion were former famous courtesans from Pingkang Ward.

Almost all modern musical instruments had been mastered by them to perfection.

Su Liang also took great pleasure in this.

Staying at home all day was indeed quite boring.

Inside the Lingyun Pavilion at this moment, a stove was placed every ten meters.

There was not a hint of chill.

The number of people in the pavilion was even greater; as the end of the year approached, many people had returned to Changan.

What everyone could not stand was that many of the former top courtesans of Pingkang Ward had mostly redeemed themselves.

They came to this Taoyuan City to resume their old professions, and many people had to drive to the Tianqiao and Tianman wards of Taoyuan City.

Pingkang Ward in Changan was a full 60 li away from Taoyuan City.

Su Liang’s manor was relatively closer, only 40 li away.

Su Liang’s current fief, Taoyuan County, was in the southeast direction of Changan City, between Changan City and Lantian County.

It was surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the terrain was relatively flat, which was just right for development.

Su Liang also renamed the mountain behind Taoyuan Shanzhuang to Taoyuan Mountain, which is the current Jingyugou Bamboo Sea Scenic Area.

On the left and right sides of Taoyuan Mountain were the Chan River and the Ba River, a natural wetland park.

Before Taoyuan County existed, this area was all within the scope of Lantian County.

Lantian County had been known for its beautiful mountains and rivers since ancient times; many scholars, poets, and high-ranking officials resided in Lantian, purchased villas, and built manors for this very reason.

For this reason, Su Liang also built an asphalt road four zhang wide and a full fifty li long on the north side of Taoyuan City, leading directly to the Mingde Gate of Changan City.

Taoyuan City was also built around the Chan River of the "Eight Waters Surrounding Changan," as were the seventy-two villages.

It was not just for the convenience of drawing water.

It was also for the sake of future plans.

One hour later.

Su Liang was drinking with great gusto at this time.

Seeing that it was quite noisy outside, he immediately asked, "Why is it so rowdy out there?"

Wang Xuance replied upon hearing this, "Young Master, someone outside wants to bully Chen Qianqian."

Chen Qianqian was the top courtesan of the Lingyun Pavilion.

Su Liang asked in surprise, "Oh, who dares to be so presumptuous in Taoyuan County?"

"Let's go take a look together."

He immediately stood up.

A moment later, Su Liang and his companion had walked out of the private room.

"Young Master Su... Young Master Su..."

Someone immediately came up to greet him.

Su Liang asked, "What is going on? Who is bullying Miss Qianqian?"

A woman replied, "Replying to Young Master Su, it is Zhang Shenji, the adopted son of the Duke of Changping, Zhang Liang."

"He drank a bit too much Zuitang today, and that is why..."

"Heh... You are still speaking up for someone who acts like a drunkard?"

Su Liang was also speechless.

Faced with such a scion of a noble family, the courtesans would never dare to offend them.

It seems this young master must take action himself.

Just a dog of the Zheng clan of Xingyang, how could he be so arrogant, daring to force a good woman into prostitution.

He walked over immediately and kicked him as soon as he approached.

Then, looking at the drunken Zhang Shenji, he said, "It seems you have had quite a lot of this Zuitang?"

"I fear if you had another two liang, the entire world would be yours."

Zhang Shenji stumbled and said, "Who are you, daring to meddle in this young master's affairs?"

Su Liang quipped, "Oh my... it seems you have had another two liang."

He then delivered several more kicks, causing Zhang Shenji to beg for mercy repeatedly.

Su Liang laughed, "Is it the Duke of Changping, Zhang Liang, who gave you this courage, or the Zheng clan of Xingyang who gave you this gall?"

Seeing this, Zhang Shenji's servant hurriedly apologized.

He immediately said, "My young master has just returned to the capital and did not know the Prince was here; I hope you will not take offense."

Upon hearing this, Su Liang said disdainfully, "So you mean that if there were no one here to manage you today, you could do whatever you wanted?"

After Su Liang finished speaking, he did not wait for the servant to answer.

Then, the Questioning Heart sword appeared from nowhere, and in an instant, a cold glint arrived.

With one sword strike to the throat, Zhang Shenji was dead!

The servant had already been scared to the point of wetting himself and collapsed onto the ground.

The surroundings were deathly silent; they could not believe that Young Master Su would kill someone in public.

Before the crowd could react, Su Liang had already sheathed his sword.

After finishing all this, Su Liang immediately said to Wang Xuance, "Xuance, have the White-Robed Guard take this servant away for strict interrogation. If there are any illegal or undisciplined acts, punish them severely according to the law!"

These noble families have never had a single good thing about them since ancient times; one must kill the chicken to warn the monkey.

This Zhang Shenji was not just guilty of forcing a woman into prostitution.

A moment later.

Su Liang said to Wang Xuance, "Send someone to deliver a letter to Zhang Liang; he will know what to do."

Su Liang's move was also intended to help Zhang Liang.

In history, Zhang Liang rose because of informing and fell because of informing.

Although Zhang Liang was timid by nature, he was a loyal man; he once reported Hou Junji's intention to rebel and was quite trusted by Li Shimin.

Zhang Liang was skilled in administration and often secretly sent subordinates to investigate the hidden good and evil under his rule, suppressing the powerful and comforting the poor and weak.

Unfortunately, Zhang Liang's wife, Lady Li, was not only promiscuous by nature but also interfered in government affairs, gradually ruining Zhang Liang's reputation.

Lady Li's arrogance and tyranny offended many people.

In his later years, Zhang Liang was accused of recruiting private factions and was imprisoned, all because of Lady Li.

Zhang Liang refused to confess to this, and Li Shimin thus unjustly killed a good official.

Regarding this, Su Liang would help where he could.

More than an hour later.

Changancheng, at the residence of Zhang Liang.

Inside the main hall of the Zhang residence, many servants were prostrate on the ground, shivering.

Zhang Liang's wife, Lady Li, was beaten until her face was bruised and swollen.

They all knew something, more or less, about their mistress's affairs.

Many servants had already confessed.

At this moment, Zhang Liang's eyes were splitting with rage, and the veins on his forehead were bulging.

In his hand, he was gripping the letter sent by Su Liang's men tightly.

The people who had affairs with Lady Li were listed on the paper.

Currently, more than twenty people were known to have had affairs with Lady Li; it was almost catching up to a courtesan selling herself.

There was no telling how many more had not been discovered.

At the same time.

The people at the Ganlu Hall of the Taiji Palace naturally did not know about this.

They were all busy impeaching Su Liang.

Li Shimin also frowned slightly, not knowing the reason.

It was impossible for Su Liang to kill recklessly just because Zhang Shenji had flirted with a courtesan.

Zhangsun Wuji looked at the crowd and said, "Are you sure Su Liang killed Zhang Shenji just because of this?"

Feng Deyi said, "It is indeed so; that Zhang Shenji only returned to the capital recently."

"He had never met Su Liang before."

Upon hearing this, Zhangsun Wuji immediately looked at Li Shimin and said, "Could it be that Su Liang had some grudge against him before?"

Li Shimin said, "No, Su Liang is a man of temperament; there must be something we don't know."

He then looked at Li Junxian and said, "Go ask the Imperial Son-in-Law what this is all about!"

Li Junxian immediately accepted the order and left.

Just at this moment.

Zhang Liang had also rushed over, and after saluting, he said, "Your Majesty, the Prince of Chu is cleaning up the house for this subject."

"Not only that, but he is also clearing out the pests for our Great Tang."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin said, "Oh... Duke of Changping, what do you mean by this?"

Zhang Liang continued, "That Zhang Shenji was my adopted son; this person not only had an affair with Lady Li but also committed many heinous acts."

"This is the evidence of his crimes; I ask Your Majesty to take a look."

He then respectfully handed over the confessions of the servants in his residence.

Li Shimin took them and read them carefully, immediately flying into a rage; the number of women who had died at the hands of Zhang Shenji had reached over a dozen.

There was no telling how many more there were in secret.

After reading, Li Shimin passed the testimonies to the others to read.

After reading, the crowd remained silent.

Li Shimin immediately looked at Zhang Liang and said, "I will not interfere in your family affairs, but you must keep your eyes open when adopting sons in the future!"

He then looked at the various officials: "Since the person is already dead, let this matter end here!"

"In the future, investigate such matters clearly before coming; the Empress has not yet recovered, and I have no time to deal with these unverified matters."

"It will be the New Year in a few days; everyone, disperse if there is nothing else."

At this moment.

Inside the Tianzui Workshop of Taoyuan City.

The White-Robed Guard had also verified that the number of women who had died at the hands of Zhang Shenji had reached over a dozen.

He deserved to die!

The servants, as accomplices, were also beheaded in public.

The evidence of his crimes was also made public.

Within a short time, it spread throughout Taoyuan City.

When the news reached Changancheng, the commoners and the dukes and ministers in the capital were all stunned.

The speed at which Su Liang handled the case was simply unbelievable and astonishing!

The noble families were even more surprised.

They had also learned the reason for Su Liang's killing; this was clearly done for their noble families to see.

Although Zhang Shenji was Zhang Liang's adopted son, he was indeed a person of the Zheng clan of Xingyang.

Only the people of the Zheng clan of Xingyang knew best that Zhang Shenji was just a pawn they had planted by Zhang Liang's side!

After deep thought, a small number of people felt a chill down their spines...

Regarding this, only a few people, including Li Shimin, knew the truth in their hearts.

In Su Liang's hands, there was not only the White-Robed Guard in white clothes and white robes.

There was also a unit in black clothes and black robes.

The white robes were in the light, and the black robes were in the dark!