Chapter 861: The Thousand-Mile Dick (12400 Bonus)

The second year of Kaiping.

Spring.

Xuzhou, Daque Prefecture.

Following the complete staffing of every prefecture and county by Taixue officials transferred from the south, Aaron's will was strictly enforced in this region.

Land Measurement, religious taxes, commercial taxes, Collect Grain Uniformly for officials and gentry...

At the city gate, an official document was posted, and a yamen runner walked through the streets and alleys beating a copper gong to make announcements.

Clang! Clang!

Due to the rapid development of the Liang King's power, the promotion of Taixue students was also very fast; within a few years, he was promoted repeatedly and attained the status of a Ninth Rank official.

"Although the Great Liang is currently sucking the marrow from our bones, it is still passable for the common people... If the commoners can survive, who would want to rebel?"

But as long as Feng Erlang went to their homes, a series of methods would naturally be waiting.

Having smashed someone's iron rice bowl, how could there not be resentment?

At this time, no one dared to bring up his childhood dullness anymore; everyone said the old Feng family's ancestors had smoke rising from their graves, and they were pondering how to stuff their own children into the Taixue so they could become officials too!

"This time the Prime Minister is selecting talent to go north; once I arrive, I will be promoted another rank. I am already a Junior Eighth Rank Tax Officer!"

Thinking back to his childhood, not to mention such an official, even if a yamen helper (without an official position) came to his home, his parents would be scared half to death, and the helper would casually extort them and demand tea money before leaving. At this moment, Feng Erlang felt quite strongly that the tides had turned: "Why have you come? Is there something the matter?"

"Yan Er, you only dare to say that now; before, you knelt faster than anyone!"

The result was also strange: after entering the Taixue, Feng Erlang's mind seemed to suddenly open up; he studied diligently, passed the examinations after a year, graduated smoothly, and became a minor official.

"What is the plan?"

Even if the laws established by the Liang King and the Prime Minister were meant to last for ten thousand generations, they could easily be distorted during execution!

Do not look down on them just because they are minor officials; in reality, they pass their positions down through generations. Even the government does not know exactly how many people or how much land is under its rule, so if they want to collect taxes, they must rely on them—or rather, rely on their family's ancestral 'Yellow Register' and 'Land Register'.

Not long after, Yan Er entered and knelt to pay his respects.

When the time comes, the Jin King will be able to calmly pacify the north and, in turn, suppress the Liang King!

Government office.

Feng Erlang remembered that this person was a minor official from the prefecture's Six Departments; after the handover was completed, the Prime Minister had ordered them all to get out.

In this room, there were officials and clerks, landlords and Temple Priests, all of whom had suffered losses due to the Liang Army entering the city.

Feng Erlang squinted his eyes, feeling very satisfied.

Just as Feng Erlang was preparing to rest, someone outside reported: "My Lord, someone outside the office is asking to see you, claiming to be Yan Er."

"Oh, I remember him. Send him in!"

At first, it was just begging to handle some minor, borderline matters, and then gradually expanding.

When the time comes to act together, it will surely throw Xuzhou into chaos!

"Drinking at a wedding feast?"

For example... secretly drugging the wine, getting a hold on Feng Erlang, and then dragging him into the water!

He was originally just the son of a commoner, a half-grown boy who ate his father into poverty.

Among the targets, there were still many officials to be dealt with in this way.

Another Black Iron man sneered and said: "But we have to kneel; in other prefectures and counties, people like us were slaughtered the moment the city was breached..."

After monopolizing these things, the officials' power—passed from father to son, son to grandson—was deeply rooted, and by colluding with local powerful families, their Influence was terrifyingly great.

"Just force the people to rebel! Although those Taixue students all have some ability, they are still too young. As long as we tempt them with profit, I don't worry about them not falling into the trap." Yan Er smiled.

That he could have some impression of him was, first, because this person was good at currying favor, and second, because everyone was ranked second.

He did, however, agree to the invitation.

A wealthy merchant smiled while stroking the jade thumb ring on his hand and sighed: "But the Liang King is very harsh on us merchants, inventing all sorts of names for taxes; it is truly a tax upon a tax... I see that if this continues, everyone will go bankrupt!"

Feng Erlang was holding the latest statistical table and nodded with satisfaction: "This month's commercial tax is up thirty percent from last month; the Prime Minister will surely be pleased."

"My Lord, my second concubine has given birth, so I have come specifically to invite you to drink." Yan Er accompanied this with a fawning smile; naturally, he would not be foolish enough to mention bribery the first time he came to the yamen.

The one speaking was an old clerk, formerly a scribe in the Daque Prefecture Household Department.

Although he thought this in his heart, Feng Erlang, who came from a commoner background, still could not suppress the Greed in his heart and tucked the invitation into his robes: "Easy, easy..."

"This humble one pays respects to My Lord!"

Feng Erlang took the invitation, and his heart skipped a beat.

"The Kong family is evading taxes; confiscate their property!"

This gave his father a great deal of face, and he even specifically hosted a banquet for the neighbors.

Amidst the commotion, a window was closed: "Heh... these Taixue students from the south are all actually capable officials; we are no longer of any use."

It was also his good fortune that he managed to escape capture.

"Alright, we are all grasshoppers on the same string; why hurt our harmony?"

"It's very simple: incite a popular uprising, force the people to rebel..."

"Excellent, this plan is very clever."

He was naturally very clear about the methods of the clerks.

A Temple Priest had a gloomy expression, his hand still wrapped in bandages; he was clearly from the illicit shrine forces that had been struck down previously.

Because Daque Prefecture had surrendered before it was even attacked, many remnants had been preserved; although Aaron had dismissed them all, the hatred had still been formed.

"The Liang King decrees: the Taiping Temple, the Dragon Son Temple, and the Goddess of Fertility Temple are all illicit shrines... they shall be destroyed!"

The eyes of the others lit up: "We must also secretly cooperate to build momentum and add fuel to the fire... in the end, it will be the people forced to rebel, and the entire prefecture will fall into chaos!"

"Rise."

"The Dongmen family resisted the Land Measurement; execute the entire clan!"

This invitation is very heavy!

It is not made of paper; it seems to be crafted from gold and silver!

"These petty officials are truly wealthy... The Chancellor let them off too early."

"It is not the Prince of Liang, but the Chancellor," another scholar said, speaking a fair word. "Who doesn't know that the Prince of Liang is just a puppet!"

"This is the benefit of following the dragon; promotions are lightning fast... In the future, even a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Revenue is not beyond one's reach..."

"Hehe... Anyway, we have all received orders from the north; we must delay the Liang Army and not let them head north this year."

Back in Jiangzhou Prefecture, hearing that the Taixue provided free meals and books, and that one could become an official upon graduating, he was immediately sent in by his father, regardless of the fact that he was notoriously thick-headed in the eyes of the neighbors, the kind who could anger a private tutor to death.

In his heart, he thought: "The Chancellor did not stipulate that one cannot accept invitations to banquets. If I go to drink a cup of wine and offer a few perfunctory words, what could possibly happen?"

"Many thanks, my lord."

Hearing the reply, Yan Er knew that this official had already walked into the trap. He was overjoyed, and a fawning, sycophantic smile appeared on his face as he secretly thought: "To fall for the trap so easily, it seems there is truly no one of talent under the Prince of Liang!"

(End of this chapter)