Chapter 299

Compared to the disputes in the imperial court, the changes in Jinan City were not even worth mentioning.

A large amount of evidence was placed on the table, and the Shanxi merchants who had originally cooperated with them chose to cut ties at the first opportunity.

High-ranking officials in the court intervened, and after various parties communicated privately, they directly sold out the gentry of Jinan.

Clearly, they had only cooperated with the Shanxi merchants to dispose of stolen goods, but on the case files, it became defecting to the Northern Barbarians for profit, engaging in smuggling, and acting as spies for the Northern Barbarians.

Seeing such an investigation report, Emperor Yongning was naturally furious.

Without the slightest hesitation, he threw all the descendants of these families who were serving as officials in the court into prison and handed them over to the Three Judicial Offices for joint trial.

The Three Judicial Offices, which were always inefficient, were rarely efficient this time and directly pinned the blame for the Northern Barbarian invasion on them.

It wasn't that everyone was heartless; it was just that the court needed scapegoats to give the world an explanation.

In this process, the ones who kicked them while they were down the hardest were the Shanxi merchants.

Worried about being implicated, in order to finalize the case as quickly as possible, even Li Mu received a generous gift.

With the combined efforts of all parties, the gentry of Jinan whose homes were raided directly won the "immediate execution" package.

Without even a chance to appeal or operate, they were dragged out and beheaded.

Even the distant collateral branches received the "exile" gift package.

"My Lord, please take a look at these accounts from the raids.

It is a pity that a large amount of treasure was sent to the Northern Barbarians by these traitors; what we recovered are mostly rare books, antiques, jade, and real estate."

Li Mu said with a look of regret.

Raiding homes and exterminating families was not the goal; splitting the loot was the key.

As the specific executors, the King-Protecting Army had to have a share.

The commander, Marquis Wuyang, who came forward to draw the hatred, certainly couldn't work for nothing.

In this process, the court officials who had exerted great effort also had to have a share.

As the capital of Shandong, Jinan City gathered a large number of scholarly families.

It seemed like they were moving against the Jinan gentry, but in reality, the more powerful scholarly families and merchants in Shandong were all implicated.

Including the Kong family, descendants of the Sage, who were also involved in this case.

However, in order to reduce the political impact, the court handled them in a low-key manner.

For the personnel involved, the Emperor bestowed three feet of white silk, giving them a decent end.

"They actually raided so much land?"

After glancing at the accounts, Marquis Wuyang couldn't help but exclaim.

He naturally knew that land annexation among the people was severe, but he never imagined it was this severe.

Raiding just over a dozen families contributed more than thirty million mu of land, more than some provinces.

"My Lord, of these thirty million-plus mu of land, more than half were contributed by the Kong family.

They are not only distributed in Shandong, but also in the neighboring provinces.

These are the approximate figures we obtained from interrogating the Kong family members.

If we delve deeper, perhaps the final figure will be even larger.

As for the land of the other families, it is not all their own property; most of it is registered under their names by commoners.

It seems like we only raided a dozen families, but in reality, each family has many branches, and the number of large and small gentry and officials involved is nearly a thousand.

The court only executed the chief culprits; there are still a large number of collateral branches outside that have not been cleared."

Li Mu explained.

In the era of clan society, the rule is that when one person gains the Dao, their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.

The imperial examination system also has loopholes that can be exploited.

Officials are also human; everyone has younger generations who need to be taken care of.

When someone in the clan becomes a high official, the number of people in the entire family who gain merit will increase rapidly.

Generally speaking, as long as one's studies reach a certain level, one can be guaranteed a merit.

After entering the bureaucracy through the imperial examination, one can also receive care from the same clan, and their career path is much smoother than that of ordinary people.

As long as the family style is strict and no internal problems arise, it will grow like a snowball.

Even if their ability is limited and the clan members cannot pass the imperial examination, they can still enter the bureaucracy as Juren or Xiucai.

Although the positions are slightly lower and the development ceiling is not high, they are still officials.

After serving as an official for decades, accumulating a thousand or eight hundred mu of land is not a difficult task.

The higher the official position, the more wealth accumulated.

There is no need to deliberately engage in corruption; the daily dividends from the government office and the income from social interactions are enough to set up these family businesses.

As long as one holds great power, people will send gifts.

Many times, one cannot refuse even if they want to, especially when serving in local positions; if they don't accept gifts, those merchants won't feel at ease.

Most of those who can develop in the officialdom for a long time eventually cannot avoid going with the flow.

Added to the industries operated by the family, the real income will only be more.

Wealth accumulation is a snowballing process; the richer one is, the easier it is to make money.

Especially after wealth and power are combined, no matter what business one does, money will roll in.

After having money, one goes to buy land.

Accumulated generation after generation, any official family has tens of thousands of mu of fertile land under its name.

Counting those registered by commoners, this figure will be even larger.

This is still for those who know the rules and have not abused their power to engage in extortion.

If they are greedier, perhaps once they hold great power, they can harvest hundreds of thousands of mu of fertile land.

Undoubtedly, the guys Li Mu is raiding now are all greedy people.

Clearly, each of them sits on a fortune and doesn't need to struggle anymore to live comfortably for a lifetime.

Under the temptation of profit, these greedy guys still ran off to hoard goods and make a fortune from the national disaster.

"The figure is too large; it cannot be reported directly, otherwise, something big will happen.

Shandong is like this, so the situation in the rest of the country is probably about the same.

The Emperor cannot tolerate sand in his eyes; once he knows that the people below have accumulated such massive wealth, he will inevitably be furious.

We have poked through this layer of window paper, and our days in the officialdom won't be easy from now on.

It is correct not to list the cash and bulk materials on it, otherwise, it will be even more troublesome.

As for exactly how much there is, I won't ask.

Reserve one year's military pay for emergencies, and you can distribute the rest yourself."

Marquis Wuyang thought for a moment and said.

Sometimes having too much wealth is also a huge annoyance.

Compared to previous home raids, this time it was the King-Protecting Army that took action, with no middlemen to earn the price difference.

If it were local government offices taking action, after layers of division, being able to keep one-tenth would be considered good.

"My Lord, if it cannot be reported, then we should sell off a portion to cash it out.

Although Shandong has experienced war, it is close to the capital, so the land is still easy to handle.

Especially the land near the capital; the discount won't be too severe.

Those antiques and paintings are too numerous to handle in a short time; it would be better to use them to grease the palms of officials in the court.

Also, select some rare books to send to the Emperor to express our intentions."

Li Mu thought for a moment and said.

He is most skilled at disposing of stolen goods; there are so many descendants of meritorious officials in the army who are ready-made connections.

Antiques and paintings are hard to value, but the value of land is recognized by everyone.

Although the land price has dropped due to the war, the overall fluctuation won't be too large.

Right now, grain prices in the north are at a high level; land that used to take more than ten years to recoup its cost can now be recouped in just a few years.

As long as people's hearts stabilize and we take the opportunity to promote it, there will be people buying land.

"Hmm!

Let's do as you say.

The Northern Barbarian army has already begun to retreat, and next, it should be the turn of the imperial army to counterattack.

The various King-Protecting armies performed poorly in the previous battles, so they all need to perform next, and we cannot be absent either.

However, although the enemy's main force has left, they still left behind thirty thousand troops outside the city, which I'm afraid won't be easy to solve."

Compared to splitting the loot, Marquis Wuyang is more concerned about the upcoming great battle.

As long as one holds great power, opportunities to get rich are always there.

From an imperial relative to a meritorious noble, he has already finished the early path, and only the final enfeoffment is missing.

The more it is this kind of time, the greater the psychological pressure he bears.

Rationally speaking, he should seek stability now; no mistakes is merit.

But he cannot help but perform for the earnest hopes of his nephew, the Emperor.

He doesn't hope to annihilate the enemy completely, but at least he must make some noise so the enemy doesn't retreat unscathed.

"My Lord, those outside the city are Guifang cavalry, whose combat effectiveness is a notch lower than the Tatars.

Judging from the withdrawal sequence, their position should be the last to retreat.

If there is cooperation from other imperial armies, there is indeed a certain probability of keeping them behind.

However, the court and the Liaodong Town are at a stalemate; even if they are willing to participate in the battle, they won't be willing to put in the effort.

Other units lack cavalry, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to achieve complete success.

In my humble opinion, it is better to observe the situation first and look for the enemy's flaws before taking action.

In a sense, the Northern Barbarians leaving them behind also means they are meant to be scapegoats.

Whether to severely damage or even annihilate them also involves complex political issues.

It would be better to report the issue to the Emperor first and see what he thinks."

Li Mu hinted immediately.

Although military merit is good, it also attracts jealousy.

In this King-Protecting war, their performance has already been very dazzling.

If they achieve another great merit, they will become the target of public criticism.

The smartest way is to pull people over to share the pressure.

If the battle was ordered by the Emperor, then they could take the opportunity to push the credit onto the Emperor.

Not only can they get closer to the Emperor, but everyone's rewards won't be reduced either.

Anyway, in the eyes of all parties, they are the direct line of Emperor Yongning, so bypassing the Ministry of War to contact the Emperor directly is nothing.

"Do you really have the confidence to keep the enemy outside the city behind?"

Marquis Wuyang asked with concern.

To get closer, the prerequisite is to be able to win a great victory.

If they lose the battle, it will be counterproductive.

"Keeping them all behind is unrealistic, but severely damaging them is still possible.

The Northern Barbarian main force has already left, and the prairie cavalry closest to them are all over two hundred miles away.

And this distance is getting further and further.

The enemy outside the city has essentially become an isolated force.

I have already ordered the navy to enter the Yellow River, and when necessary, we can..."

(End of chapter)