Chapter 137: Liu Bian

At this moment, Liu Bian was truly somewhat angry.

As someone who had traveled from the future, Liu Bian was clearly aware of the faces of these clans.

That the dignified Han Empire could become like this was entirely due to the scholar-clans.

These aristocratic clans privately gathered private soldiers, plundered the land from the hands of the people, and enslaved the people.

Besides the low grain yield of the Han, a greater reason for this still stemmed from the aristocratic clans.

The reason the Han erupted into the Yellow Turban Rebellion was that the people were not fed or clothed and had no hope of survival.

Otherwise, by what right could Zhang Jiao just raise his arms and have countless people join him?

They were all people of the Han who could not go on living and were forced to rebel because they had no other way.

Therefore, Liu Bian would never allow the aristocratic clans to control large amounts of land.

Under his rule, all land in the world belonged to the imperial court, and the court would distribute the land in its hands to the people for cultivation free of charge.

As for the aristocratic clans, they could only retain enough land for their livelihood.

Moreover, the current Han had the high-yield food he provided, so this land was enough for their living needs.

Thinking of this, Liu Bian said to Xun Yu below:

"Wenruo, tell me and the beloved ministers the situation. I would like to see what kind of trouble these aristocratic clans can stir up!"

Upon hearing this, Xun Yu's expression shook, and he immediately said loudly to Liu Bian and the officials:

"Your Majesty, beloved ministers, according to the intelligence currently collected by the Shadow Guards, now, except for Sili and the Liang and Bing provinces you have just recovered, some aristocratic clans in other provinces have already secretly made contact with the feudal lords."

"These aristocratic clans want to resist the imperial court through the hands of the feudal lords."

"It is just that the Shadow Guards have not yet grasped their specific plans."

After Xun Yu finished speaking, he looked at Liu Bian with a grave expression.

For someone like Xun Yu, who came from an aristocratic clan, he clearly knew the capabilities of these aristocratic clans.

The reason the aristocratic clans could be so arrogant was that they relied on controlling the lifeline of the scholars of the world—various classics.

As long as these people were determined to oppose the imperial court, the court would face a situation where there were no officials to use.

At this moment, the officials who heard Xun Yu's words also dared not make a sound.

You must know, among these people, many were from aristocratic clans.

Yuan Kui, Wang Yun, Xun Yu, and others were even the largest scholar-clans in the entire world at present.

The reputation of the Yuan family of four generations and three dukes was not just an empty name.

"Hmph!"

At this moment, Liu Bian, upon hearing this, instantly snorted coldly, his voice filled with chill as he said:

"These aristocratic clans truly have a good plan; they think that by doing this, I will compromise?"

"They are wrong. I, the dignified Han Empire, have hundreds of thousands of armored soldiers; should I fear their tiny aristocratic clans?"

"Bang!"

As he spoke, Liu Bian's anger was unstoppable; he slammed his hand onto the table before him, and instantly, the sturdy table was shattered by Liu Bian's palm, which was filled with anger.

With a bang, it resounded throughout the entire court hall, and the officials, upon hearing it, all trembled.

Since they had known Liu Bian for so long, Liu Bian had always been calm and composed, never having lost his temper at them once.

This was the first time everyone had seen Liu Bian angry; it was truly, "When an emperor is angry, a million corpses will lie!"

"I ask Your Majesty to calm your anger!"

The officials, seeing this, hurriedly knelt in terror, shouting for him to calm his anger with terrified expressions.

"Calm my anger! These damned scholar-clans, how can you ask me to calm my anger!"

Liu Bian scolded the crowd angrily.

"Jia Xu, Tai'a!"

Liu Bian shouted loudly at Jia Xu and Tai'a.

"This minister is here!"

Jia Xu and Tai'a, hearing Liu Bian call them, immediately stepped out and responded to Liu Bian with determined expressions.

At this moment, the two of them already knew what Liu Bian was going to do.

"Jia Xu, Tai'a, you two arrange for members of the Shadow Guard to monitor every move of the aristocratic clans in every province and commandery of the world."

"I would like to see who is seeking death and actually dares to oppose me."

Liu Bian said angrily to Jia Xu and Tai'a.

"This minister obeys the decree!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Xu and Tai'a immediately bowed and accepted the order.

"By the way, check the aristocratic clans of Sili to see if any of them have contacts with those people."

"If anyone is found to be colluding with them, hand the list to Fengxian and Mengde."

"Punish them severely according to the laws of our Han; if anyone dares to resist, it shall be treated as the crime of rebellion—raid their homes and exterminate their clans!"

"This minister (this general) obeys the decree!"

At this moment, Lü Bu and Cao Cao, who had already arranged for the army, also returned to the court hall.

Jia Xu, Lü Bu, and the other two immediately responded loudly to Liu Bian.

Following Liu Bian's words, for a time, the entire court hall felt as if it had fallen into an icy cave.

This kind of courage, this kind of imperial majesty, was far stronger than the emperors of the past.

Only until this moment did the officials clearly realize what true imperial majesty was.

That was, to decide life and death with a word, to judge ten thousand people with a sentence!

This kind of imperial majesty made Xun Yu, Jia Xu, Guo Jia, and the other officials loyal to Liu Bian feel very excited.

Only such an emperor was worthy of their loyalty and could bring benefit to the people of the world!

And among the officials, those who had contacts with these resisting clans were already pale.

At this moment, they realized what a huge mistake they had made.

Could an emperor like Liu Bian really be controlled by those aristocratic clans!

At this moment, Liu Bian also clearly knew that among these people below, many had contacts with them.

Immediately, he said to them:

"I know that most of you are from aristocratic clans, and many have contacts with those clans."

Liu Bian's majestic voice rang out, taking in the changes in expression of the crowd below.

"Your Majesty, calm your anger. We ministers are loyal to the Han and would never dare to harbor two hearts, let alone resist Your Majesty with them!"

Hearing Liu Bian's words, most of the civil and military officials below were so frightened that they knelt.

"Alright, all rise. I did not say I was going to do anything to you."

Upon hearing this, these people instantly breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from their foreheads after standing up.

"We ministers thank Your Majesty!" The group of officials thanked Liu Bian gratefully.

"You people of the aristocratic clans, after you return, hand over the land in your homes to the imperial court."

"Remember, each family can keep at most one hundred mu of land; this is my greatest concession. Finish it within three days."

After Liu Bian finished speaking, he saw that many of the people below showed expressions of difficulty.

"Everyone, broaden your horizons. With the high-yield food I provide, these one hundred mu of land are enough to support your families!"

"Moreover, I have even better food in my hands. You will all be martial arts practitioners in the future; what use do you have for so much land!"

"As long as your cultivation improves, you will be existences capable of longevity. Once your cultivation reaches the Martial Emperor realm, you can practice fasting."

"By then, you can just go into seclusion for months at a time, so do not view land as so important; these are things for the bottom-level people to use." ===== CHAPTER 138 =====