Chapter 150: The Reaction of the Marquises

Soon, Liu Bian's edict to distribute land to the people and reduce taxes spread throughout the thirteen provinces of the Great Han Empire.

Although Liu Bian's edict had spread throughout the thirteen provinces of the Great Han, except for the three provinces controlled by Liu Bian himself, other provinces and commanderies did not implement it.

Some provinces and commanderies did so because the inspectors could not do anything about the aristocratic families; most of the personnel under them were from aristocratic families and simply did not have the strength to implement it.

And there were some provinces and commanderies, such as Yanzhou, Jingzhou, Yizhou, Yangzhou, and Jiaozhou, because these inspectors simply did not take Liu Bian's edict seriously.

"His Majesty has already posted the edict, why is there still no movement in our Yizhou? Forget about distributing land to us, now they won't even reduce taxes."

"If you ask me, these officials don't care about the life or death of us people at all; now, they don't even listen to His Majesty's decree!"

"Shh... keep your voice down, if the officials hear this..."

"Disperse, everyone disperse, these edicts are all fake, don't believe them!"

Just as everyone was gathered in front of the posted edict, discussing it, soldiers came and shouted loudly at them.

The moment they saw these fierce-looking soldiers, the crowd that had gathered together immediately scattered and disappeared.

From this, one could see how much the people of Yizhou feared these soldiers.

"Bang!"

"How could Liu Bian, that brat, do this? He actually dared to attack the aristocratic families of the world. Doesn't he know that without the support of the aristocratic families, he cannot sit firmly in that position?"

At this moment, in the Yizhou Inspector's Mansion, Liu Zhang slapped the table in front of him in anger, his face gloomy.

"My Lord, the urgent matter now is to appease the people who are making trouble. Now, people in many places are making trouble; they are shouting for tax reduction and land distribution!"

At this moment, a middle-aged military officer in armor under Liu Zhang's right hand said to him anxiously.

This person was the famous general under Liu Zhang, Wu Yi of Yizhou.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhang was not in a hurry; he just glanced at him like he was an idiot and said with annoyance:

"How could I possibly listen to Liu Bian, that brat? If I really distribute land and reduce taxes for those lowly people,"

"then where will this land and taxes come from? Should they come from you?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yi immediately shook his head like a rattle and said without thinking:

"How is that possible? My family's own land is not enough!"

"That's it. If I really distribute land to those lowly people, wouldn't it have to come from your hands? So, don't pay attention to these little tricks of Liu Bian."

"Moreover, if the taxes are really reduced, what will happen to the military pay of my hundreds of thousands of troops in Yizhou?"

"Should you people pay it, or should I tell my hundreds of thousands of troops to drink the northwest wind!"

Seeing that Wu Yi himself did not agree, Liu Zhang immediately roared at him with annoyance.

"My Lord, calm your anger! I know I was wrong!"

After Liu Zhang got angry, Wu Yi immediately admitted his mistake respectfully to Liu Zhang.

Seeing this, Liu Zhang did not make things difficult for Cai Mao again, but exhorted him:

"You first arrange for people to appease the emotions of those lowly people and tell them that I am verifying this matter with His Majesty, and tell them to wait for the notice from the government office."

"After a long time, these lowly people will forget about this matter. I just won't follow Liu Bian, that brat's decree."

"Liu Bian is far away in Luoyang, and I am far away in Yizhou. Even if he wants to attack my Yizhou, my Yizhou's roads are dangerous, and it is a famous place that is easy to defend and hard to attack. What can he do to me?"

Liu Zhang said with disdain, not taking Liu Bian seriously at all.

"My Lord is wise!"

Yan Song, Fei Guan, and others below also flattered him after hearing this.

They did not take Liu Bian seriously because they relied on Yizhou's dangerous terrain, which was not easy to attack!

Seeing this, Liu Zhang also had a look of pride on his face.

In Yanzhou and Yizhou, after it was clear that they refused to comply with Liu Bian's decree, Liu Biao of Jingzhou, Liu Yao of Yangzhou, and Shi Xie of Jiaozhou all refused Liu Bian's decree without exception.

They all relied on the geographical advantage and did not take Liu Bian's decree to heart.

As for the inspectors and prefects of other provinces and commanderies, it was because they could do nothing about the local aristocratic families and could only reduce the taxes of the people.

"Hmph, good!"

"Liu Zhang, Liu Biao, Liu Yao, Liu Dai, Shi Xie, you are really good!"

Not long after, Liu Bian received the news sent back by the Dark Guards; looking at the memorial handed over by Tai'a, Liu Bian was furious.

"You are truly unworthy of being of the Liu imperial clan; one by one, you have all developed rebellious hearts."

Although Liu Bian had already guessed that there would definitely be a few provinces in the thirteen provinces of the Great Han that would develop rebellious hearts.

But he had not expected that among the five provinces, four of them were from the Liu imperial clan; how ironic this was.

Remembering that Liu Bei, who previously considered himself a member of the Han imperial clan, also developed a rebellious heart.

One by one, they were all using the identity of the Han imperial clan to satisfy their own ulterior motives.

"Tai'a, tell the Shadow Guards to keep a close eye on them; arrange a large number of personnel in these five provinces."

"I estimate that these imperial uncles of mine will certainly resist to the end, and there will be a great battle then."

"And the Dark Guards are the key to our quick city-breaking!"

Liu Bian immediately said solemnly to the Dark Guard Commander, Tai'a.

Since appointing Jia Xu as Minister of Justice, Liu Bian had separated the Dark Guards from Jia Xu's hands.

Now the Dark Guard Commander was Tai'a, who was responsible only to Liu Bian.

Upon hearing this, Tai'a immediately responded respectfully: "I obey the decree!"

"By the way, is there any news about Yu Ji and Zuo Ci, whom I asked you to find?"

Just as Tai'a was about to leave, Liu Bian suddenly asked him.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, both of them have been found and are being escorted to Luoyang by the Dark Guards, but there is no such person as Nanhua Laoxian."

"According to Yu Ji and Zuo Ci, Nanhua Laoxian is a pseudonym they used while traveling the world."

After hearing Liu Bian's inquiry, Tai'a replied respectfully immediately.

"Oh, since I can find Yu Ji and Zuo Ci, that's not bad; bring them to see me as soon as possible."

Seeing that there was no such person as Nanhua Laoxian, Liu Bian was only slightly disappointed and then exhorted Tai'a.

"I obey the decree!"

"Alright, you go down first!"

"I withdraw!"

"Hehe, I didn't expect that this Nanhua Laoxian was a pseudonym for Yu Ji and Zuo Ci; that's really interesting!"

After Tai'a left, Liu Bian sat there and pondered.

"Your Majesty, I saw that you were still busy, so I specially brewed some ginseng soup for you."

At this moment, Diao Chan's figure appeared in the Imperial Study; seeing Diao Chan wearing a light green dress, she came to Liu Bian and said gently. ===== CHAPTER 151 =====