Chapter 991: Traitor of All Ages

Xiang Weiyuan briefly observed the conditions of the juncheng and county villages en route, then flew into the Southern Military Command Camp.

The Southern Military Command Camp was originally stationed at the border between Huangping Jun and Xiang Rong Jun; after Xiang Weiyuan severely punished the five jun aristocrats and repelled the Zhao Army, he relocated the camp deep into Xiang Rong Jun, eight hundred li from the juncheng.

Xiang Weiyuan preferred to establish camps directly on key roads, flanked by mountains, ensuring no one could pass unscathed. The camp’s location controlled multiple vital transportation routes—no matter which direction, any large force from surrounding juns wishing to pass through Xiang Rong Jun had to go through the camp.

At present, only twenty thousand troops were stationed at the Southern Military Command Camp, yet its material reserves were ten times greater. The garrison was commanded by the General of Pacifying the East and four deputy generals. The General of Pacifying the East was one of the original sixteen nobles, and all four deputy generals were entirely trained at the Qingming Military Academy.

Upon entering the camp, Xiang Weiyuan requested current military intelligence and reports on the implementation of prior arrangements, reading them carefully while listening to the generals’ briefings.

Xiang Weiyuan now held the title of Minister-General of Southern Military Affairs; the addition of “Minister-General” meant he held absolute civil and military authority, and his jurisdiction expanded from five juns to eight. Of the three newly added juns, two were peripheral territories of the Lü family, and one was a peripheral territory of the Xu family.

Xiang Weiyuan’s initiatives in the eight juns included five measures: relieving poverty, opening wasteland, redistributing land, promoting enlightenment, and clearing past injustices. Specifically, relieving poverty meant providing food to the destitute with no shelter, preventing them from freezing or starving to death, then requiring them to work for Xiang Weiyuan in repayment. Their work primarily involved opening wasteland; after completion, they received a small plot to farm themselves, paying annual land rent.

Opening wasteland meant cultivating uncultivated fields, carried out by Qiankun Dongtu specialists under Chu He’s command. Opening wasteland was critically important—the newly cultivated land would be distributed to landless peasants. Redistributing land was tied to clearing past injustices: land previously seized from poor peasants by powerful families through deceitful means would be returned.

Enlightenment required no further explanation.

Together, these five measures were far more forceful than anything Zhao Guo had ever attempted. The grain and silver spent on relieving poverty alone equaled the entire Zhao Guo’s budget. Redistributing land and clearing past injustices were policies Zhao Guo had never implemented—both primarily targeted aristocrats who held vast landholdings and were aggressively buying up more land during the war.

Xiang Weiyuan’s original plan was to reclaim all land seized in the eight juns since the start of the Jin-Zhao war and redistribute it to the poorest. He had calculated that if the aristocrats surrendered even one-tenth of their total wealth, it would be enough to settle nearly all the destitute—and these peasants would inevitably contribute qi-yun.

Clearing past injustices could also win popular support, but its scale was uncertain. Thus, Xiang Weiyuan placed the greatest emphasis on land redistribution.

Xiang Weiyuan estimated that within one month, with all five measures implemented simultaneously, he could completely end deaths from freezing and starvation in the eight juns. Though he could not achieve “land to the tiller,” he could at least ensure “land for those willing to till.”

Land redistribution required a full survey of landholdings. Once surveyed, previously uncollected taxes could be recovered to fund the poverty-relief system and academies, eliminating starvation and enlightening the people.

The eight juns totaled ninety-seven million people. Xiang Weiyuan had expected to gain twenty million qi-yun after a full month of reforms, but with only seven days left until the month’s end, he had received only four million.

Thus, as Xiang Weiyuan reviewed the situation and listened to the reports, his mood remained as calm as still water.

The General of Pacifying the East was named Li Zheng, a peripheral member of the Southern Qi Li family, now with over a decade of service in Qingming. After multiple rounds of qi-yun enhancement from Xiang Weiyuan, he finally broke through to the Law-Form realm and had become a key asset.

Li Zheng reported each item in turn, occasionally supplemented by the deputy generals.

“Relieving poverty has proceeded relatively smoothly—we’ve distributed funds, grain, oil, and rice. But after distribution, local ruffians seize it. I’ve arrested over three thousand ruffians in multiple batches. Yet every time I send them to the government office, they’re released immediately. Some ruffians have been arrested by me four times already.”

“Since feeding the starving was the top priority, I eventually withdrew all valuable oil and rice, distributing only coarse grain buns mixed with sand and bran—so worthless no one would even try to sell them. Only then did the food actually reach the starving. I’ve confirmed: these ruffians are mostly directed by local aristocrats and government officials.”

“Enlightenment has faced great resistance. Only a dozen academies opened on time, yet total student enrollment is under a hundred—fewer than the number of teachers.”

Xiang Weiyuan’s expression did not change. “Our academies are free. Why are no students coming?”

One Assistant Regional Commander presented a recorded image.

In the image, a group of literati surrounded the gates of an academy, preventing any student from entering. Inside, several instructors were drenched in filth, kneeling and scolded. One literatus declared: “My master is a personal disciple of Qian Shiqian! You are all unworthy to even enter my master’s classroom. Who authorized you to open this academy? The Prince of Wei? The Prince of Wei is nothing but a traitor of all ages!”

When the recording ended, Xiang Weiyuan said nothing.

Land redistribution and clearing past injustices were the focus, and Li Zheng reported on them personally. Knowing this would strike at aristocratic interests, Xiang Weiyuan had anticipated fierce resistance and granted Li Zheng sweeping authority from the start.

Li Zheng acted swiftly and decisively. In less than twenty days, he clashed with aristocratic retainers, private guards, and even private armies over three hundred times. Qingming soldiers suffered several casualties; aristocratic forces suffered nearly a thousand dead and wounded.

Due to Xiang Weiyuan’s strict deadlines, whenever aristocrats obstructed him, Li Zheng used force to clear the way. He successfully uncovered widespread land consolidation, visited numerous poor tenant farmers, and gathered ample evidence of fraud and theft—completing the land survey.

But changing land deeds and returning land proved immensely difficult. First, the government delayed action; then, poor peasants who received returned land were murdered in their fields at night. Many now refused to accept the land at all.

“Of the nine million mu identified for redistribution, how many have been returned so far?” Xiang Weiyuan had not seen this figure.

Li Zheng replied: “Impossible to count precisely, but I estimate… about two thousand mu.”

Xiang Weiyuan suddenly smiled.

These aristocrats and literati truly opposed him at every turn—each measure met with a precise countermeasure, leaving no loophole. They had truly not wasted a single word of their studies.

He had touched their silver, so of course they deemed him unworthy of death—and worthy of eternal infamy.

Yet even with these measures crippled, with almost no benefit reaching the poor, and with the entire realm calling him “traitor of all ages,” Xiang Weiyuan still gained four million qi-yun. This proved that justice resides in the people’s hearts—and revealed just how desperate the people of Western Jin had become: a single meal could win their loyalty.

Li Zheng had done everything possible—he had taken hundreds of lives—but the aristocrats had retreated from direct confrontation, instead striking from the shadows. Li Zheng could do nothing more; he could not massacre entire families.

Xiang Weiyuan asked: “Didn’t they carry the corpses to the camp gates?”

Li Zheng replied: “They did. Then I shot the leading Law-Form cultivator dead with a single arrow. After that, they stopped coming. But in every juncheng’s gates and marketplaces, corpses still lie everywhere. Someone has even composed ballads and spread them widely.”

“The ballads must be slandering me?”

Li Zheng did not answer, silently acknowledging it. The ballads didn’t just insult him—they were vulgar, implicating many close to Xiang Weiyuan.

Xiang Weiyuan ceased asking for operational details, tapped his desk, thought for a moment, then said: “Draft an edict. Send it to all aristocratic families and government offices in the eight juns. Give them one day to fully implement all five measures.”