Chapter 562

In fact, those people were not dead; they just changed form and continued to exist on the land of the Han realm.

But... they were no longer affiliated with the imperial court; they lost their original status as commoners and became the private property of the aristocratic families—"hidden households."

Actually.

Land annexation did not start in the late Han period.

During the two Han dynasties, land annexation by aristocratic families was also taking place in every province.

But at that time, because it was not a chaotic era, the aristocratic families were not as rampant as they are now.

To this day, the Han dynasty has long been eroded by aristocratic families into an empty shell.

What did the Han dynasty die from?

Did it die from Dong Zhuo arbitrarily deposing the young emperor, or from Cao Pi replacing Han with Wei?

Neither!

The Han dynasty died in name at the hands of Cao Pi, but in reality, it died at the hands of the aristocratic families!

And the Cao Wei regime also died from this.

The Sima family of the old thief Sima is merely a spokesperson pushed forward by the aristocratic group.

Even without the old thief Sima.

The aristocratic group would still have pushed forward Wang Ling, Jiang Ji, and even Chen Tai, Zhong Hui, and others.

It's just that no one expected.

That the power of the Cao family would fall into other hands so quickly, and that it would be seized by that big fool Cao Shuang.

How could a mere Cao Shuang be a match for the old thief Sima?

This is what caused Cao Wei to perish so rapidly.

Otherwise, if the aristocratic families wanted to erode the Cao Wei regime, they would have needed to wait at least another thirty to fifty years.

From the perspective of modern pharmacology, the harm of aristocratic families can be treated as a chronic disease.

From the beginning of the illness, this disease becomes gradually harder to cure.

But at the beginning of the illness, it is also the easiest period to eradicate.

If this period is not seized, the final outcome will only be the disease reaching the vital organs, leading to death without a cure.

At this moment.

Qiao Rong and the others were feeling anxious.

The more they thought about it, the more they felt that Gu Yi might really want to take action against them.

Suddenly.

One of the aristocratic family heads suggested:

"Gentlemen, since this Gu Linzhi is heartless, why should we sit and wait for death?"

"Gu Linzhi is currently far away in Chang'an and cannot attend to Yizhou in the short term."

"If we take this golden opportunity to gather everyone's strength and rebel, how would Gu Linzhi respond?"

Once these words were spoken.

The several Yizhou aristocratic family heads present felt as if they had opened up a new world, and certain thoughts in their hearts could not help but become active.

Actually.

The reason why these few people could have such thoughts had another extremely important reason.

The garrison general dispatched by Gu Yi had not yet arrived in Yizhou at this moment.

And the Governor of Yizhou had also just rushed to Chang'an to report on his duties not long ago.

In other words, Yizhou at this moment was completely in a state of "when the tiger is away, the monkey is king."

No sooner said than done.

Several Yizhou aristocratic families quickly mobilized the operable forces in their homes, planning to put up a fight!

Similar situations occurred in several provinces under Gu Yi's rule.

In these provinces, the local aristocratic families had not yet been completely cleared out.

As for the regions of Jiangdong and Lingnan, there were no aristocratic families left, so naturally, no rebellion would occur.

The rallying power of aristocratic families can be described as "a centipede that dies but does not stiffen."

After bringing out their trump cards and exhausting all their resources, the Yizhou aristocratic families rallied thirty to forty thousand laborers outside Chengdu city in just a few days!

Even inside Chengdu city, thousands of elite retainers were gathered!

However.

Just as Qiao Rong and the others gathered thousands of retainers, planning to capture the Governor's Mansion.

The Governor of Yizhou, who should have been heading to Chang'an, suddenly appeared on the city tower.

And beside him was Pang De, the great general Gu Yi had specifically dispatched from Chang'an!

Looking at Qiao Rong and the others leading the rebel army, a trace of contempt appeared in Pang De's eyes.

Sure enough.

This group of short-sighted Yizhou aristocratic families had fallen for Lord Qin Wang's strategy.

And next, it was time to clear the field and finish them off!