At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 669: Goshawk Zhidu and Flying General Li Guang

May of the 52nd year of the Han calendar.

The newly appointed governor of Yangzhou went on a killing spree throughout the six counties of Jiangnan, and even had his subordinate censors directly mobilize county soldiers to arrest two or three local tyrants almost every day. The scene of hanging street lamps, which had rarely been seen in decades, reappeared, causing the local people to cheer and even set off fireworks, showing that these tyrants had caused great resentment among the people.

After the founding of the Han Dynasty, the power to approve the death penalty was returned to the central court. Logically, there would not be such a quick sentencing, let alone the death penalty.

But at this time the Han court was in a state of severe crackdown. In order to enhance the authority of the thirteen governors, the emperor specifically delegated the power of death penalty to Zhang Ou and other governors.

Of course, there are many restrictions. First, the death penalty only applies to Han officials with a salary of 400 shi. County magistrates with a salary of 1,000 shi or more can only be detained, and the trial can only be handed over to the Office of the Chief Censor.

But even this was terrifying. In the next three months, Zhang Ou destroyed more than 300 knight-errant groups and arrested more than 200 local tyrants. As a result, more than families of tyrants were implicated and imprisoned. The Jiangnan tyrants once again remembered the fear of being controlled by the Legalists fifty years ago.

Gao Di of Lujiang Prefecture immediately found Zhang Ou and said, "Governor Zhang, even if these Han officials have committed crimes, it is best to punish them according to the court system. Although you have the emperor's order, killing them wantonly will only cause panic among the Han officials. The Han Dynasty is no longer in its founding period. Establishing a system is more important than killing them wantonly."

Zhang Ou said calmly: "Compared to our understanding of the law, I, the Legalist, am better than you, the Nong family. The harsh laws and punishments of the pre-Qin period could not stop corrupt officials. Do you expect the Han laws to work?

The officials of our great Han Dynasty are among those who understand Han laws best. They can do things that do not violate Han laws, but can still gain benefits for themselves and their families. At this time, the court should deal with these people quickly and severely, instead of talking to them about Han laws. If these Han officials are not punished, they are just breeding parasites. "

Gao Di said coldly, "In our Han Dynasty, if there is no law prohibiting it, then it can be done. If Governor Zhang feels that the officials' behavior is wrong, he can report it to the court to make laws instead of killing people wantonly."

Zhang Ou said, "The Emperor Retired also said that laws are tools for those in power. This is a statement that goes straight to the heart of laws. When laws are out of date, the morality of the people is the new law. Gao Taishou, look at the past few months. The people of Lujiang County are like celebrating a festival. It can be seen that the oppression of the people by the local tyrants has reached the point where heaven is angry and people are resentful. I am helping you, Gao Taishou, do something you don't want to do."

Gao Di said angrily: "You are making up stories! I will report this to the court."

Zhang Ou laughed at the joke and said, "Gao Taishou is not afraid of the hawk coming to Yangzhou. Among the thirteen governors of the Han Dynasty, I think I have killed the least. So far, I have only hanged less than 500 powerful people."

When Gao Di heard the title of the goshawk, his face suddenly turned ugly and he left with a flick of his sleeves.

Zhang Ou shook his head and said, "He is so pedantic. No wonder even His Majesty's hidden dragon meritorious official is not valued."

The severe crackdown of the Han Dynasty was not just a passing fad, but an action that would really kill people. It was a purge of local tyrants and Han officials. Things like what happened in Yangzhou were common in the other twelve states of the Han Dynasty. The situation in Yangzhou was not even the worst.

The reason is very simple. Emperor Xu Aimin had warned Zhang Ou that Yangzhou was the economic center of the Han Dynasty. He wanted him to minimize the impact on Yangzhou's economy while cleaning up the local tyrants and knights. Therefore, most of the people Zhang Ou dealt with were local tyrants and knights. He also felt deeply regretful. There were not many actions like this in the Han Dynasty, and he might not have a second chance to carry out a thorough cleansing of the local tyrants.

Among the thirteen provincial governors, the most famous one was Zhidu, the governor of Bingzhou. In May alone, he hanged thousands of knights and local tyrants, shocking the entire Han Dynasty, because the number of people sentenced to death exceeded half of the number of people sentenced to death in the Han Dynasty last year. As a result, the Imperial Censor Zheng Qi had to go to Bingzhou in person to restrict Zhidu's killing.

However, Zhidu did not stop, but handed all the case files of these thousands of knights to the Imperial Censor Zheng Qi. Through these case files, it was known that these knights privately mined mines, deceived common people to work in the mines, imprisoned common people, concealed and underreported mining accidents, resulting in the death and disappearance of hundreds of people. This created a shocking case. If more than 36 people died in the Han Dynasty, it would be a major accident, and even the prefect would be affected.

After reading these files, Zheng Qi accused Shangdang Prefecture Governor Ban Yu and Taiyuan Prefecture Governor Zhuang Ji of dereliction of duty and handed them over to the emperor for trial.

Bingzhou is a place with extremely tough folk customs. Generally speaking, tough folk customs mean that the place is relatively poor. However, after the founding of the Han Dynasty, Bingzhou became one of the richest places in the world because of its minerals.

When the Han Dynasty was founded, 30% of the coal mines came from Shangdang, Taiyuan and other counties in Bingzhou. Shangdang and Taiyuan were therefore wealthy, and for a period of time, the fiscal revenues of the two counties were close to those of the first-tier counties such as Chen County and Kuaiji County. After the Han Dynasty opened the railway network, Bingzhou and its low-priced, high-quality coal swept the entire Han Dynasty market, firmly occupying more than 70% of the coal market in the Han Dynasty. Trains were whirring to transport coal to all parts of the Han Dynasty, and what they brought back was a carload of money.

Relying on the wealth brought by coal, Shangdang, Taiyuan and other counties have been very prosperous in the past few decades. Although they are not as rich as the first-tier counties of the Han Dynasty, they are among the best among the second-tier counties.

However, the wealth brought by the coal mines attracted countless knights, tyrants, illegal coal mines, and small coal mines that were mined illegally. This kind of thing continued despite repeated bans. In the past two years, the Han Dynasty relaxed supervision, which suddenly allowed these small coal mines to expand several times and caused so many deaths. This was also the main reason why the two county governors were dismissed. If it was just a little coal mining, it would not be so serious, but hundreds of lives were lost. This is a major case that even the county governor could not handle.

As soon as Zhidu became the governor, he overthrew two governors with salaries of 2000 shi, which shocked the entire Han Dynasty. At the same time, after he came to Taiyuan County, he enforced the law strictly and killed local tyrants without mercy. He even killed several powerful families who dared to resist the law. This greatly shocked the knights and local tyrants in Bingzhou. The knights abandoned their families, wives and children and fled Bingzhou. The local tyrants were so scared that they dared not even go out of the door. When they received a summons from the governor's mansion, they simply hanged themselves to end it all and not drag down their families. However, in just three months, Zhidu reached the point where children dared not cry at night when they heard his name.

However, because Zhidu was merciless in enforcing the law and would kill an entire family at any time, he was called the Goshawk by the nobles and powerful people of the Han Dynasty. This means that Zhidu was like a goshawk and was solitary, with great lethality and a single strike that would hit the target. Even if he was lucky enough not to die, he would be seriously injured and would not live long. In line with Zhidu's nature, there was also a hidden meaning, which was to hope that Zhidu would die.

Even when the retired emperor was purging the powerful, he only killed the main culprits and exiled their entire families. Now is not the founding period of the Han Dynasty. It is too terrifying to kill entire families at will. It is not a good thing for everyone in the Han Dynasty if Zhidu continues to be alive.

July 52, 7nd year of the Han Dynasty. Kuaiji County, Yangzhou Provincial Governor's Office.

"Your Majesty, this is the list of people to be exiled this time, with a total of more than 32000 people." Zhang Ou, the governor of Yangzhou, respectfully took out a list and handed it to the new King of Wu, Xu Shao.

In June, the emperor appointed all his adult princes as princes and settled them in the two continents of Nanzhou and Yanzhou respectively. To some extent, this purge of the imperial court was also to prepare the people for these vassal states.

Xu Shao looked through the list, which recorded every person's educational background and skills in great detail. It could be said that this was a very detailed household register. Xu Shao could refer to this list and arrange work for people when he arrived in his own vassal state.

Xu Shao nodded with satisfaction and said, "Zhang Zhishi is indeed a talented person. Are you interested in coming to my Wu Kingdom? I am willing to serve as your Prime Minister. When I inherit the throne, Zhang Zhishi will be my Prime Minister."

Xu Shao was the eldest son of the emperor. He was born in Yinzhou Continent and was deeply loved by the emperor. His training process was almost according to Xu Aimin's own style. After attending school for one year, he went to Mobei to serve as a soldier for three years. Later, he was arranged to be a Han official in Shangjun. In the following ten years, he experienced grassroots positions such as village tax collector, village groom, tax officer, and county magistrate.

Xu Shao's understanding of the grassroots of the Han Dynasty was no less than that of the ordinary Han officials. In the process, he also recruited a group of like-minded confidants. This time when he went to Nanzhou to be a fief, he gathered all his partners together and planned to go to Nanzhou together to start a business and let his father see his ability to govern the world.

The reason why he wanted to recruit Zhang Ou was because he discovered that Zhang Ou's abilities were much stronger than those of his partners. He was a wise man who could govern the country and was very important to his competition for the throne of the Han Emperor.

Although Xu Shao was deeply loved by the emperor, he also felt a great sense of urgency. The wives Xu Aimin married were all daughters of the Duke of Han. There was no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children in the royal family. When his father was enfeoffing them, he had already explained to them that governing the vassal states was the biggest test for them to become the emperor of the Han Dynasty. If they governed the vassal states well, they would most likely become the new emperor of the Han Dynasty. So Xu Shao had nine younger brothers as competitors, and that was not all. He also had seven underage brothers, who would obviously become his competitors when they came of age.

Compared to his father who was almost the designated second-generation emperor, Xu Shao and his generation truly enjoyed the competitive pressure of the Han princes. Unless they really wanted to become a prince in the wild land, these princes had to roll up their sleeves.

Zhang Ou bowed respectfully and said, "Thank you, King Wu, for your appreciation. I still want to stay in the Han Dynasty." At Zhang Ou's level, the merit of following the emperor was no longer tempting enough. Not to mention the competitive pressure here, the current emperor is still in his prime, and it is unknown how long he will have to wait to follow the emperor. It is better to stay in the Han Dynasty. It may be difficult to become the prime minister, but there is a high chance of becoming one of the nine ministers. Therefore, Zhang Ou decisively rejected the kindness of the King of Wu.

Xu Shao could only sigh and say, "Not being able to get the assistance of Governor Zhang is a great loss to me."

July 52, 7nd year of the Han calendar. Kuaiji County, Guangyang Guogong Commercial Company.

Xu Shaogao sat in the lead, and on both sides were the Han elites he had recruited over the past decade. These people generally had academic qualifications, and were elites among the agricultural, Mohist, Taoist, Legalist, and Confucian schools.

It's just that the Han Dynasty now has more than a hundred institutions of higher learning. After decades of development, the number of elites in the Han Dynasty has increased dozens of times. If these young people were to appear in the founding period of the Han Dynasty, the positions of county governor and county magistrate would be easily within their reach. But now they can only compete with elites of the same level for dozens of generations, and now they are generally only Han officials with a salary of 400-600 stones.

They did not have as many concerns as Zhang Ou. In the Han Dynasty, the competition to become a prefect with a salary of 2000 stones was extremely fierce. It required talent, family background, and luck. After competing to this extent, there was only a one percent chance of success.

If they surrendered to the eldest prince, they would be successful and become a meritorious official. They would be able to obtain the position of prefect with a salary of 2000 shi, and even hope to become the ruler of the world. If they failed, they would still be a high-ranking official in Wu State. So these people made great efforts for Xu Shao. In order to show their loyalty, their whole family came to Kuaiji County, and then all went to Wu State.

Among this group of people, a 70-year-old man stood next to Xu Shao. He was Ji Yu, the chief manager of Guangyang Guogong Commercial Company.

Ji Yu said: "The master has prepared five 5-ton transport ships for the eldest prince. Your Highness can form a transport ship to transport supplies for the Wu Kingdom. At the same time, the master has also prepared 2 billion yuan for Your Highness to purchase various goods."

Xu Shao said excitedly: "Butler, please tell him that your nephew thanks your grandfather."

Xu Shao's mother was the eldest daughter of Ji Xin, Duke of Guangyang, so Ji Xin's support for Xu Shao was unreserved, and he gave him billions of money and goods.

Ji Yu smiled and said, "The master has also prepared some manpower for you."

Ji Yu asked his men to bring the person over.

Soon a group of officers wearing breastplates appeared. The one leading them was tall and burly, with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes. He looked like a fierce general.

"Your Highness, your servant Li Guang pays respect to you."

Xu Shao happily helped Li Guang up and said, "So you are the Flying General. Your name is well known to me outside the Great Wall."

Li Guang said solemnly: "I will definitely clear all enemies for the king."

Xu Shao held Li Guang's hand and said happily: "With you, my dear minister, I can rest assured."

There are also indigenous people in Nanzhou, and the harassment from those indigenous people has become the biggest trouble for the Nanzhou colony. Now that Xu Shao wants to establish the Wu Kingdom, military is obviously the most important part. Now Li Guang’s arrival will solve the security problem of the Wu Kingdom in Nanzhou.

Not to mention, Li Guang's appearance completely satisfied the Han people's fantasy of a soldier. He was tall, strong, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and a calm and majestic expression. This was the perfect image of a Han general, and Xu Shao liked him just by looking at him. And Li Guang was not only good-looking, he was also a young general with outstanding military achievements.

In order to preserve the family, the Li family of Longxi followed Ji Bu to explore the Western Regions. Of course, after Ji Bu established the Ji Kingdom, he did not treat the Li family badly. Three generations of his family served as generals in the Western Regions. Li Guang was gifted since he was a child. He was proficient in using various Confucian spears, horse spears, and rifles. His spear skills within a hundred steps could be said to be 100% accurate. He was already a famous sharpshooter in the Western Regions before he joined the army. When he was the head of a garrison, he encountered a group of 300 horse thieves. Li Guang killed dozens of horse thieves in succession with his Confucian spears and horse spears, directly defeating the group of horse thieves. Then he led his troops to wipe out the horse thieves, which caused a sensation in the entire Western Regions.

In the following ten years, Li Guang was in charge of the military operations of the Ji Kingdom. He was famous in the Western Regions for fighting tough battles and defeating the enemy with fewer troops. The environment in the Western Regions was very suitable for Li Guang. There were only small-scale wars here. Li Guang's outstanding military command ability, accurate shooting skills and personal bravery allowed him to repeatedly defeat powerful enemies and earned him the name of Flying General in the Western Regions. He also became the leader of the new generation of the Li family.

The reason why Li Guang appeared in Kuaiji County in the south was very simple. The Li family also wanted to gain the credit of following the dragon. Although the Li family had a firm foothold in the Western Regions, the Western Regions were only a small world after all, and they had always been trapped in the Western Regions and became local tyrants. But the Li family was also a general family of the Qin Dynasty. They had seen the world and were not those bumpkins in the Western Regions. They were unwilling to degenerate from a central tyrant family to a local tyrant.

However, their efforts to return to the Han Dynasty were repeatedly frustrated. Li Guang's father, Li Shang, was also a top student at Mozi Academy. However, he had been an official in the Han Dynasty for decades, but he was only a chief clerk with a salary of 600 stones. After his retirement, he was given the treatment of a county magistrate with a salary of stones.

No matter how much support other Li descendants gave, they could only become Han officials with a salary of 600 shi at most. This was their limit. Han officials were trying to limit the progress of Li descendants. Many Li descendants could not stand this humiliation. His Li family was also a wealthy family in the Western Regions. Three generations of his family had been generals in the Ji Kingdom and held the same position as the Nine Ministers in the Han Dynasty. However, they could only become minor officials in the Han Dynasty. These people simply returned to the Western Regions.

However, this time, the emperor's enfeoffment gave the Li family an opportunity. Everyone knew that the emperor wanted to examine the important princes and build the vassal states. The good princes had a great chance to become the crown prince, and then become the new emperor of the Han Dynasty. The Ji Kingdom would definitely support the eldest prince, so the contemporary Ji Kingdom ruler Ji Hao sent officers led by Li Guang and thousands of elite soldiers to join the Wu Kingdom. The Li family also did the same. The eldest prince was not only deeply loved by the emperor, but also had the support of the two great dukes behind him. With the advantage of status, the probability of becoming the emperor was the greatest, so Li Guang led the elite of the Li family to join Xu Shao.

August 52, 8nd year of the Han calendar. Wuxian Wharf, Kuaiji County.

A huge transport ship was ready to leave the dock. Gantry cranes were transporting the huge cargo to the ship. Some ragged exiles were slowly boarding the ship under the supervision of soldiers.

Li Guang saluted Xu Shao and said, "Your Majesty, it's time to get on board."

Xu Shao glanced at the bustling Wuxian Wharf, clenched his fists and said, "I will be back."

Compared to the King of Wu, the Emperor of Han is the center of power in this world. His departure today is to return to Han tomorrow and return to the center of power.

Then a huge fleet consisting of more than a dozen transport ships left the Wuxian Wharf and headed towards Nanzhou in a mighty manner.

At other docks in the Han Dynasty, at about the same time, similar fleets were heading to the two continents of Nanzhou and Yanzhou, carrying large numbers of exiles and supplies.

These teams are the fleets of other princes. The eldest prince has the support of two great dukes, but the other princes also have grandfathers of the duke level. They have a large amount of supplies to support them in developing vassal states, and they also have a large number of followers.

As for the education of the royal children, Xu Fan learned from the experiences of later generations and studied under a pseudonym as an ordinary scholar. The friends he made during the learning process were the best team of these princes.

Therefore, these princes have opened up new vassal states, and they have confidants, talents, and material resources. Their arrival will greatly enhance the development of Nanzhou and Yanzhou.

(End of this chapter)