Three Kingdoms: I will act as a substitute for the Hunjun

Chapter 177 Sun Jian vomits blood when Wancheng changes flag
Kuai Liang saw that the situation was not right and immediately ordered the city gate to be closed.

However, at this time, the suspension bridge was crowded with people, and the entire city gate was also crowded with people, making it impossible to close the city gate.

"Everyone, stop, stop moving forward!" Kuai Liang shouted loudly while grabbing the battlements, "Back off! Back off! If you don't back off, we will release arrows!"

However, in the noisy scene, his voice as a scribe could not be heard by the crowds of people outside the city. Even if someone heard it, the more he threatened and shouted, the more people crowded into the city, trying to close the city. At the last moment, the door enters a safe haven.

Of course, it is difficult to judge at the moment how many of these are Jingzhou's defeated troops and how many are the makeup of the imperial troops.

Kuai Liang saw it, gritted his teeth, and shouted loudly: "Put down the Qianjin Gate!"

In order to increase the defense capabilities of large cities in ancient times, in addition to the city gates, a thousand-pound gate was often installed on the city gate hole. It was usually made of giant stones. After the city gate was broken, lowering the giant gate could effectively block the attack. enemy.

If Wancheng's city gate has lost its function of resisting enemies, and if you want to defend Wancheng, there is only one way - lower the Qianjin Gate!

"If you lower the Thousand Jin Gate, aren't you afraid that Sun Jian won't be able to enter the city when he comes back?" Suddenly a cold voice sounded from behind.

Kuai Liang felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He suddenly turned around and saw a flash of cold light. A large knife was pressed against his chest. The owner of the knife was a burly man.

It was he who had just cut the ropes of the suspension bridge.

"Who are you?" Kuai Liang's heart was pounding, but he tried hard to keep a calm look on his face and said in a low but trembling voice.

"His Majesty's vanguard officers in the southern expedition are Xu Zu and Xu Zhongkang!" The big man said in a loud and authentic voice, "Hurry up and order the soldiers in the city to put down their weapons and surrender on the spot, otherwise you will die without a burial place."

Kuai Liang took a deep breath and said: "I have received the kindness of Sun Wentai, and I should repay it with death! If the court has the ability, it will come to capture Wancheng. Why does it need Kuai to send an order?"

Xu Chu's face darkened and he slowly took a step forward. Kuai Yue couldn't help but take a step back as he was pressed by the knife.

At this time, a battle had broken out on the top of the city. A fierce battle broke out between the officers and soldiers who had sneaked into the city and the defenders. The sounds of weapons hitting each other, the sound of sharp weapons being inserted into the body, and the screams before death came one after another. It also spurted streams of blood, dyeing the ancient city red.

"Is this Mr. Zirou (Kuai Liang's nickname)?" Suddenly a faint voice came, and a man walked up along the horse path. He was wearing a golden helmet and armor, and was accompanied by a young man holding a sword. He stabbed him to death with a sword. A defender stumbled over.

Kuai Liang knew at a glance that the situation was over and the emperor had entered the city.

His guess was correct, it was Liu Ming and Shi A who came.

"Mr. Zirou's younger brother Kuai Yidu (Kuai Yue) has made great contributions to the country. I love him deeply. Yidu once mentioned that Mr. Zirou's talent and learning are above him." Liu Ming looked at Kuai Liang, who looked a little flustered. He smiled and said, "I thought I would come to Jingzhou to meet a talented person named Zirou and give the Kuai family a fortune, but I didn't expect that you and I would meet in this way."

Kuai Yue was originally He Jin's counselor. After He Jin's rebellion, Kuai Yue took refuge with Liu Ming. He first helped Zhang Liao manage military affairs, and later followed Liu Ming in his northern expedition to Hanoi and was appointed magistrate of Wen County.

Liu Ming knew the Kuai brothers relatively well and had certain talents. Although they were incomparable to monster-like talents like Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi, they were more than enough to govern one side, not to mention they were the backbone of the Jingzhou family.

If the Kuai family surrenders to the imperial court, it will surely be a clear example for other aristocratic families.

Of course, even if the Kuai family resisted the imperial court, Liu Ming didn't care. Now Sun Jian has basically collapsed. The army he brought has been baptized by the fire of war. The more they fight, the more brave they are and their combat power is getting stronger. It is not difficult to defeat Jingzhou.

Which aristocratic family is disobedient and dares to openly confront themselves, just kill their heads and bleed everywhere. Could there be a worse ending than the current one?

In this chaotic situation, Liu Ming has become somewhat immune to the chaos in the world, isn't it just chaos? That’s it!
It’s already such a mess anyway, where else can it get messier?

But for Kuai Liang, who was already despairing, his eyes lit up when the emperor mentioned Kuai Yue and even the entire Kuai family.

To be honest, the reason why he took refuge with Sun Jian was to protect the interests of the Kuai family in these troubled times. Now that he heard that the emperor seemed to value his younger brother Kuai Yue very much, and even had the idea of ​​​​making the Kuai family rich, he immediately The mind becomes active.

Although literati have integrity, jumping between different camps will certainly be criticized by the world, but surrendering to the emperor is not shameful. You should be the emperor's subjects. To put it more carefully, you should also repent, abandon the darkness, turn to the light, and return to the right path.

Compared with being loyal to the rebels, being loyal to the emperor is of course more orthodox and noble. Of course, the most important thing is to stay true to one's origins - to protect the interests of the family.

Kuai Liang is basically the talker of the Kuai family, a patriarch-like existence. He has to take into account the interests of the whole family, which is different from the value orientation of a bachelor like Han Dang.

Therefore, in history, when the Kuai family and Cai family saw that Cao Cao was powerful, they strongly advocated that Jingzhou surrender to Cao Cao, even at the expense of their lord Liu Cong.

The same is true now. Liu Ming knows how powerful the family is, but in this situation, he still has to rely on the obedient family, otherwise it will be even more difficult to rule the world.

Kuai Liang immediately pushed the huge knife head on his chest gently with his hand, fell to his knees with a thump, banged his head on the ground, and said in a choked voice: "Kuai Liang has betrayed the divine grace and his sin is unforgivable. He must still return the favor." Please, for the sake of my younger brother, please give the Kuai family a way out."

Liu Ming naturally knew that Kuai Liang was acting and did not expose it. He smiled and said, "Mr. Zirou, you don't have to be like this. Now you have a chance to make atonement. If you can get all the soldiers in the city to lay down their weapons and surrender to the court, you will not only be innocent, And if you have merit, I will reward you heavily."

"Really? Thank you for Your Majesty's grace! The guilty people will immediately order all the soldiers in the city to put down their weapons and surrender to the imperial court!" Kuai Liang was waiting for these words from the emperor, and immediately kowtowed again, stood up and said in front of Liu Ming Tokens and arrows.

Liu Ming also immediately ordered the officers and soldiers to control the four gates and take over the surrendered soldiers, and ordered Xi Zhicai to immediately draw up a notice to calm the people to prevent the people in the city from panic.

This was all planned in advance by Liu Ming and Xi Zhicai.

He used six large camps to attract Sun Jian to the Bowangpo ambush circle, and burned most of the troops to death. As for whether killing too many animals in this way would ruin his life, Liu Ming no longer cared so much. Now that things have happened, he has secured his position. is the most important.

Liu Ming also arranged for Gao Shun to lead the Yuanyang Formation to block Sun Jian's escape route, followed by Lu Bu's cavalry to pursue him.

Almost at the same time, he, Xu Chu and Zhang Fei led a group of soldiers and horses to Wancheng under the cover of night, blended into the defeated army and entered the city, taking control of the largest city in Nanyang and the southern capital of the Han Dynasty in one fell swoop.

…………

When the exhausted Sun Jian took Huang Zhong, Huang Gai, Cheng Pu, Zhu Zhi and other generals and about 200 people to escape to Wancheng, they saw a high suspension bridge, closed city gates, and darkness above the city. .

I can't help but wonder, how can the city defense be so lax in the face of a powerful enemy? The coach returned to the city but there was no movement at all. "Open the city gate quickly! Da Sima is back!" Zhu Zhi shouted loudly.

Suddenly the lights were brightly lit on top of the city, countless torches were lit, and flags were erected. However, the flags looked like the flags of the imperial soldiers and horses. The flags on the top of Wancheng City had been changed, and the Sun-character flag was fluttered from the top of the city. Drifting and throwing it down.

Liu Ming's figure appeared under the handsome flag on the top of the city.

Liu Ming put his hand on the crenel and said with a smile: "Sun Wentai, I have been waiting here for a long time, why are you late?"

Sun Jian only felt anxious and extremely depressed. Why did he have to be a step slower in everything? Why is everyone being plotted by the emperor? Why did it fail so miserably this time?
Suddenly my throat felt sweet and a fishy smell surged up.

"Poof!" A mouthful of blood spurted out, his body shook a few times, and he almost fell off the horse.

"General!"

"Lord!"

Everyone hurriedly supported him with all their hands.

"Wancheng has been lost, and Nanyang has nowhere to stay. It is better to cross the Han River and retreat to Xiangyang before making plans." Zhu Zhi suggested.

"Let's go!" Sun Jian wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and shouted in a low voice.

The crowd hurried around Wancheng like bereaved dogs and ran southward under the cover of night.

Everyone on the top of the city laughed.

They left Beijing a few days ago and headed south. Many people were not optimistic about this southern expedition and believed that they would definitely fail. Even some people were not so pessimistic and believed that there would be fierce battles waiting for them.

I never expected that with your majesty's ingenious plan, Sun Jian's entire army could be wiped out so easily and Wancheng was easily captured.

Everyone was in a good mood at this moment.

Liu Ming held a banquet in the commander's mansion. At the banquet, there were not only the civil servants and generals from the southern expedition, but also the famous and prestigious families in Nanyang.

The elders of these wealthy families feel extremely honored to be able to participate in the emperor's banquet. This is undoubtedly a sign that the ancestral graves are smoking, and they can go back and boast about it for several lifetimes.

While he was drinking, a messenger from Luoyang came. It was the great Situ Cheng Yuan Wei who presented a report. It contained detailed plans for counting land acres and implementing new taxes after autumn.

Especially the statistics of land acres. The statistics around Luoyang have been completed. It was found that some aristocratic families and even many dignitaries in the court had seized the land of ordinary people. Some of them drove away the original owners for a random reason and put the fertile land into the hands of those powerful people. .

Yuan Wei asked for instructions on what to do in this situation! He also suggested the establishment of officials dedicated to promoting the implementation of the new tax system, which should also be established in all states and governments across the country, so that relevant government decrees could quickly reach the local areas.

After Liu Ming read the memorial, he handed the memorial to Kuai Liang and said coldly: "There are always people who are ignorant and greedy. The Hanoi Shan family once opposed the new tax system and even rebelled. I have destroyed their entire clan, and the Yuan family in Runan Although Yuan Shu caused trouble, Yuan Kui supported the new tax system and took the lead in promoting its implementation. I did not pursue his family's crimes. I think Yuan Situ was quite insightful in his performance. I wonder what Zirou and the elders think? "

What else can Kuai Liang say? He took the watch and glanced at it briefly, then handed it to the other elders of the aristocratic family next to him, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty's Holy Might, if it can be implemented, it will be a blessing to the people and the country."

Although his heart is bleeding, fully implementing the new tax system will reduce the income of these aristocratic families a lot, but this is not the main thing. The main thing is that they can no longer exploit the tenant farmers and poor people as unscrupulously as before. The aristocratic family His sense of superiority was suddenly greatly weakened.

In the past, they could receive 70 to 80% of the land rent from tenant farmers. In order to pay less land rent, those who suffered basically let them bully them, but now the land rent and the court's land tax combined only accounted for 40%. After that, the rest is yours.

The tenant farmers could just ignore them.

As a result, the sense of superiority and accomplishment that the aristocratic families have accumulated over the past hundreds of years over ordinary people will be significantly weakened, which makes those aristocratic families who have lived their lives of high status feel extremely uncomfortable.

However, there is no way!
The emperor's words just now have actually made it very clear. If you oppose the new tax system, there will be genocide. If you support the new tax system, even if you are at fault, His Majesty will deal with it leniently.

Compared with the crisis of family destruction, what does it mean to collect less food?

So everyone praised Liu Mingnai as an eternal sage, comparable to Yao and Shun, and expressed their approval for the implementation of the new tax system in Jingzhou. They must go all out to support the imperial decree.

"Okay!" Liu Ming said loudly, "I will now appoint Kuai Liang as the governor of Nanyang, accurately count the acres of land, and publicize the new tax system in advance so that the people are willing to farm and farm with success. The Kuai family and the elders here have to do What a good example. All of Nanyang and even all of Jingzhou are watching you. If you do well, I will benefit from you all."

As for what will happen if they don't do it well, Liu Ming didn't say it clearly. They must be able to be the clan leader, and their brains should not be bad, and they should be able to figure out the evil in it.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, the common people will definitely let the people of Jingzhou enjoy the holy grace." Everyone expressed their opinions one after another.

"I hope you are sincerely thinking about the common people and the country." Liu Ming's voice became colder and he said, "If anyone harms the people and enriches his own pockets by implementing the new tax system, then hey... don't blame the law for being ruthless. Don’t blame me for killing you as a warning!”

Everyone hurriedly expressed their loyalty, especially the clan elders, who were all so frightened that they sweated like rain and soaked their clothes. I felt the strong murderous intention from His Majesty's words.

No one would doubt that if one of their families dared to resist the imperial court, it would probably result in the confiscation of the family and the extermination of the family.

Liu Ming immediately approved Yuan Wei's suggestion, and at the same time ordered those aristocratic families and dignitaries who had seized or seduced people's land to immediately return the land to the original owners, otherwise they would be handed over to the chief minister to handle according to law.

"There is no punishment that cannot be punished by a scholar-official." Liu Ming said solemnly, "violations must be punished and law enforcement must be strict. These are the basic principles of punishment. The same is true in Nanyang. Anyone who seizes the people's land must be spit out!"

"I obey the order!" Kuai Liang responded solemnly.

Everyone continued to drink. After drinking for a while, a soldier came in to report that a teenage boy was found in Huang Zhong's home. He claimed to be Huang Zhong's son Huang Xu. He was bedridden and very ill. He didn't know what to do. Disposal.

(End of this chapter)