Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 433 427. Intricate Roots
Winter passed and spring came. According to the calendar of later generations, it was already spring in 224 AD. Jingzhou was safe and prosperous, and the people had enough food to survive the winter. Most people even followed Feng Xi's reference to the use of earthen kangs in the Northeast in later generations and promoted heated kangs, so that most people would not even suffer from the cold.

Jingzhou was the most stable of the three states under Feng Xi, so naturally there would be no disturbances. On the contrary, Jiaozhou and Yangzhou were not that stable.

In Jiaozhou, the Cham people and the Han people were hostile to each other. After Feng Xi alienated the Cham people and made them feel uncoordinated, the situation improved slightly. Now, because of the Nanzhong incident, another force suddenly entered the scene, making Jiaozhou even more chaotic.

Fortunately, the situation in Jiaozhou was under control, because no matter whether it was the Zhan people, the southerners or the Han people, they were all attacking each other under the laws and policies formulated by the government. This kind of playing within the rules naturally posed no threat. Li Hui even learned the essence and would fan the flames every now and then to make Jiaozhou more stable after a period of chaos.

Yangzhou was another problem, that is, the local aristocratic families with complicated connections. Needless to say, the Sun family, as the price of proclaiming themselves emperor, most of the men in the Sun family died on the battlefield, and a few side branches like Sun Shao were able to survive.

However, there was no possibility of negotiation with the main family of Sun Quan's lineage. Almost all the men were killed, and the women were taken to Chengdu for punishment. Most of them were sent to the homes of wealthy families in Sichuan to serve as slaves. These were not Feng Xi's concern.

As for pity? That's out of the question. This is a gamble with both risks and opportunities. Sun Quan is betting that he can survive as an emperor, so his family and clan must be prepared to be liquidated. How can he just enjoy the good life?

On the other hand, other Yangzhou gentry were no pushovers. Although Li Yan was quite capable, dealing with their relationships was quite a headache.

Feng Xi took the time to discuss this with Li Yan in detail, and gave Li Yan three options. The worst option was to be one-sided, either to fully support these nobles in order to gain their support as quickly as possible and then quickly integrate Jiangdong, or to be completely hostile to them, and to destroy before building.

However, Li Yan also knew that a one-sided policy was not the first choice, and he would not turn against them unless it was absolutely necessary. As for cooperating with them, it would be courting disaster. As a senior official who grew up from the grassroots, Li Yan had personally witnessed the collusion between officials and businessmen and the people's miserable lives.

If he cooperated completely with these aristocratic families, Yangzhou would be the same as before in less than a year, with little difference. Li Yan, the governor of Yangzhou, would also be sidelined by them.

Feng Xi's best strategy, naturally, is to use all kinds of means, just like in Jiaozhou and diplomacy, to pressure, win over, and suppress various factions, so that they can form a balance, prevent one party from dominating, and prevent certain people from leaving easily.

However, Li Yan did not quite agree with this. Although doing so would not cause backlash from the aristocratic families, it was also too uncontrollable and it would be difficult to achieve the desired effect.

"Then I have a plan, which I just came up with recently. Lord Li, may I ask what the confidence of the noble families is to cause trouble to a region?"

As the two men sat and discussed, Feng Xi saw that Li Yan was not optimistic about either strategy, but he was not surprised, because Feng Xi had just recently come up with a new approach.

"The confidence of the family...? Well... it's nothing more than talent and local power."

Li Yan thought about it and answered uncertainly. Talent is easy to say. The reading rate at that time was originally low. Those who could write dozens of words were considered educated. There were a lot of people on the street who couldn't write their own names. Books were copied from each other, so they were naturally difficult to learn.

In other words, the difference between the rich and the poor is like a natural barrier, just by relying on books. So naturally, when recommending and selecting officials, although they must check whether they are filial and honest, their abilities are also within the scope of examination. Even in the later period, those who are not from aristocratic families are not worthy of being recommended. And those officials who are a little famous are basically from aristocratic families. For example, the county magistrate is from the local Wang family, and the county magistrate is from the local Li family... In this way, if there is really any trouble, how can these officials from the local wealthy families not be on their side?

Power is easier to understand, and it is complementary to connections. In ancient times, marriages were based on matching families of equal status. After several generations of intermarriage, local families were almost all related by blood. Your daughter married my eldest son, your youngest son married my niece...naturally, your connections became wider because of marriage.

With connections and talents rooted in government offices, it does not seem to be particularly difficult to plunder, take human lives, or even control local states and counties.

"I wonder what the Grand Commander has to teach me?"

Li Yan was also very interested after listening to Feng Xi's analysis. Although this great commander was young, his literary talent and martial arts were already amazing. Needless to say, he was good at marching and fighting, and he relied on this to rise to the top. At least Li Yan thought he was not as good as him.

However, Li Yan did not expect that Feng Xi, who looked like a brute with a brain full of muscles, was so skilled in handling local affairs and political means. There were many sinister ideas that even old men like them who had been immersed in politics for decades could not think of.

"That's easy. Printing technology is now widely used in Jingzhou. I'm sure Lord Li has also made full use of it, right?"

Whether it is woodblock printing or movable type, the technology is now very mature, and there are a large number of skilled craftsmen in each state and even county.

The papermaking technology that goes with it is equally impressive. Although pure white paper cannot be made, slightly yellowed paper can still be easily produced.

With the combination of the two, the so-called knowledge monopoly is no longer a problem. Moreover, Jiangdong did not dare to boycott openly. Sun Quan had just died less than a year ago, and now he jumped out to make trouble. Is he eager to tattoo "Sun Quan's remnant" on his head?
As for the secret obstruction... I can only say that whenever there is a major historical change, those vested interests want to jump out and oppose the reform. Whether it is the aristocratic families at this time or the textile workers during the British Industrial Revolution, the development of many things is not diverted by the ideas of some people.

Nowadays, you can buy a copy of "The Analects of Confucius", "The Spring and Autumn Annals" and "The Great Learning" for a few dollars in any bookstore encouraged by the government.

As long as the printing house has enough materials, it will have no problem printing thousands of copies of this kind of book a day.

All we can say is that the feudal landlord class has now been beaten to a pulp by pre-capitalism, and this is just the beginning.

"Actually, Master Li, let's change our thinking. Books and knowledge are no longer valuable nowadays. With the prevalence of newspapers, the era when these aristocratic families could control the government and fool the people is gone forever.

If they want to maintain their previous life, they have to have money, right? "

(End of this chapter)