Chapter 1046: Fleeing South, Sending to the North
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Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
This was unlike the Yu Clan, which was a scholarly family and did not lead troops. There were two memorial tablets in the family. One belonged to a minister of the previous dynasty, and the other belonged to a chaste woman.
They were both extraordinary people in the world. There was also the famous Eldest Princess Shaoyi in the north.
Yu Zongshen nodded. “He’ll use this to seek favor with King Yue Fei and send the descendants of the Song family to the North to be protected by King Yue
Fei. He’ll definitely do it.”
Now that Thief Liang was here, in the Great Zhou, other than King Yue Fei, no one could protect the Song family. If they sacrificed one person, they could protect the entire Song family, and the descendants of the Song family would have a future. Why not?
Today’s conversation was destined to leave a deep mark in history in the future.
Elder Yu looked for the Marquis of Zhenguo. The two of them chatted for a long time in the study.
In the dead of night, the Marquis of Zhenguo summoned his family with red eyes and made a shocking decision. The entire Zhenguo Marquis Residence was gloomy and cried.
The Marquis of Zhenguo’s matriarch fainted on the spot.
Fortunately, the Marquis of Zhenguo was already prepared and quickly hired a doctor to perform acupuncture. That was why she was fine.
A few days later, bad news came from Henan. Thief Liang had taken down several cities in a row without any effort. The loss of Henan was already a foregone conclusion.
Since ancient times, Henan had been the heart of the Central Plains, and it was also a place that military strategists had to fight for. Losing Henan was no different from stabbing a sharp knife into the heart of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The Imperial Court was beginning to perish. The commoners were afraid that the flames of war would spread, so they fled to Jiangnan and the North, which were temporarily stable.
Refugees displaced by war were everywhere.
The price of food completely lost control and soared.
The news of the escape to the south quickly spread in the capital. For a moment, everyone felt threatened. Many people had already packed their belongings and planned to escape with their families while Thief Liang was still in Henan.
The bustling capital became chaotic.
At this moment, a group of old n.o.bles led by the Marquis of Zhenguo joined forces with the Duke of Long, the Qi Residence, and some officials who were on good terms with the Yu and Qi families to launch the great cause of abandoning the capital to protect the north.
Rich merchants, officials, aristocratic families, n.o.bles, and even the imperial family had all been raided. Seventy percent of their wealth was confiscated, and 30% was kept for themselves.
The capital was filled with resentment and curses.
Far away in Henan, when the King of Liang and his son found out about this, they were so angry that they almost vomited blood.
Yu Zongshen had searched everything in the capital. When it was their turn, not to mention eating meat, they wouldn’t even be able to drink soup. At that time, the treasury would be empty. Even if they took down the Great Zhou
Dynasty, where would they find the money to manage the country and the people?!
“Yu Zongshen, good job.” The King of Liang slapped a white jade qilin on the table, shattering this priceless jade carving. He roared, “Good job, Yu Clan…”
What was the difference between this scene today and back then when Duke Zhonglie killed the king and welcomed the new emperor?!
The Yu Clan was indeed still the same.
Liang Jingxuan also sighed. Even though he was furious, he couldn’t say anything to slander him. “Father, please forgive them. The Di people are coming aggressively now. It’s really beyond our expectations. If the North is lost, our longevity plan will be obstructed. If this batch of money and supplies can really help King Yue Fei defeat the Di people and defend the North, it’ll still be beneficial to us.’
Of course, the King of Liang knew this, but at the thought of handing over the money, his heart felt as uncomfortable as blood.
“How do we know that a young boy like King Yue Fei can guard the North and defeat 600,000 Di people? Yu Zongshen didn’t hesitate to bear the infamy and abandon the capital to protect the north. Don’t go for wool and come home shorn. This will gather the wealth of the world and benefit the Northern
Barbarians.’
The political style of the Great Zhou Dynasty was demoralized and corrupted.
The officials and merchants below colluded to plunder the people’s flesh and blood. They also had to give up most of their money to show filial piety and fight for the protection of the higher-ups. It was more convenient for them to acc.u.mulate wealth. Often, what they could obtain was only a small profit, and most of it was sent to the higher-ups. In this way, they were stripped layer by layer, and the officials protected each other. In the end, all rivers flowed to the sea and the money flowed into the hands of the n.o.bles in the capital.
During this raid, they raided more than half of the Great Zhou Dynasty’s money.
It was hard to say for Liang Jingxuan. If King Yue Fei failed to guard the North, who knew who would get the money?
It wasn’t that he wanted to boost the enemy’s ambition and reduce his prestige.
The Liang army was also a powerful army, but the soldiers of the north and south were different. The difference was too great. The Di people were famous for their bravery. There were many generals in the court, but none of them dared to pat their chests and say that they were confident in defeating the Di people. If not, why would the emperor have handed the North to Yin Huaixi, who was still weak and sick at that time?
After the Marquis of Changxing, no one dared to accept the hot potato of the North.
The Liang army did not have the experience and methods to resist the
Northern Barbarians. The Northern Barbarians were aggressive. If they fought in a hurry, they would definitely suffer.
Abandoning the capital to protect the north caused a commotion in the capital.
Unexpectedly, in just three days, the Marquis of Zhen had confiscated more than 50 million taels of silver, a batch of gold, pearls, jade, gems, a large number of food, cloth, and so on.
They could even raid 100,000 taels of silver from the residence of a mere seventh- grade official.
It really echoed a saying.
“Three years of acting as a clean official and 100,000 taels of silver.”
It also made people suddenly understand. The Great Zhou Dynasty opened water and land trade routes widely. The domestic trade routes were all connected and interconnected. During the previous emperor’s era, they also respected Confucianism on the outside and Daoism on the inside. Their recuperation caused the economy to reach the peak in the history of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Later, Yu Zongshen lifted the sea ban and endless supplies from overseas were transported into the country. The Great Zhou Dynasty was extremely rich, but this profit did not flow into the treasury.
It was really difficult to calm down.
The capital guard camp had been raiding for ten days. The Ministry of Revenue had calculated that there was more than 71 million taels of silver and more than three million taels of gold. The stored food could not even be stored in the main warehouse of the military supplies.
In addition to money and food, there was also a portion of cotton, wine, medicinal herbs, cloth, and so on. It was also a huge sum of resources.
Even Elder Yu was dumbfounded. He shook his head. “l think it’s because of the drought in Guanzhong. Thief Liang has rebelled, and supplies have become important. These people have long started to h.o.a.rd resources to protect themselves. They’ve h.o.a.rded wantonly, and the supplies circulating in the market have decreased. The commoners can’t survive and can only resist the Imperial Court. No wonder there are frequent riots everywhere. This family doesn’t complain. In my opinion, raiding 70 0/0 of their a.s.sets is too little. Everything should be raided.”
The Marquis of Zhenguo said nothing.
However, Lord Qi agreed deeply. “A crafty rabbit has three burrows. I think only a portion of their a.s.sets can be investigated. The other portion has long been hidden elsewhere as a way out.”
Yu Zongshen coughed. “Then continue raiding. Control the families and let them confess where the supplies and money are hidden. Those who resist will be punished on the spot!’
No one present raised any objections. It was mainly because they were disappointed in these people!
All of this money was taken from the people. In the end, they were rich and heartless, not giving the people a way out!
Yu Zongshen suppressed his cough and continued in a hoa.r.s.e voice, “The money and supplies that were confiscated have to be sent to Xiangping City in batches as soon as possible while I can still control the general situation of the capital. Otherwise, if we delay, there will be additional complications. Also, send someone to secretly send the news to Xiangping and ask Eldest Princess
Shaoyi to send an army to receive us..”