Chapter 868: A Thousand-Mile Dyke
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Huang Wenxian’s expression was sad as he smiled bitterly. “They’ll die either way. If they cooperate with the Marquis of Weining, there’s still a chance of survival. Therefore, they’re putting everything on the line and striking first. They might as well accuse King Li of Zhou of treason…”
At that time, the Weining Marquis Residence had all the power in the court. Imperial Consort Lu was doted on and could be said to be in the limelight.
Yu Youyao sighed softly. “The commoners have been bullied by the nobles for generations and have a deep grudge against them. King Li of Zhou’s death has even planted the root of their hostility towards the nobles in the hearts of the commoners. Later, King Li of Zhou’s injustice was cleared, and the evil deeds of the nobles were exposed to the world. This hostility was gradually replaced by hatred. It’s just that because of the power of the nobles, no one dared to resist.”
King Li of Zhou wasn’t the only one who had died in that battle back then.
There were also thousands of soldiers who eventually died at the hands of the Di people because they lacked supplies. They were the guardians of the North and the husbands, fathers, sons, and relatives of millions of commoners.
As long as they grasped this point and used it a little, it was easy to arouse the hatred of the commoners towards the nobles.
Many ants could bite an elephant to death.
This was just like when Madam Yang had claimed that she was sick and handed over the butler’s key. Her grandmother had asked her to help manage the household, and she had realized that there was a problem with the purchase in the main kitchen.
Yang Shuwan, Mother Yang, and Steward Zhou formed a stable and secret chain of interests. It was not easy to touch anyone.
Even if they were moved, it wouldn’t solve the fundamental problem.
Therefore, Yu Youyap controlled the others in the small village. A thousand-mile dyke could collapse because of an ant’s nest. One could not underestimate any of them.
The key to dealing with the nobles was clear.
If she couldn’t touch the land-owning class, could she still control those nobles?
As long as she controlled them, she could follow the clues and implicate the land-owning class.
Although it was not enough to uproot the land-owning class, her goal was not to completely eliminate them. After all, the land-owning class was the cornerstone of the development of the North. If they were exterminated, it was inevitable that the North would fall into civil strife. This was disadvantageous to Yin Huaixi. Her fundamental goal was to greatly weaken the power of the land-owning class.
… .
There were two major sources of medicinal herbs in the North.
One was led by the Bai family of Xiangping City. The place where the medicinal herbs were produced was in the three provinces of Liaodong.
The other area was led by the Qin family of Shaanxi. The medicinal herbs produced in the northwest were from the vast area west of Xi’an, including Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai.
Even with the unique medicinal herbs, the North was still short of them.
The medicinal herbs produced in the Daoist area had priority over military resources.
The Imperial Court was suspicious of the vassal lords and had the protection of the local nobles. Whenever there was a conflict between the vassal lords and the nobles, the Imperial Court would first be suspicious of the vassal lords.
This was also the source of the nobles’ fearlessness.
The You army was weak, so they had to be controlled by others.
King Li of Zhou was an example.
Old Master Bai sat in the front hall and listened to the servant report the situation outside. “… I originally praised the righteousness of the Xie family. I wonder who took advantage of the situation and instigated a condemnation. They said that the gentry were tyrannical and took advantage of the commoners…” This was a better excuse. In fact, there were all kinds of curses. “They even said, said…”
The servant, who was originally eloquent, immediately trembled. His mouth trembled, and he couldn’t squeeze out a word from his throat. For a moment, his face turned pale.
Old Master Bai suddenly had a bad feeling.
However, Madam Bai was flustered and exasperated. She said angrily, “No matter what the people outside say, tell me everything in detail.”
As the servant’s calves trembled, he knelt on the ground with a thud and said in a trembling voice, “They said— They said that if the nobles were as benevolent as the Xie family, why would every family in the North be dressed in white? Everyone raised a white flag, and orphans and widows suffered. Fathers cried, wives lost their husbands, and sons lost their fathers. Even King Li of Zhou… was killed…”
“How can that be?” Madam Bai’s expression changed and she immediately flew into a rage. With a bang, she slammed her palm on the table. “This is nonsense.”
The scene of thousands of corpses in the North when the emperor was angry was still vivid in her mind.
These words were really sinister. They pushed all the nobles in the North to the limelight.
Old Master Bai’s pupils were constricted. He quickly realized that the servant had always been talking about nobles and not the “gentry.” It was difficult not to think deeply.
Madam Bai was worried that the rumors would become more and more intense, so she quickly said, “Send someone to keep an eye on the outside. If anyone dares to spread rumors and slander our Bai Residence, capture them and send them to the county office…”
Although the government office was located in Xiangping City, the big and small matters in Xiangping City were under the jurisdiction of the county office.
“Shut up!” Old Master Bai glanced at Madam Bai warningly and interrupted her coldly. He turned to the servant and said, “You can leave first!”
The servant felt as if he had been pardoned. He got up from the ground and ran away.
Madam Bai frowned. “Master, why are you…”
Old Master Bai said angrily, “Back then, King Li of Zhou’s case was like a river of blood. To this day, no one dares to discuss King Li of Zhou’s death wantonly. What right do those people outside have to be so brazen? Who gave them the guts? Who started it? If you want to capture them and bring them to the government office, wouldn’t it be revealing what we intended to hide and confirming the rumors about King Li of Zhou’s death?”
Madam Bai’s breathing tightened. “Master, you mean that the rumors outside were all premeditated? Could it be that the Xie family was behind it?”
The rumors only appeared after the Xie family donated military-funded medicinal herbs.
It was difficult not to associate it with the Xie family.
Old Master Bai nodded with difficulty. “It should be said that all of this was instigated by Princess Shaoyi and supported by King Yue Fei. Otherwise, the rumors wouldn’t have developed to this extent in just half a day.”
The Xie family had donated military resources and medicinal herbs, targeting the nobles.
It was not difficult to associate this with the soldiers who had died tragically on the battlefield because of a lack of supplies during the large-scale invasion of the Northern Barbarians back then, as well as the cause of King Li of Zhou’s death.
Madam Bai felt dizzy. “We can’t arrest them, but if we let these rumors become more and more intense, others will think that we have a guilty conscience and are hiding.” Her eyes widened. “Isn’t our family caught between a rock and a hard place now?”
Old Master Bai closed his eyes, his face ashen. “This is how brilliant Princess Shaoyi is. This matter was all caused by her. She was concerned about the plague of the refugees and used the Xie family’s righteousness to roast the nobles of the North over the fire. King Li of Zhou and King Yue Fei have extremely high prestige in the North, and the commoners have a deep grudge against the nobles. It’s very easy to anger them…”
Once it caused large-scale public anger, the government would have no choice but to interfere.
No matter how good they were at managing the government office, they only did what they could. It was impossible for the government to offend Princess Shaoyi or even the Yu Clan behind her for a mere merchant.