Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 469: The Jizhou nobles and aristocratic families were shocked!
Liu Bei also knew that ordering the clan to relocate would inevitably lead to the destruction of the family.

It would be best to complete this task slowly, so as to minimize the complaints from the nobles and powerful families.

The reason why he issued the edict was also to weaken the Hebei clans, especially the clans that came from important officials in the court. He used the clans' names to collude with the powerful families in nearby counties and prefectures to make the local officials feel helpless.

It has only been a few years since the world was unified. If it takes another three generations, wouldn’t the situation be even more serious?

Moreover, if the court officials had tasted the sweetness, the termites of the Emperor Xiaoling's period would have been able to successfully climb into the branches and leaves of the big trees he had planted, which would have been troublesome.

But they don’t want the Han Dynasty to repeat the old path of the Wei and Jin dynasties in history. The various clans have been staying in the area for two hundred years.

If Liu Xuande had not ordered the forcible relocation of the positions of the gentry and powerful families, no one would have been able to shake the position of emperor in the future.

Today, the population of the seven counties of Sili has declined greatly, and each family has suffered severe damage from the war. The court has taken back a lot of unowned farmland, which can be used to settle the gentry who have moved from various states in the world and exchange their original land with them.

Otherwise, decades later, the surplus arable land would be distributed to the common people, but would end up back in the hands of the wealthy families in Sili, leaving no space to accommodate the gentry.

"The place with the most noble families in the world is Hebei, and the place with the most noble families in Hebei is Jizhou. Let's start from there..."

The corners of Liu Bei's mouth twitched, and he looked out of the palace, thinking secretly.

Who made Jizhou always want to make trouble? First he participated in Yuan's rebellion, then he resisted land measurement, wanted to abolish the imperial examination, and even dared to make friends with important officials of the court in secret.

Wouldn't this force him to chop the Jizhou scholars' aorta with a knife and intimidate others with the blood?

……

In mid-spring in February, the rain in various parts of Jizhou became heavier and heavier, gradually covering the earth.

The fertile fields in the countryside were washed by bursts of heavy rain, and some grass clippings and soil in the fields were carried into the ditches nearby by the muddy currents.

Many common people hid under the eaves with worried looks, looking at the mud and water gradually spreading to the rammed earth threshold. They couldn't help but put their hands together and pray to heaven that it would not rain any more.

People rely on the weather for their livelihood. They are afraid of continuous droughts, as well as waterlogging and floods caused by incessant rains. They are even more worried about delays in this year's spring ploughing.

The sorrow brought by the heavy rain did not only appear on the faces of the common people. After receiving the emperor's edict from Xindu County, Anping County, the 132 aristocratic families and wealthy families in Jizhou counties all widened their eyes and opened their mouths in a daze.

The head of the Zhao clan in Zhending even let out a cry of surprise, and instantly felt dizzy and fell to the ground with one thump.

He was awakened only after the Zhao family members pinched his lips and shook him.

He didn't care about the dust on his body and looked up at the dark clouds outside the yard. The rain seemed to be pouring down from the clouds.

The sky and the earth merge into one in the rain, which is unrestrained and wild, like an arrow with the power to soak people.

"Your Majesty, no!"

"Zhao Clan of Zhending made great contributions to the restoration of the Han Dynasty. Why did they move their entire clan to Changling?!"

The Zhao clan leader no longer felt the pride he usually had in the county. He only felt an unprecedented chill blowing from Xindu in the east.

His chest ached uncontrollably, and he regretted it so much that he wanted to bang his head against the wall.

Someone must have reported the matter of Zhao's purchase of land to the emperor.

Otherwise, how could such a disaster come out of nowhere, disregarding even the face of General Zhao Yun and passing the order to move the tomb to the Zhao family?

Your Majesty, don’t you often tell others that you regard Zhao Zilong as your brother?
How could he be so cruel? It really shows that Emperor Liu is so cold-hearted.

The Zhao clan leader had a sad face and couldn't help but complain in his heart.

No wonder he stationed his cavalry in Xindu last year. It turned out that he had already made up his mind to relocate the clans from various places. At this time, the fortifications of Jizhou were all demolished. In addition, during the harvest season, the powerful people with their own troops in various places often rebelled. The county guards and the postmasters and guards of the post houses and relay stations on the road were all on high alert.

Moreover, the walls were reinforced and raised, firewood was piled up, and beacon towers were set up. There were always guards standing on the top of the towers and looking into the distance. As soon as they saw someone approaching with weapons, they would immediately sound the horn to wake up the guards.

If there are more than a hundred people, thick beacon smoke will be lit immediately and the military soldiers will come to quell the riot immediately.

Not to mention that at this moment, the world's most elite cavalry is in Xindu, ready to go.

After the Dutian Rebellion, people had truly experienced the power of the Han army. Who would dare to lead a resistance and risk the extermination of three clans?

Besides, all my troops are gone. I can't lead my slaves with sharpened sticks and bows and arrows to fight against the armored Han army, right?

The Zhao clan leader was filled with worry, as he estimated that once this decree came out, the nobles and aristocratic families in Jizhou, whose backbones had been broken, would no longer dare to take the lead.

Then the Zhao family of Zhending can only suffer this loss.

The emperor took action against the clan of the meritorious official without showing any mercy, he must have asked Zilong about it.

"Zilong, why don't you argue with His Majesty? The Zhao family of Zhending has made great contributions to the country, so what if they get more farmland?"

The Zhao clan leader looked at the rain in the sky and sighed.

At the same time, compared with the Zhao family of Zhending, they had a violent reaction at the beginning and finally submitted to their fate.

Wuji Zhen of Zhongshan County did not feel any despair, but on the contrary was extremely excited.

The Zhen clan leader immediately called together all the clan members to discuss the matter.

The imperial edict they received was that the emperor ordered the Wuji Zhen family to move to the west of Huiling in Mount Li, which was only 65 miles away from the Bashui River. To the north of the Bashui River was the Weishui River in Guanzhong, which was very suitable for transportation by grain ships.

The emperor's intention to engage in trade in the Western Regions is known to everyone in the world.

Suppose they had moved to the west of Mount Li earlier and purchased or built ships, wouldn't it have been more convenient to transport refined salt, sugar, tea, Shu brocade, and the new pottery fired in the east of Pengze County?
By then, whether they were selling to the Hu people in the Western Regions or buying things from the Western Regions and transporting them to the Han family, wouldn't it be faster than the Mi family in Xuzhou and Donghai?
"According to news from Yunyang Palace, Concubine Zhen has given birth to another son for Your Majesty. Since the first year of Jianxing, she gave birth to a daughter, and then gave birth to two sons in succession. None of them died in infancy. The number of children she gave birth to for the Han family is second only to the Empress."

"The beauty Mi from the East Sea has only given birth to a daughter. This shows that in terms of being favored by the emperor, my Zhen family is better than Mi family."

The young man with a white turban on his head looked around carefully and spoke in a low voice.

For the Zhen family, who were familiar with business, they did not have to become members of the gentry in order to obtain power and wealth. As long as they gained the trust and closeness of the emperor, the scholars would not dare to underestimate them.

Nowadays, there are three major trading companies in the world. One is composed of Qingyan merchants, one is composed of Xuyang's grain merchants of the Xuzhou Mi family alliance, and the other is the Hebei merchants headed by Wuji Zhen family. They mainly sell horses, donkeys, mules, meat, furs, herbs, etc., and transport them to the prefectures and counties south of Hebei.

Even so, they could not compare with the Qingyan merchants who enjoyed convenient transportation along the rivers, and the Xu and Yang merchants led by the Mi family who relied on the advantages of the Yangtze River system.

This undoubtedly made the Zhen family unwilling to accept this. It was said that the Qingyan merchants had the emperor's support behind them, which allowed them to occupy the river transportation.

But the Mi family was also a family of relatives by marriage, yet they were able to repeatedly surpass the Wuji Zhen family. How could this not make people unhappy?

"Don't say this lightly, be careful!"

The Zhen clan patriarch, whose hair and beard were all white, almost broke out in a cold sweat when he heard these words.

Some things cannot be said casually. Who knows if there are ears behind the walls? Just talking about Miss Mi is enough to make people's eyes jump and their hearts tremble.

I didn't expect that he even dared to talk about Queen Yin in his conversation. How could this be an offer of advice on going to Mount Li? It's obvious that he wanted the entire Zhen family to move to Dunhuang?
Boy, is your last name Zhen or not?!
What hatred does Zhen have against you that would make her be so cruel?

(End of this chapter)