My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 315 Alignment of Interests

After Li Jun and Wu Ze became powerful figures, they no longer farmed the land themselves. Instead, they took several concubines and worked on the fertile 'fields' every night.

Their physical condition was not as good as before; after standing for a while, their legs became weak.

Fortunately at this time.

Jia Sixie seemed to have finished his work and was walking out of the field.

"Master Jia! Master Jia!"

Wu Ze, all smiles, kept calling out from a distance.

His ancestors had some connection with the Jia family. When Jia Sixie was the governor of Gaoyang County, he had also spoken to him.

That's why I mustered up the courage to come to Jia Sixie, hoping to find a way to get through his connections.

Jia Sixie's hands and feet were covered in mud. When he heard someone calling him, he didn't care about his appearance and stopped to look at the two of them.

"Does Master Jia still remember me?"

Jia Sixie thought for a moment and nodded, "Of course I remember."

Wu Ze and Li Jun were overjoyed, and then quickly bowed down, saying, "Please, Lord Jia, save us."

"Oh?"

Jia Sixie smiled, "Within Qingzhou, all the refugees and bandits have been wiped out by the Xuanjia Army. The people of Qingzhou no longer need to worry about bandits. With such peace, why talk about rescue?"

Wu Ze felt extremely aggrieved. "The Tian Ce Mansion is conducting a land survey; isn't this forcing us into a dead end?"

Jia Sixie then sneered, "Is this land survey meant to drive you all to your doom?"

"The general has already given clear orders to simply survey and clear the unclaimed land in accordance with the 'Land Occupation Law' promulgated by the imperial court. If you have not wantonly encroached on the land, why do you have anything to worry about?"

Seeing Jia Sixie's attitude, Wu Ze became anxious and continued to persuade him, "Does Master Jia not know the principle of 'if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold'?"

He gritted his teeth and forced himself to say, "General Tian Ce has surveyed the land and distributed it to his Xuanjia Army. The Xuanjia Army has a large number of people. If surveying our land is not enough, the next step will be to survey the land of the Jia family... and even the land of other noble families."

"Does Master Jia really intend to wait until then to regret his actions?"

Jia Sixie looked at him coldly, "I have already instructed my clansmen to report all the unclaimed lands they have seized to the Tian Ce Prefecture."

"You two don't need to say anything more. In the past few years, you have illegally seized land and forcibly recruited others as your retainers. The general has only asked you to hand over the land and your retainers without holding you accountable, which is already a great favor. If you two continue to be stubborn, when the Xuanjia Army soldiers come to your door, they will not be as polite as I am."

"Before, no one cared, and you could act lawlessly. But now, the general is thinking of the people under his rule. How could he continue to tolerate your disregard for the laws of the court? I have said all I have to say. You should think it over carefully!"

The two men looked ashen-faced.

After Jia Sixie had walked away, Wu Ze couldn't help but mutter curses again, "How stupid!"

"This is nothing but a delaying tactic by General Tian Ce; can't you even see that!"

"What should we do now? The deadline is fast approaching, what if the Xuanjia Army really comes knocking on our door..."

Just how valiant the Xuanjia Army was in the battle outside Luoyang was only a legend to the common people, powerful families, and aristocratic clans of Shandong.

But they witnessed Gao Yu take action against the refugees in Qingzhou.

The refugees who caused headaches for the powerful families and clans in Qingzhou were utterly no match for the Xuanjia Army. You must know that... Gao Yu sent out the new recruits of the Xuanjia Army, many of whom were nothing more than children in their eyes, whom their own troops could easily slaughter.

Yet this very young boy caused the refugee army to suffer repeated defeats, constantly annihilating and capturing them.

By suppressing the refugees, the Xuanjia Army also gained considerable fame in Shandong.

Wu Ze and Li Jun didn't dare to put up a fight at all.

"Let's go! Let's find other prominent families. I refuse to believe... that they are all as foolish as Master Jia!"

"This Master Jia, clearly from a noble family, toils in the fields every day. I don't know what the General Tian Ce was thinking, but he even had manure piled up. The stench is nauseating from a distance, yet Master Jia seems to enjoy it. He's a disgrace to any noble family!!"

Wu Ze was extremely disdainful.

A distinguished family should act like a distinguished family.

Which noble family scion would bother working in the fields? In his eyes, Jia Sixie was a complete charlatan, as if he had lost his mind and actually reported the encroached land to the Tian Ce Mansion. Wasn't he just handing over his own weakness to someone else?

stupid!
What an idiot!
however……

Several days in a row.

Wu Ze and Li Jun, however, encountered setbacks repeatedly, and many prominent families simply refused to see them.

"Damn it!"

Wu Ze suddenly came to his senses, "How foolish we were!"

"what happened?"

"These powerful families all claim to have reported the unclaimed land they have seized. Has such a thing ever been heard of before? It must be that these families and the Tian Ce Mansion are deceiving us!"

"The land reported by the aristocratic families was returned in full afterward, while our lands belonged to the Tian Ce Mansion!"

"They've clearly joined forces to target us!"

Wu Ze was unaware of this.

The powerful families also disliked this group of wealthy and powerful people.

Aristocratic families do indeed develop from powerful clans. With a certain amount of accumulation, the younger generation in the clan can study and have the capital to "show off." Whether it's recommending candidates for official positions or giving money and gifts to the magistrate, as long as they become officials, they can then climb the ranks and bring blessings to the family, gradually evolving into an aristocratic family.

People like Wu Ze and Li Jun, who were bold enough to stay and seize unclaimed land during times of war and chaos, became powerful figures.

Do they even deserve to become a prominent family and sit at the same table with them in the future?
Get out of here!
Why?
Are you worthy?
The powerful families in the three provinces of Yan, Qing, and Xu did not dislike Gao Yu as much.

Even though Gao Yu's land survey and household registration investigation were detrimental to them, they did not touch their core interests. After all, Gao Yu's Tian Ce Mansion had appointed a large number of people from aristocratic families to serve as officials.

On the contrary, when it comes to dealing with these new generation of powerful figures, their interests are even aligned.

Even if a powerful family relinquishes the land it seized, it will still be considered a powerful family; these are the kinds of wealthy and powerful families.

Go farm.

In the future, they will also be able to act all high and mighty in front of them.

How could Gao Yu possibly act so swiftly and decisively, taking action against both powerful families and influential figures at the same time?

His only targets were the powerful and influential.

Aristocratic family?

It's not time to deal with them yet, and the best way to deal with powerful families is...

That would be to popularize education, establish the imperial examination system, and create a new gentry class to gradually replace them.

at the moment.

Gao Yu still needs to rely on the powerful families; it would be unwise to offend them.

The great man said it well.

You need to make lots of friends.

Gao Yu was not in Dongyang City.

After winter set in, he brought his family to the side of Juye Marsh.

In addition to a thousand acres of fertile land near Juye Marsh, the dowry prepared by the Yang family for Yang Changchu also included an estate.

These all belong to Gao Yu's private property.

That’s not right either…

Strictly speaking, it was Yang Changchu's private property.

A generous dowry is not just a matter of appearances; it is also the source of confidence that one's family can have after marrying into the Gao family.

(End of this chapter)