My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 174 They're coming for me!

Loufan County, Chenghou Mountain.

The cold wind is blowing.

Chenghou Mountain is also one of the major mountains in the north, but in terms of scale, it is far smaller than Yeniu Mountain. Of course, within Loufan territory, it is still one of the top mountains, after all, Loufan only has two famous high mountains.

At this moment, a large group of people have gathered on the mountainside of Zhengchenghou Mountain.

These people, dressed in rags and panting heavily, sat in various places, utterly exhausted. There were over a hundred of them, almost all men, all thin and frail, their faces filled with fear. It was quite cold in the mountains, and they could only huddle together, shivering.

At the very front of the crowd stood several burly men.

Zhang Du was among them. He looked around and then at his fellow disciples. "I think this place is pretty good."

“If we go any higher, we can handle it, but these people might not be able to.”

"Why don't we set up camp here? Although there aren't many prey here, we've caught quite a few wild fruits and vegetables along the way. We can only provide relief for this harsh winter. We won't have to worry so much next spring."

The others also agreed.

The terrain here is indeed excellent. It's flat, suitable for building camps, and there are natural watchtowers on both sides of the two roads, making it difficult to be attacked by the enemy. With the advantage of the terrain, even if there are more enemies, we can still hold our own.

Most importantly, there's the path on the left. The land on both sides of the path is quite fertile, making it a good place for future development.

The group continued their discussion.

Zhang Du came here to establish a second Qingzao Village.

Although Dade Farm can also employ farmers, it cannot employ too many deceased people, as this would have serious consequences. Zhang Du is preparing for two options: first, to continue building farms outside the counties to employ some people; second, to build camps in the mountains for development, so that a large number of people can be employed in the future.

From Loufan to Yeniu Mountain, many people died along the way. The massive forced labor in Hebei caused tens of thousands of people to flee to various places, including Hedong. Later, Yang Guang began to impose forced labor in Hedong and forcibly requisition grain, which caused many more people to flee.

Having fled their hometowns and lost their place of origin, they could no longer appear before others and most of them became followers of thieves. Just as Li Xuanba said, without anyone's help, they would not survive this harsh winter.

The reason the imperial court was not worried about these bandits and fugitives was because they knew clearly that by next spring, there would be very few of them left.

Next year, new thieves will appear, new dead will appear, and then they will be wiped out in the cold winter, and so on.

What Zhang Du needs to do is to break this cycle and find a way to help more people survive!
Zhang Du brought a lot of things this time, and he told everyone to start a fire here and begin building a camp.

Because the population is too small, the village cannot have a township head; instead, it can only have a village head to manage it.

Zhang Du watched the busy crowd, but held a map in his hand, constantly looking around.

One day, villages of all sizes will be scattered across the land, and then they will launch a coordinated attack!

Luoyang.

The emperor's carriage did not enter Luoyang. Instead, it traveled from Hedong to Hebei and then hurriedly arrived in Luoyang. Without stopping, the emperor immediately ordered his troops to proceed to Daxing.

Everyone was astonished and quickly moved forward again.

This time, even the most oblivious person realized something was wrong.

Yang Guang sat in the carriage, with an old minister with graying temples sitting beside him.

The old minister frowned, sat quietly to the side, and did not say a word.

Yang Guang looked at him and said, "Minister Su has repeatedly advised me before, so why do you dare not speak now that I have asked you to speak frankly?"

This old minister was none other than the important minister Su Wei, whose father was the famous minister Su Chuo.

This man can be considered one of the founders of the Northern Zhou's political system!
Su Wei was also outstanding and had always been highly valued by Yang Jian. However, compared to Su Chuo, Su Wei was somewhat timid. He dared not participate in major events and was not very adventurous. He was a rather cautious person. Later, he was dismissed because of the case of his cronies and became even more reserved.

After Yang Guang ascended the throne, he also valued Su Wei highly, bestowing upon him honors and promotions. However, the numerous corvée labor imposed by the emperor afterward made even this timid minister somewhat unable to bear it. In the third year of the Daye era, Su Wei submitted a memorial to Yang Guang, believing that the corvée labor imposed by Yang Guang was excessive and hoping that it could be reduced. Subsequently, Gao Jiong, He Ruobi, and others were killed, and Su Wei was dismissed from his post.

This year, Yang Guang missed him a bit, so he promoted him to prefect, and then quickly summoned him back to the capital to participate in government affairs, and promoted him to Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

Su Wei was somewhat at a loss when he heard Yang Guang's question.

The ministers who had previously followed him to offer advice had all died tragically, so he no longer dared to speak.

But not saying it isn't an option either.

He could only lower his head and reply, "Your Majesty has already made up your mind, so why should I offer any further advice?"

"So, Su Qing also knows about what's going on here?"

"I have heard about it."

"If I were to let you handle this matter, thoroughly investigate Guanzhong, and capture the villains, what would you say?"

Yang Guang stared intently at him, but Su Wei only felt uneasy.

Su Wei knew very well why the sage had suddenly summoned him and asked him to thoroughly investigate matters such as the granting of land in Guanzhong.

He was previously dismissed for forming cliques, and was also punished for offering advice. The sage wants to see him redeem himself through merit. If he doesn't agree, or if he doesn't perform well, he'll be in for a world of trouble.

Su Wei quickly bowed and said, "This old minister will do his utmost!"

Hearing Su Wei say this, Yang Guang was much happier. He said very seriously, "I know your talent, which is why I have forgiven your past crimes and promoted you again. This time you must not make any more mistakes and must do it properly."

No matter who it is, there's no need to show mercy.

"Here!"

Looking at the obedient Su Wei, Yang Guang felt quite pleased. To get rid of these treacherous villains in Guanzhong, he needed someone who was obedient, dared not leak information, and had prestige and fame. Su Wei was the best candidate.

This fellow is cowardly and would certainly not dare to tip off anyone, yet he is also ambitious and dreams of becoming an official. Having been punished before, he would not dare not shirk his duty.

Li Yuan's memorial made Yang Guang very happy. He was happy not only because he could clean up the place again, but also because Li Yuan had finally figured things out.

The people that Yang Guang promoted and relied on in recent days, such as Yuwen Shu, Pei Shiju, Pei Yun, Yu Shiji, Zhao Yuanshu, etc., each had their own flaws, some of which were quite obvious. However, Yang Guang was still willing to use them because these people could make choices between himself and the nobles, knowing which side to help and which side to avoid contacting.

Sometimes, Yang Guang's orders seemed haphazard, but his thinking was very clear. The problem of the nobility was actually greatly resolved during Yang Guang's reign. A reform of the nobility system defeated a large number of old nobles, forcing those fallen noble sons to join the army to make a living.

Yang Guang also made full use of the previous division between the North and the South, bringing a large number of Southerners to his side and letting them control some important departments, thereby weakening the power of the Northern military aristocracy.

In Yang Guang's view, Li Yuan had already expressed his loyalty and severed ties with the old nobles who were once close to him. Although Yang Guang maintained a stance of attacking these old nobles, he still wanted to win them over as soon as possible.

Only by dividing them can we prevent them from uniting to rebel, and only then can we realize our ambitions!
Yang Guang had already placed Li Yuan on his list of important ministers, and was just wondering who he could replace.

Upon arriving in Daxing, Yang Guang immediately read out the imperial edict.

In his edict, he mentioned that many officials in the Guanzhong region were greedy and shameless. They were not satisfied with the land granted by the court, but also wanted to seize other people's farmland, turn the farmland of the court into their own, occupy a large number of mines and horses, turn the people of the court into their own hidden households, purchase a large number of properties and shops, evade taxes, and greatly affect the court's revenue. A thorough investigation was necessary!

When the imperial edict was issued, Guanzhong was in an uproar.

Yang Xuangan was the first to find out, and at that moment, he flew into a rage.

All that talk, isn't it all aimed at me?

He immediately summoned many of his confidants and discussed the matter of raising an army again.

(End of this chapter)