Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

Langya was located near present-day Linyi, Shandong.

Li You nodded and inquired of the clerks about the details of the Langya Wang clan.

The Langya Wang clan rose to prominence during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. After a long period of growth and reproduction, in addition to the main branch in Shandong, several other branches migrated to the Guanzhong region, thus spreading their influence far and wide.

With nearly four hundred years of accumulation, the land and property controlled by the family are countless.

The wealth of the Langya Wang family alone is incalculable; one can only imagine the situation of the other seven great families.

Li You thought to himself, "Those arrogant old gentry, your good days are over."

He left his study and summoned his attendants.

"Has the Pei family's assets been inventoried?"

"Everything is ready, according to..."

"No need to report specific figures, just pile the valuables outside the door."

"promise!"

"Also, how much land does our Lord Pei own?"

"More than 900 mu of paddy fields and more than 3,000 mu of dry land."

"So many?"

"Your Majesty, is this... too much?"

Yan Hongxin's answer left Li You speechless for a moment.

One person occupied 3,900 acres of land.

If this isn't considered a lot, then what kind would be considered a lot?

Thinking hard.

"These fields no longer belong to him!"

Li You walked out of the governor's mansion and faced the more than 2000 soldiers he had led.

"Soldiers, this Prefect Pei is a notorious corrupt official! Not only is he greedy, but he also owns thousands of acres of fertile land! Look at all this gold and silver—enough to last several lifetimes. All these good things were plundered from you all!"

The common people hate corrupt officials the most, and when they heard what King Qi said, they all started cursing.

Li You raised his voice: "Brothers, you've risked your lives following me in this rebellion. I'm showing you compassion! The gold, silver, and jewels we found today will be distributed among you all; everyone will get a share. Furthermore, the land the Pei family seized in Qizhou will also be divided among you!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers below immediately became restless.

"Commanders of each battalion, step forward and take your battalion's share of gold and silver!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"May Your Majesty be victorious!"

After the gold and silver were distributed, Li You lit torches and burned all the land deeds that had been found in the governor's mansion.

This action completely turned the land occupied by Pei Hong into ownerless property.

"Issue the order: all officials in Qizhou Prefecture must hand over all their family property and land. Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"

"Yan Hongxin, you will handle this personally, starting tonight."

"promise!"

"Remember, never disturb ordinary people's homes!"

"promise!"

"Furthermore, how much land does our Qi Prince's Mansion control?"

"Well... Your Majesty, you'll have to ask the mistress."

The mistress Yan Hongxin referred to was Li You's wife, Princess Dugu of Qi.

Li You nodded and rode back to the palace.

The land belonging to the Prince of Qi is useless now. It must be distributed immediately to secure the loyalty of his soldiers.

That night, the city of Qizhou was filled with ghostly wails and howls.

Because Li You had issued an order forbidding the harassment of ordinary people, the wailing and howling sounds were mainly concentrated in the wealthy area.

Now, the city is finally starting to look like a chaotic rebellion.

That's more like it!

Li You was busy all day, and even after returning to his residence, he still had no time to rest.

Princess Qi, Dugu Yanran, with red eyes, took out the land deed from the cabinet and handed it to Li You.

Li You first calculated the total number of land deeds, and then carefully observed the Princess Consort of Qi.

She was a pretty, adorable seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl.

But her eyes held a mixture of worry and fear.

Dugu Yanran was naturally vehemently opposed to her husband's rebellion. However, she knew that Prince Qi was known for his impulsive nature, and as a woman, she was expected to follow her husband wherever he pleased. Even if she had objections, she dared not voice them. Given Prince Qi's temperament, speaking out too much might even result in a beating.

Seeing the princess's worried expression, Li You felt apologetic.

In classical times, rebellion was not necessarily a good thing for the families of the rebels, especially for the women.

"Yanran, my rebellion is an act of utter defiance against the world. I did it, and I cannot implicate you. Here's what I'll do: I'll write a letter to your father, and you can take it back to Chang'an first thing tomorrow morning. Your Dugu family is a prestigious clan; when Li Shimin sees that letter, he'll only hate me, he won't do anything to you..."

Upon hearing Li You's words, Dugu Yanran could no longer control herself and threw herself into Li You's arms, bursting into tears.

Li You could only hold her and comfort her.

The Dugu family is not simple.

They were also one of the military aristocrats of Guanzhong, and the first prominent figure in this family was Dugu Xin.

Historical records describe Dugu Xin as having "handsome appearance and being skilled in riding and archery," making him an exceptionally romantic figure.

Dugu Xin first served under Ge Rong, becoming his subordinate. He was brave in battle and repeatedly made meritorious contributions.

Later, Ge Rong was defeated by the famous general Erzhu Rong, and Dugu Xin also joined Erzhu Rong's forces, serving as a vanguard officer and continuing to achieve numerous military exploits.

After Erzhu Rong's death, Dugu Xin followed Yuwen Tai and helped the latter establish his hegemony, becoming one of the "Eight Pillars of State" of Western Wei.

Besides his military achievements, Dugu Xin's daughters were also remarkable.

His eldest daughter was the empress of Emperor Ming of Northern Zhou, Yuwen Yu; his fourth daughter was the biological mother of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan; and his seventh daughter was the famous Dugu Jialuo, the empress of Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, and the mother of Emperor Yang of Sui, Yang Guang.

To be honest, for Prince Qi, Li You, to marry a noblewoman like Dugu Yanran is a bit of a step up for him.

The night was dark and windy, the long night stretched on, and I couldn't sleep.

After all, as husband and wife, some tenderness and affection are inevitable.

Before going to sleep, Li You suddenly had an urge to bring Dugu Yanran with him.

But after thinking about it carefully, I gave up the idea.

While he felt good doing this, it was incredibly cruel to the young girl, Dugu Yanran, who longed for peace and quiet.

Li You and his followers have done many cruel things today.

And barring any unforeseen circumstances, the cruelty will continue.

When you can forgive someone, forgive them.

……

The next morning, Li You helped Dugu Yanran onto the carriage.

The Dugu family also had servants who came with the dowry; they were responsible for escorting the bride along the way.

In a letter to his father-in-law, Li You fabricated an extremely absurd reason for rebellion.

This letter might be seen by Li Shimin. Li You felt that he didn't want to have any melodramatic father-son relationship with Li Er, so he made up a reason for the rebellion.

Of course, in the eyes of people at the time, because of the Yin family of Consort Yin, Li You's mother, it seemed that Prince Qi was destined to be the one to launch a rebellion.

After seeing the princess off, Li You gazed at the sunrise on the horizon and exhaled a breath of stale air.

The next move needs to be swift!

The total land controlled by the Qi Prince's Mansion was more than 20,000 mu.

These lands were not fiefdoms granted to Prince Qi by the imperial court, but were acquired by Prince Qi and his subordinates through force and plunder. To prevent rebellion by members of the imperial clan, the Tang Dynasty adopted a system of "nominal fiefdoms." These nominal fiefdoms granted to princes were actually controlled by the government, and the princes merely received benefits from them.

However, where there's a policy, there's a countermeasure; there are still many restless individuals like the King of Qi. They try every means to turn a nominal fiefdom into a real one. Whatever their purpose, controlling more land is never a bad thing.

After a night of "suppressing the rebellion," the soldiers obtained land deeds for about 70,000 mu of land from the officials of Qizhou Prefecture.

Upon hearing Yan Hongxin's report, Li You couldn't help but sneer.

This is what it means to get promoted and make a fortune.

Land is also wealth!

I've heard that the government was efficient and efficient during the Zhenguan era, but looking at it now, it's not that great!

"Go, tie up the ten officials who have seized the most farmland from the people and take them to the barracks."

"promise!"