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

Land was indeed the most important strategic resource at the time, which explains why powerful families wanted to occupy so much land.

The emperor in Chang'an was Li Shimin, while the emperors in the provinces were powerful families who controlled the land.

People can go crazy for the sake of land.

"Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, you've returned!"

Yan Hongxin and Zan Junmo came out to greet them, both of them in high spirits.

"Hmm, you've done a good job. How many people are willing to follow us?"

"Your Majesty, we have counted them all this time. There are a total of four thousand seven hundred men, all of whom are able-bodied."

Li You nodded in satisfaction. Sure enough, people can improve. Just like his four generals, who used to be simple-minded warriors, at least now they can count.

"Very good, let everyone have a good meal, wake them up at dawn, and set off for Xingyang!"

"promise!"

The hour of Mao (卯时) is six o'clock in the morning. People are usually still half asleep when you wake them up, so they followed along in a daze.

Once you're on the road, it's too late to back out.

……

As dawn broke, the mob, composed of people from three different places, began its long march westward.

The group appeared chaotic, and in reality, it was in a state of disarray. Li You used the more than four thousand able-bodied men he had brought from Qizhou as the backbone, distributing them throughout the group to achieve basic management.

Given Li You's current abilities and strength, such a large force could only barely be maintained. He knew that the slightest setback would cause these farmers, who had not undergone specialized military training, to scatter and disappear without a trace. But the problem was that the current King of Qi simply did not have the time to manage the situation more effectively.

The mob was advancing, while the remaining members of the Wang and Xi families were fleeing.

As they fled, a terrifying story about a golden-armored general reached the ears of the heads of various powerful families in Shandong.

It's not terrible for rioters to cause chaos; what's terrible is that rioters actually want to seize thousands of acres of fertile land from aristocratic families!

The source of this popular uprising was the King of Qi!

In fact, the news of the King of Qi's rebellion was no secret.

Because of the King of Qi's early behavior, which was too eccentric and incompetent, the powerful families of Shandong generally did not take him seriously.

The so-called rebellion will likely be quelled by troops sent from Chang'an very soon.

But as the horror stories spread, the Shandong aristocratic families finally began to face the threat before them.

The King of Qi was truly unreasonable; without saying a word, he slaughtered two entire families!

Not only were the people gone, but the tens of thousands of acres of land accumulated over generations were also divided up, and the land deeds were completely destroyed.

Although this is not digging up ancestral graves, it is more terrifying than digging up ancestral graves.

You know, if we lose our land, we won't even have a place to repair our ancestral graves!

Many scions of prominent families held official positions. Upon receiving news from their families, the officials would write memorials and send them to Guanzhong at breakneck speed, without stopping for even a moment.

Some cautious and prudent families even began to plan ahead. They closed their doors and moved important family members and documents to safe places. This survival strategy of avoiding risks in advance is one of the reasons why many families have been able to survive for thousands of years.

……

On their journey, whenever they encountered wealthy families, the grain in their granaries was either eaten on the spot or loaded onto carts and taken away.

Li You was not an unreasonable person, and he did not treat these wealthy families with the same cruelty he showed to the aristocratic families.

As for grain... grain is a very useful resource, especially during a rebellion. Therefore, the grain in these wealthy households was transferred in some way.

Besides food, Li You also faced another major problem.

deserter.

After the initial fervor, some members of the group began to have second thoughts. Some left the group alone, while others rallied their friends and deserted together. The reasons for desertion were varied. Some were worried about their wives and children at home, some couldn't endure the hardship of the long journey, and some had been beaten or scolded by their squad leader or sergeant.

Li You had no effective solutions to the desertion problem, and he hadn't even considered trying to resolve it.

Let it be chaotic, as long as there are enough soldiers left to the end.

Although there are no exact statistics on the current size of the team, it is certainly much larger than when they left Qizhou.

As an enthusiast familiar with that period of history, Li You was well aware of Emperor Li Shimin's military and strategic strength.

He certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to use the "eggs" he had gathered to fight against the "stones" of Chang'an, especially since the number of eggs under his command was decreasing day by day.

In order to survive, Li You not only had to struggle to maintain the team, but also had to prepare for what was to come.

After thinking it over, he summoned Yan Hongliang and gave him a task.

"Find someone in the army who resembles me and bring him here."

"Does Your Majesty wish to find a substitute?"

"That's right, get on it!"

"promise!"

The Yan brothers always carried out Li You's orders without hesitation.

The two of them were Li You's right-hand men.

Finding two people who look alike among a hundred is a very difficult task.

However, searching among tens of thousands of people significantly reduces the difficulty. It's important to understand that most genes in the human genome are identical, which is why we encounter many people who look alike in daily life.

When the group passed Longchi, Yan Hongliang brought the two young men to Li You's side.

Longchi is an ancient place name, roughly located near present-day Heze.

The two young men, one older and one younger, are brothers, with the older brother bearing a striking resemblance to Li You.

"What's your name?"

"Your Majesty, my name is Wang Erwa."

"Hmm, Erwa... is this your brother?"

"That's right, his name is Wang Sanwa."

"Sanwa...don't you have an older brother named Dawa?"

"Your Majesty, it is true. But my brother contracted a strange illness two years ago and died."

Li You nodded and didn't ask any other questions, such as whether their family grew gourds or whether there were crab spirits or snake demons nearby.

"Second Child, I have a task for you. If you accomplish it, I will guarantee your entire family a lifetime of wealth and honor."

As he spoke, Li You gestured to the guards on either side, who took out a large amount of silver from their saddlebags and handed it to Wang Erwa and Wang Sanwa.

The Wang brothers were both very excited. For these children from poor families, they had never seen so much money before.

Looking at the two overjoyed brothers, Li You suddenly felt a pang of unease and guilt, but he quickly suppressed these emotions. The reason he chose a body double was so that the body double would die in his place at some point in the future—a form of murder in disguise.

Li You had never felt this way before when he killed officials and powerful families in Langya, Gaoping, and Jizhou Prefecture. But now, this feeling had arisen.

Since his transmigration, Li You had felt uneasy and uncomfortable, as if everyone around him was an NPC in some kind of game. But just now, he suddenly realized that his sudden intrusion seemed to have changed many people's lives, even their destinies.

Li You took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and calmed himself down for a short while.

"Take those two brothers away, treat them well, and keep them under strict guard. No mistakes are allowed!"

"promise!"