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

Li Shimin was very pleased.

Just a few days ago, upon hearing that the King of Qi had slaughtered the Zheng family of Xingyang, Li Er, a political monster, had already keenly realized that this was a good thing that could be used, both for the court and for the people of Shandong.

"However... Wang Fangqing, Pei Ju, and Zheng Yuanshou have come to me wanting to reclaim their family's land and houses." Fang Xuanling timely poured cold water on their hopes.

Li Shimin's eyes flashed.

"Xuanling, how do you plan to deal with this?"

The emperor's question invigorated Lao Fang.

The two had been ruler and subject for nearly twenty years, and Lao Fang was extremely familiar with Li Er's temperament.

It was obvious that Li Er was testing him.

As mentioned earlier, the old house also comes from a distinguished family.

As one of the most astute people of his time, Fang Xuanling's ability to utter the aforementioned statement proves that he already possessed a relatively mature solution and even foresaw Li Er's possible probing.

"I have heard that the King of Qi burned all the land deeds. Therefore, the ownership of the land is no longer verifiable. However... the Zheng family of Xingyang is very prestigious. I believe that Your Majesty should grant them 100,000 mu of land and houses for the remaining members of the Zheng family to live in, thus demonstrating Your Majesty's benevolence. As for the Wang family of Langya and the Xi family of Gaoping, granting them 10,000 mu of land is sufficient."

Li Shimin narrowed his eyes slightly: "One hundred thousand mu? That's a bit too much."

Fang Xuanling immediately changed his mind: "Then give the Zheng family 50,000 mu."

Li Shimin nodded: "Excellent!"

Even if 70,000 to 80,000 mu of land were divided up, more than 700,000 mu would still remain, which is a lot.

Moreover, most of the Zheng family members have died. If we give you too much land, can you hold onto it?

It must be said that Li You's almost crude methods have damaged the entire ecosystem.

Now, these unclaimed fields are being watched by the imperial court, by powerful families, and by ordinary people as well.

We're all human, and nobody's stupid.

To put it bluntly, this is all my money; the question now is how to distribute it.

"Very good, we'll do it your way."

Li Shimin understood that, given the current situation, it was still necessary to appease the powerful families.

Maintaining a good multilateral balance is a required course for every successful emperor.

Fang Xuanling had no selfish motives in this matter.

On the contrary, as one of the imperial prime ministers, Old Fang was precisely the most steadfast practitioner of the equal-field system.

"Your Majesty, the King of Qi has distributed land in large quantities, inciting a mob. Those who have received land are probably unwilling to hand it over." Changsun Wuji thought of another thorny issue.

Li Shimin laughed and said, "Isn't that easy to handle? My army is right there; how dare they refuse to hand over the land?"

Fang Xuanling said, "Your Majesty, the crux of the problem is that the land situation in Xingyang and other places is currently in complete chaos. The people are constantly fighting over land, and there are many instances of people fighting and brawling over a single piece of land. In addition, there are many people who were previously landless and destitute, and now that they suddenly have land, if it is requisitioned rashly, it is very likely to incite another peasant uprising."

Li Er frowned again.

"Xuanling, you might as well make your point more clearly."

Fang Xuanling smiled bitterly, "In the end... it's all related to Prince Qi. He only said he wanted to distribute the land, but as for how to distribute it, how to coordinate between households, and how to calculate the quality of the land, there's no clear method. Currently, the orders from the local governments in Xingyang can't even leave their offices. I suspect that this situation is deliberately created by Prince Qi. If this matter isn't dealt with immediately, I'm afraid we won't be able to collect the official grain this autumn."

Li Shimin nodded: "Go ahead and handle this matter. If it really doesn't work, have Li Ji kill a group of unruly people as a deterrent."

As emperor, his main job was to make the final decisions.

The specific execution would then be left to capable ministers and officials like Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji.

Changsun Wuji said, "Your Majesty, now that the war in Shandong has been quelled, and 50,000 troops are gathered in Xingyang, spending their days feeding and caring for the horses. It would be better to withdraw most of them and leave 10,000 to 20,000 men to Li Ji, which would ensure their safety."

"Very well, I will issue an edict to Li Ji immediately."

Military mobilizations required the emperor's personal approval.

……

In Shangzhou, Tang Dynasty, on the banks of the Danjiang River, a group of refugees arrived and stayed there temporarily.

They were none other than the Yin family, who had fled Chang'an.

What Li You didn't know was that before the original owner raised an army, he had sent a letter to the Yin family, asking them to make preparations in advance.

The so-called preparation is simply to run away as quickly as possible.

Yin Hongzhi, the head of the Yin family, is Li You's maternal uncle and the source of the instigation of Prince Qi to rebel.

Yin Hongzhi's father was a general of the former Sui Dynasty named Yin Shishi.

Master Yin's surname is Yin, and he is also rather cunning in his dealings with others.

While guarding Chang'an, General Yin happened to encounter Li Yuan leading the Tang army to attack.

Without saying a word, General Yin had all of Li Yuan's relatives in Chang'an executed and even desecrated the Li family's ancestral graves.

Finally, he even killed Li Yuan's youngest son, Li Zhiyun, on the battlefield.

By doing these things, they really left themselves no way out.

After the city fell, Yin Shishi was killed by Li Yuan.

Of his sons, only the young Yin Hongzhi survived.

His wives, concubines, and daughters were given to the Li imperial family as slaves and suffered greatly.

A few years later, Li Shimin took a liking to Lady Yin, who was a servant in the Prince of Qin's mansion and was the younger sister of Yin Hongzhi. The child they had was Li You.

After the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Li Shimin became emperor, and the Yin family began to recover.

Driven by national and personal vendettas, Yin Hongzhi harbored deep hatred for the Li imperial family and vowed to rebel.

After learning the exact time when the King of Qi raised his army, he began to move his family's properties and servants in Chang'an.

After escaping Tongguan, Yin Hongzhi first found a secluded place and hid there.

Over the years, he had cultivated many loyal followers, all of whom he sent out to gather information.

Yin Hongzhi was overjoyed upon receiving news of the Qi King's uprising.

Yin Hongzhi was shocked upon receiving news that the King of Qi had executed the three powerful clans.

Upon receiving news of the death of the King of Qi, Yin Hongzhi fainted immediately.

……

"Grandpa, Grandpa..."

Yin Hongzhi was awakened by his children's anxious calls.

"How could... how could it be so fast... Yu'er..."

"Grandpa, don't worry...it might just be false information spread by the Tang army!"

Yin Hongzhi's son, Yin Shaokang, quickly tried to comfort his father.

"Yes, you're right... You're very lucky, he'll definitely be alright..."

"Xiao Yu, you guys go and investigate again!"

"promise!"

Xiao Yu was one of the leaders of Yin Hongzhi's assassins.

About two days later, Xiao Yu saw with his own eyes the Tang army's cavalry escorting the coffin of "King Qi".

It has now been confirmed that this was not fake news. Yin Hongzhi aged more than ten years overnight, with many more gray hairs, and he was in a daze.

When a person's hope for life is shattered, they are likely to become somewhat obsessed.

It should be noted that Yin Hongzhi was not yet forty years old at this time, and was in his prime.

Seeing the patriarch's current condition, the Yin family members had no choice but to stay there temporarily.

A few days later, Yin Hongzhi, utterly despondent, called his eldest son, Yin Shaokang, aside.

"My son, I am no longer able to serve you. The Yin family will be entrusted to you from now on."