In the thirteenth year of the Tianbao era: I became Yang Guozhong's eldest son.

In less than half an hour, the Tian family, a behemoth that had stood in Yaozhou for decades, was completely smashed to pieces.

Tian Boyong was dragged out of the secret room by Pei Zhao.

This once all-powerful local tyrant of Yaozhou was now disheveled, his clothes in disarray, and he was thrown at Yang Xuan's feet like a dead dog.

"Yang Xuan...you...you'll die a horrible death!"

Tian Boyong glared at Yang Xuan viciously and cursed in a hoarse voice.

"I don't know if I'll live or die, but your Tian family is doomed today."

Yang Xuan ignored his curses and turned to look at Cui Shen.

"Cui Shen, immediately confiscate all of the Tian family's accounts, land deeds, and salt certificates. Pei Zhao, imprison Tian Boyong and all his cronies in the county jail under strict guard. No one is to approach them without my order!"

"yes!"

With the Tian family's property confiscated, this momentous peasant uprising finally came to a close without major incident, thanks to Yang Xuan's deliberate manipulation.

After venting their anger, the people gradually dispersed under the calming influence of the county government officials.

Yaozhou City seemed to have returned to peace once again.

But beneath this calm, deeper undercurrents are lurking.

……

Late at night, in the back hall of the county government office.

Yang Xuan leaned back in his armchair, rubbing his aching temples. Today's high-stakes gamble had exhausted all his energy.

Although he successfully forced Liu Wen to retreat and used public opinion to remove the Tian family, the biggest cancer, he knew that this was only a temporary victory.

Liu Wen withdrew his troops simply because he feared the popular uprising would spiral out of control and that once the local government recovered, it would still demand 80% of the profits from him.

What troubled him even more was the murder case that sparked the popular uprising.

"Pei Zhao, how's the investigation going?" Yang Xuan opened his eyes and looked at Pei Zhao, who was standing to the side.

Before leading the people to storm the Tian family's house during the day, Yang Xuan secretly gave Pei Zhao a secret order: to investigate the real murderer in Wang Quan's case.

Yang Xuan knew very well that even if Tian Boyong was stupid, he would not kill an old salt worker at this critical juncture, let alone be stupid enough to leave his waist token at the scene.

This was an extremely clumsy, yet extremely deadly, frame-up.

Pei Zhao stepped forward and solemnly handed over something.

It was a bloodstained piece of cloth.

"My lord, I have carefully examined Old Man Wang's body and found this piece of cloth in the corner of the alley where the crime occurred." Pei Zhao's voice was very low. "The material and weaving of this cloth are neither the coarse cloth used by ordinary people nor the silk worn by wealthy merchants."

"What is this?" Cui Shen leaned closer to take a look and asked in confusion.

"This is linen cloth used exclusively by the military, used to wrap the handles of swords to prevent slipping." A chilling glint flashed in Pei Zhao's eyes. "Moreover, this cloth retains a peculiar pine resin scent. This pine resin is only used by the garrison of Zhechong Prefecture outside Yaozhou City when maintaining their bows and crossbows."

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name 1110 ...

Yang Xuan's pupils suddenly contracted.

Zhechong Prefecture!

It's Zhechong Prefecture again!

During the nighttime burglary of the warehouse, the military tag of the Zhechong Prefecture was left behind; in this murder case, the Zhechong Prefecture was also left behind as a clue!

"It seems that there are not only corrupt officials in the prefecture government in Yaozhou City, but also a pair of black hands hiding in the military camp." Yang Xuan's tone was as cold as ice. "They deliberately killed Wang Quan and left the Tian family's waist token in order to provoke the people, incite a deadly fight between the county government and the Tian family, or even trigger a popular uprising."

"Why would they do this?" Cui Shen asked, puzzled. "The Zhechong Prefecture is a military force; do they also want to interfere in salt affairs?"

"They're not just interfering; they want to have it all!"

Yang Xuan slammed his hand on the table and stood up. At that moment, all the clues in his mind finally connected.

"If I am forced to back down by Liu Wen today, or if a large-scale bloodshed occurs during the attack on the Tian family, the Zhechong Prefecture can legitimately send a large army into the city under the pretext of 'suppressing the rebellion' and 'suppressing bandits'!"

"At that time, the Tian family, the prefectural government, and even our county government will all be wiped out by the military on charges of 'rebellion.' The salt wells of Yaozhou and that five times the wealth will all fall into the hands of the military governor!"

Cui Shen and Pei Zhao gasped in shock.

Such a vicious and elaborate scheme is truly chilling!

If Yang Xuan hadn't skillfully navigated the public sentiment today, forcing Liu Wen to retreat, Yaozhou City would probably be a living hell by now.

"What a cunning strategist!" Yang Xuan sneered, his eyes flashing with a wolf-like ferocity. "Since they prefer to hide in the shadows and play dirty tricks, then I'll force them into the open!"

"Cui Shen, tomorrow morning, you will represent the county government to visit Chief Clerk Liu Wen at the largest inn in the city."

A calculating glint flashed in Yang Xuan's eyes.

"Tell him that the Tian family's property has been confiscated, and the obstacles at Qing'ao Well have been cleared. Regarding the profit distribution, the county government is willing to renegotiate a new 'win-win' plan with him and the prefectural government represented by Zheng Sima."

"My lord, are you still going to cooperate with them?" Pei Zhao asked, puzzled.

"If we don't cooperate, how can we free up our hands to deal with this hungry military wolf lurking in the shadows?" Yang Xuan's lips curled into a cold smile.

"I can distribute this meat from Yaozhou to corrupt officials, because what they want is money, and money can buy lives. But I will never distribute it to the army, because what they want is power, power that can take all of our lives!"

......

The next morning.

Inside the largest inn in Yaozhou City, Liu Wen, sporting dark circles under his eyes, paced back and forth in the lobby, looking irritable.

The harrowing civil unrest of yesterday still haunts him.

If he hadn't been quick to react and withdraw his troops in time, he would probably have been torn to pieces by those angry mobs, or impeached by Yang Xuan in a memorial to the throne in Chang'an.

"Sir, Cui Shen, the registrar of the county government, requests an audience," a servant announced from outside the door.

Liu Wen frowned: "What's he doing here? What tricks is that madman Yang Xuan up to now?"

"He said... he was representing the county magistrate to discuss cooperation with him."

"Cooperation?" Liu Wen paused, a hint of suspicion flashing in his eyes. "Let him in."

A moment later, Cui Shen, dressed in a faded blue scholar's robe, walked into the room with neither arrogance nor servility.

"This humble official, Cui Shen, greets Your Excellency, Chief Secretary." Cui Shen bowed respectfully.

Liu Wen, his face cold, did not offer him a seat: "Yang Xuan sent you here, what brings you here? Is he perhaps trying to incite the common people to surround my inn again?"

"You jest, Chief Secretary. My husband is an official appointed by the court. Yesterday's events were caused by Tian Boyong's disregard for human life, which aroused public anger. My husband had no choice but to step in to quell the situation."

Cui Shen spoke calmly, as if yesterday's riot was really just an accident.

"I have come today on behalf of my husband to deliver a generous gift to you, sir."

As he spoke, Cui Shen took out a thick register and a thick stack of salt coupons from his sleeve and respectfully handed them to Liu Wen's desk.

"What is this?" Liu Wen looked at Cui Shen suspiciously.

"This is a list of all the shops and land deeds owned by the Tian family inside and outside Yaozhou City, as well as the five thousand dan of old salt coupons they had hoarded."

Cui Shen smiled slightly.

"My husband said that since the Tian family has fallen, these ill-gotten gains should be confiscated. However, a large portion of these were gifts the Tian family had previously given to various officials in the prefecture. The county government dares not keep them for themselves, so we request that the Chief Secretary review them and pass them on to the Prefect."