How can you rule the world if I'm just a substitute for you?

Upon hearing this, Li Chongde's eyes lit up immediately.

This plan is truly a win-win solution.

By doing this, on the surface, there is no open betrayal of the Qin family, and the sons will not be purged by the Qin family. If the Qin family wins in the end, the two sons will also be safe.

If the Crown Prince wins, the taxes can be paid later, which can at least save the lives of the two sons.

He immediately nodded: "Alright, we'll do as Lord Zhao says."

Zhao Bing's expression suddenly turned serious: "Patriarch Li, don't be too happy yet. This is just my idea. I need to go back and report to the Crown Prince first to see if His Highness agrees. I will do my best to mediate for you, but I can't guarantee whether this matter will succeed."

Li Chongde quickly cupped his hands in greeting: "I'll leave this matter to Lord Zhao."

Zhao Bing nodded slightly, muttering under his breath, "Sigh, this matter is probably going to be difficult."

These words were spoken softly, but they reached Li Chongde's ears.

Li Chongde instantly understood the deeper meaning and immediately turned to instruct the servant beside him: "Quickly, tell the steward to bring over ten thousand silver notes."

Before long, the steward arrived quickly, carrying a stack of silver notes.

Li Chongde stepped forward and stuffed a 10,000 tael silver note directly into Zhao Bing's hand.

"Lord Zhao, this is just a small token of my appreciation."

Zhao Bing quickly waved his hand to decline, pretending to refuse, saying, "Master Li, what are you doing? I am only willing to help because of our old friendship, not because I am greedy for money."

Without saying a word, Li Chongde shoved the silver note into Zhao Bing's arms.

"Lord Zhao, this matter is entirely thanks to your hard work."

Zhao Bing stopped pretending to refuse and secretly accepted the silver note, his expression solemn: "Alright, Patriarch Li, rest assured, just wait for my good news."

After saying that, Zhao Bing turned around and strode away.

Li Chongde stood in front of the mansion gate, watching Zhao Bing's departing figure, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

Faced with the intimidation of the Qin family on one side and his two sons imprisoned on the other, Ye had no other choice but to do this.

Meanwhile, Liu Huai'an stood at the corner of the street and saw the entire conversation between Zhao Bing and Li Chongde.

He knew in his heart that Zhao Bing's move was truly brilliant; by demanding benefits, he had disarmed the Li family patriarch, a truly shrewd tactic.

The Crown Prince's current move is indeed the most effective way to divide the Qin family's vassals.

Liu Huai'an didn't linger. Holding a stack of charges, he led a large group of yamen runners and rushed to the next prominent family to hold them accountable.

Seeing this, Zhao Bing quickly followed and caught up.

The two continued to use the "good cop, bad cop" strategy.

Liu Huai'an used his iron fist to exert pressure and establish his authority.

Zhao Bing acted as a mediator, feigning to persuade the other party to give him a way out and promising him a way out.

The two spent the entire day traveling between various noble residences in Jiangzhou.

According to the confessions, they visited each of the dozen or so families involved, and investigated them one by one.

All the core members of the aristocratic families who were implicated in crimes were arrested and imprisoned in the government jail.

After being shocked by Liu Chengzhang's public execution yesterday, the gentry of Jiangzhou were terrified, and no one dared to stop them.

The night was deep, and darkness completely enveloped Jiangzhou City.

The daytime hustle and bustle has subsided, and the lights of the government office flicker.

Liu Huai'an and Zhao Bing, looking travel-worn, entered the main hall of the government office one after the other, bowed, and spoke in unison:

"Greetings, Your Highness."

In the main seat of the hall, Lin Xuan slowly raised his eyes and gently waved his hand.

He knew everything about the two of them going out to investigate cases during the day and arresting people one by one.

Liu Huai'an stepped forward, cupped his hands, and reported:

"Your Highness, all members of the dozen or so aristocratic families involved in the case have been apprehended and imprisoned today. No family dared to obstruct or resist the law throughout the process."

Immediately afterwards, Zhao Bing stepped forward to provide a supplementary report, replying clearly and logically:

"Your Highness, after today's negotiations, most of the small and medium-sized aristocratic families in Jiangzhou have agreed to compromise. They are willing to secretly sever ties with the Qin family and no longer follow the Qin family in opposing Your Highness. They have promised to make up for all the taxes owed after Your Highness has completely dealt with the Qin family."

"However, there are still a few powerful families who are stubbornly refusing to back down and insist on attaching themselves to the Qin family. They refuse to give an inch."

Lin Xuan listened quietly, his eyes calm and composed, and nodded silently in his heart.

By dismantling most of the Qin family's vassal families, this step already represents the best possible outcome.

A glint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes as he spoke calmly:

"Since a few families are determined to resist to the death and perish along with the Qin family, then I will grant their wish."

Liu Huai'an bowed and asked, "Your Highness, what should we do next?"

Lin Xuan lowered his eyes in thought, quickly sorting out the overall situation in his mind.

The case concerning the tax deficit has now reached a bottleneck.

The Qin family is ruthless. They abandoned all attempts to conceal the black fields in advance. Now, if we continue to investigate the land and taxes, we will find no useful evidence and will no longer be able to put pressure on the Qin family.

To completely overthrow the Qin family, who have dominated Jiangzhou for a century, we must find a new breakthrough.

There are only two things that can truly be fatal.

First, the three million taels of silver that were stolen.

Secondly, there were the private soldiers secretly raised by the Qin family.

Especially private soldiers!

On the surface, the Qin family has 10,000 private soldiers hidden in the shadows, but the number of private soldiers secretly hidden is even more unknown.

If these unknown private soldiers are not completely eliminated, rashly attacking the Qin family will inevitably incite a riot and cause chaos in Jiangzhou.

Therefore, we must first eliminate these private soldiers before destroying the Qin family!

Lin Xuan had already made up his mind.

He had already ordered Qiyue Pavilion to infiltrate the entire Jiangzhou region to secretly investigate the Qin family's private army deployment and the stolen three million taels of silver.

In addition, after the incident in Qingshan County, he sent Lin Mo to lie low in Qingshan County.

Lin Mo had been secretly monitoring the kidnapping of the family of Wang Shu, the magistrate of Qingtian County, by a mysterious person.

Judging by the time, the clues should have been mostly uncovered, and the news should have been sent back by now.

After considering his words, Lin Xuan raised his eyes and gave the order in a deep voice:

"There's no need to rush into action."

"Wait for news from Qiyue Pavilion and Lin Mo."

"First, eliminate the threat posed by the Qin family's private army and remove their greatest military strength. Then, we'll take action and completely annihilate the Qin family!"

The night was deep, but the study in the Qin family mansion in Jiangzhou City was brightly lit.

Qin Zhongshan sat upright at the desk, his face ashen.

His subordinates had just reported everything that had happened during the day. Liu Huai'an had been running around all day, arresting people everywhere with charges against him. More than a dozen small and medium-sized families that were affiliated with the Qin family had all their members imprisoned.

At the same time, secret letters from various powerful families seeking help were sent to the Qin family one after another.

All the noble families whose members had been captured secretly sent messages, pleading with Qin Zhongshan to intervene and find a way to rescue their members.

The atmosphere in the study was extremely oppressive.

Qin Zhongshan raised his eyes, looked at the butler who was bowing to the side, and asked in a deep voice:

"After today's events, has any prominent family secretly gone to the government office to bow down to the Crown Prince, admit their mistakes, and surrender?"

The steward quickly bowed his head and replied, "Master, ever since Liu Huai'an led his men to arrest the scions of aristocratic families, I have already sent people to monitor all the aristocratic residences in Jiangzhou."

"For an entire day, not a single family bowed down to the Crown Prince, admitted their mistakes, or secretly surrendered."

Upon hearing this, Qin Zhongshan's tense expression eased slightly, and he uttered a single word with emphasis: "Very good."

A hint of certainty flashed in his eyes as he slowly gave the order:

"Immediately send someone to secretly convey a message to all the noble families, telling them not to panic and to remain calm for the time being."

"In less than two days, news from the capital will reach Jiangzhou, and the situation will change immediately. Tell them to wait patiently and not to panic."