Two days later, the commander sent the yamen.
As the night fell, Liu Yan placed three tables of fine delicacies in the Nuan Pavilion, paired with the Shaoguo wine brought from Dapanbao, and prepared to entertain a group of gentry here.
Hu Youxiang, a member of the Qianhu family, came here early and asked Liu Yan for the errand of welcoming guests. He stood at the door of the commander's Yamen and welcomed the gentry in one after another.
After these gentry arrived at the Commander's Office, each of them gave Liu Yan a generous gift. Liu Yan looked at the gift list and then at the gifts piled outside the Nuan Pavilion door. The smallest one was worth more than a hundred taels. , which shows the generosity of these gentry.
"Mr. Shen is here!"
Following a chorus, the dozen or so gentry who had been chatting happily in the Nuan Pavilion fell silent, then stood up and looked respectfully towards the door.
At this time, Liu Yan was sitting in plain clothes, and Mr. Qian Miao Shao, who was also not wearing armor or official uniform, stood aside and obeyed orders.
The two men's expressions changed slightly as they looked at the gentry.
After a while, Liu Yan saw a man in his fifties walking in with square steps. This man was wearing a satin red robe, a velvet cotton hat, and a deerskin cloak. Luxurious.
"Sir, my subordinates have conducted a secret investigation in the past two days. This person's name is Shen Jiuwei. He is the largest wealthy gentry in Lingshan Guard. Everyone regards this person as their leader, even the officials of Lingshan Guard. He is very difficult to deal with. .”
Miao Shao stood aside and whispered. Liu Yan nodded slightly, then stood up and said with a smile: "It's Member Shen who has arrived. Please take a seat!"
Shen Jiuwei smiled faintly, then took out a gift list from his arms, handed it to Liu Yan with one hand, and said, "It's a small thing, please accept it."
When Liu Yan saw this, he laughed and waved his hand. Miao Shao next to him stepped forward and took the gift list in his hand.
Shen Jiuwei was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a smile and sat directly on the main table.
At this time, Hu Youxiang came in and said to Liu Yan: "Sir, the guests have arrived. Shall we start?"
Liu Yan said hello and then sat down at the main table. Miao Shao also stood behind Liu Yan to serve him. Hu Youxiang rushed back and forth to organize a banquet.
During the banquet, Liu Yan first toasted everyone and said: "I have just arrived at Lingshan Acropolis, and I will rely on your help in many places in the future. Let's drink this glass of wine together, how about it?"
Everyone raised their glasses, and after drinking, Shen Jiuwei said: "Today's banquet, Master Chengshou is so warm and welcoming, but I don't know what's going on? We, the common people, heard that Master Chengshou is planning to build a large military garrison. I wonder if this is the case?"
Liu Yan said with a smile: "This is absolutely true! As you all know, the guard station is an ancestral system established by Taizu, but now it is full of holes. Take our Lingshan Guard as an example, how many troops cultivated land Occupied? How many military families and civilians have been displaced? Now that I have arrived at Lingshan Guard, I need money and food, but I don’t have money and food, and I need soldiers but I don’t have soldiers. The new army under my command has not been fully established until now, just because the military camp is deserted! "
Shen Jiuwei had already put away the smile on his face at this time. He originally thought that Liu Yan was just using the military affairs to ask for money, but when he met today, he found that Liu Yan actually wanted to promote military settlements!
But now that Lingshan Guard has no land to cultivate, how can Liu Yan build a military garrison? Naturally, let the people who invaded the military camp spit out the fat in their mouths!
At this time, Shen Jiuwei's face was already a little ugly and he said, "In this case, what are you going to do?"
Liu Yan also saw the clues at this time. Originally, he was prepared to treat these gentry with emotion and reason, but now it seems that he still underestimated the selfishness and shamelessness of the gentry in the late Ming Dynasty. It is impossible for these people to follow their own ideas. , lend money to yourself.
So Liu Yan directly adjusted his plan and said to everyone: "I am going to donate money to you, and then use the money to buy land in order to implement military settlements."
Shen Jiuwei burst out laughing and said, "What do you mean, Master Chengshou, use our money to buy our land?"
All the gentry suddenly burst into laughter.
Liu Yan frowned slightly and said, "I didn't say I would buy your land."
"It's all the same. Apart from the cultivated land in our hands, where else is there extra cultivated land for sale in Lingshanwei?"
After saying that, Shen Jiuwei took out ten taels of silver and put it on the table and said, "Since Master Cheng has opened the mouth of gold, I can't deny my face. These ten taels of silver are my donation. Please accept it." "
Then the rest of the gentry also "generously donated money" and put three or five taels of scattered silver on the table. Miao Shao on the side was furious when he saw it. If he hadn't been worried about ruining Liu Yan's big event, he would have wanted to give these away now. The gentry was beaten violently.
Liu Yan stood up slowly, walked to the door of Nuan Pavilion, and kicked the door open. The icy cold wind blew in instantly, making the gentry shrink their necks from the cold. Shen Jiuwei also frowned and said to himself: This Liu Does Yan still dare to take action?
I saw Liu Yan walking to the door, pointing to the mountains of gifts outside, and scolding the gentry: "These gifts are worth thousands of taels of silver, and you gave them to me, Liu Yan himself!"
Then Liu Yan pointed to the pieces of silver on the three wine tables and said angrily: "Together, these silvers are less than one hundred taels. You dedicated them to the Ming Dynasty!"
"Now that the world is undergoing drastic changes, there are tens of millions of poor military households in our Lingshan Guard alone. If things go on like this, the country will not be able to survive. If the country is destroyed, no matter how much money you give me, I will be able to use it!"
After saying that, Liu Yan pushed down the pile of gifts and walked away.
At this time, Shen Jiuwei and all the gentry were dumbfounded. They never expected that Liu Yan would fall out on the spot. Miao Shao came over and said loudly: "What are you looking at? You haven't even eaten yet, so why don't you leave!"
Shen Jiuwei was also angry at this time. He snorted coldly and walked away, followed by a dozen other gentry.
Upon seeing this, Hu Youxiang hurried in and said anxiously to Miao Shao: "How can this be so! Something bad is going to happen!"
Miao Shao glanced at Hu Youxiang coldly and said, "Yes, something bad is going to happen! You'd better be careful and don't get too close to them!"
Early the next morning, Miao Shao, who was born in Ye Bu Su, was sent out by Liu Yan. He took a team of Ye Bu Suu from his personal guard camp to various parts of Lingshan Guard and began to secretly investigate the occupation of farmland by the gentry.
After four days in a row, Liu Yan ceased his activities. When Shen Jiuwei saw this, he couldn't help but feel relieved, thinking that Liu Yan didn't have any means. At best, he was a bit grumpy and couldn't help himself.
On the evening of the fourth day, Miao Shao rushed back to the command office and handed an account book to Liu Yan.
"Sir, please see, these are the details of the cultivated land occupied by military camps in various places in Lingshan Guard. Now, the gentry everywhere, together with the officials of Lingshan Guard, wantonly invaded cultivated land and oppressed the military households and civilians. 80% of the military camps surrounding Lingshan Guard have been occupied. !”
"Among them, Shen Jiuwei occupied the most. More than twenty of the largest gentry and wealthy families occupied hundreds of thousands of acres of cultivated land!"
Liu Yan frowned and asked, "Are there any witnesses?"
"Yes, he was placed in a large car shop outside the city by his subordinates. He was guarded by two brothers who stayed up all night."
Liu Yan thought for a long time, then looked at the evidence account book in his hand, and said in a cold voice: "As the saying goes, cut the knot with a sharp knife! I originally wanted to take care of it slowly and make as few enemies as possible, but it backfired. These gentry and the officials of Lingshan Guard They have formed a party and are lying on the bodies of military households and civilians to suck blood. There is no possibility of reconciliation with them and they must be completely eliminated with thunderous means!"
Miao Shao's heart trembled when he heard this, and he clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, please give the order. I will dispatch troops immediately to seize the occupied farmland based on this evidence, and then go door to door to search the property of those gentry and corrupt officials!"
Liu Yan stopped him and said, "You can't do it this hard. Judging from the current situation of the Lingshan Guard, the gentry have already gotten wind of it before your troops have been mobilized in place. Now the Lingshan Guard is like a honeycomb. It’s riddled with holes and there’s no secret.”
"What should we do?"
Liu Yan sneered and said: "This will require extraordinary measures. Put this evidence here, and then you will reveal the news to Qianhu Hu Youxiang..."
After hearing Liu Yan's instructions, Miao Shao immediately clasped his fists and left.
Late that night, Hu Youxiang sneaked into the main hall of the commander's office. After looking left and right to make sure there was no one around, he started looking for something on the desk.
Soon, Hu Youxiang found among a pile of documents evidence of gentry and officials' misappropriation of cultivated land. He had just put it in his arms and was about to leave when the surroundings suddenly lit up. Qian Zong Miao Shao, with a pale face, rushed in with a group of new army soldiers. After entering, more than a dozen torches illuminated the main hall, revealing the frightened expression on Hu Youxiang's face.
"Miao, Mr. Miao Qian!"
Miao Shao snatched the account book from Hu Youxiang's arms and said coldly: "Everyone has gained the stolen goods, what else do you have to say?"
Hu Youxiang had long heard about the ruthlessness of Liu Yan's methods. At this time, his face was ashen, and he suddenly knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said: "I was blinded by lard for a while. Please be kind to Mr. Miao Qian and let me go!"
"Let you go?"
Miao Shao grabbed Hu Youxiang from the ground and scolded: "It depends on whether you are on the right path or not. Take him away!"
Two New Army soldiers rushed up and tied up Hu Youxiang. They took Hu Youxiang away regardless of his struggle and begging for mercy.
At this time, Liu Yan came out of the back hall, looked at Hu Youxiang's back, and said to Miao Shao: "Interrogate him overnight and ask him to name the list of officials from Lingshan Guard who colluded with the gentry, regardless of the means!"
Miao Shao clasped his fists and said, "Don't worry, sir, my subordinates will pry open Hu Youxiang's mouth and make sure he tells everyone how many people my mother stole!"
"What about the other witnesses outside the city?"
"My subordinates have sent people to the military camp in the city and sent people to protect them. In addition, my subordinates also brought out several death row prisoners from the prison in the city, put them into clothes, and settled them in the big car shop."
"good!"
Liu Yan asked: "The brothers over there should be smarter and run away if the situation goes wrong. Don't cause any accidents."
Miao Shao said movedly: "Don't worry, sir, those boys are very clever. They are all under my control at night, so nothing will happen to them."
At the same time, outside the Lingshan Acropolis, there was a large car shop.
Several black figures flashed out of the woods outside the big car shop and rushed towards the yard outside the shop. After a while, the dark figures climbed over the wall and entered the courtyard. It didn't take long for fire to light up from inside.
"It's gone!"
"Quick! Go call someone!"
The two new soldiers who stayed at night rushed out of the house in "panic", yelled and rushed out of the yard to "find someone". The few dark shadows hiding around did not stop them. After they ran away, the black figures continued to set fire, and soon the entire car shop was engulfed in flames.
"Two big soldiers escaped, are you okay?"
"Mr. Shen asked us to set fire, but he didn't ask us to kill the officers and soldiers? Let's just ensure that those mud-legged people are burned to death here. Why bother with those new army soldiers!"
"Haha, the boss is the boss, what he said makes sense."
"Looking at the intensity of the fire, even gods can't escape. Let's go back and recover now and collect the reward."
"Hey, let's go. After receiving the money, let's go to Goulan in Lingshan Acropolis to listen to music!"
Some people died, but not completely...
