To welcome the King of Yan, a grand banquet is naturally indispensable.
The utensils and utensils on the table are luxurious and exquisite, and there are all kinds of delicacies, wines and delicacies. The singing and dancing are not much worse than those in Lin'an.
However, the hundreds of Quanzhou gentry and wealthy people who attended the banquet were inattentive and inattentive. All of them focused their attention on King Yan, trying to find out some charm from his words and deeds.
Now that the chaos has not subsided, the future of Quanzhou and the fate of these people are in the hands of King Yan, and they cannot help but pay more attention to it.
At this time, Zhao Mengqi had taken off his military uniform and changed into casual clothes, looking more elegant and easy-going.
During the banquet, they also looked relaxed and leisurely, completely forgetting that most of Fujian was still in turmoil, and kept talking and laughing, doing their best to enjoy themselves with everyone.
Many people toasted to him, but their words were full of probing meanings, but he seemed not to understand. He drank the wine happily but said not a word of useful words.
Everyone present couldn't help but think that King Yan was planning to get drunk on purpose, just get over it, and then do his own thing.
If it were anyone else, for example, even a prime minister-level figure like Uncle Xie Fang, if he wanted to have smooth governance in the local area, he would not be able to do without the support of the local gentry.
But the King of Yan was different. Not only did he have a high status, but he also had the right to control the southeast. More importantly, he had powerful military power. He had the capital to do whatever he wanted to do.
Therefore, everyone was eager to know what King Yan was planning. The more they saw King Yan covering up, the more confused they became, and their hearts seemed to be lit with anxiety.
More than an hour passed, and I don't know how many liters of wine King Yan had drunk. Not only did he not feel drunk, but he became more energetic.
According to the habits of Song people, it was normal for a banquet to last all night, but today most people find it particularly difficult.
So after some secret communication, they decided to nominate representatives to show their cards to King Yan.
Among the old families in Quanzhou, in addition to the Liu family, there is also the Chen family. The ancestor of the Chen family, Chen Hongjin, also mixed with Liu Congxiao back then. The feud between the two families is quite complicated, but there are also constant in-laws, but this time he did not participate in it. Chaos.
Logically speaking, he could stay out of the matter, but if King Yan was going to investigate the rebels, the Chen family could be implicated in it because of the close ties between the Chen and Liu families.
Therefore, Chen Zhi, the head of the Chen family, was filled with anxiety and accepted the recommendation. He stood up and said to King Yan, "Your Highness, the Liu clan's rebellion and rebellion this time is really a cause of outrage for both humans and gods. We are all loyal and good people in Fujian." I am willing to follow His Highness to discuss the matter together. If necessary, we will do our best to support the counter-insurgency work, even if it means destroying our family and the country."
Zhao Mengqi looked at Chen Zhi with a smile, "I am very impressed by Chen Zhi's heart. I will definitely ask my father to give him a commendation in recognition of his loyalty!"
These words were still perfunctory, and they were even deliberately cut off, not giving Chen Zhi room to express himself.
Chen Zhi was very embarrassed, but under the pleading eyes of everyone, he could only bite the bullet and said, "We gentry have shared weal and woe with the Song Dynasty. We have been favored by the country but failed to stabilize the place. It is really shameful. I just feel guilty." How can I dare to expect commendations and awards..."
"Haha!" Zhao Mengqi interrupted Chen Zhizhi with a smile, his expression became serious, "So you still remember the Song Dynasty, and you still know that you are guilty? Even though you were not directly involved in the chaos in central Fujian, you still Do you dare to say that you know nothing about this!? If you are really loyal, why haven't you reported anything to the court!? Do you think that the gentry is the foundation of the country, the maintenance of the place depends on you, and most of the officials in the court come from your family? , so the imperial court can’t easily touch you, so it’s safe to rely on you?! Yes, the imperial court has such concerns, so it has been more tolerant and generous to you over the past hundreds of years, and has continued to use the people’s wealth and support to support you, allowing you to dominate the local area. To bless and oppress the people.”
Everyone present was extremely shocked. They never expected that King Yan would tear off all the fig leaves, put this obscure matter on the table like a fool, and denounce it directly.
Chen Zhi faced Yan King Fengrui, his face was pale and he was sweating coldly. He was thinking of defending, but he heard Yan King continue to curse.
"You still try your best to support me. It's really nice to say that part of your family's wealth is your own hard work."
Income? Aren’t they all taken from the people? You can take advantage of it all because the country of Song Dynasty maintains this order. Now that the Song Dynasty ship is starting to get old, instead of repairing it, you are desperately trying to take down the ship's planks and build your own nest. The relationship is that after the Song Dynasty sinks, you will find another big ship, right? "
"I tell you, don't even think about it. Here in Gu, there is no law that does not punish everyone. As long as they are not of the same mind as the Song Dynasty, everyone should be eliminated. Don't think that you can use pots and jars to hold Gu's hands and feet. If this place can't To deliver nutrients to the Song Dynasty, I would rather burn it to the ground! If you are not convinced, you can raise an army to rebel now. Let's fight against the chariots and horses to see who wins!?"
crazy!
King Yan is crazy...
Since ancient times, has any king so blatantly threatened his own subjects? !
These words sounded very childish and ridiculous, but most of the people present felt fear, inexplicably feeling that King Yan could really do such a thing.
Chen Zhi knelt down and said, "Your Highness, please calm down and let the people know their sins."
The other gentry hesitated for a while, and then gradually some people knelt down, and then more and more.
Zhao Mengqi looked at the pile of raised buttocks coldly, expressionless.
After a long silence, Uncle Xie Fang slowly stood up and left the table, bowing deeply to Zhao Mengqi, "Your Highness, no one can do anything wrong except a sage. These people forget their righteousness because of small profits. They are indeed confused, but no matter what, they won't do it this time." They still did not participate in the rebellion, which shows that they are still somewhat loyal to the Song Dynasty. I hope His Highness will give them a chance. If they can repent in time, it will be a great kindness."
"Yes, yes, please give me a chance, your highness. We will definitely change our ways. What about other families? Sinners dare not take all the blame. However, the Chen family will definitely support any decree of your highness and ask your highness to promote the Buddhist world in Fujian. The Chen family will fully cooperate. And actively make up for the hidden taxes evaded in previous years.”
Chen Zhi felt extremely heartbroken, but now that King Yan held great righteousness and had a large army in his hands, if he really got angry and ignored it, the Chen family would have no choice but to wait to be exterminated.
Even if King Yan's actions aroused turmoil in the world and eventually led to a firestorm, the entire Chen family would have been dead by then, so what was the point.
Others have also figured this out. Now that King Yan is strong, even if he doesn't do anything reckless, he can still attack anyone who disobeys in the name of countering rebellion.
This is actually the fundamental reason why civil servants try their best to suppress military men. When a scholar encounters a soldier, he can't explain why he is justified. Those who wield force can be unreasonable, ignore order, and can overturn the table at any time.
Of course, when order is lost, warriors themselves will probably not end well.
But from King Yan's perspective, he was almost killed, so he didn't care about the consequences.
The only reason is that the people of the Liujia Pu family are too incompetent. They have such an absolute advantage, and they are actually counterattacked...
At this point, everyone can only bow their heads and surrender, get through this current period, and then talk about the future.
As a result, the gentry kneeling on the ground all expressed similar meanings to Chen Zhizhi's words.
When Zhao Mengqi saw that the beating was almost done, he smiled coldly and said, "At this time, in your hearts, I am afraid that I have already put Gu in the same category as Shang Zhou and Sui Yang, and you will be scolding me very much."
"I don't dare, I don't dare..." The gentlemen dug their butts higher.
"Okay." Raising his hand, Zhao Mengqi sighed, "I don't care what you think in your heart. At present, it is indeed not the time to make a decision, so I will give you a chance. If you can cherish it, it will be you. Good, I’m good, Da Song is good.”
All the gentry felt relieved and hurriedly shouted, "Thank you for your grace, Your Highness. We will be loyal to Your Highness, loyal to the officials, and advance and retreat together with the Song Dynasty."
"Well, now that the rebellion has not been over, and there is no way to start the economic affairs, we will put it aside for the time being. If you have illegally annexed land, you should take the initiative to return it to the original owner. If you can't find the original owner, then use it as public land and pay taxes. Well, Gu is not a mean and unreasonable person, so just make up for the twenty years. The specific figures are up to you to find out and declare. Anyway, they will still have to be sorted out by the community in the future. If the difference is too big, what will happen to you? You should be able to imagine it!"
The gentry looked at each other, but they didn't expect that King Yan would be so proud at this time.
He raised his hand and said, "Thank you for your generosity, Your Highness. Once we understand, we will not dare to hide away again."
The reason why Jingjie was not implemented immediately was that, firstly, Zhao Mengqi could not afford so many surveyors, and secondly, Fujian had many mountains and few fields. Farmland alone could not meet the needs of the population, and it was too fragmented and difficult to manage.
Another main reason that cannot be explained clearly is that the current situation of too many landless people caused by mergers can vigorously promote the flow of immigrants or turn them into handicraft commercial labor.
If we start to cross the border, farmers will probably be unable to leave their homeland when their situation is expected to improve.
Therefore, Zhao Mengqi is definitely not a good person...
"Everyone, please get up. We, the Song Dynasty, don't have the habit of kneeling all the time. If you kneel too much, your backbone will be lost."
"Thank you for your grace, Your Highness."
The gentlemen slowly got up and couldn't help but curse. If you hadn't threatened us, we would have knelt down! ?
At this time, Uncle Xie Fangzhuangruo asked casually, "Your Highness, your suspension of business is indeed a sound policy. But now that we have mentioned this, I wonder how your Highness plans to deal with the rebels and how to deal with their property?"
"This is nothing to consider. Anyone who organizes rebellion will eventually die. Regardless of whether he has a family background, whether he is a court official or not, all his family members will be exiled and all their property will be confiscated. Other rebels will be punished according to the seriousness of the case. Disposal."
Zhao Mengqi said casually, but it made the gentry present shudder again.
Why not kill the scholar-officials? King Yan killed the scholar-officials...
Uncle Xie Fang asked again, "A big family like the Liu family has many side branches, and they may not know what the sect is doing, and there are many loyal and filial people among them. Wouldn't it be too innocent to be involved?"
"Well, what Xiang Xiang said makes sense, so let's do this. If it is found that the person has not rebelled, he can be treated leniently..."
This is actually a deliberate attempt to leave a gap, both to divide the other side and to avoid a trapped beast fight.
