The invitation posted by the head of the Li family was very polite and his attitude was very low. It was completely different from his previous attitude of being aloof, wrestling with her, and waiting for her to surrender.
At first glance, this lengthy invitation seemed like the Li family couldn't bear it any longer and wanted to take the initiative to sue for peace with Zhao Yanhuan and admit defeat. However, Zhao Yanhuan didn't believe that the head of the Li family would admit defeat so easily. This was probably a grand banquet.
Qiyue also felt that the Li family was uneasy and well-intentioned, so she said directly: "My lord, we can't be in danger and let a few generals directly lead troops to defeat these families."
Zhao Yanhuan put down the invitation and said calmly: "Although their private army is not well maintained, they are not useless. If they really fight, casualties will inevitably occur."
"If they are really uneasy and want to take action at the banquet, it will make it easier for me to deal with them."
Zhao Yanhuan only brought a dozen guards with him to the banquet this time, and he went to Li's house seemingly unprepared.
The head of the Li family was very enthusiastic. He, the head of the Bai family, and the head of the Jin family came out early to greet Zhao Yanhuan.
"Thank you, Mr. Nanze, for taking the time to come to the banquet despite your busy schedule. It's really brilliant."
Zhao Yan smiled and exchanged greetings with him: "Why, Master Li is so polite. If I hadn't been busy all the time, I should have invited several family heads to see you as soon as possible."
The head of the Bai family spoke at the side: "Let's not keep being polite at the door. It's better to invite Mr. Nanze into the house and have a seat at the table."
The Bai family leader spoke, Zhao Yanhuan ended the greetings with the Li family leader, and the group entered the lobby of the Li family's main courtyard where guests were entertained, where the banquet was held.
As the person with the highest status, Zhao Yanhuan naturally took the main seat, with Patriarch Li, Patriarch Bai and Patriarch Jin sitting on both sides.
The hall was filled with servants responsible for serving. Silk and bamboo orchestral music played, a group of beautiful dancers began to dance, and more than a dozen maids lined up to serve the food.
The head of the Li family pointed to the ordinary-looking plate of crab roe tofu in front of him and said to Zhao Yanhuan, "My crab roe tofu is a must-have. Please try it, Mr. Nanze, to see if it suits your taste."
Zhao Yanhuan scooped up a spoonful of tofu with an engraved silver spoon and put it into his mouth. After tasting it carefully, he couldn't help but praise: "It's delicious. The tofu is very tender and smooth, especially fresh, without any beany smell of tofu. Good craftsmanship.”
The head of the Li family said with a little show off: "This tofu is not made of beans at all, and naturally has no fishy smell. This tofu is made from the blood of hundreds of crabs, and then uses the crab roe of hundreds of crabs." Stir-fry this plate of crab roe tofu.”
The head of the Jin family gave Zhao Yanhuan another bowl of soup. A peony bloomed in the soup. The soup was as clear as water. You could take a sip, but the soup had a rich aroma. When you ate the peony, there was a floral fragrance in your mouth.
The head of the Jin family also gave a somewhat ostentatious explanation: "Although this peony is carved from a radish, it is made of flowers from all seasons, steamed and dried for nine times, and the floral fragrance is completely integrated into the peony carved from a radish."
"It takes dozens of precious ingredients to make this bowl of clear soup and put the peonies in it. From production to completion, it takes more than ten days."
Next, Patriarch Li, Patriarch Jin, and Patriarch Bai took turns to teach Zhao Yanhuan about each dish. All of them were tedious to make and took a long time to make. This is the ultimate expression of the saying that you can never tire of fine food but never tire of fine food.
Zhao Yanhuan knew that these three people were showing off to her. She originally thought it was a pure Hongmen Banquet, but she didn't expect that they also meant to corrupt her and make her feel what luxury was, and it was best to indulge in it.
Probably these three families knew about her mud-legged background, and wanted her to experience the luxurious life of the 'upper class', so as to dispel her determination to eradicate these aristocratic families. It would be best if she could live with the light.
After all, if there is a fight, even if her leader, Nan Zezhou, dies, her soldiers may not surrender. It is inevitable that both sides will suffer losses, and once the family is injured, Nan Zezhou, a big fat man, will definitely Being targeted by other aristocratic families.
Zhao Yanhuan listened to Patriarch Li, Patriarch Jin, and Patriarch Bai showing off, and simply ate without hesitation. It had to be said that these dishes were worth the time and materials spent, and they were extremely delicious.
Zhao Yanhuan himself was absolutely reluctant to eat such a luxurious meal, so he took advantage of the opportunity to eat more quickly, otherwise it would all be wasted in the fight later.
Zhao Yanhuan's attitude was too obvious. Halfway through the banquet, the Li family, the Jin family, and the Bai family realized that although Zhao Yanhuan came to the banquet, he had no intention of living in peace with them.
It seemed that he couldn't be kind anymore, so the Li family leader was too lazy to continue wasting time with Zhao Yanhuan. He winked at the Bai family leader and the Jin family leader, and the three of them picked up the wine glasses and threw them down. At the same time, they quickly protected themselves from the guards pretending to be servants. Back down.
This is something the three of them have thought about for a long time. No one knows whether Zhao Yanhuan knows Kung Fu, but the guards around Zhao Yanhuan are definitely not light-hearted. They pay great attention to their own safety.
The head of the Li family had prepared thousands of people in advance, all of whom were the most elite guards ambushing the house. He thought very well. As long as Zhao Yanhuan dared to come to the banquet, he would have to die here even if he was prepared in advance, without leaving any future troubles. .
The Li family leader had a beautiful thought, but as soon as he went out, the guards around him were shot to death by a burst of arrows. The fast Li family leader, the Bai family leader, and the Jin family leader didn't even react. Soon, three long knives were placed on the three sides. On the head of the family's neck.
Only then did the three people realize that the entire Li Mansion had been controlled by others. The head of the Li family was even a little confused. How could this be possible? He had a thousand elites, not to mention that it was possible to do one for a hundred or one for ten. How could he be so easily defeated? Caught.
The heads of the Bai family and the Jin family were unable to react to the blow. They were pushed away. Following the Li family, they were crushed in front of Zhao Yanhuan.
Zhao Yanhuan was still eating, and the room was quiet and not chaotic at all. Even the dancing dancers and musicians were still dancing and playing music tremblingly.
Zhao Yanhuan looked at Patriarch Li, who looked confused as to what was going on, and raised his eyebrows: "The way Patriarch Li treats guests is so rude. How could you leave your guests and run away?"
The head of the Li family looked at Zhao Yanhuan unwillingly: "Why? You obviously only brought a dozen guards. Why? When did you let people control my Li family?"
Zhao Yanhuan took a sip of the soup and breathed a sigh of relief: "The head of the Li family has made it clear that he wants to plot against me. How could I not take advantage of him first?"
Zhao Yanhuan brought more than a dozen guards at the beginning to hide the truth from others. After Zhao Yanhuan entered the Li Mansion, taking advantage of the opportunity that the Li family, the Bai family, and the Jin family were all together with Zhao Yanhuan, Zhao Huaer quietly led five hundred special forces. Sneak in silently.
The head of the Li family thought that the guards he arranged could equal ten and were invincible. However, they were incomparable to the special forces specially trained by Zhao Yanhuan. They were killed quietly without even noticing that something was wrong.
In the room, Zhao Yanhuan kept listening to the show off of Patriarch Li, Patriarch Jin and Patriarch Bai, just to buy time for Zhao Huaer. By the time the Patriarch Li and the three of them broke into a fight, it was already too late.
Zhao Yanhuan didn't bother to pay attention to the three heads of the Li family who had been making noises unwillingly. He directly suppressed the people and cleared the three families' property as quickly as possible. All the criminals were arrested, and the land was measured clearly and waiting to be distributed to the people.
During this process, Wan Qi and Lu Yifan, who knew the ins and outs of the three families, made great efforts to convict the three families. It was the evidence they found.
Although the Li family, the Bai family, and the Jin family were also hated by people, the Lu family was in front of them. After these three families were convicted, they were not much remembered by the people. On the day of the beheading, they ran over to watch the excitement and continued to stare at them. The Lu family went.
What drew the attention of these people was Zhao Yanhuan's announcement to allocate land to all people in Nanzezhou. This time, Zhao Yanhuan was going to allocate land to all people in Nanzezhou, regardless of gender.
However, the land will be divided after the children are ten years old and basically sure that they can support themselves. Each person has ten acres of permanent land, which can be bought and sold or passed on to future generations. It will not be taken back. Forty acres of open land will never be allowed to be exposed. Buy and sell, and take back the government after death.
Zhao Yanhuan registered all Lu Tian in a register and sealed it. Lu Tian of good rank, whether it was an individual, aristocratic family, or a noble family, was not allowed to buy or sell Lu Tian for any reason. Anyone who sold Lu Tian would be treated as a felony.
This law is of no use now. There are no aristocratic families in Nanzezhou, let alone royal nobles. Zhao Yanhuan made this law for the future. The purpose of never allowing the sale of exposed fields is to prevent future land annexation. .
The matter of land distribution is much more important to the people than torturing the Lu family. Torturing the Lu family is just to vent their resentment, but land distribution is related to the survival of their children and grandchildren and whether they can live a good life.
If the person who said he wanted to allocate land to them was Zhao Yanhuan, Lord Nanze, who had done a lot for them, they would never believe that an official would be kind enough to allocate land to them.
But it was Mr. Nanze who said this, who gave doctors and medicines free of charge, who valued every one of their lives and who would not give up on them even if they got the plague, so they believed it unconditionally.
So when Zhao Yanhuan announced that the land allocation would begin and asked them to take their household registration certificates to the Nanzezhou government office and queue up to register and wait for the land allocation, everyone did so.
Considering the existence of Yinhu, Zhao Yanhuan also specially asked Wanqi to arrange a few people to re-apply household registration certificates for the people in Yinhu, so as to facilitate the distribution of land.
Because this time Zhao Yanhuan treated girls equally, which meant that girls also had assets and could bring benefits to the family, which invisibly improved the status of women.
If times were hard, Zhao Yanhuan's promotion of women's status would definitely arouse the opposition of many men, but now that there is no need to worry about food and drink, Zhao Yanhuan has uprooted the families who were willing to oppose the improvement of women's status.
The remaining common people are dying just to deal with exorbitant taxes and various corvee services. They don't care whether women's status is as high as theirs. Anyway, under high pressure, they and women are no better than animals.
More importantly, when Zhao Yanhuan allocates land to women, it is not only the women who benefit, but the men in the family also benefit. He is a vested interest, so when it comes to oppressing women and getting the benefits, the people naturally choose the benefits of real money. .
After eradicating the four major aristocratic families and winning the hearts of the people, Zhao Yanhuan began to build Nanzezhou in a drastic way.
Glass factories, cosmetics, and candy factories continuously brought large amounts of gold and silver to Zhao Yanhuan. Of course, even larger amounts of gold and silver were placed in Dong Guan's private treasury.
Luan Bao, who came to report the situation to Zhao Yanhuan last time during his business trip, said that Dong Guan's treasure house had more than tripled in size.
Zhao Yanhuan invested all the money he earned in the construction of Nanzezhou, building bridges and roads, building city walls, and most importantly, building weapons and armor.
At the same time, the people were allowed to plant the high-yielding seeds that she had optimized. Zhao Yanhuan went very smoothly. The people of Nanzezhou trusted Zhao Yanhuan very much. Zhao Yanhuan wanted to build roads, and the people enthusiastically signed up to do it for free. Of course, Zhao Yanhuan could not let the people Free road construction.
Zhao Yanhuan asked the people to plant high-yielding seeds, and the people planted them without saying a word. They believed that Lord Nanze would not harm them, so the people planted with confidence.
During this process, Nanzezhou's Zhizhou Wanqi contributed a lot. He was very knowledgeable about managing affairs in the continent and handled government affairs without delay. He was a practical official, which Zhao Yanhuan admired very much.
Originally, Zhao Yanhuan wanted to get Wan Qi's official job, but now he has given up the idea. In addition to Wan Qi, Lu Yifan also showed his talent as an official.
Although Zhao Yanhuan was previously worried that Lu Yifan was too cold and ruthless, did not know how to sympathize with all living beings, and would not be a good official.
But Zhao Yanhuan thought about it and decided to use it. Zhao Yanhuan was sure that with her here, she could suppress Lu Yifan and prevent him from thinking wrongly.
When everything was getting better and better, Zhao Yanhuan's fourth uncle Zhao Yicang also brought good news. The Bailiang Steel that Zhao Yanhuan had been asking Zhao Yicang to study hard was finally built.
With weapons made by Baidu Steel, you will have a better chance of survival than other soldiers on the battlefield.
Three years have passed in a blink of an eye, and Nanzezhou has undergone earth-shaking changes. With Dong Guan's support, no other aristocratic family dared to take advantage of Nanzezhou, even if there was no aristocratic family.
Because Zhao Yanhuan's taxes were low, every household of the common people had a surplus of food. Now, except for the court's corvee service several times a year, which made them frightened and desperate, the rest of their lives were really much easier.
For Zhao Yanhuan, Lord Nanze, they went from being grateful to deeply convinced and loving him. Now Zhao Yanhuan's words are more effective than the King of Heaven.
In fact, the corvee for the people of Nanzezhou was much lighter. Dong Guan interceded. The corvee in Nanzezhou had always been easy, but the people still couldn't bear the hard work of the corvee. In the final analysis, the corvee was too heavy.
The new emperor is extremely ridiculous. Although the previous emperor still knows the same cultivation, the current emperor is advancing at the same time. Today he wants to build a palace, and tomorrow he wants to build a palace. All kinds of corvee work are too frequent.
The common people had no time to farm, and in the end the harvests in the fields were reduced. This is not terrible. What is terrible is that the heavy labor of corvee is getting stronger and stronger.
The new emperor was very picky. The people did corvees and took care of themselves. In this way, people who were well fed were fine, but more people were unable to feed them. If they didn't have enough to eat, they would have to do hard physical work, and they would be exhausted. Common things.
In the past, if ten people went out, five would come back, but now they are doing corvee work. If ten people go out, only two or three people can come back, which is considered a lot.
