Those soldiers never expected that Zhu Ci would personally tend to their wounds; their noses instantly turned red as they stammered incoherently, "This.. Young Master.. how could Young Master.."
Zhu Ci had people hold them down to prevent them from getting up, finished treating their injuries with efficiency, gave instructions on important matters regarding their care, then said, "Don't worry, I will definitely help you get your revenge."
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: If the tiger doesn't show its ferocity, do you take me for a sick cat? An evil kitty drew the character for 'King' on its head. jpg
Happy Lantern Festival, little cuties~ There are Lantern Festival red envelopes in this chapter~
Next update at 6:00 PM~
Chapter 68
Zhu Ci's men had just been injured during the day, by nightfall, the prefectural office was "ambushed."
A group of people threw torches into the prefectural office, shouting as they threw, "The Acting Prefect has wronged my Liu Clan! He goes too far!"
The commotion was so loud that it woke up all the neighbors in the surrounding area. Most people heard those words, for a moment, some couldn't help but feel a sense of panic. It was true that the Liu Clan was formidable, but wasn't attacking the Prefect's Office a bit too bold?
After shouting a couple of times, they threw the torches inside and immediately ran. However, they were still too late; once the gates of the prefectural office swung open, a group of well-trained bailiffs rushed out, each armed with a long spear, they promptly captured all those who had attempted to raid the office.
Immediately after, without even an interrogation, they turned and rushed toward the Liu Family Mansion once again.
When the members of the Liu Family woke up in the middle of the night, a chaotic commotion was already raging outside.
Old Master Liu asked furiously, "Who dares to trespass into my Liu Family? Do you have no respect for the law? Men, seize them!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard two massive explosions. His expression changed involuntarily: "What was that? Gunpowder? Are they using gunpowder?"
Old Master Liu was, after all, a man of great experience and knowledge; although he had never seen a cannon, he had seen birdlock guns, this sound was very similar to them.
Oh, the sound seems even louder than a birdlock gun.
His youngest son scrambled over, shouting, "Grandpa, Grandpa.. that man named Xi has gone mad! He brought gunpowder, our family's memorial arches have all been blown down!"
Old Master Liu felt a wave of dizziness. Those archways were the glory of his Liu Family, they.. they were just blown down like that?
He struck his cane heavily against the ground and said, "We cannot let them off, we cannot let them off!"
However, the question now was no longer whether he would let them go, but whether Zhu Ci would let them go.
The bailiffs who came this time were all trained and well-organized, striking exactly where they were directed, supported by a group of archers.
Although the bursting arrows from the archers created a spectacular scene, they didn't actually wound many people.
After all, his own people were still there; he couldn't exactly blow them up too, could he?
No need to injure anyone; scaring them off will be enough.
Although these Retainers were imposing in their daily lives, in reality, they had never undergone real military training nor had they experienced a true battlefield.
These men under Zhu Ci's command might not have many other things to boast about, but they had truly gone out with him to suppress bandits!
When everyone from the Liu Family had been detained, Zhu Ci, dressed in black martial attire with a Yanling Blade at his waist, walked over slowly with his hands clasped behind his back.
Jiang Quan immediately stepped forward, cupped his hands in salute, said, "Reporting to the Prefect, all five hundred and seventeen members of the Liu Family have been detained."
Zhu Ci nodded and asked, "Where is the mastermind?"
Old Master Liu and his descendants were immediately pressed forward, their eyes filled with resentment as they looked at Zhu Ci.
Zhu Ci didn't care; he was all too familiar with such looks. Even the captured drug traffickers had looked at him with those same eyes.
He stood there, looking down at these well-dressed prisoners with a downward gaze, his face devoid of any expression.
Old Master Liu denounced him, "You ignorant brat, do you have any respect for the law?"
Zhu Ci gave a light laugh and said, "I originally intended to discuss the law with you, but since you refuse to listen to reason, do not blame me. Take them all away; find a time to send them to labor."
Housing is currently in short supply at the military camp, there is a real need for people to get things done. Since these people cannot all be killed, it is better to send them over to work; once they have finished their tasks, they can be released to live as ordinary citizens.
Old Master Liu was still cursing something under his breath, but Zhu Ci turned a deaf ear to it.
He had offered courtesy before resorting to force; by asking to check the accounts at the beginning, it meant he was still willing to reason with them within the existing system of rules.
But if the Liu Family refused to reason and instead flipped the table and caused harm, then they shouldn't blame him for being unceremonious.
However, he also knew that the Liu Family had actually recruited many retainers, including their clansmen, the number of people they had was no fewer than his own, which was why Zhu Ci launched a surprise attack at night.
This was a risky move; if it failed, everything would naturally go down the drain.
However, if he hadn't been certain, Zhu Ci wouldn't have done this. Now, his only concern was that other members of the Dongting Merchant Group might come to the aid of the Liu Family.
So from the very beginning, he decisively ordered the use of firearms, hoping to scare those people away.
The people of the Liu Family were suppressed, Zhu Ci turned and mounted his horse.
The streets gradually grew quiet. This entire large area of buildings belonged to the Liu Family, so there was no need to worry about scaring their neighbors.
As Zhu Ci walked out, he had to control his horse to avoid the fragments of the memorial arches that had been blasted into stone.
He took a casual glance and discovered that none of these archways were commemorative plaques for official achievements; there was only one archway for virtuous deeds, while most were archways honoring filial piety.
He gave a cold laugh and turned to Jiang Xueyan, who was following behind him, saying, "These are all high-quality stones. It is such a pity to let them go to waste; take them to see if they can be used for paving roads or as foundations."
Old Master Liu happened to be being escorted past, almost fainted on the spot upon hearing these words.
The glory his family had accumulated over a hundred years was actually going to be used as a stepping stone!
He glared fiercely at Zhu Ci and said, "Do you think you can cover the sky with one hand just because you have firearms? Once the imperial court finds out.."
Zhu Ci leaned over from his horse and looked at him, saying with a smile, "What if the Imperial Court knows? The current Emperor is my uncle, the Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat is also related to my family by marriage. What can you do to me?"
Compare backgrounds with him? Even if his background is fake, on paper, the Liu Family has no advantage whatsoever.
Old Master Liu's expression froze instantly. He was somewhat dazed; how could a century-old legacy be destroyed by such a young brat?
Zhu Ci let out a yawn and said, "You handle it. Register all the assets in a ledger; if anyone dares to lay a hand on them, I'll chop their claws off."
Li Cheng smiled and said, "Rest assured, Young Master, we know what we are doing."
They wouldn't just reach out for anything; after all, the Young Master never treated them poorly, so why would anyone want to take risks when they could earn honest money?
In the past, some others had also grown greedy, but the results were tragic; they were struck with twenty heavy blows and kicked out, making it practically impossible for them to ever find such a good livelihood again.
Zhu Ci glanced at the flickering lights of the Liu Family Mansion before turning back toward the government office.
The destruction of the Liu Family was far from being a single night's work; their marriage ties were widespread, many of them had not yet been caught.
What Li Cheng and the others needed to do was interrogate all of these people, then see if any had escaped the net.
“Young Master.” Jiang Xueyan's expression was somewhat solemn. “There are many members of the Liu Family who have marriage ties with the other three families. These people are hiding within the other three families, I fear..”
“Then dig. Dig through their accounts and their dealings with the other families to see if there are any illegalities,” Zhu Ci said, taking a sip of tea and looking out the window. “We've already moved against one; why fear moving against the rest? By the way, have all the landholdings been clarified?”
They've been cleared up; they're all right here," Jiang Xueyan said with a huff. "For a small Liu Family to possess so much land, they're nothing but parasites!
Zhu Ci was not surprised; after all, they were one of the four great families of Suzhou, so it was only natural that they possessed so much land.
He casually flipped through the land deeds and asked, "Is there any land among these that they have annexed?"
Jiang Xueyan thought for a moment. "There should be some. When we were arresting people, many commoners were clapping their hands in delight."
For a behemoth like the Liu Family, oppressing commoners was almost effortless; sometimes, it wasn't even their own initiative, as their subordinates would naturally exploit people layer by layer just to curry favor with them.
Zhu Ci nodded and said, "Go check the fish-scale registers to see how much landed property is registered under their names. At the same time, issue an announcement, saying.. that the prefectural government will soon return the lands encroached upon by the Liu Family. Anyone who has had their land encroached upon can come to the prefectural government to register. Oh, mention that anyone who makes false reports will also be punished."
Jiang Xueyan's eyes widened in shock: "Huh? Give it back to them?"
Zhu Ci responded and continued flipping through the local gazetteer.
Jiang Xueyan went to notify Li Cheng with a look of confusion on her face, while Fu Qiulu walked in, refilled a cup of tea, asked softly, "Young Master, why must we distribute the land holdings? Aren't we quite short on money right now?"
Zhu Ci glanced at her and said in a lighthearted tone, "Me? This is called mobilizing the strength of the masses."
Huh?
Meeting Fu Qiulu's puzzled gaze, Zhu Ci smiled.
He didn't care about his reputation, but what he didn't care about was the reputation spoken of by those leaders of the literati; he cared deeply about the evaluation of the common people. The common people were his base, in the future, recruiting soldiers and horses would all come from these commoners.
If it weren't for the fear of facing a massive backlash, he would have loved to shout slogans like "overthrow the landlords and redistribute the land."
Those landholdings were indeed vast, but what would he do with them? His life was nearly forfeit, the mountains and rivers were about to fall; once the Qing Army arrived and occupied this place, he would have nothing left anyway. It would be better to distribute it all, unite the common people, only hope to hold back the iron cavalry of the Qing Army's southward advance.
He was telling the truth, but Fu Qiulu could not understand him, even wondered if the Young Master was just humoring her.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: See, when I tell the truth, you all don't believe me. *Cat shakes head helplessly. jpg*
Next update tomorrow morning at six o'clock~
PS: This chapter still has Lantern Festival red envelopes~
Chapter 69
Since there have been more people around the Young Master, Fu Qiulu and the others have clearly felt that they are being marginalized.
Fu Qiulu and Fu Chunsheng could still occasionally serve at his side, but Xi Ya and Xia Lei could hardly see him even once a day.
Fu Chunsheng was somewhat unwilling: "We cannot sit here and wait for death. If this continues, more and more people will surround the Young Master, we will lose our places sooner or later."
Xia Lei glanced at him and warned, "Don't act recklessly again. The Marquis was very angry about you stealing the formula last time. We only need to inform the Marquis of the Young Master's movements; we don't need to do anything else."
Fu Chunsheng immediately countered, "If we can't even see the Young Master, what news can we deliver? Are those scraps of information what the Marquis needs?"
He knew very well that he had only been sent here as a pawn played by the Marquis. Among the group of children who had grown up together back then, he was neither outstanding in literary nor martial arts, so naturally, he could not stay.
According to the Marquis's rules, ordinary people like them would be arranged to manage businesses or other matters.
But Fu Chunsheng was unwilling to give up; he was ambitious, so he had always wanted to prove himself. Now that this was an opportunity, he absolutely would not let it slip away.
Xi Ya grew anxious and used hand gestures: "The more we do, the more mistakes we make. We have been by Young Master's side for so long that we should know his character. We haven't gained his trust from the very beginning; if we aren't honest, he will absolutely show no mercy."
Fu Qiulu also advised, "Big Brother, listen to the Marquis. If the Marquis finds out that you went against his wishes, I fear the Marquis will not let you off either."
Fu Chunsheng looked at her and asked, "Didn't you also feel unhappy just now? Why are you still trying to persuade me?"
Fu Qiulu said nothing. She truly felt unhappy; before there hadn't been so many people around, she had been handling many of the Young Master's affairs. He would also care for her eating and drinking, would even make sure she didn't get cold.