Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4720: Surrender
Countless amounts of money, gold, and supplies poured into the Tang Dynasty like a tide from the sea routes, which indeed brought about rapid changes in the Tang Dynasty. The changes were so fast and so great that even Xiao Yu, a former prime minister of the empire, felt overwhelmed and unable to accept them.

The groups that suffered the greatest impact in the world were the aristocratic families.

The longer the inheritance and the more traditional the consciousness, the more difficult it is to accept the changes in the world situation, because the foundation on which they rely for inheritance has been shattered by this wave.

The term "farming and studying to pass on the family tradition" is easy to understand, as many aristocratic families do this. It sounds noble, pure and simple, but its true meaning is to annex land by any means necessary and to monopolize education in every possible way.

By annexing land, the family will have more and more land, while the poor will have less and less land, so naturally more and more people will have to rely on the family to survive. By monopolizing education, the family's children will become more and more outstanding and their knowledge will become more and more advanced, so those illiterate peasants will naturally be more and more easily ruled by the family.

As for changing the world when there is no more land to be annexed, and people are resentful, what's the big deal?

At worst, we can change the emperor or even the dynasty. In name, land and education will be redistributed, but in reality, these people still control the most resources.

This is the inheritance of the aristocratic family, every year and every day is soaked in suffering and blood.

But now, those things that were passed down from generation to generation are suddenly useless...

The output of the land is far behind the speed of importing wealth from overseas. The means of annexing land, amassing wealth, and controlling resources are no longer effective. The poor are no longer dependent on the land with uncomplaining hard work. More factories and workshops will provide them with three meals a day and even more wages. Having an additional way to make a living means that the aristocratic families can no longer exploit and oppress the poor as they did for thousands of years.

The Zhenguan Academy put the so-called "natural science" on the same level as classics, history, and miscellaneous works. More and more practical talents flooded into the officialdom. The old bureaucrats holding "The Analects of Confucius" simply could not understand the ideas and practices of the young people. "Let professionals do professional matters" has become the slogan of young officials, gradually eroding the status and power of the old bureaucrats.

Even a family head like Xiao Yu who uses the old ways to educate his children often ends up with his children stiffening their necks and shouting, "Sir, times have changed!"
……

He sailed upstream back to Jinling, wrote a memorial overnight and had his servants deliver it to Chang'an. His Majesty would naturally not refuse his return to Chang'an to teach. His Majesty would certainly be very happy when he received this memorial. The leader of a Jiangnan gentry family like the Lanling Xiao family expressed their loyalty to His Majesty and their compliance with the central government's orders, which would be a huge breakthrough in bringing Jiangnan under the complete jurisdiction of the central government.

Then Xiao Yu packed his luggage, without notifying any of the other Jiangnan nobles, and rushed to Chang'an by boat after dawn...

As the leader of the Jiangnan gentry, Xiao Yu's every move naturally attracted much attention. When the other Jiangnan gentry learned that he had quietly taken a boat north to Guanzhong, there was an uproar.

Everyone recommended Xiao Yu to test Fang Xuanling, but there has been no response yet. As a result, this "leader" left without saying goodbye. Could it be that some unknown change has occurred?

Could it be that after measuring land and promoting paper money, Your Majesty will implement some other measures against the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River?

For a time, the entire Jiangnan area was in a panic. Many families could not sit still and tried to go to Huating Town to meet Fang Xuanling to see if they could find out the truth. Unexpectedly, after arriving in Huating Town, Fang Xuanling closed the door to read and refused to see outsiders.

Sensing the danger vaguely, many Jiangnan nobles had to curb their newly expanded ambitions, and some of the measures they had planned in advance were quickly withdrawn to avoid complications...

*****
If God could give Zhang Liang a chance to start over, he would definitely not take the initiative to surrender to Liu Li and seek the position of General of the Right Jinwu Guard.

Although he had given up the last bit of friendship to gain Li Ji's support and had finally assumed office smoothly, he was having a hard time and spending every day like a year in the Right Jinwu Guard.

In the past, I had read the word "puppet" in books and heard others talk about it, but I never thought that one day it would happen to me...

The Right Jinwu Guard was a very large and tight organization, with more than 30,000 regular soldiers, plus various auxiliary troops, baggage soldiers, cooks, etc., totaling 40,000 people, in addition to more than 10,000 mules and horses and more than 5,000 carriages.

Different from the palace soldiers who previously brought their own armor, weapons, and even war horses and food, the left and right Jinwu Guards were all recruited soldiers. Recruited soldiers had to be paid, plus the mules and horses that had to be fed with fodder, the carriage frames that had to be maintained on a daily basis, and the weapons that had to be maintained and damaged during training, the daily expenses were an extremely large number.

The combat power of the Left and Right Jinwu Guards is one level higher than that of the other sixteen guards, and it is supported by huge amounts of money.

As a general or a top leader, one must have control over personnel and financial power. Otherwise, how can one have prestige? How can one enforce discipline?
However, the reality is that both of these items are controlled by the Ministry of War. The power to promote and appoint and dismiss all military officials above the seventh rank, both civil and military, lies with the Ministry of War. The allocation of money, food, fodder, and supplies also lies with the Ministry of War.

But the Ministry of War was Fang Jun's domain. Although Fang Jun had long since resigned as the Minister of War, the Ministry was still full of his old subordinates. Their words were law and their actions were enforced. Who would care about a mere Zhang Liang?
Not only were the superiors "choked" by various problems, but the generals and lieutenants below were also in trouble.

Sun Renshi, who was originally chosen by Fang Jun to be the General of the Right Jinwu Guard, is Zhang Liang's biggest rival. However, this guy is very low-key. He takes twenty days off a month with various reasons, such as concubine giving birth, mother's birthday, injury in training, sow giving birth... But although Sun Renshi is low-key, Wang Xuance is a man who can make trouble.

Either they were chasing after pay, or the army was running low on food, or the cost of maintaining military equipment was unsustainable, or the documents for the transfer of various officers and generals were waiting for approval... Zhang Liang was extremely anxious and had to be on guard at all times, fearing that he would be tricked by his subordinates and unable to extricate himself.

"General, the military secretary and the military commander have repeatedly asked about the punishment of Helan Chushi and are going to report it to the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Chancellery. I wonder how I should respond?"

As long as Zhang Liang was in the military camp, Wang Xuance would come to pay his respects early, and he would be so polite that no one could find fault with him. Then, all kinds of trivial matters would make Zhang Liang exhausted to deal with.

The incident of Helan Chushi is now a well-known event in the Right Jinwu Guard. Wang Xuance repeatedly asked for a quick decision, but Zhang Liang remained unmoved.

"This matter is rather complicated and far from being as simple as it seems. I have questioned Helan Chushi twice, but he refused to plead guilty to corruption and dereliction of duty. We can only carefully examine and examine him patiently. After all, we are all comrades-in-arms. We can't torture him to extract a confession, right? In short, it's just corruption and dereliction of duty, not murder or arson. Let's wait and see. It won't be too late to make a decision until I understand the whole story and find out the truth."

Zhang Liang is not stupid. Since it is inappropriate to deal with Helan Chushi no matter how, then just don't deal with him. You can wait until I take office to deal with him, so can't I just wait until then?
Wang Xuance looked hesitant and a little hesitant.

Zhang Liang was surprised and asked, "Why not just say it directly if you have anything to say? Why are you hesitating?"

Wang Xuance then whispered, "There have been some rumors circulating in the army recently. I wonder if I should let the commander know."

Zhang Liang felt something was wrong: "But is it about me?"

Wang Xuance nodded.

"It's just a rumor, why bother? However, I'm new here, and I think some people are not convinced. It's normal for them to make up rumors. I don't have any other abilities, but I'm proud of my broad mind... Tell me about it."

Wang Xuance said, "There are many rumors that the reason why the commander is reluctant to punish Helan Chushi is because you deliberately arranged for Helan Chushi to serve as a vanguard for the Right Jinwu Guard, and that he was corrupt and abused his power because you were backing him up, so he disregarded military law and acted recklessly. Now that you know that Helan Chushi has committed many crimes and the evidence is conclusive, you still refuse to punish him. This is the reason."

Zhang Liang was shocked. "As far as I know, Helan Chushi was able to enter the Right Jinwu Guard because he got through Fang Jun's connections. How did he become my man?"

Wang Xuance shook his head, looking innocent: "The case of Helan Chushi has a great impact now, and has been targeted by the Weiwei Temple. Once His Majesty learns of this case and orders the Hundred Cavalry Division to intervene in the interrogation, if Helan Chushi, who is under the three trees, talks nonsense, the Marshal will be in trouble."

Zhang Liang had a splitting headache.

He and Helan Chushi are just acquaintances. Whether Helan Chushi entered the Right Golden Guard or engaged in corruption and dereliction of duty has nothing to do with him. But will Helan Chushi confess under torture?
He felt that as long as Fang Jun secretly hinted to Helan Chushi, this situation would be very likely to happen.

So what Zhang Liang has to do his best to avoid now is Helan Chushi being convicted, because no matter which government office tries the case, Helan Chushi is likely to talk nonsense and make accusations at will, and as long as they drag Zhang Liang into the water, he will not be able to explain himself even if he is right.

It was not possible to pardon Helan Chushi directly. The evidence was irrefutable that this guy was corrupt and derelict in his duty. If he pardoned him, someone would impeach him for being ignorant and covering up for him, and even confirm the rumors currently circulating in the army...

Caught in a dilemma, having to make a hard choice.

Zhang Liang pondered for a long while, and finally let out a long breath, and said dejectedly: "Now that things have come to this, why don't you just tell me what you want to do? Don't say those polite words. I am also a military man and I act straightforwardly. Just say whatever you want to say."

Since the moment he entered the Right Golden Guard, he felt like he had fallen into a big net. It was not that he was incompetent, but that there were enemies all around him, just like being in a thorn forest. If he moved, the thorns would pierce his skin and cause bleeding. What could he do?
You have to be timid when you need to be timid, and accept any treatment you receive. Otherwise, there will be no good outcome if you continue to insist. You are the meat on the chopping board now. Don't wait until you are chopped into pieces before thinking about giving in. There will be no point in doing so.