My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 375: Swarms Come
News of Wei Teng receiving praise and rewards from Liu Feng spread like wildfire.

Since Jia Kui took control of Shangyu, the local gentry and powerful families have donated a total of more than 62,000 mu of land, of which 850,000 mu were donated by the Wei family.

At the time, even the remaining prominent families in Shangyu thought Wei Teng had lost his mind. Even if he wanted to curry favor with Liu Feng, he didn't need to give up his own manhood.

But now it seems that while people from other counties are unaware, the local powerful families in Shangyu are already filled with regret.

They never dreamed that Liu Feng would reward them so generously.

Snow salt and frost sugar had long been popular high-end foods in Kuaiji, and were the favorites of noble families. They spent a lot of money and gold to buy them, so they naturally knew how expensive these things were and how scarce they were in the market.

What made them even more envious was that Wei Teng received more than just financial compensation.

Liu Feng has been summoning Wei Teng to serve him for the past few days and has praised him several times.

Rumors have circulated that Liu Feng has already offered Wei Teng a position as a staff member, but Magistrate Jia cannot do without Wei Teng for the time being. There are also many affairs in Shangyu County that require Wei Teng's attention, so the matter has been temporarily put on hold. Wei Teng will be invited to take up his post after some time has passed.

Compared to economic benefits, Wei Teng's political gains were even more enviable, bordering on jealousy and resentment.

However, Wei Teng had gained the appreciation of Jia Kui and Liu Feng, clearly indicating that Jian had taken him to heart. In addition, the Wei family was still a first-class aristocratic family in Shangyu, so those who were jealous could only keep their opinions to themselves for the time being and dared not attack Wei Teng.

In addition, another aspect of its effects has begun to gradually emerge.

Liu Feng hadn't expected that the first person to appear would be Gu Yong.

When Liu Feng heard Lü Meng report that Gu Yong was requesting an audience, he thought he had misheard.

At this time, Gu Yongzheng should have been organizing the summer harvest in Shanyin and taking the opportunity to assess the land, so why did he come to Shangyu?

However, he soon realized that Lü Meng would not deceive him in this regard.

Liu Feng immediately replied, "Please invite Yuan Tan to the back hall for a meeting."

"Here!"

Lü Meng accepted the order and left.

Soon, Gu Yong entered the inner hall under Lü Meng's guidance.

After taking his seat, Liu Feng asked in confusion, "Yuan Tan, what are you doing here?"

"Gu has important business to discuss with the general, so he asked for leave from the county to come here."

Gu Yong first bowed respectfully to Liu Feng, then explained, "However, please do not worry, General. Everything in the county has been arranged properly. If there are any problems, I am willing to accept your punishment."

“I am well aware of Yuan Tan’s abilities, so I have no reason to worry.”

Liu Feng nodded, he wasn't worried about that at all: "I just wonder what brings Yuan Tan here?"

Gu Yong quietly took a deep breath, then took out a silk scroll from his bosom and respectfully extended his hand.

Upon seeing this, Xu Chu, who was standing behind Liu Feng, immediately strode forward, took the silk scroll from Gu Yong's hand, and then handed it to Liu Feng's desk.

Liu Feng glanced at Gu Yong in surprise, then opened the silk scroll and began to read it.

As Liu Feng watched, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. This Gu Yong was really quite interesting.

This silk scroll is actually a great gift, as it clearly records Gu's 41,000 mu of land in Wu County and even Wu Prefecture, as well as the location of these lands.

Gu Yong was willing to offer all of these fields to Liu Feng's headquarters as General Who Conquers the South.

When Liu Feng finished reading the silk scroll and looked up again, Gu Yong preemptively asked, "May I be so bold as to ask if the general has any intention of surveying the land?"

Liu Feng's eyes revealed a knowing look. Gu Yong was usually quiet when he made a move, but when he did, he did it so perfectly, no wonder he could win the favor of the Sun brothers, Sun Ce and Sun Quan.

After Sun Shao's death, he was immediately promoted by Sun Quan to be the second prime minister of Eastern Wu.

However, the matter that Gu Yong brought up was indeed of great importance to Liu Feng, who immediately expressed his opinion: "Indeed, nowadays, more than half of the land in the world belongs to the noble families, while the common people have not an inch of land to stand on. The good starve to death, while the wicked plunder in groups, while the noble families can live in luxury and debauchery. This is the greatest injustice in the world today."

"Among these, the matter of land registration is particularly egregious."

Liu Feng's gaze was intense as he turned to Gu Yong: "The common people have almost no food to last the next day. The wealthy and powerful families not only own thousands of acres of land, occupying all the fertile land, but they also want to pass on their own land taxes to them. Yuan Tan, do you think this is reasonable?"

Gu Yong was startled, for he knew very well that what Liu Feng said was true.

Putting aside other things, even if the Gu family did not shift the land tax onto the common people, the Gu family's land was indeed vast, and moreover, the best paddy fields in Wu County were almost all owned by the four major families.

His forehead was covered in cold sweat, but his expression remained respectful and composed.

After all, he had guessed that this scene would happen before he came.

"The general's words were deafening and thought-provoking."

Gu Yong immediately knelt down and prostrated himself on the ground: "I know that my sins are grave, so I am willing to offer my land to the general's mansion and serve the general in Jiangdong with the utmost loyalty!"

Gu Yong's actions stemmed from a sense of crisis. He realized that the four major clans might not be as indispensable to Wu County as he had thought. More importantly, after hearing about Wei Teng's deeds, he genuinely felt fear.

Gu Yong felt that his brother-in-law and nephew were not ordinary people, and that they would most likely follow Wei Teng's example and donate their family's land to the Southern Expeditionary Army.

Gu Yong was already a step too late in his previous choices, becoming the last among the four major surnames in Wu County.

Therefore, Gu Yong felt that he could no longer stay at the back this time. Moreover, he was the closest to Liu Feng at this moment, which made Gu Yong realize that this might be a golden opportunity.

This is why he resolutely took leave to come to Shangyu to see Liu Feng and donate his land.

After hearing Gu Yong's words, Liu Feng sighed, stood up and walked to Gu Yong: "Yuan Tan, the land you donated will not be distributed to the poor. I will only recruit displaced people to cultivate it."

Liu Feng currently needs to hold onto a batch of land, as he plans to cultivate Champa rice, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, and other crops on a large scale in the future. By directly owning the land, he can arrange it as he pleases, without having to go through the laborious and dangerous process of guiding the people to plant seeds.

Gu Yong immediately kowtowed and replied, "Since the land has already been offered to the Southern Expeditionary Army, its use will naturally follow the general's lead. Moreover, although I am not a man of great talent, I am quite good at recognizing people. The general must have other important uses for it to make such a decision, and I will certainly not hinder the general's actions."

Liu Feng laughed, and Gu Yuan sighed, "He truly lives up to his reputation for quick wit."

So Liu Feng patted Gu Yong on the shoulder and said, "Yuan Tan's words are indeed to my liking. I will accept this praise without any shame. However, in the future, I will still need Yuan Tan's help to help me cross the border into Jiangdong."

Gu Yong immediately kowtowed in support, saying, "I will do my utmost to fulfill the general's ambition."

Liu Feng was overjoyed and personally helped Gu Yong up. The two sat down hand in hand and talked about various matters.

That night, Gu Yong stayed at the county government office and talked with Liu Feng until dawn, then slept in the same bed.

Gu Yong's dramatic reaction and change were also spurred by the fate of the powerful and influential families in the north. These people were forced to leave their homes and were escorted north by Liu Feng's men to Shouchun.

They will be sent to Luoyang later, where they are said to be handed over to the emperor for judgment.

The people of Wu Commandery had a rather complicated view of the people of Kuaiji. On the one hand, Wu and Kuaiji were inseparable and had always been one large entity.

For a period of time after the founding of this dynasty, Wu Commandery and Kuaiji Commandery were originally one commandery. During the Qin Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty, Kuaiji Commandery was also called Wu Commandery.

It wasn't until the reign of Emperor Shun of the Eastern Han Dynasty that the famous "separation of Wu and Kuaiji" occurred, marking the beginning of the separation of Wu Commandery and Kuaiji.

However, the people from the two places have a lot of contact. Generally speaking, the people of Kuaiji are more fierce and ruthless than the people of Wu County.

Wu Commandery was developed early, had a good economy, and fertile land. It also had a huge advantage: there were no longer large-scale Yue tribes or Nanman tribes within its territory.

Of the four commanderies in Jiangdong, only Wu Commandery was like this; the other three commanderies, including Danyang Commandery, all had large numbers of Yue barbarians from the mountains and rivers.

Gu Yong was from Wu County. Although he was very learned, he felt that the people of Kuaiji were just like his neighbors.

Generally speaking, they are a rather fierce and barbaric, yet also quite righteous, distant poor relative.

Overall, it gives one a sense of superiority.

However, Liu Feng's appearance shattered this feeling.

In just half a month, Liu Feng not only suppressed the resistance of the powerful clans of Kuaiji, but also sent them all to the Central Plains.

When Gu Yong learned of this, he felt a chill run down his spine, and a somewhat unfamiliar word jumped back into his mind.

That was the tomb system of the Former Han Dynasty.

The thought of this made Gu Yong anxious, like an ant on a hot pan.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the people of Kuaiji are the ones who are being treated this way because they are the ones who are courting disaster by rebelling.

But who can guarantee that Liu Feng won't turn his attention to Wu Commandery after he has completely pacified Kuaiji Commandery?

It should be noted that the people of Wu Commandery are much more docile than accountants, and they will likely be even more easily manipulated by Liu Feng.

Taking into account the attitudes and possible moves of the other three of the four major surnames, Gu, Lu, Zhu, and Zhang, Gu Yong decided to bet everything on Liu Bei and his son Liu Feng, and to plan ahead for the future.

This led to Gu Yong requesting leave to go to Shangyu and donating most of his family's farmland.

There are quite a few smart people like Gu Yong.

In the days that followed, the other three of the four major surnames, Gu, Lu, Zhu, and Zhang, also sent letters offering land and property.

The Lu family donated 340 million mu of land, the Zhang family donated 37,000 mu, and the Zhu family donated 38,000 mu.

The vast majority of these lands are within Wu Commandery, and the proportion of paddy fields is very high, reaching one-third.

The four families of Gu, Lu, Zhu, and Zhang together donated 150,000 mu of land to Liu Feng.

It should be noted that the entire Wu Commandery has less than two million mu of land. The Gu, Lu, Zhu, and Zhang families offered one-twelfth of their land to Liu Feng in one go. And this was not all of their property. No wonder the four great families of Wu Commandery were so renowned.

Strangely enough, before offering the land, Gu Yong was always on tenterhooks, feeling that Liu Feng treated him differently and that he was in danger at any moment.

After donating the land, Gu Yong immediately calmed down, no longer feeling the anxiety and unease he had before.

In the following days, many powerful and influential families in Shangyu County also offered land.

However, they were naturally not comparable to Gu, Lu, Zhu, and Zhang; the quantities they offered were mostly between several hundred and several thousand.

Regardless of the amount of land, Liu Feng accepted it all earnestly, offered reassurance, and promised economic compensation.

As for political status, Liu Feng could give him opportunities, but whether he had the talent and the ability to seize them was something Liu Feng couldn't guarantee.

Wei Teng had already obtained from Liu Feng ten shi of frosting sugar, fifty shi of snow salt, and fifty shi of sesame oil that he had brought with him.

On Wu Fan's advice, he cautiously released one-tenth of the goods to test the waters, and to his surprise, they were snapped up instantly, with the price exceeding Liu Feng's selling price by more than 30%.

Of course, Liu Feng's discount of 10% on Wei Teng's profits was partly due to the fact that these items were in high demand, so much so that the powerful clans of Kuaiji were willing to pay a premium to buy them.

In addition, Jia Kui also took the opportunity to begin preparations for surveying the fields during the summer harvest, and reserved various information for use in the surveying.

Liu Feng stayed in Shangyu for about ten days before continuing his journey through the counties.

The situation in the north is constantly improving. In addition to the active summer harvest in various places and the information prepared for the planting season, good news is also coming from various places one after another.

Previously, due to food shortages, no troops were mobilized in the counties, and Liu Feng was responsible for supplying the counties with grain.

As the summer harvest unfolded, the amount of grain harvested increased, which not only relieved Liu Feng's pressure but also made the grain supplies in the hands of the county officials more abundant.

Food is the foundation of an army. With food supplies in hand, the acting county magistrates in various parts of the Northern Region, who were originally generals, naturally began to stir with excitement.

Previously, during the summer harvest season, Yue tribesmen from various regions would often come down from the mountains to rob and even attack villages, attempting to plunder the harvested grain.

Not to mention other places, even in Shanyin County there are five or six mountain bandit groups with more than a thousand people.

However, the morale of these Yue bandits was low, their weapons were crude, and they couldn't even muster many leather armors. But their home, Kuaiji Mountain, was just across Jingruo Lake, and they could see Shanyin City across the distance.

Pan Zhang was prepared and sent out scouts by land and water to monitor the main routes down the mountain.

As soon as these mountain bandits descended the mountain, they were discovered by the scouts of the Southern Expeditionary Army. Before they could wreak havoc on the local area, Pan Zhang personally led his men to drive them back.

Pan Zhang also set a trap, wiping out two enemy units in one fell swoop and capturing more than a thousand prisoners.

However, this did not pose much of a threat to the mountain bandits, who almost all of them remained in the mountains, and even the deep mountains.

Because if they lived in the outer mountainous areas near the plains, they would be easily discovered by the Han people, and then be wiped out by the powerful Han people.

The living conditions of the Yue people were extremely harsh, which fostered their fierce and reckless personality.

For them, the value of an iron weapon already exceeded their lives.

After the summer harvest was completed in each county, they all began to target the Yue people in the mountains.

The first to act were the counties and towns bordering the Yue tribes, including Shanyin County. Pan Zhang personally led two thousand elite troops into Kuaiji Mountain, winning battle after battle and capturing three mountain strongholds of varying sizes within two months.

(End of this chapter)