I fought back after reselling my engagement

Chunmei said what she needed to say and pointed out what she needed to point out. The rest was her masters' business. She was only responsible for conveying the message.

If the princess wants to plead with the emperor, she has to submit a petition.

The supervisory guards in Jiangnan must also be summoned to prevent them from killing too many people, and to save as many as possible.

Save people like fire!

Su Zhen first sent a message to the Ghost Envoy, asking him to forward the order, that in the case of the Jinling Su family, those who deserved the punishment should be executed according to the law, and that the innocent should be given a chance to live.

He thought about the petition while eating, and after finishing the meal, he sat at the desk to write the petition. After writing it once, he revised it, copied it into a petition, and gave it to Chunmei to send back to Beijing. The theory of migrating people from the south to the north was proposed in the petition. The population in the north was sparse, so these people could be asked to reclaim land and cultivate it. A big family like the Su family in Jiangnan, with its wealthy elders, would be like ordinary people.

In the future, when the aristocratic families are severely punished, in order to reduce their appeal to the local area, those who deserve it will be severely punished, and the others will be exiled to sparsely populated areas, some one thousand miles away, some three thousand miles away, etc. as a sign of severe punishment.

It is well-reasoned and appeals to emotions, which can better demonstrate the emperor's benevolence.

The Jiangnan area is densely populated, and many people do not have their own land. If the imperial court implements a reward order, as long as they are willing to move north, they can send officials and soldiers to escort them and let them move north. They can also make the land they have reclaimed their own, and they can obtain land deeds free of charge and be exempted from taxes for five years. In this way, many landless people in the Jiangnan area will definitely be willing to move north.

Most of those who owned land were wealthy families and nobles, while many ordinary people worked as tenants or slaves.

Because of this incident, Su Zhen came up with a series of ideas and proposed a head tax. No matter whether they were masters or servants, they were all human beings and should pay a head tax. This method could be used to control the nobles and command slaves and servants, thereby turning more slaves and servants into civilians and good citizens, so that more people would cultivate the land.

Historically, in order to evade the poll tax, nobles created hidden households. Once caught, they would be demoted to criminals and sent to the north to cultivate the land. Paying taxes was also a punishment. If it was discovered that the master of the household had deliberately concealed the truth, his property would be confiscated.

Although Su Mo saw Su Zhen that day, there was no affection in Su Zhen's eyes when he looked at him.

His feelings remained the same, but she really no longer had feelings for him.

Su Shilin brought Su Mo back to the Su Mansion at dusk.

Along the way, the father and son didn't speak.

Entering Yueyang City, Su Shilin said, "Amo, put it down."

Su Mo raised his eyes, and Su Shilin saw that Su Zhen no longer had any feelings for Su Mo. He knew very well that the way Su Zhen looked at him was no different from the way he looked at others.

Su Mo asked: "The tribesmen's affairs..."

"We have tried our best." Su Shilin said.

"We need to save Grandma."

"I asked Su Shao privately."

The old sect leader’s wife has never done anything evil in her life, and has never said a harsh word. She shouldn’t suffer in her old age.

The corn fields at the foot of the mountain were planted. The next day, Dahu's family led the farmers up the mountain to continue planting. After a day of planting, most of the corn on the mountain was planted. A spring rain fell at night, drizzling.

Su Zhen couldn't sleep.

Chunmei called out, "Princess, there's a pigeon message coming from Jiangnan."

"Come in."

Su Zhen sat up and leaned against the head of the bed.

Chunmei reported: "All the adult male members of the second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth branches of the Jinling Su family who were guilty were beheaded. None of them had lost their lives, and none of them had not committed evil. The second and youngest sons of Su Shichang, the eldest branch of the family, were beheaded."

To kill someone, you must first announce the crime.

When the Supervisory Guards kill someone, they will kill him on the spot once the announcement is made, without any delay.

Su Zhen closed his eyes and said, "Send a message to the Ghost Envoy and ask him to coordinate this matter and not to expose my affairs.

The Jinling Su family... was exiled to the north, three thousand miles away. Except for the nine branches of the direct lineage, all the others were made civilians and dispersed in different villages, with a maximum of three Su families in one village.

The guilty persons, according to the severity of their crimes, were relocated to the northern criminal village for resettlement, with the highest being a fifth-generation criminal and the lowest being a first-generation criminal.

The innocent first, sixth, and ninth houses were demoted to civilians, and the eldest family of the third house was exiled to small towns in the north, with one family settled in each town. The families other than the eldest family of the third house were treated as ordinary Su clan members.

Also, ask the old sect master’s wife whether to go to Yueyang with her eldest son or to accompany her second son to exile in the north. It’s up to her to choose.”

"Here——"

Chunmei left the room.

The fate of the Yangzhou Su family cannot be changed.

Among the nine branches of the Jinling Su family, almost all the adult males had died, and only a handful were left. Fortunately, except for these nine branches, all other commoners and wealthy family members were able to survive.

On the next day, Su Zhen told Su Shao what happened over there.

Su Shao went to the Su Mansion specifically and told them the result.

All the adult males of the Su family in Yangzhou died...

More than 300 officers and soldiers were killed during the resistance, which was a heinous crime punishable by the extermination of the entire clan.

Su Shilin closed his eyes, unable to hide the pain.

"The princess has pleaded for mercy, and can only keep the innocent members of the Jinling Su family alive. The higher-ups want to exile them 3,000 miles to the north as border residents. The princess doesn't know where exactly. The princess said a few words on behalf of the old clan leader's wife. If she is willing, she can reunite with you."

*

Su Shilin rushed to the South that day.

Also traveling with them were Uncle Su Qishu and Su Liufu. The dead had already been buried in the burial mounds outside the city.

Su Shilin paid some money to see the people in the mansion where the members of the Jinling Su family were imprisoned.

Most of the old sect leader’s wife’s hair is now white.

Su Shichang and Su Xuan burst into tears.

"Brother, Su Cang is dead, but his wife and children are innocent! Please save his wife and children, Cang'er's wife is pregnant! I don't ask you to save Su Xuan, please save Su Cang's wife and children..."

Su Xuan is the young master and cannot be saved.

The whole clan is guilty, how can the clan leader and the young master be innocent?

All the clan members said that Su Shilin's family was lucky. As soon as they left, something went wrong in the clan. The supervisory guards searched for fifteen major crimes, and the crime committed by Su Cang and Su Bai, the eldest sons of the legitimate family, a few years ago was uncovered: Su Bai and his classmates were traveling on the West Lake, and they dragged a pair of flower-selling sisters onto the boat and raped them, resulting in the tragic death of the sisters; the flower girls' father and brother filed a complaint, and Su Cang, in order to save his own brother, bribed the prison guards and poisoned the flower girls' father and brother to death in prison.

Now that this case has been exposed, the person being investigated is the flower girl's elder sister's fiancé. It is said that he became a legal advisor to an official. In order to avenge his fiancée, he sought help from the Supervisory Guard.

Su Cang was implicated by Su Bai. If he had not done so to save his brother and to protect Su Bai's reputation, he would not have taken action. However, this action resulted in two lives. Su Cang killed two people. Although Su Bai committed the crime together with three classmates, when it comes down to it now, they all say that he was the mastermind, and two lives were also lost.

Whoever kills a person shall pay with his life.

Su Cang and Su Bai were beheaded because of the murders they were involved in.

Su Cang's wife, Wu, is the daughter of the prefect of Suzhou. She gave birth to a daughter as her first child and is now seriously pregnant.

Su Shichang said, "I have inquired about it. It is said that the redemption price for the wives and daughters of the direct lineage is 5,000 taels of silver, and the redemption price for underage males is 10,000 taels of silver. Once they are redeemed, they will become commoners."

But adult males are not allowed to be redeemed.