Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

Yecheng is backed by Yanshan and Taihang Mountains as a barrier, with the vast plains of Hebei behind it providing food and grass. It looks south to the Yellow River and covets the Central Plains, posing a direct threat to the Central Plains dynasty.

Cities that have served as capitals in history, such as Chang'an, Luoyang, Kaifeng, and even Handan, which is the closest to Yecheng, have been built and destroyed over thousands of years of history, and have been able to pass down to the present day. Only Yecheng no longer exists today. The reason is that its existence can easily form separatist forces and threaten the Central Plains regime.

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, after Yang Jian suppressed Yuchi Jiong, the governor of Xiangzhou (with its capital in Yecheng) who was dissatisfied with him, he ordered the burning of Yecheng to prevent the anti-Yang forces in Hebei from reviving.

Therefore, Zhang Mo proposed to move the capital to Yecheng. His future political direction was already very clear, which was to rely on the rich and fertile land of Hebei and covet the Central Plains!

There was nothing much to discuss about moving the capital. Zhang Mo just informed everyone. After listening to her, everyone could better understand the inner meaning of her exchanging officials from Bingzhou and Jizhou. On the one hand, it was to prevent the abuse of power for personal gain and the expansion of local power. On the other hand, due to the shift in political hearts, those who were originally loyal to the Tang Dynasty would naturally be transferred as well.

The princess has been making every effort to eliminate the aristocratic families, but she herself is gradually becoming the largest "aristocratic family" in the world. Steel mills, forges, textile mills, paper mills, printing factories and other factories are all controlled by her. She has also trained a large number of disciples loyal to her, from high-end talents such as Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang to county magistrates and even grassroots talents such as pavilion chiefs. The intelligence organization spread across the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty is also completely obedient to her. The Jishengtang that has been opened in various parts of the Tang Dynasty is also her industry. There are also tens of millions of people who believe in her like a god. Coupled with the brave and invincible army under the king, it is difficult for such a husband and wife combination not to win!

"That's all for today. Go get busy. Spring plowing is coming soon. I hope everyone will work hard during this period and make arrangements for Jizhou as soon as possible. We must not delay this year's spring planting!"

Ju Su said with some embarrassment, "It's already mid-March. I'm afraid it's too late for everyone to resume spring plowing in an orderly manner!"

Shi Tao, a clerk in the Ministry of Agriculture, said, "Juzhou Governor, don't need to worry about this. When the princess first entered Jizhou, she sent the Bingzhou rice-raising team to Changshan. Last year, all of Jizhou also set up sheds outside the city. The rice-raising team will just go there with the army and start growing the seedlings. There's still time."

Ju Su was stunned and couldn't help but admire her. She was thinking about spring plowing before the war started, which showed that she really cared about the lives of the people. From this, it seemed that she had never planned to attack a city or a county from the beginning, which meant that she didn't want to kill all the nobles and powerful people in Jizhou. His previous worries were in vain!

Ju Su said, "According to your plan, Princess, to encourage the people to help, we should have no problem quelling the civil unrest within half a month. However, it will definitely be too late to count the population and land and redistribute the land."

This means that spring plowing will still be delayed!

Zhang Mo said, "That's okay. This year, each county will pool its farm tools and labor for collective farming. Once the crops are planted, we'll slowly redistribute the land."

This method was used many years ago when the Southern Xiongnu in Xihe County was pacified. Zhang Mo was already very experienced. In the beginning, the reward was food, but this time it was land. If they wanted to get a share of the land, all young and strong men and women had to participate in the labor. With the assistance of the army, the efficiency would be much higher than if each household cultivated the land on their own.

After the work was arranged, Lu Bu stayed in Julu to reorganize and dispatch the troops, preparing to enter various counties to assist the scholars. Zhang Mo took people back to Yecheng to clean up Wei County and wait for news.

Civil and military officials rushed to various places to issue the Tang King's decrees. In just three days, the first decree, which demanded either money or lives, spread to all counties and prefectures in Jizhou, including Anping State.

Zhang Mo's bandit-like decree naturally caused strong dissatisfaction among most families. Most people in this world are afraid of death, but there are also many people who are not afraid of death, especially those nobles and gentry who own big cities. Seeing that Lu Bu did not send many troops and had the support of a strong city, the outside army could not do anything to them for a while, so they wanted to delay first. As long as they could delay until the Tang army ran out of food, they would have the qualifications to negotiate terms with the King of Tang.

Unexpectedly, two days later, officials read out the second decree in various places under the city. This was like dropping a time bomb in the city. Within half a day, the whole city was in an uproar.

The previous tax laws of the Tang Dynasty had already spread throughout Jizhou. Now with the addition of this one, those followers and followers who could only survive by relying on the big families in the past saw the hope of being able to be masters of their own affairs, and with the support of the Tang King's army outside, they all became restless.

During this period, some clever nobles saw that the situation was out of control. Before the people broke out in riot, they immediately betrayed their teammates, opened the city and surrendered to the outside army in order to save their lives. There were also those with strong personalities who started fighting with the people in the city. These landlords who relied on a small number of loyal servants were definitely unable to overcome the power of the masses. These people were either beaten to death in the fight or tied up and sent out of the city.

Of course, there were also some people who chose to endure humiliation when they heard the first decree. Since they could not fight the King of Tang openly, many people wanted to do it secretly. The Zhen family was one of them.

A few days ago, on the first day Zhang Mo arrived in Yecheng, Zhen Yan came to pay her respects with a large gift. How large was this gift? Zhen Yan offered almost half of the Zhen family's shops, land, and houses in Jizhou to Zhang Mo in person, seeking forgiveness!

After the incident in Jizhou, Zhang Mo had seen through the Zhen family. Zhen Yan would do anything to climb up the ladder.

When Lu Bu first occupied Jizhou, Zhen Yan offered 30% of the Zhen family's annual income to seek asylum. Zhang Mo also wanted the Zhen family to unite with her Wang family to do business throughout the Han Dynasty and even the world. In order to reassure the Zhen family, she also let Wang Ding marry the fourth lady of the Zhen family.

But Zhen Yan was not satisfied with the status quo. In order to gain greater glory, he always wanted to take a shortcut to become a relative of the emperor. When his first offer of his daughter failed, he sent her to Zhang Mo's nose to annoy her. Zhang Mo did not take the matter to heart because the two families were relatives and Zhen Mi was a sensible girl.

Unexpectedly, when the Zhongshan nobles rebelled, the Zhen family not only kept the information secret, but also tried to play both sides and even used money to force Zhang Mo to marry Lu Bu a mistress. Zhang Mo didn't want to see this kind of person who was playing both sides and wanted to use her husband to climb the ladder, so she had him sent away.

Like other rebellious clans, the Zhen family was forcibly split up and their land and property were confiscated. Zhang Mo, considering their relationship, was more tolerant of Zhen Yan's family and left several shops in Wei County to him, allowing him to continue doing business. However, even so, this punishment was unacceptable to the former richest man in Jizhou.

"Let's just go all out and kill that bitch and Lu Bu!"

At the Zhen Mansion in Yecheng, Old Madam Zhen dismissed her attendants and told Zhen Yan her thoughts.

"This... this won't work. If the matter gets leaked, it will lead to the confiscation of property and extermination of the clan." Zhen Yan said no, but there was hesitation in his eyes.

"Confiscate their property and exterminate their clan?" Madam Zhen sneered. "Isn't this already annihilating the clan? I think it's not just my Zhen family that wants to kill that couple. There must be many people in Jizhou who share this idea. Kill that bitch first. As soon as she's dead and the news reaches Lu Bu, he'll rush back without stopping and ambush assassins on the way to kill him. I heard that Lu Bu's eldest son is only six or seven years old. If this couple dies, the child will be unable to handle the situation and take on this heavy responsibility. The Tang Dynasty will be leaderless and the people will be divided. If we ally with Cao Gong, the Tang Dynasty will be finished!"

Madam Zhen took a moment to catch her breath and continued, "Mother heard that the eldest son of Cao is now twenty-one years old. He is extremely handsome, talented in both civil and military affairs, loyal, filial, chaste, and righteous. He is deeply loved by Lord Cao. Perhaps he is the true emperor!"

"Then, what if it doesn't work? She hasn't left the mansion all these days. With the guards at Prince Tang's mansion, there's no chance of finding her at all." Zhen Yan's hands on his legs trembled slightly. He pressed them hard, trying to calm his excited and nervous mind.

Madam Zhen said, "She can't stay at home all her life. To be on the safe side, we can't send our assassins to do this. You've traveled a lot over the years and should know some organizations that specialize in killing people. You should go there in disguise. Even if it costs you your entire family fortune, you must get this done!"

Zhen Yan said, "My son knows about a killer organization that only takes money to kill people and never asks about identities. I will go and ask them in person tomorrow."

"Hide your identity well and don't let anyone know!"

Zhen Yan cupped his hands, "Son, I understand!"