In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

It's not that the people of Youzhou had low expectations, but rather that they suffered terribly under the rule of the Lu family.

More than half of the people in Youzhou depended on the Lu family for survival, either as tenant farmers or serfs. The remaining half mostly did not own any land and had to sell their labor to survive.

In this situation, no one doesn't yearn to own their own land; this yearning has lasted for far too long.

Therefore, when Yang Zheng's policy of distributing land was conveyed to various cities, the people of Youzhou cheered and shouted slogans such as "Long live King Yang" and "Long live the Yang family army."

At this moment, they desperately hoped that Yang Zheng's rule could continue indefinitely, so that they could forever possess their own land!

Just as the people of Youzhou were rejoicing, news of Yang Zheng's conquest of Youzhou and the annihilation of the Lu family spread from Youzhou to all parts of the Nine Provinces.

The world was shaken!

"Yang Zheng actually conquered Youzhou?"

"What?! Youzhou has fallen?"

"Damn it! The traitor Yang Zheng is getting more and more powerful!"

"The family of a sage was brutally wiped out; Yang Zheng is truly utterly wicked!"

"Tens of thousands of saints were brutally slaughtered. Yang Zheng is truly ruthless!"

"Where is the imperial court? What is the imperial court doing? Why doesn't it send troops to rescue Youzhou? Why doesn't it rescue the family of the sage?"

"The imperial court? The imperial court can't even protect itself!"

"The family of a sage was brutally wiped out. The evil deeds of Yang Zheng are outrageous to both gods and men!"

"..."

Countless scholars who viewed the Lu family through rose-tinted glasses, seeing them as a family of saints, launched a verbal attack on Yang Zheng. Some denounced Yang Zheng's evil deeds in public gatherings, while others wrote articles to ridicule and insult him.

Of course, some scholars also spoke up for Yang Zheng.

"Hmph! The Lu family should have been wiped out long ago! Enslaving the people of Youzhou and secretly capturing children to make longevity pills, how can the Lu family, which does such despicable things, be worthy of being called the family of saints?"

"That's exactly right! The Lu family deserves to be wiped out!"

"The Lu family has acted so blatantly in Youzhou, yet the imperial court has remained silent and indifferent for so many years. It's utterly disheartening!"

"Countless innocent children have died because of the Lu family's concoction of longevity pills. They call themselves a family of saints, but in reality, they are a den of beasts!"

"Not only that, the Lu family also colluded with the barbarians, secretly trading with them and supplying them with grain, ironware, tea and other materials. The barbarians are a foreign race with a blood feud with the Xia people. The Lu family, as a family of sages, colluded with the barbarians. It is no exaggeration to call them traitors!"

"Good riddance! The Lu family deserved to be wiped out!"

"..."

Yang Zheng would not cover up the crimes of the Lu family. On the contrary, he deliberately exposed the Lu family's evil deeds and let the world know about the Lu family's misdeeds in Youzhou!

It is obvious that the crimes committed by the Lu family are enough to horrify any person with a conscience!

They annexed 70% of Youzhou's land, secretly captured children to refine longevity pills, colluded with barbarian tribes, and supplied them with various military supplies...

The numerous evil deeds committed by the Lu family caused countless scholars across the land to erupt in curses. Some scholars with a strong sense of justice even disregarded the Lu family's reputation as a family of sages and publicly denounced their wickedness in the streets.

Of course, this group of scholars was still relatively small. The Lu family had a history of thousands of years, and its reputation as a family of sages was deeply rooted in people's hearts. Therefore, the vast majority of scholars did not believe that the Lu family would do such a thing. Instead, they thought that Yang Zheng was fabricating facts to slander the Lu family, so they cursed Yang Zheng even more harshly.

"That lowly cowherd Yang Zheng dared to fabricate facts and tarnish the reputation of the saint; he truly deserves to die!"

"Hmph! The Lu family is a family of sages, how could they do such a despicable thing? It must be Yang Zheng who is slandering the Lu family!"

"The bloodline of the saints was completely slaughtered. It is no exaggeration to say that Yang Zheng is a heinous criminal."

"I will definitely write a book to denounce Yang Zheng's crimes and request the imperial court to send troops to eliminate Yang Zheng!"

"..."

Because of the massacre of the Lu family, a family of sages, Yang Zheng suddenly became the public enemy of scholars throughout the land. Countless scholars called for his execution, wishing they could kill Yang Zheng immediately to avenge the Lu family.

Unfortunately……

These scholars may have a loud voice, but it's all for naught.

Although these scholars came from prominent families, they had no say in their clans. While they were indignantly calling for Yang Zheng's execution, the elders in their clans who truly had a voice fell into deep thought.

With Yang Zheng's conquest of Youzhou, the overall situation in the country has become relatively clear. The imperial court is on its deathbed, and its overthrow is only a matter of time.

The previously powerful White Lotus Sect was hampered by the rebels supported by local Qiongzhou families because of its choice to attack Qiongzhou. It is still fighting against the local rebels in Qiongzhou and has no ability to plan for other places.

Apart from Yang Zheng and the Little Ming King of the White Lotus Sect, none of the heroes who emerged from these nine provinces even owned a single province!

In this situation, the one most likely to seize the world and become the ruler of the Nine Provinces is naturally Yang Zheng, who controls three provinces.

Thinking of this, driven by the desire to perpetuate their families' legacy and allow them to continue enjoying wealth and prosperity, many powerful clans sent letters to Youzhou, intending to contact Yang Zheng or invest in him, hoping that their families could maintain their original status after the establishment of the new dynasty, or even... advance further!

…………

…………

"Yang Zheng!"

Upon receiving the news in Qiongzhou, Xiao Mingwang slammed his fist on the table, shattering it into pieces, demonstrating his immense anger.

One wrong step leads to another; this perfectly describes Little Ming King and his White Lotus Sect.

After defeating the Qingzhou army, the White Lotus Sect actually had the opportunity to send troops to Qingzhou and even occupy the entire Qingzhou.

However, considering that Qingzhou still had 50,000 Qingzhou troops and that the powerful families and generals behind the White Lotus Sect coveted the richer Qiongzhou, the White Lotus Sect ultimately abandoned the option of marching north to Qingzhou and chose to attack the more prosperous Qiongzhou to the east.

However, it was this wrong choice that plunged the White Lotus Sect into a quagmire of war.

The White Lotus sect did manage to plunder some wealth in the early stages of their attack on Qiongzhou, but the situation quickly took a turn for the worse.

After realizing what was happening, the powerful families of Qiongzhou contributed money and grain to support a large number of local warlords, who then used these warlords to resist the White Lotus Rebellion's attack.

This made things extremely difficult for the White Lotus Sect, and they lost one city after another. Now, the White Lotus Sect only has three counties bordering Yuezhou left in Qiongzhou.

The territory of three counties was clearly not enough to satisfy Little Ming King. His ambition was the whole world, to sit on the supreme throne of the emperor, not these three small counties.