It sounded simple to make a move on the aristocratic families, but in reality, there was a lot of knowledge involved.
This was because aristocratic families were not like bandits. Even if one was unhappy with an aristocratic family, one could not casually attack them.
Therefore, before he acted, he had to find a reason.
Only after the crime was determined through legal means could the aristocratic families be truly punished.
Regarding this point, Sun Ce had not done well enough in the past.
In the process of conquering River East, he first formed a death feud with the Lu family.
Then, they would attack Dongzhi and slaughter the Wang family of Dongzhi.
Next, he killed Gao Dai, Xu Gong, and other famous people.
As a result, the relationship between the Sun family and the Jiangdong family fell to the freezing point for a period of time under Sun Ce's rule.
Of course, if Sun Ce could live until the end, these problems would not be a problem.
But with Sun Ce's death, these problems were exposed.
This was also the reason why Sun Quan had been dealing with the problems and internal conflicts of the aristocratic families ever since he came to power.
Hearing that Baili Ming was going to beat up the aristocrats, Sun Jian and his son were fine, but Zhou Yu frowned and said,"
"Sir, although these Wu County aristocratic families are suffering, now that our army has just arrived, it's not appropriate to attack them!”
"Moreover, our army is new. If we overdo it, I'm afraid these aristocratic families will have rebellious thoughts!”
Hearing Zhou Yu's words, Sun Ce frowned and said,"
"Then according to Gongjin, we should just let them go?”
Zhou Yu quickly shook his head and said,"
"Not really. It's just that I feel that this matter might be a little rushed!”
Sun Jian saw that Zhou Yu and Sun Ce had different opinions for the first time, so he looked at Baili Ming and said,"
"Ruo Zhong, what do you think?"
Hearing this, Baili Ming shook his head and laughed,"
"Gongjin is right. Our army really can't directly attack these Wu County aristocratic families!”
"However, don't forget that our army has an aristocratic family that can be used as a weapon!”
"Since our army wants to intimidate these aristocratic families, we naturally have to use thunderous methods!”
"Use the blood of this aristocratic family to intimidate the aristocrats of Wu County!”
"Aristocratic families in the hands of our army?"
Sun Jian and Sun Ce were stunned when they heard this.
How could they have such a noble clan in their hands?
Zhou Yu thought for a moment before he suddenly raised his head and said,"
"Are you talking about the Xu family?"
"That's right!"
Baili Ming nodded and said,
"It's the Xu family that Xu Gong is from!”
He turned to Sun Jian and said,
"This person is good at keeping hanger-ons. There are more than a hundred hanger-ons in his family!”
"Now that our army has captured this person, we must kill him!”
"But if we don't get rid of the roots, I'm afraid it will be a disaster in the future!”
"Thus, in my opinion, our army has to eliminate these hanger-ons!”
"Firstly, to avoid future disasters.”
"Secondly, we can use this to intimidate these Jiangdong families!”
"What Ruo Zhong said makes sense!"
Sun Jian nodded.
In this era, it was common for chivalrous men to use martial arts to violate the ban. If these guests stayed, it would be a threat to their personal safety!
Although he had his personal guards protecting him, it was easy to dodge an open spear, but difficult to defend against an arrow in the dark!
After thinking for a while, he asked in a deep voice,
"Then what is the reason for our army?"
Zhou Yu also frowned and said,"
"That's right, Military Advisor. As the saying goes, disaster doesn't affect the small family. Xu Gong is also the commandant of Wu County.”
"This matter is easy!"
Baili Ming smiled and said,"
"What everyone is worried about is only Xu Gong's crimes. In my opinion, it's not too much to die ten times for Xu Gong's crimes!”
"Sir, what crime are you talking about?"
Sun Ce was surprised.
In his opinion, other than colluding with bandits, Xu Gong really did not have any major crimes that involved the entire clan!
Sun Jian and Zhou Yu thought about it for a while and were also puzzled.
Looking at the three of them, Baili Ming couldn't help but snicker. Compared to Old Cao, Old Sun's level of political trickery was inferior.
As the saying goes, if you want to add a crime, why worry about having no excuse?
In any case, the right to speak was in their hands. What crimes could they not say?
However, it was a good thing that a monarch did not care about power.
After thinking for a while, he smiled at the three of them and said,"
"There are three crimes against Xu Gong!”
"The first is to collude with other traitors and attempt to murder the Provincial Governor!”
"This item has a crime. It is the silk book of Xu Gong.”
"We came in in a hurry, so that silk book must still be in Xu Gong's house. This is the first crime!”
"As for the second crime, as an official of the Imperial Court, you colluded with bandits and plotted against them!”
"These crimes can also be collected from Xu Gong's family!”
At this point, his eyes narrowed slightly.
"As for the third rule, it is to keep a hanger-on and collude with foreign enemies with the intention of rebelling!”
Attempted rebellion!
Sun Jian and the others trembled when they heard these four words.
If the first two crimes were only Xu Gong's, then attempting to rebel was no different from a heinous crime!
Zhou Yu's body trembled. He suddenly looked at Baili Ming and said,"
"Sir, are you using the lives of Xu Gong's entire clan to intimidate the Wuzhong aristocratic families?”
"Isn't that a little too much?"
"Pass? However!"
Hearing Zhou Yu's words, Baili Ming shook his head and said,"
"Gongjin, let me teach you something else today!”
"Benevolence to the enemy is cruelty to oneself!”
"What our army is doing now is a great undertaking to pacify the troubled times. We cannot be merciful to any enemy!”
"Once you don't do something because of some soft-hearted people, then one day, you will suffer the backlash of these disasters!”
"Mercy to the enemy is cruelty to oneself?”
Zhou Yu silently recited this sentence and sank into deep thought.
However, compared to him, Sun Jian and his son did not hesitate.
Compared to Zhou Yu, who had a more tolerant personality, Sun Jian and Sun Ce were both iron-blooded people.
Upon hearing Baili Ming's words, they all agreed.
Sun Jian said,
"Ruo Zhong is right. Since Xu Gong has the intention to become enemies with our army, he should consider his fate!”
As he spoke, he turned to Sun Ce and said in a deep voice,"
"Ce 'er, you will be in charge of this matter. Gather the troops now, take Zu Darong and Gan Xingba, and capture the entire Xu clan. Kill anyone who dares to resist!”
"Yes, Father!"
When Sun Ce heard this, he immediately stood up and shouted coldly.
He shed his usual generous appearance and left with the order.
Seeing this, Baili Ming felt a little tired and said to Sun Jian,"
"In that case, I'll take my leave first!”
Although he was the one who suggested it, he didn't need to carry it out.
In the end, he was still killing people. He did not want to get involved.
Sun Jian knew that Baili Ming never liked such things, so he smiled and said,
"Ruozhong, go ahead. Gongjin, go rest as well.”
"After chatting like this today, you must be tired!”
"Yes!"
Zhou Yu nodded slightly as he listened. Then, he stood up and began to practice with Baili Ming.
As for Sun Jian, he waited for the two of them to disappear before he stopped smiling. He stood up and walked into the manor to change his equipment.
...
At the same time, the sky was gradually turning dark.
The sky was covered with dark clouds. In this dry season, the air was unusually hot.
Wu County's Xu family, in the front hall.
Because Xu Gong had been captured, the entire clan was gathered in the front hall to discuss countermeasures.
Xu Gong's father sat in the middle, looking at his relatives who were discussing with a gloomy expression.
"Gong 'er has been captured by Sun Jian and is still in his hands.”
"Don't you have any ideas?”
Everyone looked at each other at Father Xu's question.
It wasn't that they didn't want to talk.
It was because he had yet to react to the current situation.
One reason was that Sun Jian had come in a hurry.
Secondly, it was because Xu Gong's arrest could be light or serious.
If it was a lighter punishment, they were all officials of the imperial court after all. Their crimes did not warrant death.
However, some of them knew about the connection between Xu Gong and Yan Baihu.
The crime of colluding with the enemy could be beheaded!
Therefore, even though they were anxious, they could do nothing about it.
"Say something!"
Seeing that everyone was silent, Father Xu slammed his walking stick on the ground and shouted angrily,
"Usually, you all use Gong 'er's name to be arrogant and despotic.”
"Now that Gong-er has lost his power, why are you all speechless?”
Although he was already in his sixties, he still had a lot of energy. With this shout, the scene instantly fell silent.
Hearing this, everyone knew that someone had to come out. They could not help but focus their eyes on Father Xu.
Facing everyone's gazes, Father Xu's younger brother, Xu Sui, stood up and said,"
"Big brother, it's not that we don't have a solution.”
"It's really difficult to handle Gong 'er this time!”
"When Sun Jian entered the city today, he didn't mention anything about Gong 'er!”
"We don't know Sun Jian's attitude. We can't act on our own!”
When the Xu family disciples heard this, they hurriedly started talking.
"Yes, Patriarch!"
"We don't know what Sun Jian means!”
"We must not act rashly!
The scene became even more chaotic, causing Father Xu to frown. He shouted coldly again,
"What are you talking about?"
"Why can't we act rashly?"
"Are we going to let Gong 'er be killed by Sun Jian?”
"This…"
Hearing this, everyone fell silent.
Xu Sui hurriedly said,
"Brother, we didn't mean it that way!”
"No? Then what do you mean?"
Father Xu said coldly,"
"Since you don't know your attitude, then go and ask!”
"Isn't that Zhang Yi the Lord of Duty?"
"Bring Chongli to the Zhang family to gather information!”
"If it doesn't work, then go to the Zhu family.”
"Ask him to make it convenient and send someone to check on Gong 'er!”
"Sigh!"
Hearing Father Xu's words, Xu Sui sighed slightly and said,"
"Big brother, I don't think you need to think about these things!”
"Right now, Sun Jian's attitude is unclear, so none of them dare to make a move!”
"Today, I sent a manservant to the Zhu family to scout the way. In the end, when the Zhu family heard that it was our family who went, they immediately closed their doors and refused to see us!”
"Now that even the Zhu family is unwilling to see it, then the other families are even more unwilling to see it!”
"They aren't even willing to open the door?"
When Father Xu heard this, his old eyes widened.
"What are they doing?"
"In the past, our family gave them a lot of benefits!”
"Now, our family is in trouble. What are they trying to do?”
"Cut ties with us?"
"The world is cold! Brother!"
Xu Sui smiled bitterly when he heard this.
"In the past, Gong 'er was a commandant of a county and had great authority.”
"Now that Sun Jian is here, how can these people still remember us?”
"We can only rely on ourselves to resolve this matter!”
"Then what do you mean?"
Father Xu looked up at Xu Sui.
When Xu Sui saw this, he hurriedly said,
"Elder brother, it's not like we don't have a solution. In my opinion, although Sun Jian has arrived, he hasn't reacted yet!”
"We can mobilize the tenants and commoners in the village to enter the city to complain tomorrow!”
"Gather a few hundred people and go to the yamen to cause trouble.”
"He said Gong 'er is innocent. Sun Jian, please release Gong' er!”
"Now that he has just arrived, the people's hearts have not yet attached themselves to him. When he sees this situation, he can't ignore the carelessness of the people's hearts.”
"Go to County Governor Manor to cause trouble?"
Father Xu nodded and said,"
"This might be useful!"
The eyes of the Xu family's nephews lit up when they heard this.
This was a good idea!
The Xu Clan had more than a hundred people and many servants. If they went to cause trouble, Sun Jian wouldn't care!
Immediately, Xu Gong's cousin, Xu Fei, stood up and said,
"Uncle, Second Uncle is right!”
"Let's go and cause trouble tomorrow!"
"Ask Sun Jian to let him go!"
The moment Xu Fei stood up, all the disciples stood up and shouted,
"Yes, yes, yes!"
"Sun Jian just arrived, what are we afraid of him for!”
"We'll go tomorrow!"
For a moment, everyone had an idea and naturally swept away their previous attitude.
When Father Xu saw this, he nodded repeatedly and said,
"This is what we, the descendants of the great clans, want!”
"Patriarch, we are also willing to go!"
At this moment, a firm voice suddenly sounded from outside the hall.
The Xu family disciples looked and saw that Xu Gong's hanger-ons had already gathered outside the door. They all bowed and said,
"We are willing to follow you to rescue our lord!”
In an instant, dozens of hanger-ons bowed down, and the scene was quite grand.
When Father Xu saw this, he was so touched that he said in a hoarse voice,
"Alright, alright!"
"With everyone here, Gong 'er will be saved!”
Bang bang bang!
However, just as he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door.
The voice was extremely hurried!
Everyone in the hall was stunned when they heard this voice.
Who was knocking on the door so late at night!
Bang bang bang!
Just as they were puzzled, the knocking on the door sounded again. The sound was even louder and more urgent than before!
While everyone was puzzled, the doorkeeper had already arrived at the door and scolded impatiently,
"Who is it? Knocking on the main door in the middle of the night, so blind!”
Amidst the cursing, the servant came to the door and prepared to open it.
However, the door had yet to open.
With a loud bang, the entire door was instantly blasted open.
Sun Ce was dressed in military attire, and he was leading Gan Ning and Zu Mao as they coldly looked at the Xu Manor. Thousands of soldiers followed behind them, surrounding the entire Xu Manor.
Seeing this, Father Xu was shocked."
"Who are you? What are you doing?"
"Do you know what this place is?”
"Of course I know!"
When Sun Ce heard this, he sneered,"
"That's why I came!"
As he spoke, he immediately turned around and shouted coldly,
"Under the orders of the provincial governor, we are to investigate the evidence of the Xu family's rebellion!”
"Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without mercy!”
At this point, he raised his hand and suddenly said,
"Search!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Gan Ning and Zu Mao led hundreds of soldiers into the Xu Manor.
When Father Xu heard this, his body trembled.
Seize evidence of rebellion?
What was Sun Jian trying to do?
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]