Cui Yan stood in the mountain pavilion outside Yecheng. Looking into the distance, he seemed to see streaks of blazing black smoke and swords and guns. In just a few days, a large number of places in southern Jizhou were destroyed.

More than a dozen large households were raided in succession.

Cao's army continued to advance at a speed of capturing one fort in two days on average. Cui Yan believed that if this continued, Jizhou would become a sea of ​​blood sooner or later.

Cao Cao's decisive attitude towards big families exceeded Cui Yan's imagination.

If you want to climb from a wealthy family in the countryside to the position of a gentry child, it is even further than from Yecheng to Xu County. You must not only have talents, but also have opportunities. If you have opportunities, you must be praised and recommended by others.

It can take one generation, or two or three generations, to climb from the countryside to the court and become a member of the gentry circle who truly has the right to speak.

Jun.

scholar.

son.

civil.

A class is like ascending to heaven.

Strictly speaking, it was not easy for Cui to climb from a local "son" to a "shi" in the court, so he knew how difficult it was to be a local "son", but when he began to hold power, in

When faced with the tough attitude of higher-level "scholars", he hesitated a little.

Cao Cao showed a tough attitude, as if he was holding a heavy war hammer. Whether it was a shield or armor, the big hammer was eighty and the small hammer was forty.

He is clever and clumsy, holding a powerful force, showing that he doesn't care whether he resists or not, and he doesn't care whether others are willing. Anyway, it is very big. If you are willing, just be patient, and if you are not willing, just sue...

This is a kind of psychological oppression, just like Cao Cao's massacre in Xuzhou. At that time, some people thought that Cao Cao did not dare to do that, but Cao Cao did it, and then Xuzhou collapsed completely, and he has not been able to recover to this day.

So, will the next Xuzhou be Jizhou?

The death and injury of more than a dozen large households is actually nothing to the whole of Jizhou. The loss of more than ten Wubao is actually nothing. The Han war is everywhere, and the various prefectures and counties have suffered military disasters.

Didn’t the local area suffer more losses than Jizhou?

It's just that most of the people who died before were ordinary people, but now Cao Cao is targeting the local big families.

Kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

This process is also a process of comparing each other's psychological pressure and competing with each other.

As soon as Cao Cao started taking action, a large number of gentry descendants from Jizhou withdrew from Cao Cao's command and resigned from their posts to express their indignation and protest against Cao Cao's barbaric behavior. At the same time, a large number of common people were encouraged to "regret" their grievances.

, used to express the illegality and unethical behavior of Cao Cao.

Under such circumstances, normally, most people would succumb to the will of others.

But Cao Cao was not an ordinary person.

Cao Cao ordered the direct killing of those people who had taken money to cause trouble, and at the same time accelerated the purge of large households, even arrested some officials who resigned, and put these people in prison on various charges...

For a time, there was a bloody storm around Xu County, and people throughout Jizhou were wailing.

When life safety is not involved, people can gesticulate through a network cable, and the spittle they spit can paint a rainbow. But if it is said that cruel officials will come to the door at the next moment, families will be destroyed, and even people will be killed, there will naturally not be so many people.

He dared to spit saliva randomly.

Not everyone dares to face the storm without fear.

The key is that there is no second Zang Hong.

At this moment, Cui Yan felt the preciousness of a man with an iron head.

"Mr. Cui..." Li Pan slowly walked over and bowed his hands.

"Is everyone here?" Cui Yan asked.

Li Pan nodded.

Everywhere in Yecheng may be monitored by the Cao family. If it is in someone's own yard, there will inevitably be suspicion of gathering for rebellion, so the only choice is to find a hilltop outside the city to prevent some Cao family members.

Personnel eavesdropping can also use excuses such as spring outings, cultural gatherings, etc. to avoid some problems.

"I have met you all..."

Cui Yan bowed slightly and nodded in salute. Although Cui Yan has a higher position now, he may not be the oldest. With this etiquette, Cui Yan does not need to show arrogance.

"Cui Biejia, now... it's really chilling..." an old man on the left sighed, frowning, "...innocent people have suffered such a disaster, it's really... alas..."

Innocent or not, this point is not that important, but at least this reputation cannot be lost.

"Alas! The Master said, harsh government is as fierce as a tiger! It is like this now!"

"Jizhou...is there no Zang Ziyuan in Jizhou?"

"..." Cui Yan was silent and watched everyone talking.

After a while, everyone calmed down a little and their voices lowered.

Those present here basically belong to the ranks of "scholars". They are either holding some official positions now, or their parents and ancestors have produced some capable people. Although to some extent, they have broken away from the ranks of big families in the countryside.

, but their relationship with these large households is still very close, both in terms of personal connections and economics.

Large rural families want to obtain political asylum, and these people obtain various offerings in the process. This is the most basic transaction. As for some favors and marriages established in this process, they are for profit.

Embellishment and concealment.

Cui Yan didn't answer immediately, but the meaning was very obvious.

Just to discuss the matter, everyone is not a fool. If you want to play moral kidnapping, shut up as soon as possible.

"The general has his own reasons." Cui Yan said with a hint of meaning.

Li Pan couldn't help but sigh. He understood what Cui Yan meant. Zang Hong rebelled against Yuan Shao before because Yuan Shao betrayed him and lost his integrity. But even so, when Zang Hong rebelled against Yuan Shao, he still only had one land and a small number of soldiers.

Followed by, most of the noble families and wealthy households only gave verbal support, so now these people are noisy about "Zang Ziyuan" secondly, and most of them are just verbal.

On the other hand, Cui Yan said "reason", which is the key word. Now the general is assassinating, and then tracking down the murderer and accomplices. Although there is obvious suspicion of retaliation, after all, he has a good reputation. And now people from Jizhou are gathered together.

Of course, there must be "reason" in doing so, otherwise even if you rebel immediately, you may not get any response.

Some people are angry, some are helpless, but they are somewhat aware of the subtleties involved.

"Now that the New Year has passed, spring plowing is just around the corner," Cui Yan said the second sentence, "The foundation of the world is to cultivate mulberry trees. The general has his own sense of proportion."

The Jizhou area did not originally belong to Cao Cao. Although most people changed their flags after Yuan Shao's fall, it was just a different flag. In many cases, the original people were still in charge, which would certainly cause Cao Cao's anger.

Dissatisfied, especially with the last Qinghe incident, although Cao Cao made concessions, it also laid the foundation for future troubles.

Now that the future troubles have broken out, Cao Cao feels relieved, but the spring plowing is about to begin soon. Unless Cao Cao has water in his head, it is impossible for him to give up Jizhou just to breathe a sigh of relief. This area accounts for almost half of Cao Cao's income.

Area.

Under such circumstances, Cao Cao will most likely choose to stop.

Besides, if the persecution is excessive and Jizhou really rebels, Cao Cao himself will not feel comfortable.

To a certain extent, Li Pan thinks so too.

Although Cao Jun has now captured more than a dozen Wubao in southern Jizhou, which looks scary, but if you think about it carefully, it is not necessarily so scary. Although Cao Jun has killed a lot of people now, they are just ordinary big households.

, such as "giving way", Cao Cao has not made a move yet. Of course if the trouble continues, no one can guarantee that Cao Cao will not take action.

As long as the Jizhou gentry will not be in chaos and withstand the pressure exerted by Cao Cao, then once the spring plowing approaches, Cao Cao will naturally be forced to make peace with the Jizhou gentry. Then the disadvantage can be turned into an advantage by then, and from other aspects

On the one hand, this time is a crisis, but it is also an opportunity.

Since Yuan Shao's death, the gentry in Jizhou have been in disarray.

Even if Cui Yan serves as the driver, his influence is still limited. Even if some prompts and arrangements are made in advance, there are still many local big players who are not willing to follow Cui Yan's suggestions, so that they naturally act first and last.

, chaos. But at the same time, Cui Yan also showed his wisdom and strength in this chaos. It is precisely because of this that Li Pan and others gathered here to discuss.

Cui Yan looked around and said: "According to someone's knowledge, in the Sanfu area of ​​Chang'an, there were dozens of Lianshao family members, all of whom were slaughtered... In the Lantian area, there were also more than ten disciples, all of whom were imprisoned... involved.

It's very wide, and now the Hussars are sending people to investigate Hedong. The people they arrest are because the shackles are not enough..."

"What?!"

"How could this be?"

"Nani?"

"..."

Everyone was immediately stunned, and then there was an uproar.

Li Pan asked in disbelief: "So..."

Cui Yan was silent for a long time before saying, "This is not a matter of one person... nor is it a matter of Jizhou alone... Everyone, please be careful..."

Li Pan's hands were trembling slightly, "Mr. Cui, could it be that this big guy...but..."

Cui Yan shook his head and said, "It's unknown, it's unnecessary."

Although people can rely on conspiracy to gain certain benefits, but if it is elevated to the level of the entire country, it will be difficult to use conspiracy. After all, the strength of each other lies where they are. Even if you can use conspiracy to seize a temporary advantage.

You have the upper hand, but you can't always have the upper hand. The final battle still depends on the comparison of strength.

And now, even Cui Yan, who has the power to reach the sky, can bind the scattered people in Jizhou together, and may be able to compete with Cao Cao, but the problem is that now it is not only Cao Cao who is doing this, but also Hsiao Qi.

If we are doing it, it almost means that the entire Han Dynasty will undergo some institutional changes, and the previous models and structures are undergoing new changes...
To be continued...