Chapter 307: Eliminated!
November 9th.
The First Emperor issued an edict to add the crime of obscenity to the Qin law after September 15th, and all the towers in Guanzhong were to be demolished, which aroused opposition from the aristocratic group in Xianyang.
Although the three major families were removed from the list, a huge and seductive peach was left behind - the concubine.
The three great families relied on this business to supply concubines to all the towers in Guanzhong and continued the glory of the old Qin family. They became independent families that could live a happy life without the leader of the family, the Gan family.
With such huge benefits, basically all the nobles in Qin State want to get a piece of the pie. Who doesn’t want to further advance their family?
But the decree issued by the First Emperor, seemingly a piece of light paper, crushed the peach into pieces, making it impossible to pick up.
The nobles did not care about the Qin laws, but they cared about the attitude of the First Emperor. To openly violate the Qin laws was to slap the First Emperor in the face.
This decree was inexplicable. The nobles couldn't understand why and didn't know what His Majesty's starting point was.
Just like when he first proposed the county system to replace the feudal system, everyone could see that the First Emperor was using this to completely sever the feudal states and make the Ying clan the royal family forever.
But why were the towers abolished and women selling sex made a crime?
Guan Zhong originally invented brothels to recruit talented people, to make money, and to collect beauties for Duke Huan of Qi. Brothels also played an important role in Qi becoming the first hegemonic state in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Now that the situation was going well and all the advantages were being realized, the First Emperor decreed the crime of obscenity. This was neither reasonable nor logical.
Not only did he crush the peach of the aristocratic family, but he himself did not benefit from it, which was definitely harmful to others and himself.
November 10th.
New building.
The pig in the jar, the bitch, and the skinny horse gathered together.
A group of family heads were venting their desires frantically, as if they wanted to vent all the evil thoughts that they would never be able to vent in the future.
Each beauty bit her lips and teeth to seduce people, or held up her full moon to endure the charge, or showed pain on her face to flatter. This is a carnival without much humanity, this is an ugly return to bestiality.
Gan Luo sat in the main seat and rejected the invitation from the head of the aristocratic family for the twelfth time. He smiled and waved his hand, allowing the head of the family who wanted to work with him on a two-pronged approach to continue fighting alone.
The skylight was wide open, and blue sky and white clouds were visible from the new balcony. However, the twelve skylights, each one meter square, could not dispel the fishy smell in the room.
Gan Luo drank fine wine alone, and from time to time asked certain nobles who were having too much fun to restrain themselves and not allow anyone to die in the house. This was his greatest struggle as a leader.
The noble put the rope around the skinny horse's neck and pulled it tight while riding. As the skinny horse was on the verge of death, feeling the tight pleasure, Gan Luo could not stop it.
All Gan Luo could do was to ask the nobles to loosen the reins for a while when the horse's face turned purple and red and it was breathing out more than breathing in, giving the skinny horse three breaths of time to catch its breath.
This banquet filled with roars, violence, and screams came to an end after more than two hours.
In fact, the actual hand-to-hand combat basically ended in about half an hour.
The next hour and a half was the time for these sages. The nobles, who had recovered a little bit of their humanity, finally remembered the difference between humans and beasts and took advantage of the things they had.
Ganoderma lucidum, cork horse, pestle...
Looking at the painful expressions and cries for mercy of the beautiful pigs in the jar, the skinny horses and the bitches, most of the nobles felt great satisfaction in their dark hearts, some even happier than if they had fought in the battle themselves.
Gan Luo asked the beauties who could walk to go down by themselves, and the beauties who could not walk were dragged down by servants. Finally, he called servants to clean up the red blood and white essence on the ground, and another half an hour passed.
During this half hour, the nobles drank, ate meat to restore their strength, and laughed loudly. They argued about whether the Xi family's jar pig was beautiful and delicious, or the Meng family's bitch was soft and boneless, and had no taboos, or the Bai family's thin horse was both talented and beautiful, and the chanting was novel.
When the turbid air drifted away from the skylight, the fresh natural wind swept through the building. Gan Luo, the youngest but most prestigious among the crowd, took a deep breath of fresh air and said loudly:
"The beauty has been enjoyed, the wine has been drunk, and the food has been eaten. Gentlemen, it is time to discuss business."
The commotion gradually died down.
After five breaths, they all disappeared.
A fat and big-eared householder who had just crushed more than one concubine to death without Gan Luo's intervention spoke first:
"Shang Qing, your majesty has cut off our chance of survival. What should we do?"
One person took the lead, and people from all directions followed suit. One by one, the heads of the noble families spoke up.
"My brother, what you said is very true. I hope the Lord will give you a decision on this important matter."
"Obscene crime, how can those lowly people who can't even find three cents in their pockets afford to enter the building? Isn't your Majesty's move targeting us?"
"Shangqing, what does your majesty want to do? It's ridiculous to make visiting prostitutes a crime! If you demolish the tower, where will we go to have fun in the future?"
"That's right. I, Jiang Hou, don't value money. I 've never been short of food since I followed Shang Qing. But this has cut off our happiness. I, Jiang Hou, am the first one who is not happy."
“…”
Cai Ze, Lord Gangcheng, who was too old to perform sexual activities, had been hiding under a big tree in the new building and eating fruit for two hours without saying a word.
Today he only brought eyes to observe, but not a mouth to speak.
When the voices reached the top, Gan Luo, who was sitting alone at the top, suddenly raised his eyes, grabbed the clay wine glass on the table and slammed it to the ground.
The crisp sound of breaking caused the whole crowd to stop talking for a moment. Gan Luo seized this opportunity and stood up straight, shouting:
"A bunch of idiots! So stupid!"
When everyone saw Gan Luo like this, none of them showed any anger at being insulted. Instead, they acted as if they were listening attentively.
Compared with Meng Jiakun, Xishu and Bai Fei who are mature and prudent and want to win over the noble families to join, Gan Luo, the real leader of the noble family, is young and energetic, with a domineering aura.
But everyone was very impressed by Gan Luo, because he could allow them to live a good life with just food and clothing and could solve their difficult problems.
Gan Luo pointed at the heads of the noble families, most of whom were uncles, and preached loudly to himself:
"Meng Xibai and the other two have been running the brothels and taking concubines for many years, and that bastard killed their entire family. If you want to die, just bang your head here and die, why bother looking for a distant place? That money can only make the Meng Xibai and the other two families a great family, how much can you get? Your Majesty said that it is a crime of obscenity, but you are not allowed to take concubines? The brothels violate the Qin law, and the new brothels violate the Qin law? I don't want you to go to the brothels to have fun, and I forbid you to play with concubines?"
Everyone looked at each other, and under the pressure of leader Gan Luo, they all stopped fighting. In fact, they all understood this principle, but they pretended not to understand.
Being able to turn the three great families of Meng, Xi and Bai into a business of concubines second only to the Gan family, the profits would be considerable if divided among each family present.
If Gan Luo took the lead in asking for it , that would be the best, and everyone would follow suit. Anyway, the first bird to come out of the water will be shot, so if the First Emperor wanted to take action, he would first take action against Gan Luo, the leader of the meat-eating aristocratic family.
If Gan Luo doesn't want it, then for some families who want to be safe, then forget it, there's no loss anyway.
For those ambitious families, they can also try to take over. Gan Luo has already said that he doesn't want it. If we take it over and try to snatch it from you, it would be immoral.
This small disturbance seemed to disappear under Gan Luo's tough approach.
Gan Luo clapped his hands, and a servant raised his neck and shouted in a hoarse voice to the actors and actresses performing the song and dance drama to come in. Everyone watched the dance, listened to the songs and commented on the drama while enjoying the feast.
Halfway through the singing and dancing, Gan Luo, who was sitting in the upper seat, glanced at Baili Cheng, the head of the Baili family, and said lightly:
"Bai Li Cheng, you are not allowed to come to the next banquet."
Baili Cheng's face turned pale, the chopsticks in his hand fell on the table with a clanging sound, and he opened his mouth to say something.
"Hush."
Gan Luo first put his index finger in front of his lips, then pointed forward.
"Watching a show."
Gan Luo was pointing at the drama in the middle of the stage where King Huiwen of Qin was conquering Yiqu, but his eyes were fixed on Baili Cheng.
Everyone's eyes then turned to Baili Cheng, and the two family heads sitting next to Baili Cheng quickly moved away.
Everyone knew that the narrow-minded Shang Qing would settle the score later.
When Gan Luo was imprisoned in Xianyang, the three great families wanted to seize power, and Baili Cheng was the first to surrender.
"Shang Qing, Cheng is blind and makes rash judgments about the situation!"
Baili Cheng immediately stood up and half-bowed to Gan Luo.
Gan Luo laughed loudly, pointed at Bailicheng and said to everyone:
"Hahaha, gentlemen, this play is much more beautiful than the intermission play. Please enjoy it."
"What the Lord said is absolutely right!"
"This play is wonderful!"
"I don't know if Bailicheng's acting is better than Lingyou's. Why don't you go off the stage? Your place is in the middle of the stage."
“…”
The ridicule, mockery and sarcasm from the crowd made Baili Cheng's face look even uglier.
He was just one step away from becoming the fourth largest family alongside Meng Xibai. But just this one step away, he couldn't even keep his original position.
"This Xianyang City cannot survive without you, Gan Luo!"
Baili Cheng straightened his back, pointed at the leader and spoke angrily.
Bang~
He slammed the table so hard that the cups and plates shook and the juice from the dishes splashed, and he was the first to agree.
"That's true! The Meng family, the Wang family, the Li family, all families with military merits are very powerful, and they look down on us!"
Then his face was full of ridicule.
"Meng Gong destroyed dozens of cities, Wucheng Hou and Tongwu Hou destroyed five countries, and Longxi Hou also defeated Yan. Can you, Bailicheng, do these? Or is there anyone in your Baili family who can do it?"
Baili Cheng's face twitched and he walked away.
Gan Luo sneered, looked around, and his eyes fixed on the boy sitting at the last seat at the banquet.
"Boberings, come sit here."
The father is Bao Bailingzhi, and the sixteen-year-old Bao Bailingsi walked excitedly and sat in the position that originally belonged to Bailicheng. This means that the status of Bao Bailing's family in the Xianyang family has risen from a small family to a middle family that is closest to a large family.
What Gan Luo could do was not to make the Xianyang family unable to survive without him, but to let the Xianyang family live well by lying down, not working hard, not struggling, and waiting to die.
All the heads of the noble families looked at , but there was no jealousy in their eyes, because this was what Bao Bailing had earned at the cost of his life.
There are punishments for faults and rewards for merits, this is the Legalists.
The Legalists influenced not only the King of Qin, but also the vast majority of high-level thinking.
November 12th.
Led by the Baili family, the ambitious families, mostly small families, who were unwilling to be lonely, submitted their resignations to the First Emperor.
Hundreds of resignation letters were submitted, and the number was almost the same as the number of vacant official positions in the three major families.
The Gan family no longer leads the Baili family forward. Baili Cheng, who has experienced major setbacks in the past half month, is jealous and wants to unite with a group of ambitious small families to take a gamble.
The bet was that the three great families would be expelled, the official positions in Qin would be vacant, and the First Emperor would not have enough people who could serve as officials. In his opinion, it was almost impossible for him to lose this gamble, unless the First Emperor acted impulsively.
Baili Cheng knew very well that in the Qin State where teaching and learning were prohibited, there were no scholars except for families like theirs.
Otherwise, Qin would not have been able to allow local nobles to govern themselves after conquering Zhao, Han, Chu, and Qi, as it would have been impossible to govern them.
The military merit system is a double-edged sword. The outer edge is unstoppable, while the inner edge does not spare students.
This is why Ying Chengjiao wanted to transition from the parallel system of prefectures and kingdoms to the system of prefectures and counties. If Qin had enough power to govern the world and suppress the officials of the local nobles, Ying Chengjiao would not have bothered to let the conspiracy of Enfeoffment Order come into being.
Baili Cheng had a good plan. Not only did Baili Cheng think he could win, but even Gan Luo, who wanted to prevent the aristocratic families from causing trouble, believed that Baili Cheng could win.
If Gan Luo didn't know that Ying Chengjiao was not in Xianyang Prison, and the Qin sword hanging around the Gan family's neck could fall at any time, how could he give up the peach left by the three major families?
Everyone thought that Baili Cheng made a good move and they were all waiting for the First Emperor to disapprove, compromise with the aristocratic families, and change the edict.
Before the evening, the resignation petition of the small group in Bailicheng was approved with a big "approved" sign, indicating that the First Emperor agreed.
Baili Cheng took one memorial after another, read this one and that one, read them over and over again, muttering to himself.
"How is this possible? How is this possible? I want to see His Majesty, I want to see His Majesty!"
He rode at full speed to the Xianyang Palace, but was stopped outside and the First Emperor did not allow him to enter the palace.
Baili Cheng then realized that this was true and he had lost the bet.
He returned home in a state of despair, and was surrounded by a group of people from small aristocratic families at the door of his house. These people from small aristocratic families surrounded Baili Cheng, questioned him first, and then beat him violently.
The tightly closed door opened, and the people of Baili's family wrestled with these people to save Baili Cheng. This private fight violated Qin law, and soon the patrolling city defense army arrested everyone.
These small families who submitted their resignation petitions were still cursing Baili Cheng in the Tingwei prison. If Baili Cheng was not in a solitary cell, they would have beaten him to death.
These people sat at the gambling table but were not prepared to lose.
When the news spread, the Xianyang noble families were in an uproar.
The leader of the noble family, Gan Luo, locked himself in the room, thinking hard. Gangcheng Jun Cai Ze used too much force and hit the paper with the brush.
The aristocratic families did not know where the First Emperor's confidence came from. They thought that the First Emperor had been infected with some young man's madness.
So many positions were vacant at once, where would they be filled? If they could not be filled, the Guanzhong area of Qin would be in chaos. In order to prove that they were not being forced, they acted so impulsively and disregarded the safety of Qin?
No matter what the aristocratic families think, after the resignation letters submitted by a group of small aristocratic families headed by the Baili family are approved, it means that these small aristocratic families will die slowly.
As long as the First Emperor did not restore the official positions of these small families, the power that should have belonged to these small families would be concentrated in the hands of the First Emperor.
The aristocratic monopoly that lasted for thousands of years was broken when Ying Chengjiao wiped out the three great aristocratic families. The pressure from the Baili family and the smaller aristocratic families worsened the situation of the aristocratic families.
A big corner of the control of the aristocratic families in the Qin State was pried open, and the three major aristocratic families that originally stood on this big corner, the Baili family, and a group of small aristocratic families, were eliminated!
