Volume 1 Jiangdong Fengyun Chapter 87 Kind White Map
Originally, Zhang Zhao and others had already proposed the idea of Bai Tu taking up an official position through Lu Kang, but... they did not expect the current situation!
The issue of selecting officials and the major changes in the Ministry of Revenue pushed the aristocratic families directly to the edge of the cliff. However, just when they were considering whether to learn from the Huaiyin Marquis's desperate battle, Bai Tu extended an olive branch that was thick and strong enough to serve as a safety rope.
The Ministry of Revenue's actions are very scary. If they are really carried out, it can even be said that they will directly kick the aristocratic families off the clouds.
However, the Ministry of Revenue that Bai Tu immediately selected made everyone feel relieved again - Lu Kang of the Lu family, the Lu family was one of the largest families in Jiangdong, and Lu Kang was the helmsman of the Lu family. Letting him be the director undoubtedly gave a lot of room for easing tensions.
The rumored abolition of the imperial examination system was eventually restored, although... there were also the so-called "Naxian Hall" and "Xuanxian Test".
Moreover, the post of Chao Ju Lang fell to Zhang Zhao, who was obviously one of the "insiders" of the aristocratic family!
But Old Man Lu and Zhang Zibu couldn’t laugh at all.
Letting Lu Kang be the director of the Ministry of Revenue only gave him "room for relaxation", which means that the issues of household registration and taxation could still be discussed for the time being, but... he had to give Bai Tu a satisfactory number.
Otherwise, if the Ministry of Household Affairs really dared to tell Bai Tu without any evidence that the previous household registration figures were correct, I'm afraid Bai Tu would have drawn his sword - no one would believe that Taishi Ci had taken the wrong paper in the first place!
Similarly, if Zhang Zhao were to be the Censor-in-Chief, would he really dare to turn Jiangdong into a land of aristocratic families as in their "dream"?
Everyone knows with their eyes closed that Bai Tu will definitely place his cronies in the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Personnel. If the people who are recommended for promotion repeatedly have problems, as long as Bai Tu gets evidence, he will probably cut them off openly!
Even... even if they are not Bai Tu's confidants, do the noble families in the world really think that they are all one family with one heart and one mind?
Even if they are from the same Jiangdong family, I'm afraid there are people eyeing the positions of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Rites.
Bai Tu handed over a knife for cutting meat from the powerful families and a knife for dividing the cake with the powerful families to the powerful families themselves, but... if the cutting is not done well, neither Bai Tu nor his "teammates" will let them go!
But Lu Kang and Zhang Zhao could not refuse. Firstly, from the perspective of the aristocratic families, if there was no room for easing the tension, the consequence would only be a more tragic lose-lose situation. Secondly, from their own selfish perspective, although this position had disadvantages, it also had advantages. How many people would envy it!
As for the other positions in the six ministries, everyone was eagerly waiting, with both anticipation and anxiety...
Lu Kang saw it most clearly - as the "communication channel" between the governor of Yangzhou and the Jiangdong aristocratic families, people from other aristocratic families would often come to him to sound him out.
Before this meeting with Bai Tu, what the people from each family talked about most with him was how to restrict the governor in order to protect the interests of each family.
However, this time, the representatives of the top families met with Bai Tu once. Especially after the news of the six ministries spread, everyone privately asked Lu Kang which positions would be reserved for them and who the governor's office preferred...
"Mr. Lu, this is the final list to be submitted to the lord. Do you think there is anything missing?" Zhang Zhao was visiting Lu Kang at his mansion at that time.
The six ministries were just being established, and as a "Cao Ju Lang", he now needed to recommend a large number of people. Although Zhang Zhao was now over forty years old, this was the first time he had seen such a situation, so he first sought out Mr. Lu to brief him.
Lu Kang did not look at the list, but directly said: "As long as Zibu is fair and just and recommends people, no matter how the lord uses them, it will not be your fault. And what is there to doubt about Zibu's character?"
As if he could see that Zhang Zhao was still worried, Lu Kang continued, "Zi Bu, don't underestimate the lord."
"How dare Zhao?" Zhang Zhao said helplessly.
He simply overestimated Baitu and even thought that the rise and fall of Jiangdong depended on this one move, so he took the risk of taking the blame and pledged his loyalty to his lord.
"Then Zi Bu should also be able to see that in the change of powers among the six ministries, assigning the major families to the six ministries... is just a delaying tactic, which may allow for a night of peace of mind, but if nothing unexpected happens, the conflict between the governor's office and the families will still intensify in one or two years at the shortest, or three to five years at the longest," Lu Kang said.
That’s right, Bai Tu used the method of “threatening to lift the roof” to finally get everyone to temporarily agree to “open the window”, but if he really wanted to boil the major families to death like a toad in warm water, that would be underestimating others.
"Then why is Mr. Lu still sitting still?" Zhang Zhao asked puzzledly.
"Because Zi Bu wants you to think of a solution before this, but what I want is to see how our lord is going to solve it." Lu Kang said.
Zhang Zhao was stunned when he heard this, and then he understood why Lu Kang felt that he underestimated Bai Tu.
Zhang Zhao just felt that Bai Tu was not a good person. If he was not careful, the whole Jiangdong would be in chaos. He was definitely not someone who could be dealt with perfunctorily, so he appointed Bai Tu as his lord - firstly, as he had someone like Bai Tu who could get things done, he would have room to display his abilities under him, and secondly, it would prevent the whole Jiangdong from sliding into an unknown direction.
However, Lu Kang believed from the beginning that behind Bai Tu's "delaying tactic", there must be a real way to cure the symptoms and the root cause. It just takes time!
Therefore, compared to Zhang Zhao, Lu Kang's position is more stable. He only needs to buy Bai Tu some time to relax.
Of course, the reason for this difference is that Lu Kang is already in his seventies. Although he gave birth to a son a few years ago, he cannot but admit his old age.
He had already intended to die for the city in Shucheng before, but now that he has been rescued by Bai Tu, his mentality has changed a lot, and he can let go of many things!
Especially his most promising nephew Lu Xun, who has now become Lu Su's apprentice - unlike those of them who come from aristocratic families, Lu Su is the aide who is truly trusted by Bai Tu.
Even if there is any turmoil in the future, Lu Kang believes that with the relationship with Lu Xun, the Lu family will still have the most basic protection!
"Mr. Lu, your opinion is brilliant." Zhang Zhao obviously still had doubts, but since Lu Kang had already expressed his opinion, he couldn't say anything more.
Even Lu Kang himself couldn’t figure out how Bai Tu would “cure the symptoms and the root cause”. After all... he had never seen Bai Tu’s technology tree!
There was just one thing: Lu Kang misunderstood Bai Tu - as an innocent and kind-hearted person, Bai Tu was not a man of many tricks.
Now he is causing unrest among the noble families, which is actually still learning from Sun Quan, and Bai Tu is much kinder than the Sun Quan in history.
Sun Quan of later generations, when facing the Jiangdong aristocratic family, used a classic method - he "sacrificed" his two sons in exchange for the Jiangdong aristocratic family's decline from power for decades!
Historically, after the Battle of Chibi, Sun Quan finally gained the advantage in the right to speak when facing the aristocratic families in Jiangdong. People like Zhang Zhao who had advised him to surrender in the past were all submissive under his rule. Moreover, in the middle and late period of Sun Quan's reign, Emperor Sun, who had risen to fame through political maneuvers, actually made the "mistake" of making Sun He the crown prince on the one hand, and giving Sun Ba the same treatment as a crown prince on the other.
This directly caused the civil and military officials of the Eastern Wu to take sides between the Crown Prince and the Prince of Lu. Ultimately, not only did the Eastern Wu suffer damage in internal strife, but the court was also in chaos. This is known in history as the "Dispute between the Two Palaces."
For the so-called battle for the crown prince, all the aristocratic families really invested a lot of money.
Just when the situation seemed to be getting out of control, the previously indecisive Sun Quan suddenly became decisive and deposed and beheaded his two sons, and all the civil and military officials who supported the second palace were exiled...
What is "weird" is that, although they were all demoted, the ministers from aristocratic families were forced to death or exiled to Jiaozhou within a short period of time, while other ministers were quickly reinstated after being demoted, and some even made further progress because the aristocratic families vacated their places.
The "capital" bet by both parties was also taken by Sun Quan.
This "coincidence" even caused Jiangdong, where even the ruler had to be cautious in front of the aristocratic families, to become a place where power was centralized to the point where there was a "tyrant" who caused the country to fall...
In comparison, Bai Tu's current method of getting their "capital" is really too gentle and too kind!
Speaking of Sun Quan, this young man is still being "kidnapped" by Yuan Shu. The letter sent by Sun Ce proposing exchange has finally received a response...
