Volume 2: The King's Way Chapter 148: Deja Vu
Listening to the noise of the tribesmen outside and the news that Zhou Tai had led his troops into the tribe's territory, Xu Gong's lips trembled nervously, but as the head of the Xu family, he still forced himself to remain calm.
At this moment, Xu You rushed back - after the "trial of Pan Zhang", Xu You resigned from his post as Cavalry Commandant and concentrated on being his cousin's lackey.
Xu You was ordered by Xu Gong to seek help from several other powerful families in Fuchun County and the prominent families in several neighboring counties in Wu County...
This is Xu Gong's last straw. As long as they are willing to unite and guarantee it, Bai Tu will not force it unless Jiangdong is in chaos and both sides are destroyed. At most... Xu will lose some interests and send some scapegoats.
However, when he saw Xu You coming in with a look of fear on his face, Xu Gong felt very disappointed.
"Master, those bastards have betrayed the honor of our family. They are afraid of power and are unwilling to intervene..." Xu You said with a sad face.
Xu You was also very desperate. If he had known earlier... he might as well continue to be a cavalry commander. Why would he offend Bai Tu and show his loyalty to Xu Gong?
"What? Could it be that all of them..." Xu Gong was about to faint.
Xu Gong’s last hope was that other noble families would come forward to protect him, but now his last hope has been shattered.
"Those short-sighted guys, are they doing this just because I raised the price when I sold the cattle before?" Xu Gong said angrily.
Some of the tribesmen present were rolling their eyes at him...
In fact, this is inevitable. For aristocratic families and other noble families that are striving to become "aristocratic families", the most important thing is "continuation" and "existence", followed by "strength" and various "virtues".
The so-called continuation is also divided into two parts. One is to maintain the existence of one's own family, and the other is to maintain the existence of the "scholarly family" group!
There has only been one person in history who was able to transform himself from a rogue village headman into a founding emperor, but... there are many examples of originally inconspicuous families, or even wealthy families, gradually becoming powerful because of their long existence.
For example, the Yang family, one of the top families today and the one to which Yang Biao belongs, had an ancestor who was just a small cavalry general under Liu Bang. He got a leg from Xiang Yu and was granted a title of marquis. After that, he remained unknown for several generations. Finally, after his descendants took the lead in reporting after the death of Huo Guang, the family became prosperous again. In addition, some talented members of the family did emerge one after another, and gradually they gained the reputation they have today.
This is the path that all the noble families in the world pursue - as long as they exist long enough, nothing is impossible.
In today's world, people have gradually realized that how to deal with relations with warlords is particularly important.
Talented people from aristocratic families choose to serve under their own masters, which does not affect the continuation of the family, even if the master they serve is defeated. A sane master will not pursue the family of a certain person just because he is in a hostile force. Even a more generous master will not pursue the person himself as long as he can be used by the master.
Otherwise, if he really kills all the way to the end, not only will his reputation be ruined, but people from other families under him will also protest.
If you bet on the master, the worst result is being suppressed for a period of time after failure.
As for those with abnormal brains? They basically won't survive to the end !
For someone like Xu Gong, who insisted on confronting Bai Tu, this was a typical act of courting death. Moreover, his previous attitude towards other Jiangdong nobles also exposed his gambling side, causing other nobles to no longer regard him as their "kindred spirit".
"Don't be impatient... Bai Tu is a man who only seeks fame and reputation. As long as we can mobilize the farmers in the village to resist and hold out for a while, he will certainly not want to bear the reputation of oppressing the people and causing riots..." Xu Gong still wanted to fight back.
However, at this moment, the young and strong men from the tribe outside rushed in!
"How outrageous! Are there no rules?" Xu Gong said angrily.
However, he discovered that several elders in the tribe, as well as several members who were still in office, had all stood over...
"You...what do you mean?" Xu Gong said even more shocked and angry.
"Master, you have worked hard these past few years... Alas, it is our fault. We saw that you really made the Xu family stronger, so we just let it go..."
"Now you, the head of the family, have to go and apologize to Mr. Bai in person!"
"The child is innocent. We will do our best to protect your nephews and nieces under three years old, as well as your unmarried daughter..."
The elders of the tribe are very reasonable: the fault is ours, but you alone must bear the blame!
Zhou Tai did not encounter much resistance, and Xu Gong was sent out tied up.
Seeing this scene, Zhou Tai looked a little strange: "It's been a long time since we last met, Governor Xu. Was this the same thing we did last time?"
That’s right, when Chen Gong brought Zhou Tai to Wujun to attack Yan Baihu, it was exactly like this - Zhou Tai was ready to fight , but Yan Baihu’s head had already been delivered by Xu Gong.
However, Zhou Tai did not forget what Bai Tu taught him - if the name is right, the words will be legitimate, and if the words are legitimate, things will be accomplished.
"Huh? Why did you tie up the former prefect? I heard that someone detained officials from the general's mansion..." Zhou Tai said.
Bai Tu finally got the title of "General of Chariots and Cavalry" for nothing. Unlike the "Grand Minister of Agriculture", the "General of Chariots and Cavalry" could nominally dispatch troops from all over the country. Before that, Cao Cao himself was only a "General of Chariots and Cavalry" and did not dare to confer the title of General of Chariots and Cavalry on himself.
Now Bai Tu can legitimately move the six ministries to the residence of the "General of Chariots and Cavalry", making the six ministries, which were originally just "state-level departments", upgraded to quasi-national-level departments...
"General, please be clear. It was this unfilial descendant Xu Gong who was so bold and reckless that he not only committed crimes but also detained officials. We could no longer tolerate this and have captured him." Xu Xing said.
Xu Xing looked older, and from his tone he seemed to be older than Xu Gong. He was also a Tingyuan in Fuchun County - a subordinate of the county magistrate, a minor official in charge of coordinating rural affairs.
Compared with Xu Gong, who once served as a prefect, Xu Xing was not very prominent, but he was one of the few officials of the Xu family who had not been implicated or dismissed.
"Well, I will take this person away first, and release the officials of the General's Mansion immediately. Then we can wait for the Ministry of Justice to make the decision!" Zhou Tai said.
Xu Gong was quite tough at this time. He allowed Zhou Tai to take him away with a stern face and did not say a word.
At the same time, in the General of Chariots and Cavalry's Mansion in Jinling, Lu Kang was also trying to find out what Bai Tu thought of Xu.
It is true that the Jiangdong nobles headed by the Lu family have now tacitly given up on the Xu family, but... Bai Tu's final punishment will be seen by them.
Of course, Lu Kang now understands Bai Tu's character and knows that he will not harm innocent people.
"The Ministry of Justice will handle it according to the law! For crimes that can be 'redeemed', we can use their newly acquired land to redeem them, which should be enough. For crimes that cannot be redeemed... no one will be able to escape." Bai Tu looked like he was handling the matter impartially.
At this time, the Ministry of Justice should begin to limit the scope of "redemption". Some serious crimes cannot be "redeemed".
"What about the other tribesmen..." Lu Kang actually understood, but still asked another question.
"Other tribesmen? Since it's 'others', it just means they all have the surname Xu. Those that have nothing to do with them are naturally irrelevant." Bai Tu said.
While Lu Kang breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, he also felt that the words were a bit harsh - they all had the surname Xu... It seemed that the previous "killing one person is like killing my father" was not just a momentary outrage, and the Ministry of Justice's criminal prosecution in the countryside was not Wang Lang's sudden whim. In the future... where will it go?
