Hundreds of households in Liaodong, covering the light with one hand

More than ten miles north of Baodi County, there is Zhuangzi, which covers an area of ​​more than 30 acres. It is the ancestral home of Yu Yonglu, Yu Yuan's maternal wife, a large landowner in Baodi County.

Tonight, the front meeting hall of Yu Yuan's house is brightly lit.

"Have you heard?" Yu Yonglu's younger brother, Yu Yongshou, sat at the top of the table. He glanced at his brother first, then turned to look at the clan members in the hall: "Today, the great councilor Lu Yu came to the county."

"That bloody thunderbolt method doesn't look like a civil official! I heard that he still had the title of Minister of Household Affairs of the former imperial court." Everyone in the hall frowned at this moment. They heard that Yan Qinglai was directly punished in prison. The county magistrate ended up in this situation just because he complained in court?

"What is this? This is called killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, killing one policeman and a hundred!" There was a lot of noise in the hall.

The way Lu Yu frequently killed people in Baodi County today made everyone feel sad.

"You don't even need the court's approval, you can just ask for execution tomorrow!" Yu Yongshou hissed, feeling the pain in his back molars: "And as soon as he was thrown into prison, his home was ransacked by soldiers, leaving only an empty house. In the house, there are more than 20 wives, concubines, women and children in the house, it’s miserable!”

"Then tomorrow" Yu Yongshou turned to look at his brother: "Brother, how should we respond?"

Everyone in the hall knew that Lu Yu could not spend thousands or tens of thousands of taels of silver this time!

That would uproot the entire officialdom and wealthy households in Baodi County.

Thinking of the scene of thousands of heads of officials in the capital at the end of May, everyone in the hall shuddered. They didn't feel that they were worth more than the Gonggun Dukes.

The death of the officials in the capital may leave a mark in the history books. If everyone in the hall is killed by Lu Yu, it can only be an unjust death.

"I'm looking at the documents released by the council." Yu Yonglu, who hadn't spoken for a long time, twisted his eyebrows into the Chinese character "Sichuan" and patted the back of his chair gently: "What Qi Guogong wants is just the land in Baodi County, especially the land in Huangzhuang. !”

Looking at the people in the hall, Yu Yonglu's eyes showed the determination of a strong man to cut off his wrists: "Tomorrow in the hall, as long as Senator Lu wants it, except for the ancestral home and 300 acres of land, all the other clan's fields can be given up. Got it!"

"what?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the hall was surprised.

Although everyone was still afraid of Lu Yu's thunderbolt methods just now, when it came time to give up the meat, few people could really make up their minds.

That's a lot of money, not hundreds or thousands of taels per year, but tens of thousands of taels!

Moreover, those acres are acres and acres of fertile farmland. It is the accumulation of hard work of the five generations of the Yu family from generation to generation that has led to the current situation.

Why did he, Lu Yu, give up so easily when he came?

"Master! There are still more than a hundred children in that clan. How can they live without their land?"

"Brother, before Lu Yu can speak, we are offering money like this, just in case his desires are hard to satisfy."

"Shut up!" Yu Yonglu slapped the table: "I know what you are thinking. It's nothing more than the loss of acres and less money for annual profits. It's decided today that all three generations will The children below will receive no less money from the clan to support their families every year. This extra expenditure is paid by the clan leader. Most of the first, second and third generation clan members have their own properties, and these acres of land are divided into money. Just think of it as helping the clan tide over the difficulties."

Seeing someone who had something to say, Yu Yonglu raised his hand to stop him and said: "The Yu family has accumulated over generations. In Baodi County, there are not only acres of land, but also restaurants, pawnshops, iron shops, inns, merchants and other businesses. As long as these are there, In a short period of time, there won’t be too many injuries in the clan!”

"The most important thing is to leave a good impression on Mr. Lu, and there will be many benefits in the future!"

After saying that, Yu Yonglu stroked his beard and looked at his younger brother: "Yongshou, what do you think?"

Hearing his brother's question, Yu Yongshou's lips twitched, obviously unhappy: "Brother, you are the clan leader. In these years, the Yu family has developed so much thanks to you. I should have supported you."

"Huh?" Yu Yonglu narrowed his eyes and waited quietly for his brother's next words.

"But is it too cowardly to give up almost all the acres? He Lu Yu didn't say he wanted all the acres!" Yu Yongshou didn't understand why his brother made such a decision.

"Because Lu Yu is one of the seven congressmen of the New Deal, and because he is a confidant of the chief executive, don't you know who the Duke of Qi Wang Qi is?" Yu Yonglu took a deep breath and said: "Do you think that just a hundred people Which one is more weighty: Qing Liangtian or Qi Guogong's favor?" "Don't talk about tens of thousands of taels of silver. When the time comes, with Lu Yu's connections, one hundred thousand taels or one million taels of silver will not be a problem!" Yu Yonglu looked at his younger brother. , quite a bit resentful: "When can you take a longer-term view of your short-sightedness?"

Yu Yonglu's words made everyone in the hall speechless.

Some people were thoughtful, some nodded solemnly, and some were dismissive.

"Who knows how long Qi Guogong's new policy will last? I heard that King Qin's army in Nanjing City has already arrived in Xuzhou Mansion," his cousin Yu Yongxi muttered.

He is in charge of twenty hectares of farmland in the clan, so he is the most fiercely opposed to the clan leader's move.

If twenty hectares of fertile farmland were lost, the kickbacks he collected from tenant farmers every year would be reduced by nearly a thousand taels.

"Yes, Patriarch, we also have this worry. After all, no one has experienced what the New Deal Council is. Everyone knows the emperor, but no one has heard of the Laoshizi Council. After reading through the Four Books and Five Classics, no one has heard of it!"

"Nanjing City's King Qin Army? Those ones?" Yu Yonglu was talking when the housekeeper suddenly ran from outside the hall.

"Master, the young master has news from the capital!"

The steward held a letter in his hand, from Yu Yonglu's eldest son Yu Changyu, who was enrolled in the Fourth Gate of the Imperial College in the capital and was relatively well-informed.

Therefore, as soon as this letter came out, it attracted everyone's attention.

With everyone watching, Yu Yonglu opened the letter and looked down.

After a few breaths, he raised his head. Yu Yonglu had a strange expression on his face, and then nodded.

"Brother, what does the letter say?" Yu Yongshou asked.

"Did the coup fail?" someone asked.

"You all take a look," Yu Yonglu sat down and handed the letter to his younger brother.

After getting the letter, Yu Yongshou was surprised at first, and then fell silent.

After a while, Yu Yongshou raised his head: "It's news about King Qin's army."

While speaking, Yu Yongshou looked at the tribesman who had just asked the question: "In the Battle of Huishan, King Qin's army was routed thousands of miles away. Yuan Keli and King Xin have retreated to the south of the Yangtze River and returned to Nanjing."

"This" the tribesman's face turned pale, and when he was about to speak, he heard Yu Yongshou continue:

"After that, Qin Erbao led an army to attack Xuzhou Mansion at night. By the time the news was sent out the night before yesterday, Xuzhou had already fallen."

For a moment, the hall was filled with echoes of ""

"I agree with the patriarch's plan!"

"Seconded"

"I have always been a staunch capitulator!" (End of Chapter)