"If anyone dares to play tricks on me in this matter, deprive the people, or enrich himself, I won't have to wait for the Queen to get angry, I will skin him alive with my own hands!"
For a time, Wei Xun's manors and farmlands completed the "reform" earlier than Chu Hong's.
Compared with the eunuchs in the inner court who "followed their hearts", the civil and military officials in the outer court were more than half a beat slower in reacting.
Many people are still staying at home or gathering secretly in groups of three or five, weighing the pros and cons and struggling with their thoughts.
Seeing this situation, the chief minister Lu Zhenyan was extremely anxious.
He knew very well that if he allowed his colleagues to continue to be confused, Yujing City would probably experience a bloody purge far exceeding the palace coup in less than three days.
So, Lu Zhenyan, in the name of the Prime Minister, summoned several core ministers in Beijing and held a small-scale "meeting" in his own mansion.
At the meeting, Lu Zhenyan did not say much, but quietly took out a letter home that she had already written and showed it to everyone.
The letter was written to his parents and brothers who were far away in his hometown in Jiangnan.
In the letter, Lu Zhenyan, in an unquestionable tone, demanded that the Lu family immediately return all the land under their names to the tenant farmers, leaving not a single acre behind.
Afterwards, the whole family moved north and settled in Yujing City.
After everyone had passed it around, they all looked at each other in shock.
Wen Boyuan, the Deputy Minister of the Cabinet, pondered for a moment before asking, "Brother Jingchu, what if... what if someone in the Lu family is unwilling to cooperate?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhenyan closed her eyes in pain, and her thin cheeks twitched slightly.
After a moment, he suddenly opened his eyes and took out another letter from his sleeve.
On the cover of the letter, it was clearly written: "Written personally by Yang Tingkai, the General of Jiangsu and Zhejiang."
In his early years, Yang Tingkai studied under Lu Zhenyan. After Lu Zhenyan entered the cabinet, he always regarded himself as Lu Zhenyan's disciple, and even compared himself to "a running dog of his mentor" in private.
The reason why Lu Zhenyan was able to compete with the powerful Wu Daoqi in the court for many years was that the support of the military power in Jiangnan was one of her important confidences.
When everyone took the second letter and opened it, they all gasped.
In the letter, Lu Zhenyan instructed Yang Tingkai in an almost cold tone: If the Lu clan fails to complete the division of land and relocation within three months, please ask General Yang to send troops immediately to arrest the entire Lu clan, young and old, and bring them to Beijing.
Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!
Wen Boyuan held the letter in his hand and felt his fingertips trembling slightly.
For a moment, you could hear a pin drop in the small living room.
Everyone was stunned by Lu Zhenyan's ruthlessness.
Finally, someone stood up, bowed deeply to Lu Zhenyan, and said, "Your Excellency... Your Excellency is so noble! I understand."
After saying that, he did not stay any longer, turned around and left in a hurry.
With the first person taking the lead, the others gradually came to their senses and stood up to say goodbye.
Everyone's face showed a look of dejection and resignation that the situation was hopeless.
Soon, Lu Zhenyan was the only one left in the living room.
He looked at the empty room, sat there for a long time, and finally let out a long sigh and muttered to himself:
"Perhaps what the Empress wishes to establish is... the legendary 'Great Harmony World' that even the ancient sages diligently sought..."
"But...but why are we, who claim to have thoroughly read the books of the sages, unable to let go in the end?"
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Another card review......
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