Chapter 698 Xie Zhan Must Die
Chang'an, Sang Mansion
Shangshu Ling Sang Baiqing came from a small aristocratic family, and he was currently receiving several important guests.
These guests are all the heads or young masters of famous aristocratic families today.
In addition to Li Jing, the head of the Zhaojun Li family, and Wang Yuan, the head of the Taiyuan Wang family, there were also Wang Yun, the young master of the Langya Wang family, Pei Zheng, the young master of the Hedong Pei family, and Liu Shaojun, the young master of the Liu family, who came from far away.
The Pei, Liu and Xue families are collectively known as the Three Prominent Families of Hedong and Jin.
When everyone saw each other, they greeted each other and then took their seats.
Li Jing was the oldest. He glanced around and asked Sang Baiqing, "The Cui family of Qinghe, the Lu family of Zhuozhou, and the Zheng family of Xingyang didn't come?"
Sang Baiqing nodded, "Yes."
Wang Yuan and Li Jing were of the same age. He replied, "It's not surprising. Xingyang is far away in Yuzhou, far from being affected by the war."
"Zhuozhou and Qinghe are now both occupied by Pingzhou. Both families are in danger of being incorporated. We don't know how Pingzhou will treat them, and we are currently mediating with the Pingzhou authorities."
Among the famous aristocratic families of the time, there was originally a family called Xie, but the Xie family acted perversely and was boycotted and excluded by the aristocratic families.
Pei Zheng smiled bitterly and said, "We are no match for those three families. We are all in dire straits and have no choice but to gather together to seek a solution."
Liu Shaojun, who was also from the Hedong family, also smiled bitterly, "Hedong is already in danger. My father had no choice but to ask me to come to Chang'an to see if there is any good plan."
The Xianbei are currently attacking Hexi, and their Hedong is just south of Hexi, which is no different from a situation that is on fire.
Wang Yuan, the head of the Taiyuan Wang family, also sighed, "Who says it's not true? We can't even stay in our hometown of Taiyuan anymore."
Now most of Taiyuan was occupied by the Xianbei, and the Wang family had to flee in a panic.
Li Jing, the head of the Zhaojun Li family, also sighed. It was the same for their Li family.
Wang Yun, the young master of the Wang family of Langya, also followed suit, saying, "The armies led by Qin Zhao and Sun Congyi are already attacking Qingzhou. Langya is located southwest of Qingzhou, and the situation is urgent."
At this point, the heads and young masters of these aristocratic families could not help but sigh that the situation was changing too fast.
Li Jing and Wang Yuan looked at each other. In fact, they wanted to wait and see how Pingzhou treated the Cui family of Qinghe and the Lu family of Zhuozhou, so as to have a reference. However, the treatment of these two families in Pingzhou has not yet been determined.
But they were a wealthy family, so to be on the safe side, they decided to move most of their people out first and wait and see.
After sighing, they had to turn their attention back to the current situation.
"The current situation is one against two. Pingzhou is sending troops to attack Xianbei and Dali at the same time."
"As of now, Pingzhou has a strong army and strong cavalry. Moreover, because they previously conquered the Dali and Xianbei, their food and fodder are much more abundant than those two families."
"Secondly, Dali's treasury is relatively well-stocked with grain due to the implementation of the new tax law."
When this was mentioned, the faces of the people present were not very happy, mainly because they had made a lot of contributions to the national treasury.
But they were all capable people and quickly suppressed their dissatisfaction.
"The Xianbei, because their base was not as strong as the Dali, also experienced the war of currency harvesting in Pingzhou, and they had the least food and fodder."
"Previously, Pingzhou used a divisive tactic, dividing and conquering, to break up the potential alliance between Dali and Xianbei."
"Immediately afterwards, Pingzhou used the strategy of driving away the wolf and devouring the tiger against the Xianbei."
"We also found a reason to launch a full-scale attack on Dali."
"It's obvious that Pingzhou is the leader of this war. The goal is naturally land and population."
"Indeed, Pingzhou is growing stronger and stronger. It currently has a population of over six million and is in great need of territory!"
Everyone present analyzed this point one after another, and there was a moment of silence.
Sang Baiqing couldn't help but sigh, "Pingzhou's chain of events is truly intricate. I wonder who came up with this?"
Wang Yuan was quite familiar with the situation in Pingzhou and replied, "I guess this is a strategy that was devised through collective wisdom. Pingzhou already has three famous military advisors."
Pei Zheng said at this time, "But as far as I know, Pingzhou Governor Lu Songli is very good at planning and is good at general trends and internal affairs."
As soon as these words were spoken, the scene fell silent again. Their current predicament was probably due to their underestimation of Lu Songli.
"It's only been three years since the Pingzhou uprising, right?" Wang Yun said quietly.
These words made many people present sigh with regret. Before, they looked down on the Pingzhou forces based in the northeast, but they did not expect that they would become so powerful so quickly.
Looking back at the major events that have happened in recent years, it’s also their fault for lacking vision.
At that time, the Qin and Lu families in Pingzhou and Xie Zhan in the south rose up in rebellion at the same time.
Their eyes were mostly focused on Xie Zhan.
Compared with Xie Zhan, who came from a noble family, the Qin and Lu families introduced Lu Songli, the female head of the family, as soon as they started the rebellion, which made them not optimistic.
The Xie clan is also a noble family, and their confidence in Xie Zhan is higher than that of Pingzhou.
Logically speaking, their aristocratic family would basically not take the lead in rebellion.
They do not want to be the leader themselves, but prefer to have multiple forces invest, or push out a leader to avoid the highest risks.
After all, it is not easy to be a leader. If you win, you can gain the country, but if you lose, you will lose your entire family.
But investment is different. If the investment fails, at most you will be an accomplice. The mastermind like the leader and his entire family will not be able to escape, but the accomplice may be able to save the family.
The Xie family reached the point of rebellion. Wasn't this forced by the situation?
Who made them act so carelessly? A broken engagement led to Lu Songli and the emperor plotting against the entire family. Years of accumulation were wiped out overnight, at least their apparent wealth and power were wiped out.
It is understandable that he wanted to return to his original class and take the lead in rebellion.
In the fourth year of Tianhe, Pingzhou rebelled, Nandi rebelled, Prince Cheng rebelled, and Prince Jin rebelled.
These aristocratic families were just trying to figure out how to place their bets.
Unexpectedly, facing the encirclement of Dali, Xie Zhan secretly allied with the emperor to deal with the three forces of King Cheng, King Jin and Pingzhou. In the end, he stepped on the shoulders of King Cheng and King Jin and became the commander-in-chief of the army of Dali, leading the Xie family to make a comeback.
The situation changed very quickly that year. In just half a year, three out of the four rebel forces were wiped out, leaving only Pingzhou.
The scheme that the emperor and Xie Zhan had set up together at that time was so shocking and their tactics were so superb.
Those present were even less optimistic about Pingzhou being governed by a woman. They felt that Pingzhou was in a precarious situation and might be suppressed by Dali at any time.
But, I didn’t expect that Pingzhou had been silent all this time, but with this battle, everyone saw its strength, and it became a force to be reckoned with.
Looking at Pingzhou now, they need to take it seriously.
This meeting lasted for more than an hour. It was mainly to exchange information and to find out each other's views on Pingzhou.
Through the communication, the people present did not gain nothing. At least they had a clearer understanding of Pingzhou's strength.
As for the solution to the dilemma, there is definitely no way to negotiate it.
There is also competition among aristocratic families. They will form groups and also guard against each other.
But everyone also reached a consensus that Xie Zhan was definitely guilty.
Whether it is as a token of his allegiance to Pingzhou or to avenge a personal grudge, Xie Zhan must die.
To be honest, Xie Zhan deserved it. The new tax law he had previously implemented not only required the re-measurement of land, but also a population census. It was all aimed at uprooting the aristocratic family!
It would be fine if there was no chance, but now that such a good opportunity is here, the aristocratic family will definitely get him.
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