Bai Yan smiled: "Then let's go there."
...
Meng Huaiyi led seven or eight hundred bandits from the mountain to capture Lord Guan's entire family that night. After confiscating their property, they seized two thousand acres of fertile land and hundreds of thousands of taels of gold and silver jewelry.
That very night, the seven or eight hundred bandits from Qinglong Mountain settled on the fields belonging to Lord Guan. Bai Yan recruited the better-qualified ones into the army, promising them more military land for future meritorious service.
That night, torches soared into the sky, and the princess, who was in charge of all affairs in Jiangnan Province, held an imperial edict in her hands: "My father has given me an imperial edict, sending me to Jiangnan to investigate the disaster relief funds that were embezzled a year ago when the Crown Prince was handling the disaster relief case. Now that I have found out that there is corruption and malfeasance in the area, I, the princess, will confiscate their property and land, and distribute all of it to the people."
She smiled slightly: "Through my private investigations, I have found countless corrupt officials and powerful families in Jiangnan. Any commoners who report such cases will be richly rewarded."
"All the land and property confiscated from the homes of the people shall be distributed to the people of Jiangnan under my jurisdiction."
Did you hear that? It's the people of Jiangnan under the princess's rule.
Those who are willing to obey the princess's orders are her people, and they have land to cultivate and food to eat.
The common people didn't care which official they listened to. To them, whoever gave them land and food was their master. They also believed what the princess said: if they listened to her, they would be given land.
The princess even gave land to the bandits who came up the mountain, let alone these obedient commoners!
In just a few days, most of the people on Qinglong Mountain who had been forced to become outlaws returned to their homes, while the local people of Jiangnan started pressing the report button one by one...
Reports are being filed against officials throughout Jiangnan for corruption and bribery, and for whose land was acquired through illegitimate means. Everyone is sharpening their knives, eager to divide up the land.
As for who "violates the law," that's entirely up to the princess.
The officials in Jiangnan lost the initiative from the very beginning; the princess's decisive move drained them of their resources.
Seeing that Lord Guan was to be executed for embezzlement and corruption, the men, their heads trembling with fear, gathered together to discuss what to do.
"This is insane! To kill high-ranking officials of the imperial court? Isn't this a rebellion by the princess?!"
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