Jiang Pengji was also afraid that a long delay would bring trouble. After making up her mind, she let Fu Wang and Liyun lead the troops to confiscate the houses and arrest the people.
According to Dongqing's practice, confiscating property and exterminating three clans meant confiscating property.
Confiscating property was easy to understand. It was nothing more than confiscating all property, including land, real estate, gold and silver, slave contracts …
Exterminating three clans referred to the paternal, maternal, and wife clans.
If Dongqing's imperial power was stable, something as big as confiscating property and exterminating a clan needed the permission of the court.
However, Dongqing was now ruled by the emperor. It was good enough that one edict could affect the entire imperial city. Why would Jiang Pengji care about him?
Confiscating property and exterminating a clan was something she could do!
However, she did not go too far.
According to Dongqing's current laws, exterminating a clan was a rule. The offenders and the men in the family would all be executed. The women could be exempted from the death penalty. However, they would be made prostitutes for the officials or sent to the army as camp prostitutes. This outcome was even more horrifying than death. Jiang Pengji would rather give them a quick death. She did not want to use such methods to humiliate a group of weak women.
After thinking about it, Jiang Pengji said, "Get someone to register all these women and demote them to commoners. Send them back to their parents' homes in private."
The atmosphere in Chongzhou was more open. Women would not crazily treat men as their sky, let alone follow the three obediences and four virtues.
Jiang Pengji gave them a way out and did not take their lives. She only sent them back to their parents' homes. This was already a great kindness.
When the limelight was over, they could still get married again.
By doing so, she subtly pacified the women's families so that they could not vent their anger.
The catastrophe in Chongzhou lasted for more than a month. From the top to the bottom, everyone was in danger.
While the gentry in Chongzhou were anxious and fearful, the Cui family, who had long boarded Jiang Pengji's pirate ship, were happy to see their teeth but not their eyes.
The head of the Cui family, Cui Yu, even chatted with his friends in private. He said that this was the most successful business he had ever done.
Although they gave up the land, they reaped even more benefits. The returns were far higher than the costs.
In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the first year of Chengzong. It had been a year since Jiang Pengji took over Chongzhou.
In the past year, she had gone from being looked down upon to being a great demon that everyone feared. She had Chongzhou in her hands.
As for Yang Si, who had been thrown to Hu County by Jiang Pengji, he was even more impressive. He took over the administrative affairs of Hu County perfectly.
Of course, it would be better if he could stop complaining and focus on working overtime.
There were turbulent times outside, and there were dukes fighting during the New Year. Only the territory under Jiang Pengji's rule was peaceful.
Well, maybe it was too peaceful, which made people envious and jealous!
Over the past year, Jiang Pengji had steadily strengthened herself, and the other feudal vassal forces had not been idle either.
As the end of the year approached, a secret letter was delivered to Jiang Pengji. She was so shocked that she slammed the table after reading it.
"Like father like son, Yang Tao has done a good job."
Feng Zhen almost had a heart attack because of Jiang Pengji.
Next time, could he at least give him a heads-up before making a fuss so that he could be mentally prepared?
"Yang Tao? Isn't that the son of the late Dongmen Commandant, Yang Jian? "
Qiguan Rang frowned slightly. Seeing Jiang Pengji's face full of admiration, he thought about the situation outside and had some guesses in his heart.
During the alliance meeting at Huangshui, Qiguan Rang felt that Yang Tao was not an ordinary person. It was not surprising that he had turned into a dragon after meeting water.
Feng Zhen said, "I remember hearing news about Yang Tao a while ago. After Yang Jian died, he turned to the false emperor. However, Yang Tao is not a man without ambition. His father, Yang Jian, had a disagreement with the false emperor. According to the false emperor's temperament, he would not treat Yang Tao kindly … "
Jiang Pengji smiled and said, "A month ago, Yang Tao launched a coup. The false emperor retreated in defeat. Now he has fled to Nansheng."
"A coup?" Even though they had expected it, Qiguan Rang and Feng Zhen were still shocked when they heard the truth.
Zhangzhou was the false emperor's territory. Yang Tao's father, Yang Jian, had offended the false emperor. It was good enough that Yang Tao could keep his life.
They did not expect this fellow to play the pig to eat the tiger without saying a word. He launched a coup right under the false emperor's nose and turned from guest to host?
The false emperor seemed to have magnanimously accepted Yang Tao's defection, but he had been secretly targeting him. He did not even allow Yang Tao to touch military power.
Yang Tao was aware of the situation he was in. He secretly formed an alliance with the court officials who were not loyal to the false emperor. They planned carefully and looked for a good opportunity to strike.
A month ago, the false emperor brought his court officials and children to worship the heavens.
Under Yan Lin's suggestion, Yang Tao claimed to be sick half a month earlier. He secretly quickened his pace.
The sacrificial ceremony was solemn and grand. Elegant music was melodious and sonorous. The false emperor was immersed in his own imagination.
He never expected that Yang Tao, who he thought was completely useless, would show his sharp teeth at this moment.
Under Yan Lin's orderly command, the coup was like a thunderstorm. Everyone was at a loss as to what to do.
Yang Tao's 3,000 men of sacrifice became the decisive force in the coup. Yan Lin forged documents and military orders, mobilized troops from all sides, and controlled the armory and key departments. Before the false emperor, Prince Changshou, could react, they were already surrounded at the place where the sacrificial ceremony was held.
By the time the false emperor wanted to mobilize troops to defend himself, it was already too late.
A figure flashed across Qiguan Rang's mind. He said, "It's obvious that this was a premeditated coup. The person who set it up was shrewd and ruthless. He was very good at playing with people's hearts. He was obviously at a disadvantage, but he was able to take advantage of every opportunity to attack the false emperor again and again. He made it impossible for the false emperor to calm down. Yang Tao was brave, but he lacked strategy. Even though he had grown a little after Yang Jian's death, he was still far from being as shrewd as the false emperor. In my opinion, all of this must have been done by an expert. I can't think of anyone else other than Yan Lin. "
Qiguan Rang's eyes flashed with coldness as he thought about this.
He knew that Yan Lin was not a simple man, but he didn't expect him to be so capable.
He had helped Yang Tao turn the tables from a disadvantageous position to an advantage. Now, he could control the entire Zhangzhou effortlessly.
What a pity. If he had known earlier, he wouldn't have let Yan Lin live.
Jiang Pengji said calmly, "I also think that he was the one behind all of this. I have to say that he is indeed a meticulous and shrewd person. But … he was able to help Yang Tao turn the tables. It was 50% strength and 50% luck. If it weren't for the fact that the Meng's in Cangzhou realized that they couldn't help the false emperor and withdrew their troops back to Cangzhou, Yan Lin wouldn't have been able to do this alone. Hmph, this is fate. "
Qiguan Rang said, "I'm afraid he will be a formidable opponent."
"What are you afraid of?" Jiang Pengji said, "One person's energy is limited."
No matter how capable Yan Lin was, he wasn't a god.
Jiang Pengji stayed in the north, but the forces in the south of Dongqing were constantly changing.
Yang Tao turned the tables and took over Zhangzhou. Huang Song, who was in Haozhou, didn't want to be outdone either. He took over the entire Haozhou.
The Xu brothers in Zhe County fought amongst themselves for a while. It was hard to tell who would win. In the end, they all set their sights on their old neighbor, Hu County.
The chief of Hu County was Wuma Shang, an old friend from the Huangshui Meeting.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
