The gentry had no ability to resist in the face of imperial power.
Let’s give two examples.
In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, Wang Jixian, an imperial doctor, was favored by Zhao Gou for his superb medical skills, so he went crazy to occupy various counties in Hangzhou.
The gentry whose land was occupied did not dare to let go of anything.
However, there were too many favorites in Hangzhou to enclose land, and Wang Jixian could only pick up what others left. He felt that he was at a huge disadvantage, so he sent people to further prefectures and counties to enclose land, even as far as Xuancheng and Wuhu.
He also used the emperor's name and forcibly purchased the land belonging to Wang Anshi's descendants at low prices in the name of buying a "royal village".
Those gentry families who were occupied took the opportunity to complain. They did not emphasize that their homes had been occupied. They only said that Wang Anshi's descendants had their land occupied, which quickly aroused public opinion in the government and the opposition.
Finally, the imperial doctor was dealt with by the emperor.
Well, my official position was demoted...
It is not clear whether the imperial doctor wanted to occupy the land or the emperor behind it wanted to occupy the land.
Let’s talk about Zhou Linzhi at the end of Zhao Gou’s reign. His family used to be relatively poor. When his father died, he had to borrow someone else’s cemetery for burial.
When this guy becomes a high official, he will occupy more than twenty miles around his father's grave!
Even the benefactor Shao, who borrowed the land to bury his father, had his family cemetery and farmland seized by Zhou Linzhi.
Immediately afterwards, Zhou Linzhi targeted the Qiang family from his hometown. He forced the Qiang family to borrow money from him at high interest rates, and lent banknotes that had depreciated wildly, but asked others to pay him back in copper coins. He took the opportunity to occupy more than 400 acres of the other party's land, and finally took over his own land.
Connected together.
The above two examples both rely on imperial power to fake the power of the tiger.
Civil officials are like this, and military generals are also ruthless.
Wu Jie, the world-famous anti-gold general, was run by four people from three generations to Xingzhou (Lueyang). Except for military garrisons, almost all the rest of the local land was occupied by the Wu family and his generals, and even many military garrisons were occupied.
The Wu family embezzled.
As long as they have soldiers in their hands, who among the local gentry would dare to resist?
The Southern Song Dynasty court had lost control of Xingzhou, and it was impossible to change generals. It was useless to divide Sichuan's military power into four parts, and it even reached the point where the Wu family's children had to be sent to Beijing as hostages.
In the end, he failed to prevent it, but instead aroused the hostages' thoughts of rebellion.
The hostage (the grandson of Wu Jie) returned to Xingzhou and suddenly rebelled while Han Yuzhou was engaged in the Northern Expedition. He also asked the Jin State to confer him the title of King of Shu, intending to dedicate the entire Hanzhong to the Jin State!
These civil and military officials could only bully ordinary gentry families, and they would fall apart if they provoked Wang Anshi's descendants.
The real imperial power, especially the imperial power holding the handle of a sword, will be invincible as long as it dares to be ruthless.
The subtlety of Wei Liangchen's work lies in his ability to grasp the right balance.
First, if you hold the knife handle and dare to kill people, you must at least act like you dare to kill people, so as to force Jiangxi's wealthy people to obey their orders.
Second, the butcher's knife is always hanging above the head and is about to fall. This is the most shocking moment. If the knife really falls, it will not be beautiful. Maybe the blood will flow into the river and it will be relieved, but the whole Jiangxi will become chaotic.
It even affected the imperial court and local provinces.
Next in the Zeng family, Wei Liangchen personally sat in charge and watched the officials and scholars measure the Zeng family's property.
If we look at the number of Jinshi, Zeng Bu's Zeng family is the largest official family in Jiangxi!
The Wang family, the Chen family, the Hu family, the Hong family, the Yan family, the Huang family, the Xiao family, the Liu family, and the Ouyang family all had to stand aside when they encountered the Zeng family.
Wei Liangchen did not dare to be careless and stayed directly in the guest room of the Zeng family, playing chess and fishing with the Zeng clan chief and clan elders all day long.
…
Fengcheng County, Mozhuang (near Zhangshu Town).
A passenger ship went north along the Ganjiang River, with hundreds of people behind it watching the ship go further and further away.
A brave man wants to go to Beijing to remonstrate with the emperor!
This man's name is Liu Yannian, nephew of the great scholar Liu Chang.
Who is Liu Chang?
With Ouyang Xiu's talent and knowledge, he always went to Liu Chang for advice when he encountered problems he didn't understand.
Liu Chang even complained: "This Ou Jiu (Ouyang Xiu) doesn't study all day long, so he always comes to ask me."
At that time, the Sichuan scholar Long Changqi (Wen Yanbo's teacher), who was born in Ye Luzi, was over eighty years old and was ordered to go to Beijing to present his life's work.
As a result, Liu Chang was ridiculed and forced to leave the capital. He was also forced to resign from his official position and return the gifts given by the emperor.
Just because Long Changqi questioned Duke Zhou in his writings...
Liu Chang was not satisfied with this, and went to Shu to request that Long Changqi's learning be banned.
Long Changqi's lifelong research results, including dozens of various works, involving hundreds of scholars, were all destroyed by the imperial court.
It will make Long Changqi angry to death!
"Ms. sir, we have arrived at Hukou." the servant reminded.
Liu Yannian landed ashore with a bamboo stick and stayed at the county inn. After a few days, he changed boats and took the Yangtze River.
After two days of sailing, the boat unexpectedly stopped.
Liu Yannian asked about the situation, and his servant came back after asking for information: "There is ice floating on the river, and the government is sending people to break the ice and clear it."
Liu Yannian sighed with emotion: "The unjustified expansion of land to split up a large family, and the promotion of "Xunzi" into the scriptures. All these things have been sent to heaven. The vision is a warning to the world, the Yangtze River is frozen, I should die to remonstrate with your majesty!"
Liu is the most proficient in "Spring and Autumn" and firmly believes in the theory of heaven and man's induction.
Stop and go, toss and turn again and again.
After turning from the Yangtze River to the canal, we still have to travel a while, but the canal is frozen and no navigation is possible.
Liu Yannian could only stay in Huainan and wait for the ice and snow to melt in spring.
When the Ming Dynasty was founded, Liu Yannian was an official in Guangxi.
When the small southeastern court fell, Liu Yannian was ill for half a year.
After recovering from his illness, he asked someone to seek an official position. After all, he was a Jinshi and had political experience. As long as he did not make serious mistakes, the Ming Dynasty would be willing to accept such an official.
But at that time, there were so many people seeking official positions that the Hanlin Academy's idle positions were full.
Liu Yannian waited hard for two months in Kaifeng, and finally found a vacancy - the county chief registrar.
This official position was a living insult to Liu Yannian.
My father and two uncles are both senior executives of this listed company, and I myself have reached the middle level. The company was acquired, the management was re-appointed, and the new chairman actually asked me to work as a subsidiary of a subsidiary.
A junior leader of a subsidiary company?
I won’t serve you anymore!
Liu Yannian returned to his hometown, studied hard behind closed doors, and studied knowledge. His reputation became even greater than when he was an official.
In the blink of an eye, it has been the "Three Years of Restoration of China". Liu Yannian did not go directly to Beijing, but first went to visit Huainan Youbuzheng Liu Kai.
"My nephew meets my uncle!" Liu Yannian bowed respectfully.
He is a few years younger than Liu Kai, but he is one generation behind him.
Liu Kai, Liu Ziyu and his son were highly appreciated and promoted by Ju Ming. They were direct descendants of the cabinet minister Fang Mengqing.
However, Liu Kai's grandfather had already moved from Jiangxi to Fujian and only returned to his ancestral home regularly to compile family trees.
In every generation of the Liu family, there are people who have moved to other places.
Even the Liu family in Qingjiang, where Liu Yannian lived, moved from elsewhere in the early Song Dynasty.
They are not really a rich family with profound background, at least they are nothing in Qingjiang area.
Liu Yannian went to Beijing to remonstrate with the emperor, but was treated as a gunman!
The uncle and nephew chatted for a while and talked about many recent events.
When the conversation was almost over, Liu Yannian said: "Uncle, do you know that the imperial court is checking the acres of land in Jiangxi? Once the land is settled, it will be divided into acres and the large families will be divided and moved. My nephew came to Beijing this time to advise His Majesty.
"
Liu Kai couldn't understand Liu Yannian's brain circuit, and said: "If the sky falls, a tall man will hold it up. There are many clans in Jiangxi that don't speak, and the Liu clan in Qingjiang doesn't have many clansmen and properties. Why are you rushing to the capital?"
"
To be continued...