"Your Majesty, what does this matter of killing officials and soldiers have to do with us?" A middle-aged celebrity did not pick up the bamboo slips, but looked at Chu Nan and asked loudly.
Chu Nan's crime for arresting them was to intercept and kill officials sent by the imperial court, but at least this matter had nothing to do with them on the surface at least!
"Yes, sir, do you have any evidence!?" Another person also shouted: "You are also a Han official after all, how can you frame us for no reason!?"
"Evidence?" Chu Nan smiled, shook his head and looked at him. The smile on his face gradually became colder, like a villain who was about to harm others: "Do you need it?"
"You..." The two of them were choked by Chu Nan's rhetorical question, and their chests felt tight and they were speechless!
As local prominent families, these people and their families are like local emperors in Shangcai.
In the past, even if the imperial court sent people to investigate, the so-called strong dragon cannot suppress the local snake. In the past, it was the imperial envoys and officials who came here. As long as they wanted to do things, they had to be polite to them. Treat them like this
He was the first one to play rough.
As for the reason why everyone is polite to them, it is simple. Most of the means of production in Shangcai and even the surrounding cities, including farmland, commerce, etc., are in the hands of a few families. Occasionally, changes are also transferred between these families.
They rarely leave the country, and in order to maintain these assets and their status in the local area, in addition to maintaining family homes and nursing homes, they also support many bandits around them.
As long as these families join forces, they can almost cover the sky with one hand.
Officials at all levels, no matter where they come from, have to rely on them to get things done when they get here. Whether it is the county magistrate or the postal supervisor who supervises the county magistrate, they are basically their people. Normally, if someone comes from above,
It's best if you can satisfy them. If you can't satisfy them, it won't happen once or twice that you directly kill an official like this one.
From top to bottom, a network is formed that is so dense that no water can penetrate it. If things are done according to the rules of the Han Dynasty, no one can shake such a powerful force in this place.
But now, Chu Nan came, and he didn't follow the previous routine. He first used his superior force to directly tear through their protection, and then he ran to arrest them with lightning speed, and they didn't even have a chance to resist.
, even without any preparation, they were taken down, which made it impossible for them to use their means and rights.
And if Chu Nan talks about truth and evidence, they can deal with it easily, but now Chu Nan doesn't talk about it at all and just does whatever he wants. If I say you are guilty, you are guilty. This is very uncomfortable.
Fight? Now that your life is in someone else's hands, how can you fight?
Moreover, it was Chu Nan who came this time. Not to mention that Wei Yan, Cao Xing, and Wei Yue, who were under Chu Nan's command to clear up rebellions in various places, were all battle-hardened generals. The armed forces they organized were no match for them even if they were assembled.
, even if it was an assassination attempt with a sword, there were monsters around Chu Nan and Zhou Cang protected him, so he couldn't get close at all.
Of course, the most important thing is that Chu Nan moved too fast and they had no chance to prepare.
You can't play with Yin people, and you can't play with Wen people. If they don't tell you the rules, what can you do?
For the first time, these powerful Cai people experienced the plight of those ants in their eyes in the past, but now they are just like ants to Chu Nan.
"Go and write. After today, it's up to you to decide which one can stay!" Chu Nan waved his hand and motioned for everyone to take these 'big shots' to different rooms. It doesn't matter how much they can write.
.
Anyway, all Chu Nan wanted was a reason to take action. This was also a helpless move. Zhou Cang, an idiot, had only mediocre ability in leading troops, but he specialized in picking tough fights. In the end, he had to wipe his ass himself.
"My lord, General Song wants to see you!" Chu Nan was resting and waiting for the result, but he saw Pei Yuanshao walking in quickly, bowing to Chu Nan and saying, after Chu Nan was strengthened last time, like Zhou Cang, he now came to Chu Nan's side. Because Zhou Cang's performance was too poor this time, Chu Nan decided to bring his former little brother back to help him, lest he leave again and Zhou Cang, a fool, would destroy his soldiers.
"Well, please come quickly." Chu Nan nodded, and Song Xian came over. Maybe Lu Bu had something to do.
"Lord, didn't we always kill directly before? Why is it so unnecessary this time?" Zhou Cang approached Chu Nan and asked.
After he came out with Wei Yan, he gradually understood what Chu Nan's strategy was.
As long as there is a rebellion, it may sound a little strange to kill the local big clan first, but the effect is quite significant. Once this big clan is killed, the rebellion will be reduced a lot, and it will even die out.
Along the way, three families were wiped out by Zhou Cang. In an ordinary small town, there was usually only one big family. He had never encountered a situation like Shangcai where several big families were intertwined.
"Why?" Chu Nan glanced at him and said, "You have divided your troops along the way. How many people are there now?"
Chu Nan kept 5,000 men and horses for himself, and all the other troops were divided. The average number of men and horses is about 6,000. People like Wei Yan are old people in the world. They are unambiguous in making moves and know how to concentrate first. The strength of the troops is tied to the leader, and then the place is slowly managed. Therefore, every time you enter a city, you will leave immediately after handling the matter, and not a single soldier will be left behind. This is to ensure sufficient deterrence and the ability to suppress rebellion.
However, Zhoucang had to leave some troops to defend every time he moved to a place. As a result, he attacked Shangcai and was almost killed due to lack of manpower. Shangcai is a large county with a population of 180,000. Xiliang In many places, a county may not have so many people, and these families control a lot of people. The bandits and guards combined are more than five times the number of people Zhou Cang has now.
If Chu Nan hadn't come back in time and commanded the army to break the alliance between the nobles and the bandit rebellion, even if Zhou Cang could win this time, it would definitely be a miserable victory. After all, he only had two of the Nine Secrets of the Royal Army, and they were all It's a level where he's just starting out. He has to lead the troops to fight and kill the enemy by himself and then rush forward.
With this style of play, the losses along the way are naturally a bit serious. Chu Nan is now afraid of stirring up rebellion again and causing unwarranted casualties to his soldiers, so he came up with this method. Shang Cai's powerful force can only be devoured step by step, at least They cannot be wiped out all at once, lest they join forces to resist again.
Although many members of these big clans have been arrested, some of them still control the family's armed forces outside. This is also the reason why they dare to fight against Chu Nan. But Chu Nan didn't want to fight these people head-on, so he came up with this idea. Come on, it doesn't matter what they wrote, don't they want evidence? First use these evidences to destroy two families, and after the settlement is completed, use the remaining evidence to destroy other families.
"Including those who stayed in the three cities before, there are still more than 5,000 people!" Zhou Cang said.
"Of the four people, you were the only one who thought of dividing the troops, and you were the only one who lost nearly a thousand people!" When Chu Nan said this, he kicked him and said, "There are less than four thousand people around now. If we really fight head-on, we can win, but my soldiers are almost defeated by you! With this little wealth, if I don’t use some strategies, am I going to have to wait for you to defeat all my soldiers and horses!? "
Speaking of this, Chu Nan became more and more resentful. I don't know what Zhou Cang was thinking this time. He didn't have many troops at first, but he still thought about dividing his troops. What's there to defend in those small towns? When the Runan nobles were wiped out by them
That's almost it. Even if some people in these small towns take the opportunity to cause chaos, what kind of trouble can you make when you see it?
Although he became a general, he still had a small-minded mentality. In the past, he had the mentality of a small farmer, and he had to take everything he captured to feel at ease. However, he didn't realize that this had no meaning other than spreading his own strength and making the territory look bigger.
But having said that, the gentry in Ruyang and Shangcai are really powerful. Fortunately, most of the Yuan family moved to Jizhou with the demise of Yuan Shu. Otherwise, with Zhou Cang's strategy of squeezing goods, his own troops would be damaged.
I'm afraid it's bigger.
Zhou Cang was kicked twice by Chu Nan. Knowing that he was in the wrong, Zhou Cang smiled and did not dare to quarrel with Chu Nan like before. He stood obediently beside Chu Nan without saying a word, waiting for the savior to arrive.
After a while, his savior arrived, Pei Yuanshao came in with Song Xian.
"General Song, there are a lot of things to do here. I am unable to come out to greet you. I hope you will forgive me, General!" Seeing Song Xian, Chu Nan stood up and said with a smile.
"It doesn't matter." Song Xian shook his head quickly. Now he didn't dare to look down upon Chu Nan in the slightest. He looked around and looked at Chu Nan with some confusion: "Zi Yan is..."
"Something went wrong among my men. I'll handle it personally." Chu Nan sighed and said, "General, I'm here, but what are your orders from my father-in-law?"
"Cao Cao sent Zhong Yao as an envoy to discuss the alliance. My lord felt something was wrong, so he stabilized Zhong Yao first and asked the general to come and question Zi Yan." Song Xian explained the matter briefly.
"Zhong Yao? Form an alliance?" Chu Nan looked at Song Xian, a little confused. Isn't Zhong Yao trapped in Heilv Stream? And what do you think of forming an alliance at this time?
"Zhong Yao somehow escaped secretly, but this time Cao Cao did not send reinforcements. Instead, he asked Zhong Yao to come back and want to form an alliance with our army." When Song Xian said this, he looked at Chu Nan and said:
"This matter seems to be quite similar to the story Zi Yan told the Lord. Cao Cao clearly wanted to use this trick to paralyze the Lord and divide our army."
Chu Nan breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that if Lu Bu agreed immediately, things would be difficult to change.
"Although my lord has seen through the plan, he doesn't know what to do next, so he sent the commander to ask Zi Yan, if nothing happens, how about you come back with me?" Song Xian looked at Chu Nanxi and asked.
"It will take a few days to deal with it here, but this matter is not urgent. How about peace talks? First talk to them to delay the time. Tell my father-in-law to negotiate terms with Zhong Yao. The rest is easy to talk about. The emperor must wait for me to return to Xuzhou. First
Use this to delay for a while, and after I capture all of Runan, we can gather our troops and take Xuchang directly!" Chu Nan said with a smile.
"If Cao Cao agrees, will we really want to go back?" Song Xian frowned.
"Don't worry, he won't agree!" Chu Nan shook his head. If Cao Cao even called out this, then he really wouldn't be a threat.