Bai Yutian called Yuncheng and briefly explained the situation. Yuncheng did not immediately propose a corresponding solution, but decided to investigate these noble families first.
Know yourself and the enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger.
Two days later, Yuncheng came to see Bai Yutian again.
When Bai Yutian heard that Yuncheng was coming, he immediately ignored etiquette and went out to greet him.
He had been very worried these past two days. The imperial court's food had already been transported, and the plan could not keep up with the changes. When they actually started transporting it, they discovered that the food was only enough for the 100,000-strong Jiangbei army for about seven days.
Therefore, Bai Yutian must seize every minute and every second.
"Your Majesty, I have already figured out a way."
Seeing Yun Cheng's confident smile, Bai Yutian immediately relaxed and became less nervous.
"Tell me about it!"
Yuncheng and Bai Yutian walked into the imperial study together, like a pair of close friends.
Although Bai Yutian is the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, he never puts on any airs in front of these true confidants.
Even when no outsiders are present, they will joke with each other and eat and drink together like friends.
"Your Majesty, I think these aristocratic families should be attacked from within and allowed to disintegrate on their own."
"oh!"
Bai Yutian showed a curious expression and looked at Yuncheng, waiting for Yuncheng's next words.
Yuncheng did not sell out, and then said: "Except for the two states in Jiangbei, the places where the Zhou Dynasty buys grain are mainly concentrated in these two states. The prefects of these two states have inherited the inheritance for two to three hundred years, and they have already identified with the Zhou royal family.
It is very small, and at the same time the local power is complex, with many emerging aristocratic families and nobles."
This is the information obtained by Yuncheng's investigation. On the surface, the governors of these two states are quite obedient, but secretly they often do some robberies and robberies, and are not even very loyal to the Zhou royal family.
In Bai Yutian's plan, these people must be eradicated in the future, otherwise they will sooner or later become a hidden danger to Zhou's rule.
However, Bai Yutian still needs them at this time.
These two states are Jingzhou and Jinzhou respectively. They were less affected by natural disasters. After the natural disasters were overcome, the lives of the local people barely improved.
The aristocratic families supported by Jingzhou and Jinzhou are mainly the Chang family, the Tang family, the Pang family and the Duanmu family.
Although it is not recognized by the Zhou Dynasty, and it is not as good as the Gu family, Lin family, etc., it is still a big family in the local area.
Of course, their weight is still a bit lower than that of the Zhang family and the Zheng family.
However, the Zhou Dynasty court currently has nothing to do with these companies.
"Your Majesty, the aristocratic families in these four states are indeed dominated by the Chang family, the Tang family, the Pang family and the Duanmu family. However, now the Duanmu family is gradually declining and is likely to be replaced."
"So, we can win over the Duanmu family, and then suppress the other three major families and cause them to have internal conflicts. In this way, they will inevitably destroy themselves."
This matter is simple to say, but not so easy to implement. First of all, you must figure out what everyone is thinking.
As luck would have it, Yuncheng was very familiar with and professional about this matter.
It is most appropriate for him to complete this matter.
Bai Yutian nodded appreciatively. As expected of Yuncheng, he was able to help him come up with a solution every time.
At this moment, Zhao Chuxue walked in, holding a secret letter in her hand. This was information obtained by Long Wei outside.
Bai Yutian was so excited that he opened the envelope directly in front of Yuncheng without hiding anything.
However, when Bai Yutian saw the contents on the envelope, he was furious, and anger instantly surged on his face.
Zhao Chuxue and Yuncheng were confused and looked at Bai Yutian, wondering what was written in the secret letter.
This confidential letter was sent to Tailin in a hurry, and even Zhao Chuxue did not check the contents at all.
Soon, they found out what was actually written in the secret letter.
Bai Yutian handed the secret letter to Zhao Chuxue for both of them to read.
After reading it, the two of them were also stunned, showing expressions of astonishment.
These four aristocratic families actually began to cultivate private armies, just like Gu Taizhong did back then.
Moreover, according to the information obtained by Long Wei, this private army has probably been cultivated a long time ago, and is even quite large in scale. They are scattered and hidden in towns near major cities.
On the surface, people in these towns and prefectural cities come and go, but in fact they are all private armies, ready to go to the battlefield at any time.
According to preliminary speculation, each family's private army should be around five thousand.
Although the number is not large, the total number is about 20,000. Together with the garrison guards from various prefectures and cities, it can form an army of 70,000 to 80,000.
If these armies directly attack Tailin City, it will be a devastating blow to Tailin City.
The reason why Bai Yutian can tolerate the existence of aristocratic families is because although they have a lot of power and are very rich, they have no military power.
The two families with the most military power are undoubtedly the Zhang family and the Zheng family in Jiangbei Province. The two families together have 50,000 troops. However, this is with the tacit approval of the imperial court, which is different from the aristocratic families in these places.
However, now that they have a private army, the nature is completely different.
Bai Yutian clenched his fists, and the knuckles of his fingers began to turn white. The anger in his heart had risen and could not be calmed down at all.
At this time, Bai Yutian has already thought about how to send troops to attack these four aristocratic families, so that they can remember it well.
"Your Majesty, calm down!" Yuncheng reacted quickly and bowed deeply to Bai Yutian.
Bai Yutian glanced at Ye Yuncheng, "What does Aiqing have to say?"
"Although the four major families have cultivated private armies, now is not the time to raise troops to eliminate them. After the chaos in the academy, the strength of the city guard battalion has been greatly reduced, and the duty of the city guard battalion is to protect the safety of Tailin City and cannot be easily mobilized."
Yuncheng knew what Bai Yutian wanted to do from Bai Yutian's expression, so he quickly dissuaded him, not wanting Bai Yutian to do such a thing.
Not to mention that they no longer have any available troops, just say that annihilating these four major families may be possible, but it will also seriously damage the vitality of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The real enemies of the Great Zhou Dynasty were still Dashun and Dachuan.
"These four aristocratic families now have private armies, which is like sticking a knife in front of Tailin City. How can I feel at ease?"
Bai Yutian shook his head and sighed. One trouble after another made Bai Yutian a little upset.
"Your Majesty, please be patient. Although this private army is the trump card of the four major families, it can also become a tool to kill them."
"Before, I was still thinking about how to weaken their strength. Now that we have a private army, we can just use it."
If the four major aristocratic families only have internal conflicts, the most they can do is verbally criticize them, which will not cause any substantial harm.
But it would be different if there was a military conflict, which would most likely lead to the demise of the family.