In mid-May, twelve censors were imprisoned, the heads of more than twenty gentry families in Jizhou were arrested, and Cui Yan, a famous scholar from Qinghe, was implicated and imprisoned.
In the second half of the year, after interrogation, more than fifty people were arrested. There were gentry officials in Yingchuan, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, and Xuzhou who were implicated, and several celebrities were also arrested.
The Jin Yiwei kept making moves overtly and covertly, biting the scholars and showing no intention of letting go.
Xun Yu, Liu Yu and others could not sit still. If the situation continued to escalate, even if the lord had no intention to kill, the butcher's knife would have to fall.
The wider the scope of the influence, the greater the antagonistic emotions, and the smaller the possibility of concession. In the end, the heads of scholars must be used to calm the lord's anger and maintain the majesty of the king.
This is called a shameful knife that is hard to sheath.
That is the ending that no one wants to see.
Of course, this is what they think. Liu Xiang does not think so. He has always believed that the vested interest groups of the Han Dynasty are too huge, and the people can no longer afford the exploitation of their descendants generation after generation.
Therefore, killing several groups of aristocratic families is one of the necessary conditions to usher in a peaceful and prosperous age.
All the actions of Jinyiwei were approved by him. He only arrested more than fifty people and about a hundred people, which was far from enough.
To put it bluntly, he was just looking for excuses to weaken the power of the gentry group. Now that the general trend has taken place, it is time for the purge. Anyway, there is no shortage of officials now. He does not want to be like the Sima family in the Western Jin Dynasty, being tied up by the ruling family.
As long as the army is not in chaos and the people at the bottom are not panicked, he is not afraid of anyone.
Xun Yu, Liu Yu and other central officials requested to see him many times. Ju Shou, Bian Rang and other feudal officials came to the court many times, and even Cao Cao submitted a petition to plead for mercy.
In response to them, there was an earthquake in Jingzhao in June, Liu Yu was deposed, and more than 300 gentry children were arrested.
"If Wen wants to focus on disaster relief, every county in Jingzhao has suffered losses, and there are many victims in Chang'an. The people in Guizhou are crying for food. This is a big deal." When Liu Xiang met Xun Yu in the Beigong, he paused for a moment.
He expressed his dissatisfaction.
Xun Yu kept complaining, "The people who suffered from the disaster are not as many as the scholars you have captured. What's the big deal if you demolish a few huts in the summer?" It is necessary to look like a disaster is coming.
Do the central government officials also have to go to disaster relief?
There were two earthquakes in Jingzhao. In fact, the damage was not serious. The people had already settled down. After all, they had saved the country from disasters for a year last year, and all the county officials were familiar with the situation.
Why is there any need for him, the official Cao Shangshu, to supervise?
He sighed: "My lord wanted fields, and they gave in; my lord wanted to open up wasteland, and they went; my lord wanted to open up trade routes, and they obeyed. Isn't that respectful enough?"
"not enough."
The nobles under Liu Xiang's rule were actually quite honest, because they were afraid of being killed, but the fault was that there were too many people in existence. New nobles and poor families were rising, but the old nobles were still active, and they did not dare to face them head-on.
The confrontation and small actions in private never stopped.
There are always people who are not willing to accept the loss of power and interests.
He can understand these people, but he doesn't want to tolerate them.
Xun Yu pondered for a moment. He asked to see him several times, but he didn't find any anger in his lord. It was obvious that he was using the topic to cleanse the family power under his rule.
"Lord, if too many people are affected, it will cause turmoil."
Liu Xiang asked with a smile but not a smile: "Who is turbulent?"
hehe.
Who dares to stir up trouble?
So what if there is turmoil?
My base is not from an aristocratic family!
Xun Yu knew that he could not be persuaded anymore, so he sighed again, bowed and left.
When I returned home, I was always depressed. I lit a stove of incense, but it was difficult to calm my mind.
It is just around the corner to put an end to the troubled times and stabilize the world. He also supports his lord's pioneering and enterprising spirit. The great man must lead all nations, but his lord's purge of the family makes him very worried.
He is not too worried about the resumption of troubled times. Jinyiwei has been arresting scholars for more than a month, and there is no chaos in the army and the local area. This matter will not affect the overall situation.
It's just a bit sad that the rabbit died and the fox died. After all, he is also a son of aristocratic family.
"Wen Ruo, you went to the palace this time but came back without success?" Xun Yan came over with his younger brother Xun Chen and his clan nephew Xun You.
"I've met my brother."
"I met my uncle."
Xun Chen and Xun You went to worship.
Xun Yu stood up and bowed to his elder brother before returning the bow. The four Xun family members sat down to talk.
"Wen Ruo, do you really want to use Tian Yuanhao's excuse to destroy the scholars?" Xun Yan asked again.
Xun Yu nodded.
"Are we going to reintroduce party imprisonment?" Xun Yan frowned deeply. The two disasters of party imprisonment during the Ling Emperor's period had a huge impact on the scholars and made him very worried.
Xun Yu denied his speculation: "It's not because of the party's imprisonment. My lord has no anger, but he has a murderous intention. He is not a weak person like Emperor Xiaoling."
This answer is worse than Party imprisonment!
The four of them were silent, each with their brows furrowed, thinking about how to deal with it. As the top Han family, they naturally didn't like the purge of the nobles happening. Even if it didn't affect their family, they would still be worried.
Xun Yan broke the silence and sighed: "The nobles and the clan are one..."
"Brother, be careful, this is the source of trouble." Xun Chen quickly interrupted his brother. At this time, you can't talk about the unity of the nobles and the clan. Are you forcing the lord to go on a killing spree? Instead of picking the fight to kill, you should pull him out together.
kill?
"I made a mistake." Xun Yan nodded. He also reacted. He sighed and turned to ask Xun You: "Does Gongda have any good ideas?"
"Encourage advancement, ascend the throne, and grant amnesty to the world."
Xun Yu smiled. This was indeed a way to break the situation. No emperor was willing to kill many people when he ascended the throne.
"I'm going to see Duke Bo'an to discuss this matter. Brother, Youruo, Gongda, you should also write letters to each family and jointly urge them to come forward. I want thousands of people to request orders and persuade the lord to ascend the throne. I don't believe that the lord can be so ruthless as to control the slaves.
Kill the Dragon Minister!"
He was really happy to find a solution, and he didn't care that his master would be afraid of it.
Purging the gentry was not in line with his philosophy, so he had to stop it.
Not to mention Xun Yu's visit to Liu Yu's house, the Xun family's messengers were also running around to communicate with each other.
Liu Xiang was holding Miss Zhaoji and smiling happily.
"We haven't seen each other for two years. Zhao Ji is hiding in the bookstore. Don't you even miss me?"
"Husband, please don't blame me. I was afraid that my father would be too tired from studying, so I wanted to stay in the bookstore to help him."
Liu Xiang curled his lips, I believe you, shook his head and complained: "That's not what my uncle said in the letter. Zhaoji forgot about me when she got the book. She is so sad for her husband."
Cai Yan smiled meaningfully and said: "I am already old and young, and my husband has taken several wives. I am afraid he has forgotten me long ago."
"So Zhao Ji is jealous?"
"I don't dare to do that. My husband will become the supreme king and be surrounded by beauties in the harem. I'll be thankful that I can give you a place to stay."
Cai Yan's complaint was not sincere at all. In these years, he had devoted himself to proofreading books, and the Secretary Cheng had done a good job. I am afraid that he had long since given up his desire to compete for the favor of his wife.
Maybe this is called being strong without desire?
Liu Xiang couldn't help but spank her: "What's old? I call myself Laoshen when I'm so young. Do I have to call myself Laofu?"
He is only twenty-five this year, and he does not want to call himself an old man like an old man. Miss Zhaoji is only thirty-two, and she is still far from an old woman.
This time she came to Chang'an from the bookstore and was dragged here by her father Cai Yong.
Liu Xiang knew that they were looking for the old man's disciple Zhong Yao. Cai Yan had also given him some academic advice when he was in Luoyang.
Zhong Yao was serving prison time in Chang'an at this time, and Cai Yong was worried that his head would not be saved.