200: Chapter 200 The bloody night in Jiangnan

However, beneath this affluent land that appeared gentle and compliant, filled with the atmosphere of poetry, books, and etiquette, lay hidden the most stubborn and deeply rooted undercurrents of the entire newborn Wu Dynasty.

The clan forces here were intertwined like the roots of countless ancient trees, having long since grown tightly together with every inch of flesh and blood of this land, making them inseparable.

Those noble families with a Legacy spanning hundreds, or even thousands of years, had almost completely controlled over eighty percent of the land and wealth in the Jiangnan region through generations of marriage, annexation, and management.

Using so-called "poetry, books, and etiquette" as a facade and "clan laws" as the core, they had constructed an invisible yet indestructible giant net, firmly holding the entire politics, economy, and culture of Jiangnan in their own hands.

They were the true masters of this land.

If the imperial court's decrees did not receive their approval here, they were no better than waste paper.

Therefore, this place had also become the area where Martial God Gao Feng encountered the greatest resistance while implementing the New Policy nationwide.

When Gao Feng's Dragon carriage, symbolizing supreme imperial power, slowly arrived at Wu Commandery, the political and economic center of Jiangnan, those Jiangnan gentry who had long since received the news displayed an attitude completely different from the local tyrants and corrupt gentry in the north, who had been frightened out of their wits by the Martial Suppression Bureau and the "Order to Clear the Countryside."

They showed no fear or panic; instead, they hosted an extremely grand welcoming ceremony for the arrival of the imperial carriage, with nearly perfect and impeccable etiquette.

The bright red carpet stretching ten miles from the city gate to the imperial palace; the fragrant flower petals filling the sky, almost blotting out the sun; the tens of thousands of "commoners" organized to line the streets, their faces beaming with "happy" smiles; and the cries of "Long live Your Majesty" that seemed to come from the bottom of their hearts—all created a scene of a peaceful and prosperous era where the ruler and the people rejoiced together.

However, beneath those respectful and humble smiling faces, Gao Feng keenly captured traces of deeply hidden emotions called "arrogance" and "disdain."

They were telling him in this way: "Look, Your Majesty, without us, you cannot even maintain the facade of this prosperous age."

He knew that these old foxes, whose Legacy had spanned hundreds of years, were far more difficult to deal with than those fools in the north who only knew how to use violence.

That night, Lu Wenyuan, the current Clan Chief of the "Wu Commandery Lu Clan," who was hailed as the leader of the Jiangnan gentry, held a grand banquet in the name of "welcoming Your Majesty."

It was held in their mansion, which covered a thousand acres and was filled with pavilions, rockeries, flowing water, and extreme luxury.

At the banquet, the sound of silk and bamboo instruments was pleasant, graceful dancers danced, and delicacies were served like flowing water, with every dish as exquisite as a work of art.

Lu Wenyuan was an old man, around sixty years old, who looked like a celestial being with an elegant and scholarly air.

He wore a plain robe and had white hair and a beard, but he was full of vigor.

His eyes flashed with wisdom, and his every gesture was filled with the composure and nobility that could only be carefully cultivated by a Family of a hundred years.

After three rounds of drinks and tasting the dishes, he slowly stood up from his seat, holding a white jade wine cup in both hands, bowed respectfully to Gao Feng, who was sitting high in the main seat, and said loudly:

"Your Majesty, this old subject has heard that the imperial court's recently implemented New Policy of 'taxation for officials and gentry alike' is a benevolent act that eradicates a thousand-year-old malpractice and benefits the country and the people.

We, the Jiangnan gentry, all applaud Your Majesty's wisdom and are willing to go through fire and water to support Your Majesty's implementation of the New Policy, without hesitation."

His words were flawless, full of support and praise for the New Policy, as if they were its staunchest supporters.

However, he immediately changed the subject, his face showing a perfectly appropriate look of difficulty and worry.

"It's just... Your Majesty, our Jiangnan has been a place of flourishing culture since ancient times, the center of the world's literary lineage.

Those scholars who have studied hard for decades to eventually make the golden list and earn their titles are the Foundation of our Chinese civilization's Legacy and the reserve of pillars for our imperial court.

If they are also made to pay heavy taxes like those illiterate peddlers and foot soldiers, I fear... I fear it would damage the dignity of our imperial court and chill the hearts of scholars across the world."

"Therefore, this old subject dares to implore Your Majesty, for the sake of the sages and virtuous predecessors, whether you could show leniency to our Jiangnan scholars who have earned titles, and slightly reduce their taxes?

This would manifest Your Majesty's virtue of cherishing talent and governing the world together with the scholar-officials."

"Of course, we, the Jiangnan gentry, will never let Your Majesty and the imperial court be troubled by this.

We are willing to unite and collectively donate three million taels of silver and five hundred thousand shi of grain to replenish the national treasury and support Your Majesty in expanding the territory and establishing unparalleled achievements!"

His words were sincere and reasonable; he both highly praised Gao Feng and skillfully provided a way out, even proactively offering a huge amount of wealth.

This was the method of the Jiangnan gentry.

They did not play hard with you, nor did they talk about confrontation; they played soft, using overt schemes.

They used so-called "righteousness" and so-called "interests" to package their selfishness and force you to make concessions.

If you agreed, you were acknowledging their privileges; if you didn't agree, you were an enemy of all scholars in the world, a "tyrant" blinded by money.

For a moment, the entire banquet hall fell into an eerie silence.

Everyone's eyes subconsciously gathered on the young emperor who sat high in the main seat, who had not said a word from beginning to end, and even had a faint smile on his face.

Gao Feng's face still wore a smile as warm as the spring breeze.

He slowly picked up the wine cup in front of him and toasted Lu Wenyuan, whose face was full of "expectation" and "confidence," from afar.

Then, he drank the wine in his cup in one gulp and said indifferently, in a tone that seemed casual but was full of unquestionable authority:

"Lu, my beloved subject, do you know why the world divides after long union and unites after long division?"

Lu Wenyuan was slightly stunned, clearly not expecting the emperor to ask such a grand question.

After a moment of thought, he subconsciously answered using Confucian classics: "Your Majesty, this is the cycle of the Heavenly Dao, where prosperity leads to decline, which is not something human power can resist."

"Wrong."

Gao Feng shook his head.

In his deep eyes, a light of wisdom as bright as the stars flickered, as if it could pierce through the mists of history.

"The reason why this world divides and unites is not because of any damn cycle of the Heavenly Dao, but because at the end of every Dynasty, the land is completely annexed by you so-called 'scholars' and the so-called 'gentry class'!"

"The common people have no place to stand, and they cannot survive.

Besides rising up, do they have any other choice?

This is the root cause of dynastic change!

It is not a natural disaster, but a man-made one!"

"Therefore, today, I will break your so-called 'ancestral law' of 'governing the world together with scholar-officials'!"

"The ancestral law is not worth keeping; keeping pace with the times is the true Dao."

"My Wu Dynasty does not need those parasites who only know how to eat the people's fat and blood, talk empty words that harm the country, and are of no use to the nation!"

"What I want is equality for all, and that those who work more get more!"

"Whoever dares to block my path, I will take their life!"

Gao Feng's words were like the sharpest heavy hammers, striking hard at the hearts of all the Jiangnan gentry present!

The smile on Lu Wenyuan's face instantly froze, and the entire scene became extremely awkward!

The banquet naturally ended on a sour note.

The next day, Gao Feng officially issued an order with an unquestionable and tough stance to fully implement "land surveying" throughout the entire Jiangnan region!

He wanted to forcibly dig out all the hidden land properties from the mouths of these gentry families!

And the Lu Clan, having already torn off the mask of civility, as the largest landlords in all of Jiangnan, unsurprisingly took the lead in openly resisting!

On one hand, they forged a large number of land documents that were realistic enough to pass for real, attempting to muddle through on the ledgers.

On the other hand, they used the influence of their clan to incite thousands of clansmen and tenant farmers who had long been brainwashed by them.

In a manner bordering on a riot, they severely injured the first batch of surveying officials sent by the imperial court and robbed them of all their surveying tools!

They even openly posted a notice at the city gate of Wu Commandery, claiming that "Jiangnan affairs are decided by Jiangnan people," and the words were full of contempt for the imperial court!

This was no longer just simple resistance to the law.

This was a naked, open provocation against imperial power!

That night, at the brightly lit Family banquet of the Lu Clan, the atmosphere was even more heated than before.

A Lu Clan disciple, who looked quite young but whose face was full of arrogance and disdain inconsistent with his age, stood up after drinking a few cups of alcohol and, emboldened by the liquor, raved:

"That Martial Emperor is just a martial artist by origin, far away in the Divine Capital; what the hell does he know about Jiangnan!"

"This land in Jiangnan has belonged to our families of poetry and books since ancient times!

This is the rule passed down by our ancestors!"

"If he wants to touch our roots, then we will let him know that the pens in our hands can also kill!

As long as all the gentry in Jiangnan unite to resist his New Policy, I don't believe he dares to risk the chaos of the world and kill us all!"

His words immediately caused a round of cheers and agreement from all the Lu clansmen present!

They seemed to have already seen the scene where that arrogant young emperor lowered his head and made concessions in front of their powerful united forces!

However, to everyone's surprise.

Facing such an open provocation from the Lu Clan, Gao Feng acted as if he had seen nothing and did not immediately react.

Instead, he took his inspection team and continued to travel east, arriving at the vast and misty East Sea coast, as if he had really just come to tour the mountains and play in the water.

This convinced Lu Wenyuan and the others even more that Gao Feng was hesitant to act for fear of collateral damage, and that he dared not completely burn his bridges with the entire Jiangnan gentry class!

For a time, their actions became even more arrogant and even more unscrupulous!

...

On the shores of the East Sea, within a newly built, heavily guarded secret military port.

The Minister of Works, Gongshu Ban, who had long been waiting there, was beaming with excitement like a child showing off a beloved toy to a parent, demonstrating his latest and proudest masterpiece to Gao Feng.

It was a terrifying warship cast entirely from steel, over fifty zhang long and over ten zhang wide, resembling an ancient behemoth crouching upon the surface of the sea!

Its towering smokestacks were belching thick black smoke, and its massive paddle wheels, driven by steam engines, were rotating slowly, emitting a heart-stopping roar!

On both sides of its sturdy steel deck were densely packed dozens of the latest generation of "Divine Might Type V" naval cannons, which looked filled with an aura of destruction!

This was the future absolute backbone of the Wu Dynasty navy, and the undisputed maritime hegemon of this era—the "Zhenhai" class steam-powered ironclad!

"Your Majesty, please look!"

Gongshu Ban, in a tone bordering on fanaticism, pointed to an uninhabited island several miles in circumference in the distant sea and shouted: "Fire!"

At the command!

From the broadside of that steel behemoth, dozens of heavy cannons simultaneously emitted a deafening roar of death!

That overwhelming rain of death streaked across the sky in arcs filled with an aura of destruction, and with a thunderous, unstoppable, and terrifying momentum, it precisely blanketed that seemingly impregnable island!

"BOOM—!!!!!"

Amidst a series of terrifying roars that seemed as if they would overturn the entire world, the island, composed of hard rock, was forcibly blasted into fragments on the spot by this unreasonable, saturation bombardment!

The sky-high plumes of water and smoke even completely obscured the azure sky!

Upon seeing this god-like, earth-shattering scene, all the accompanying ministers and princes were stunned and dumbfounded by this terrifying power that transcended their scope of cognition!

Gao Feng quietly looked at that boundless blue sea, filled with unknowns and opportunities. He slowly turned his head and, to the Eldest Son and Second Son beside him, who were also watching with surging emotions, said word by word:

"Do you see this ship?"

"It can easily destroy any city you think is impregnable."

"Remember, the true strength of a nation does not lie in how ornate its literature is, nor in how tedious its rituals are."

"But in how much steel it produces, and in how hard its fist is."

"The reason I have tolerated the Lu Family until now is not because I fear them, nor because I dare not kill."

"But because I am waiting. Waiting for all their accomplices to be unable to restrain themselves and jump out on their own."

"I want to round them all up in one fell swoop!"

After speaking, he immediately issued an order to officially establish the "Great Wu Imperial Navy"!

And he appointed a young general—Zheng Sen—who, despite coming from a humble background, had displayed extremely high talent at the Naval Academy of Panshi University, as the first Admiral of this newly born navy!

...

Just when the Lu Family thought they had achieved final victory and began uniting with more than a dozen other Jiangnan gentry families who were also dissatisfied with the New Policy, preparing to submit the so-called "Ten Thousand Word Memorial" to the imperial court to force Gao Feng to completely abandon the implementation of the New Policy in Jiangnan.

The imperial inspection team, having long finished their trip to the East Sea, finally embarked on the return journey to the Divine Capital.

On the way back, when the imperial carriage passed the border of Wu Commandery again.

Gao Feng suddenly issued a thunderous decree, filled with endless Killing Intent, that shocked everyone!

The fifty thousand Dragon Steed Iron Cavalry, equipped with the latest "repeating muskets" and led by the great general who guards the nation, Zhao Yu, who had been secretly waiting at the border for months, descended like divine soldiers of death, surrounding the entire Wu Commandery, which was still immersed in the joy of victory, so tightly that not even water could trickle through!

At the same time, the "Sky Net," which had long since infiltrated every corner of Jiangnan, delivered a top-secret dossier, hundreds of pages long and filled with blood and sin, to Gao Feng's imperial desk!

That dossier recorded in minute detail how the dozen or so Jiangnan gentry families, led by the Lu Family, who had colluded together, had for the past several hundred years encroached on farmland, oppressed the common people, raised private armies, treated human lives like grass, and even secretly colluded with the pirates entrenched on the East Sea, smuggled contraband, and plotted rebellion!

Each and every criminal charge was accompanied by irrefutable ironclad evidence, enough to make them die a hundred times over!

The evidence was conclusive and indisputable!

Gao Feng looked at that dossier filled with blood and sin, and his handsome face, which seemed unlike that of a Mortal, was already filled with cold Killing Intent like ten-thousand-year ice!

He slowly took a vermilion brush from his imperial desk and, at the end of the dossier, wrote three cold characters filled with endless blood and the aura of death!

"Clear the Countryside Order!"

At the command!

Zhao Yu, already like a drawn sharp sword, led his fifty thousand Dragon Steed Iron Cavalry, who were already exuding sky-high Killing Intent, and rushed into that prosperous, thousand-year-old ancient capital like a black torrent of death!

Following the death list that had already been distributed to them, they went door to door, arresting people!

The entire Lu Family, along with the main culprits of the other dozen or so colluding gentry families, totaling three thousand one hundred and twenty-seven people, regardless of gender or age, were all bound and escorted to the square by the Qinhuai River, the largest in Wu Commandery!

In front of the hundreds of thousands of Wu Commandery commoners who were already dumbfounded, Zhao Yu personally read out their crimes!

Then, amidst the eyes of everyone filled with shock and disbelief, he suddenly waved his hand!

"Execute!"

Three thousand one hundred and twenty-seven heads, filled with shock and disbelief, soared into the sky!

The scalding blood gathered together like a stream, completely dyeing the rippling waters of the Qinhuai River into a heart-stopping, shocking shade of blood red!

This terrifying event, which later historians called the "Bloody Night of Jiangnan," destroyed the backbone of the Jiangnan gentry class—which had been passed down for hundreds of years and was already deeply ingrained—in the most direct and brutal way!

From then on, the land survey and population census, which had originally faced heavy resistance, were able to be successfully implemented throughout the entire Jiangnan region!

Gao Feng used this near-cruel method to clear the last and most stubborn obstacle for his New Policy, which aimed to create eternal peace!

And the two brothers, Eldest Son and Second Son, after witnessing their father's benevolence as an emperor, which was like a spring breeze, and his cruelty, which was like a winter frost, gained a deeper and bloodier understanding of the ancient saying: "Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish."

...

In the third year of the Qiyuan era of the Wu Dynasty, just as the various New Policies were being implemented with unprecedented momentum and vigor throughout the country, and the entire Empire was immersed in a thriving and revitalizing atmosphere, a beacon fire from the northernmost border of the Empire suddenly tore through this seemingly peaceful and prosperous era in the bloodiest and most brutal way.

The vast northern grasslands, the land that had once been ravaged by the iron hooves of the Blood Wolf King Ashina Gudulu, after experiencing a brief silence, gave birth to a brand new, even more cunning, and even more cruel overlord—Boerte.

He profoundly learned the painful lesson of the Blood Wolf King, who had exhausted his main force, confronted the strong passes of the Wu Dynasty head-on, and ultimately ended up with his entire army annihilated and his nation destroyed.

He did not choose to rebuild the cumbersome and slow heavy cavalry, but instead took a different path, carefully selecting tens of thousands of the most elite warriors from the fiercest and most enduring tribes on the grasslands to form several "Azure Wolf Rangers" units, which were small in scale but possessed terrifyingly high mobility.

These rangers each had three horses, carried no heavy supplies, and their only baggage contained dried meat strips and lethal poison-tipped scimitars.

Like the most patient wolf pack on the grasslands, they began a protracted and impossible-to-defend "Wolf Bite" tactic against the Wu Dynasty's long border line, which stretched for thousands of miles.

They never attacked those heavily guarded strong passes and fortresses, but instead aimed their poison-tipped fangs at the most vulnerable and inconspicuous garrisoned farming forts scattered along the border line.

Zhang Tieniu was an ordinary garrison farmer in a place called "Wangxi Fort" outside Yanmen Pass.

After the establishment of the Wu Dynasty, his life had undergone earth-shaking changes; he had been allocated his own farmland, his wife had given him a big, healthy baby boy, and his days were getting more hopeful with each passing day.

That day, just as dawn broke, he was, as usual, humming an unknown tune, carrying his hoe, and working diligently in his own field.

Golden sunlight shone on his bronze-colored back. As he looked at the thriving seedlings, he seemed to have already seen the heavy harvest scene in autumn, and a satisfied smile appeared involuntarily on his honest face.

However, just as he was immersed in this simple happiness, the beacon tower standing on the distant hillside suddenly, without any warning, sent up a plume of black smoke, thick as ink, shooting straight into the clouds!

Black smoke!

That represented the highest level of alert, a signal of death meaning that a large-scale enemy force had entered the territory and the outposts had already been completely annihilated!