Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1644: Chapter 1585: All Jia Are Birds of a Feather

Jia Kui didn’t see the scene where Sun Ce persuaded Zhang He, but Wei Yan and Xu Shu were keenly observing the situation over there. After all, it was Wei Yan who had killed Tian Feng with a single strike back in the day, and if Zhang He could seize the opportunity, he wouldn’t mind avenging Tian Feng.

As for Guan Ping, Guan Yu had slain two of the Four Pillars of Hebei and incapacitated one, leaving only Zhang He. It would be strange if Zhang He held no animosity towards the Guan Family.

”Tanzhi, keep an eye on that Zhang He for me. I feel there’s something off about the way he’s looking at us,” Wei Yan transmitted his voice to Guan Ping.

”It’s not just off, it’s the look of wanting to kill us,” Guan Ping replied to Wei Yan with annoyance. ”But no need to worry, it’s just him alone. Even if they all come at us, we’re not afraid.”

”That guy really holds grudges. Yuan Benchu has been dead for so long, yet the guy is still like this. Honestly, wasn’t he from a Humble Family?” Wei Yan transmitted.

”You two can rest assured now. It seems that Sun Bofu has already convinced him,” Xu Shu suddenly transmitted to Wei Yan and Guan Ping. When they both looked carefully, they found that Zhang He, who had been filled with murderous intent, still had an unusual expression, but the killing intent had dissipated.

Truth be told, despite Wei Yan and Guan Ping’s casual words, dealing with a potential ambush from a top warrior wasn’t simple, which is why they had been on constant guard against him.

After all, being a thief for a thousand days is easy, but guarding against a thief for a thousand days is no small task.

”Oh, so there are still quite a few aristocratic families on the way?” Jia Kui smiled at Liu Ye. For some reason, that smile sent a chill through Liu Ye.

[Are all people named Jia so sinister?] Liu Ye cursed inwardly, but outwardly he smiled and chatted cheerfully with Jia Kui.

”Indeed, the major aristocratic families must be aware of the previous situation. Although they have deep roots, to gain a share of the benefits, they must demonstrate their value. The current situation requires the aristocrats to do their utmost,” Liu Ye nodded and said.

”So, how should we utilize these aristocratic family private soldiers?” Jia Kui raised an eyebrow and said. This question implied that, on the matter of dealing with aristocratic family private soldiers, he was willing to stand on the same side as Liu Bei on behalf of Sun Ce.

”In a national war, we naturally need to strengthen the nation’s power. Though the aristocratic families have ample populations, they don’t truly possess elite troops amongst them, so naturally, we should help the aristocratic families train them into elite soldiers,” Liu Ye said with a smile.

In practice, both Liu Ye and Jia Kui knew that the aristocratic families did have elite private soldiers, but those could not be openly displayed. A few might be tolerable, but having many would be a blatant challenge to state power.

Since the Eastern Han, aristocratic families had proliferated, often secretly challenging the state, but no family had openly dared to challenge state authority, as the Han Dynasty wasn’t completely dead yet!

”That’s a good idea. We Han sons cannot let the Huns bully us. Most of the aristocratic family private soldiers come from common folk and are not strong. We should help train them to prevent losses, and the families should contribute money, food, and effort to protect their interests,” Jia Kui stroked his chin and agreed with Liu Ye.

”True, but I worry that some aristocratic families may not understand our good intentions,” Liu Ye looked at Jia Kui and sighed inwardly. Jia Kui was the epitome of two-faced—deceptively kind but truly sinister. Indeed, people named Jia are all the same.

”That’s not a problem. If Military Advisor Liu has concerns, you can entrust the promised responsibilities to me, and I’ll play the villain,” Jia Kui said with a smile to Liu Ye.

”Really?” Liu Ye looked at Jia Kui in disbelief. Taking this opportunity to confiscate half of the private soldiers of the aristocratic families was indeed a great chance. As compensation, granting the previously promised lands to the families would also ease any resentment.

With this exchange, the aristocratic families would move to the Northeast with the remaining population to pursue their century-long plans. Twenty years later, with the empire’s expansion under Chen Xi to Western Asia, Liu Ye didn’t believe any aristocratic family would be able to resist claiming the benefits once the opportunity arose!

By then, the families would obediently return the land they had developed to the nation and take their wealth to establish their own marquisates.

However, this was just a plan. Even just confiscating the aristocratic family private soldiers could, if mishandled, cause unrest, even if land were granted to the families. Still, Liu Ye had to acknowledge that this was the best opportunity to reduce the aristocratic family populations.

Li Youu had been straightforward about it: once these families’ strong young men were reorganized, the millions of fertile lands reclaimed from the Huns would be directly allocated to the families.

First-come, first-served; those who develop more get more. In such circumstances, Li Youu refused to believe that the families would let their reorganized young and strong workers—all they had left were women, children, and the elderly—take all the hidden households.

Truthfully, if it came to that, the families would likely swallow their pride and sell these unproductive hidden households to Liu Bei.

To speak frankly, Chen Xi was eager to absorb as many people as possible, and once these hidden households were absorbed into the state registry along with the reorganized private soldiers, they would no longer belong to the aristocratic families. This was precisely Li Youu’s intention.

Even at this opportune moment, it was possible that unrest could arise, but Li Youu had laid everything out for Liu Ye. Liu Ye knew that accomplishing this would be a great feat, and realizing this now would be easier than later, so he took on the task from Li Youu.

Of course, Li Youu also advised Liu Ye to find a scapegoat, suggesting Sun Ce. But to Liu Ye’s surprise, Sun Ce’s people came to him before he could approach them and even volunteered to be the scapegoat.

Naturally, the plan came together seamlessly. Liu Ye was eager for someone to take on this hot potato while he collected the accolades in the background. Since Jia Kui was willing, Liu Ye gladly passed the responsibility to him.

”Military Advisor Liu, I imagine you understand the challenges involved, so if I use some inappropriate methods, please forgive me,” Jia Kui accepted the scapegoat role with a grin and bowed to Liu Ye.

”No problem. Even if it means saying that I ordered you to do it, it’s fine with me,” Liu Ye cheerfully assured Jia Kui.

”I wouldn’t do such a thing,” Jia Kui shook his head and said. ”I’ll handle this myself, Military Advisor Liu. Could you give me a copy of the aristocratic families’ relations and general strength? That would help me manage the situation.”