NOVPUBThe Zhang Clan felt a sense of foreboding upon seeing Ju Shou and the heads of the various great aristocratic families seated within the government office, yet the confidence of the Jizhou aristocrats prevented her from pondering the matter further.
Not long after receiving Yuan Shao’s letter, an incident erupted between the Mi Family and the Zhen Family, which left Ju Shou with no choice but to give it further thought. He made a special inquiry or, rather, understood quickly after receiving a signal intentionally released to the Jizhou officials by Mi Zhu. It became clear that Liu Xuande was after the Zhen Family.
What did the Zhen Family have? Ju Shou thought carefully and realized it was nothing more than northern connections in commerce and wealth. However, such things paled in comparison to Jizhou, especially after the lines of Yuan Huai and Yuan Cheng had joined, people like Yuan Benchu, Ju Gongyu, and Tian Yuanhao understood one thing: the noble families of Jizhou needed to be weakened. Jizhou could only have one voice, and that was the Yuan Family!
There is a saying, "Even a mighty dragon cannot crush a local snake." The Yuan Family might be powerful, but the local aristocratic clans of Jizhou like the Geng, Cui, Zhang, and Zhen, each with a history spanning hundreds of years, were no less influential. They might not compare to the Yuan Family’s influence in the Central Plains, but in Jizhou, if the four families united, the Yuan Family wouldn’t have the upper hand.
This was precisely why even with Yuan Shao’s power, when he came to Jizhou, he needed to win over the local powers. The local snakes were too strong.
The information released by the Mi Family was actually good news for the Jizhou officials, yet even so, Ju Shou took the time to send a letter to Chen Xi, warning him not to get greedy. Chen Xi’s reply eased a lot of Ju Shou’s worries, "Qingzhou is exhausted, burdened by a million Yellow Turbans. You just give a fair judgement when the time comes, then round it up with a million shi of grain."
After reading the letter, Ju Shou ordered the message to be relayed to the frontlines, but he already knew how to deal with it. A million shi of grain wasn’t too big of a problem, now that Jizhou was thriving and had a bumper harvest last year, with the government treasury storing over twenty million shi of grain. But to give you a million shi for nothing? Wishful thinking.
While bickering with Chen Xi, Ju Shou told Mi Zhu not to rush, to not implicate the Zhen Family just yet, as he wasn’t ready. He also quietly contacted the heads of the various Jizhou families to clarify the current situation, even revealing the latest battle reports.
Indeed, the Jizhou clans varied in size and lacked professional intelligence personnel, leaving their information systems mostly in chaos. While it was known that Mount Tai sent troops to deal with the Yellow Turbans, the precise details were unclear. Even the Cui Family, with the best intelligence system, only knew Chen Xi had defeated the Yellow Turbans, which was shocking news to the Head of the Cui Family but unrelated to their own affairs—at least, that’s what the Head of the Cui Family thought.
As soon as Ju Shou handed out the latest battle reports to the heads of both large and small Jizhou clans, all their faces turned grim. Gongsun Zan was considered as defending against external enemies, with no worries of war breaking out at his own doorstep, crashing and smashing everything into ruins.
So what to do about Chen Zichuan? Over a million Yellow Turbans had been defeated and surrendered in just a month. With such a figure now at their doorstep, sharpening his knife and looking ready for action, wouldn’t they be doomed if he actually attacked?
In an instant, all the family heads fixed their gaze on Ju Shou, and then the Head of the Cui Family surveyed the surroundings with a slight frown. For such a significant event to occur without the Zhen family in sight, although he was not versed in military strategy, he understood family affairs very well. The Zhen family was either being ostracized from this group, or the upcoming discussions involved them. Otherwise, given the Zhen family’s status, there would definitely be a place for them.
Similarly, those family heads with sharp eyes and agile minds also noticed the anomalies and remained silent, fixing their attention on Ju Shou.
Soon the agitated crowd fell silent, all eyes on Ju Shou who sat in the principal seat.
"Indeed, this matter involves the Zhen Family," Ju Shou said with a smile, conveying to them that since they had guessed the gist, they would understand his intentions when the time came to speak.
"This is Chen Zichuan’s letter; you all consider it for a moment. I’ll step out first; the fate of Jizhou is in your hands." Ju Shou played a sneaky trick by delivering Chen Xi’s letter and then leaving without giving the others time to react, directly exiting the scene.
Half an hour later, Ju Shou was called back, and the result was as he had anticipated. The Zhen Family was directly kicked out of the game, and even the Zhang Family, which had close relations with the Zhen Family, did not say much. Between their self-interest and the survival of the Zhen Family, all the clans silently chose their own interests. According to the Patriarch of Geng Family, getting the entire Jizhou population involved in war for the sake of the Zhen Family is not the act of a Sage; thus, the Zhen Family was out.
With the support of all the clans in Jizhou, Ju Shou calmly calculated the power of the Zhen Family and finally realized that the total value of the entire Zhen Family might not even be enough to cover the compensation. He was greatly relieved. With one of Jizhou’s four major families discarded, the overall strength significantly declined, creating an opportunity for the Yuan Family to step in.
After tallying up the Zhen Family’s property, Ju Shou sent a messenger horse overnight with a letter to Yuan Shao. He had a better plan. Since Chen Zichuan wanted to play, he didn’t mind using Chen Zichuan’s hand as leverage to subdue the four great families of Hebei in one fell swoop. Aristocratic families are like grass on top of the wall; if Chen Zichuan could make use of them, why couldn’t Ju Gongyu? Adding splendor to what is already glorious is not as effective as sending charcoal in snowy weather. The Yuan Family and the Zhen Family joining hands could potentially consolidate the entire Jizhou in one go!
With this in mind, Ju Shou began to prepare carefully, using the pretext of guarding against Chen Xi to mobilize the silver coins from the government treasury. This was a good opportunity, a chance for the Yuan Family to take complete control of Jizhou!
As long as he seized this opportunity to fully control Jizhou, a populous state rich in grain production, the force unleashed by combining military and political orders would certainly be enough to crush Gongsun Bogui. Then, by coordinating the forces of Youbing, Ji, and Bing, the Three Prefectures, the world would be within reach!
Ju Shou felt extremely excited just thinking about these prospects, the sensation of leveraging the fate of the world making him tremble. Disaster and blessing depend on each other, and Ju Shou vividly sensed this interdependence.
Ms. Zhang, bowing respectfully, felt the atmosphere was somewhat eerie, but after glancing at Ju Shou sitting at the higher seat, she felt much more at ease. Jizhou’s officialdom had not sided with the Mi Family, and with that assurance, Ms. Zhang felt much more confident—without Jizhou’s officialdom on their side, it was just a joke for the Mi Family to think of defeating the Zhen Family in Jizhou!
"For Lady Zhen, Mi Zizhong, please take a seat," said Ju Shou with a placid expression. Soon, seats were brought over and the two were asked to sit down.
Mi Zhu frowned slightly. He could understand why Ju Shou offered a seat to Ms. Zhang, considering the Zhen Family’s hereditary official position; Ms. Zhang was entitled to the treatment of a lady. But he was just a businessman, not an official. Ju Shou offering him a seat completely violated the norms. Did Ju Shou intend to mediate? Mi Zhu unconsciously wondered.
Whatever Ju Shou did, the initiative was in Mi Zhu’s hands. Now, every step was as Chen Xi had predicted. Having reached this point, there was no turning back. The time had come for the Zhen Family to end.
After ordering a box of land deeds and IOUs to be brought forward, Mi Zhu spoke with a calm expression, "These evidences are all genuine, and I trust that with the Zhen Family’s reputation, there will be no denial."
Very soon, the Document Assistant verified everything and stood up to address Ju Shou, "Reporting to the Governor, the lower official has verified that all the deeds and IOUs were indeed signed by the Zhen Family."
This time, to avoid any negligence, Ju Shou ensured that every official present was a trusted aide. Naturally, they all knew that there was no need for any bias this time—to speak based on the evidence without regard for the identity of the other party!
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