Chapter 142 Those Who Obey Will Prosper, Those Who Disobey Will Perish

"Gao County Magistrate, what should we do?"

Shanggu City.

The nobles of Shanggu County gathered in the government office, and at this moment they all focused their attention on the county magistrate Gao Yuanshen.

The Yuan family sent a message that the eunuchs of the court passed Fanyang County and went to Yancheng.

It is an ironclad fact that Shanggu County has been incorporated into the fief of King Yan.

This makes them very nervous.

They have seen what King Yan has done in Yan County.

The three families of Zhang, Huang and Du are finished, and the other nobles have also lost their land and are now vassals of King Yan.

If King Yan enters Shanggu County, how can they have a good life.

"What are you afraid of? Yan County is Yan County, and Shanggu County is Shanggu County. The nobles of Yan County are scheming against each other, which allowed King Yan to take advantage of the loopholes, but the nobles of Shanggu County are of one mind. As long as we are united, what can King Yan do to us?" Gao Yuan shouted loudly.

He received a message from Yuan Li, asking him to stick to Shanggu County.

Even if the court allows this place to become the fief of King Yan, King Yan must be in name only.

The Yuan family didn't need to remind him about this. Even if it was based on the interests of his Gao family, he would not let the King of Yan do whatever he wanted.

"What the county magistrate said was that the three families of Zhang, Huang and Du in Yan County were at odds with the three families of Dong, Yang and Lu, so the King of Yan took advantage of the situation. If you can work together to deal with the King of Yan, perhaps Shanggu County will not become like Yan County." A noble said.

Others echoed, "We listen to the county magistrate."

Gao Yuan nodded.

Yuan Li said that if he encountered difficulties, he would provide him with assistance.

This made him more confident. He wanted to see how the King of Yan could deal with him?

...

Yan County.

Zhao Xu inspected the army that was about to set off and nodded to Chang Wei.

Even though he had completely controlled Yan County, he still remembered the feeling of frustration when he was initially oppressed by the nobles of Yan County.

Yan County was like this at the beginning, and he believed that the nobles of Shanggu County would not be any different.

He saw through it.

The governors of the seven counties of Yan County all have inextricable ties with the Yuan family.

Although Shanggu County has been included in his fiefdom, he can't expect Shanggu County to be as obedient as Yan County today without a fierce struggle.

It's just that the method used in Yan County at the beginning is obviously not suitable for Shanggu County in his opinion.

After all, when he was in Yan County, he was weak and could only divide and disintegrate the powerful families and treat those who surrendered to him gently.

But it is obviously unnecessary to treat the powerful families in Shanggu County.

Because it takes too long, and there is no need to spend too much time on intrigue.

This time, he went to Shanggu County with only one purpose: those who follow me will prosper, and those who go against me will perish!

"Let's go!" Zhao Xu waved his hand, and the mighty army marched along the road leading to Shanggu County in the west of the city.

One day later, they entered Shanggu County.

Not long after leaving the land of Yan County, a strong sense of bleakness came towards them.

As it was already autumn, the trees on both sides of the official road were covered with sparse yellow leaves, which fell down in a gust of wind.

Passing by the village, Zhao Xu only saw broken walls and ruins, and there was no one inside.

"Your Highness, these are villages burned by the Beidi people. Shanggu County was indeed severely affected by the disaster." Chang Wei pointed to a blackened earth wall, which was burned by fire.

"Look ahead!" Liu Fu suddenly pointed to a ditch in front.

Zhao Xu and Chang Wei rode forward a few steps after hearing this. When they saw what was inside, their faces turned green.

"Ugh..." Liu Fu vomited directly.

There was nothing else in the ditch, but corpses.

At this time, these corpses had been soaked and rotten, presenting a terrifying giant appearance.

There were hundreds of such corpses, including men, women, old and young, who should be the people killed by the Beidi people in the nearby villages.

"Son of a bitch." Chang Wei clenched his fists, "I will not be a human if I don't destroy the Northern Di in this life!"

The marching soldiers passed by and saw the scene of the ditch.

While a burst of anger burned in their hearts, they were also glad that they were born in Yan County.

Otherwise, it might be their wives and children lying in the ditch now.

The team continued to move forward.

They encountered many corpses of civilians, either in the village or on the roadside.

Until noon, they finally saw living people.

This was a group of ragged civilians, either naked on the upper body or naked on the lower body, picking bark from the trees to satisfy their hunger.

Their eyes were numb, and they did not dodge when they saw the army, as if they didn't care about death.

"Which army are you from?" A civilian asked a passing soldier.

"We are the army of King Yan." The soldier answered proudly.

"Why are you here? The northern barbarians have already left."

"The emperor has issued an order that Shanggu County will be the fief of the King of Yan from now on."

"What..." The smile of the people who were chewing the bark froze.

A tear slid down his stained face from the corner of his eye.

He threw down the bark and shouted to the other people: "The King of Yan is here, Shanggu County is the fief of the King of Yan, did you hear it? Shanggu County is the fief of the King of Yan, hahaha..."

The numb people seemed to come alive in this sentence.

They were stunned for a while, and rushed to the road, scrambling to ask.

After getting a unanimous answer, they burst into tears.

The kindness of the King of Yan had long been spread to Shanggu County, and they had planned to escape to Yan County by chewing the bark.

Now Shanggu County has become the fief of the King of Yan, and they don't have to escape.

Zhao Xu had already noticed them.

Stopped in front of them, he said: "From now on you are my people, go back and wait, you will get your share of land soon."

"Thank you, Your Highness, thank you, Your Highness." The people cried with joy.

Zhao Xu asked Chang Wei to distribute some food and grass to the people and continued on the road.

Along the way, they met many miserable people.

At the same time, he also saw the fortress in the countryside.

There, the nobles still lived a life of wine, meat, singing and dancing.

It seemed that the suffering outside had nothing to do with them.

The next day, the army arrived at Shanggu City.

Someone was sent to deliver the message to the city, and soon, an official in a green robe led the officials of Shanggu County to greet them.

"Shanggu County Governor Gaoyuan pays homage to Your Highness." Gaoyuan led the officials to salute Zhao Xu.

"No need to salute." Zhao Xu gestured to Liu Fu.

At this time, Liu Fu took out the imperial edict and read it loudly in front of Gaoyuan and other officials, "... From the day of receiving the imperial edict, Shanggu County has become the fief of King Yan, so ordered!"

Gaoyuan and the officials lowered their heads and turned their eyes left and right.

After seeing the imperial edict, Shanggu County became the fief of the King of Yan.

"Your Highness, please come to Shanggu County."

After a moment of silence, Gao Yuan was the first to react, with a false smile on his face.

Zhao Xu nodded and said to Chang Wei: "Take over the defense of Shanggu City immediately."

Then, he and Liu Fu walked towards the government office, and Xu Lie led the 500 soldiers temporarily assigned to him by Chang Wei to accompany and protect them.

After entering the government office, Zhao Xu sat down in the main seat, and Gao Yuan and other Shanggu County officials stood below.

Zhao Xu said: "Gao Yuan, listen to the order, immediately issue a decree to the counties of Shanggu County, collect the displaced Shanggu County people, allocate land, let them rest and recuperate, and take one tenth of the tax."

"Your Highness, Shanggu County may not have idle land for these people." Gao Yuan said loudly.

After the Northern Di came, the people in Shanggu County who did not want to rely on the powerful families died or fled.

They took the land of these people by the way.

How could the King of Yan want them to spit out what they ate?

Zhao Xu did not change his expression and said to Liu Fu: "From now on, you will immediately check the land in Shanggu County. Anyone who has taken advantage of others or occupied land privately will be severely punished."

When he said this, the officials below all changed color.

Gao Yuan was furious. The King of Yan had just arrived, and this would damage their interests.

He still smiled and said: "Your Highness, checking the land is tedious and cumbersome, and it will not be done overnight. Besides, the Beidi people are leaving, and all the officials in the county need to check the losses and cannot spare time."

"Are you teaching me how to do things?" Zhao Xu's eyes turned cold, "My orders are not for you to question, but for you to execute."

Gao Yuan felt cold in his heart when Zhao Xu stared at him, and he could only stammer and say: "Yes."