jdhmnovel Chapter 143 The head of the aristocratic family, the Qinghe Cui family!
Chapter 143 The head of the aristocratic family, the Qinghe Cui family!
In Hebei Province, the Qinghe Cui family proudly stands at the top of the five surnames and seven families.
The glory and power of his family, after generations of sedimentation and accumulation, has become a behemoth within the Tang Dynasty.
The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty had great ambitions and was determined to conquer the aristocratic families with thundering means in order to reshape the government, consolidate the imperial power, and win the hearts of the people throughout the world.
Wei Zheng once made a private suggestion to Your Majesty that the strategy of attacking the aristocratic families should be like peeling off the silk threads of an onion, starting from the weakest point, taking each step carefully and slowly. Only in this way can the greatest effect be achieved with the least turmoil.
When His Majesty's mighty power was raging, the Wang family of Taiyuan were the first to fall under the sword.
With only 5,000 Jinyiwei, the Taiyuan Wang family collapsed and turned into ashes in an instant.
For a time, everyone firmly believed that His Majesty would follow the established strategy and uproot those weaker families one by one.
The world is unpredictable, and no one could have foreseen that Your Majesty would make a decision that caught everyone off guard.
He brazenly sent an army of 300,000 to attack the Cui family of Qinghe.
The lineup of this 300,000-strong army is composed of 150,000 Tang troops carefully selected from the Five Military Camps, the Left and Right Shen Ce Armies, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
The other 150,000 were a large army of foreign races formed by the Xi, Xun, Khitan, Turks and Kunlun slaves.
Zhang Xianhuai, Qin Ruzhao and Xue Rengui each led an army of 100,000.
Together they headed straight to Hebei Road.
In the magnificent mansion of the Cui family in Qinghe.
"Jingming, 300,000 Tang troops have already entered Hebei Province and are almost at Beizhou!"
Cui Huaide's dry fingers gently stroked his snow-white and sparse beard.
There was a hint of doubt in his voice as he reported this serious situation to Cui Jingming.
When Cui Jingming heard this, the corners of his mouth rose slightly, revealing an elusive smile.
"Li Chengqian is definitely not an ordinary person. This boy is so bold that he dares to directly attack my Cui family."
"This is clearly a vain attempt to fight to the death with all the noble families in Hebei Road."
"If he succeeds, after this battle, there will be no more aristocratic families in the world."
"The imperial army is not easy to deal with!"
When Cui Huaide heard this, he felt a strong sense of dissatisfaction in his heart.
"Jingming, why do you want to boost others' morale and destroy your own prestige? What can the imperial court's 300,000 troops do to you? My Cui family has been passed down for hundreds of years and has experienced countless hardships. We have a deep foundation. What is there to be afraid of?"
"Hebei Province and Huainan Province are all supporting our Cui family. The five surnames and seven families are all of the same blood. Now, our Beizhou has already deployed 500,000 troops!"
"Why fear the tyrant?"
He straightened his originally hunched back, trying hard to show the Cui family's former arrogance.
Cui Jingming slowly raised his eyes and stared at Cui Huaide quietly, with a hint of helplessness in his eyes.
"It's not that simple. Even though Hebei and Huainan are now under our control, are the governors of Hebei and Huainan really willing to serve as pawns for our aristocratic family?"
Cui Huaidao was a little confused.
"how do you know?"
"I've already started gathering troops since the day the imperial army set out. Besides the troops from our other aristocratic families, half of them are from Hebei Province, our base. Have you seen a single soldier from Huainan Province?"
"They are all waiting. Although we control the area, those people are not fools. They are waiting for the first battle between us and the imperial army. They will help whoever wins."
"In this battle, the first battle is the decisive battle!"
"Besides, our soldiers are far behind the battle-hardened Tang army in terms of both daily training and actual combat experience."
"If we engage in a head-on fight with them, it will be extremely disadvantageous to our Cui family. It's like hitting a rock with an egg!"
After saying that, he slowly closed his eyes, and his slender white fingers tapped lightly on the table, making a rhythmic "tapping" sound.
I began to think hard about how I could improve my response plan.
Seeing Cui Jingming like this, Cui Huaide sighed helplessly.
"Jingming, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but since you became the head of the family, the Cui family's edge has been much more restrained."
"Our Cui family is the head of an aristocratic family. When the imperial court came to exterminate the Wang family, we should have acted decisively, stepped forward, and provided all our assistance!"
"Now that the imperial court has annihilated the Wang family, haven't we lost a powerful supporter for no reason?"
His tone was full of regret.
When Cui Jingming heard this, he looked at Cui Huaide again. A trace of imperceptible disdain flashed across his eyes for a moment, but he quickly concealed this emotion calmly.
"When Wang Qizhao came to power, it was probably the beginning of the decline of the Taiyuan Wang family."
"Wang Qizhao is a greedy man, obsessed with amassing wealth. He has no regard for the lives of the people and willfully oppresses the good."
"He even indulged in the outrageous and immoral practices of 'beauty bowls' and 'beauty paper,' which brought chaos and chaos to the Taiyuan area, causing him to lose the support of the people. The people hated him to the core."
"How could the Taiyuan Wang family escape the fate of destruction after such numerous evil deeds?"
"The court doesn't even need to resort to major military action; with a little skillful guidance, it will fall apart on its own."
At this point, Cui Jingming couldn't help but laugh softly.
It didn't take much effort to attack Wang's family, but now it took an army of 300,000 to attack his own family, and this was only the vanguard.
If it really came to a critical moment of life and death, and Li Chengqian disregarded everything and transferred all 600,000 border troops of the Tang Dynasty to Beizhou, then the situation of the Cui family would be really precarious.
But the Tang Dynasty was not much better at that time.
"Also, Uncle, you have to understand that the imperial court's extermination of the Wang family was justified. After all, it was the Wang family who persecuted a national protector and a princess first. This is a crime of treason."
"At that time, anyone who dared to support the Wang family would be openly plotting treason and would be despised by the world and lose the support of the people."
"But now the imperial court is attacking my Cui family without any reason, which is unfounded."
"This time, the hearts of the people are with my Cui family!"
Cui Jingming paused slightly, a look of determination in his eyes.
"Uncle, you are old now. Please don't interfere in the affairs of the Cui family anymore!"
Cui Huaide opened his mouth and wanted to say something in rebuttal, but found that his throat seemed to be choked by something, and he couldn't utter a word for a long time.
When Cui Jingming and his generation competed for the position of head of the family, none of their opponents are still alive. Cui Jingming's scheming and methods are not something he can easily contend with.
Deep down in his heart, he actually had a bit of awe and fear towards Cui Jingming.
"Uncle, there's something you need to do."
Cui Jingming's voice broke the silence in the room.
"What's the matter, Jingming?"
Cui Huaide asked hurriedly.
"Open five of my Cui family's granaries and distribute all the grain inside to the people of Beizhou."
Cui Jingming's eyes were firm.
"And inform the people of Beizhou that from now on, my Cui family will only pay 10% of their taxes each year, and they will not have to pay any other taxes, including those from the imperial court."
"Open the five more treasuries, take out the money, and distribute it to the people of Beizhou."
When Cui Huaide heard this, he immediately understood Cui Jingming's intention.
This is to lure them with huge benefits, so that the entire Beizhou will be united, share the same hatred and fight against the court together!
But when he thought of the huge amount of money that was about to be given away, his heart ached.
It is such a waste to give so many things to these "untouchables" who are as insignificant as ants in his eyes!
But he knew that Cui Jingming's decision was difficult to change, so he could only nod silently, turn around and slowly leave.