12dz Chapter 231 Immediately Close the Net
Chapter 231 Immediately Close the Net
Just as Shen Pei had predicted, after Wu Sheng was released, Wu Qing soon learned what a foolish thing his good son had done, so foolish that Wu Qing wished he had no son at all. However, now that Shen Pei had come knocking on his door, he only had two choices left: either die or surrender.
Outside the village, Xiong Shan had already begun the countdown. Wu Qing was still hesitating. When the countdown entered its final five seconds, Wu Qing was still hesitant. He wanted to surrender, but Wu Sheng had already been labeled a traitor.
If he were to surrender, he would lose everything, and his son would spend his life in prison, perhaps even dying at an unknown time in the pastoral landscape.
But if they don't surrender, who can they defeat with just their small force? The son may not know the importance of things, but the father does, and he knows a lot about it. The reason Yuan Shao didn't touch them before was simply because Yuan Shao had just been defeated and needed a stable rear and their support.
"Sigh," Wu Qing sighed, looking at Wu Sheng and saying, "My child, your father must consider the well-being of the clan." The implication was that Wu Qing intended to abandon Wu Sheng to preserve the Wu family's lineage.
"Prepare to fire!" Just as Xiong Shan was about to give the order for the artillery to open fire, a white flag was raised inside the manor, signaling the Wu family's surrender.
Shen Pei immediately said, "Close the net immediately. Not a single member of the Wu family should be let go. Confiscate the weapons of all the private soldiers and detain them temporarily. Release them after their identities are confirmed."
With the Wu family's surrender, the implementation of the new policies in Yanzhou became very smooth. Some families that had been outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant immediately became proactive after hearing the news of the annihilation of more than ten large and small families.
In response to the self-governing zone policy, they sold off their surplus land to relevant departments and then invested in commercial or industrial activities.
Meanwhile, in Luoyang, Yuan Shao began his new operation: he was going to cut off the food supply to the imperial palace. According to intelligence gathered by assassins who had infiltrated the palace, there was only one month's worth of food reserves left.
If the outside world provides aid, the palace's food reserves alone would only allow the 10,000-strong organization, along with the palace maids and eunuchs, to last at most a month and a half, and that's assuming they're frugal and thrifty.
In response, Yuan Shao devised a very effective way to force Liu Xie to submit: cutting off his food supply. Yuan Shao planned to first appoint himself to a higher official position, nominally one that would put him in charge of all officials. This would allow him to legitimately suppress and criticize the other ministers.
Moreover, this was also to further undermine Liu Xie's power, to make Liu Xie lose even the last glimmer of hope, and to make Liu Xie completely give up.
"Our task for the next month is very simple: to completely seal off the palace. We can ignore people coming and going from the palace, but we must stop any vehicles."
“Especially the grain, we must absolutely stop it. I want to see how Liu Xie will keep his small group of people in check without supplies. If it weren’t for the fact that I don’t want to cause too many casualties, I would have already ordered a large-scale invasion. He really thinks I’m afraid of him,” Yuan Shao said to Guo Tu.
He asked Guo Tu, "How is the work going with the generals and ministers under Liu Xie?"
Guo Tu stood up and replied to Yuan Shao: "Reporting to my lord, we have now won over two colonels and a subordinate general's organization. The civil officials are easy to deal with. Apart from those pedantic scholars, half of the ministers have already sided with us."
"Hmm, very good. We can slow down the organization team a bit. It's better to be slower than to let Liu Xie notice anything amiss beforehand. The rank of the organizers isn't important; what matters most is the position they're in charge of. The more crucial the position, the more beneficial it will be to our next plan."
Yuan Shao instructed Guo Tu, and he was relatively satisfied with Guo Tu's task for the time being. Half of the ministers had sided with him, and the court was basically under his control.
As for organizing the team, Yuan Shao was not in a hurry, because he only needed to win over a few key organizing officers, and then quickly take them down with the help of both inside and outside when the time came to make his move!
The large organization was hard-won, and he didn't want to lose too many soldiers in such a political struggle, as that would affect the progress of subsequent plans.
"I understand your thoughts, my lord, and I will certainly provide you with a perfect answer," Guo Tu said.
"Yes, I trust you and me regarding public matters."
Yuan Shao nodded, and Guo Tu, who knew Yuan Shao's habits, immediately said to Yuan Shao, "My lord, please rest first. I will take my leave." "Go ahead."
Yuan's organization made no attempt to conceal its actions. The 10,000-strong organization directly sealed off all the palace gates. They did not directly enter the palace grounds, but monitored the palace guards from 500 meters away.
They ignored any convoys leaving the palace, but as soon as they returned, Yuan's organization would immediately intercept them, confiscating the convoys carrying provisions and other necessities under the pretext of searching for Gongsun Zan's remnants. Within two days, seven procurement convoys leaving the palace had been detained by Yuan's organization. The chief eunuch in charge of palace procurement could no longer keep it a secret and quickly reported the matter to Liu Xie. Liu Xie was shocked. Yuan Shao was directly detaining his procurement convoys! The palace's supplies were insufficient; other things could be managed, but what about the grain?
Liu Xie immediately asked, "Tell me, how much grain is left in the palace?"
"Your Majesty, the palace's provisions are not plentiful. Even including the provisions in the secret treasury, they would normally be enough to sustain the entire palace for half a year. However, with the palace now having a force of ten thousand Imperial Guards, they can only sustain the palace for a maximum of two months," the chief steward reported to Liu Xie.
"How can there be so little?" Liu Xie asked.
The chief eunuch said, "Your Majesty, the daily life in the palace has always been to purchase food for the next three days three days in advance. The grain reserves are only because Ding Min said last time that there were too many Imperial Guards in the palace."
"We need enough food supplies. It's inconvenient to buy them frequently, so we've stockpiled this grain. Otherwise, we wouldn't last even a week."
"You bastard!" Liu Xie roared in anger.
Yuan Shao has finally grasped his own lifeline. Without food, even the most elite and powerful organization is useless. Is he really going to become a puppet in name only once again?
After so many years, he had had enough of being a puppet. He wanted to be his own master! He wanted to be the master of this empire! Since he became more sensible, Liu Xie had been determined to restore the dignity and rule of the imperial family.
However, the current state of the empire has defeated him time and time again. Not long after he seized power from Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao appeared.
Originally, I thought I could win over both Yuan Shao and Chen Er to form a balance of power, but I didn't expect Chen Er to fall for it. Now, the only option is to use one wolf to devour another.