Chapter 182 Aristocratic families collect protection fees! (Subscribe)

Yangzhou, Jianghua County, Yunfu City.

The snow is falling heavily, and the ground is covered with white snow, like a dream.

During this long winter, the entire world of Daqian seemed to be shrouded in a veil. The clouds in the sky grew thicker and thicker, and the sky was as gloomy as ink.

The cold wind howled with a biting chill, rolling up pieces of white snowflakes that fluttered down on the ancient city.

However, in this world of ice and snow, Yunfu City is a scene of bustling activity.

Black smoke rose from the roofs of every household. It was the charcoal burning in the stove, which dispelled the severe cold of midwinter and brought warmth to the home.

In the city, there is a huge furnace at the door of almost every house, with the fire burning blazingly, and the flames illuminate half the sky red.

Everyone spontaneously helped the rebels smelt iron ore. Since Yangzhou was rich in minerals, almost everyone here had some iron-smelting skills. With bare arms and sweat pouring down, they hammered on the anvils, just to provide materials for the rebels to forge weapons.

Without the rebels, they wouldn't be here today.
These were all spontaneous actions on their part.

They knew that these iron tools would become powerful weapons in the hands of the rebels, redressing their injustices and protecting their hard-earned good life.

For a time, the streets and alleys were filled with the sound of crackling hammering, and the entire Yunfu City was like a huge furnace, rapidly consuming the iron ore that was continuously delivered from the entire Yangzhou.

Just as Lin Zhongyun expected, Yangzhou's foundation and Daqian's arsenal were being transformed into sophisticated equipment at a very fast speed, thereby enhancing the rebel army's combat effectiveness.

This was exactly his plan, and everything was going according to his plan.

The most important thing is the reputation he has accumulated in the past and the support of the people. Without the spontaneous help of the people in the city, he would never be able to do this.

Therefore, no matter when and where, the people's will is the sharpest weapon.

at the same time,

In a blacksmith shop, Lin Zhongyun was examining a piece of scrap material carefully.

Although the shape of this piece of scrap is very close to that on the drawing, due to the forging process, cracks have begun to appear on the surface of the entire scrap, and it is obvious that it has become a concubine.

Beside him, there were more than a dozen furnaces burning red hot. The blacksmiths had bare arms and were sweating profusely. The hammers in their hands were hitting the anvils with a crackling sound, and the iron sparks were flying everywhere, brilliant and dangerous.

They are the most skilled blacksmiths in Yangzhou.
As soon as they heard the call of the rebels, they rushed here without hesitation and worked day and night to make samples according to the drawings.

He couldn't remember which sample this was. He only remembered that he hadn't slept well in the past few days, and the masters in front of him had hardly slept at all.

This is probably the last persistence of the old craftsman, which is admirable.

"Is it still not working?" Lin Zhongyun looked at the waste in his hand with a frown on his face, his expression a little solemn.

You know, this is a powerful weapon against the Northern Barbarian cavalry. If it is successful, then why would he still be afraid of the Northern Barbarians?
Although he already has the trump card of the Wu Dang Flying Army, the closer it gets to the final moment of the battle for world domination, the more cautious he must be, otherwise he might capsize.

What's more, his opponents this time are the northern barbarians. If they capsize, the consequences will be disastrous. He absolutely does not want to see such consequences, so he must be prepared for both situations no matter what.

"boom!"

Just then, a loud noise interrupted his thoughts.

Following the sound, I saw a huge block of iron finally taking shape under the forging of the blacksmith.

"King Wu, what do you think this time?" A blacksmith with a beard came to Lin Zhongyun with great enthusiasm, carrying a prototype of the armor.

At this moment, he was already panting from exhaustion, and his face was sweating from the high temperature. But even so, he still said in a deep voice: "We have used several different forging techniques to forge this, and the quality is also the best."

"Yes, this sample looks good, and it has enough hardness."

Lin Zhongyun took the armor sample and looked at it carefully. It looked good enough, but it was obviously not tough enough. Its biggest drawback was that it was too heavy.

Even though this is the only component that is heavy, a set of standard armor actually has dozens of components, and if each one is heavier, the total weight will be more than ten pounds.

Sometimes, a set of armor even weighs more than an adult.

This is why there are rarely skinny cavalrymen in the army, because just a set of armor would be enough to crush their skeletons, not to mention fighting in battle.

Therefore, for a good set of armor, the most important thing is not its defensive power, but to achieve the highest defensive power under the premise of a certain weight. This is the key to judging the quality of a set of armor.

Of course, there are so-called heavily armored knights, but that kind of armor not only has requirements for the wearer, but also for the warhorse under his crotch.

The heavy armor originally weighs about 100 to 200 kilograms, and with the weight of an adult, it is more than 300 kilograms. Any horse would be crushed by a weight of more than 300 kilograms.

This is why the Northern Barbarians are the best cavalry in the world, because only the war horses produced in abundance in the Northern Barbarian pastures can carry a weight of 300 kilograms and still run fast.

But as mentioned before, such a gap is natural and cannot be made up, so they must overtake on the curve.

In this situation, it is obviously not a wise move to compete with the Northern Barbarians in terms of armor defense, so they can only compete in flexibility.

Moreover, in his mind, he also wanted to let the Wu Dang Flying Army wear this set of armor. Only if it was light enough could the Wu Dang Flying Army's advantage of flexibility be brought into play.

But when he looked at the master who was almost exhausted, he said with some reluctance: "That's it for now. Tell them to imitate it according to this."

However, the master saw Lin Zhongyun's difficulty and said righteously: "King Wu, you have your say. If I am unqualified, I am unqualified. I can accept it.

Moreover, this armor is for the soldiers to use in battle, so we can't be careless, otherwise we will really become sinners for eternity."

After hearing what his master said, Lin Zhongyun could not help but feel a surge of admiration in his heart. He knew that these blacksmiths had put in too much sweat and effort to forge excellent armor.

Who says that ordinary people don’t know what is right?

Whenever there is war, those who go into battle to kill the enemy are all common people from humble backgrounds.

On the other hand, what about those people who claim to be establishing their destiny for the world?

Every one of them is a hypocritical person.

"Master, you are right."

Thinking of this, he nodded, and said with great emotion: "We can't slack off in the slightest, we must do our best. Let's try other forging methods. Defense is secondary, and the main thing is lightness."

"When we destroy Daqian and the Northern Barbarians in the future, I will definitely reward you according to your merits and will never treat you unfairly."

"King Wu is in a serious condition. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid we wouldn't know where we are."

"It was King Wu who gave us a new life, and this is what we should do."

"That's right, we volunteered." When everyone heard Lin Zhongyun's words, a gleam of determination flashed in their eyes, and they were even more excited. They originally came here voluntarily, and now not only can they win every place, but they can also be rewarded according to their merits in the future, which makes them more motivated.

Lin Zhongyun smiled and nodded, then walked out of the blacksmith shop.

"Pass on my order. These masters must be treated well and all their requests must be met to the best of our ability." He walked leisurely on the white snow, his brows relaxed, and said to Yuan Jingxin who was following behind him.

With such a group of people, he would have no worries about not being able to imitate the standard armor of the Ming Dynasty.

"Yes, my lord."

Yuan Jingxin spoke very respectfully on the side.

But Lin Zhongyun saw the hesitation on his face and said calmly, "Why is there something else?"

Seeing this, Yuan Jingxin did not dare to hold back at all. He took a deep breath, sorted out his thoughts and said, "Your Excellency, because the court has adopted swift and resolute measures against the aristocratic families, now in addition to the prefectures and counties we have conquered, the aristocratic families in other prefectures and counties are ready to make a move.

"They have sent a number of envoys in the past few days to meet you and seek your protection."

As the intelligence chief of the rebel army, Yuan Jingxin could naturally find out news from other states.

Hearing this, Lin Zhongyun also frowned slightly.

Lin Zhongyun had already expected that the Daqian court's actions this time would cause chaos among people from all directions.

If he ignored everything and directly accepted these people, the Daqian court would definitely suffer a great loss.

But this time Lin Zhongyun did not agree directly.

"Aristocratic families? They are just a bunch of blood-sucking insects lying on the Daqian court!"

That's right,

The blood-sucking worms are his evaluation of these families and also represent his attitude.

Lin Zhongyun is no longer the little white he used to be.

As the saying goes, families come and go, but dynasties remain forever.

They all occupied one side, united with each other, relied on huge resources, constantly suppressed the latecomers, controlled the only channel for class leap, and used all means to gain wealth and status, controlling the government and bullying the people.

These very few oligarchic families who control a large amount of the country's wealth are the source of all unrest.

If it weren't for the fact that these aristocratic families had controlled the land for hundreds of years, allowing the upper classes to bully the lower classes, and the county governors in various places to feel safe and oppress the people at will, Daqian would not have come to this point.

Even among these aristocratic families, some have a family history longer than that of the Daqian Dynasty which lasted for five hundred years.

It was these aristocratic families that completely emptied the foundation of Daqian. This was also the reason why the young emperor, when the situation was desperate, plundered the homes of those aristocratic families with swift and decisive action.

The wealth of just one of Yangzhou's aristocratic families is enough to completely stabilize the emotions of the entire Yangzhou. One can imagine how huge the wealth of these aristocratic families is.

Moreover, he would never forget that the reason why he could get to where he is today was not due to anything else, but the fact that these people who were once oppressed by the aristocratic families fought their way out one by one, even with the help of the system.

But those living lives cannot be faked in the slightest.

If the people from other states and counties saw that I had taken in these noble families, they would definitely feel alienated.

The people are the foundation of the righteous army!

He has to choose this!
And the most important thing is that he now has the ability to take action against these aristocratic families.

As long as it's not too obvious!
Thinking of this, he snorted coldly, his eyes full of murderous intent, and said coldly: "It's fine if they don't come, but since they are here, they have to leave something behind.

"Tell those noble families that if they are willing to give up their ill-gotten gains, I will warmly welcome them and will leave them with enough wealth to live comfortably."

"As for those who are still stubborn, when I destroy Daqian, the iron cavalry will arrive. There is no place for them in the empire that I have envisioned and want to build."

He wants protection money!

These state and county righteous armies have not yet joined the righteous army, so it is difficult for Lin Zhongyun to suppress them directly.

But it is impossible for Lin Zhongyun to protect them in vain!

Hearing Lin Zhongyun's words, Yuan Jingxin, who was standing aside, immediately broke out in a cold sweat and looked at Lin Zhongyun in shock.

Even before coming here, he had guessed that the plans of the noble families would most likely fail. However, Lin Zhongyun's strength still exceeded his expectations.

After being stunned for a long time, he finally reacted, with a pale face, and said carefully: "Sir, although these noble families deserve to die, it is too overbearing to do this."

"If we continue to push them like this, I'm afraid those noble families will be desperate and throw themselves into the arms of Daqian. At that time, then..."

But before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Lin Zhongyun with a sneer.

The corners of his mouth were cold, and he shouted in a decisive tone: "But what? Even if they throw themselves into the arms of Daqian, what does it matter?"

"From the very beginning, there has been no place for those people in my empire. This is the bottom line that must not be crossed!"

His voice was extremely firm but also carried a bone-chilling chill, even colder than the chill of midwinter.

Hearing Lin Zhongyun's firm tone, Yuan Jingxin felt a chill in his heart.

He realized that he had underestimated the King of War in front of him, and his heart became more determined, because he knew that he had followed the right person.

For the sake of the common people, they are not afraid to offend the wealthy families who hold wealth that rivals that of a country, even knowing that doing so will push the wealthy families into the chaos.

Throughout history, has there been any emperor or person who would do this for the people? And now, the King Wu in front of him has done it.

Since we can't stop it, let's just make the storm even more violent.

"Please rest assured, King Wu. I will definitely convey your words to all those noble families." He took a deep breath, bowed, and then slowly retreated.

He knew what his retreat meant. It meant that a storm was coming, and it also meant that the aristocratic families that had been dominating the Central Plains for five hundred years would face a devastating blow.

After Yuan Jingxin left, he looked into the distance. This time, the direction was not the Daqian where the Daqian was lingering, nor the northern border occupied by the northern barbarians, but Cang and Yuzhou, his starting point.

He knew that this road he was on was not an easy one.

But there is no one in this family who can bring peace to the world, so Lin Zhongyun will be the first one.
Ps: I’m begging for monthly tickets and support from my brothers!
(End of this chapter)