It is precisely these methods that have allowed Jiangdong to maintain a de facto semi-independent status. Of course, nominally, it still obeys the orders of the central court.
It can be said that these families have indeed reaped considerable benefits from their life as local tyrants over the past 20,000 years.
Therefore, they were willing to share intelligence and information with that organization on a regular basis. But now, today, they even dared to assassinate the Duke—this is defying the heavens!
Even if Lin Yang is just a figurehead duke, he is still a duke whose fate is intertwined with the nation's. The imperial court won't let Jiangdong off the hook; when that happens, their army will probably march straight in!
Moreover, who can guarantee that none of you here are members of the imperial court? What if you say something you shouldn't today, and then when the imperial army arrives, you and your entire family are wiped out? It's not impossible.
Therefore, no matter what Zhang Ming said, everyone just kept drinking, drinking, and drinking. If all else failed, they would simply slump onto the table and declare, "I'm drunk!"
Chapter 58: Big Data Analysis Methods, Guo Jia's Headache
After a long while, Zhang Ming got tired of talking and stopped talking, slowly drinking his wine.
In truth, he was not unaware of the current situation. That Temple of War was like a thunderbolt; once the imperial army arrived, it would inevitably cause a deafening roar, destroying everything in its path.
In the past, the powerful families collectively utilized the Temple of War, but at the same time, they also protected it. But this time, it has truly gone too far.
It wasn't the prefect or the gentry who died, but the meritorious nobles. In truth, among the three pillars of the poor, the gentry, and the meritorious nobles, only the meritorious nobles were truly reliable.
The reason is even simpler: after a change of dynasty, commoners could still become officials, since it didn't really matter to them which dynasty it was. For a concrete example, look at the countless traitorous officials who served during the fall of the Song and Ming dynasties.
And the aristocratic families, in reality, are unreliable. The saying "a thousand-year-old family, a hundred-year-old dynasty" has been heard countless times by the imperial court in other worlds. Anyone with the surname Liu who isn't stupid knows to take precautions.
Only these true nobles, these genuine aristocrats, each with their own fiefdoms, will be truly loyal to the court. After a change of dynasty, will the new dynasty tolerate these former nobles occupying their territories for an extended period?
It is obvious that if a new dynasty were to be established, the vast majority of nobles (except those who rebelled and those who had long since surrendered to the new dynasty) would lose their fiefdoms. Even for the sake of their fiefdoms, they would fight to the death to protect the court.
The one who died was the Duke of Wu, the Duke of Wu with an immense fiefdom. In name, he was a top-tier feudal lord. The imperial court couldn't possibly ignore this, and even if the court did, the other feudal lords wouldn't remain indifferent.
Jiangdong is finished, the Zhang family is finished. Who can blame them? The Zhang family rose to power through sacrificial rituals and has long been inseparable from the Temple of War.
Just as Zhang Ming was feeling quite melancholy, someone suddenly brought out a newspaper.
"This is today's Great Han Daily. The first page is still about the story of Emperor Gaozu, and the second page is also about Jiangdong," Gu Yong said with a smile.
This could be considered a change of topic, since the atmosphere just now was rather dull, and Gu Yong was so bored that he didn't even have much interest in drinking.
"Shh, it's all a routine, a complete routine. The newspaper was alright when it first came out, but now it's all the same old routine. It's nothing more than how great Jiangdong is, how beautiful the scenery is, how picturesque the mountains and rivers are. It's all the same in the end." A young man from a prominent family said impatiently from the side.
This man, named Yu Fan, was from the Yu family of Wu Commandery. It was a prominent family at the commandery level, and in the Jiangdong region, it was considered a distinguished and influential household.
However, the Yu family is quite unique. They do not rely on the imperial court or the Temple of War. They are a family that has made its fortune on its own.
Therefore, Yu Fan wasn't too worried about the storms that lay ahead. Of course, sometimes he would think about how to better establish connections with the imperial court.
"We are collecting information on the Jiangdong region at a high price, including various topographical data, myths and legends, folk rhymes, land information, the status of silver sacrifices, the distribution of the Mao God, the situation of the villagers, statistics on famous people, the distribution of major families, the specific situation of the War God Temple, and related legends of blessed lands..."
"Each piece of information, if useful, is worth at least fifty coins, with no upper limit. Currently, there is news of this kind near the Lu family's ancestral home in Lujiang County. Those interested can come and explain." Reading the information in the newspaper, Gu Yong felt that something bad was about to happen, something really bad was about to happen!
"This, this, this is simply... is this a prelude to action? Or is this the Duke of Wu's counterattack? Quite swift indeed. But what's the use of buying information that everyone already knows?" Zhang Ming exclaimed in surprise.
Anyway, everyone present knew who was who, so Zhang Ming, in his excitement, spoke his mind without any reservations.
Upon hearing this, Gu Yong frowned. He sensed that there was more to this matter than met the eye. However, he had no idea what it was. After all, the information was too limited.
The kind of divination that could reveal everything with a flick of the fingers is useless now. Because with the appearance of the Chosen One, the secrets of heaven have long since vanished!
Inside the Lu family's ancestral home, in one of the rooms, Guo Jia, Taishi Ci, and Su Qing'er were discussing the deeper meaning behind Lin Yang's actions.
"Ziyi, what do you think is the reason for the young master's actions?" Su Qing'er asked directly.
Upon hearing this, Taishi Ci was stunned for a moment. How would I know about such a mind-bending thing? I'm just a military general!
However, Su Qing'er was, after all, the future mistress of the house, so she couldn't very well not answer. Then, scratching his head, Taishi Ci said, "I guess the next step after the lord comes out is to go to his fiefdom. This is probably to investigate the specific situation in advance."
"After all, it's understandable that our lord is wary after surviving such a close call. Moreover, the government in Jiangdong seems rather unreliable these days. Nobody knows just how well they've been infiltrated."
"Therefore, given that the government and powerful families cannot be trusted, in order to better govern the area, we have no choice but to conduct an investigation first," Taishi Ci concluded after much thought.
As for whether this was the real purpose, he didn't know. Anyway, he felt that perhaps it was.
Upon hearing this, Su Qing'er frowned and said directly, "Impossible. Brother Peng is so smart, how could it be so simple? I can think of that reason too, it can't be true. Fengxiao, what do you think?"
Upon hearing this, Guo Jia, who had been completely relaxed the whole time, immediately sensed something was wrong. In this kind of situation, guessing right was bad, but guessing wrong was even worse.
However, since Su Qing'er asked, Guo Jia simply answered.
"In my opinion, this is actually just a matter of making our lord's name known. Due to various reasons, the Jiangdong region is not closely connected with the Central Plains. The people there are not familiar with our lord either."
"Therefore, under the guise of collecting information, we are actually giving gifts and money to the common people, wandering knights, and landlords. At the same time, we can also build a good image. For example, being a person of your word and generous in your actions."
"Just like how Shang Yang established credibility at the city gates before his reforms, my lord's actions are also aimed at building a trustworthy image," Guo Jia replied perfunctorily.
He didn't even believe these reasons himself. But since they were just meant to fool Su Qing'er, there was no need to say so much.
Upon hearing this, Su Qing'er glared at him. Then she fell silent. Anyway, judging from Guo Jia's expression, he seemed to know something; if he didn't want to say, then so be it.
Then, he snorted and left. Seeing this, Taishi Ci couldn't help but smile wryly and said, "Brother Fengxiao, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. Why bother to just give the mistress a perfunctory answer?"
"It's not that I'm trying to brush you off, but I really haven't figured out the secret yet," Guo Jia said helplessly, spreading his hands.
Actually, it wasn't that he didn't want to speak up, but rather that he wasn't sure if what he was about to do would actually come to fruition. If Lin Yang's idea could be realized, it wouldn't be too late to say it later. But if it couldn't be realized, speaking up too early would only make Lin Yang look bad.
Then, watching Taishi Ci's departing figure, Guo Jia recalled Lin Yang's words.
"The real purpose of this matter is to analyze the secrets of those aristocratic families. This includes the communication between the gods, the secrets of the blessed lands, the many hidden treasures, and even the secrets of the War God Temple organization."