Chapter 839 - 63: Gu Lin’s Legislation, Rebellion Against the Purge!

The first day, the Assistant Transport Commissioner of Huainan Road, Liu Geng, was dismissed and detained under authority. His residence was surrounded by personal officers from the Imperial Front Division, airtight, with all account books and documents sealed.

The news had yet to spread when, on the second day, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Director of the Bian River Dike and Bank Authority, Chai Jing, was impeached in court by the Imperial Censor for accepting large bribes and facilitating illegal passage for smuggling ships. The evidence was conclusive, and he was immediately stripped of his office.

Soon after, numerous involved officials including Sun You, the Co-administrator of the Grand Treasury, and Zhao Qian, the Officer of Bian River Mill Operations, were successively toppled.

The efficiency of the investigation by the Imperial Censorate was astonishing, clearly having already grasped tangible evidence, just waiting for a thunderous strike.

Those "big figures" who once held real power in various links of canal transport and were famously prestigious were now like fallen leaves swept by the autumn wind, tumbling down from the clouds.

And this was just within the central hub.

There’s even less need to mention what was happening in local areas.

And most crucially, as this major purge by the Imperial Censorate began, people from various regions who had suffered oppression by large families were no longer tolerating. They began to report all their various past misdeeds to the Imperial Censorate.

This was bound to cause an even greater vortex!

—The world was in shock!

It had been less than thirty years since the unification, and the sense of turbulence had once again risen across the land.

Fortunately, at the onset of unification, Gu Lin had already conducted a large-scale purge, eliminating almost all resistance forces to prevent greater chaos.

Yet, the forces of the Imperial Censorate could not entirely radiate across every domain.

And the strength of those influential families with deep local roots was naturally unquestionable. When they withstood the first wave of the Imperial Censorate’s offensive, they naturally had only one retreat left to them.

That was rebellion!

Huainan Road, Luzhou Prefecture.

This ancient city, which thrived because of canal transport, was destined to be sleepless tonight.

The Lv Mansion, located in the eastern part of the city and renowned for its vast grounds and deep courtyards, was shrouded in an air of imminent death and despair.

The Lv Clan, emerging from generations of salt merchants, had deep roots in Luzhou since the previous dynasty. Many family descendants had entered officialdom, and their protégés and old affiliates were scattered throughout the various divisions of canal transport in Huainan.

Relying on their control over canal transport junctions and intricate local connections, the wealth and influence the Lv family had accumulated over the years were far beyond ordinary imagination.

But now, the guillotine of the Imperial Censorate was already hanging overhead.

Deep within the residence, inside a secret chamber.

The flickering candlelight cast shadows on the twisted face of Patriarch Lv Zhang, filled with rage and fear.

He suddenly threw the copied "Regulations on Canal Transport Reformation" on the table, and the sturdy sandalwood table made a dull sound.

"Did you all see it clearly?" Lv Zhang’s voice was hoarse, tinged with the madness of a desperate path, "Gu Lin is aiming to sever our roots!"

"A hundred coins for exile, five hundred coins for hanging, a thousand coins for beheading, confiscation of family property... He intends to push every single one of our Lv family, hundreds strong, onto a path of death!"

Sitting below were the core descendants of the Lv Clan and several local strongmen leaders dependent on the Lv family. Everyone’s expression was solemn, even fearful.

"Uncle," Lv Zhang’s nephew, now serving as a commander in Luzhou’s auxiliary military, Lv Xiao, suddenly stood up. Young and hot-blooded, his face was full of hostility, "How much tax has our Lv family paid for Luzhou Prefecture, how many people have we supported?"

"Now that Gu Lin is wielding power in court, issuing such vicious laws, it’s evident that he aims to exterminate us, the local great families!"

"Should we just sit and wait for death, allowing the people of the Imperial Censorate to come and seize our property and imprison us?"

"Wait for death?" Lv Zhang sneered, his eyes flashing with a terrifying light, "Our Lv family has operated for generations; how can we willingly accept slaughter with our necks outstretched?"

"If Gu Lin leaves us no way out, we’ll blaze our own trail!"

He scanned the crowd, saying word by word, "Let’s not forget, we have money, grain, people! There are our people in Luzhou’s auxiliary military; on this Huainan Road, we’re not the only ones who were favored by our Lv family but driven to desperation by Gu Lin’s new policies, are we?"

Another clan elder, worried, said, "Patriarch, but that is the Gu Clan... Five generations of ministers, deep-rooted; how can we contend against them?"

"Contend?" Lv Zhang suddenly slapped the table, "Who said we are to directly contend with that colossus?"

"What we need to do is ’Jingnan’!"

He lowered his voice, yet it carried an unrivaled determination: "We will raise the banner of ’cleansing the court, punishing the tyrant Gu Lin’!"

"Tell the world that it’s Gu Lin’s abuse of power and harsh laws that force good ministers into rebellion!"

"We are not rebelling against the Great Song; we are cleansing traitors for the Emperor, for the scholarly gentry and commoners oppressed by the Gu Clan!"

"Yes! Cleanse the court!" Lv Xiao immediately echoed, a pathological flush surfacing on his face, "Does the Gu Clan truly think they can remain forever on high?"

"I refuse to believe we are the only ones discontent with the Gu Clan in this world!"

"As long as we are the first to raise the flag, there will be responders!"

"Even if we ultimately fail, we will break some of the Gu Clan’s teeth and tear a layer of their skin!"

"Let them know that even local snakes like us will bite when pushed to the brink!"

In the secret chamber, heavy breathing rose and fell.

And as time passed.

This fear of the future gradually transformed into a madness of desperation spurred by the reckless incitement of the Lv Zhangs father and son....

.....

(Ps: At the start of the month, I humbly plead for monthly tickets, imploring brothers for support, many thanks from Yu.)