Chapter 101 It's Important to Me Without You

No matter how much a person plans, once it comes down to life and death, it all amounts to nothing.

This has proven to be true, especially among wealthy and powerful families.

Locally, they were the local bullies, the tyrants, the ever-present powerful clans and the ever-changing emperors; no matter how dynasties changed, they were always the beneficiaries.

Firstly, they possess immense financial resources and can recruit soldiers and horses at any time to seize your empire.

Secondly, they exploit loopholes in the law and do bad things that you can't do anything about because there's no way to punish them in the law. The law is created so that you can follow it and be accepted by the people. Naturally, you can't do anything about these powerful families and you end up being led by them.

Because you've offended a powerful clan, even the smallest thing they do can cause you serious trouble. Even powerful princes like Liu Shan and Liu Dai couldn't avoid this predicament.

But now Liu Fu has broken this rule.

Seeing that Liu Fu was serious, the Huang family head also backed down. He invited Liu Fu aside and spoke in a very low voice, in a way that only the two of them could hear, and began to exchange conditions.

"Your Majesty, the Huang family's closure of the market is truly a last resort. It's because the warehouses are infested with rats and insects, and the Liaodong region is bitterly cold with frequent rain and snow. If the grain is not stored properly, it could cause problems. We closed the market to repair the granaries."

That old man is still playing tricks on me.

Liu Fu ignored him at this point and directly exposed his lie:

"Alright, since you say it's for repairing the granary, then I'll send someone to check it out now and verify whether it's really as you say, that the granary is indeed being repaired there."

Upon hearing this, the Huang family head's expression immediately changed.

He really didn't expect Liu Fu to be so disrespectful!

This is definitely not something that can be appeased with a little favor.

With a heavy heart, the Huang family head had no choice but to go all out:

"Your Majesty, my Huang family owns 3.2 million mu of land in Liaodong. We are willing to offer 2 million mu of it to express our loyalty to Your Highness and the court. In addition, all the grain in our Huang family's grain stores is open to Your Majesty for your use at any time without needing to return it. Consider this a small token of our loyalty to Your Highness and the court. Do you think this can represent our Huang family's loyalty to the Han Dynasty and to you?"

Liu Fu was secretly surprised. It was said that landlords could collect tens of thousands of taels of silver into their homes, but to get even a single penny out of their pockets was like plucking feathers from a miserly person. It was extremely difficult.

But what's going on today?

Is this old man Huang really that willing to part with so much? The four major families control the grain business the most, and he's offering up all their grain and most of their land as a bargaining chip for their family's survival.

This old man is quite willing to spend money, huh?

In fact, the head of the Huang family lived to be seventy years old. In ancient times, the average lifespan was less than forty years. It was rare for a person to live to seventy. This old man had seen the world since he was a child.

Otherwise, how could the family business have thrived and remained standing in this turbulent world?

The Huang family head's insight was indeed sharp. As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately observed Liu Fu's expression. He saw that Liu Fu had heard that he had placed so many bets, yet he remained silent and expressionless.

He then realized that his filial piety had diminished once again.

He had no choice but to grit his teeth, stomp his foot, and offer an even bigger deal!

"Your Majesty, this old man is willing to increase the two million mu of fertile land to two million six hundred thousand mu. In addition to offering all the grain of my Huang family to Your Majesty, this old man is also willing to offer one million two hundred thousand taels of silver as expenses for Your Majesty's rule over the fiefdom. All of this is offered voluntarily by this old man. This old man only wants to show his loyalty to Your Majesty, to His Majesty, and to the entire Han Dynasty court. This old man is truly loyal and devoted. Heaven have mercy! Please, Your Majesty, accept this humble gift as a token of my loyalty!"

At this point, the head of the Huang family was already in tears, kneeling on the ground and bowing repeatedly.

If it were anyone else, seeing so much land, so much silver and grain, they would have readily given in to this old man Huang.

But Liu Fu knew that this Master Huang was no pushover.

The Huang family owns 3.2 million mu of fertile land. To buy all of this land would cost more than 10 million taels of silver. Could they afford it?

How many people were forced to sell their fertile land at rock-bottom prices? For every person who sold their land at such a low price, many more people lost their families, suffered misery, and faced a bleak old age...

Perhaps for other feudal lords and princes, these powerful clans were money trees; when they ran out of money, they could come up and squeeze them dry—it was a worthwhile deal.

But Liu Fu would never forget that, in the same historical context, the aristocratic clans on Earth had controlled the country for thousands of years, constantly draining the blood and flesh of the people and the imperial court...

If these boils are not removed, there will be no improvement in the situation for the local people!

With this in mind, no matter how tempting the Huang family's "small gifts" were, Liu Fu was determined to eliminate them completely!

"Guards, take all of Huang's family members to the prison to await my investigation and trial regarding the Huang family's rebellion."

When the head of the Huang family saw Liu Fu turn around and leave after giving the order, he was completely dumbfounded.

His own vision was truly remarkable. He had already given 70% of his family fortune to Liu Fu, just to use that money to save his family's lives. Who could be more willing to go to such lengths than him?

But Liu Fu didn't buy it at all, and he was very determined not to listen to me!

That's really strange!

Just as the head of the Huang family was puzzled, he was already shackled by the soldiers and escorted to the prison along with other members of the Huang family.

At this moment, Huang's sons, daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren all began to cry and plead, no matter how much they cried.

The fine silks and brocades they wore, the gold and jade hairpins in their hair, and the exquisite jade and gold sachets hanging from their waists... these precious items cannot be faked.

Stop saying how innocent and wronged you are.

If you are still innocent and wronged, the little things each of you is wearing are enough for a dozen or so ordinary families to live on for a lifetime. Are you still wronged?

Upon seeing that the entire Huang family had been arrested, Liu Fu ordered all the Huang family servants to be detained and await identification by the people. At that time, the evil servants would be arrested and severely punished, and the others would be sent back home.

After doing all this, Liu Fu ordered the entire Huang family mansion to be sealed off, and all of the Huang family's properties to be sealed off.

The very next morning, the government, in its own name, reopened all the confiscated Huang family grain shops and began selling grain to the people.

The strike was thus easily resolved.

At this time, the Huang family, one of the four major families, was completely arrested, which put pressure on the other three families...