Chapter 203 Why are you guys bothering?
"Everyone! If I die! It will be your turn next!" Zhou Shu was obviously very desperate, but his strong desire to survive still made him plead.
As the person with the strongest local faction and local power, he used to speak in a bullish and coaxing way. But now, the only hope of survival is to humbly ask for help from these colleagues.
However, his pleas have yielded nothing. The local faction is united in will and is determined to abandon you. Qiao Zhou, in particular, said with a rare sigh.
"I have been watching the sky at night and saw that there are evil spirits surrounding the northeast. Your Zhou family is in danger of such a disaster. In the past, I also advised you to be careful in your words and deeds, but you were unwilling to listen."
"The calamity we are facing now is inevitable. It is impossible to save."
You have remonstrated fart! Usually it's you, the bastard, who asks for the most money from my Zhou family. When it comes to revising canons and books, our Zhou family has provided financial support, but now we don’t admit it!
Zhou Shu wanted to fight this old man who was telling lies, but it was already too late.
"The traitor Zhou Shu! Capture it for me!"
More than a hundred Northern Army soldiers broke through the obstruction of the servants and rushed into the inner palace. As soon as he saw Zhou Shu, he showed no mercy at all and immediately greeted him with the instrument of torture.
Since Zhuge ruled Shu in Shu, and after the laws were revised, there has been basically no malpractice for personal gain. No matter what official position you hold, as long as the crime is immediately caught and punished, no matter what you say, it will not work.
Not only that, Zhuge Liang also banned the use of money to atone for sins. No matter how rich you are or what your situation is, you have to go to prison and enjoy life.
Zhou Shu took a look and saw that the generals who came to capture him were all from Jingzhou. There were several new faces among them, all of whom had just arrived in Shu.
Obviously the Jingzhou faction...or the Prime Minister's Office has regained control of the rhythm, and the local faction is about to be attacked.
"Hahahaha... all of you who are just trying to survive, do you think Ma Di will let you go after I die?"
Zhou Shu was desperate and allowed the Northern Army to capture him, but before leaving, he still turned to look at his colleagues with a ferocious expression.
"It's impossible for Ma Su to let you go! When everything is settled, you will all be killed by him!"
"Today I, Zhou Shu, am unlucky and have to take the first step. But I will wait for you at Taishan Mansion. It won't be long before you all come to accompany me!!"
Before he finished speaking, he was already dragged away by the soldiers of the Northern Army.
At the same time, the Zhou Mansion in Chengdu was also seized by the troops of the First Battalion of the Northern Army. All the men, women, and children inside were captured, and tens of thousands of money were confiscated.
It can only be said that the Zhou family, a wealthy family in Sichuan, has indeed gained a lot from this wave.
Zhou Shu's whole family was sealed up, and all his direct descendants were tried and beheaded. At this moment, the local faction has basically lost everything. If this continues, they will all be kicked out.
The powerful barriers in the Shu region have been loosened.
"Let's talk about it, what should we do? If this continues for a few months, all of our heads will be chopped off by Ma Su!" Du Wei's face was extremely ugly, and he looked at everyone around him with fear in his eyes. My colleagues are also very unsure of themselves.
Their demonstrations to the court had no effect at all. Not only did the Prime Minister's Office not feel the pressure, it also exposed the fact that their local faction was extremely weak.
As the famous saying goes, don't expose your strength at will, because this will let everyone see that you have no strength at all.
The local faction has been weak for so many years and is no longer as strong as it was when Liu Bei entered Shu.
In fact, the local faction has split long ago and there has been internal discord. For example, Qin Mi, Deng Zhi, and Li Hui were the first large local families to be aligned with the Shu Han. But because the place still has prestige, Zhuge Liang has been unable to make up his mind to deal with them.
If Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition failed, he really wouldn't dare to touch him. If it weren't for Ma Su's recklessness, no one would have expected that the local faction was so weak that they were all distraught.
"How about we go back to Sanba and gather all the clan members to fight with their Jingzhou faction?" Du Qiong gritted his teeth and suggested to Du Wei.
"Now that we are all going to die, it's better to give it a try! Even if we can't move the clans in our hometown with our orders, there are still more than ten thousand private soldiers from each of our families combined."
"Then if we fail, where will we go?" Du Wei was silent for a moment, then looked at Du Qiong and said expressionlessly.
"Going to Cao Wei? On the way, we have to pass through Hanzhong, where the military power of the imperial court is strongest. Can we get along with it?"
"Going to Soochow? Can the Yangtze River pass on the way be passable? Even if it is passable, once we leave Yiling, we will be the base camp of the Jingzhou faction. We will not survive Jiangling at all!"
Du Wei's words silenced everyone. At this point, it was useless for them to fight to the death. Apart from causing some trouble for Shu Han, it has no use at all.
Seeing that all his colleagues, including Qiao Zhou, were pretending to be dead, Du Wei could only let out a long sigh.
"That's all, I'll go to the Prime Minister's Mansion to have a showdown with Zhuge Liang. At the moment, I'm afraid Zhuge Liang is the only one who can keep the Jingzhou faction from killing us and stop this lunatic Ma Di."
"If he doesn't want to, we will have no choice but to lose everything."
Then Du Wei came to the Prime Minister's Mansion with his last hope and asked to see Zhuge Liang.
When asking the clerk to go in and report, Du Wei waited desolately in the cold wind. At this moment, he suddenly recalled the scene when Zhuge Liang personally drove to pick him up for official service in order to appease the local faction.
At that time, he was quite prosperous and still had some dignity and prestige. But now, he could only wait miserably outside the Prime Minister's Mansion, begging Zhuge Liang to let them go.
The world is constantly changing, who can be more noble than anyone else?
But in the end, Du Wei got the news that Zhuge Liang was willing to meet him.
Entering the Prime Minister's Mansion, Du Wei finally met Zhuge Liang.
But unfortunately, I didn't know that things were a bit busy today. Zhuge Liang has been dealing with government affairs. Du Wei did not dare to disturb him at this moment, and stood aside with a low eyebrow, waiting for Zhuge Liang.
There is no way, the situation is stronger than the person, even if they don't want to see you, what can you do?
Zhuge Liang dealt with government affairs for nearly two hours, while Du Wei also waited for two hours. Finally, when Du Wei's legs became numb while standing, Zhuge Liang looked up as if he finally remembered.
"So it's the Fu of the State! Shu Liang is so busy with his affairs that he almost forgot about your arrival. Please sit down quickly!" Zhuge Liang showed a look of surprise and immediately ordered Du Wei to be seated.
"Prime Minister! Today Wei is here to beg the Prime Minister for help!" Du Wei cupped his hands bitterly and did not dare to sit down, saluting repeatedly.
"What does Guo Fu mean by this? This is Chengdu. Who dares to do anything against my Han officials?" Zhuge Liang raised his eyebrows, showing surprise.
"Prime Minister! We don't dare to have any second thoughts anymore. We are willing to dedicate all our family property to fund the Prime Minister's Northern Expedition! Please, Prime Minister, for the sake of us all being Han ministers, let the Du family go!" Du Wei could no longer hold on. Stopped, he showed his cards directly, his tone was almost pleading.
Seeing Du Wei dying so soon, Zhuge Liang's eyes flashed with surprise. It seemed that Ma Su was too frightened by them, and the local wealthy people were already frightened.
Thinking of this, Zhuge Liang gradually became sad, and his expression gradually became helpless.
"Guofu, why do you think you are doing this?"