The prestige of the five great families defeated the families outside the imperial palace. However, the families in the other four states were far away from the capital, and coupled with the instigation of some people, they still surrounded the government offices in various places.
On the afternoon of the day when the five great families issued a statement, a rumor spread everywhere that the Criminal Court was currently dealing with the chaos in Dingfu and had no time to spare for the time being. Within three days at most, if anyone dared to besiege the government office, they would be deemed to have colluded with the Kingdom of Qing and would be dealt with for treason.
This rumor caused a certain amount of panic, and more than half of the families that besieged the government office left. Some people were even so worried that they were ready to surrender and confess.
However, hundreds of families continued to besiege government offices in various places.
Xiangzhou, Yueyang City.
This place, once called Baling, was the capital of Xiangzhou. It was officially renamed because of an article "Yueyang Tower Inscription".
This place is regarded as one of the two main bases of the Fang Party, the other being Ning'an City.
But in this place which can be said to be completely controlled by the Fang party officials, thousands of people suddenly poured in a few days ago. Even several families in the city joined in. They all blocked the governor's office and completely blocked the entire street, making it impassable to this day.
When night falls, under the bright light of Wenqu Star, people here don't even need to turn on lights, they can move freely and everything is clearly visible.
On the long street, quilts were spread on the ground. Thousands of people were chatting, eating, drinking, or playing games such as touhu, liubo, go, and zhilu, just like they were having a picnic. They were not afraid of the three rows of soldiers who were standing guard at the gate of the yamen.
Deep inside the street, a large group of people stopped at the corner. Several high-ranking officials in official uniforms slowly walked out from the corner and looked at the people in front of the provincial government office from afar.
Feng Zimo, the new governor of Xiangzhou, and Fang Shouye, the Grand Commander of Xiangzhou, stood still with several of their subordinates.
Fang Shouye snorted coldly and said, "These idiots are being used as pawns without knowing it. Do they think Jingguo is still the same Jingguo as before?"
Feng Zimo said: "We should be happy. Among these families, a considerable number are spies left behind by the Kingdom of Qing. They were supposed to explode when the situation in the Kingdom of Jing was turbulent, but they were unexpectedly triggered in advance by the Prime Minister's reform. This is a great thing."
Fang Shouye's face turned pale, and he said, "It's a good thing indeed, but I am ashamed. Not long ago, I swore to Fang Xusheng that the spies planted by Qing Kingdom in Xiangzhou were basically dealt with, but I never thought that there are still so many left. Fengzhou Mu, you are the new governor, you must make some achievements to show Fang Xiang. Fang Xiang chose you, you can't let Fang Xiang down!"
Feng Zimo's eyes flashed with a strange light, and he said firmly: "Fang Xiang has been very kind to me, and has helped me. Today's matter must be handled properly! Moreover, these traitors who colluded with Qing State should be cut into pieces! Governor Fang, you can go with peace of mind. The credit is equal to ours. If anything goes wrong, this governor will bear the responsibility alone!"
"Okay! Brothers, follow me to capture Qingguo Xizuo!"
After Fang Shouye finished speaking, he grasped the official seal in his right hand and issued an order.
Then, teams of soldiers jumped out from the streets near the government office, and finally blocked the street in front of the government office.
Then, thousands of soldiers slowly approached forward, like two huge mountains, slowly squeezing towards the middle.
These soldiers were clearly from the army, but they were all dressed in yamen uniforms.
The people from various families in front of the provincial government office soon discovered the soldiers, stood up hurriedly, and looked around.
"What's going on? Didn't you say you would take action in three days? Why are you arresting people tonight?"
"Don't panic, they are just bluffing. I don't believe they dare to arrest anyone! If we are arrested, scholars from all over the world will support us, and the Holy Academy will also support us!"
"Yes, don't be afraid! What can they do to us? As long as anyone dies here, there will be a barrage of curses on the discussion list the next day, and they will be in big trouble!"
"Let's link our arms together and unite as one to fight against the evil government!"
All the people present gathered together and stood together, arm in arm, as they had agreed upon in advance.
Soon, the yamen runners on both sides came to them.
These people began to shout and curse, and attacked the yamen runners crazily.
However, the yamen runners present remained calm and simply confined everyone to a small space.
Gradually, everyone realized that these yamen runners did not dare to attack, so several people suddenly rushed out and attacked the vital points of a thin yamen runner.
Although the yamen runner was in disguise as a soldier, he was just an ordinary provincial soldier and had never experienced combat. When his vital parts were attacked, he immediately fainted from the pain.
The men continued to attack the unconscious yamen runner while shouting loudly.
"Your Excellency the Yamen Runner!"
"The soldiers are killing people!"
"Fang Yun has sent people to kill us. We can't just wait to die!"
"Everyone… "
Suddenly, a thunderous sound suppressed all other sounds.
"The Qing Kingdom's spies pretended to be good citizens and rebelled, attacking government offices and assassinating officials. This is an unforgivable crime! All officers, listen up. Take everyone away. If there is resistance, knock them all unconscious. If the resistance is fierce, you are allowed to kill them on the spot!"
Feng Zimo's voice echoed above the street. The air seemed to freeze. People from various families stayed where they were, not daring to move or shout.
After a few breaths, the bailiffs rushed forward like wolves and tigers and began to tie up the man with the prepared ropes.
Those people then realized that the government was serious about this. Some of them started to curse, some cried and screamed, some knelt down and begged for mercy, and some simply pretended to be dead...
Feng Zimo and Fang Shouye didn't care about these people's reactions. They arrested them all, sent them to the military outside the city, and began to interrogate them one by one.
Not only in Yueyang City, officials from all over the country took action and launched a thorough arrest campaign.
At daybreak, all the people who surrounded the government offices in various parts of Jing State were arrested.
Some people on the discussion board had already noticed this and began to criticize Jing State. However, Jing State used the arrest of Qing State spies as an excuse, and they used police officers instead of soldiers. In addition, there were too many casualties in the Dingfu Rebellion. No matter how those people criticized, most of the scholars took a wait-and-see attitude.
As the sun slowly rose higher, the Criminal Hall began to announce the results of the interrogation of Dingfu officials.
At the beginning, it was only determined that some of them were spies sent by Qing State, who had been lurking in Jing State for decades, and they instigated officials to oppose the court.
The highest-ranking spy among them was actually the Tongzhi of Dingfu, the second-in-command of the prefecture.
As for the prefect of Dingfu, he was the brother-in-law of Prince Kang. In the end, he honestly confessed that it was Prince Kang who asked him to oppose Fang Yun.
Then, the Criminal Court released some shocking news, saying that some people from aristocratic families had participated in the riot in Dingfu. They bribed the gangsters in Dingfu and organized them to participate in burning, killing and looting.
Finally, an even more explosive news shocked the ten countries.
Among the officials who participated in the Dingfu Rebellion, an official from the seventh rank was bribed by the rebels!