The officials looked at Fang Yun, already guessing his methods: win over one group and strike at another. Simple, but effective.
In truth, neither the court nor its officials cared much about the lineages currently coming forward to oppose him. They amounted to less than a tenth of Jing Kingdom's gentry lineages.
What the court feared was that, once matters spiraled out of control, more lineages would become involved. In the worst case, the court and the lineages might end up on opposing sides.
Just as those lineages were seething with indignation, Fang Yun tossed out the bait of "Council Scholar." No lineage could remain unmoved.
In truth, every locality had many powerful lineages whose combined influence could affect the policies of the chief local official. But their power had substance without a recognized title. If they encountered an official with powerful backing, such as a county magistrate from a hereditary aristocratic family, those local magnates would not dare step out of line.
Council Scholars were different. Although they had no real decision-making authority, if most Council Scholars opposed a decree, the court would never force it through.
Council Scholars still possessed a measure of soft power.
One could even say that becoming a Council Scholar gave someone a semi-official status. Even if their influence over the court was slight, their local influence would soar.
A lineage head who became a Council Scholar was essentially like a great bandit who had accepted amnesty and entered imperial service.
Thus, even if Council Scholars did not seem to wield much power at present, the title alone was enough to make the lineages green with envy.
Many officials suddenly felt sorry for those troublemaking lineages. Those people were not stupid, but their mistake lay in choosing Fang Yun as their enemy. Fang Yun