"Y-you, you must tell His Majesty that now is the best time to destroy Wu. We must not delay!"
Even as they walked, Deng Ai could no longer contain himself and began telling Zhang Hua what was on his mind.
Without a word, Zhang Hua led him into a mansion. It had formerly belonged to a general of the Shu Kingdom and stood beside the Prefect's Office, not far away. It had now been vacated to serve as a resting place for the palace officials.
For all the misery of the Shu Kingdom's common people, its great clans and ministers actually lived quite well.
Their days were rich with comfort and pleasure.
This general had not even been a high-ranking military officer, yet his residence was exceedingly luxurious, with sixteen rooms across its inner and outer quarters. The courtyard's decorations had a distinctive style entirely at odds with the outer walls. Clearly, its owner had put some effort into concealing the embellishments within.
In little more than a decade, the Shu lands had gone from a country with fertile soil and abundant grain to one short of food and desperately lacking cultivated land. Frequent campaigns were not the only cause.
There was another major problem: the great clans' annexation of land.
The Native Faction was swallowing up land, and so was the Outsider Faction. The two had even begun competing to see who could amass more land and seize it faster.
Whenever the Native Faction saw the Outsider Faction, they could barely resist spitting in their faces.
You stinking beggars, have you come to Yi Province to compete with us in carving up the common people like fish and meat?
The people of Yi Province should be ours to carve up. What share do you outsiders have in this?
Meanwhile,