Chapter 302 Solving the Problem (VII)
There were more than eight or nine hundred soldiers besieging the city of Hangzhou, divided into more than thirty groups. After the Chinese army rushed out, some of them immediately fled, while others launched attacks. Defeating these shrimp soldiers and crab generals did not cause any trouble to the troops, but it took some effort to capture them.
Gong Yu did not go to meet the stubborn elements. The army had already made plans on how to deal with such people, and someone was responsible for dealing with the prisoners. Gong Yu brought a few of those vassal guys over, and the reason for this group of people's rebellion was worth discussing.
The few people sent here did not look like villains, but rather scholars. However, there were also tall and fierce-looking scholars, such as Weber, whom Gong Yu knew. Weber was staying with Huo Chong at the moment, working in the Military Law Department. Thinking back to the fierce appearance of this fellow, Gong Yu was unwilling to look down on these scholars. Perhaps these people were all poisonous snakes hiding in the dark?
Be cautious and ask questions in a routine manner. These people are not very old, the oldest is only about 30 years old. There is no gray beard, let alone white beard. At this time, they are all anxious, and once they are asked, they immediately curse the officials' families excitedly.
Judging from the confessions of these people, they all claimed that they were deceived. Gong Yu felt that this excuse was too bad, so he did not mention it, but only asked these people why they thought they could win.
"We heard that the army would blow up the camp. Those people said that they had sent people into the city. As long as we cooperate with the outsiders to cause trouble, the troops in the city will blow up the camp. Then we can charge in and win without fighting."
After listening to one of them, Gong Yu finally understood what these people were thinking. Although it made sense, Gong Yu felt that this reason was too outrageous. Could it be that they were just making plans based on hearsay? If this method could work, then it would be because they had never been a soldier...
On second thought, these scholars had never served in the army. Moreover, scholars never regarded soldiers as human beings, so it was normal for them to have strange ideas about the army. So he continued to ask, "So what did you want to do by being deceived? Tell me."
The captives did not expect Gong Yu to ask such a question. They looked at each other and did not know what to say. Finally, the oldest one said, "I just heard that you burned down the house of Duke Yansheng and killed Duke Yansheng's people..."
The clerk here has quickly made a record, and the captives are explaining their reasons one by one. The more Gong Yu listens, the more surprised he is. These people are not after high positions and generous salaries, and they don't even accept any money.
Most of the reasons for the rebellion were related to ideology. In addition to the fact that the Huaxia Army spread by the Qing Dynasty killed the entire family of Shandong Yanshenggong, burned the Kong family's mansion, and smashed Confucius' tablet, the rest was that Huo Chong, as an official appointed by the court, was disloyal and rebelled.
Others completely disagreed with the Chinese imperial court's policy of nationalizing land, believing that if this continued, all scholars in the world would be doomed.
After listening to these guys' reasons, Gong Yu didn't know whether to take them seriously or ignore these idiots.
The families of the Qing officials knew they were doomed, so they fought to the death. This is understandable.
Those big households were worried about Huo Chong's implementation of the land policy, and in order not to be eliminated, they surrendered to Huo Chong early, trying to prove their value through cooperation in exchange for various preferential treatments. This is understandable.
However, this bunch of useless scholars actually rebelled over some stupid theory. Gong Yu could not see at all what wisdom these people had gained from reading books.
If you are really interested in the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, at least you should go to Shandong honestly like Gao Pang, who is obsessed with trivial matters, and then take the imperial examination to prove that your view of the world is in line with reality.
They have neither interests nor strength. They are crazy to start an air-to-air war.
As for mad dogs, Gong Yu thought they could be shot dead to serve as a warning to others.
Many thoughts were flying in Gong Yu's mind, especially the punishment of Jia, which made Gong Yu particularly interested.
These bastards were given dozens of kilograms of wooden shackles and were dragged to the streets, where they were forced to wear wooden shackles for half a month or a month. In addition to being watched by people, they were also physically tortured. The dual effects of mental humiliation and physical pain should have made these people realize that stupidity comes at a price.
However, the song "Three Disciplines and Eight Points of Attention" clearly states that prisoners should not be abused. Gong Yu did not want to be blamed by Huo Chong, and he did not want to let such a bunch of rubbish affect his future.
Have someone take these bastards away, sort out their speeches, and pick out some key points. Gong Yu has others interrogated.
On the way back to the government office, Gong Yu felt that since he could neither physically abuse nor mentally humiliate them, the only thing left was to classify these people as enemies and kill them all.
But no matter how much he thought about it, Gong Yu himself felt that this was definitely inappropriate, but he just didn't know where it was inappropriate.
Gong Yu would feel uncomfortable if he couldn't deal with these people severely.
In the end, Gong Yu did not take any action, but simply ordered the Manchus and officials' relatives to be taken out and shot.
The local constable who had defected to the imperial court came to ask for an audience, and Gong Yu let this distant relative in. When the constable saw Gong Yu, he suggested: "Sir, this is how it was done in the past..."
Any regime would punish those who were clearly rebelling severely and quickly. Soon the notice was posted. Nearly a thousand people were to be executed over three days. On the first day, these people were tied up and paraded through the streets in prison vans. Their crimes were written on a large sign on the prison van.
Jiang Xiaobai was one of them. Although he always thought he was a man with the fortitude to sacrifice himself for justice, he was in the prison car, walking slowly on the familiar street, getting closer and closer to the end of the road. Jiang Xiaobai suddenly realized that the end of the road was the end of his life.
The Manchus in the team cursed loudly and fiercely. Jiang Xiaobai listened to their vicious curses against the Han people, and his heart turned cold. If the Manchus only cursed Huo Chong for eating the emperor's salary and rebelling. It would be fine.
Unexpectedly, these Manchus cursed the Han people for rebelling and said that when the Manchus came back, they would definitely massacre the city.
According to the rules, when someone is killed, they have to wear red and colorful ribbons, and the people watching the fun along the way sometimes offer them some wine. The prisoner car will stop at this time to give the hero on the road a little more time to live.
But the Manchus shouted that they wanted to kill all the Han people, and the people who were about to come up to deliver wine changed their expressions. There was anger on their faces. Those who had already placed wine jars at the door of the shop stopped moving, and some people even moved the wine jars back.
Without these people blocking the road, the prison van had a smooth journey to its destination.
Some Han people had already started howling. They jumped and danced to try to break free from the cages and begged for mercy.
Jiang Xiaobai felt that these people were too spineless! After listening for a while, Jiang Xiaobai suddenly felt like crying and begging for mercy.
Yes! Compared with staying alive, begging for mercy and losing face have become insignificant. As long as I can survive and see the sun tomorrow, what does it matter if I don't study?
But Jiang Xiaobai still couldn't beg for mercy. The remaining sense of shame prevented him from shouting. And there were so many people begging for mercy in the prison van, Jiang Xiaobai waited until an official came to question him before shouting.
Arriving at an open space, a group of prisoners were dragged out. They thought they were going to be beheaded, but they were tied to stakes instead, with some people standing behind them. The officers gave orders, and the soldiers raised their muskets. As the officers waved their arms, the muskets fired. The prisoners' brains burst.
Jiang Xiaobai was so frightened by the fierce gunshots and the explosion of skulls that he could not speak. However, the next batch of prisoners had been brought out, and they were shot at by muskets again. Red and white flew out of their skulls, and the condemned prisoners were deader than dead.
The next one was Jiang Xiaobai. Jiang Xiaobai was ready to beg for mercy, but he found that his throat was tied tightly with a rope and he couldn't make any sound. His body had already become as soft as noodles and he could be dragged by others.
When he dragged the body to the wooden stake and saw it in front of him, Jiang Xiaobai's mind went blank and he had no idea.
Although the sound of gunfire rang in his ears, Jiang Xiaobai's whole body went limp and he collapsed to the ground.
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Xiaobai found himself being dragged away and locked up with many other people.
Is this... the underworld? Did the feeling of the underworld begin when my body was dragged away?
Just as I was in a daze, I heard someone suddenly shouting happily: "I'm not dead! I'm not dead!"
This made everyone realize that their lives were not over yet, and they cried and laughed at the same time. Some people's voices kept changing, as if they were crying and laughing.
At this moment, someone entered the room and shouted to everyone from a high position, "You are accomplices, not the masterminds. I will spare your lives. But let me ask you one question: do you know you are in the wrong?"
"I was wrong! I was wrong! I know I was wrong! Please spare my life!" Without even any preparation, Jiang Xiaobai shouted out what was in his heart.
…
After receiving the news, Gong Yu was very satisfied with the effect of the accompanying binding. At least the prisoners could not say that they were insulted, and the prisoners also showed remorse. There was no need to further punish them or continue to detain them.
After all, many people have come to plead for mercy, and it is not a bad thing to let these people see the mercy of the Chinese court.
However, Gong Yu still didn't quite believe that he could gain Huo Chong's praise by doing this, so he quickly wrote an official document to inform Huo Chong of this method originating from the old times.
When Huo Chong saw this passage in the official document, he couldn't help but sigh.
In the old days, when executing criminals, in order to force a confession or surrender, prisoners who were not yet sentenced to death, prisoners with a reprieve from the death penalty, and prisoners who were about to be executed were tied together and taken to the execution ground, so that the horrifying scene would force them to submit or confess.
If we take it too far, of course we can say that what Gong Yu did was inappropriate. But realistically speaking, there is really no more appropriate method than this.
If the accomplices who once besieged the Chinese army were released without any punishment, it would only create the impression that the Chinese army could be bullied.
Scare those people half to death and then let them go, at least in the Qing Dynasty, was a truly benevolent policy.
So Huo Chong turned his attention to the rest of the document. The wealthy families who actually owned a lot of land actually chose to negotiate with the Chinese court and even wanted to hand over the land. This was beyond Huo Chong's imagination. Could it be that the landlords were so knowledgeable?
