Chapter 535: I say no, this is a military order as well as a royal order!
Linji City was broken.
According to past practice, soldiers should be allowed to collect food, as there is never too much food for a war.
Where did the food come from? It came from the homes of the people of Linji.
Taking food from people who can't even get enough to eat is tantamount to taking their lives. This process is never civilized.
Killing, robbing, ravaging, raping... The day the city was broken was the day of suffering for the people. Who made Linji rebel?
No one would seriously investigate whether the people rebelled on their own initiative or were forced to rebel by Zhou Shi. The result would be the same anyway.
Wars require food, soldiers need to vent, and countries need deterrence.
Operating on the common people is the best solution.
The people keep growing like weeds. After burning one batch, another batch will appear after a while.
The best they could do was to charge forward with sickles and hoes, making a lot of noise and yelling, adding a bit of fun to the war, so that the soldiers, who had experienced life and death several times and had a violent temperament, could chop off heads and laugh.
The generals took away the nobles' land, money, and treasures.
The soldiers vented their desires on the untouchables and relaxed the string that was taut because they were on a battlefield where they could die at any time.
The best of both worlds.
The generals and soldiers who have gained benefits will be highly motivated and fight for the money, beauties and food for the next victory. Since ancient times, the armies that have always won foreign wars have fought in this way.
The general pursues fame and fortune, but the soldiers are not worthy of fame and can only pursue fortune.
The Linji people who hid in their homes and dared not go out knew their fate. They prayed that their homes would be the lucky few whose houses were not broken into, like ostriches burying their heads in the sand.
They shuddered one after another as they listened to the violent shouts and screams.
When the shouting and screaming stopped and there was silence outside the window, their trembling did not stop, but they fought even more vigorously.
After the two armies have fought, it is time to fight them.
The silence lasted for a long time.
There was no sound of the door being broken, as if the Qin army, which had won the battle and was supposed to reap the fruits of victory, was no longer in the city.
East Gate.
A large group of black armor surged in the darkness, like an indiscernible midnight tide surging endlessly, wandering inside and outside the city gate.
Military order: Troops stationed outside the city must not harm anyone, and anyone who moves without authorization will be executed!
The Linji County Magistrate's Mansion was formerly the General's Mansion. General Zhou Shi of the Wei State lived here and discussed military affairs and important matters.
The lights brighten the room.
The wooden tables and chairs have rough edges and are poorly made. They are made from the elm tree that can be seen everywhere outside.
The second emperor rubbed the edge of the table. It was a bit prickly and there was not even any animal skin to cover it.
"In order to defend against the Qin State, the City of Zhou has used all its resources in the war...
"Qiu Bo."
Facing the Second Emperor, the scholar with his crown erected and crow's feet at the corners of his eyes raised his hands, his wide sleeves falling, and replied:
"I am here."
He was a disciple of Xunzi.
This time, he and many of his fellow apprentices followed the army to the east to fight the Liberation War. This was an order given personally by the Second Emperor.
"As the magistrate of Linji County, you can eat fish and meat, but you cannot bully the people. Until the people of Linji are full, not a single table or chair in this room may be moved."
"promise."
Looking at the disciple of Xunzi in front of him who had a dull and almost disrespectful expression, Ying Chengjiao nodded slightly.
When the First Emperor conquered the six states for the first time, Qin suffered from a situation where military power was strong but culture was weak, with many generals in the court but few scholars. There was no way to send local officials to take over the territories of the six states, so it had to win over the local nobles and powerful people to govern themselves. As a result, the six states were destroyed but the nobles of the six states were not destroyed, forming a situation where the tail was too big to be eliminated.
This time, it won’t happen.
In today's Qin State, after the three events of searching for wise men in the world in Han and the disciples of Xunzi and Guiguzi fleeing to Xianyang, the remaining civil servants are enough to govern the world.
The Guanzhong nobles obeyed the orders of the Second Emperor. Apart from his whole set of combined punches, these scholars who were ready to replace them at any time were also a major reason.
"Anything else?"
The second emperor raised his eyebrows. Qiu Bo, who should have accepted the order and retreated, was reluctant to do so. There were too many things to do in Linji City right now.
"yes."
Qiu Bo clasped his hands together again and held his head high.
"I dare to ask!
"Linji City has been captured. Your Majesty has issued a sacred order not to disturb the people. Why do you still want to raise the butcher knife against innocent merchants and nobles?"
Just now, the Qin army killed all the Linji nobles and big merchants, confiscated their property and exterminated their clans in the name of treason.
This matter was kept secret from the lower ranks but not from the higher ranks. The ordinary soldiers who were blood-thirsty did not know the reason, but Qiu Bo knew a general idea.
Among those nobles and big merchants who died, some must have colluded with Zhou Shi to rebel. But it is impossible to say that all of them did so.
"Lanling County was massacred, and the teacher was heartbroken and died in the Wei River.
"Your Majesty, just because you are a fellow noble, a merchant puts him to death. How is this different from the previous king? Your Majesty, do you still remember what your teacher said?"
Ying Chengjiao tapped the table twice with his fingers.
I think the people have been oppressed for too long and lack an outlet, so they must get rid of these people all at once and have a thorough revolution.
I want to say that although the grain of Bashu can support the current war, we cannot rely solely on the grain of Bashu. The longer the transportation, the more grain is consumed. It is not bad to pacify the Three Jins at present, but if we fight against Qi and Chu, nine out of ten stones of grain will be consumed on the way. We must collect grain locally. Since this grain cannot be taken from the people, we can only take it from the nobles and merchants.
The idea is to fight against the local tyrants and divide the land. The powerful and wealthy in Linji have already occupied 90% of the land. If we don't take this opportunity to kill all of them, once the army passes, Linji will soon return to its original state, and the people will still have no chance of getting ahead.
Kill the nobles and don't disturb the people.
Although he copied it, he thought a lot about it before implementing it.
Having experienced struggles at the bottom and standing at the highest level, Ying Chengjiao may not be as wise as Zhang Liang and other smart people, but his understanding of the policies to be implemented is far beyond them.
To be the emperor, every decree was carefully considered and scrutinized.
He wanted to say a lot to Qiu Bo, but in the end, he only said one sentence.
"I understand, let's go do something."
Qiu Bo paused for a moment, a trace of disappointment showing on his face, and responded in a slightly low voice.
"promise."
[Teacher, if you saw this scene, would you still let your student serve as an official in Qin?]
Qiu Bo left with disappointment and doubts.
Xunzi is dead, and his questions are destined to remain unanswered. He will obey his teacher's will and stay in the disappointed Qin State.
When in doubt, ask the spring breeze; the spring breeze has no name so it doesn’t understand your thoughts.
Da~
Da~
Da~
In the empty room, Ying Chengjiao tapped his fingers again and again.
Zhou Shi entered Linji to rebel and resist the Qin army. It is unlikely that any nobles and merchants who survived in Linji were completely innocent, as the temporary situation under Zhou Shi's control did not allow any nobles and merchants loyal to the Qin Dynasty to appear.
If he had to find reasons to kill people, Ying Chengjiao could find ten thousand reasons to prove that these people deserved to be killed.
But even if there are innocent people here, will he, the King of Qin, really not wield the butcher knife?
“Those who achieve great things do not pay attention to small details!”
"indecisive!"
"Woman's kindness!"
The comments made by others about himself over the years echoed in his mind. In the past days, whenever he heard these words, Ying Chengjiao did not get angry but happy. This was one of the anchors that kept him from sinking in this era.
He does not kill innocent people indiscriminately and respects human life.
He slammed his index finger joint on the table and never lifted it up again. Ying Chengjiao muttered to himself:
"I'm sure I thought about the innocence, but I'm also sure I didn't think about it too much."
This time, the second emperor focused on the overall situation, which was the most important.
This was always incomprehensible to him when he was not yet the second emperor but just the Lord of Chang'an.
To achieve great things, why can't we consider the details?
Today he seemed to understand...
He rubbed his eyebrows and smiled bitterly.
"It feels really bad to be hit in the middle of the eye by a bullet from ten years ago and then complete the cycle..."
In order to ascend the throne, Ying Zheng, who was not the First Emperor, gave up on making Afang the queen.
Even though Ying Zheng knew that if he did not become the queen and became a thorn in his mother's side, he would have no way to survive, he still gave it up painfully in order to truly gain power.
Chang'an Jun tapped the King of Qin's chest and spat on his brother.
"If you can't protect a woman, how can you protect a country? Even if the Afang Palace you built afterwards is magnificent and tall, it's just to make yourself feel at ease!"
The second emperor walked out of the room dejectedly.
Ten years ago, he wasn't scolding his brother, but himself ten years later...
He can examine them one by one to see which crime does not warrant the death penalty.
But at this critical juncture, is it necessary to spend so much manpower and resources to seek the innocence of just one or two people?
If it was just a coincidence, all the impossible things would happen at the same time. The nobles who were not guilty of the death penalty were the richest people in Linji County, with the most grain reserves, and they were unwilling to hand over grain to the Qin army, so what should they do?
The Qin army was suddenly transformed into an unjust army.
If we don’t take it by force, what will we do in the future? What if we encounter such a thing again in the next county?
The best way is to kill them all at once, sacrificing a small number of nobles to benefit the majority of the people.
Perhaps after dozens or hundreds of years, someone will overturn the verdicts and vindicate the nobles and merchants who were unjustly killed.
When this incident evolved into the focus of national attention, the public was outraged and everyone in the world shed tears of sympathy.
Qin III personally met with these noble descendants, vindicated their elders, and said without airs:
"Although the late king was wise, he was indeed wrong in this matter."
The whole nation is united in their hearts and praises Your Majesty. This is another opportunity to rally the people's hearts and patriotic sentiments.
In fact, these people don’t know that they are all vested interests.
When a whale dies, all things come to life.
When one noble falls, thousands of common people rise up.
Those who achieve great things are not incapable of paying attention to details, but after careful reflection they find that it is best to achieve great things by not paying attention to details. This does not conflict with the saying that "details determine success or failure."
It is because of all the details that we choose to be informal.
The newly appointed Linji County Magistrate Qiu Bo summoned the people, distributed grain and land in the name of the government, promised to take one tenth of the taxes in the first three years, and implemented the Huang-Lao school of thought for recuperation.
Practice in Korea has proved that in this time when everything is in ruins, the most suitable school of thought among all the schools of thought is the Taoist Huang-Lao school.
It not only wins the hearts of the people, but also makes them feel at ease.
The people of Linji City did not believe it at first, but after they got the grain and land, they were ecstatic. They knelt down facing the west and kowtowed, almost waking up the sleeping earth dragon under Linji.
Three years later, Linji began to regard himself as a Qin citizen and celebrated the New Year on October 1st.
Outside Linji City, the Qin army set up camp and rested for a night. Before the army set out the next day, Ying Chengjiao divided the army into ten routes.
In addition to the army he led, Fan Kuai, Liu Bang, Meng Tian, Tu Sui, Li Xin, Zhao Tuo, Lian Po, Ren Xiong and Zhang Han each led an army and attacked in ten directions to liberate Wei.
Inside the big tent, the second emperor's eyes were bloodshot and he looked exhausted. He forced himself to speak to the nine generals under his command:
"I don't care how you fight, but I will take care of you after the fight. Just like the battle of Linji, we will kill the nobles and wealthy merchants in the name of treason, station troops outside the city, and not harm the people at all."
The nine people first agreed in unison, then each of them hesitated to speak.
"If you have something to say, say it quickly. If someone violated military orders yesterday, I have asked the executioners to be ready this morning, just waiting for us to arrive."
Meng Tian looked around and took a deep breath.
"Soldiers are on the battlefield and may die at any time. The evil spirits and murderous auras in their hearts are accumulated. If we don't let them release them for a long time..."
Meng Tian swallowed his saliva and lowered his head slightly.
"It may cause a camp explosion and a sudden change."
"The method of release that General Meng mentioned, is it to massacre unarmed civilians, or to rape beautiful women?"
Meng Tian bowed his head and did not respond. Li Xin took a deep breath and said loudly:
“All of them!”
It's not that the Qin army is disorganized and undisciplined, but that all the armies in the world are like this.
The victorious party could do whatever it wanted on the land of the defeated country. Just look at Israel recently and you will know that this phenomenon was not completely banned even two thousand years later.
"I say no, this is a military order, and also a royal order."
Ying Chengjiao looked at everyone coldly, and the slight bloodshot in his eyes made the generals who were looking at him lower their heads.
"If you can't lead the army well, get out of here now! What the Qin Dynasty lacks the least is generals!
"Am I slow in paying salaries, or am I withholding military merit? Join the army to fight and defend your country! You are leading the elite soldiers of the Qin Empire, not bandits!
"Blowing up the camp and howling for rebellion, what a joke! Was all this winter's training in vain? Do you think my words are all bullshit and that everything can be solved by just shouting a few slogans?
"I'm going to make it clear, whoever leads an army that causes internal strife, bring your head to me, and I will execute him without mercy!
"Now you can get out of here and retire to your own home, away from the battlefield, enjoying wealth and luxury, away from the danger of the battlefield. This is a good thing."
No one said anything.
He went on an expedition to the Xiongnu and appointed the third son of the previous king as king. He defeated Linji in half a day.
Although the Emperor before us has fought few wars, each one was tougher than the last, and his record is truly tough and sturdy.
Except for the oddball Wei Liao, the superiority of the military has always been determined by the results of battles. Even if he took off the Tongtian crown, no one would deny Ying Chengjiao's position as the leader.
The military has a strict hierarchy. When superiors give orders, subordinates just have to obey them, no matter how unreasonable the orders are.
If I quit now, I would be humiliated. There is no Qin general who is afraid of death. Those who are afraid of death have long been kicked out of the circle of military generals and assimilated into the Guanzhong nobles whom they look down upon.
The worst that can happen is death on the battlefield. What's the big deal? If I'm unlucky enough to run into civil strife, I'll just die!
Ying Chengjiao waited for a moment, and seeing that no one still wanted to speak, his expression eased a lot.
"I am not asking you to die, nor am I an amateur who has never led troops. This winter's training is not empty talk. We are fighting the Liberation War.
"Our army will be an army of faith in the future, an army that the people of the country will feel at ease with, and it will never act like a thief! "
