Chapter 58: Killing the heart and destroying the courage
Many officials in the Yamen looked ashen and very ugly.
They think that the sword of officialdom is infinitely powerful, but in front of the sword of public opinion, it is as weak as a piece of tofu.
Official ethics can indeed affect the destiny of the country, but what can really determine whether the destiny of the country is prosperous or not is the people's will.
When the people are prosperous, the country is prosperous.
If the people can't even afford a bite of food, then the princes will rise up and change their dynasties.
Therefore, the sword of public opinion is the real sword of the emperor.
"The sword of officialdom has been broken, we succeeded!"
"Great! In this way, Mr. Du's brushwork will definitely succeed!"
"Once a corrupt official is criticized, even if he jumps into the Yellow River, he will not be able to wash away the stigma of his life!"
Many people showed joy. The moment they saw the sword of officialdom collapse, they were victorious.
The defeat of the official sword was unprecedented in the history since the founding of the Yun Dynasty.
In other words, the other party was the first batch of officials in the history of Yun State to have the sword of officialdom shattered.
Moreover, it was the sword of public opinion that shattered the sword of officialdom, which shows that these officials are not recognized by the people. It can be seen that they have done too much to be punished by the sword of public opinion.
"Ahem..."
At this time, Wang Yang no longer had the condescending aura he had before. He saw that the sword of public opinion in the sky had not dispersed, indicating that the people of Nanping Mansion had not forgiven the Yamen for what they had done.
Therefore, Wang Yang held up his hand to Du Ning and said slowly: "Mr. Du, I know my mistake. I will definitely investigate the corruption case in Hedao Mansion. Please be lenient."
When he said these words, Wang Yang's expression became very unnatural.
The dignified prefect actually admitted his mistake to Du Ning, and he admitted his mistake to a person he once looked down upon.
For Wang Yang, this is simply a great shame and humiliation!
It’s also hard to accept.
This really hurt Wang Yang’s self-esteem.
"Dad, you are right, the person who is wrong is Du Ning! No matter what, you cannot admit your mistake to a person like him!"
Wang Run roared with grief and anger, and could not accept his father admitting his mistake to Du Ning.
"Shut up!"
Wang Yang shouted coldly. He was unwilling to admit his mistake in his heart, but Du Ning's sword of public opinion defeated their sword of officialdom, so they had to admit their mistake!
Because if they don’t admit their mistakes, Du Ning’s sword of public opinion will never let them go.
"We realize our mistake and ask Mr. Du for forgiveness."
"Master Du, we were also confused for a moment, so you should just ignore the faults of villains!"
Other officials also hurriedly admitted their mistake. In their eyes, it was just Hedao Mansion that embezzled the imperial court's money. As long as they corrected it in time, they could make up for the mistake.
Now, they must show weakness to Duning and try to minimize the losses.
Tang Hedu, who was watching from the rooftop, was so angry that he was shaking all over. This showed that the Yamen wanted to cut off the strong men's wrists and reveal all the things they had done in Hedao Mansion in order to save their own black gauze hat.
"Master Tang, what should we do now? I'm afraid the paper can't contain the fire!" one person said worriedly.
"Hmph! If Lord Wang dares to sell us, we will tell you about the money that Lord Wang took from us, and everyone will die together!"
Tang Hedu's expression became a little ferocious, and he was already prepared for the worst.
Since we can't hide it, then everyone should bear the responsibility together.
"If I had known this, I shouldn't have embezzled money from the imperial court!"
"It's over now! Even if our crime does not lead to death, if it affects the Eight Wise Kings' fight for the crown prince's position, he will definitely not let us go!"
"Damn Duning! You and I are at odds with each other!"
Hedao Prefecture officials roared with anger and unwillingness.
Outside Nanping Yamen.
Du Ning looked at these officials who admitted their mistakes, with a look of sarcasm on his face.
If we had known today, why bother in the beginning?
"Du Ning, don't believe these guys. They only admitted their mistakes to protect themselves. If they really had a sense of public-spiritedness, how could they collude with the Hedao Mansion?" Li Changsheng reminded.
Wang Yang immediately looked at Li Changsheng, his eyes bursting with anger, but he dared not speak in anger.
"Master Du, don't let these corrupt officials off easily, punish them severely!"
"That's right! You now have the sword of public opinion in your hand. This is the sword of the emperor. Even if you kill them, the Ministry of Punishment will not dare to say 'no'!"
"If these people are not severely punished, where is the law of the country? Where is the justice of heaven?"
Others also expressed their opinions, hoping that Du Ning would let these corrupt officials go.
"I said, if the Yamen doesn't give an explanation to the people of Nanping Prefecture, you will definitely make you pay the price!"
After Du Ning said these words, it was like an invisible slap slapped hard on their faces.
Wang Run was even more furious. He wanted to slap Du Ning in the face with Du Ning's words before, but now he was slapped in the face by Du Ning's original words.
This is so humiliating!
"Mr. Du, it's better to dissolve enemies than to make enemies. If you have anything to say, we can talk about it..."
"Shut up!"
Before Wang Yang could finish speaking, he was rudely interrupted by Du Ning.
"Prefect Wang, do you think you are qualified to bargain with us in front of the sword of public opinion? I once gave you a chance, but you didn't cherish it. You can't blame me!"
Du Ning's eyes were cold. He said slowly: "The second sword of the sword of public opinion, cut off your talents!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Yang and others' expressions changed drastically.
"Stop! We are court officials and scholars, you can't undermine our talents!" Wang Yang shouted.
However, the sword of public opinion would not linger with them, and burst out with a burst of strong sword energy, directly hitting the literary palace of Wang Yang and others.
"No! Don't!"
"Ah!"
Many officials screamed with extreme grief and indignation. Their talents were instantly defeated by the sword of public opinion, and the Wen Gong was shaken violently.
"Du Ning! Stop! You can't do this!"
Wang Run yelled, and in desperation, he gathered his talent and strength to help Wang Yang and others fight against the sword of talent.
"No! Run'er! Don't!"
Wang Yang was so angry that he almost vomited blood. This was the sword of public opinion. Even they could not resist it, let alone Wang Run?
"Poof!"
Wang Run's body flew upside down like an arrow from a string, hit the wall hard, and spit out blood.
He could feel that most of his talents and strength were taken away by the power of the sword of public opinion.
"No! Impossible! This is impossible!"
Wang Run panicked instantly and cried out: "This is my talent! This is the talent and power I have gained from years of hard training!"
"Ah! Du Ning! You don't deserve to die! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!"
Wang Run couldn't believe that he would be deprived of a lot of talent, which would cost him half his life, so that he was very frightened and panicked in his heart.
With a "click", a voice came from between Wang Run's eyebrows.
The bile is cracked!
"Poof!"
Wang Run spat out a mouthful of blood again and fainted.
"Son!"
Wang Yang let out a wail of extreme grief and indignation. For him, Wang Run's weakened talent and literary courage were the most difficult blow to accept.
"You deserve it! You deserve it!"
"That's right! Like father, like son. Wang Yang is a dog official, and he is not a good person either!"
"Good will be rewarded with good, evil will be rewarded with evil!"
"If you don't believe it, look up and see who God will spare!"
No one felt pity for Wang Run. Everyone thought that people like Wang Run deserved their crimes.
And if he didn't take the initiative to fight against the sword of public opinion, he wouldn't have ended up like this.
At the same time, there is another force of the sword of public opinion, which also attacks the Wen Palace of many officials in Hedao Prefecture.
"Shu Zi! Shu Zi! How dare you weaken our talents! You deserve no punishment!"
"I was wrong! I was wrong! Please be merciful and don't weaken my talent! Ah!"
The officials of Hedao Prefecture also suffered the same punishment, and their talents were abruptly weakened by half.
This means that from now on, their talents and strength will only be half of those of the same scholars.
Not to mention fighting with Confucian and Taoist scholars of the same grade, I am afraid that I cannot even defeat a scholar of one grade lower than myself.
This punishment is too serious for them!
"Du Ning! How dare you weaken the talents of the imperial officials! What a heinous crime you have committed! What a heinous crime!"
"You are abusing lynching! I will report to the court and take away your position of viscount!"
"Shame! It's simply a shame!"
The officials of Hedao Prefecture yelled. They really couldn't believe it and couldn't accept that their talents would be weakened by the sword of public opinion.
"The third sword of public opinion kills the heart and courage!"
Du Ning gave a sharp shout and launched the third wave of punishment with the sword of public opinion.
"Kill the heart and destroy the courage! You can't succeed in destroying our literary courage!"
Wang Yang pointed at Du Ning and couldn't believe it.
"This is the punishment you deserve."
Du Ning's expression was indifferent.
"You are so cruel! You are so cruel!"
Wang Yang was filled with grief and anger. He had been an official for many years, but he never dreamed that one day he would fall into the hands of Du Ning and fall under the sword of public opinion.
"Don't break our literary courage! No!"
"Du Ning, I was wrong! I was really wrong! Please let us go!"
"Whoops!"
The sword of public opinion bursts out with sword energy, slashing at everyone's literary palace.
"Click! Click! Click!"
Countless crisp sounds were heard, and the literary courage of Wang Yang and others was shattered by the power of the sword of public opinion.
"Puff! Puff! Puff!"
Many officials vomited blood again and looked very pale.
There were also some officials who couldn't bear the power of the sword of public opinion and fainted on the spot.
"Ah! Du Ning! I won't let you go!"
Tang Hedu in Hedao Mansion roared angrily, his literary courage was shattered by the sword of public opinion, his body fell from the roof, and he fell unconscious.
"Master Tang! Master Tang!"
"Wake up! Wake up!"
"Come here! Call the government doctor quickly! Call the government doctor quickly!"
The soldiers from Hedao Prefecture rushed over and carried Governor Tang He away for treatment.
The power of the sword of public opinion collapsed and disappeared in the eyes of everyone.
The writings in the sky dropped their power and penetrated the bodies of the officials.
As long as the power of writing remains, their literary courage cannot be reshaped, nor can they return to their normal talents.