In late November, when the news of the two victories in Hedong reached Xianyang, people in Guanzhong were overjoyed and the news spread across the city. In a trance, they seemed to have returned to more than 20 years ago when the First Emperor's Eastern Expedition conquered a certain country.
In the scene of good news.
"The regent will be able to sweep the Six Kingdoms again?"
"The Six Kingdoms are just a bunch of thieves. Look at what they have done to Xihe!"
Thanks to Heifu's publicity, the tragedy of Xihe was exaggerated and told to all the people in Guanzhong, which made them feel the pain. I heard that the troops of the Xihe Division, after counting the heads, used the enemy's weapons by the river to kill them.
The heads were piled up in several large Beijing temples, and they couldn't help but exclaim with joy!
Some people even shouted: "The remnants of the Six Kingdoms that the First Emperor did not kill all back then must be slaughtered completely this time!"
This "nationalist" sentiment exaggerated many Qin people, and the confusion since the civil war was wiped away.
But when the officials from Guandong in the DPRK heard about this, they felt differently.
Fu Sheng, a doctor from Qi, even suggested that the Xihe army's practice of not keeping prisoners and killing everyone was too extreme. He further proposed that the system of Shang Shou Gong should be abolished on the grounds that the Qin people's Shou Gong system was "too barbaric" and too
This is appalling. We should be more civilized like in ancient times. At least we should change to cutting off the right ear for counting.
Even Fu Sheng himself didn't expect that his letter would be taken seriously by the regent, and he would be asked to present it in the side hall. When he finally entered the door, he saw the regent smiling but not smiling, as if he were watching a play. There were many good strategies.
The jailers who were born in the Qin region stared at him, and among them was Sima Xin, who had just returned from Hanguguan Pass, and was full of insults at Fu Sheng.
"Shu Ru, who told you that only Qin was able to judge merit by beheading?"
What followed was a long debate. Although Sima Xin was greedy for money and unprincipled, he still had some skills and knowledge. From the time when the Qi people cut the heads of the Wu people in the Spring and Autumn Period, the rule of Qi martial arts was: "Whoever wins the first rank will be given a reward."
"Redemption of gold." It proves that Qi is not a "civilized country", but it is only a hundred steps for a fifty step.
"The only difference is that Qin's beheadings are fair and just in terms of merit, so the Qin people donated their armor and muttons to approach the enemy, holding heads on the left and captives on the right. Qin's soldiers and Shandong's soldiers are like Meng Benzhi and cowards, relying on gravity
Suppressing each other is like catching something from nothing and a baby!"
Sima Xin said to Heifu: "The first contribution of the regent is the foundation of the Qin army. If it is as this Confucian scholar said, it will be even more unfair. A woman's ears and a young man's ears are stained with blood, so it is not easy to distinguish them.
It’s just that women and children were also slaughtered.”
After all, there are many people who have weapons swung at themselves in order to fight for their heads, and Heifu has not experienced this before.
Fu Sheng could only admit this, but he also emphasized that the kings of ancient times, such as Shang Tang and Zhou Wu, could do it, so they could move from west to east, from south to north, and march their armies without hesitation.
Win without fighting.
In Fu Sheng's view, since the regent is a saint who governs the country, he should follow suit.
"Blood flows on the oars." Heifu said these four words. This is a problem that all Confucian scholars who advocate ancient benevolent kings cannot get around.
"In the Yin and Zhou dynasties, the Battle of Muye was no less bloody. I also heard from Zhang Cang that there was a chapter in "Book of Zhou" that said that after the war, King Wu of Zhou killed hundreds of thousands of Yin merchant nobles and elders, and reduced them to tens of thousands.
There are countless slaves and slaves.”
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the so-called elegance, etiquette and music system were just nobles versus nobles. On the battlefield, they could toast wine and write poems. Seeing that they were about to lose, they would declare their surrender and they would be well entertained - because the nobles could
In exchange for ransom.
As for the Chinese soldiers, the savage cannon fodder, and the wheels of the nobles who are eating ashes behind the military chariot, there is no way they will stop in front of you...
"A gentleman will not be seriously injured, nor will he capture two cents. In ancient times, the army did not block the passes. Even though the country is in ruins, the few will not be able to line up without drums..."
Hei Fu shook his head and said: "It sounds good, but we are not Song Xianggong, so we don't want that stupid pig-like benevolence and morality."
"It is even less possible to repay evil with kindness!"
In the eyes of the people of Xihe, this is not a simple battle, but a battle of revenge. The Chu army did the most damage to Xihe, followed closely by the Wei army. After all, Zhang Er was a ranger, and the so-called Wei army under his command,
It was also dominated by light knights and bandits, and the order was extremely poor, causing great damage to both the east and west rivers.
"Since they can come to Xihe and raise the butcher's knife against the people of Xihe, they must have the same consciousness of dying under the butcher's knife..."
Heifu deliberately turned a blind eye and allowed the army to take no prisoners and annihilate all the enemies in Puban and Ruicheng.
In the end, the only ones who survived were the people from Hedong who were forced to become thieves.
Fu Sheng finally felt bored and left in dejection. His boss Shusun Tong was smart and brought up the Gongyang School's theory to prove that this was right:
"Father's brother, we can't live together; brothers, we can't fight against each other; friends, we have different countries."
"Therefore, it is okay for Xihe people to avenge their parents, brothers, family members and neighbors!"
Lu Jia's proposal to Hei Fu was more thoughtful: "Regent, today the people of Xihe will kill all the prisoners because they massacred Xihe. And as far as I know, many bandits from Chu, Wei, and Zhao are wreaking havoc in Xihe, and it is because of the ten
More than a year ago, his father and brother died under the sword of the Qin people, and their heads were beheaded as the first crime..."
"The Qin army did not target the old, weak, women and children with their weapons, and they never massacred the city." Sima Xin still argued forcefully.
"My family is in Shouchun. More than ten years ago, the Qin army entered the city. Although they did not massacre the city, there were still a few who destroyed people's homes and robbed clothes and silk. If they resisted even a little, they were said to be stubbornly resisting, so why not kill them? In the end,
You can also cut off your head as a reward."
"After all, there are not many people who can restrain their subordinates like a regent. My neighbor was robbed by such a rogue army. After a battle, every family was submissive. It was still like this back then. If we let the Xihe army enter Wei now
Earth, how can those people still abide by military laws after killing them?"
As a native of Shouchun, Huainan, Lu Jia was deeply impressed by that war. He believed that this theory of encouraging revenge was problematic.
It is like a wheel of hatred, turning repeatedly and never stopping, pushing the two sides to fight hand-to-hand. The result is that the people of the Six Kingdoms are dissatisfied with Qin, and Qin can take its land, but not its heart. Both sides are resentful, and they take revenge repeatedly, and finally they end up grudges.
The knot gets deeper and deeper...
"Is it really necessary to massacre all the people in the Six Kingdoms' homeland before this wheel of hatred and this push of the blade can be stopped?"
The debate in the hall continued, but Heifu was a little distracted. He suddenly remembered that the first tough battle he participated in was the Battle of Waihuang in the 22nd year of Qin Shihuang's reign.
I, who was still the village chief at that time, kicked open the house, only to see an old man and a trembling child inside.
They are probably the family members of some light knight who died under the sword of Heifu.
Heifu didn't take action. He trembled and begged to die. The old man, who spared his grandson's life, held his hand, stepped back, and closed the door for him.
That was a small thing in his life, but 17 years later, Heifu suddenly wanted to know, what is happening to that child now?
Has he grown up successfully?
Do you still remember that Qin Bing who broke in through the door but exited politely? Do you still remember the revenge of your father and brother being killed?
Now, like Zhang Er and his son, he remembered his old hatred, took up arms, stood in Zhang Er's army, and massacred in the Xihe River. Now he has become a rotten human head in the Jingguan on the river bank...
Or should he just stay out there, tend the fields with a hoe, and run a small business?
"I really hope it's the latter..."
Heifu sighed.
History has gone full circle. Is what he is doing now a new beginning or an old reincarnation? He keeps saying that he wants to break the law of historical cycles, but in fact, even this endless chain of hatred is difficult to cut off with a sword...
After a long time, Heifu stopped everyone's argument and said: "Feng Chang is right. If everything remains as it was more than ten years ago, without any changes, even if this battle is won, it will be just another one."
A conquest that can be combined but not condensed!"
He glanced at the ministers in front of him who all had their own opinions, and said loudly:
"But I believe that what can stop this wheel of hatred is definitely not unilateral repayment of evil with kindness."
"But order and time!"
Everyone was in awe, and Hei Fucai said again:
"Eight thousand, fifteen thousand, all are in the capital, and the river is red. It's time for the people of Xihe to relieve their hatred and let go of their anger."
He asked the clerk to take notes and announced:
"From December onwards, any army that privately executes captives will be treated as a private fight! From now on, soldiers capturing prisoners will be equivalent to beheading, and for officers, capturing 10 prisoners will be equivalent to 11 levels of beheading."
"After a prisoner is captured, he will be tried by a military judge and sentenced. Depending on his crime, he will be executed, made a vassal, or released."
No one is a saint, and it is impossible to forgive an enemy. Even Confucianism, the bottom line is to repay grievances directly.
Then let them bear the iron fist of Da Qin state bureaucracy!
Replace emotion with reason.
Letting public trials replace private punishments is the consistent rule of the Qin State, and it is also what Hei Fu likes most about her.
The prisoners will be punished for murder, gang robbery, rape, robbery, and treason. Anyway, they will inevitably die in the end.
The result will be that the military judges will be very busy. In the "study room" that Heifu has just re-established in Yunyang Palace, those young legal officials must be trained in batches, and then immediately go to the front line to observe, record, and finally participate in the trial in person.
.
I don't have time to make a detailed screening. The principle is that I would rather kill the wrong person than let him go, and encourage each other to report. People who have done the above things in Xihe will die worse than beheading.
And Zhang Er, Xiang Ji, Kuai Che and others will be listed as war criminals with heinous crimes. Their trials will be publicized and they may finally enjoy the same treatment as Zhao Gao...
Sima Xin and other Qin officials naturally agreed with both hands, and Lu Jia also strongly agreed with this method.
"If the father is not punished, the son will recover. This is the way to go. If the father is punished, the son will recover. This is the way to push the edge."
In a word, parents die from legal punishment or revenge from others due to their own sins, and children are not allowed to take revenge... This is the supplement of Confucianism to its "great revenge", and the opposite is "the hatred of the country can be restored for nine generations!"
Heifu also added several principles and sent them to the front line for the Han Xin army occupying Hedong to strictly implement them.
"Everything that punishes is not to punish the people, but to punish the people who are in chaos. Our army went eastward to punish the chaos, not to kill and take revenge!"
"We will not massacre the city, we will not kill the old and the weak, we will not destroy the crops, and we will only kill the chief evildoers of the soldiers of the Six Kingdoms who are not in Xihe. As long as they are willing to lay down their weapons, their crimes will be pardoned."
At most, it's better to have a tattoo on your face and be a slave than to be killed.
And for the restless ordinary people in Guizhou, Heifu still has a big gift to give them...
"When the world is reunited, after all the rebels who deserve to be punished are tattooed and put on brown clothes and matching hair..." He smiled secretly:
"I will abolish most corporal punishments!"
…
After the court meeting was over, Heifu called Lu Jia and others down and comforted them:
"Don't worry."
"I understand what you, the Kanto people, think."
The Mohists hope that everyone in the world can love everyone, love other people's sons as their own sons, and love other countries as their own, so that the world can be unified.
But Heifu said that only after the world is united and die-hard elements are eliminated physically and mentally can we start telling stories.
The story about the descendants of Yan and Huang, about the great unification...
It takes hundreds of years and several generations of repeated speeches to convince all sentient beings that they belong to the same country and are not enemies who cannot live under the same roof. Only then can we seek universal love.
"I'm not trying to stop this wheel of hatred."
Hei Fu came to the Jiuding Hall alone. Facing the illustrious Jiuding displayed in the hall, this Xia Xia treasure was just like its caster expected. He raised his hand and swore an oath!
"I'm going to smash this wheel!"
…
But some people are still working tirelessly to push this wheel forward.
At the end of November, the first snow fell in Guanzhong. When the news came back from the front that Han Xin had killed Uncle Zhou, captured Anyi, and Zhang Er fled to Pingyang to join the Zhao army, there was also an urgent report from the south.
"After Xiang Ji regained Huainan, he led his troops westward and launched an offensive against Hengshan and Nanjun..."
Hearing that there was some danger in his hometown, Heifu frowned:
"Running back and forth for more than a thousand miles, he really didn't rest for a moment. Does Xiang Yu want to... surround Wei and rescue Zhao?"
…
ps: There is only one chapter today, because sister Zhiling, who helps me navigate on Amap every day, got married... Bah, in fact, there is no feedback from readers who can’t cheer me up. The customer service lady said that it will be restored at 0 o’clock, but I don’t know if it’s true.