After finalizing this matter, Li Xian immediately sent people to find several Taoists in the Luoyang Palace who were responsible for supervising the renovation of Fengxian Palace.
These Taoists all hold official positions and are usually responsible for the construction, layout and feng shui of Fengxian Palace. The leader is called Master Dongxuan, who has many followers in Luoyang City and is very prestigious.
After Dongxuan and his companions left Li Xian, they ordered people to build an altar in the city and announced to everyone that they were going to offer sacrifices to the heaven.
This sacrifice is a sacrifice of living people.
…
Before the flood, Li Xian was ordered to investigate those who were in collusion with Xu Zhengye in Luoyang City. In order to obtain a detailed list of the colluders, Li Xian took away 500 military generals who had held positions under Xu Zhengye from the captured Xu's rebel soldiers and took them to Luoyang for interrogation.
Li Xian has already obtained a rough list of the accomplices in Luoyang City, and has arrested many suspects. He only needs to follow the clues to find the remaining accomplices.
The word "comrades" has more than just a superficial meaning.
In addition to the list pried out from the mouths of Xu Zhengye's trusted captives, Li Xian also had another list in his hands - it was secretly handed to him by the eunuch who came from the capital to convey the imperial edict.
Many of the surnames listed above overlap with those he interrogated, but there are also many people who are not among them.
The intention of the Emperor of the Holy Ce is very clear. Now that he is going to take action, he must completely remove those thorns called dissidents in one fell swoop - regardless of whether they are involved in Xu Zhengye's affairs.
In other words, the claim of thoroughly investigating Xu Zhengye's accomplices was just a name from the very beginning.
The scope of this "investigation" is by no means limited to Luoyang. The empress is paying attention to the aristocratic families in the entire Central Plains, especially the most prominent surname, the one that is big enough to tear apart the four aristocratic families whose interests are closely linked.
Therefore, Li Xian was very clear about who to deal with next and how to do it.
He no longer needed to interrogate the prisoners.
However, he soon discovered that these originally useless captives still had other uses.
Killing Xu army captives as a sacrifice to heaven was a decision made after consultation between Li Xian and some Luoyang officials.
The Taoist priest Dongxuan, who presided over the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, declared that the flood disaster that destroyed the Fengxian Palace was all due to Xu Zhengye's heinous crimes and grave sins, which had angered heaven. The wrath of heaven was hard to dispel, and it was because the remnants of Xu's evil were not yet eliminated!
In the name of appeasing God's wrath, they took two hundred prisoners to the altar and beheaded them.
Blood flowed down along the gaps in the altar runes, mixed with the rain, and dyed several streets in Luoyang city red.
This move was undoubtedly bloody, and precisely because it was bloody enough, it was able to shock people everywhere and successfully suppressed the rumors that were unfavorable to the empress.
To substantiate this statement, they announced to the outside world that they would offer two hundred captives as sacrifices to the heaven every day until the wrath of heaven was appeased.
Although the action of Li Xian and others was bloody, it could not be considered to have set a precedent. Since the founding of the Dasheng Dynasty, although there were very few cases of living sacrifices, there was a precedent of killing prisoners for sacrifice.
Although many scholars in Luoyang City criticized this matter, they could only condemn it from the perspective of moral atmosphere.
The nobles in the city were already restless. Li Xian's move, in addition to changing public opinion, was obviously also aimed at them!
We can kill prisoners of war today, and we can kill those who are members of Xu Zheng’s amateur party tomorrow as a sacrifice to the gods!
The members of the gentry were angry but uneasy, and the Xuan Ce army was guarding and suppressing the city of Luoyang at every level. In addition, due to the flood, many important roads were washed away. There were many scholars, women and children in their tribe, so even if they wanted to escape Luoyang in time, they could not.
With natural disasters and man-made disasters happening at the same time, they have become trapped. The only way to save themselves now may be to ask for help from Zheng family of Xingyang!
So they decided to send a trustworthy person to secretly deliver a letter to Xingyang.
…
Li Xian also ordered a thousand of his personal soldiers, accompanied by two Luoyang officials, to leave Luoyang in the rain and rush to Bianzhou.
They did not enter Bianzhou City, but went directly to the large military camp set up on higher ground outside Bianzhou City.
Upon learning that Commander Xiao Min was not in the camp, the leading general and two Luoyang officials immediately ordered the camp to quickly count the prisoners of Xu's army and take them all to Luoyang.
Several generals in the camp went to talk to them and inquire about this matter. They had a tough attitude and only said that they were acting on the orders of General Li Xian and that the matter was of great importance and could not be delayed.
The rain was a little lighter at this moment. Not far away, a group of prisoners with chains on their feet were filling sacks with sand in the rain. The general under Li Xian immediately signaled his men to drive the prisoners over, took out the hemp ropes, and immediately counted and tied them up, as if they were treating livestock.
The remaining prisoners of war in Luoyang City could not "hold on" for two days, and they needed to bring them back as soon as possible to report.
"There are more than 60,000 prisoners of war in the camp now. It will take at least a whole day to count them all." Captain Bai frowned and said seriously, "This matter is of great importance. We must wait for the commander to return to the camp and discuss it with the adults in person before we can hand over these prisoners of war."
The general sneered, put his hand on the scabbard at his waist, and said sternly: "This is related to the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven and the fate of the country. If there is any delay or mistake, not only will we be blamed, but you will also be equally unable to bear the consequences!"
When these words were spoken, the prisoners who were being tied up nearby all looked horrified.
Sacrifice to heaven?
So, the rumors I heard yesterday were true? Was it not enough to kill those people in Luoyang City, but they wanted to take them all to heaven for sacrifice? ! "You...what are you doing?"
"Let me go!"
As prisoners of war, they naturally could not receive any preferential treatment. They had been doing the hardest and most tiring tasks in the camp and eating the worst and least food during these days, but they knew their identity and situation, and as long as they could survive, it was fine.
Although being a prisoner of war was hard, fortunately General Ning Yuan had spoken, so at least there was no abuse of prisoners of war in the camp, so they never thought of resisting.
The reason they were willing to surrender in the first place was simply because they wanted to survive!
But at this moment, these people were going to take them to sacrifice to the gods, and under the fear of their lives being threatened, some people began to struggle and resist.
A thin prisoner of war stumbled out of the team and shouted in panic: "Captain Bai, we don't want to go to Luoyang! General Ningyuan and Commander Xiao said that those who surrender will not be killed. You can't--"
As an arrow pierced his heart, his voice suddenly stopped and he fell into the mud.
The man holding the bow and crossbow was the general under Li Xian.
His voice was cold and stern: "If you dare to resist, this general will not mind beheading you on the spot and offering sacrifice to the heavens!"
Looking at his companion lying in the mud, his body twitching slightly, blood gushing out of his mouth, a burly captive was filled with grief and anger: "Shunzi never resisted or hurt anyone! He's just a coward!"
He turned his head abruptly, looked at the general who shot his companion, clenched his fists, and broke the hemp rope: "You are going too far by going back on your word!"
"I'm going to die anyway. Instead of being a coward and becoming a sacrifice like pigs, sheep or livestock, why don't I just fight my way out!"
From being forcibly conscripted by Xu's army to being captured after being defeated, they never had a choice along the way... They thought that all this was finally over, but now they would be killed as sacrifices for no apparent reason! What kind of cannibalistic world is this!
The man's eyes were red: "I will fight you today!"
He was quite skilled and strong, and he snatched the knife from a soldier with his bare hands.
He must have some prestige among this group of prisoners of war. Seeing his move, the prisoners behind him immediately followed.
"Stop! Control them quickly!" Captain Bai said quickly.
"Pigs, sheep, and livestock?" The general said sarcastically, "You overestimate yourselves. You are just a group of ants who don't know their own limitations."
As he spoke, he motioned for his armored men behind him to step forward and said, "If you dare to resist, don't spare a single one! Count their heads afterwards and bring every one back to Luoyang!"
"yes!"
Seeing the burly man in the lead running towards him with hatred in his eyes and a knife in his hand, he narrowed his eyes, raised the crossbow in his hand again and aimed at the man.
"call out!"
The sharp arrow broke through the air, but it did not come from his hand, but came from the side and pierced his arm!
His face was distorted with pain, the crossbow in his hand fell to the ground, and he took two steps back, turning around to look where the sharp arrow came from.
"General He!" The Luoyang official behind him supported him, exclaimed, and looked in the direction where the sound of horse hooves came from.
A group of people came riding horses, wearing straw raincoats over their armor. The leader was holding a longbow and reined in his horse five or six steps away from them.
She slightly turned her body, drew her bow and shot the arrow again, but it fell to the ground.
The burly prisoner who was rushing forward with a knife in his hand paused when he saw the sharp arrow that had landed at his feet.
"Whoever dares to move even a step again will be killed without mercy." The voice of the girl drawing the bow was not loud, but it was colder than needle rain, making people dare not act rashly.
"…The head coach is back!"
"General Ning Yuan!"
"General!"
There were all kinds of shouts at the same time, and soldiers kept coming forward to salute.
Captain Bai took the opportunity to control the restless prisoners of war.
"…It turned out to be General Ning Yuan!" The general whose right arm was shot through by Chang Suining's arrow turned pale with pain. He stared at the man on the horse and said, "May I ask why General Ning Yuan rashly hurt others?"
"I should ask you why you interfere in my military affairs without permission." The girl drove her horse a few more steps slowly. She was riding a very sturdy and beautiful brown-red horse. Its eyes looked wild and untamed, and it kept spraying white steam at him from its nostrils, which looked very provocative.
The man on the horse looked down at him and the two officers and said, "When marching outside, we must not violate military rules. Without a general in charge, you have acted rashly, using swords and arrows, shouting and causing trouble. Even if I use military law to execute you, what's wrong with that?"
So, she showed mercy? "You..." A Luoyang official pointed at her angrily, "We have an important order. We are under the order of General Li Xian to escort these prisoners of war to Luoyang!"
They mentioned Li Xian's name, but the girl's attitude remained the same, and even became a little more contemptuous: "Why is General Li Xian asking for prisoners of war again? Aren't the ones he took away before enough for him to interrogate?"
This tone seemed to mock Li Xian's incompetence, which made the general with the injured arm very angry.
He was the son of a servant in the Duke of Korea's mansion. His name and surname were given to him by the Duke of Korea's mansion. He was called He Shan. He had followed Li Xian since he was a child and was extremely loyal.
But he was somewhat afraid of Chang Suining's reputation and did not want to conflict with her, so he forced himself to suppress his anger at his injured arm and explained to her that these prisoners of war were to be used for sacrifices to the gods, not for interrogation.
A sneer appeared in Chang Suining's eyes.
What a good sacrifice to heaven! What a good way to kill two hundred people every day until the wrath of heaven is appeased.
If we keep killing two hundred people every day, the rain will stop one day, and that will mean the wrath of heaven has ended, right?
She knew that the Fengxian Palace in Luoyang City was destroyed and rumors unfavorable to the Emperor of Holy Ce were spread. Li Xian's move was to create another rumor to cover up that rumor.
In order to make the rumors they created more impactful, they chose to use such bloody methods as sacrificing prisoners of war to divert people's attention.
At the same time, it can intimidate and suppress the Luoyang gentry, and prepare public opinion for their complete elimination.
It is indeed a good method that can never go wrong.
Seeing that she was silent for a while, He Shan endured the pain and said firmly: "This matter is of great importance. General Ning Yuan, please cooperate with us."
Chang Suining glanced at the prisoners who were being controlled again, who looked either frightened or angry, and said, "I cannot agree to this. You cannot take them away."
What? He Shan thought he had heard it wrong.
Most of the prisoners of war found it difficult to react for a while.
"I have promised them personally that those who surrender will not be killed. Although they are prisoners of war, they will be dealt with accordingly according to military law." Chang Suining said.
An official from Luoyang asked solemnly, "General Ningyuan, do you know what the crime is for disrupting the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the heaven?"
"May I ask who initiated this so-called heaven-worshiping ceremony?" Chang Suining glanced at him and asked, "Is it the saint, or are you all anxious to get rid of the responsibility for fear of being accused of overseeing the Fengxian Palace?"
The official's face changed several times: "...General Ningyuan must know that this is the intention of General Li Xian. General Li Xian is following the imperial edict to deal with the remnants of the Xu family!"
As he spoke, he raised his hand and saluted in the direction of the capital, saying, "Since General Li Xian has been ordered to deal with the remnants of the Xu family, he can naturally decide how to deal with these prisoners of war!"
He mentioned the title of saint, but heard the girl who still refused to dismount calmly remind him: "But, I am also following the order to wipe out the remnants of the Xu family."
"And as far as I know, General Li Xian was ordered to thoroughly investigate the remaining internal supporters in Luoyang City, and I will be responsible for the remaining Xu Jun troops in various places."
Another Luoyang official stepped forward and asked forcefully, "What if we must take these prisoners away today?"
The girl looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Then let's try it."
As she was speaking, the horse beneath her suddenly neighed and raised its hooves, as if it was about to rush over. The official was frightened and hurriedly took two steps back. Looking again, he saw the horse snorting at him.
The official was stunned for a moment, his expression was indescribable... He was actually frightened and laughed at by a horse! It was simply outrageous! At this time, the girl on the horse spoke again, speaking arrogantly.
Good night, lovely people.
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