Chapter 1212: Execution 2 (Thanks to the tip from book friend "Al Pacino")
All the words that King Yizhou wanted to say were stuck in his chest. He stared with wide eyes at Yin Li who was sitting steadily on his horse opposite him. The other party looked back at him expressionlessly.
At this moment, the King of Yizhou realized that something was wrong. Why was Yin Li here?
He didn't see him when he returned to Beijing. Didn't he say that he was impeached, so he left Beijing to patrol the border to avoid the limelight?
The King of Yizhou remembered all the unreasonable things, but he no longer had the chance to speak out. He slowly fell down under Yin Li's gaze.
The Prince of Xin'an and the Prince of Xinping screamed, supported the fallen Prince of Yizhou, and looked up to surrender, but the soldiers who were already blood-thirsty did not listen to them at all, and Yin Li did not raise his hand to call for a stop, so the rebels who put down their swords and wanted to surrender were chopped down the next moment.
Obviously, Yin Li did not recognize their surrender.
Prince Xin'an's eyes were bloodshot, and he turned to glare at Yin Li and shouted, "Yin Li, I have surrendered, and you still dare to kill me..."
Before he could finish his words, a knife came down from behind, chopping off half of his head. He fell to the ground before he could finish his unfinished words.
Prince Xinping's lips trembled as he looked at his father in his arms, then at his elder brother lying beside him. Tears and snot streamed down his face. He could only feel for a knife and finally closed his eyes and committed suicide.
Yin Li sat on his horse and watched all this. After all the rebels were wiped out, he raised his hand to stop them. The officers and soldiers of the Western Army and the Inspector's Office stopped together.
Yin Li rode forward and looked down at the blood-soaked Zizhou governor, sword in hand, "Lord Su is very brave. I will report the truth."
The Zizhou governor, however, smiled with a pale face, indicating that he understood.
Yin Li then glanced at the officers and soldiers of the Inspector's Office, ordered the Western Army to collect the bodies of the King of Yizhou and his two sons, and then left.
The deserters of the King of Yizhou still need to be dealt with, otherwise, these people will become bandits and harm their neighbors in the future.
When it was late at night and everyone was asleep, he wrote down the military information about the death of the King of Yizhou and his son in the chaotic battle and handed it to his men, saying, "Send it back to the capital early tomorrow morning."
"yes."
"Preserve the bodies of the King of Yizhou, his father, and his sons. When we get to Maozhou, buy a fine coffin for their burial."
"yes."
"Send the order down, instructing all prefectures and counties to cooperate in repelling the rebellious army. Advertise everywhere that any surrendered soldiers will not be killed, but will be taken into service in the Western Army. If they dare to cause trouble again, once their origins are discovered, their entire family will be enslaved."
"yes."
Military orders were passed down one after another, and with the help of Yang Heshu and Tang Zhihe, the military disaster caused by the King of Yizhou was gradually settled. Except for a small number of deserters who were still hiding in the mountains and unwilling to come out, most of the deserters came out and surrendered. Some of them stripped off their clothes and began to run back to their hometowns as refugees, or continued to be refugees.
Most of the private army of King Yizhou were recruited from refugees, and now they have become refugees again. Except that their complexions are a little rosier and their bodies are a little stronger than those of ordinary refugees, there is no big difference.
Tang Zhihe could certainly see something different when such a stream of people entered Yizhou City, but he said nothing. Instead, he raided the Yizhou Palace, compiled some case files on the refugees' land that had been previously occupied by the King of Yizhou, issued a verdict, and then returned it to the refugees or the county government.
Then the part belonging to the county government was used to settle the refugees. The first ones to be rounded up were the stronger ones. They had land and household registration. As long as they were not extremely vicious, they would not kill or do anything illegal again.
On the contrary, in order to cover up the fact that they were deserters, they were more well-behaved and kinder than ordinary refugees.
Seeing Tang Zhihe's audacious move, Yang Heshu was silent for a moment before he couldn't help but say, "You're quite courageous."
Tang Zhihe grinned at him, "After this wave of achievements, you and I must return to the capital. The refugees in your jurisdiction have already been settled, but mine is still in chaos. I have to finish my work before I can return with peace of mind."
After a moment of silence, Yang Heshu said, "You can't do this. If you prioritize settling these deserters, the refugees who have been waiting will definitely be dissatisfied, and it will cause chaos in the long run."
Isn't this causing trouble for the next person?
Yang Heshu taught him how to use labor to replace good farmland. First, those who were allocated good farmland had to build roads, bridges, and water conservancy projects. Anyway, they were well-fed by the King of Yizhou and had plenty of strength.
"It's winter now. The land you gave them, though fertile, has been abandoned by the King of Yizhou for several years. Winter wheat won't be harvested in time, so why not repair the water conservancy project..."
Yang Heshu taught him, "These refugees don't have seeds or farm tools. They'll need to prepare these things after spring, but you'll be gone by then, and I don't know what your successor will be like. My suggestion is that you take this opportunity to prepare these things, and then use work-for-relief to ensure they have enough food for the winter. That way, the seeds you distribute won't be eaten."
When people are hungry, they don’t care whether it is seeds for next year or not. They will eat it even if they are extremely hungry.
"But you can't leave your successor with no options at all. You need to give him something to do so he can accumulate merit," Yang Heshu said. "When the time comes, submit a petition requesting that some of the fertile land within the King of Yizhou's fiefdom be allocated to the county government. Many Yizhou officials have been implicated in this incident, so we need to take back the fertile land they previously occupied from the refugees."
"The county government owns so much land. When your successor takes office, he's not stupid and will know that he needs to settle the refugees. He's already achieved such a great feat right after taking office. I think he won't be stingy with new grain or farm tools and will settle these refugees well."
Tang Zhihe was a little tempted, "Then I'll just arrange for this group of refugees to leave? Leaving such a big gap in my term..."
Yang Heshu said calmly, "You've already occupied a sunny avenue. You must leave a single-plank bridge for future generations to walk on. Otherwise, if you've exhausted the road, those who come after you will have no way to go. Then you can only torment the people under your jurisdiction, and they will be the ones who suffer."
"Refugees don't only occur during times of disaster. Heavy taxes and forced labor will also create refugees. So, this is not only for the next county magistrate, but also for the people under your jurisdiction."
Tang Zhihe couldn't help but ask him, "What if this person is a corrupt official who embezzles all the land and money I've confiscated, or gives it to the wealthy in Yizhou?"
Yang Heshu laughed and said, "Are you blind? Or do you think Uncle Tang is deaf? The person who can take over your job at this time can't be bad, at least not stupid."
Tang Zhihe stroked his chin and asked, "Then who do you think will take over my position?"
Yang Heshu shook his head. "It's hard to guess. He Qing and Zhou Lingfeng from our current period are both possible. Xie Hengliang from the previous period? Or maybe Liu Yi, the eldest grandson of the current Minister Liu."
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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