Chapter 108 Heavy Code
On April 18, there was a civil strife in Xiangyang. Two generals under Fan Qiong's command, Han Li, commander of the left army, disappeared after ordering the entire army to surrender, while Wang Jun, commander of the right army, contacted Fan Qiong's direct guards to revolt, tied up Fan Qiong directly, and surrendered the city of Xiangyang.
That evening, Huyan Tong took the lead in leading his troops across the river in the rain, marched quickly into the city and controlled the city gate.
At this time, Liu Yan, the emperor's favorite general who had a troubled career, was brought to the west of the city 20 miles away along with General Xiao Xin because of the rising water level of the Han River. As if by some strange coincidence, he missed out on another great achievement.
Of course, these are irrelevant to the overall situation. Early the next morning, Emperor Zhao led the main force of the imperial camp to cross the river, and at noon, he gathered with Generals Liu Yan and Xin Yongzong to arrive at the city of Xiangyang. However, he let Generals Wang De and Fu Qing enter the city first to assist Huyan Tong in completely controlling the city defense.
By this point, Fan Qiong's rebellion was quelled in just sixteen days, which was extremely fast.
However, since the emperor has come in person, he will inevitably have to do some finishing work himself.
"I read the letter that Lord Lin had his trusted family deliver early in the morning on the way and got a rough idea of what was happening in the city...Are these Fan Qiong's family members?"
At noon, Emperor Zhao arrived at Xiangyang City, but did not stay in the city. Instead, he rode through the city on horseback and found his trusted minister, Scholar Xiaolin, in front of a large pit on a higher ground in the south of the city. However, when he arrived here, he saw that the pit was full of corpses, especially the corpses of several young women, and he couldn't help but frown.
"I am ashamed..." When Scholar Xiaolin saw the emperor coming, he came back to his senses and bowed. "I really didn't expect Fan Qiong to be so perverse, first skinning people alive and then hacking to death his wives, concubines and daughters."
Zhao Jiu did not answer, but was attracted by the corpse closest to the horse's hoof... With the help of the sunlight that appeared and disappeared at noon, Zhao Guanjia saw clearly that the corpse was dressed like a rich girl of sixteen or seventeen years old. There were three or four wounds on the body, and they were all huge. Half of the body was stained with blood, and the other half looked dry and pale due to excessive blood loss. In addition, the goose yellow clothes on the other party were stained with dark brown mud and water underneath, which was really eye-catching.
"This is Fan Qiong's daughter..." Scholar Kobayashi became increasingly uneasy.
"He would kill the women in his own family at any time, killing both good and bad people, without caring that it was his own fault." Emperor Zhao looked at the corpse expressionlessly, but he couldn't help but sigh. "I finally met a man who is responsible and cares about his family, but he is a traitor... I heard that Fan Qiong is not dead?"
"Yes." Scholar Kobayashi, who was originally a little flustered, suddenly calmed down.
"It's understandable. Death is the only difficulty in the history. This is just like killing one's wife and daughter. It is a common thing for a man in history books. I see that the generals and Liu Canjun are not surprised. I think they have been used to such incidents in the past two years." Emperor Zhao looked at the huge pit in front of him thoughtfully. "What does Mr. Lin mean? I see that you seem to have something to say that you didn't say in yesterday's letter?"
"Yes." Scholar Xiao Lin bowed. "I still want to apologize in person. In fact, I should have dealt with Fan Qiong yesterday to avoid embarrassing the emperor. But Wang Jun was greedy and thought he could make a profit. I couldn't order him. I am really ashamed."
Zhao Jiu held the reins with both hands, looking a little puzzled: "Let's not talk about Wang Jun, why do you think that not being able to deal with Fan Qiong will make it difficult for me?"
"Since the Jingkang Incident, Fan Qiong has repeatedly committed evil deeds and deserves death. The emperor has always hated evil, but as an emperor, the correct way is to enforce the law and punish him..." Scholar Xiaolin said in an awkward voice. The people behind the emperor, such as Wang Yuan, Liu Yan, Hu Yantong, etc., also hurriedly pulled their horses back. "I should have shared the emperor's worries and prevented him from bearing a bad reputation, but I am really incompetent."
"You're thinking too much." Emperor Zhao sighed and looked up at the bright sun above his head. "Who are you? You have a lot of Jinshi in your family, and you are a so-called poet. You have been born in a wealthy and prosperous family. Your behavior has surpassed countless people. As for me... Fan Qiong was the first to do such an unforgivable thing. Why should others blame me for being more ruthless? Besides, I am not a wise and brave king, nor do I want to be Renzong... Did you know that Liu Yu built temples for Chen Dong and Ouyang Che in Jinan? What reputation do I have?"
“…”
"But, is there really nothing you can say to fool people?" Zhao Jiufu lowered his head and asked with a smile.
"Yes." Scholar Xiao Lin had been looking down at the corpse at his feet. He was silent for a moment, then he looked up and answered with a firm voice. "The Book of Zhou says: 'To punish a chaotic country, use severe punishments.' Zheng Xuan, who was born in a chaotic era at the end of the Han Dynasty, commented: 'To use severe punishments, is to eliminate evil.' Just as the government said, since Fan Qiong did all kinds of evil things, it is no wonder that the government eliminated him!"
"In troubled times, severe punishments must be used... I thought it was a saying of Wei Wu, but I didn't expect it to be a Confucian classic?" Zhao Jiu suddenly remembered a low-end game that liked to sort data, and then thought of the operations in some high-end film and television dramas, but he couldn't nod. "Since the scriptures have said so, I won't be hypocritical... Don't bury these people first, get a coffin, and then bring Fan Qiong. Then, among the generals in the city, let Hu Yantong stay behind, and the rest come to watch the execution."
"Together?" Scholar Kobayashi was slightly stunned.
"Yes, all the soldiers in the imperial camp, from Wang De onwards, and all the surrendered soldiers, from Wang Jun onwards, are here to watch the execution."
Scholar Kobayashi heard it clearly and no longer hesitated. Instead, he bowed and took his leave, and went to pass on the orders and make the arrangements himself. Emperor Zhao sat quietly on his horse, not moving at all.
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