How could Mu Yunfeng not know what the Emperor of Gan was thinking? However, all his plans were in vain. Wei had already solved its food problem thanks to its sweet potato and corn cultivation. Furthermore, the railway built by the captives had already reached Gan's territory, allowing large quantities of food and supplies to be transported to the front lines continuously via rail. There was no need to worry about supply issues.
Now the Wei army is surrounding the country without attacking just to destroy the last dignity of the ruler of the country.
If the emperor and his ministers had been willing to share the hardships of the people, they might have had a chance of survival. However, they had long been accustomed to wealth and splendor, and were unwilling to share the hardships of the people. They continued to live a life of extravagance and waste, exploiting the people's wealth, in a vain attempt to maintain their illusory noble status in their final days.
On the seventh day of the Wei army's siege of the capital of Gan State, food prices in the city had risen to sky-high prices, making it impossible for ordinary people to afford it and even struggling to survive. However, the emperor and his ministers believed this was perfectly normal, and many ministers even colluded with merchants to hoard food and drive up prices, profiting from the national crisis.
On the fifteenth day of the Wei army's siege of the capital of Gan State, the people in the capital who had no food launched a riot. The soldiers of Gan State were originally children of ordinary people. After watching their relatives starve to death, they were no longer loyal to the emperor of Gan State and defected or fled the barracks.
After all, these ordinary soldiers had not done anything harmful to the world, so even if they were captured by the Wei State, they would not be severely punished. On the contrary, when the Wei army occupied the capital of the Gan State, they and their fellow villagers could still get something to eat.
If they continued to be loyal to the Emperor of Gan State and took action against the people who rioted because of hunger, these soldiers would be severely punished after the Wei State occupied the capital of Gan State.
On the twentieth day of the Wei army's siege of the capital of Gan State, the city gates of Gan State were opened by soldiers. The emperor and ministers of Gan State appeared in front of Mu Yunfeng and Chu Fan, pressed by the people with blood on their bodies.
The once aloof faces of the Emperor and his ministers were now filled with fear and despair, their former dignity completely gone. The common people came before Chu Fan and Mu Yunfeng and knelt on the ground. A censor from the state of Gan stepped forward and said, "On behalf of the people of Gan, we implore the State of Wei to accept our surrender."
Chu Fan and Mu Yunfeng accepted the surrender of the people of Gan State, and the Wei army officially took over the capital of Gan State. Chu Fan did not embarrass the people of the imperial capital, but just like in the cities he had previously occupied, all officials and members of the aristocratic families were judged by the people of the imperial capital of Gan State.
In the history of Shengwu Continent, no emperor of any country would be judged by ordinary people. For a time, the people in the capital of Gan State were filled with panic. However, under the supervision of the Wei army, these people had a hint of excitement in addition to fear, because this was the first time they truly had the right to judge those rulers who were once high and mighty.
In the past, they could not believe these things. In the past, even seeing the emperor was an unimaginable luxury for them. Now, they can actually participate in the process of judging the emperor and ministers. This makes the people of Gan Country both afraid and excited.
Mu Yunfeng said to Chu Fan, "Your Majesty, aren't you going too far? If you really let the people participate in the trial of an emperor, it will probably cause a shock to the entire Shengwu Continent. This will be a blasphemy against the imperial power. It will also be a collapse of the imperial power. In the future, the people of Gan Kingdom may not be so afraid of the imperial power. Will this affect the rule of Wei Kingdom itself?"
Chu Fan smiled calmly, "If an emperor is incompetent and the court doesn't care about the people, then it's better for the people not to be so in awe of the imperial power. This way, at least the people can stand up and fight for themselves. An imperial power that relies only on the people's awe and cannot ensure their peace and prosperity will eventually collapse.
If a foolish monarch appeared in the Wei Kingdom in the future, I would also support the people in rising up in rebellion, because the true foundation of a country is not the imperial power but the people. As long as the people can live and work in peace and contentment, who would be willing to overthrow a regime that can only make them live a prosperous life?
There is a hellish joke on the blue planet, which is that Louis XVI cannot tell jokes because telling jokes will make his head heavy. Louis XVI was beheaded in front of the people.
Although this is just a joke, France has always been the country that likes to launch revolutions the most on the blue planet. This is actually closely related to the fact that the people can witness with their own eyes that the supreme ruler of an empire can be pushed to the guillotine.
Chu Fan wanted to establish a belief in the hearts of the people, that is, if a ruler does not treat the people as human beings and does not care about the people, then the people have the right to make him fall from the high throne.
At the same time, Chu Fan let the people of Gan State judge the emperor of Gan State and those once powerful nobles themselves, so that the people of Gan State could not use this incident to criticize Wei State in the future, because all the decisions were made by the people of Gan State themselves, and Wei State only provided a platform and opportunity.
At that time, even if someone wanted to guide these people to avenge the emperor of Gan State, it would be difficult to find a reasonable excuse, because the emperor of Gan State and those ministers were pushed to the guillotine by themselves, and Wei State did not force them to make any decision. If they really wanted to avenge the emperor of Gan State, then they should be the first people to be killed.
Chu Fan's arrangement not only demonstrated his wisdom, but also his profound understanding of human nature. He clearly knew that for a regime to maintain long-term stability, it did not rely on iron and blood and force, but on the loyalty and trust of the people.
After the news of the execution of the Emperor of Gan and his ministers spread, the rulers of the entire Shengwu Continent were shocked. They had never imagined that the emperor and his ministers would be tried and executed by ordinary people. This completely overturned their understanding.
However, with the stable rule of the Wei army in Gan State and a series of reform measures implemented by Chu Fan, the people of Gan State gradually felt unprecedented peace and prosperity. They began to realize that being ruled by Wei State might not be a bad thing.
After stabilizing the situation in Gan Country, Chu Fan returned to Kaifeng City because Liu Xueyu had returned from Blue Star, and this time she came back with her child.
After Chu Fan returned to Kaifeng City and saw Liu Xueyu and his child, he felt that his bond with this world had deepened.
Chu Fan accompanied Liu Xueyu in Kaifeng for a month before returning to the front lines. During that month, students from five universities, after undergoing imperial assessment, were dispatched to the former Gan Kingdom to participate in local governance and reconstruction. These young students brought all of Wei's governing philosophies and new technologies to this once oppressed land, bringing tangible change to the people of the former Gan Kingdom.
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