Does Tao Feng know about this?
I definitely know.
Should we regulate it?
Given the current situation, we definitely won't do anything about it.
Zhao Peng was no stranger to the horrific sight of cannibalism; he had witnessed it many times on his way from the south.
A woman was carrying a bag of what looked like delicious meat, and she did it so openly that no one would normally try to steal it.
In such times of famine, the only meat that no one else wanted was human flesh.
Unless absolutely necessary, ordinary people would not eat human flesh.
When people resort to cannibalism, it's out of necessity. At that time, there are dead people everywhere, so who would bother to eat human flesh?
But these captains were different. They could have chosen not to eat human flesh, but after hearing that the rebel army often used people as food, they started to devise a plan. At first, they often captured refugees to use as food, but later, they started eating them themselves.
They eat out of curiosity, to vent their anger, or to intimidate others; normal food can no longer satisfy their distorted mentality.
Zhao Peng also knew that cannibalism existed in the military.
But he thought it was just that the soldiers were forced to eat because there wasn't enough food.
To everyone's surprise, it was the captain who led the way in eating.
They no longer simply prey on refugees.
The more they ate, the more varied the dishes became. There was a captain who took pleasure in eating fetuses.
He frequently ordered his men to find heavily pregnant women, cut them open, and eat the fetuses.
And they've been eating it for three or four years now.
How many pregnant women and fetuses have died at his hands?
Zhao Peng's face turned red with anger. If the army is like this, how can the world not be in chaos?
Fortunately, he ran into his superior.
It was only while he was in the army that he learned that the powerful families in the north were even more demanding than those in the south.
Because many of the prominent families in the north are long-established and prestigious clans.
Some of them are even remnants from the previous dynasty.
When the founding emperor of the Great Xuan Dynasty entered the Central Plains, he was a foreigner and in order to better govern, he won over many powerful families in the north.
These powerful families, relying on their service to the emperor, grew even stronger.
It's almost impossible to shake it now.
When the Bai family was in power, they tried their best to weaken the power of the aristocratic families, but in the end, they ended up with the extermination of their entire clan and turmoil among the aristocratic families.
Almost all the prefectures in the north were controlled by powerful families.
Therefore, the founding emperor had no choice but to set up the capital in the south and keep the surrounding prefectures firmly under the control of his own people.
Because powerful clans were difficult to control, land was increasingly consolidated, and ordinary people had less and less land. The vast majority of ordinary people could only rely on working for powerful clans to survive.
Or they could rent land from established families to survive.
When the real drought and locust plagues came, the common people not only failed to receive food, but also owed the powerful families rent and food.
Some families could have managed to make ends meet, but powerful families wouldn't allow ordinary people to be in debt.
Ordinary people either fled the famine or sold their houses and other valuables to repay the debt.
They might even sell their children, sell themselves into slavery, or join the army to earn a living.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many refugees.
There wouldn't be so many ordinary people becoming slaves.
It would not allow the soldiers to endure such things.
At this moment, the soldiers searching ahead reported back: "Captain, we have captured a centurion who led the rebellion."
Zhao Peng was startled. How could it be such a coincidence?
Zhao Peng rushed to the front and learned that the centurion had run here and been kidnapped for some unknown reason.
The soldiers under this centurion were scattered by Zhao Peng and his men, and he escaped with only a dozen or so close subordinates.
He could have escaped; he wanted to return to Jianming Prefecture, after all, he was a member of the Cao family.
But who knew that when they ran here, they were kidnapped by more than a dozen people, beaten up, and tied up here.
Zhao Peng's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Did you see clearly who the people who kidnapped you were?"
These people all shook their heads: "We don't know, they were all wearing masks."
"Did they rob you of your money?"
These people all shook their heads: "We didn't take much money with us when we ran away."
Zhao Peng understood.
Then he asked, "Who killed the two captains who died later?"
Centurion Cao Zhende replied, "When the soldiers mutinied, they were chased and killed by the soldiers. They were probably killed by the soldiers while they were running around!"
Did they come here to kill?
Zhao Peng thought to himself: Xiao Kong, you're really something.
Zhao Peng didn't ask any further questions, but instead ordered his soldiers to take Cao Zhen back.
Then the commander took the bodies of the two captains back and handed them over to Tao Feng for disposal.
When Zhao Peng brought the body back, he learned that the general had fallen asleep again.
Then Cui Pingwei's guards came to him, saying that the general liked the wine he had offered as a tribute and asked him to offer some more.
Zhao Peng gritted his teeth inwardly. With a general like this, how could the army possibly be any good?
But at this point, he still needed to make use of Tao Feng.
Zhao Peng's face twitched, but he finally managed to force a smile: "Alright, if the general wants to drink, I will naturally find it for him."
"I'll personally deliver it to the general later."
Having accomplished his guard duty, Cui Pingwei smiled and said to Zhao Peng, "Captain, that wine was really good, very strong. I wonder if I could have some?"
Zhao Peng waved his hand and called over his guards: "Go, take this brother and have a few drinks."
They're all smart people; they immediately understood what it meant.
Zhao Peng snorted as he watched Cui Pingwei's guard walk away.
If the superiors set a bad example, how can soldiers with such a command have any fighting ability?
He summoned Dou Jianwei, the chief clerk of the army, and handed him the bodies of Cao Zhende and the two captains, along with the letters.
The best approach is to have Dou Jianwei interrogate and investigate the entire matter.
He believed in Kong Zhen's abilities. Since he had managed to tie up Cao Zhende, he must have a way to coerce Cao Zhende into confessing that the Cao family had ordered them to do this.
As expected, when Dou Jianwei interrogated Cao Zhende, he immediately confessed that the mutiny was orchestrated by the Cao family.
It could have succeeded, but someone beat them to it. And no one expected Zhao Peng to react so quickly, nor did they expect Zhao Peng's soldiers to be so capable.
Dou Jianwei, who was serving as the Chief Secretary and was a confidant of Tao Feng, was very concerned when he heard about this matter.
As for the fact that the captain ate people, that's a minor matter.
At this point, he disregarded the fact that Tao Feng was sleeping and went inside with the statement.
The general's guard reminded him, "Chief Secretary, the general is sleeping soundly."
Dou Jianwei said urgently, "There is an urgent matter. Quickly wake the general up and give him some hangover soup."
Seeing Dou Jianwei's anxious look, the guards knew that the matter was urgent.
He had no choice but to muster his courage and wake Tao Feng up.
Tao Feng was dreaming of a beautiful woman's paradise when he was woken up, and he was very unhappy.
He kicked out, knocking the guard to the ground.
Dou Jianwei immediately replied, "General, please calm down. There is indeed an urgent matter, otherwise I would not dare to disturb you."
Tao Feng then regained her senses slightly, and upon seeing that it was Dou Jianwei, her anger subsided by half.
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