Follow Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the country

Chapter 53 Add Ling Chi to Cast a Kneeling Statue

"Whatever you think!"

Zhang Mian smiled suddenly, then looked at Jia Zhili and said: "I only know that, as this Mr. Zhang said, as long as the monarch and his ministers do not care about Huayi, the people in the north will not be any better off. Even the ordinary scholars in the north will not be able to do well. It’s not easy to go anywhere!”

"So, if the people of the north are no better off, what's the point of adhering to this ritual?"

"Instead of doing this, it is better to obey the virtuous."

"At least, the rebel army now really regards the southern people as human beings, so on the way here, I could see the notices to calm the people, I could see the sergeants distributing food to help the people, and I even saw the sergeants helping the old and young."

"This is truly a teacher of benevolence!"

"There are people like us who claim to be polite and benevolent, but in the end they do nothing unjust. We don't treat the southerners as human beings, and we don't treat the northerners as human beings. In the temple, friends are treated as traitors. , in the countryside, the soldiers are as evil as bandits!"

Jia Zhili just spat at Zhang Mian: "You have betrayed the emperor's kindness and violated your holy virtue!"

Zhang Cheng smiled slightly at this.

Zhang Cheng was not too surprised that these officials and gentry had different reactions after hearing his words.

Because he knows that although a class itself is reactionary, it does not mean that a specific person in this class is reactionary. There are indeed people in the world who betray the class.

It has existed since ancient times.

It's just that Zhang Cheng didn't know whether Zhang Mian really decided to surrender to the rebels after hearing his advice to Zhu Yuanzhang about reestablishing Huayi rites, or whether it was a temporary expedient to save his life, or even trying to take advantage of the opportunity. Joining the rebels will destroy the unity within the rebels.

Zhang Cheng is more willing to believe the latter.

Of course, maybe it’s both.

That is to say, this crown may be due to both greed for life and inner recognition that today's ethics have made China regress. After all, people are indeed so complicated sometimes, with both noble and dirty thoughts.

But in any case, Zhang Cheng is now very willing to see officials, gentry and Confucian scholars willing to support his ideas, especially officials and gentry Confucians in the north. This can further prove to Zhu Yuanzhang that he said that officials and gentry in the world are indeed not of the same mind. , which can also prove that his proposition is indeed in line with the social evolution trend of this era.

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw that Zhang Mian was inspired by Zhang Cheng's words and was willing to surrender, he nodded happily.

Although he, like Zhang Cheng, did not completely believe in Zhang Mian, it still made him willing to believe that the ideas he and Zhang Cheng believed in were indeed in line with the people of the world, so he was able to make Zhang Mian in front of him willing to agree and also The shortcomings of Yuanting are revealed, and the people in the north of Yuanting are not treated well either.

"Is there anything else you want to surrender?"

Followed by.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked the other captured Yuan Ting officials with a sullen face.

Qianhu Zhao Lu shouted at this time: "The guilty general is willing to abandon the dark and turn to the bright, please ask the general to take him in!"

"The criminal is also willing to surrender in order to follow the great righteousness!"

"The criminals are also willing to surrender to the rebel army."

……

for a while.

Other Yuan court officials followed suit and expressed their willingness to surrender, including some officials with Meng and Semu origins.

There are relatively few bureaucrats who are truly willing to die for the Yuan Dynasty.

This is not surprising.

There are only a few people who are never afraid of death and are truly willing to implement their ideas.

It's just that in the face of a huge population base, there will be many people who are willing to sacrifice their lives and be loyal.

"How can a Confucian man subjugate a thief!"

But now, among the captured bureaucrats of the Yuan Dynasty in front of Zhang Cheng and Zhu Yuanzhang, except for Jia Zhili, there are still other officials who are unwilling to surrender.

for example.

At this time, there was a judge from the Privy Council of the Yuan Dynasty, and Wen Qian, an official who was captured by the rebels in the Zhizhou Yamen because he was ordered to come to Chuzhou for inspection, responded with the same sentence, and looked angrily at the officials who wanted to surrender to the rebels.

"Sir, these bureaucrats from the Yuan Dynasty who are unwilling to surrender, even if they are unwilling to abandon the dark side and surrender to the bright side, their previous sins cannot be forgiven!" After Zhang Cheng made all the captured Yuan Ting bureaucrats express their stance, he looked at the several Yuan Ting officials who were unwilling to surrender. Bureaucrat, and started talking to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "It is appropriate to state the canonical punishment."

"What can be confirmed now is that the crimes they committed were, first, violating etiquette and stubbornly insisting on not recognizing the distinction between Chinese and foreigners; second, they were bandits, who were ruthless thieves who harmed our country, and under the inspiration of our rebel army, Despite persuasion, he still refused to repent or admit his guilt. He insisted on recognizing the thief as his master, insisted on enslaving our Chinese people, and insisted on dividing the north and the south, regardless of the laws of heaven and humanity; third, he was unkind, treating the people unkindly, but taking the people as food and not doing so. Regret, it is really reactionary in the extreme and incurable. It must be dealt with with an iron hand. There is no need to show mercy or mercy. The only way to deter stupidity and stubbornness is to use severe punishment!"

Zhang Cheng spoke.

Zhu Yuanzhang still nodded after hearing this.

What he couldn't accept the most was that Jia Zhili and other Yuan court officials used the people as food, and believed that southerners like him should be sacrificed. At this time, he coldly ordered: "Behead them and use their meat." Help the hungry!”

Zhang Cheng had no objection to this.

Because people like Jia Zhili are stubborn and inflexible, there is no value in being lenient. The only meaning is to use strict laws to deter those who are still stubborn.

Again.

Zhang Cheng knows that he also hates these people, so he can intercede for some officials and gentry who can be won over for his own interests and ideals, but this does not mean that he will really treat all officials and gentry, including die-hards, with kindness. treat each other.

Zhang Cheng is not a saint, and he has a hatred of Zhu Yuanzhang in his heart.

Therefore, Zhang Cheng did not choose to object.

Zhang Cheng was not surprised that Zhu Yuanzhang chose to severely punish those who refused to surrender.

In Zhu Yuanzhang's world, there is no such thing as a scholar who cannot be killed or humiliated.

Therefore, in history, he would impose the death penalty on Chen Youding who wanted to be loyal to the Yuan Dynasty but refused to surrender, and skinned officials who had been corrupt beyond a certain level and showed them to the Yamen.

of course.

Zhang Cheng hopes that Zhu Yuanzhang will treat the people of the world as human beings, so he will not support Zhu Yuanzhang being too cruel to the people of the world, but this does not mean that he supports blindly lenient punishments for ritualists.

Regarding the extremely vicious and stubborn people, Zhang Cheng would only think that Zhu Yuanzhang did not insult his personality enough.

Therefore, Zhang Cheng said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your Majesty! If you want to be strict, in my opinion, it can't just be physically harsh, but it should also be a mental blow. It should also be like building a kneeling statue of Qin Hui for the people who are unjust to King Yue." They made a kneeling statue of Jia Zhili and other die-hards and erected it at the city gate because they were sorry to the ancestors of China and the people of the world. Therefore, they should kneel down every day to welcome the soldiers and civilians entering and leaving the city! Otherwise, it is not enough to prove that we are rebuilding China. Yi Zhili’s determination!”

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded after hearing this: "Mr. Zhang is still the one who will come up with ideas. Although our idea just now was cruel, it was more than enough to shock and not enough to educate!"

"Just do it!"

"Also, bury his head under the bricks in the city gate corridor and let people and animals trample on him!"

Jia Zhili was shocked when he heard this. He looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Cheng and trembled: "You! You guys!"

Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Jia Zhili just wanted to say, how could he treat a loyal man who dared to die for the court, but he did not admire his own loyalty, and even if he wanted to kill him, he should only hang him and keep the whole body. At most, beheading, of course, is not impossible. After all, a scholar can be killed, and it is the victor's right to kill him how he wants to be killed. However, a scholar cannot be killed and humiliated. Taking oneself to help the people is simply deliberately insulting him and deliberately confusing the nobles and the inferiors.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang also interrupted when Jia Zhili spoke: "You don't treat us as a human being, how can we treat you as a human being!"

Jia Zhili was immediately speechless.

Here, Zhang Cheng ordered the soldiers to put the shackles on him again, and asked him to mark his plea, and had him dragged off.

"Broken etiquette!"

"What a bad etiquette!"

But at this moment, Wen Qian, another official who refused to surrender, couldn't help shouting and said: "You are disobeying the law of heaven!"

"We don't believe that destiny is at fault. If destiny is at fault, doesn't God also think that our parents deserve to die?"

"But we rebelled because of God's will, so our parents should not die. God's destiny lies with our rebel army! It lies with the new ethics!"

"If I die because of this, God is lying to me!
  At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang took the initiative to respond to Wen Qian himself and said: "If God doesn't pity the common people, then why should I, the common people, respect the sky?!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was not so much responding to Wen Qian as he was trying to convince himself that he was not afraid of anything.

Zhang Cheng was quite touched after hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, and immediately raised his hands and said: "The words of superiors can be said to be deafening and enlightening. With these words, everyone in the world can be convinced!"

(End of this chapter)