#802 - To kill or not?
The next day, at dawn.
As the four gates of Fengyuan City swung open and the army triumphantly returned, shouting military slogans, the somewhat delayed joy of victory finally began to boil over in Fengyuan.
Countless people left their homes, rushing through every street and alley in the city, excitedly or relievedly spreading the news.
The sound of firecrackers crackled and popped, and a gust of wind swept through, filling the streets with festive red scraps.
Taverns and teahouses reopened their doors to welcome guests, with large red lanterns hanging high and swaying, and free wine and water were placed at the entrance, allowing passersby to drink to their heart's content.
In less than an hour, the entire Fengyuan City seemed to have turned into a giant steamer, with a lively and jubilant atmosphere soaring into the sky and lingering for a long time.
In fact, Fengyuan was not the only place with such a scene.
Including the "occupied areas" of Xin Feng, as well as Da Ning and Da Shu, the invisible haze that had been hovering over the three countries finally dissipated at this moment, and the long-lost sunlight once again enveloped the earth.
If there were no unexpected events, the Ning, Shu, and Feng three countries could maintain a long period of peace after this war.
The people would live and work in peace and contentment, and the country would recuperate.
After successively experiencing the "Liu-Wei Dispute", "Spring Dragon Rebellion", "Xu Family Rebellion", "Feng-Ning National War", "Shu Province Independence", "New Emperor Usurpation", "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms", and a series of other upheavals, the people really needed a stable regime and life.
And now, at least they no longer had to worry about whether the flames of war would spread to their hometowns, or whether they would die in the chaos of war.
From this perspective, a saying from the previous life did have some truth—
Perhaps in the hearts of most people, the worst peace is better than the greatest war.
Si Shi (9-11 AM), Xin Feng Imperial Palace.
Like Fengyuan City, the huge imperial palace had also regained its former popularity, and everyone walking in it had a beaming smile on their face.
Today's early court session lasted for more than an hour, and besides a series of issues concerning post-war reconstruction, the most discussed topic was how to deal with the 300,000 Qian Hui surrendered soldiers.
Yes, although Liang Zhen was half an hour late in ordering the sealing of the blades last night, more than 300,000 prisoners still survived.
Capturing 300,000 enemies was originally a matter worthy of great fanfare.
However, the officials at the early court session quarreled over this matter.
Under normal circumstances, there are several options for dealing with surrendered soldiers.
The first, of course, is to kill them directly.
However, considering that there were as many as 300,000 people this time, whether killing them all would be against the harmony of nature was still unknown, but it was indeed too cruel.
The second is to offer a higher price and let the enemy country pay to redeem the people.
The price of redemption is not fixed, but generally speaking, it is one hundred taels of silver per head, and the redeemed soldiers will have their cultivation abolished.
One hundred taels of silver to buy a useless person without cultivation is certainly a loss.
But considering the will of the people, the defeated country often gritted its teeth and paid the money.
And if you don't want to kill people, and you're not short of money, then there's a third option.
That is to demote the surrendered soldiers to slave status and let them "add bricks and tiles" to the construction of Xin Feng.
So, is it to kill people to vent anger? Or exchange for money? Or transform them into quality labor?
Several groups of people argued about this matter for a long time at the early court session today, but no conclusion was reached.
The ministers could not reach a consensus, so Xu Sui Sui wanted to make a decision herself.
But after hesitating for a moment, she still sent a small eunuch to ask Wei Changtian for his opinion.
The latter hardly considered it and quickly made an unexpected decision.
Not killing, not selling, and not demoting them to slaves.
With wide eyes, the little eunuch was incredibly confused by the answer given by Wei Changtian.
After all, the manpower and financial resources required to guard 300,000 people is not a small number, and accidents are also very likely to occur.
"Gongzi, you are..."
"Tell your Majesty that I will have a use for these 300,000 people in the future."
"Uh, but I don't know Gongzi..."
"Just convey the original words, you can go down first."
". Yes."
Seeing that Wei Changtian obviously had no intention of explaining to him, the little eunuch did not dare to ask any more questions, and soon lowered his head and left the room to report to Xu Sui Sui.
At this time, Wei Changtian also walked back into the room, looking at Li Zimu standing in the center of the room and asked:
"What's wrong? What do you want me for?"
"Gongzi..."
Lowering her head, Li Zimu bit her lip, and then suddenly knelt down on the ground with a "plop".
"This servant, this servant wants to ask you for something."
"Ask me?"
Taken aback, Wei Changtian was a little confused by Li Zimu's kneeling, but he also knew that this matter was probably not simple.
Without letting the latter get up, he just walked to the table and poured himself a cup of tea.
"Speak straight if you have something to say."
"Yes."
"Gongzi, I, I don't know..."
With her forehead touching the ground, her tone was pleading.
Li Zimu knelt in front of Wei Changtian like this, hesitated for a long time before trembling and saying:
"I don't know if you can spare, spare Young Master Tang..."
Huh? Spare Tang Chen?
The hand pouring tea paused, Wei Changtian first glanced at Li Zimu suspiciously, and after a moment he understood the reason.
"What? You're not going to lie to him anymore?"
"Yes."
Li Zimu was still kneeling, her voice was very small: "This servant, this servant is incompetent and cannot serve Gongzi..."
"Alright, I didn't blame you either."
Wei Changtian waved his hand, interrupting with a rather helpless expression: "He's leaving? So you're afraid I'll kill him to silence him?"
"Yes."
Li Zimu's voice was even softer, and she even felt a little apprehensive: "This servant understands that Young Master Tang knows too many secrets and should not live."
"But, but..."
"."
The bright sunlight passed through the windows, casting a soft glow on Li Zimu's body.
Wei Changtian looked at her and already understood what she was thinking.
Obviously, since Li Zimu had made things clear to Tang Chen, then the latter would definitely leave.
And Li Zimu didn't know that he had a system, so she could only think that he would kill people because Tang Chen knew too much.
"Okay, I promise you."
After pondering for a moment, Wei Changtian casually replied, his expression unchanged.
"Thank you, Gongzi!"
Li Zimu suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with gratitude, and she must have felt a huge weight lifted from her heart at this moment.
It's just like what I said before—
If a person intends to fulfill a promise, then he will often become serious.
And if a person casually agrees to something, then he is very likely to go back on his word.
Wei Changtian had just agreed very casually, so he hadn't really thought about whether to kill Tang Chen.
Although Tang Chen didn't do anything wrong, but...
1500 system points!
And that very useful "Mind Reading" divine power!
If Tang Chen didn't leave, Wei Changtian probably wouldn't have murderous intentions.
But now that people are leaving, if he misses this opportunity, it will be too late to regret it in the future.
Alas...
If the Sons of Heaven were all as cruel and vicious as Bai Youheng, then he wouldn't have any psychological burden when killing them.
Why is everyone so upright?
Sighing in his heart, Wei Changtian turned his head and looked out the window.
The rising sun passed through the treetops, casting countless brilliant rays of light on the ground.
