The fact that the spy from the Zhang family and the Wang family, whose code name was Wind, had shot an old lady had completely frightened the other eight people. They really wanted to ask, "How can a young man like you kill an unarmed old lady?" But they knew that it was useless to ask.
He was only one person. Who wouldn't think of their own safety? In his eyes, there might not be old people or children, only family and enemies.
As for guessing whether there were bullets in the pistol, it was a joke. Just now, he said that there was only one bullet that could kill a person decisively. How could there not be other bullets?
The eight people continued to lie on the ground without making a sound. Feng also stayed where he was. He did not look for the other people in this small village, nor did he chase after the young man who had run away. He should have brought information with him.
Standing there, Feng took out another magazine and gritted his teeth, but he did not change it because he knew that there were still four bullets in the gun. There was no need to change it. If he changed it, it would be troublesome. If the people lying on the ground suddenly jumped up, it would be difficult for him to deal with them.
At the moment, he was not worried. Four bullets were enough to make four people lose their ability to resist. As for the remaining four, even if he did not have time to change the bullets, he could finish them off with the knife in his arms.
A quarter of an hour passed. Feng still stood there expressionlessly. The eight people lying on the ground could no longer feel the humidity of the ground. Each of them only felt that the pressure on their bodies was enormous. Time seemed to drag on.
Finally, one of them could no longer stand the silent confrontation. He turned his head and said to Feng, "It's useless for you to catch us. Even if you kill us, there's only one of us here in charge of external communication. That's the 'Yaoyu' you're chasing. I advise you to go after him.
I'll give you a piece of information. The tunnel below, the one on the far right, keep walking. When you can't see the road anymore, there is a slanted opening. Jump up, use your arms to support yourself, and climb out. You will see a pond in front of you.
Jump down again and swim to the bottom of the opposite side of the pond. There is also an opening that goes up. After you go in, you will go down again. There is only one way. Go to the end and climb out again. There is a patch of reeds. Yaoyu ran from there. As for where he went, I don't know. "
After the speaker finished speaking, he looked at Feng with hopeful eyes, hoping that he would chase after him. However, Feng did not move. After ten breaths, Feng finally spoke.
"Let's not talk about whether the information you provided is true or false. You only told me now. Do you think I'm a fool? Can I catch up? The reed marsh was densely covered with reeds, and there were puddles of water below. As someone who wasn't familiar with the terrain, I reckoned that if I fell in and died, I would only end up as fertilizer.
I'm perplexed. Is the Great Tang's rapid development not good enough for you? Your children will be able to go to school to study, and you pregnant people will be able to deliver babies for free. In the past, when you gave birth to three children, two of them would die. If things went wrong, the first child would die together with the mother and child.
Nowadays, it's very difficult to die during childbirth. Also, don't you feel that the money you spend to see a doctor is fifty to sixty percent less than before? The medical center also had a cost. Wouldn't the imperial court settle the extra money for you?
Rebellion? Only you can think of that. Humans should have a conscience, right? Aren't you afraid of ghosts knocking on your door when it's dark? If it were me, I wouldn't be able to sleep. "
Feng's words were very harsh and even went straight to the heart. He didn't want to educate the other party, nor did he want to help reduce the other party's punishment. He was very clear about the personalities of the young master and young lady.
Although they usually looked magnanimous, they had an uncrossable bottom line. If you were bullied by the local government, you could resist, you could report, and you could even send a telegram to the capital.
As long as the telegram was sent, even if the matter was very small in the eyes of ordinary people, even if there was a possibility that there was a false accusation, the young master and young lady would send people to investigate.
This was a kind of attitude that made the local officials constantly remind themselves not to interfere. If they did, they would be caught. Of course, the person who complained also had to send a telegram with their household registration.
However, the young master and young lady's tolerance only went so far. If there were people who wanted to rebel, they would definitely be brutally suppressed, and they wouldn't even be given a chance to explain. It wasn't that they were ruthless, but that they had zero tolerance. If you felt that the officials were bullying you, you could report them.
Even Buddhism and Taoism, as well as other places that needed incense oil to worship, were strictly guarded. It was fine to spread the doctrine in a small area, but it was not allowed to incite. Moreover, temples and monasteries had to pay high taxes.
According to the young master's words, the various sects shouldn't collect money in the name of collecting money for their descendants. Since they were spreading the doctrine, they should be poor. As for the affairs of their descendants, the imperial court would take care of it.
Thinking of this, Feng hated the eight people lying on the ground even more. How much time did the young master and young lady spend for other children to play? It was because of this that the Tang Empire had its current prosperity and peace. In the end, there were still people who wanted to destroy it. They deserved to die.
The eight people lying on the ground didn't know what Feng was thinking. They were still worried about their own lives. They were not like the old lady who had just died. The old lady was worried about her family, but they were different.
What was different? Naturally, the benefits they received were different.
Thus, seeing that the other party was silent, the one who had just spoken spoke again. "We are not rebelling. We are doing this for the good of the Tang Empire. The Lord said that war will make us poor, and war will make the Tang Empire lose the support of the rest of the world. We are against war.
We are against war. We want to follow the Lord and help those who want to do harm to other places change their minds. We want to make the Tang Empire a paradise for humans, a paradise without oppression and war. "
The other seven people also chimed in.
When Feng saw the expressions in their eyes and heard their words, he knew what was going on. It was very simple. They were like those people who had been taught by various sects. They only believed in ghosts and gods and were unwilling to accept reality.
Their goal was basically the same as that of the young master and young lady. The young master and the others were working so hard to instill in the minds of the people of the Tang Empire that their Tang Empire was the strongest and that no one in the world was nobler than the people of the Great Tang. Thus, no matter where the people of the Tang Empire were, their souls would always belong to the Tang Empire.
Although he knew, there was one thing that made Feng very angry. The young master and young lady had not only instilled such thoughts in the people, but had also been working hard to improve the living standards of the people of the Tang Empire.
The military power of the Tang Empire had also provided a corresponding guarantee. The people had received practical benefits. Why couldn't they be proud of the Tang Empire?
But what had the other party done? They had actually easily used a mysterious theory or doctrine to deceive the people and still supported this organization so stubbornly.
Thinking of this, Feng asked the one who had just spoken, "What benefits did they give you?"
"Benefits? Why do we have to pursue benefits? Isn't it enough that we help each other? People don't live for benefits. In our village, we are like a family. If there is not enough firewood to burn, there will be young people to help. If there is not enough rice, they can go to other people's houses to eat. Isn't this kind of care between people enough?
Do you have to say that giving us money is helping us? No, we have the ability to obtain more things. We should help others. If each of us does something, many people will have a chance to survive. Why don't we do it? "
The one who had spoken first began to reason with Feng.
Another person who was lying on the ground said, "Little brother, he's right. Humans don't live for money. It's more about the feelings between humans. We should unite and help those who need help.
We give them food that we can't finish and empty rooms for them to live in. If we lose our house and food one day, there will be people to help us.
You see, now we are helping others. If our lives are good, we will not let those who can't eat starve. In fact, our village is not only the original people, but also the people who don't have a house.
They don't have the ability to live now. Whether it is because they can't find a good job or because they don't have the strength to farm, we can help them. Isn't that good? Look at our fields. The yield is so high. Do we have to leave it all for ourselves? "
"Bah." Feng spat at this person and said, "You still have the face to say that. Don't you understand why the grain yield in your fields is high? That's because the Sinong Temple is doing experiments in various places, saying that the Jiangnan West Road is representative of the places along the river.
That's why we sent the good seeds to you for free. Do you understand? The Sinong Temple didn't ask for a single copper coin from you. Who paid for it? The Sinong Temple's money is directly allocated by the Ministry of Works. Where did the Ministry of Works get the money? They asked for it from the Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry of Revenue didn't want to give it. It was the national treasury's money.
In the end, our Zhang Family and Wang Family paid for it. Do you have extra money? It's because your family's education and medical expenses are borne by the Emperor and other merchants.
You can pat your chests. Do you dare to say that you haven't received benefits from the imperial court and our Zhang Family and Wang Family? When you sell grain, no matter how low the price is, it can't be as low as 20%. It's only 20%.
When you buy other daily necessities, such as salt and vegetable oil, no matter how high the price is, it can't be higher than 20%. Look at the clothes you wear. More than ten years ago, you could wear cotton clothes, but can you wear fine linen clothes?
Even if we give you two sets of coarse linen clothes, you have to watch who goes out before you can wear the clothes. Those who don't go out don't even have clothes.
What do you know? Every time there's too much rain at the source of the river and important areas, how many people are worried? Just when there was a flood here, our family's fleet came over with the things His Majesty the Emperor allocated the money to buy. Don't you know what's going on? "
The more Feng spoke, the angrier he became. It seemed that he wanted to open his mouth and bite everyone who was lying down.
"Yes, we all know. But this is the grace of the Lord." The person who spoke just now nodded and admitted.
"You motherf * cker, shut up. If you speak again, I'll beat you to death." Feng burst out with a swear word. It was clear from the words in his words that he had definitely come into contact with Xiao Bei. Normal people wouldn't say this word.
Sure enough, the threat of life was stronger than the grace of the Lord. The eight people became well-behaved again and no longer tried to explain. But looking at their attitude, it was obvious that they still attributed all the benefits to the Lord.
Feng was about to go crazy from anger. He was thinking that his code name could become Crazy in the future, but he wasn't sure if Rain could become Stupid.
While both sides were sticking to their beliefs, Rain brought over twenty people on horseback. When Feng saw the dust, he finally heaved a sigh of relief. Reinforcements had come. He was no longer fighting alone.
"Feng, they … how are they?" Rain first looked at Feng. When he saw that Feng was fine, he asked.
"It's over. All of them are hopeless. They are preaching their egalitarianism to me. It's the kind of egalitarianism that the Young Master jokingly mentioned. If it's really f * cking egalitarianism, how can this society develop? Who will research technology? I reckon they'll die if they're caught. "
Feng said helplessly. He was really annoyed. What the eight people said sounded good, but it was definitely impossible to achieve. This was because he knew that for their ideas to be realized, it had to be based on the development of society's productive forces.
It was too infuriating. Others were working hard to research technology, but they were spouting nonsense while enjoying the transformation of technology into productive forces.
"We can't die. The Lord said that death is weariness of this world. It's sinful. We have to continue to care for others. We live because we are the seeds of love. We have to spread it and then grow strong, just like your Strong Seedling Protection Team."
The person lying on the ground tried hard to raise his head and said to Feng.
Feng raised his hand and patted his head. He said to Rain, "You guys take over. My job is not to educate the people. This kind of task is too difficult. Fortunately, our Seedling Protection Team didn't hear it. Otherwise, their combat power would be reduced by at least half."
Rain couldn't help but shiver. He said to the people who followed, "Send a few people to watch over them first. The rest of you follow me to check the surroundings. Don't let your guard down. If you feel that someone is a threat to you, let them go see the Lord. Damn it."
The more than 20 people who followed them didn't understand the situation. Some people who felt that they were thick-skinned were responsible for the task of watching over them. They needed to be taught by the Lord's messengers. Those who could persist and not have tinnitus were all elites.
Feng and Yu continued to lead people to search on horseback. When the sky was dark, they caught 14 people. These 14 people actually walked along the main road. At night, they lit a fire. It seemed that their Lord didn't give them a lighthouse. The light from the Lord couldn't guide them for the time being.
"No, I don't know where that brat ran off to. Today, I finally understand the power of religion. No wonder the young master and young lady were so oppressive. A person without special training, with the help of the Lord, can actually run so fast through his own psychological suggestion?"
Yu took out the grain and other food in the small village. He made a big pot of rice and stewed some dishes. He ate and said to Feng.
Feng fished out an unknown thing from the basin. He stuffed it into his mouth and said, "Next time, don't cook the stew first, okay? Did you pour the food in before the oil was boiled? Add salt, don't add soy sauce. What do you think this is? It's so black. If I hadn't been trained, I would have spat out my intestines after eating your food. "
"Let me see. This … I guess it is …"
"Guess?"
"Let me take a bite. Ha, I know. Eggplant. If you don't believe me, look. It's black on the outside, but not on the inside. There's also something like eggplant seeds. Does it look like them? Tell me honestly, does it look like eggplant seeds? "Yu bit open a black thing and showed it to Feng.
"Okay, it looks like them. The Lord said that it doesn't matter what it looks like. The most important thing is that it can fill people's stomachs. I want to go back to the main house to eat. The chefs there are good culinary skills. Yesterday, you ate my last canned food. When things are done here, you have to treat me to a big meal."
Feng chewed the eggplant seed and complained to Yu in a muffled voice.
"Okay, I'll treat you to seafood at the Blue Sea Silver Sand. It's free anyway." Yu looked at the thing in the basin and agreed.
"Actually, I like to eat the dishes cooked by the Little Childe. I wonder how the Little Childe and the others are doing." Feng temporarily treated the meal in front of him as another training. Compared with this, the food he was eating now tasted really good. He started to talk about it.
"I reckon that they are still on the way. Xiaobei and the others have probably arrived in Hangzhou. We have to work hard. When Xiaobei and the others arrive, we must find out all the information for them. I don't want them to be in any danger."
Yu swallowed a big mouthful of rice and looked to the east and said.
*****
As Yu thought, Xiaobei and the others arrived at the dock of Hangzhou when it was dark.
The whole fleet was brightly lit. Jang Wong Clan didn't care about the cold night. She stood on the platform of the fourth floor and looked at the people coming and going. Under the light of the torches, it didn't seem dark at all. She didn't say anything for a long time.
Old Man Wang was also standing behind Jang Wong Clan. He was waiting for the cargo ships at the dock to finish unloading and make way. Seeing that Qiao 'er didn't say anything, he broke the silence and said, "Qiao' er, it's almost there. Look, Master and the others have already lined up and are waiting. Why don't we let the cargo ship go to the side first? Whose cargo ship is it? It's in the way. "
Jang Wong Clan shook her head and said, "No, it's not easy for others. I didn't come back to bully them. Just wait, it'll be over soon."
"Then, Qiao 'er, go back to the cabin first. Be careful of the cold wind. Even if you don't think for yourself, you have to think for your child." Old Man Wang advised again.
Zhang Wangshi did not speak. Instead, she turned around and glanced at the maidservant beside her. The maidservant hurriedly called for someone to pull up the curtains around Zhang Wangshi so that the wind could only blow in from one side. That was definitely impossible. The wind would not come in when there was no way out and then go back through the opening unless it was against the wind.
Xiaobei and the group of children were also waiting. They had already changed their clothes and put on their official robes. They were still wearing the decorations that didn't conform to the rules.
The inner courtyard also put up all kinds of ceremonial weapons. There were banners, flags, umbrellas. There were many of them, including the ceremonial weapons of Jang Wong Clan and Madam Wang.
Finally, the dockworkers at the front unloaded the goods at the fastest speed. They didn't even dare to delay the payment and left immediately. They were afraid that the Zhang Clan and Wang Clan behind them wouldn't be able to wait.
The other ships in Xiaobei's fleet made way for the flagship to pass. When they reached the shore, Xiaobei ran down first, not even bothering with the ceremonial weapons.
However, when she ran to the docks, she didn't wait for the others to salute her. She turned around and ran back. She panted heavily and shouted, "Go back, go back and change your clothes. They didn't put up the ceremonial weapons to welcome us."
Everyone, including Jang Wong Clan, heard Xiaobei's words and returned to the cabin to change their clothes. These were two different attitudes.
If the other party put up the ceremonial weapons of an official, they would also put up the ceremonial weapons that symbolized their status. If the other party didn't, they couldn't use their status to pressure them. After all, he was Jang Wong Clan's biological father.
The people waiting at the docks were puzzled. They didn't understand why the people who were just about to disembark suddenly disappeared. Even the flags that were raised by people on the ships had disappeared.
When a steward saw this situation, he jogged to the side of a carriage and said to the person who had already come out, "Master, they went back again. Do they not want to see you?"
"Wait." This person, who didn't look very old, only said one word. He didn't give off the feeling that he was very anxious. His tone was calm.
However, under the light of the fire, the little wrinkles on his face and the frown on his brows made it clear to everyone in the family that the master was very anxious. It was a kind of anxiety that had never been seen before.
The odd-job workers and maidservants in the family felt this anxiety, but no one made a sound. They all anxiously looked at the big ship docked at the docks. To be precise, they were looking at the figure on the ship that was still hanging on the gangplank at the docks.
None of the people who came to receive them were new people. They were all people who had been in the family before. People who had been recruited in the past ten years were not allowed to come, perhaps because of the safety concerns.
This wait lasted for another fifteen minutes. Some maidservants wished they could grow wings and fly up to see the situation. Only then did the number of people begin to increase. People gradually walked down from the gangplank.
Everyone who came to receive them at the docks discovered that something was different from before. The people who had been standing at the docks were holding official banners. Now, they were all replaced with banners and lanterns with the pattern of rice seedlings.
When the person who was called Master saw the change in the guard of honor, his nervous expression also changed. A special smile appeared on his face.
"Grandfather, where is grandfather? Xiao Bei, I've come to see you. " Accompanied by a crisp child's voice that resounded through the night sky, Xiao Bei jumped down first. After jumping a few times, she arrived at the docks. She was not afraid of falling.
When she arrived at the docks, Xiao Bei stopped and began to look around. With just a glance, she was smart enough to determine her target. She then jumped and ran toward the carriage.
When she stood in front of the person who was called master, Xiao Bei immediately knelt down and kowtowed three times. She did not need anyone to help her and stood up again. She opened her arms and said to the person who was looking at her in shock, "Grandfather, I am Xiao Bei. The cutest Xiao Bei. Carry me."
The man stared blankly at Xiao Bei. After a few breaths, he finally reacted. He crouched down and picked up Xiao Bei. He didn't know where he got the strength, but he only used one arm to hold Xiao Bei firmly. He used his other hand to wipe Xiao Bei's forehead with heartache. As he wiped, he said,
He said, "Xiao Bei, my good granddaughter. Oh, why did you use so much strength? Look, it's red. Does it hurt? I saw you running down just now. Why did you go back? "
Xiao Bei grinned, revealing a gap between her teeth. She shook her head and said, "It doesn't hurt. Let me tell you. When I saw you, I knew you were my grandfather. Then, it didn't hurt at all. In fact, I wanted to come and see you for a long time, but I didn't have the time.
Grandfather, you don't know. I'm very busy. The Tang Empire always makes me meet bad officials. I can't avoid them even if I want to. Don't you think it's very infuriating? When I saw it, I had to care.
I was used to it just now. I also wanted to patrol the place. But when I ran down to take a look, ah? Guess what? It was not the official's ceremonial welcome. Oh, I just remembered. I came to see grandfather. How could there be an official's ceremonial welcome, right?
I ran back and changed my clothes. Look, do I look good? There are decorations in this part of the clothes. I like this set of clothes the most, so I want to wear it for grandfather to see. There are also candies. The candies from the precious candy house that I opened with them are for you to eat. "
Xiao Bei was very excited as she spoke. She showed her clothes to the other person and took out candies from her pocket. She peeled off the candy wrapper and stuffed one into the other person's mouth. Then, she tilted her head and waited for the other person to praise her.
The person holding Xiao Bei was already speechless. With the candy in her mouth and tears in her eyes, she kept nodding. She nodded and whimpered as she nodded, as if she was answering Xiao Bei.
The person in charge at the side was dumbfounded. He even suspected that the girl in the master's arms was real. That was the Tang Empire's Patrol Inspector. It was said that whenever she saw an official, she would always be cold and dignified.
However, the girl in front of him was not dignified at all. She was just a cute little girl, the kind that made people want to kiss her. She was not just a little fun. Her mouth was sweet and her smile was sweet. Could it be that the legend was false?
With this thought in mind, he opened his arms and said, "Master, please take care of yourself. Let me carry you."
Who knew that just as he finished speaking, the smile on the cute little girl's face suddenly disappeared. She glared at him with a gloomy expression and questioned him, "Who are you? I'm letting my grandfather carry me. Do you want to take advantage of me? Do you have that kind of life? Leave. "
The person in charge was shocked. Wasn't she too skilled at changing her expression in an instant? In front of him was no longer the little girl who was smiling like a flower. She was clearly a high and mighty princess. The indifferent look in her eyes was as if she was going to kill someone in the next moment.
"Grandfather, is it because Xiao Bei is very heavy and tired of carrying me? Then I'll go down. Is the candy sweet? " Xiao Bei changed back to a smile. Although she said that she wanted to go down, she did not make any move to go down. She still stayed in the person's arms steadily.
With a "pop" sound, Xiao Bei was kissed. Then he heard the other party say, "Not heavy. Hahahaha, my Xiao Bei is so good. Sweet, so sweet. The candy of my baby candy house lives up to its name. Leave. Look at how scared my precious granddaughter is."
The person in charge left gloomily. He cursed in his heart, "Who is the one who ordered who?" No wonder the officials were so afraid of Xiao Bei and the others. They were really good. The look in their eyes just now was really murderous.
Although the person in charge was gloomy, he did not dare to harbor any hatred. Not to mention that the master would not protect him, if he really offended Xiao Bei, even if the master protected him, he would not be able to keep his life.
Xiao Bei did not even need to use the power of the family. She only needed to stand on the bustling streets of Hangzhou and shout about how things were going on here. The people of Hangzhou would probably drown him with a mouthful of saliva. With Xiao Bei's prominent status and cute appearance, there was a reason even if there was no reason.
"Grandfather, let me tell you. In the future, let the servants in the family watch their expressions. They want to get involved in everything. That won't do. Look at the inner courtyard of my family. They are like my family. Good, you know what I am thinking, right?"
Xiao Bei continued to talk to her grandfather. She was very good at talking. It was not good to criticize other people's servants, but she kept praising her own family. She even compared the inner courtyard to her family.
"Yes, then I'll dismiss him later. I don't want him anymore, okay?" The person asked Xiao Bei.
The person in charge became nervous. He was afraid that Xiao Bei would nod. However, Xiao Bei did not agree. Instead, she said, "No, he is also afraid that you will be tired. He is loyal. If he does not do well, you can teach him. But if he is loyal, you can't teach him. Therefore, not only can you not chase him away, you should also take time to reward him."
When the person in charge heard Xiao Bei's words, he was so moved that he was about to cry. He felt like he had a close friend. He wanted to say to Xiao Bei, "You finally said something fair."
Xiao Bei's grandfather nodded at the person in charge. Then, he asked Xiao Bei, "What if your family's inner courtyard makes a mistake?"
"Change." Xiao Bei's answer was very simple.
"Then what if he continues to make the same mistake?" the person asked again.
"That will explain two things. First, my family's teaching is not good. Adjust the details of my family's education. Second, he is not suitable for this position. It is my family's arrangement that is not good enough. Adjust his position." Xiao Bei raised two fingers and said.
"But after these two points, he still makes a mistake. What do you say?"
"Ah? Again? Then there is a big problem. Who recruited him into the inner courtyard? Investigate the person who recruited him and then send him to the outer courtyard. That is too harmful. "
Xiao Bei's answer surprised the person in charge. It was actually to deal with the person who had been recruited into the inner courtyard. But after thinking about it, it did make sense. If someone wanted to enter the inner courtyard of the Zhang Family and Wang Family, they had to first train outside. Yes, their system was different.
Xiao Bei put this topic aside and said to the person in charge, "Grandfather, if you like to eat the candy from Baby's Candy House, I will specially ask someone to make it for you in the future. You are not allowed to eat too much candy. Eating too much is not good for your health. When we sell candy, we don't sell it to anyone who wants to eat as much as they want. Regardless of whether it is an adult or a child, we earn money from our conscience."
"Okay, okay. Eat more in the future, but eat less. Remember, it is good to earn money from your conscience. Xiao Bei, why do you want to earn money by yourself? You are still young. "The person nodded repeatedly and then asked another question.
"Because we want to earn money by ourselves and give it to our parents and grandparents. Our grandparents are old. We want them to spend more of our money. Otherwise, when we want to earn money for them to spend in the future, they won't be able to spend it. Oh, it's called 'children want to raise but their parents don't want to wait'. I will also spend it for you."
Xiao Bei waved her little hands and said.
Her words made the person in charge stunned again. At this time, Xiao Yuan and the others came over, as well as the Jang Wong Clan. They had been waiting for Xiao Bei to finish speaking.
The person holding Xiao Bei kissed Xiao Bei again and slowly put her on the ground. He said to the Jang Wong Clan, "Qiao 'er, you have worked hard to raise the children like this."
"Father, quick, kowtow to your grandfather." The Jang Wong Clan's tears flowed down. She wanted to kneel first and call out to the other children.
Naturally, the other party couldn't let his daughter kneel. He quickly helped her up and said, "Don't worry, you have a child. Your stomach is more important."
Xiao Yuan and the others kowtowed to the other party. Although Xiao Yuan had nothing to do with the other party, she still had to follow suit.
What followed was naturally a touching scene of the father and daughter reconciling. It took a while for it to end. The Zhang Clan and Wang Clan's people pulled the large group to the arranged place.
The news quickly spread to Zhang Xiaobao. After hearing the news, Zhang Xiaobao sighed and said to Wang Juan, "In this world, there are only two kinds of things that make parents feel the most helpless and sad. One is when they choose a good husband for their daughter, only to find out that after they get married, the other party is a good-for-nothing and doesn't treat their daughter well.
The other kind is like now. At first, they didn't like the other party, but the other party became powerful. This relationship is not good. How can parents endure it? Our parents are still the best. They arranged for us to be together since we were young, don't you think so? "
Zhang Xiaobao could imagine how depressed his grandfather was. His grandfather was Wang Ju, the Minister of Revenue of the Tang Empire. He was also known as the Prime Minister and a meritorious official, but in the end, he didn't have a good ending.
"I said no. Who wants to be together with you? You can be smug. For someone like me, even if I want to marry a hero like Xiang Yu, Wang Ju is already very good. He didn't do anything to your father. How much power does he have? "
Wang Juan insisted on attacking Zhang Xiaobao. In any case, she was just arguing.
Zhang Xiaobao snorted disdainfully and said, "Xiang Yu is good? He can't even protect his own woman? Those who live are heroes. Those who die are losers.
Wang Ju had power at that time, but wasn't he busy? At the beginning, he was busy fighting with Li Longji for the position. In the end, my father found an opportunity. Just when they had just gotten the position and were still unstable, he successfully snatched my mother away.
What could he do? What's done is done. Isn't he worried about being attacked by others? Actually, at that time, I think he already realized that something was wrong, so he used most of his energy to curry favor with Li Longji. In the end, when the position was stable, he was alienated by Li Longji. Not long after, we came out.
At that time, if he really wanted to do something to my family, Li Longji would probably think that he was fickle. The alienation would turn into disgust. Besides, he doesn't only have one daughter. He doesn't have any other relatives. Girls aren't as important as boys. "
"Who said that girls aren't important? I think they are. For example, Xiaobei isn't important. Who is Wu Zetian? Do you know her? "Wang Juan continued to argue.
"I don't know her. I haven't seen her before. If she sees me, I'll definitely let her know how powerful I am. Hmph, I'll make sure that she can't become Empress." As Zhang Xiaobao spoke, he yawned and turned around. He hugged Wang Juan and said, "Go to sleep. We still have to wake up early tomorrow. We're in a hurry."
*****
The next morning, Zhang Xiaobao had just finished cooking the porridge. When he was about to call Li Longji and the others to eat, the report from Jiangzhou arrived.
Zhang Xiaobao casually glanced at it. This time, he didn't have the mood to eat slowly. He hurriedly ate until he was half full. He picked up the report and read it carefully. He handed it to Wang Juan, who was also eating quickly, and said, "It seems that things are a bit troublesome."
Wang Juan took the report and read it from top to bottom. After she finished reading, her expression became serious and said, "It is indeed troublesome. The thing that I'm most worried about has finally appeared. I remember that something like this shouldn't have happened."
Zhang Xiaobao understood what Wang Juan was saying. She was referring to the history they had studied. It didn't mention anything other than Buddhism and Taoism. There wasn't much about the Arabian region either. As for the current situation, there wasn't even any mention of it in the unofficial history.
If one really talked about the religious struggle in the Tang Dynasty, it was nothing more than Buddhism and Taoism. When one rose, the other would inevitably be suppressed. Or more seriously, it could be said that it was almost destroyed. Not only was it not allowed to spread, but it was even killed.
Like all the religions in the world, they fought with each other. Under the banner of teaching people to be good, they used iron and blood to eliminate dissidents. Politicians also liked to use religion to achieve their own goals.
"Maybe it has changed, or maybe no one mentioned it. Anyway, that's the case. I don't know about other things, but I know that the power of religion is very strong. It can confuse people.
They have been propagated by people with intentions, and gradually improved in the process, filling in all the possible loopholes. They are all people with great wisdom. My meaning is very simple. There is only one way.
Kill, kill until they are afraid. Kill until they feel that believing in this thing will not only not bring them any benefits, but will also lead to a fatal disaster.
"If you don't kill, it will be difficult to use conciliatory methods. For example, if they don't have food to eat and you send them food, they won't thank you. Instead, they will thank something like God, believing that God sent you to send them food. Their piety has moved God and so on.
"This is the most disgusting situation. Fanatical religious belief can turn a group of people into madmen who don't care about their lives. We don't fear madmen, but we can kill people who are about to become madmen. Don't you think so?"
Zhang Xiaobao no longer pursued whether it was recorded in history or not. Instead, he spoke of his own method of dealing with the current situation.
Wang Juan was also disgusted by this kind of religion, especially when it was used by people with intentions. It could produce many effects and harm to a regime. Overthrowing a regime was all too common.
She didn't want to continue conniving. Even if she knew that the current religion couldn't overthrow the Tang regime, she didn't intend to be soft-hearted and let it develop and then create some kind of uprising.
Therefore, Wang Juan agreed with Zhang Xiaobao's words and said, "What I mean is … kill. Because people who are obsessed will have their minds changed. They will only choose one path and walk down it, no matter how you educate them.
Just like what was written in the intelligence, they walked on the path we built, used the seeds we provided to grow high-yielding rice and wheat, and also enjoyed the treatment we provided to them in terms of medical treatment.
But the result? In the end, they thought that all this was brought to them by the heavens, that the god they believed in was helping them, so they continued to do things that destroyed the peace and stability of the Tang Empire. "
After the two of them spoke, the tone was basically set. As for how many people would pay with their lives in the end, Zhang Xiaobao was not a soft-hearted person. He could even do it himself. Wang Juan also didn't care about how much blood she saw.
Li Longji was still eating slowly. He didn't see the intelligence report. Seeing Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan say such things after reading the intelligence report, he was very puzzled. He stopped eating and asked, "What happened?"
"It's just a small matter. It's just a few people dying. Someone is preaching. Cuckoo and I have the same idea. Whether it's the preacher or the believer, we'll kill them as soon as we catch them. However, we can't let the local authorities do it. Your Majesty, it's best that your people don't do it either.
First, your people's management is lacking compared to our family's protection team. It's easy for people to kill unjustly to gain merit. Second, if we start killing people, it'll be bad for our reputation. Let me and Cuckoo take the blame. Anyway, we've done a lot already. It won't be a big deal this time. "
As Zhang Xiaobao spoke, he passed the intelligence report over. It was written in detail on a piece of paper, and there were even more descriptions of the underground tunnels.
Li Longji took it and read the general introduction on the first page. He couldn't eat anymore. He also knew how powerful this religion was. He had used it before, and he had also attacked it before. Even now, he was still using it to teach the people of the Tang Empire.
A belief, a code of conduct, no matter who was in power, could abandon it. The consequences would be even more serious. If that was the case, even the basic morality would be abandoned.
Xiao Bao and Cuckoo had explained the consequences of not being restrained by morality. Just thinking about it was scary.
As he thought about it, Li Longji put down his food and read it carefully. After he was done, he asked Zhang Xiaobao, "Xiao Bao, are you and Cuckoo really going to kill people? I reckon that we'll have to kill a lot of people. Can you find the person behind this and get rid of him immediately? Without the support of a leader, the people who believe in him will gradually become suspicious and change their minds. "
Li Longji really didn't want to kill his own people. He couldn't protect them all, so how could he bear to kill them all? After thinking for a while, he said, "Xiao Bao, do you think that I didn't do a good job as an emperor? I was supposed to educate the people, but in the end, something like this happened. Sigh ~! I can't bear to do this. You're so smart, can you think of another way? "
Zhang Xiaobao looked at Li Longji and sighed in his heart. An emperor who didn't care about life had become like this. Should he feel lucky or speechless?
But since the other party wanted him to think about it, then he would think about it.
Zhang Xiaobao lowered his head and began to think. Half an hour passed, and just as Li Longji was about to support the two of them to kill the people, Zhang Xiaobao suddenly raised his head and said with a smile, "Actually, it's fine even if we don't kill them."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
