In the afternoon, this batch of Nihon captives had all arrived. After the preparations were completed, they were handed over to Yuan Huang and his soldiers to take away.
After that, the chief of staff asked someone to go back with Jia Guangnan, but he was stopped by Jia Guangnan.
"Dong Weng, why don't you go back? The people have all left. "
Indeed, it was getting late at this moment, and the people had all returned home after enjoying themselves. Most of them had left, leaving only the officials and some troops here.
"There are still people who haven't come!"
Jia Guangnan looked at the boundless sea with sharp eyes.
"There are more?"
The chief of staff also looked over. Sure enough, after a while, masts appeared on the sea level, one, two, three, and then dozens of masts, and then a huge hull appeared.
"There are more! Dong Weng, didn't Yuan Huang leave? Then this is … "
"They are all old, weak, sick, and disabled."
The chief of staff was stunned. "Old, weak, sick, and disabled? Then why are they sent here? Isn't it a waste of food? "
Jia Guangnan shook his head.
"These old, weak, sick, and disabled are specially sent here to waste food."
The chief of staff was confused.
"Nihon has a population of tens of millions. Even if our Daqin attacks and destroys it, how should we govern it? Have you ever thought about it?"
Jia Guangnan's question made the chief of staff understand a little.
"It's extremely difficult to govern."
"Yes, it's extremely difficult to govern. Therefore, His Majesty has decided to slim them down. At present, the two most important and urgent roads in Daqin need to be repaired are the Liaodong Grand Road and the Northwest Grand Road. These two roads are in urgent need of a lot of labor, so the strong labor force must be used on these two roads."
Jia Guangnan said, "But the other roads also need manpower to be repaired, but Daqin currently doesn't have enough money to repair six roads at the same time, so we can only start with the important ones and use the old, weak, sick, and disabled to repair the unimportant ones. As for how long these old, weak, sick, and disabled can live and how many roads they can repair, it's not within our consideration."
The chief of staff was stunned, and then he suddenly understood.
"So that's how it is. Losing weight means …"
"That's right, these old, weak, sick, and disabled people don't have any value. After Great Qin destroys them, Great Qin will have to take care of their food and drink. That's simply impossible; worthless trash should be squeezed dry before being used up. His Majesty plans to use this method to get rid of these old, weak, sick, and disabled people."
When Jia Guangnan said these words, his tone was very cold, without the slightest warmth.
The chief of staff was frightened when he heard this.
"How many people will die?"
"How many people have died since ancient times? Back then, Emperor Yang of Sui built the Grand Canal and Emperor Qin built the Great Wall. Too many people died in either of them, and even the country was destroyed. His Majesty referred to the experience of the previous dynasty and knew that it was impossible not to die, so he had to let the Japanese pirates die in place of the people of Daqin. "
The Chief of Staff suddenly became much easier to accept.
"So that's how it is. Your Majesty's benevolence can be witnessed by heaven and earth!"
"Yes, His Majesty is so benevolent …"
Jia Guangnan shook his head and said, "Well, get ready. Send these old, weak, and sick people to the south. There are people waiting for them at the construction site. Then, follow them and tell the person in charge there that these old, weak, and sick people will only have one meal a day. If they die, burn them with fire, and don't leave their bodies."
"Understood!"
The chief of staff nodded and said yes.
Later, Jia Guangnan returned to Tianjin, wrote all he saw and heard today into a memorial and reported it to Xiao Ruxun.
After dinner, Xiao Ruxun was testing Zhenbang's knowledge in the study of the Palace of Heavenly Purity. He was asking about the chapter "Great Learning" when he received this memorial.
"Li Sheng, take a look at this memorial."
After reading it, Xiao Ruxun expressionlessly handed the memorial to Li Sheng in front of Zhenbang.
"Your Majesty … this … this old servant doesn't dare …"
"This is not a state affair. This is my private affair."
Xiao Ruxun asked Li Sheng to take a look.
Only then did Li Sheng take the memorial and look at it carefully. Not long after, he said with a pale face, "Your Majesty, this Yuan Huang …"
"Give it to me."
Xiao Ruxun took the memorial and handed it to Zhenbang. "Zhenbang, come and take a look."
Xiao Zhenbang had a deep memory of Yuan Huang. During the three years in Myanmar, Xiao Zhenbang was also Yuan Huang's disciple and completed his enlightenment under Yuan Huang's guidance.
So Xiao Zhenbang took the memorial and looked at it. Then, he carefully handed the memorial to Xiao Ruxun.
"Father, Teacher, he … he didn't say these words on purpose, did he?"
Xiao Ruxun looked at Xiao Zhenbang's expression and nodded.
"Yes, of course, he didn't say these words on purpose. Your Teacher Yuan is an upright and outspoken person. He will firmly believe in what he thinks is right. He will continue to walk in this way and never compromise. Zhenbang, you have to learn from Teacher Yuan's spirit."
Xiao Zhenbang nodded.
"Yes, Father, I understand."
"En, go back and find your mother. It's getting late. Memorize one more book and then go to bed."
Xiao Ruxun waved his hand and let Xiao Zhenbang leave the study.
Only Li Sheng and Xiao Ruxun were left in the study.
"Li Sheng, do you think that we have been too lenient toward Yuan Huang? Do you think that we have been too mindful of our old friendship? That's why he feels confident and dares to say such treasonous words in front of our officials?"
Xiao Ruxun's question made Li Sheng feel a chill all over his body.
"Your Majesty, Yuan Huang's problem was decided by you personally."
"Yes, it was decided by me personally. It was I who decided to let Yuan Huang live and continue to work. Because at that time, I really felt that I had let him down and let many people down. I felt guilty."
Xiao Ruxun paused for a moment. Li Sheng didn't dare to continue.
"However, I found more and more that some people like to rely on my leniency and guilt toward them to repeatedly do things that make me lose face. Tell me, is what I did right or wrong? Am I too lenient to the point that some people feel that they can say whatever they want without any scruples? "
Xiao Ruxun's following words became even more serious. Li Sheng vaguely sensed some emotional changes in Xiao Ruxun.
"Your Majesty, what do you mean?"
"First, issue an edict to reward Jia Guangnan with money and cloth. Tell him that I am very satisfied with him and that I have seen his loyalty."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Li Sheng nodded.
"Then … call Shi Zongwei, the left assistant minister of the Organization Department."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Li Sheng immediately went to call him.
Soon, Shi Zongwei, the left assistant minister of the Organization Department, arrived at the study room of the Palace of Heavenly Purity to greet Xiao Ruxun.
"Your subject Shi Zongwei greets Your Majesty!"
Shi Zongwei was also one of the officials personally promoted by Xiao Ruxun. He was very capable. Xiao Ruxun's main tool to control the government was Xiao Ruxun who arranged him to be in charge of the daily management. As for the nominal minister, King of Chu, Xiao Rulan, he didn't care at all.
"Subject Shi, I ordered you to investigate the candidates for Luzon's Prime Minister. Have you found a suitable person?"
Shi Zongwei immediately said, "Your Majesty, after careful screening, I have selected three suitable candidates. All three of them serve in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Among them, I think the most suitable one is the current Luzon Ambassador of Daqin Embassy, Chen Youming."
Xiao Ruxun nodded.
"Li Sheng, issue an edict to the Central Investigation Department. Order them to bring back Yuan Yan for corruption and dereliction of duty and put him in prison."
"… Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
Li Sheng was stunned and immediately replied.
"Hmm!"
Xiao Ruxun nodded and said to Shi Zongwei, "Then, Subject Shi, go back and prepare the relevant materials. Order Chen Youming to take over as Luzon's Prime Minister and maintain the country's government. Then order someone to take over the Ambassador's position."
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
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