I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 521 Massacre

"Your Majesty, do you want to ban these news?"

Liu Bian replied: "No need, it is better to open up than to block."

"If we don't release these statements that can be distinguished as true or false at a glance, it will make the truth seem untrue. Moreover, the officials of the Han family now and in the future need some ability to distinguish the truth from rumors."

Qian Zhao added: "But I heard that some people cannot distinguish right from wrong, just follow what others say, and are easily misled by these remarks."

Liu Bian had no other options, so he just ordered: "Be careful to identify the main culprits, and as for those who were bewitched, record them in the files, and don't let them become officials in the future."

"Your Majesty has mercy."

Hearing Qian Zhao's words, Liu Bian smiled.

Fortunately, this is the feudal era, so we can directly implement unfree speech without having to do unfree things in the name of free speech.

After meeting Qian Zhao, Liu Bian returned to the back hall of Yuntai Palace, where a screen recorded the names of provincial governors and officials from various places.

In March, he had just seen from the data reported by Dong Zhuo that the Han Dynasty showed a trend of returning to its peak, but he never imagined that this trend would disappear in the blink of an eye.

It is unknown how many casualties this large-scale rebellion will cause, and it is unknown how much energy will be required to conduct a re-count after the war.

If there were no one with ulterior motives secretly causing trouble, things would not have developed to this extent.

Moreover, Liu Bian had never touched the most core interests of the powerful families - salt, iron and slaves.

Even for the land, he only asked for a rent of nearly 15%.

Liu Bian felt that he had been merciful enough, but he still could not stop the rebellions that were being instigated everywhere, so he could not be blamed for starting a killing spree.

Indeed, since ancient times, there has been no reform without bloodshed, and it is always better to shed the blood of the enemy than to shed the blood of one's own people.

……

At the end of May, General Sun Jian, the General in Charge of the Southern Expedition, changed his route at Jingzhao Yin and headed straight for Nanyang County.

At the same time, Liu Biao, who was in charge of the military affairs of Jingzhou, had already arrived here with his troops.

Nanyang, which can be called the "Imperial Hometown", gave birth to many powerful families after Emperor Guangwu's restoration. When Emperor Guangwu was surveying the land, one of the introductions was "Nanyang cannot be traced".

As it turns out, there are many hidden households in Nanyang, and there have been quite a few disturbances this time.

While General Zhengnan and General Annan were suppressing the rebellion on a large scale, Jingnan was also not idle.

Changxiangli.

"You have led us to live and work in peace and contentment here, rebuilding our hometown. We do not believe in the rumors from the outside world at all."

"Yeah, when we were in our hometown, how could we have such a good life like today?"

"We have absolute trust in the court and the emperor! If those barbarians dare to come and ruin our good life, we will never agree. If they dare to come, we will make sure they never return!"

"Yes, there is no return!"

Zhuge Jin looked at the northern immigrants who were united in purpose and felt deeply moved - the people's hearts can be used.

Originally, Zhuge Jin was planning to take a leave and return to Luoyang to help his brother Zhuge Liang prepare for the wedding, but he was delayed by the endless chaos and he didn't even know if he could make it to the wedding.

Fortunately, the northerners who had gradually taken root in the south were not happy to see their new hometown destroyed. They relied on the court for help before and after settling down, and they had 100% trust in the court and the officials who accompanied them along the way, and were not bothered by rumors and some bad officials. Therefore, the southern part of Jingzhou, which had been frequently immigrated, seemed to have a mixed composition, but it did not cause much trouble.

Zhuge Jin waited until the villagers had finished shouting, then said, "There are rumors in the county now, saying that we have invaded the local people's land. I see that some people are worried about this, but there is no need to worry!"

"Today, I want to tell you that the locals they are talking about, their ancestors, also set foot on this land for the first time dozens or hundreds of years ago, just like us. There were no fields here originally, and we reclaimed it with great difficulty!"

"The land under our feet was given by the imperial court. We took it with peace of mind!"

Zhuge Jin had just finished speaking when a villager came to report: "It's bad, a bunch of people rushed out from the neighboring village, saying they want to drive us away!"

Upon hearing this, the villagers, who were already outraged, immediately grabbed the farm tools at hand and prepared to defend their hometown.

Zhuge Jin also knew that at this time, whether he wanted to fight or not, he must not show weakness, so he shouted to the angry villagers: "When we meet them later, we should not be the first to attack, but if they dare to attack, we should fight back fiercely!"

The third elder in the village, Zhao Erhe, held an iron hoe and shouted, "We will listen to Zhuge Jun!"

Old man Zhang also held a wooden fork and shouted, "I was not afraid of the Wuhuan dogs and the Black Mountain bandits before, so why would I be afraid of him now!"

The three sons surrounded him, each holding a farm tool, looking quite imposing.

Immediately, Zhuge Jin led his men to meet them, but they must not let the enemy rush into the village.

As he walked, Zhuge Jin suddenly realized something was wrong. Why was the neighbor from next door who was supposed to arrive nowhere to be seen?
Could it be that they will also use the strategy of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west?
Just as Zhuge Jin was thinking about whether to withdraw first, he suddenly saw a county official running over and shouting, "The Ming court is here, please see Mr. Zhuge."

Seeing this, Zhuge Jin breathed a sigh of relief and told Zhao Erhe to take the rest of the people back, leaving only a few people to accompany him to meet the county magistrate Chen Rong.

Not long after walking, Zhuge Jin saw the neighboring villager who had been so aggressive before was now squatting on the ground with his head in his hands, completely without any momentum. The county officials and guards around him looked around and scolded anyone who dared to look up.

After Zhuge Jin paid his respects to Chen Rong, he heard Chen Rong sigh and say, "You said you were angered by some rumors, but in fact it was all about the water in the ditch."

"Everything else is just an excuse!"

Zhuge Jin listened and said in confusion: "Didn't we tell them that after the busy farming season this year, we will continue to dig ditches and bring water from other places. By then, if we work together, we can reclaim more wasteland, and the land of each village will be distributed to each village. Wouldn't that be better?"

Chen Rong sighed after hearing this: "It's no wonder that Ziyu doesn't understand. In the eyes of these villagers, words like "next year" and "later" spoken by minor and even senior officials are all false."

"Actually, it's not their fault. I only recently learned that, for example, in times of war, the government would collect two years' worth of taxes in one year, but would not exempt them the following year. Once this kind of thing happens again..."

After hearing this, Zhuge Jin understood why Chen Rong said this.

He sighed cooperatively, "It's a pity that we couldn't make up for what we lacked in the past, but in the future, we will never do such a thing...but no one believes this!"

"I believe!"

Suddenly, a voice came from the villagers squatting on the ground. The guard was about to scold them, but was stopped by the village official next to him.

"Why do you believe me?"

"I heard about what you did in Changxiang. You are a good person."

"Then why did you come here?"

"I was planning to come and mediate the fight."

Zhuge Jin just thought that this person was telling the truth.

(End of this chapter)