People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 450 Navy
Cao Cao's trial was a huge project. Even though the Wei State's exploitation of the people and massacres were crimes that Cao Cao could not shirk, Xuan Xia still tried his best to find more direct evidence.

Omitting the crimes of the criminals is also an injustice to the victims. If many things were directly caused by Cao Cao's will, they cannot be dealt with lightly.

It has to be said that even though all the people of Wei were captured, many of their ministers still remained loyal to Cao Cao.

The reason for this may be the Confucian scholars' pursuit of the ideal of loyalty and righteousness, but the bigger reason is that they refused to cooperate when they knew they would die.

This directly led to Cao Cao's trial work becoming lengthy. Fortunately, after half a year of sorting out Wei's documents and bamboo slips, interrogating a large number of Wei's clerks and officials, and visiting and questioning people from all over the country, such detailed excavation and investigation eventually pried open the mouths of many people.

After half a year, a large amount of physical evidence and confessions from Wei officials finally formed a complete chain of evidence, completely establishing Cao Cao's guilt.

In the end, all the evidence clearly pointed out that the many massacres, abuses of the people, and killings for food in the Wei State were all due to the direct instructions of Cao Cao, and not the arbitrary decisions of the officials below.

Now that it has been made clear, there is no room for overturning the verdict.

During the six months of investigation, Xuanxia Monthly carried out detailed special reports on the Wei case. The trial lasted for half a year, and the monthly report also followed up for half a year. In almost every issue of the newspaper, people from the Wei State came forward to speak out and denounce the crimes of the Wei State. The various persecutions they suffered were also thoroughly displayed to the world.

By the time all the investigations were completed and all the crimes were settled, Wei's reputation in Xuanxia had become as bad as a toilet.

It's not that the people believe whatever the newspapers say, but the people are very clear about the character of the old people in power. They are not surprised at all that Wei State did these things. After all, just a few years or even a dozen years ago, many of them were still living the same life as the people of Wei State.

They had only lived a peaceful life for a few years under Xuan Xia's rule.

The extensive coverage of the Wei State in the monthly report undoubtedly aroused painful memories among the people of Xuanxia, ​​which made their gradually calming emotions become a little more tense.

The sense of crisis is reminding them that Xuan Xia has not yet achieved final victory and there are still enemies outside!
This kind of awareness also makes the people of Xuanxia naturally stand in unity with Xuanxia. Xuanxia's enemies are their enemies. Xuanxia's victory also means their victory. This is a real sense of sharing the same hatred for the enemy.

After Cao Cao's crimes were fully established, the people all criticized him.

After the crimes were sorted out, the next step was to execute the sentence. Xu Chen, who had returned to Peking for several months, did not hesitate at all.

Seeing the charges submitted by Tian Shitou, he calmly pronounced the verdict: "The case was handled well. Now that it has been examined clearly, the sentence should be what it should be. Everything is in accordance with the law. Just pick a suitable date to execute it."

Tian Shitou agreed, and then asked: "Cao Cao's crime must be put to death, but he is of a high status. Is it better to execute him publicly or secretly?"

Xu Chen pushed back the charges and said calmly: "It is precisely because of his extraordinary status that he must be publicly executed."

"I understand." Tian Shitou nodded, put away the charges, was silent for a while, and then hesitantly said: "Cao Cao has been asking to meet his family. Now that the case is over, it's time to question and punish him. Master, do you think we should agree to this?"

Xu Chen was stunned, but did not think about it for too long: "I promised him this at the beginning, so I cannot break the promise. You can find Cao's family and arrange a time for them to visit him. No matter how evil Cao Cao has done, he should be allowed to see his family for the last time."

Tian Shitou said he would obey the order, and then turned and left. It can be imagined that soon, a report on Cao Cao's specific sentence and execution date will be sent to Xu Chen. However, the Prime Minister's Office had just been quiet for a while when there was another knock on the door.

Xu Chen shook his head helplessly. The position of prime minister was not that tiring, but the affairs were so complicated that it was not easy to catch a breath.

After responding to the word "Come in", a general with sharp eyes walked in.

Seeing the person coming, Xu Chen's eyes lit up and he said, "Why are you here suddenly? Is there something wrong with the navy training?"

After saying that, Xu Chen pointed to the side, and Ma Yan, who came in, smiled and sat down.

After a year of sailing near the coast, the fleet led by Ma Yan could not say that they were very proficient in navigation, but they had accumulated enough experience. At least they were fully capable of forming a navy with this set of seagoing crew members as the base.

After the fleet returned several months ago, Xu Chen had already begun to formally organize the navy and started training with Ma Yan as the commander-in-chief.

Now Xuanxia has more than a thousand large and small warships, and can continue to produce ships for another half a year. When the time comes to march south, the navy can reach at least two thousand.

Although this still cannot be compared with the 5,000-scale navy ships owned by the Wu State, the Xuanxia navy is superior in quality.

The main warships of the Wu State could reach a length of 100 meters, but there were only a dozen of them. However, with the support of stronger productivity, Xuan Xia had built more than 50 of these giant ships.

Xuan Xia also has advantages in other types of ships, mostly medium-sized ships.

Although the Wu State has a large number of warships, most of them are small boats. Even if Xuan Xia's current navy cannot form an advantage, it at least has the ability to fight.

Of course, after Liu Bei took over Jingzhou, he also took control of a considerable-sized Jingzhou navy, which was also a force that Xuanxia could not ignore.

"Are you confident that you can meet my requirements for the navy?" After Ma Yan sat down, Xu Chen couldn't wait to ask, his eyes full of anticipation.

The Yellow Turbans' southern expedition had to cross the Yangtze River, and the navy played a vital role in this process.

Ma Yan patted his chest confidently and said, "Don't worry, Master. I dare not say that my thousand-plus warships and twenty thousand naval officers and soldiers can defeat the enemy navy, but at least they can withstand the enemy's attack and ensure that our rear is unobstructed!"

Xu Chen's expression brightened when he heard this, and then he stood up: "Don't brag to me, this is easy to say, but it is a serious matter. Our army's southern expedition will inevitably go deep into the enemy's hinterland. If the navy cannot occupy the Yangtze River and the enemy cuts off our retreat, then we will not be able to fight."

Ma Yan knew that Xu Chen’s words were not an exaggeration at all. Even in the vanguard battle of the southern expedition, the navy would be needed to take the lead in opening up the situation.

However, Ma Yan still had confidence that he would not hinder the southern expedition: "Master, don't worry, the navy will definitely not delay the important matter!"

(End of this chapter)