Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 383 377. Abandoned King
Feng Xi first announced Meng Huo's punishment, which was forced labor. This punishment was too light for Meng Huo. In addition to Meng Huo and his wife, even Dong Tuna and Ahui Nan disagreed.

"Grand Commander, Meng Huo has caused so much trouble in the local area that killing him is not enough to appease the people's anger. Please think twice."

Ah Huinan was the first to stand up and give advice. In his opinion, if Meng Huo was still alive, what if he made a comeback one day? He felt that the Han people were soft-hearted again, and hoped that Feng Xi would change his mind.

"Marshal Ah Huinan, don't worry. As long as I am here, Meng Huo will have to stay in Jingzhou. There will be no surprises. From now on, Meng Huo will be no different from a commoner. If he commits a crime, he will be judged according to the laws of this dynasty."

Feng Xi seemed to be quite determined to hold down Ahuinan and Dongtana, but Dongtana was relatively calm compared to Ahuinan. If anyone present was most afraid of Meng Huo, Feng Xi would definitely be the one.

This Han army commander was obviously not a fool, and he naturally understood the principle of letting the tiger go back to the mountain. Since he said so, he must have his own way of dealing with it, and they were too lazy to care about these things.

Thinking of this, Dong Tuna pulled Ah Huinan and motioned him to sit down. Ah Huinan didn't understand why, but since Dong Tuna had no objection, he had no choice but to obey Feng Xi's wishes.

"Bah, who asked you Han people to be so hypocritical and pity me! I..."

Meng Huo was surprised, but still extremely unconvinced. He was about to protest, but Lady Zhu Rong next to him hugged Meng Huo again and stopped him from speaking.

"Husband, we have already lost. For the sake of our brothers and sisters in Nanzhong, can you please stop insisting?"

Mrs. Zhu Rong burst into tears again when she said this. Because the Han army was so strong, Meng Huo's conscription of Nanzhong was so strong that nine out of ten houses were empty. Many families were left with only the elderly, women and children, and the young and strong men were taken away by the cave masters to come and cheer for Meng Huo.

Meng Huo was defeated repeatedly in the face of the Han army. Even if the Han army was kind-hearted, the battlefield was ruthless and the casualties in Nanzhong were still quite serious.

Meng Huo had been away all the time, so naturally he didn't feel anything - of course, even if he knew, it's hard to say whether he would be moved by it.

However, Madam Zhu Rong guarded the hinterland of Nanzhong and knew the current situation in Nanzhong very well. The various caves were barely holding on, and if more young and strong people died, I'm afraid these elderly people would starve to death in droves.

"Madam, I..."

Meng Huo paused, not knowing how to face his wife.

"Haha, hasn't King Meng Huo always been like this? As long as he is tough in the face of our Han army, he can get the benefits given by Wei State and become the King of Nanzhong by Wei State.

The young and strong men in Nanzhong are left dead in the wilderness, your sisters will have to sell their bodies and become slaves for a living, and your parents and elders will starve to death because there is no one to farm or fish. How could all these be worthy of the attention of King Meng Huo?

Even if all your remains in Nanzhong are gone, King Meng Huo can still go north to Xuchang, the capital of Wei, and live a life of wealth and glory. Maybe when he is old, he will sigh and say, "I used to live in Nanzhong."

Feng Xi continued to make sarcastic remarks upon seeing this, but his words revealed harsh words that could send chills down one's spine.

"You're talking nonsense! That's not what I meant!"

When Meng Huo heard Feng Xi slandering him again, he suddenly raised his head and wanted to defend himself.

"Haha, now that you, King Meng Huo, have become a prisoner, you naturally have to explain. But with the witnesses and evidence all here, is there any need to explain?" Feng Xi smiled. Now that Meng Huo's guilt was established, he was just trying to continue to attack his almost non-existent legitimacy.

Facts have proved that Feng Xi was very successful. At least when Dong Tuna and A Huinan looked at Meng Huo now, they no longer had any respect or even pity, but only disgust.

"Of course, Madam Zhu Rong and the cave master, Meng You and other relatives must also go to Jingzhou together, so they can't be delayed. Take them away."

Feng Xi finally decided on Meng Huo's fate. Meng Huo and his family were to move north to Jingzhou, thus cutting off the possibility that their remaining influence would have any other impact on Nanzhong.

"Come here, take Meng Huo and the others down. Put Meng Huo in the cell and keep him under strict guard. If he shows any sign of escaping, kill him on the spot."

Feng Xi waved his hand, signaling the guards to take Meng Huo's relatives away. It didn't matter if they brought small minions like the cave master and Meng You, they could be placed under house arrest, but Meng Huo had to be kept under strict supervision.

After Meng Huo and four others were taken away, Feng Xi did not delay. After all, there were other cave masters and leaders in Nanzhong who needed to be interrogated. Although many of them had died in the battle with the Han army, there were still quite a few who survived.

Not long after, a group of cave masters from the South, led by King Duosi, were escorted up by the guards. There were about a dozen of them scattered around.

"You are all from the South, and you are also the masters of various caves. Now that Meng Huo has been captured, I am not a rude and unreasonable person. I know that some people were coerced by Meng Huo and had to go out to fight. Therefore, I will forgive you for your opposition to my Han army.

But I still want to know first, does anyone have any objection to the fact that Nanzhong will nominally submit to the Han Dynasty and pay tribute and taxes as usual? "

Feng Xi came up and asked these cave owners to take sides, but everyone was not a fool. How could any foolish young man refuse to accept the rule of the Han Dynasty in front of Feng Xi?
"We will follow the Grand Commander's wishes."

Everyone nodded their heads like chickens pecking at rice, not daring to say a word.

"Marshal Dong Tuna, Marshal Ah Huinan, it happens that all the cave masters are here, and I would like to talk to you about the future of Nanzhong."

Seeing that everyone had at least given in nominally, Feng Xi would not dwell on it, but instead led the conversation to the most important aspect, which was the future direction of Nanzhong.

After this war, Nanzhong was in ruins and there was a power vacuum. If Nanzhong was allowed to decide for itself, there would definitely be chaos again. Therefore, Feng Xi had to take charge of Nanzhong and deal with the political issues.

"Grand Admiral, please speak."

Dong Tuna and Ahuinan both pricked up their ears, ready to listen to what Feng Xi had to say.

"Looking at the Meng Huo Rebellion, the reason is that Meng Huo was in power and no one else could stop him. In other words, it was because a vicious person like Meng Huo seized power that he led Nanzhong into the abyss.

Now that Nanzhong has finally gotten rid of Meng Huo, I think the most important thing is to abolish the position of King of Nanzhong first to avoid repeating Meng Huo’s mistakes.”

Feng Xi's opening words were like a bombshell. Abolishing the King of Nanzhong, wouldn't that mean that Nanzhong would be leaderless forever?
(End of this chapter)