Tao Yuanming didn't speak for a while, and kept looking at Zhu Chaoshi. Gradually, he laughed, waved his hands, and said: "It turns out to be General Xiao Zhu. Just in time, I want to ask you. At that time, you were trapped in the enemy camp and were forced to
How did you feel when you pretended to surrender and joined the demon thief, and what were you thinking?"
Zhu Chaoshi seemed to have expected that Tao Yuanming would ask him this question. He shook his head and said: "You also know that I pretended to surrender. I had no choice but to do it. If I didn't want to avenge my brothers who died, I would not care about this."
But the rich landlords in Jiangzhou and Yuzhou you mentioned are not the same as those who joined the demon thieves and rebelled. Most of them took the initiative to join. Even Yu Gong found this out, right?
Yu Gong."
Yu Yue nodded and said: "Yes, since the defeat of General He Wuji's Jiangzhou Army, officials from all over Jiangzhou have fled or surrendered to the demon thieves. For example, Jiang Governor Shi Wang Hong ran away, and Yuzhang County
Shou Changyu did not have time to run away and surrendered to the demon thieves. The two of them can be regarded as representatives of Jiangzhou officials. Even so, not to mention powerful landowners from other places, like General Hu Fan mentioned by Tao Gong just now.
There are actually very few families in Jiangzhou who can form a stronghold to protect themselves without turning to demon thieves. Most of the families have taken up the banner of demon thieves, just like the powerful Han landowners during the Battle of Nanyan.
Likewise, take the initiative to deliver rations to the demon bandit army, and even send some men as logistical support."
Having said this, Yu Yue paused: "There are even some strong thieves from cottages and green forests who simply joined the demon thieves. They put their families and property in the homes of some powerful landlords under the banner of demon thieves, and most of them
The men became an army of demon thieves, because the land of Jiangzhou had always followed Jingzhou, and the Huan family was quite powerful, and many of the Huan family's old tribe had become powerful landlords in Jiangzhou, and they were very powerful in the court.
For a while, I tolerated it, but as soon as the demon thieves came, they changed sides. The demon thieves' army can expand rapidly, and these people contribute a lot."
Having said this, Yu Yue sighed, looked at Tao Yuanming, and said: "Mr. Tao, although I have adopted almost all of your suggestions and obeyed you, I really can't agree with this one. If you rebel for a day, how many times will it be?"
On behalf of thieves, when General Liu Yi's army to conquer the west came, these people surrendered. We did not punish them severely. Instead, we gave them official positions and titles to protect their interests. What was the return in exchange? They saw
When the demon thieves came, they did not resist with all their strength, but most of them directly surrendered to the demon thieves. If we suppress the rebellion this time, if we do not punish them, they will continue to betray in the future."
Tan Zhi also said solemnly: "I agree with Yu Gong's view. It is because we are too tolerant towards the rebels. We have forgiven and pardoned their betrayals again and again, so we condone them, including those from Tianshi Dao.
Monster thieves, when Brother Jinu searched the mountains and seas and drove them all the way to nowhere and had no choice but to go to the sea, he was kind enough to let them go and let them go to Guangzhou to survive, which ultimately led to today's catastrophe.
, this time, we must not make the same mistake again, not only for the demon thieves, we must kill them all, but also for the landlords and powerful people who rebel against the demon thieves, not only Jiangzhou, but also the barbarian tribes in Guangzhou and the local tyrants in southern Hunan.
We must not let go of any of our forces. Only by making all rebels pay the price will we be able to achieve long-term peace and stability in the future!"
When he said this, there was a roar of applause in the palace, and many generals even rolled up their sleeves and clapped their hands. Obviously, Tan Zhi's statement and words were deeply in line with their thoughts.
Tao Yuanming calmly stood with his hands behind his hands amidst the cheers, just like the shouts of death against him just now, facing the rough waves but unmoving rocks. It was not until the cheers subsided that he faced them.
With an expression of pride and sneer, he looked at the civil and military officials in his palace, and said calmly: "I would like to ask everyone, if we are really sure that we will defeat the demon thief now, or if we can let the two thieves Lu and Xu hang their heads tomorrow,
Dahang’s ability, then what are you doing here now? Why not go on a long voyage immediately and put down the Tianshi Dao rebels like this?"
Tan Zhi said solemnly: "Although the demon thieves have been suppressed, there are still 200,000 troops after all. They can be destroyed just like that. To put down the demon thieves, we have to go through hard battles and pay a heavy price."
That's right, Mr. Tao, your analysis was quite good just now, why are you suddenly speaking in such unprofessional language?"
Tao Yuanming sneered and said: "That's it. The demon thieves are still powerful now. It will not be easy to eliminate them overnight. They have a large number of people and occupy a large area. If these more than 200,000 people fight to the death with us,
Even if the Jin Dynasty wins, it will have to pay a heavy price, and hundreds of thousands of men will be lost. These losses of manpower will greatly affect post-war reconstruction and development, and will also accumulate deep hatred."
"You all say that Marshal Liu returned to the mountains and did not kill all the demons and thieves. But have you ever thought about the demon-thieves rebellion in Sanwu that lasted for several years and resulted in a loss of nearly one million people? In the past, the most prosperous Jin Dynasty
The land of Sanwu was almost in ruins. Even today, it has not returned to 70% of the level before the war. Yu Gong, what I said is right."
Yu Yue nodded and sighed: "These monster thieves have really caused trouble for hundreds of years. Not only did Wu lose its population and the land was barren, but they also destroyed almost all the grain, grass and cloth they had accumulated over the past few decades in war. Our Yu family
The current food reserves are less than one-tenth of what they were before. This time, if King Qin wants to send an army, it is beyond his ability. If it were ten years ago, it would not be difficult to pull out an army of 30,000, let alone thousands of people."
Tao Yuanming said seriously: "But have you ever thought about why so many people rely on the demon thieves to cause trouble? Is it because the court's laws are too loose, or because the demon thieves are too able to confuse people's hearts, or for some other reason.
?”
Wang Zhenzhi stroked his long beard and said: "These reasons are all combined. However, when the demon thieves started to cause chaos, there were not too many followers, only tens of thousands of people, and most of them were people who were killed.
The threats from the demon thieves were not genuine. The reason why they could lead to a chaos that lasted for several years and numbered hundreds of thousands of people was probably..."
When he said this, he glanced at Liu Muzhi and the surrounding Beifu generals, but stopped talking.
Tao Yuanming laughed: "What's not to say? There weren't many people in Wu who started to rebel and rebel. Even when the imperial army arrived, many people went home anyway. But why were there so many in the end?
Didn’t people join in? Didn’t the imperial court’s expeditionary army burn, kill and loot everywhere, stimulating a civil uprising?” (End of this chapter)