The already quiet front of the court suddenly became even deadlier. No one answered Ning Que's questions. There was only a soft snap. An official finally failed to hold the pen in his hand and dropped it to the ground. in the rain.
In human language, killing prisoners is a specially listed word, which represents some of the bloodiest and cruelest scenes in history. As the barbaric era goes by, those scenes become more and more rare. As for the Tang Dynasty, For hundreds of years, except for Xia Hou, this kind of thing has never happened again.
Even Shangguan Yangyu, who was known for his shamelessness, was shocked beyond words when he heard Ning Que's words. Some of his pale cheeks were filled with absurdity and disapproval.
The autumn rain rustled to the ground, and the strange silence continued. Silence and silence made people feel very nervous. In the end, Ning Que himself broke the silence.
"Why are you so serious? It's hard to answer? Then I will make up my mind." He looked at his superior and said, "Let the states kill one third first and see how it goes."
In the war a few years ago, the Tang army captured more than 30,000 prisoners of war. Some were released due to exchanges during the peace talks. The number of prisoners of war imprisoned in the mines is still very large, one-third of the number...the mines will be contaminated. Turning into blood red, how high will the bones in the mine be piled?
"It is ominous to kill prisoners, and God will be angry. Please think twice, Mr. Thirteen..."
An official said with a slightly hoarse voice. No one in the Tang Dynasty or the public now dares to question the Academy's opinions, let alone oppose them, but on certain matters, some people will show their bravery after all.
Ning Que did not look at this brave official, but looked at the gloomy sky above the courtyard. From that high sky, there was no anger, only the continuous autumn rain.
It was ominous to kill the captives, so the sky descended into anger? What kind of sky was it that day? The sky that overlooked the spring and autumn of the human world without speech, or the sky that secretly presided over the cycle of heavenly principles and was impartial. In short, it was Haotian.
Then this is a joke.
He smiled and shook his head, saying nothing or taking back the order.
Shangguan Yangyu said in a slightly astringent voice: "I'm worried that I won't be able to carry out the execution..."
The killing of prisoners really contradicted the three views of the Tang people, and it was seriously inconsistent with the aesthetic taste of the Tang people. This was his worry or excuse.
Ning Que said: "Why can't it be implemented?"
Shangguan Yangyu said: "Things always need people to do it. I'm afraid no one is willing to do it."
Ning Que smiled and said, "No one is willing to do it, so why don't you just do it?"
Shangguan Yangyu is a great scholar in the imperial court. With the full support of the academy and the royal family, if he comes forward to strongly promote it, it can be done no matter how difficult it is to kill prisoners, but how many years will it take to bear the bad reputation?
He sighed and said, "No wonder you must take me with you today."
Ning Que said: "There are not many people who can do this well, and even fewer who have the courage to do it. The only one who dares to bear this bad reputation and do it in a comfortable mood is you."
Shangguan Yangyu smiled bitterly and said, "I dare not say that I am in a good mood. That would be too perverted."
Ning Que frowned and said, "Why do you feel like you are scolding me?"
Shangguan Yangyu sighed: "Don't just dig the hole, you have to put something at the bottom of the hole, right?"
Ning Que said: "If the academy can always be there, your family will be safe for ten generations."
Shangguan Yangyu's eyes brightened, and after thinking for a while he said, "Then let's do it."
He is a dignified bachelor, so naturally he will not chop off the heads of prisoners of war with a sword or ax himself. After giving instructions, he then asks Ning Que for instructions: "Build a mountain of human heads or a pile of bones?"
If you want to do something like killing prisoners, you always go to two extremes: either it is very concealed to avoid letting the enemy know about it, and it will also avoid being recorded in the history books and being reviled by future generations, or it is done extremely arrogantly and deliberately let the enemy know it. As for the history books
Whatever will be recorded at the meeting can only be ignored for the time being.
He had previously discussed with Ning Que that people in the Tang Dynasty were killed for the Xiling Temple to see. They wanted to kill until the Taoists felt the pain was unbearable. So killing people was not enough. They had to let the other party see it and let the whole world know about it. Only in this way can we help.
The other party confirmed Datang's determination to kill and was frightened, so of course he should choose the latter.
How should the hundreds of practitioners and family members of traitors who were killed previously, as well as the thousands of prisoners of war who will die in the following days, be shown to the world?
"We are not those primitive people on the grassland... Besides, why are there so many heads piled up? Where are they piled? On Suzaku Avenue or under the Wanyan Pagoda? What if someone's head rolls down and scares the children?"
Ning Que looked at him and criticized: "It's too bloody! It's too cruel!"
Shangguan Yangyu felt very innocent, but he thought that many innocent people had become dead today, so he decided not to make any excuses and just listened with a humble expression.
"I know what you mean - just like the sentence I heard before, justice must not only be achieved, but also the killing must be seen. The same is true. We should find a way to be seen and seen by the temple, but it is not necessary.
There are always other ways to scare your own people."
Ning Que looked at the man in the chair next to him and said, "I think the temple should be able to see it very clearly and will not misunderstand what we mean, don't you think?"
In the courtyard, there is a place for killing people, and on the stone steps is a place for watching people kill people. I don’t know when, there were two more Taishi chairs. In addition to Ning Que, there was also a man with white hair on the chairs.
With a head full of white hair, he is still not old, but his appearance is no longer what it used to be, with fatigue written all over his brows and eyes. It is none other than Cheng Lixue, the chief minister of the Tianyu Department of the Xiling Temple.
After listening to Ning Que's question, Cheng Lixue was silent for a moment and then said: "The temple should be able to see it very clearly, but I am very curious whether you know exactly what you are doing."
He was stationed in Chang'an City by the Xiling Temple and was fully responsible for all affairs. He seemed to have a high position, but in fact everyone knew that he had lost power and was practically sent to the most dangerous ghost land.
Ning Que said: "You should know very well what I am doing, so I have no reason to be unclear about it. I just need your opinion on whether it is effective or not."
Cheng Lixue said: "I am from Xiling Temple."
Ning Que looked at Qiu Yu in the courtyard and said, "Tianyu is dead, the throne has been robbed by fishermen from the South China Sea, and you have been driven out of Taoshan, so you can no longer be a member of the Xiling Temple."
Cheng Lixue smiled and said, "What opinions do you want to hear?"
Ning Que said: "I want to know who do drunkards listen to?"
Ning Que looked at him quietly and said: "Now that Haotian is no longer in the world, who is responsible for passing Haotian's words to drunkards? It used to be the Temple of Heaven, but who is it now?"