Liu Zhang believed that only the blood of countless people could make the Han people truly remember their past heroes and remember the broken mountains and rivers.
Liu Zhang kept so many prisoners and detained them all in Beijing for the same purpose. Because it is too easy for future generations to forget.
All emperors ascended the throne in a peaceful atmosphere, but Liu Zhang didn't mind walking through mountains of corpses and seas of blood to reach the emperor.
Huang Quan glanced sideways at the Huang family disciples escorted in front, and his eyelids twitched slightly. At this time, Liu Zhang had already led people down the stone stairs and stopped when he reached Huang Quan's side.
"Gong Heng, the number of Huang family members who were beheaded this time was more than a hundred, which is quite a lot. Compared to the thousands of Huang family members, there are also many, and they are all core members, official Huang family members and key business talents.
Almost all of them are listed. After the execution, the Huang family will be severely damaged.
Mr. Huang, do you blame me?"
"Huang Quan, I don't dare." Huang Quan bowed, but his words were difficult to say.
Liu Zhang nodded slightly, walked towards the execution ground, and came to the side of several core figures from traditional families, including Sima Hui, Pang Degong, Zhuge Ci, and Lu Su.
"The meandering water pavilions carry the spring breeze and the moon returns.
Fish come from rivers and enjoy themselves according to destiny.
The boat is sailing against the current, leaving behind the basics and feeling exhausted.
Digging rivers to change roads is the only way to go against moral principles and give up on yourself."
With a hint of sadness, Liu Zhang slowly said four sentences that sounded like lyrics to a song. When he came in front of a few people, Zhuge Ci couldn't help but blush when he heard Liu Zhang's words.
This poem was sung by Zhuge Ci when he and Sima Hui were playing chess at Jiangjinkou after Liu Zhang captured Jiangling and failed to persuade Liu Zhang to adapt to the situation.
This poem begins with the meandering stream of a wine cup. Whether a fish flows from a river, a boat travels against the current, or a river is dug to change its path, it just means that one must conform to the current situation. Failure to conform to the current situation will only lead to one's own destruction.
Conforming to the current situation is the choice of countless people. If a person really hopes to succeed and goes against the will, he will be covered with wounds.
This is an axiom.
So when Zhuge Ci sang this section, he was high-spirited, confident, and free and easy to see through everything. When Liu Zhang heard it, he even thought he heard Zhuge Ci's laughter like a master.
"Doing something when you know you can't do it is tiring for yourself and others. But there are too many people in this world who can't see this. They always have to do something when things happen. Just like me in this chess game, until the final moment of complete defeat, it is
I won’t abandon my son willingly.”
These were the original words of Zhuge Ci and Sima Hui when they advised Liu Zhang not to make any mistakes.
"Liu Zhang, did you come here just to laugh at us? Do you think you have made us feel ashamed now that you have ascended the throne?" Sima Hui said loudly.
To be honest, people like Sima Hui and Pang Degong may be a little scared when they face death, but that is because they never thought that they would die under a butcher's knife. That is a normal fear.
After a long time, they will no longer be afraid of death. All they care about is their own family, and personal life and death are too insignificant to the survival of the family.
The current situation is no longer the situation of the Jiangzhou massacre. The family will inevitably be destroyed, and Sima Hui has no worries.
Liu Zhang glanced at Sima Hui. Liu Zhang admired many families who were not afraid of death. Especially after the Han Dynasty, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were fewer and fewer such ambitious scholars, and more and more people were afraid of death.
Liu Zhang didn't have any emotional fluctuations in response to Sima Hui's words. Instead, he sat down on the stone slab in front of Sima Hui and others.
"I'm not here to ridicule you, but to bid farewell to an era."
"Farewell to an era?" Lu Su said.
Liu Zhang nodded slightly: "I have never met Mr. Pang De. I have met Sima Hui and Zhuge Ci once. I am very familiar with Lu Zijing. Unfortunately, when we met, I always said one thing and thought the same thing.
Now I can finally say something sincere and give you a ride.
I, Liu Zhang, have no grievances against you, nor am I the bloodthirsty devil you call me. I don’t take pleasure in killing people, so why should I have trouble with you?
In fact, the Han family made great contributions to the Han Dynasty during the four hundred years of the Han Dynasty. The first family was the backbone of the Han Dynasty and the backbone of the Chinese nation. Countless people with lofty ideals came from this group.
Relatively speaking, among poor families and ordinary people, there are fewer people who speak up and speak up.
All your actions, including Sima Hui, Zhuge Ci, Pang Degong, looking for outstanding children in the family, looking for spokespersons for the princes, Lu Zijing, donating money and food to the Jiangdong Army, and firmly standing on the side of the Lord and the faction, are not for yourself, but for the family.
.
With the family as the center, all the family members can give everything. This is your era.
Perhaps, after your era has passed, in the future history, it may be difficult to find a group of people like you, and it will be difficult to find those righteous people in your family who are not afraid of life and death for their loyalty.
You are a great era, and because of this, I feel the need to say goodbye to you."
"It turns out that the cruel King of Shu actually has such a rational side in his heart. I never saw it before. If that's the case, why do you want to kill us?
Do you want an era where there is no loyalty, and children do not care about their family and are selfish?"
As Pang Degong spoke, he looked at the Huang family disciples who were about to be executed. Some were still crying, some were calling Huang Quan for help, and there were also the frightened Sichuan Army officials who were about to be executed and had pale faces.
"Although you are cruel, you are also aboveboard. You executed these people together with us so that we can see how ugly the lower ranks of your Sichuan Army are.
But doesn't that prove you wrong?
King Shu, I can tell you for sure that if it were a big man in the past, an ordinary case would never involve so many officials. They are not so short-sighted.
And if it were not for the suppression of traditional families, the issuance of land orders, and the promotion of business, this case would not have happened at all. When you held the first four-level imperial examination in Shuzhong, Zhou Buyi said that businessmen were only interested in profit.
A businessman who is only interested in profit but can obtain a high status will inevitably lead to a decline in the morality of the entire society. Could it be that the King of Shu still couldn't see this with his wisdom?
Could it be that the King of Shu slaughtered us and promulgated the New Deal to create a society where officials are corrupt, businessmen are profit-seeking, and the people are immoral?"
"I don't want to either, but this is the trend."
"What a mess." Sima Huisuo said.
Liu Zhang smiled: "Have you ever seen an aquatic creature? It's called the white jellyfish. It's a powerful carnivorous creature. Its power lies in the water bladder that provides energy to the body. The larger the water bladder, the more powerful the jellyfish is.
The stronger the fighting ability.
But do you know how it dies in the end? The final way of death for every white jellyfish is basically the rupture of the water sac."
"How is it possible? Since it is about to burst, can't you feel it? Why does it still absorb water? Doesn't it know how to stop?" Pang Degong said.
"Yes, why does it still absorb water? Because it really doesn't know how to stop." Liu Zhang said: "Don't you think that the Han family is like this too?
Each generation of your family heads strives to strengthen the family. If you do not strengthen the family, you are the sinner of the family. If you let the family regress, you are the sinner among sinners.
You are just white jellyfish that keep sucking water.
It's okay if you just absorb water. The most important thing is that you also attack others. For a family to continue to expand, the first is land, and the second is official position.
As your family grows larger, has more land, and holds more and more official positions, when it is no longer possible to grow, you still shoulder the responsibility of growing.
You have only one choice, which is to annex land and monopolize officialdom, otherwise your family will not be able to survive at all.
However, the man is only so big, has so much land, and has only so many official positions. If you keep sucking up water, what will you do to the common people? Even without me, Liu Zhang, your water bag will eventually burst. Do you understand?"
Sima Hui, Pang Degong, Zhuge Ci, Lu Su and others all calmed down. They had never thought about this before because they firmly felt that what they did was right.
Yes, what's wrong with growing the family?
Until now, when they had to think calmly, Liu Zhang's calm voice also made them start to reflect. They suddenly discovered that perhaps the demise of the family was almost inevitable.
But they didn't know that the rupture of the water bag of the family in history led to great disasters. The entire Three Kingdoms struggle for hegemony, including the disputes among the princes in the early stage, were basically disputes of the family. Behind almost every prince, there was the shadow of the family.
Perhaps, during the Five Hus' rebellion in China, the Shi clan contributed greatly to the continuation of the Han nation, and even King Wu Dao issued an order to kill the Hu, but that was just because the power of the Han Dynasty was basically in the hands of the Shi clan.
The Han clan hated the Hu people. They had this heart and the power, so they became the main force in resisting the Hu people.
But when Wu Hu invaded China, the Shi clan had already controlled absolute power. So if they didn't stand up to fight against Wu Hu, who could they be? A poor family? Common people? They had no money, food, land, official position or appeal. In addition to being soldiers of Shi clan warlords, they also
What can be done?
However, it was precisely because of the infinite expansion of the family that the Han Dynasty's vitality disappeared. They caused this result, and they cannot be said to be innocent just because they worked hard to clean up the mess.
What's more, they failed to clean up this mess.
Sima Hui and others didn't say anything. Liu Zhang came here not because Sima Hui said he wanted to feel proud. Liu Zhang didn't have that idea. Liu Zhang really felt that the culture of the Han Dynasty had many essences, and after the Tang and Song Dynasties,
It has not been passed down.
And these essences are obviously derived from the aristocratic family. Based on this, Liu Zhang feels that he is worthy of coming here.
Liu Zhang also wanted to tell himself that the era he overturned was not without merit, and if the era he was about to inherit was not as good as this era, then he would be a sinner.