sirius

"...I, I...I surrender..."

"Sun Jin! You timid and cowardly wretch! Mr. Sun has been upright and upright all his life, how can he have such an unfilial grandson like you?! Can you be worthy of the plaque bestowed by the late emperor on Gao Feng Xianzheng?!"

"A soldier can be killed but not humiliated! We will not surrender!"

Some hard bones rushed up and snatched the letter of surrender from Sun Jin's hand, and tore it to pieces in two or three strokes.

"Don't drop!"

"Yes, we are determined not to surrender! We will never surrender! This is the state of Qi. The imperial court will surely have reinforcements arriving soon, and General Xu Zheng will save us!"

"Right! Don't surrender! We swear to the death!"

The crowd became noisy, as if their loud voices could defeat the men with swords inside and outside.

"Qiang Qiang..." The soldiers of the Dingyuan Army drew their knives, and pointed their white and shiny blades at this group of unarmed men, women and children, as if it would fall on them next time, and blood would splatter on the spot.

The crowd couldn't help but took half a step back, but one person stepped forward and shouted loudly: "Men are mortal, and it may be lighter than a feather or heavier than Mount Tai. We were born in Qi and grew up in Qi, so we should live and die together with Da Qi! When the country is destroyed and the family is destroyed, how can there be a place for you and me to settle down?! Why don't you die generously and leave a legacy!"

"that's right!"

"well said!"

Tang Ling put down the teacup lightly, stood up slowly, took two steps forward and asked me, "This gentleman speaks beautifully, I don't know how to address him?"

"I... I am Feng Yi."

"Feng Yi...Feng...is the young master of Renxintang?"

"Exactly!"

"Tang has just arrived here, but he didn't know that Shaodong's family is not only good at medicine, but also has a good hand and a benevolent heart.

Feng Yi looked at Tang Ling, wondering what kind of medicine he was selling in the gourd, he straightened his back and replied, "I, Feng Yi, am not talented, I just have a passion for it."

"Feng Shaodong's family is too modest, and everything you just said about family and country is reasonable, but there is one thing, you didn't make it clear.

The country is destroyed and the family is destroyed. Who wrote the history since ancient times?Naturally, it is a living person. "

"What do you mean?"

"Feng Shaodong's family has read tens of thousands of volumes. Don't they know that Bashan was originally the territory of the Huyan clan, and was later occupied by the former Sui Dynasty, and the Huyan clan was slaughtered? It's just a scribble in the history books.

Besides, in the former Sui Dynasty, it was only more than thirty years since the founding of the country to its collapse. Who can remember the name of the king who lost the country?Feng Shaodong's family is so proud, but if you die here, your whole family will be overthrown. Do you think ten or twenty years later, who will pay homage to you in front of your tombstone?Ah, that's wrong, disobedience to the prince won't allow the whole body to be dead, and I'm afraid there won't even be a tomb, let alone a stele. "

"you you!"

"Come here, pull Feng Shaodong's house out."

"Yes."

Two soldiers held Feng Yi, one left and one right, and dragged him out.

Tang Ling turned to look at the rest of the people: "Please watch the execution with me."

Standing on the tower to watch the execution were not only Tang Ling, merchants, wealthy households, celebrities and literati in the city, but also Qi Xiao and Han Chaosheng standing on the turret.

Feng Yi's limbs and neck were tied with ropes. He panicked and shouted: "What are you doing?! What are you doing?!"

The centurion in charge was Yan Chuan, he snorted and said, "What are you going to do? Hasn't Mr. Feng heard of the car cracking trip? That's ignorant and ignorant.

It's okay, we have all prepared things for Young Master Feng, and we will tell you, Young Master Feng, to splatter three feet of blood and die with a bang. "

"You! You! You!!"

"Master Feng, do you have any last words?"

"Ayi!"

"Master!"

On the tower, Feng Yi's old father, Dr. Feng, and the old servants at home were already panicked, crying and kneeling in front of Tang Ling: "Master Tang, please forgive me! Please, Mr. Tang, please forgive me!"

"Father! Don't ask them! The son is already unfilial and cannot be unfaithful! In the next life, the son will repay the father for nurturing him!"

Tang Ling smiled, looked at Dr. Feng, and said, "Shaodong Feng's family is really a bloody man. Dr. Feng has taught him a good son."

"My lord! Master Tang! I beg you to let my son go, the old man is willing to use his own body as a substitute! Please be merciful, Master Tang!"

"Dr. Feng has saved lives and healed the wounded all his life, and built a pagoda for a lifetime. Such merits and virtues are blessed by God, and they will surely live a long life."

"No no no! Master Tang, please forgive my son for the sake of my youth and ignorance! I will sign the letter of surrender! I will sign it!"

Tang Ling smiled, and someone beside her handed Dr. Feng a letter of surrender, complete with pen, ink, ink and pad.

Dr. Feng picked up a pen and signed his name on it, pressing his fingerprint.

"Master Tang, I have signed the contract, please let the boy go!"

Tang Ling looked downstairs and nodded to Yan Chuan.

Yan Chuan clicked his tongue, and cut off the noose around Feng Yi's neck with a knife: "It's your fate."

Feng Yi was released, and knelt under the city tower, raised his head and screamed, "Father!! I am willing to kill myself for benevolence! I am willing to sacrifice my life for righteousness! I am a man of seven feet, how can I live humiliated for the sake of my family and the country!"

Tang Ling glanced at Dr. Feng who was still kneeling on the ground, and said with a smile, "It seems that your son hasn't figured it out yet."

"Master Tang! Master Tang! The child is stupid, please don't argue with him."

"Hey, Doctor Feng, it's not that I want to care about anything, but that your son is too disrespectful to my lord, and he doesn't want to accept all the painstaking efforts of your father, so I will take over and teach my son a lesson for Doctor Feng."

Tang Ling walked down the tower, stood in front of Feng Yi in front of all the onlookers and those who were invited, and waved her hands, telling Yan Chuan and his people to step back.

"Feng Shaodong's family is heroic and regards the word loyalty as higher than filial piety and more important than life. How about Feng Shaodong's family discussing the word loyalty with me?"

Feng Yi stared at Tang Ling, unable to see through the vicious intention behind his gentle smile.

Tang Ling had just started killing him and wanted to cut him into pieces, so why didn't she kill him?Just because his father begged for mercy?

"Loyalty, since ancient times, there is a solution, it is for respect, from the heart, in the middle voice, it can also be explained to be straight, to do one's heart, not to deceive.

Interpreting the word "loyalty" as putting one's heart and soul into it, does Young Master Feng think so? "

"Naturally good.

For the minister and the people, devote yourself to the king and do your best to the country. "

"Then, what's the meaning of Yi?"

"Righteousness refers to the principles of what is right in the world."

"it is good."

Tang Ling clapped her palms and smiled, took out a letter from her sleeve, and handed it to Feng Yi, "Master Feng, please share this belief with everyone."

Feng Yi frowned, he didn't want to argue about loyalty just now, why did he ask him to read the letter?

"What exactly do you want to do?"

"Young Master Feng said just now, to be a minister and the people, to devote one's heart to the king and to the country.

Tang Mou sincerely admires it, but now the superiors in Qi State are incompetent, incompetent, mediocre, sloppy, disregarding the foundation of the people, not thinking about the security of the country, and not wanting the long-term life of the country. I would like to ask Young Master Feng, so, you How to be faithful?Do you want the people of Qi to suffer for it if you have done your loyalty? "

"What are you talking nonsense about?!"

"Am I talking nonsense? Then why don't you read General Xu's autographed letter to everyone?"

Holding the letter in Feng Yi's hand, his heart was beating wildly. Tang Ling's plausible words were not like nonsense. Seeing him calmly made him feel more afraid than having a knife on Feng Yi's own neck.

"You must be playing tricks! I won't be fooled by you!" Feng Yi threw the letter on the ground.

Tang Ling didn't pick up the letters on the ground, but glanced at the Bashan city residents who gathered little by little around her. The smile on her lips faded slightly, and she slowly stomped two steps with her hands behind her back.

"I don't have any tricks here. It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not. I'll just tell you what everyone knows."

There were a lot of people whispering in the surroundings, but they shut their mouths the moment Tang Ling swept over them. For some reason, this young man who looked handsome and weak had an intimidating demeanor.

"In recent years, there have been many droughts and little rain in the Bashan Mountains, and the water source in the city has dried up. General Xu has repeatedly asked the King of Qi for money to dig a river to divert water into the city. I heard this from hearsay. I don't know if it is true?"

"……Yes……"

"Yes."

Some of the people have already responded to Tang Ling's question.

"Then, has your monarch approved the payment?"

"This……"

Tang Ling added: "Not only Bashan, but also Luzhou and Xianzhou have had a three-year drought, right? Xianzhou is not too far from Bashan. Are there any refugees who came to Qinzhou and Bashan?"

"……that……"

"I... I escaped from Xianzhou two years ago."

Tang Ling looked at the middle-aged man in the crowd and asked, "I came here two years ago. The severe drought is over, so why don't you go back?"

"...Although the severe drought is over... Last year I wanted to go home and have a look, but only when I met a fellow villager did I know that the state government government has taken back all the land and sold it to wealthy households. If I want to go back to cultivate the land, I need a First report the account to the state bank, and then rent the land from the wealthy household, and add two miles of land tax every year... Where do we get so much money?!"

"Oh, isn't this killing people!"

Feng Yi felt disdainful when he heard these words, but he still insisted: "That's the government office of Xianzhou Prefecture, which is causing trouble in the local area. Such corrupt officials are unforgivable! Your Majesty is just being deceived by traitors!"

"The reason why you are clear is to listen; the reason why you are dark is to believe.

How can you be a wise king if you are so blinded? "Tang Ling blocked Feng Yi back with one sentence, and asked again, "Then let me ask Young Master Feng again, do you know how much the tax on Bashan has increased compared to ten years ago?" "

"...This...I..."

No need for Feng Yi to think about what to say, the surrounding people rushed to answer for him first: "The salt tax is rising every year! Compared with ten years ago, it has increased by more than [-]%!"

"Tongshangluyin also increases prices every year."

"Since six years ago, if there are servants in the family, the person tax has to be paid.

If there is a son in the family who does not want to join the army, he will have to pay extra military rations every year! "

"My family's land is barren, not enough to pay for food every year, so my boss was sentenced to three years of corvee and taken away from Shuo Liang!"

Tang Ling glanced at Feng Yi, and asked the common people: "The corvee that this aunt said is for the construction of the Royal Court?"

"Yes! Exactly!"

Tang Ling turned to Feng Yi and said, "The sage of your country is extravagant and cowardly. He has turned a blind eye to the severe drought for years and ignored the livelihood of the people. He has to learn from Zhou Guoyu and Jinshan Mountain Resort for his own enjoyment and build a thousand lakes. It is difficult. force?"

Feng Yi stared at Tang Ling in a daze, speechless.

"Old Prime Minister Zhao Bochen strongly opposed the construction of another courtyard, but it was a pity that he offended the Majesty of your country and ordered him to return to his hometown. Prime Minister Zhao did not hesitate to die to show his ambition, but it was kept secret. No one knows. You only think that Prime Minister Zhao is sick and dead at home."

"This...you are talking nonsense!"

Tang Ling glanced at the letter on the ground: "General Xu's letter, you might as well read it yourself."

Feng Yi hesitated for a moment, and finally couldn't help picking up the letter to read it. He just glanced at it, and then he collapsed on the ground. Even though he didn't say what was written in the letter, the people around could see it clearly. Seeing his pale face, he knew Tang Ling was right.

"There is an ancient saying that the way of a king must first preserve the people.

If one harms the common people in order to honor one's body, it is like cutting one's thighs to eat one's belly, and one dies of body fullness.

The people want to be quiet but they are endlessly in corvée, the people are withered and wasteful, and the country's decline and evil, and the king's cunning will surely trample on the land of peril. "

Tang Ling's voice was not loud, but it was deafening. Feng Yi sat slumped on the ground with his chest bowed, and he was speechless to refute.

"Feng Shaodong's family, let me ask you one last question.

Can one doctor in your Renxintang treat ten people a day? "

Feng Yi was stunned by Tang Ling's sudden question, and suddenly looked up at him.

"Let's say I can see ten people a day, that's more than 3000 patients a year. The doctors of Renxintang are able to recover, and these patients can all be cured, and more than [-] lives can be saved in a year.

Now there are more than 2 innocent people in Bashan City. If they stubbornly resist and refuse to surrender, they will inevitably be killed.

Feng Shaodong's family has read the books of sages and sages, and they are willing to use foolish loyalty to deceive the emperor. No one can stop them, but is it possible that Shaodong's family still wants these 2 people to accompany you to sacrifice their lives for that grandiose but absurd loyalty? "

Feng Yi was trembling all over, and couldn't help but look at the crowd around him, the surrounding was silent, everyone seemed to be waiting for something, but they didn't seem to know what they were waiting for, and no one spoke.

Tang Ling walked towards the crowd slowly, and raised her voice and said: "His Royal Highness, the King of Chu, captured Bashan City Pass today, and will establish a long-lasting feat for the world's long-term peace.

The prince Houde didn't want to kill innocent people, so he issued an order, but those who surrendered to me will live in peace, except for the need to apply for drinking water, and the curfew at Youshi, everything in Bashan City will remain as usual. "

There were whispers among the people.

"Everyone can rest assured that the prince governs the army strictly. If anyone bullies the people or loots their property, he will be punished without mercy!"

"Is everything business as usual?"

"Yes!"

"Do you want to pay grain and silver?"

"no way!"

"Surrender?"

"Not only do we not need you to pay food and silver, but we will also give porridge and medicine under the city tower on the first and fifteenth of every month. Anyone who needs it can come."

Qi Xiao and Tang Ling robbed the storehouses of Jialin Pass and Xingtian Pass, and robbed a lot of banknotes and silver, this matter can be generous to others.

"Then...then we surrender..."

"Surrender!"

Tang Ling laughed and gave Yan Chuan a wink. Yan Chuan immediately ordered people to move out the tables and chairs and set up a shed, so that the people of Bashan lined up to sign the letter of surrender.

Tang Ling walked to Feng Yi's side and whispered, "Master Feng seems to have not figured it out yet, so please go to the government prison and face the wall to think about it."

On the turret, Han Chaosheng saw and heard everything, was so angry that he gritted his teeth and trembled all over, but he was unable to struggle, let alone shout, and could only watch and listen.

Tang Ling walked up the tower and went up to the turret, seeing Qi Xiao smiling from a distance, he couldn't help but also smiled.

When he got closer, before Tang Ling could speak, Han Chaosheng gritted his back molars and said in a cold voice, "What a pair of eloquent teeth that reverse black and white!"

Tang Ling smiled slightly, it was useless not to argue with Han Chaosheng.

Qi Xiao said with a smile: "Let me introduce to General Han, my military advisor, Tang Ling, the son of Marquis Xun'an of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

To surrender a city without killing a single person, there is probably no one in the world who can do it. "