allonlinenovel Chapter 722 The people do not fear death, so why threaten them with death?
Chapter 722 The people do not fear death, so why threaten them with death?
Yang Shaofeng did not complain at all and obediently drafted the edict according to Emperor Zhu's instructions.
As for those commanders of the military, guards, and centurions who had already been sentenced to death by Lao Deng and were not subject to joint trial by the Grand General's Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, and the Court of Judicial Review, Yang Shaofeng didn't care about them at all.
Because there's no way that killing every other person would leave anyone behind; killing them all would mean there's a possibility of wrongful convictions.
Even if you were to drag these people out and execute them by a thousand cuts, not a single one of them would be innocent.
Japanese pirates raided Funing County in Fuzhou, killing and plundering more than 350 residents, burning down more than 1,000 houses, and seizing 250 shi of government grain.
The number 250 shi (a unit of dry measure) is like two capital idiots, radiating blatant mockery.
After all, they had killed and plundered more than 350 civilians.
If they killed and plundered more than 350 civilians in one go, then the number of Japanese pirates must not be small, at least more than a thousand.
So the question is, how did more than a thousand Japanese pirates manage to get through the coastal defenses?
If the coastal defenses remain inactive and allow over a thousand Japanese pirates to sail to Fuzhou to plunder, that would be dereliction of duty, a crime deserving of death.
If the coastal defenses have done their best to resist, but just couldn't win... well, that's such a ridiculous reason that no one with a brain would believe it.
Even if you lose, you should report it and warn nearby states and counties in advance.
If they neither report it nor issue a warning in advance, then it is still dereliction of duty, and they deserve to be punished.
Therefore, the fact that they were able to bypass the defenses and kill and plunder more than 350 civilians indicates that the number of Japanese pirates was not very large, at least not reaching the scale of more than a thousand.
Then the same problem arises.
Since the scale of the Japanese pirates was not large, why did the coastal garrisons not take any precautions? Why was it not reported? Why was no warning issued?
This situation is inexplicable.
The only explanation is that there were no Japanese pirates at all, or that the Japanese pirates did not come from the sea.
Similarly, the coastal garrisons did not fail to win, but rather completely failed to act. The commanders, captains, and centurions must have known the inside story beforehand.
Therefore, none of them were innocent; even if they were all killed, there would always be some who escaped.
After Yang Shaofeng finished drafting the edict, Emperor Zhu snorted coldly and ordered Xia Yu, "Send someone to send the edict back to the capital by fast horse, and have the Embroidered Uniform Guard arrest the person directly."
After Xia Yu left, Emperor Zhu stood there in a daze for a long while.
"Hey."
Emperor Zhu sighed deeply and slumped into his recliner as if all his strength had been drained.
"Damn it."
"Damn it."
After cursing twice, Emperor Zhu fell silent again.
Yang Shaofeng picked up the kettle from the small stove, refilled Emperor Zhu's teacup with hot water, and said, "Father-in-law, please have some tea."
Emperor Zhu hummed in agreement, but did not reach for his teacup.
"Do you think they're really not afraid of death?"
"Or is it that this time it's actually the Japanese, and those garrisons were just careless?"
"If we send troops to wipe out Japan, will the Japanese pirates never appear again?"
The more Emperor Zhu thought about it, the more confused he became.
Yang Shaofeng chuckled softly and said, "Father-in-law, would you like to hear the truth or a lie?"
Emperor Zhu glared at Yang Shaofeng and said angrily, "Are you going to join in the riddles too?"
Yang Shaofeng said seriously, "It's not that I want to play riddles with my father-in-law, but I really don't know how to say it."
After a slight pause, Yang Shaofeng said thoughtfully, "In my opinion, as long as officials are still appointed by people, and as long as there is profit to be made in the future, this kind of thing will continue to happen."
Emperor Zhu hummed in agreement.
Yang Shaofeng continued, "Father-in-law, why don't you guess what would happen if the Dengzhou market sold the harvester to the corn?"
Emperor Zhu had no doubts. After thinking for a moment, he said, "The Koreans will surely try every means to learn mining and smelting techniques from the Ming Dynasty, and then vigorously imitate harvesters."
Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said, "Wrong! Father-in-law, you've guessed wrong this time!"
Emperor Zhu was slightly taken aback and asked, "Did we guess wrong? Where did we go wrong?"
Yang Shaofeng said, "If the Korean king is a wise ruler like my father-in-law, he will definitely find a way to send people to learn mining, smelting and other technologies, and then imitate the harvester."
"In this respect, my father-in-law's guess was not wrong."
"The mistake lies in the fact that the Korean king is not a wise ruler like my father-in-law, and he is not even a good guard dog."
"Moreover, there are many powerful families and clans in South Korea, and the South Korean king is constantly constrained by them. Even if the South Korean king is a wise ruler, the situation that my father-in-law is speculating about is impossible."
"The only possibility is that a part of the harvester is broken, and they will have to go to Daming to buy a part."
"They buy a part for one penny, but when they sell it to the Koreans, it becomes ten pennies."
"Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that there might be one or two special cases among the Korean aristocratic families and clans who are either concerned about the common people or excessively greedy."
At this point, a hint of sarcasm appeared on Yang Shaofeng's face: "However, even if there are one or two abnormal ones, it depends on whether other aristocratic families and powerful clans are willing, and even more so on whether the Ming Dynasty is willing."
"Whether it's cutting off their supply of harvester parts or severing their tribute, it would be an unbearable pain for the Koreans."
“Occasionally, one or two abnormal aristocratic families or clans will be attacked by the other aristocratic families and clans.”
As Yang Shaofeng finished speaking, Emperor Zhu fell silent once again.
Before his transmigration, Yang Shaofeng had witnessed this chaotic phenomenon firsthand.
At that time, China was already quite powerful, but some people still believed in the theory that it was better to buy than to build, and better to rent than to buy.
After all, research and development requires real investment, so wouldn't it be better to just use what's readily available?
It all comes down to just four words: profit.
Therefore, in later generations, we saw the almost magical phenomenon of foreigners handing over their money in full, while foreign businessmen would delay paying their clients' money as much as possible.
Japanese pirates also emerged in large numbers during the Ming Dynasty.
If Emperor Zhu really gets angry one day and sends troops to wipe out Japan, there might be rebels like "Prince Chen the Third," "Prince Zhang the Third," and "Prince Fang the Third," and there will definitely be a large group of people who "loyally support" them.
Emperor Zhu could naturally understand the intricacies of the matter.
After a long silence, Emperor Zhu sighed softly and said, "We cannot kill them all, nor are we afraid of killing them. The people are not afraid of death, so why threaten them with death?"
Yang Shaofeng stared blankly at Emperor Zhu.
Yes, everyone knows that you, Old Deng, didn't go to school when you were young and you really don't have much education.
But how is the phrase “The people do not fear death, so why threaten them with death” used?
The statement "The people are not afraid of death" is correct in itself.
But who is this "people" you're talking about, old Deng?
Are they the local gentry and the real and fake Japanese pirates who would consider it a loss if they didn't make money?
Or are they the ordinary people who have been exploited to the point of not being able to survive?
Yang Shaofeng picked up the small dragon ball, inwardly cursing Emperor Zhu for being ignorant and incompetent, and said, "There's no way to solve people's greed, but we can find ways to curb their courage and opportunity to reach out."
Emperor Zhu was stunned again, and it took him a long time to ask, "How do we stop it?"