parentshiftbook Chapter 38 Nightmare
Chapter 38 Nightmare
"I thought you would be very confident. The academy was established by the Grand Preceptor against all odds, and the first generation of students who emerged from it don't even have this much confidence?"
Zhou Jing glanced at the cloud-dragon patterned pendant placed on the desk.
"The first lesson I learned upon entering the academy was that true knowledge comes from practice."
Promises made lightly are mere pretense, and I never pretend to do anything. And, frankly, your satisfaction is irrelevant to me.
014 responded bluntly.
"That's true, but didn't you go too far in establishing your authority just now? What they said isn't entirely unreasonable."
Zhou Jing asked.
"The Great Zhao Kingdom was founded on military strength, and my strength is at the very bottom, only slightly stronger than a child."
Before I achieve sufficiently convincing results, my abilities and age will subconsciously lead them to believe that I am unreliable.
This would allow personal will to interfere with the execution of orders later, leading to unnecessary actions, which is unacceptable to me.
Power is a measure, and different measures will form different standards. In order to deliver a satisfactory or even excellent result, I must unify all the measures in Gaoyang County. My order is the only one.
Therefore, rather than punishing and making amends after the fact, it's better to make them realize the truth from the outset with an overwhelming and decisive approach.
014 A calm response.
Why is it said that cracking down on smuggled food and arresting the big bosses isn't important?
Zhou Jing asked.
After 014 treated Peng Chi and the other two with absolute indifference, she thought they would treat her the same way. Unexpectedly, this time they responded to every word, so she couldn't help but ask another question.
"It's not that it's unimportant, but it's meaningless to arrest people now. The power vacuum needs to be filled by new powers."
It's true that these people banded together to smuggle blood and food and monopolize the necessities of life, but in a related way, they also maintained a certain level of order.
Before I remove them, I need to find new people, enough to fill the gaps and take over this middle power after they are uprooted.
Otherwise, no matter how much we suppress it, Gaoyang County will not calm down until the new distribution is completed, which would go against our original intention and would only be a new cycle.
Besides, it would be a huge waste to just arrest them and execute them on charges; they have better uses.
"How can you guarantee that the person you choose won't become a new oppressor?"
Zhou Jing asked pointedly.
"This is a complicated question, and everyone has their own understanding of it. I cannot answer it right now."
All I can tell you is that four classmates are experimenting with the problem you mentioned, and are working on their findings and summarizing their experiences.
014 remained silent for a long time before speaking.
"Thank you for your honesty."
Zhou Jing paused, her gaze falling on the young man's pale face:
"I'm just curious, your number is 014, does that mean there are 13 people ahead of you with better grades? How many people are in your group?"
"The first statement is correct. The top performers, 01, were assigned to the Ministry of Revenue, 02 to the Ministry of Rites, and 03 to the Ministry of Works. As for the others and the second question, I have no comment."
He answered in a flat tone.
"The first three all told me, doesn't this violate the confidentiality agreement?"
"What they're doing can't be kept secret. Even if I don't tell you, you'll soon find out what they're up to, so there's no harm in telling you."
"Thanks."
Zhou Jing nodded: "I'm fine."
......
"Betraying secrets, embezzling public funds, massacring colleagues, and inciting subordinates to defect are acts of extreme treason and are unforgivable."
According to the law, regardless of whether they were the ringleaders or accomplices, they were all to be executed by slow slicing. Male relatives within five degrees of kinship who were sixteen years of age or older, regardless of whether they were seriously ill or disabled, were all to be beheaded.
Those males under the age of fifteen, as well as the mothers, daughters, wives, concubines, and sisters of the principal offender, who were aware of the crime, were to be sent to the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment district) as slaves; those who were unaware of the crime were to be assigned to the ranks of meritorious officials as servants.
evening.
The setting sun is like blood.
The air was thick with the stench of blood and a suffocating chill.
The towering flames have been extinguished, and the once luxurious manor has been reduced to ruins.
Half an hour ago.
The iron cabin that fell from the sky carried death down, mercilessly reaping the families and relatives of the traitors and destroying everything in its path.
Everywhere there were mangled corpses and pools of blood.
Before the rows of armored soldiers, a scholar in a blue official robe read aloud the imperial edict in his hand.
He paused, then pointed to the women, dressed in magnificent brocade robes, their hair disheveled and covered in mud, their former beauty and dignity gone, and said expressionlessly:
"Those who are unwilling to accept this result, stand up. We can give you some dignity."
As he spoke, an old man with his hands tucked into his sleeves and his hands covered in red threads floated out of the crowd.
With each sound of someone being knocked down, the confiscation of property and extermination of the entire clan proceeded in an orderly manner.
"Although you are the sister of a traitor, you have not received any resources from the horizontal line and are unaware of them. According to the law, you have two choices."
First, they entered the government-built low-class housing as commoners, and after working for fifteen years, they gained their freedom.
Secondly, the portraits of meritorious officials will be given to you as wives or concubines. Because you are a virgin, you will be a wife, still possessing the same rights as a citizen of Da Zhao. Time is short, choose.
The flat-soled boots stopped in front of me, their scrutinizing gaze conveying a frozen sense of power and an endless coldness and numbness.
Xu Qingying woke up from a nightmare with a start and sat up abruptly. Her hand accidentally knocked over the teacup beside the bed. She instinctively reached out to grab it, but missed. Just as the teacup was about to shatter, a hand caught it steadily.
"Don't be nervous. The doctor said you were experiencing excessive fright and were also exhausted from the journey, so he prescribed you sleeping pills. It's normal to feel drowsy. How are you feeling now?"
Fu Que took the teacup, poured another glass of water on the table, then sat back down in his chair and handed it to the teacup: "Have some water, it might make you feel better."
This morning, Hu Liangyu dragged him to a place similar to a wealthy family's place where servants and maids were purchased, and spent a large sum of money to have him choose a girl to take home, thus completing what Hu Liangyu considered a grand undertaking.
It was said that Fu Que would choose, but he didn't get a word in edgewise; it was Hu Liangyu who was communicating with the person in charge.
When Fu Que tactfully suggested that this was a marriage proposal for him and that his opinion should be respected a little, Hu Liangyu refused without hesitation.
In Hu Liangyu's view, he was not finding a wife for Fu Que, but rather providing a safety net for the Fu family and finding a mother for the Fu family's little brat.
Knowledge, personality, and experience are the most important things; everything else is irrelevant.
Even if a girl who meets these criteria is completely incompatible with Fu Que's aesthetic sense, or is even extremely ugly, Hu Liangyu can still make Fu Que obediently agree to get married.
He's not a nagging old father; he has plenty of strength and resources.
Fortunately, Hu Liangyu felt she didn't need to use these methods because Fu Que was very lucky. The girl Hu Liangyu admired was not bad-looking and had a good background, but she was just unlucky.
When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer as well.