Zhao Defang's road to the virtuous king

Defang walked out of the camp, and saw a large group of tied people kneeling in the open space, the guard of Meizhou ran over, "The last general will see the prince Qiantui."

"You don't need to be too polite, general. Are these people officers of the rebel army?"

"Returning to the prince, it is true that a total of 260 officers from the rebel army were captured this time, and all of them have been bound here."

Defang nodded. He looked at these weather-beaten people, and couldn't help feeling pity in his heart. The land of Sichuan and Shu was in turmoil since the time of Taizu. The court has been busy fighting everywhere for many years, and has not tightened control , coupled with the continuous tyranny of state officials later, which led to endless chaos and disasters, these people who gathered together were just some poor people. If there were good days, who would fight against the court and abandon their homes? Thinking of this Defang sighed, the guard saw that Defang hadn't spoken for a long time, so he stepped forward and said, "My lord, according to the general's opinion, these people should be beheaded for public display, and then built into a Beijing temple to warn the people."

"No!" Defang said very sternly after hearing this, "These people are not the enemies of our Great Song Dynasty, they are just forced to do so by the oppression of evil officials. Treating people like children, if they are guilty, they will be dealt with by the law of the country, how can they bear to treat them like this."

"Yes, my lord, I will know my mistake in the end."

Defang walked into these kneeling people and said, "They are not treacherous and evil people. If they were not forced to do so, why would they be like this? Now that His Majesty has issued an edict of guilt, all state government officials should reflect on themselves and use force to quell the chaos. It's just a temporary policy. The ancients used force to stop fighting, not to hurt people with force. Now, if you want to prevent chaos everywhere, you have to win the hearts of the people. Tang Taizong once said: "Water can carry a boat or capsize it. The so-called only those who win the hearts of the people can win the world, this is an eternal truth."

"Yes, the last general has been educated." The guard bowed his hands and saluted

Defang nodded and said, "Go and put these people in prison, and after the lonely king returns to Beijing, ask His Majesty for instructions, and then deal with these people."

"Yes, my lord, the last general will do it."