The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 153 God helps the thieves but not me!
"General! Spare my life!"

"General!!"

At this moment, in the general's mansion, dozens of people were tied up and kneeling in the snow, their faces filled with panic, constantly begging for mercy.

Sima Zhao stood on the steps, staring at the people in front of him.

These people were all wearing prison uniforms, with disheveled hair and despair in their eyes.

These dozens of people are officials from various places in Henan Yin.

Among them were county magistrates, county lieutenants, county secretaries, and even a few township officials.

The highest-ranking one is probably Sima Ban, the left chief secretary of the General's Mansion.

There were several people standing beside Sima Zhao, including Shangshu Fu Gu, Xiaowei Yin Damu, Jishi Xun Xu, Sanqi Pei Xiu and other confidants.

Those kneeling before Sima Zhao were all sinners brought by Fu Gu.

After Wang Yuan started the rebellion, these people wantonly killed innocent people in the name of suppressing bandits and chopped off their heads to pretend they were military merits.

The county magistrate, who was kneeling beside Sima Ban and crying loudly at this moment, had slaughtered more than a thousand people and submitted a memorial to claim credit for himself.

Of course, the most brutal killer was Sima Ban.

However, now, this guy is extremely frightened and keeps kowtowing and apologizing.

Sima Zhao gritted his teeth and looked very ugly.

"The government appointed you as the local leaders to protect the people and defend the region for the country. Yet, you are doing the opposite. You are killing civilians indiscriminately, falsely claiming military achievements, and deceiving the government. Your crimes are heinous!"

"If officials everywhere were as cruel as you, wouldn't the Great Wei Empire be destroyed by villains like you?!"

"In just four days, you've murdered nearly ten thousand civilians. How dare you do this?! How dare you?!"

Sima Zhao looked extremely angry.

Perhaps sensing his murderous intent, Sima Ban hurriedly shouted, "Zhongfu!! I didn't kill the civilians indiscriminately! Those people were resisting. They attacked my army first. Everyone under my command can testify to this! I only started to fight back after being attacked! I absolutely didn't kill indiscriminately!"

As he spoke first, the others also began to explain.

"General! They were the first to raise an army and attack the armory! I only sent people to suppress them! I am innocent!"

"General, my father-in-law has repeatedly taught me that we must never be soft-hearted when dealing with bandits, or else others will follow suit. I was simply following his advice! I am innocent!"

Sima Zhao took a look at this man. His name was Guo Zhan, and he was the adopted son of General Guo Huai.

The other few people also cried out for justice.

Those township officials are actually okay, but these county magistrates are a little difficult to deal with.

Few of those who could serve as county magistrates in Henan Yin were of ordinary origin. Generally speaking, children of wealthy families started out as county magistrates. These people usually drank and served liquor. After honing their skills in the position of county magistrate for a period of time, they would have three different arrangements.

If one had shown extraordinary talent when serving as a county magistrate, he would probably have gone directly to the position of Palace Attendant, been summoned to the imperial court, and then taken the position of substitute for a minister in the imperial court.

If one has some talent, he may be transferred to other counties to continue to hone his skills. After working in a few counties, he can directly become a local official and become a prefect.

If one has no talent, he will be directly transferred to a prefecture or a minister's office to serve as an official, following the path of a subordinate.

Anyway, if you have a good background, you will never feel that your talents are not appreciated. Even if you don’t have talent, it doesn’t matter, you can always be assigned a job.

Henan Yin is the favorite place for children from wealthy families, so many of them are from famous families and have strong backgrounds.

Sima Zhao frowned and scolded them loudly again, his tone becoming even more ferocious, but he did not say how to punish them.

Xun Xu slowly walked to Sima Zhao's side and whispered, "General, among these people, there are your clansmen, the clansmen of the General of Chariots and Cavalry, and the clansmen of the General of the Southern Expedition. The clansmen of the General of Fenwu are really difficult to deal with."

Sima Zhao snorted coldly, "Yes, there are even members of your family!"

Xun Xu was a little embarrassed, but he still said, "General, in my opinion, although these people have committed serious mistakes, they did so in order to suppress the rebellion, and it was not intentional. Considering their meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion, we can spare their death penalty, demote them to civilians, and never employ them again!"

"This way, you can show your kindness without destroying friendship. Isn't it great?"

"Ah."

Sima Zhao's eyes were still cold.

Xun Xu continued, "General, now is the crucial time to attack Guanqiu Jian. If we offend the General of Chariots and Cavalry, the General of the Southern Expedition, and the General of the Fenwu Army at this time, how can we continue the war? If you must punish them, why not detain them first and wait until the war is over before making your decision?"

Sima Zhao's expression finally changed, and he looked at Fu Gu in the distance.

Fu Gu frowned at this moment, his face looking very ugly.

"General, please punish the traitor according to the law."

Sima Zhao's face changed and he felt a little embarrassed. Xun Xu looked at Sima Zhao, then at Fu Gu, and quickly came up with an idea.

He took a few steps and stood between Fu Gu and Sima Zhao, saying loudly, "The Great Wei has its own laws. The punishment of these officials is not something that the General of the Western Expedition can decide. It must be handed over to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court will make the judgment. Only in this way can it be in accordance with the laws of the Great Wei!"

Hearing this, the prisoners kneeling in the snow suddenly realized something and nodded hurriedly, "We all accept the judge's verdict!"

Fu Gu was furious. He pointed at Xun Xu in front of him and began to shake all over. Fu Gu's physical condition was already very bad. Historically, he died a month after Sima Shi's death.

And at this moment, he was running around while seriously ill, even in the snow and ice, and his body had almost reached its limit.

He cursed, "Are you trying to protect these traitors?! Are you worthy of being from the same clan as Xun Lingjun?! We both have the surname Xun, but Jing Qian is ten times better than you!!"

This Jing Qian refers to Xun Xi, the sixth son of Xun Yu, the Grand Commandant of Cao Wei.

Xun Xu's expression did not change at all, and he said loudly: "These matters should be handled by the Supreme Court! How could I ever mean to cover up for them?!" Fu Gu's face turned red, and his whole body trembled, shaking violently.

He breathed hard and looked at Sima Zhao, "General."

Sima Zhao was also somewhat helpless. He immediately said: "Among these people, those who have committed heinous crimes cannot be left behind. As for those who have made up for their crimes with meritorious deeds, they can be handed over to the Supreme Court for investigation!"

Fu Gu immediately shut his mouth, his eyes were a little confused, and his expression became even more listless.

Sima Ban finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly took the lead in thanking Sima Zhao.

At this moment, soldiers came jogging from a distance, quickly controlled all the entrances and exits around, and began martial law. Behind the soldiers, a man slowly walked in.

The person who came was Sima Shi.

He was wearing a thick fur coat, and was followed by two people, walking towards here leisurely.

For a moment, everyone was shocked.

Sima Zhao hurried forward and said, "Brother, it's very cold outside, what's wrong with you?"

Sima Shi ignored him and walked past him. He slowly walked in front of the criminals, lowered his head and looked at Sima Ban.

Sima Ban was stared at by the right eye and felt extremely terrified.

"Uncle Zhong. I."

"Pfft~~"

Sima Shi drew out Sima Zhao's sword from behind him and stabbed it into Sima Ban's throat.

Sima Ban covered his neck in fear and could not make a sound. When Sima Shi drew his sword, blood spurted out of Sima Ban's throat, and the blood splashed on the snow like blooming plum blossoms.

Sima Ban fell to the ground with his hands tightly covering his neck, and died with his eyes open.

The rest of the people were terrified and started crying.

Sima Shi looked at them and said, "Take them all away, announce their crimes, and then behead them in public."

"only!!!"

The soldiers followed the order and dragged these people out on the spot, ignoring their pleas for mercy.

Sima Zhao was stiff at this moment, his mind was blank, and he couldn't say anything.

Sima Shi slowly looked at Xun Xu.

At that moment, Xun Xu nearly wet his pants. He trembled and said, "General, General, they deserve it, they deserve it! They deserve to be killed! They all deserve to be killed!"

Sima Shi slowly placed the sword in his hand on Xun Xu's shoulder, and pulled it hard, leaving blood on Xun Xu's shoulder.

Xun Xu's legs began to tremble.

Only then did Sima Shi put his sword back into Sima Zhao's scabbard.

"Is this how you want to rule the world? Just because they come from powerful families, you can allow them to wantonly kill civilians? Allow them to shake the foundation of the Wei Dynasty?"

"No, brother, I did it because of Guanqiu Jian."

"Once something like this happens, everyone involved must be killed, no matter who they are, and no one can be forgiven!"

"No matter how powerful Guanqiu Jian is, can he be more terrifying than the surging public opinion?!"

"Don't think it's that long ago that those common people bullied the Yellow Turban bandits. Do you want to experience it again?!"

Sima Shi's tone was very sharp.

"Brother, I know I was wrong."

Sima Zhao quickly lowered his head.

Sima Shi looked at the others and said solemnly, "Those who govern the world must base their policies on benevolence, and those who govern counties must prioritize the people. If they act recklessly and exploit the people, this will be their fate!"

Everyone said yes.

Sima Shi finally looked at Fu Gu and said, "Among the government and the people, only Lord Fu can be considered a wise minister."

"With a wise minister like Minister Fu here, I have no fear of being left without a care in the world."

Fu Gu looked at Sima Shi in front of him and wanted to thank him.

He stretched out his hand and was about to say something, but he felt his vision go dark, his breathing became weaker and weaker, and in an instant, Fu Gu fell to the ground with a bang.

Sima Zhao was horrified and started shouting. All the ministers rushed forward and helped the man up.

Only Sima Shi stood there in a daze, his ears buzzing. He saw his brother shouting something, but he couldn't hear what he was saying at all.

Fu Gu didn't move, Xun Xu kept pinching his philtrum and yelling something to the side.

Sima Shi shook a few times and managed to steady himself with difficulty.

He raised his head and looked at the sky, a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes.

Heaven helps the enemy but not me.

(End of this chapter)