Three Kingdoms: Let Yuan Shen be great again

According to Yuan Yao's self-analysis, in the absence of direct conflict of interest, he is actually a very refined and easy-going person. Most of the time, he is easy to talk to and discuss, tries his best not to hurt each other, and strives for win-win cooperation if possible, seeking a happy ending that satisfies everyone.

However, some problems cannot be solved by compromise; physical means are the only feasible solution.

On March 30, as the sun rose above the horizon, Yuan Yao's pest control operation was successfully completed, and the Imperial Guard camp was packed with more than 600 criminals.

The reason it went so smoothly is mainly due to two points.

Firstly, no one expected Yuan Yao to be so ruthless, quickly sliding from one extreme to another. Of course, this was also due to Liu Xun's interference in the previous coup. Many people did not realize Yuan Yao's nature of liking to overturn the table and were deceived by his various compromises during this period.

Secondly, during the recent Huainan defense battle, the people of Wancheng had become accustomed to military control. Last night, Yuan Yao suddenly announced a temporary martial law, and everyone thought that the Jiangdong army had attacked again. They cooperated by staying at home and not going out. In the end, they didn't even have a chance to organize and cause trouble, and they were all caught like turtles in a jar.

According to the rules of Wancheng, any major event would be publicly announced in the square opposite the Prefect's Mansion. However, this time Yuan Yao planned to do something underhanded, and only a portion of the people would be publicly tried later.

As for the charges, they were treason and attempts to collude with foreign forces to overthrow the Zhong regime.

Ironically, Yuan Yao did not frame anyone in this regard. At the time, the situation in Wancheng was critical, and many people were indeed terrified and tried to collude with Sun Ce to find a way out for themselves.

Yuan Yao knew about this situation at the time, and even intercepted a batch of secret letters, but he did not take action for the sake of the overall situation, and only started to make his move today.

Following Liu Ye's suggestion, he actually hoped that Yuan Yao would publicly burn these secret letters, thereby making everyone grateful to Yuan Yao and winning their hearts.

However, Yuan Yao had no interest in controlling the hearts of a group of scoundrels; he preferred to take a more serious approach and bring them to justice.

The result speaks for itself.

The people of Wancheng were the biggest victims of the Huainan War. They not only had to accept military control, but their food rations were also rationed. They also had to participate in temporary military training and could be sent to the battlefield as cannon fodder at any time. Even though Yuan Yao gave them generous treatment and bonuses for defending their homes, they still suffered greatly both physically and mentally, and every day felt like a year.

Now that they heard there were bad people in the upper echelons who had betrayed their own people, everyone was furious, and their angry shouts and curses filled the entire square.

Since the verdicts handed down by the masses have always started with the death penalty, none of these people could survive. Yuan Yao took the opportunity to label the other arrested people as accomplices and sentencing them to death as well.

Ultimately, of the more than 600 people arrested in this operation, more than two-thirds were executed publicly or by lynching.

The remaining third wasn't because Yuan Yao couldn't lift his knife, but because he never intended to kill them in the first place.

After all, Yuan Yao was not a born killer. He was the ruler of the Zhong clan regime. He could not cleanse for the sake of cleansing. He had to limit the cleansing to a certain scope to avoid causing more trouble.

If you want to make an example of someone to warn others and get rid of those obstacles, you do need to be ruthless, but you can't be too ruthless, lest you create a widespread sense of sympathy among the people, which would be counterproductive.

This is why Yuan Yao chose to use the pretext of "treason" to take action—to use this politically correct banner to minimize any conflict.

So the remaining third who were not executed were Yuan Yao's backup plan to make this play a complete success. These people were basically insignificant henchmen, the kind who could be killed or not, and were left to wait for others to plead for their lives and vouch for them.

In this way, everyone could see that although Yuan Yao was ruthless, Huainan had just survived a life-or-death crisis, so it was understandable that his purge was a bit excessive. Moreover, he was quite compliant in releasing a group of innocent people, so it didn't seem so outrageous.

In addition, Yuan Yao resorted to his old tricks, confiscating the property of all the executed insects. Part of the spoils were put into the national treasury, while the rest was distributed proportionally to the remaining officials, both high and low, which appeased them to some extent.

Having completed the arrests in one night and dealt with all the prisoners in five days, Yuan Yao's purge had largely achieved its intended objectives, and it was time to move on to the next step.

Yuan Yao convened a supreme meeting at the Grand Commander's Mansion, where all the surviving Zhong clan officials were present, listening attentively to the Grand Commander's instructions.

"I've started to appoint a lot of pragmatic and young people, even if they are younger, inexperienced, and prone to making mistakes. It doesn't matter. I can afford the cost. The more they do, the more mistakes they make, the more they can grow. It's better than those old guys who did nothing or did terrible things."

"Taking advantage of this opportunity to reshuffle the team, there will be less resistance to the new policies, which will allow us to push forward the various reform measures I proposed earlier, and give the newcomers a chance to practice."

"Firstly, regarding land, this investigation into the treason case resulted in the deprivation of a batch of land, along with land confiscated from powerful families and land recently reclaimed. Based on the military merits earned in the Huainan Campaign, land that should be granted should be granted, and the rest should be nationalized first."

"Developing agricultural settlements, constructing water conservancy projects, and recruiting refugees from all directions—these are things I've mentioned many times before and have been doing all along, so I won't repeat them. Just continue with the original plan and report to me regularly."

"Farming alone is too slow to make money, and we also need to find ways to revitalize Huainan's economy. I remember Huai salt is quite famous, right? Let's start with the salt industry. Don't just think about monopolizing the business. We should encourage private merchants to participate, and we will focus on management."

"Another issue is education. I checked recently and found that the fertility rate in Huainan is as high as 98%. This is unacceptable. We need to set up some literacy classes as soon as possible. The prefectural government office is currently idle. I know this is a long-term project, but it must be done."

"Oh, right, recruit some more craftsmen. I'll personally instruct them when I have time. One thing is to promote telescopes on a large scale, and the other is to find a way to improve papermaking. I don't want to use bamboo slips again for even a day longer!"

"Finally, regarding the military aspect, I'm personally in charge of that, so I won't go into detail."

"Does anyone have any further questions?"

There is absolutely no problem.

The problematic one is hanging on the flagpole.

"Then step down."

Everyone lowered their heads and left.

A moment later, only one person remained in the main hall of the Grand Governor's Mansion.

Yan Xiang, with bloodshot eyes, was looking at Yuan Yao with a complex expression.

Some time ago, Yan Xiang was sent out to oversee spring plowing because he was unwilling to participate in Yuan Yao's propaganda of Ying Xue. When he returned, he heard that his young master had gone on a killing spree and arrested hundreds of criminals suspected of treason overnight.

Yan Xiang found it hard to accept: "Your Highness, why did it have to come to this... why did it have to come to this?"

Yuan Yao countered, "Does Lord Yan think I've gone too far?"

"Isn't that right?" Yan Xiang said, his face full of regret. "Even if some people did commit treason, how could they go on a killing spree and implicate so many people?"

Yuan Yao dismissed it: "Their deaths were meaningful. Lord Yan, don't you think my various decrees are being implemented much more smoothly from now on?"

Yan Xiang continued his earnest remonstrance: "Your Highness, to punish without teaching is cruelty, and to fail to discipline and guide is tyranny. How can your actions today win the hearts of the people?"

Yuan Yao shook his head and replied firmly, "Perhaps you are right. Many people think I am going too far, but—I call it efficiency."