Liu Xuande would never be a succubus of the Eastern Han Dynasty!

The powerful force pressed Mr. Bai to the ground like a dead dog.

He finally realized that he was not dead, but was captured alive by Liu Bei's army!

A gleam of light flashed in Mr. Bai's eyes, his face trembled slightly, and he was about to bite off the "round pill" in his back teeth.

But unfortunately, the person standing in front of him was Liu Bei.

"boom--"

Seeing this, Liu Bei did not hesitate at all. He raised his foot and stepped hard on Mr. Bai's face, causing him to stop gritting his teeth.

Then, he reached out and grasped Mr. Bai's long hair, lifted his head up, and said in a deep voice:

"Thousands of years ago, the Mohist doctrine of universal love and non-aggression was renowned throughout the world. Now, you Mohists are perversely pursuing evil, possessing yourselves, and vainly attempting to engulf the Central Plains in flames of war... Do you acknowledge your guilt?"

"Crime...crime?"

Mr. Bai felt a little dizzy and replied with difficulty: "...those who seek fame and fortune...tread the path pioneered by our Mohist school, climbing to the top, and then abandoning us like a stray dog. All future generations will be forced to live in the gutter, never to see the light of day..."

"Of course, we just want to have a formal identity!"

"We've worked with many people for this, but as soon as they succeed, they abandon us... So, we might as well take the road into our own hands. Then what's the sin?"

"madness!"

Liu Bei frowned deeply and scolded, "We all know that man can conquer nature, but this is absolutely not a reason for you to commit the crime of killing."

"As a Mohist, you should speak well of yourself, but you must also never do anything perverse. If one day in the future, a group of people slaughtered your entire family of three in the name of 'my fate is in my own hands, not in the hands of God,' would you accept your fate? Would you agree? Would you be happy?"

"...Humph," Mr. Bai's face turned pale, but he still said angrily, "You, a pampered and wealthy person, are merely relying on the afterglow of others. How can you understand the hardships of our people? How can you understand the suffering of us Mohists? What gives you the guts to accuse us here?"

"First, I'm here to fight the bandits on the orders of the governor. Second, I was once a street rat like you. Third, no matter how difficult the situation, I never forget my identity as a human being."

Liu Bei looked down at Mr. Bai and said in a very cold voice, "I really don't know the Mohist's situation, nor do I know their tragic past, but...

In my eyes, what you are doing is definitely not 'taking the road into your own hands.' In fact, you are just a group of incompetent people who bully the weak and fear the strong."

"If you truly have the ability, if you truly have great ambitions, then you should either release many of your disciples into the imperial court to serve as officials, thereby raising the status of the Mohists; or simply rise up, secretly find the instigator, and kill him with one strike."

"Since ancient times, kindness has been repaid with kindness, and revenge with revenge. Who can truly speak of the truth? And who can truly prove the truth? Everyone has their own opinions."

"But no matter what you intend to do, you must not lead the flames of war to innocent people. This is not the right path, but simply swinging the sword at the weaker ones."

Liu Bei's words were like thorns that pierced Mr. Bai's body, making him feel even more depressed, and he even began to agree with what he said.

Think about it carefully.

Before the great Mohist masters turned "evil", although their situation was worrying, they took care of each other like family. Although they abandoned the principle of universal love, they still adhered to the principle of non-aggression in their bones.

I thought that my whole life would be spent in this half-dead state.

However, the great Mohist leader controlled the entire Mohist school for his own selfish reasons, imprisoned the orthodox, excluded dissidents, and planned destruction.

It took our ancestors thousands of years to finally give the Mohists a place to breathe, but the Mohist masters destroyed this place in just a few months.

Mr. Bai opened his mouth and finally sighed, "Liu Xuande's words are truly deafening. I apologize for my earlier rudeness. However, as a Mohist, I owe it to the Mohist master to fight to the death, even if she falls into demonic depravity!"

"Heh." Liu Bei shook his head and asked, "Even if her choice will plunge the entire Mohist school into purgatory?"

"..."

Mr. Bai was silent for a moment, then he affirmed, "Even if her choice brings the entire Mohist sect into hell, we will not regret it!"

"..."

This time it was Liu Bei's turn to be silent.

If all the Mohists in the world were as wicked as this person, how could Miss Mo Tong reorganize the Mohists and restore the former glory of the Mohist school?

However, who was the great Mohist figure that could make his followers fall into such a frenzy?

"but."

Mr. Bai stared at Liu Bei and suddenly said, "I can make a deal with you in my private capacity."

"Oh, Mr. Bai, you're joking. Now that you're a captive, what bargaining chips do you have to trade with us?"

"…intelligence."

Mr. Bai said bluntly, "I can share everything you're concerned about, including the solution to the plague ghost, the Mohists' goals, and even the identity of the Mohist master, aside from the core intelligence."

"That doesn't sound very tempting," an official nearby said immediately, "If we arrest you and interrogate you, we can get what we want."

"Haha, that's because you underestimate the Mohists."

Mr. Bai looked at the official and said coldly, "I'm willing to make a deal with you because Lord Xuande is a wise man. I admire his kindness more than my own life, so I'm willing to share some information."

"As for the physical pain? Ha, I, the Mohist, have endured all kinds of suffering over the years. Even if I'm tortured to death, what's the difference?"

For a moment, the whole audience was stunned by Mr. Bai's toughness.

Only Liu Bei showed an interested expression and said, "Then why don't you tell me what you want to trade?"

"Master Xuande, absolutely not!"

"The Mohists are cunning and their words are all false and should not be trusted."

"Behead this man immediately."

"Quiet!"

Liu Bei raised his hand. With his current prestige, he easily made everyone in the audience shut up.

"...I've heard that Lord Xuande is known for his integrity. So, all I need is for him to swear an oath in front of everyone," Mr. Bai said. "As for whether the information is true or not, you can guess for yourself!"

"What's the oath?"

Mr. Bai was silent for a moment, then whispered, "I want you to... swear in public to marry Miss Mo Tong!"

Mohist Book: Chapter 47: The Power of Public Opinion

"Bold traitor!"

An official immediately shouted, "Master Xuande is a disciple of the great Confucian scholar Lu Zigan. How could he marry the daughter of a criminal like Mo?"

"This needs to be heard by everyone in the world, so they don't all laugh at it."

"That's right, I think this guy wants to use this method to ruin your reputation, Master Xuande!"

"This evil villain deserves to be torn into pieces by five horses as a token of apology to the world."

The shouts around rose and fell without interruption.

In fact, normally speaking, as officials, they can only rarely reach the same opinion, and most of the time they argue with each other.

But Liu Bei led only a force of 1,500 men. He first marched to the battlefield at an incredible speed, and then killed the bandits and captured Mo, thus properly resolving the crisis in the city.

In addition, more importantly...Liu Bei announced to the outside world that the county magistrate Zhu Huan died while holding out in resistance.

Even though the officials of Yuquan County knew the truth, they still believed that this crisis was entirely due to Zhu Huan's brainless attack, and he was an utterly stupid and incompetent person.

But no matter how bad Zhu Huan was, he was still a child of aristocratic families, and most of their officials were also children of aristocratic families.

As the saying goes, when the rabbit dies, the fox mourns.

Zhu Huan’s death is indeed unchangeable, but the way he died can be changed.

It only depended on Liu Bei's thought that he went from "underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly, which almost led to Youquan County being captured by bandits" to "leading the people in a desperate fight to resist the enemy's attack, and finally dying of exhaustion."

If he chooses the former, he will be regarded as a man of integrity and his reputation will be improved to a certain extent, but if he chooses the latter... then the aristocratic families will undoubtedly move closer to him.

When a person's ability, appearance and character are all top-notch, and he is willing to extend an olive branch to the aristocratic families, then they will inevitably choose to attach themselves to him rather than gather together to be hostile to him.

After all, for the aristocratic families, the person sitting at the top can be replaced, but the status of their own family must never be shaken.

This also directly led to the fact that the children of the aristocratic families in Youquan County all leaned towards Liu Bei and said things in his best interest.

But unfortunately, what they didn't know was that Liu Bei was a ruler who broke the rules.

"I can promise you that," Liu Bei replied with a smile, "but as you can see, none of you agree. Therefore... I need you to agree to one more condition."

“…Please go ahead.”

Mr. Bai thought that his life was already at stake here, so how could he not agree to the conditions?

"I need you, as the leader of the Mohists, to write a letter of apology and then go up to the sky to announce it to the world."

"..."

"What a ruthless move!"

"This is simply murderous and heartbreaking."

"It seems that we must never become an enemy of this boy in the future."

"He's so young, and so kind and gentle to his own people, yet I didn't expect him to be so cruel to his enemies... This boy is so terrifying, he's bound to be a great man in the future. We should join him as soon as possible!"

"I've noticed that Lord Xuande is always accompanied by beautiful women... Well, quickly report to the head of the family and have him send his wife and daughter to Lord Xuande."

Mr. Bai's appearance had long been noticed by the officers and soldiers. Asking him to apologize to the world as the leader of the Mohists was tantamount to admitting that his side had committed "illegal and evil acts."

In this world, if you want to accomplish something, you must become famous.

The great Mohist masters encouraged the common people and grassroots Mohists to join them in the uprising, using the slogan "Rise up against injustice and go your own way."

But as long as Mr. Bai really writes a letter by hand and tells the whole world from a high place, then this reputation will disappear.

Even if the Mohists can continue to fabricate lies, the rumors here will inevitably spread to the grassroots, eventually making them panic and no longer able to inspire new people.

Of course, just being Mr. Bai is not enough to do this.

But the problem is that Liu Bei still has a card in his hand - Mo Tong, the daughter of the Mo family.

The scene of Mo Tong controlling the giant was still vivid in people's minds. As long as Mr. Bai publicly admitted that she was a direct disciple of the Mohist school, and then made up some stories such as "a traitor within the Mohist school seized power" and "the Mohist leader went crazy", then how would the enemy respond?

He is unknown in the world and is instead labeled as "disloyal and unfilial". What should the great master of Mohism do then?

Public opinion is always scary.

Mr. Bai was also extremely shocked at this time.

As a Mohist, he had naturally prepared for his own death, but he also had to leave a way out for the Mohists.

Seeing that the eldest lady has a close relationship with Liu Bei, perhaps it would encourage them to enter into an engagement. That way, even if the Mohists fail and perish in the future, there would still be some sparks left.

This is a gun for the good guys.

But what Mr. Bai did not expect was that Liu Bei was not a "good man" in the traditional sense. He was indeed honest, gentle and polite, always paying attention to people's livelihood and customs, and was a benevolent ruler who loved his people like his own children.

However, all this is in light of the current situation.

There are many ways to protect the people, but many good people in the traditional sense know that they can better protect the people by using slightly flexible means, but they do not do so because of their pedantic views and denounce it as an evil way.

This is ignorance.

Liu Bei knew clearly that his ultimate goal was to restore peace and prosperity to the world. To achieve this goal, he could be kind-hearted but must not fall into the trap of benevolence and righteousness.

Whether it is selectively using killing to intimidate the aristocratic families or selectively showing goodwill to the aristocratic families, all these actions actually have only one ultimate goal - to warn them.

Kill the evil families with your own hands, intimidate the ill-intentioned families from afar, recruit the slightly upright and chivalrous families, and show goodwill to the families that are dedicated to the public.

After all, the Han Dynasty was founded on aristocratic families, and these existences had long been deeply attached to the skin. If you want to get rid of them, you have to cut off the skin together.

Liu Bei's current power is not enough to challenge all the aristocratic families, but he only needs to slap them in the face and then give them a candy to make these aristocratic families do what he wants - to curb their evil deeds.

Of course, he knew that these noble families were all evil at heart, and deep down he never expected these guys to really benefit the people.

But at least, it can remove a little of the 'darkness' on the surface.

This is the greatest improvement for the power Liu Bei now holds.

“…Hehehe…”

After Mr. Bai thought this through, he seemed to have aged ten years in an instant. He smiled sadly and said, "Good Liu Xuande, good Liu Xuande... This road has indeed blocked the way for us Mohists, but it has also left a spark for our rebirth..."

According to his original idea, it was obvious that he wanted Liu Bei to marry Mo Tong, and use this marriage as a shackle so that the bloodline of the ancestor's descendants could continue to be passed on.

But unexpectedly, in just a few words, Liu Bei wanted to directly define the Mohists' behavior of raising an army and causing chaos as "Mohists' internal strife and evil people holding power."

The nature of the two is completely different.

It should be noted that when the Mohists rebelled, the bandits and pirates, and even many of their subordinates, were unaware of the specific circumstances. By the time they realized what was happening, they found themselves on board a pirate ship and had no choice but to do it.

But Liu Bei's move was to tell them: You either follow one path to the end, or just surrender directly, and then fight against the bandits together with the officers and soldiers in the name of "settling internal rebellion."