The Rise of History’s Most Powerful Empire

Chapter 86: Sentence

A bloody rain beset Jiangling city, all due to Zhong Yu's orders. Many houses were burst into by the soldiers and killed many more people, beheading them in their homes or dragging them out first for a public execution.

Panic fell short when it came to describing the terror and dread in this region.

It spanned five counties and had 200,000 people, yet Zhong Yu's brutal command seized Jingzhou's region with the most clans with extreme prejudice. He would kill them down,to the last woman and child.

The soldiers followed Zhong Yu's will to the letter, killing thousands just to make sure no culprit escaped, bathing the region in a long and horrible bloodbath.

The official Zhong Yu instated here later had done a census.

In just three month, Zhong Yu had purged a third of the entire region, one of the worst massacres in history.

These numbers were unable to shake Zhong Yu's iron will. He compared it to the entire Han Dynasty's population, feeling that killing 80,000 was on the small side. 

Jingzhou had experienced many disasters, manmade or otherwise, but it still came out with 3 million people.

THe ones from Nanyang Region were taken out of account since it was pillaged by the Yellow Turban Army, leaving him with 2,5 million. 80,000 people to him was nothing, even half a million wouldn't get his cruel dead heart to even twitch. 

The criminals were rounded up, killing the clan's nonessential staff, like serfs and cooks.

The 10,000 people were escorted to Jiangling city's river close by. Zhong Yu then summoned all of Jiangling's uninvolved clans to attend the execution. 

The river tended to its mission nature intended, flowing eastward for as long as it knew, while the cries of injustice around its banks spread for miles. 

Anyone with a heart would be touched at their mournful pleas, but not Zhong Yu, he smiled at Jingzhou's  renowned Huang Chengyan and Sima Hui.

"Word reached my ears that sirs are the greatest talent of this state. Such fortune upon me to have met you at last."

These old men spoke with fear.

"We are but a couple of old bags of bones, Your Highness, with one foot in the grave. We do not deserve such honor."

Zhong Yu read the fear on their faces and felt like toying with them.

"I hear that honored people keep the world at peace, while greedy people herald in chaos. Is that why the nation is consumed by flames, people grieving and crying out for help, because of some greedy rebels?"

The two paled, their tone shaky, "The Han ruling plunged the land into chaos. For decades now, the land had been ravaged by flood, the earth cracked by droughts, the people buried under rubble the earthquakes brought and the locust swarms annihilating anything in their path. Even if some officials tended to their duties, they had little impact on the nation.

Now that Zhong Yu was a king himself, a ruler, and these two shifted the blame on their ruler, the emperor, fury laced his voice.

"You sure? Confucius said if the ruler has a way, follow him, obey him. If not, cut him down.' For all these clansmen under me to come after my life, is it because I have no virtue?"

The elegant and refined old famous scholars felt icy sweat dripping down their spine.

How were they to answer that? Say out loud this king was a tyrant?

That would mean they'd be joining those clansmen by the river side awaiting Zhong Yu's order of execution.

One word misplaced, one wrong gesture and their clans would join them by the river, dying it red.

They felt in power and important before the high officials because they knew these people cared for the clan's opinion behind them.

It was why those officials in power held back their anger in front of these arrogant clansmen.

The clansmen knew it too, that they wouldn't fall out over mere trifles. 

On the contrary, the clansmen would use brazen and crass actions to test their patience and the emperor's. 

Only by praise and relying on them could they earn fame and power. But the one before the two couldn't care less about the clans controlling the ruling and the public opinion.

He'd kill them on the spot, by the thousands. 

He was a knife that cut the past, present and future of a clan. These people would be ashamed to face their ancestors in the underworld if they brought doom to their clans.

It was more than enough to put away their false dignity, their haughty attitudes on the spot, humbling instead before this mighty lord to become his loyal subjects.

For this man to ask such a sharp question, the two were left without an answer.

Panic, worry, fear, all messed with their minds, making their lips move yet no sound coming out.

Zhong Yu found them boring, cutting the act short and going down to business.

"Begin the execution!"

An official rushed over, "I shall relay His Highness' order."

The man arrived at the execution area, whispered something to the man in charge, who then shouted, "His Highness ordered for the execution to commence!"

The ten thousand soldiers hacked their longsword at the defenseless criminals, now in a pointless struggle just before oblivion.

All they did was make the slashes fall off from some of their necks, prolonging their agony until their throats were cut.

Their fate was inevitable, so was the rolling of ten thousand heads down the river.

The heads bobbing in the water reached Yang State, where the fishermen were gripped by horror to even cast their nets, afraid the ghosts of the victims would come to haunt them.

Though they resumed work once the heads left, the dread remained deep in their core.