On the Xiangyang, Liu Daogui looked expressionless as he looked at the four huge ships that were burning and disintegrated in the distance. Even Lu Gui's voice saluting behind him turned a deaf ear.
Lu Gui had already washed his face at this time, washing away the soot and dust on his face, revealing his rough and fierce true face. Just now when he jogged all the way to the command platform of the general's ship, all the generals along the way , from Tan Daoji who also came to join him to Yanzhi, all of them clasped their fists and saluted him: "The ivory is mighty!"
But Lu Gui just responded politely to everyone one by one. At this time, he still cared most about Liu Daogui's kind words, and he didn't hear these words for the first time just now, so he curled up his lips. , holding his fists in his hands, he called Liu Daogui again: "In the expedition to the west, the last general Lu Gui was lucky enough to fulfill his mission. I came here to return my mission."
Liu Daogui sighed softly and did not look back: "Xiang Tooth, thank you for your hard work. You are the first to defeat the demon thief fleet in this battle."
A trace of pride flashed across Lu Gui's face and he said, "After the fire is finished, do you want to clean up the battlefield? There are still many demon thieves diving and swimming. Can we go after them now?"
Liu Daogui murmured: "Although on the battlefield, swords and guns are ruthless, and life and death are determined by destiny. In order to win, it is necessary to kill a large number of enemy troops, but such a fire and water attack, taking tens of thousands of lives in one battle, is inevitable. Qian Tianhe, God has the virtue of good life, just let go of those demon thieves who are escaping by swimming in the water, so there is no need to hunt them down anymore."
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Lu Gui's expression changed, and he looked at Tan Daoji, whose expression also changed slightly, and saluted: "Zhengxi, these are old thieves from Sanwu, the best among demons. If we let them escape, there will be endless troubles in the future. Killing them all and drowning them in the river will be beneficial to our future battles. This time, the general will not be greedy for military exploits or beheading, it is purely for future considerations."
Tan Daoji also said in a deep voice: "Brother Dao Gui, I know that you have a good life and are just as benevolent and righteous as the commander-in-chief. But this is not possible for the demon thieves. They refused to surrender when they were in Wu. They would rather I went to sea and followed the two bandit leaders Lu and Xu across the ocean. They marched thousands of miles to Guangzhou. They are all die-hard people. Only by completely eliminating them can this turmoil be resolved."
Liu Daogui shook his head: "The die-hard Sanwu old thieves are mostly on the four giant ships, and the people who jumped into the water to escape are mostly water bandits who are newly attached to the demon thieves, and they are just boatmen. If these people don't ask about their origins, Killing people on the ground will only make such people dare not surrender in the future and resist desperately, which will not be effective for us to collect follow-up measures."
Fu Hongzhi frowned: "Then do we just let them go without caring about their treacherous crimes?"
Liu Daogui said calmly: "These people have experienced today's battle. Unless they are the old thieves of Sanwu and the incorrigible kind, I am afraid that others will be frightened and have no intention to fight anymore. It is said that it is the misfortune of the imperial court that it is unable to defend Jingzhou. In the counties and Jiangzhou, many people were forced to rebel and follow the thieves. In addition, the demon thieves' methods were brutal. In recent years, we have not completely eliminated the remaining members of the Huan clan. There are still some people who rebelled against Jin and established themselves. This time the demon thieves rebellion, When they think they have a chance, they come out to join the demon thieves."
Lu Gui laughed: "Since they haven't been influenced by your benevolent policies in Zhengxi in the past few years, and they still don't want to win the Jin Dynasty, what's the point of keeping them? Let them go this time, and if you get the chance, they will do it again next time. If they rebel, I think they should be killed without leaving a single one behind!"
Liu Daogui turned around, looked at the generals behind him calmly, and said: "It is easy to get rid of the thieves in the mountains, but it is difficult to get rid of the thieves in the heart. The land of Jingzhou has been a vassal and self-reliant since the founding of the Jin Dynasty. In the past hundred years, almost no one has Identified with the imperial court, from the Yu family to Huan Chu, they were almost independent kingdoms, and the soldiers and horses of Yangzhou, where the imperial court was located, had been fighting against each other for many years, resulting in casualties. The hatred of the fathers and ancestors continued to the descendants of their children and nephews, and the character of the Jingzhou people also He is notoriously disobedient and using force to force him will only be counterproductive."
These words made everyone present nod their heads, and even Lu Gui said: "Zhengxi has really figured out the character of Jingzhou people. No wonder you have been practicing benevolence and righteousness here in recent years and governing the people with leniency. The people here in Jiangling The people's hearts have completely surrendered to you and the imperial court this time. However, the people's hearts in Jiangzhou and other remote places may not think so. If not, how could so many people be rebellious and follow the thieves? "
Liu Daogui said sternly: "The Huan family has been operating in Jingzhou and Jiangzhou for fifty or sixty years. We only relied on our military exploits in the Western Expedition and the destruction of Huan in one battle. It only lasted a few years. The imperial court did not send that many officials here to go deep. The Daitian herdsmen in each village and township can still only retain the powerful forces in those places and only punish the Huan clan. This is doomed to be impossible to win all the hearts of the people in a short period of time, because many of the people who manage the local areas are trying to destroy the Huan clan. During the battle, we had a blood feud with the imperial court, which cannot be resolved so easily."
Lu Gui said seriously: "Then shouldn't we get rid of these local tyrants and let the brothers from the Beifu Army go to the villages and townships to serve as officials and promote the king's ideals?"
Liu Daogui shook his head: "It's not only these local snakes who have family members who died in the battle, but also ordinary villagers and common people. Their sons and nephews were recruited by the Huan family to fight against us. After the death of Huan Chu, they were involved again many times. Among the remnants of the Huan clan's old party and the rebellion of various stragglers, there were many casualties. If we forcibly killed the old officials of Huan Chu in those places and replaced them with soldiers from the Beifu or officials sent by Jiankang, it would only be If the people's resentment is further intensified and everyone is in danger, it will be almost inevitable that a major rebellion like Sun En and Lu Xun will occur throughout Jingxiang."
Tan Daoji breathed a long sigh of relief: "I have been taught a lesson. It is not until today that I understand your good intentions, Brother Daogui, in the past few years. I also understand why the people of Jiangling City stood in front of the court at the most dangerous time." On the other hand, the hearts of these people are full of flesh, and the people’s hearts are always longing for peace. As long as time can be used to resolve hatred, the people of Jingzhou in the future will definitely be the people of the king who are loyal to the Jin Dynasty."
At this point, he pointed at the dozens of warships that had fled towards the east on the river, as well as the densely packed, black bodies of swimming heads in the river, and said: "So this time, Brother Daogui, I want to Let them go, or even help these people?"
Liu Daogui said calmly: "There is no need to rescue tonight. Benevolence and righteousness cannot be unprincipled and endless. It is always a sin for them to obey the thieves. Instead of begging for mercy and surrendering to the officers and soldiers, they would rather jump into the river to flee. , it means that at least you are not interested in my Dajin now. At dawn tomorrow, we will send a boat to search. Those who are not drowned can be rescued. We will screen more. If they are old thieves from Sanwu, we will kill the owl's head in memory of Brother Wuji. If they are rebellious, release them as a sign of kindness."
