Refusing to Serve Me? Then Off With Your Head!

Chapter 30 How to Subdue the Prisoners of Wars

Feng Zhao Wen aimed to reach two goals through this prisoners of war thing.

First was to quietly threaten the enemies; to let them know that the Crown Prince of the Great Qi had countless of soldiers under his command.

Second of all, he wanted to sway the hearts of the enemy by providing them adequate shelters and meals.

After the battle of Huang He Valley, General Huang Jie was taken as prisoner by the Great Qi. After that, he refused take meals and protested greatly against the soldiers of the Great Qi; that showed just how patriotic he was. He would rather die than to bow in front of the enemy. Zhao Yong, Su Ren and the rest weren't sitting idly either. They too were involved in hunger protest and put up quite a fight in the enemy's territory.

However, the enemy's Crown Prince, Feng Zhao Wen was broad-minded. Though his marital arts was first class, he did not kill the prisoners nor did he mistreat them. He instead instructed them to be trained in lands that had been occupied by the Great Qi.

I had to say, the way the Great Qi dealt with political enemies this time was really good. For the past 200 years, they had always been practicing a practice in which the impoverished ones from the countryside would get education about farming and whatnot. The relationship between officials and the people were like fish and water.

One of them who received the re-education, Zhao Yong emotionally said that he really wanted to fly back to his hometown and start working on his family's plot of land.

He was an honest and earnest man.

Another person who underwent re-education, Su Ren was a lot meaner, "The Crown Prince is tricky and cunning. He used peace and stability to soften our will and turn us against our kingdom. What a petty person!"

I immediately kicked him with one foot, "Why are you still here, alive and well then?"

He solemnly sighed, "My Su Family has been farmers for 8 generations and has only one son for nine generations. My father is old; if I want to die, I should at least marry a beauty first to continue the family line before dying."

Me: "......" Just admit that you were looking for beautiful girls.

Since General Huang Jie was upright, all of the soldiers beneath him came from poor families. They didn't have to worry about meals and clothes despite years of war.

All the common people who lived in all the little states that the Great Qi vanquished changed their surname to 'Qi'. They were all living in peace, picking tea and growing mulberries. Who didn't want such a peaceful life?

The night after he returned to the camp after receiving re-education, General Huang Jie committed suicide.

His parting word towards the soldiers whom he personally trained was, "Live well and go back to your hometown." He was sincere and heartfelt.

General Huang Jie was loyal to the kingdom and led military campaigns many times. However, the power struggle in the military division was no less than that in court. The empress dowager held the power in court while literary officials and military officials weren't in tandem with each other. The little emperor on the other hand, was muddle-headed to a great extent. The tax were imposed heavily, a lot more compared to Qi's lands. There were little food and the common populace held great amount of hatred towards officials. In other word, the Great Chen was utterly hopeless.

He was born from a poverty-stricken family; should he be loyal to the kingdom or should he help the common people? Both were hard choices for him. In the end, he chose to hang himself.