xymnovel Chapter 45 If you don't want to win, then get out.
Chapter 45 If you don't want to win, then get out.
win!
This was the tone that Yuan Yao set for the Zhong clan officials after the complete end of the Huainan Campaign.
Yuan Yao stated that the Battle of Huainan was the first large-scale war he fought after taking office, and also the founding war of the newly established Zhong clan regime. After this battle, the stereotype of poverty and weakness left by the Yuan Shu era was completely shattered, and no one would regard Yuan Yao or the Zhong clan as insignificant little karami anymore.
Such a momentous historical juncture deserves to be properly publicized.
Yuan Yao waved his hand, elevating the importance of this matter to the same level as spring plowing, and demanded that all ministers with nothing to do participate in the widespread promotion of Yingxue (the Way of Winning) within Huainan.
"Why was our popular support in Huainan so weak before? We often couldn't even collect taxes. It was because of our poor war performance. People didn't believe we could protect Huainan."
"Now is a good opportunity to go to the government, to the people, to the countryside, and to tell everyone that the Zhong family is the master of this land, and that we call the shots in Huainan."
"You all need to think carefully about how to do this. You can boast about our achievements in this battle, or you can promote our various new policies. If all else fails, you can make up some nursery rhymes. Anything is fine."
"Alright, you can go now. I'll come back in a few days to see how everyone is doing."
A few days later, Yuan Yaoxing came to inspect the work with great enthusiasm.
The result was extremely frustrating.
As always, a considerable number of the ministers did absolutely nothing. These scoundrels would only cower in the corner during the war and pressure Yuan Yao to make peace, but after the war, they instantly recovered and spent their days eating, drinking, and having fun, without doing anything of importance.
Ironically, this group of people are often the ones with the best backgrounds and the highest social standing. From birth, they live by the principle that "the patriarch of our family is the patriarch, and all we do is eat and play, nothing else."
Yuan Yao didn't say a word, skipping over them and talking to those who barely had any work attitude.
But these people didn't perform very well either; it was purely a matter of ability.
Looking at the results presented by everyone, Yuan Yao looked extremely uncomfortable.
"We can't downplay Sun Ce's personal charisma. Putting aside the fact that we just formed a brotherhood with him, if you portray him so poorly, what's the point of my victory? We should emphasize his cunning, ferocity, and talent, but also his excessive cruelty, which makes him unpopular."
"Furthermore, what do you mean by saying I charged in and out of Hefei seven times, cut down three banners, seized nine spears, and personally killed more than five hundred enemy soldiers? Revision isn't just making things up; this is pure nonsense! I should be portrayed as a wise general who plans strategies from within the command tent and wins battles from afar, refined and approachable, understand?"
"Yes, I did mention a wise general, but a wise general must actually be wise, understand? It can't be someone who communicates with wild beasts, forming a tiger and leopard army, nor can it be someone who suddenly appears as a white-bearded immortal, imparting three volumes of military strategy to me. Please, let's have some personality cult stuff, stop with the divine right of kings!"
Yuan Yao talked until his lips were dry, but in the end, only what Yang Hong presented could barely get him to nod in agreement.
Yang Hong composed a nursery rhyme—it is said that Yuan Yao highly suspected that this scoundrel had not actually done anything, and only made it up on the spot because he saw that Yuan Yao was really checking each one.
But no matter what, something is better than nothing, and besides, their nursery rhymes are actually quite authentic.
"Radiant and dazzling, like a blazing fire."
"Oh, Yuan, Yuan, as majestic as a mountain."
Yuan Yao nodded first, thinking that not all of Zhong's ministers were good-for-nothings; at least one of them was quite capable.
Oh, and there's also Yan Xiang, but he was sent to be in charge of spring plowing full-time because he tried to persuade Yuan Yao not to indulge in flattery, so let's leave that aside for now.
After nodding, Yuan Yao shook his head again, feeling that Yang Hong's nursery rhyme still hadn't met his expectations.
Yang Hong was not convinced. Nursery rhymes were very popular in the late Han Dynasty and were very suitable for large-scale dissemination. Although this piece was written hastily, it was not written with great care and consideration. He believed that it was of a certain standard and did not think there was anything lacking.
Yuan Yao said bluntly, "That's the problem. It's too sophisticated."
"Ordinary people haven't received much education, so our propaganda must be bold and powerful; literary talent is the least important thing."
Seeing that Yang Hong still didn't quite agree, Yuan Yao decided to demonstrate his skills on the spot, and also call on the other ministers to give them a shock of the Ying Xue (the study of war) that was two thousand years ahead of its time.
Yuan Yao arrived at the square opposite the prefect's mansion and ordered his guards to strike a gong to summon the people of the city.
Since the coup, a tradition has gradually formed in this place: whenever there is any major event, Yuan Yao will speak directly with the people here.
Soon, a large number of people gathered in the square. It was nearing dusk, and many farmers who had returned from spring plowing also came to watch the excitement. In just a few quarters of an hour, there were nearly a thousand people.
Yuan Yao stood on the platform with practiced ease and began to deliver his speech.
To be honest, after more than half a year of training, he hasn't made much progress in civil administration and military skills, but his eloquence has become increasingly sharp.
"I have some good news to report to my fellow villagers!"
"Just a few days ago, we defeated the ruthless Jiangdong devil Sun Ce, making them slink away with their tails between their legs!"
"And today, we have achieved another victory: the Zhang Duoxuqian gang, entrenched in Chaohu, has been completely wiped out!"
"But these victories are not the end, not even the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning!"
"In fact, this morning I met a few old men who came specifically to ask me for help."
"They said, please, please, Grand Commander, we've won too much, we can't take it anymore. This land wasn't used to winning before, we were always losing until you came along, but now we've won too much."
"And what was my answer? I told them, 'No, no, no, you will win again, you will win big, you will win bigger than ever before!'"
"Fellow citizens of Wancheng, please believe in me, recognize me. I am Yuan Yao, and I will definitely lead you from one victory to another!"
"Let the Yuan family lead you to greatness once again!"
"Victory!"
After the speech, Yuan Yao turned and left, leaving the others to ponder the words.
So no one noticed that Yuan Yao, who had just delivered his earth-shattering victory declaration, not only showed no joy on his face, but looked as ugly as if someone owed him money.
After the Battle of Huainan and the recent propaganda by Ying Xue Da, he finally realized something.
Prior to this, Yuan Yao had long known that the Zhong family was riddled with worms and that a major surgery was necessary to completely transform them.
Unfortunately, the mess left by Yuan Shu, though seemingly a complete regime, was actually riddled with bugs. For every one fixed, a whole bunch more would pop up.
No, a more accurate description is that Zhongshi is a program that grew out of bugs. Many of its functions are even based on bugs. If some bugs are removed, it will not work.
But things are different now.
With his victory over Sun Ce, Yuan Yao's personal prestige temporarily reached its peak, providing him with a realistic basis to take drastic measures against his own people.
His decision to have everyone do publicity work was his last chance for everyone.
Making money and being selfish are indeed unavoidable, and Yuan Yao can tolerate it even if he doesn't do it properly.
But if you are both incompetent and have an ugly attitude, and in the end you are not even willing to do the job of showing loyalty, then I'm sorry.
Yuan Yao asked himself honestly, and he realized that he was actually a somewhat weak person. There were things he could have done long ago, but he was worried about causing bad consequences, so he kept putting them off until today.
So now, Yuan Yao is preparing to do what a weak person should do.
At the end of March in the fifth year of Jian'an, Yuan Dalin decided to launch a purge.