Zhu Ying had no answer.
"Your Majesty, cries fill every corner of Ping Province. These people have suffered every torment... I know Your Majesty is a sovereign of benevolence and righteousness..."
"Enough."
Cao Mao interrupted him and said earnestly, "It is precisely because I am benevolent and righteous that I must implement such policies."
"Have you forgotten so quickly what you all did back then?"
"By not killing them, I have already shown great mercy. Is working in the fields a torment to them? What about the tens of thousands of tenant farmers they once had? What would they say?"
"They ate without farming, spent their days spouting grand talk, and, merely because they came from wealthy families, acted without restraint and preyed upon the common people. Now they want to weep and beg me for a pardon?"
"How am I supposed to pardon them? Give them money, send them back, return the farmland they plundered, then drag the common people over to serve as their tenant farmers, letting them continue doing evil, consuming powders, and drinking!!"
"So they can gather together in peace for meaningless critiques and literary gatherings?!"
"What else can these people do?!"
"If I let them off, who will let the common people off?!"
Cao Mao tapped the wooden desk before him with his fingers. "Let me tell you, ever since the Shu Kingdom and the Wu Kingdom were rid of these great clans, the common people's lives have grown better and better. The farmland taken from them has accommodated countless impoverished people. They all have fields now and no longer need to fear starving to death!"
"Both regions have grown prosperous, and the common people cry 'Long live the emperor!' all day!"
"I cannot be a sovereign of benevolence and righteousness in everyone's eyes."
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