A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 246 Human Massacre
Yes, you guys!

Chen Mo nodded heavily, looked at Zhou Gong, and said in a calm tone, "To be precise, it's you, Uncle."

"Why me?" Zhou Gong frowned.

"If I'm not mistaken, the commander of the restoration army chosen by His Majesty is none other than Uncle Shi."

Despite it being a guess, Chen Mo's tone and eyes were filled with determination.

Whether seeking the protection of Emperor Gao, divine favor, or military prowess, the Zhou family is the best candidate to lead the Han dynasty.

"it's me."

Zhou Gong nodded, admitting, "But I don't know how I can stop His Majesty from rebelling, or refuse His Majesty's appointment? That's useless, isn't it?"

Through blood oaths and secret letters, Your Majesty has secretly contacted Han officials, powerful clans, wealthy merchants, wandering knights, thieves, and other forces to restore the dynasty. The tide has already formed. Even if the Zhou dynasty does not accept the position of leader, Your Majesty and the rebellious forces will choose someone else as leader. Your Majesty's rebellion is still unstoppable.

"On the contrary, I hope that Uncle Shi will accept His Majesty's appointment to lead all the rebel forces, and that Uncle Shi and Zichuan will also accept His Majesty's appointment to hold as high a position as they can in the rebel forces. I can say this: the higher the position they hold in the rebel forces, the more rewards they will receive from His Majesty in the future."

Chen Mo slowly stood up, supporting himself on the cold stone table. His aura rose with him, making the three of them tremble.

Xiao Qing gradually understood his meaning, his heart racing. Looking up into Chen Mo's eyes, he asked directly, "What can we, who hold high positions in the rebel army, do?"

"I'd rather lead the entire rebel army to their deaths!"

Chen Mo said softly.

The dark room was spacious, and with three or five people inside, there was no need for ventilation for a short time. Perhaps because they had been inside for a while, their heavier breathing affected the already dimming lamps, causing the candlelight to flicker and the atmosphere to suddenly change.

"Only those in absolute high positions would obey Uncle's orders and die without hesitation."

Chen Mo's voice seemed to come from the sky, booming in the ears of the three of them.

Xiao Qing couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Mo, do you know how many people the rebels have?"

“Officials and powerful families have always been involved in hiding people, while wealthy merchants are often involved in the buying and selling of people. As for wandering knights and thieves, they are even more involved in the business of kidnapping people. Even if the rebel army has a million men, I would not be surprised,” Chen Mo replied.

As a member of a prominent Han dynasty family, the Chen family was well aware of how despicable so-called official families and powerful clans were. They understood the principle that people are the driving force of production earlier than anyone else.

Whenever natural disasters or man-made calamities occur, and refugees are everywhere, officials and powerful families will select "outstanding" individuals from among them, either by taking them in or by secretly bringing them into their own families.

However, China has always had a "pollen tax," or "pollen tax," "pollen money," "pollen money," "pollen silver," "pollen money," and "pollen calculation." No matter how you look at it, it is actually a "pollen tax."

The purpose of incorporating refugees and others into a family was to benefit the family, not to pay more poll tax to the court. Therefore, officials and powerful families used various means to "hide" these people and exclude them from the court's household register.

Some wealthy families, having set their sights on someone, will even deliberately create disasters to make the family unable to survive, and then step in to bestow favors and recruit the person.

The Chen family had estimated that the number of people hidden by wealthy families in the Han Dynasty was no less than a million.

The wealthy and powerful are even worse. Most of these merchants' sudden wealth involves shady dealings. Some merchants choose to abandon the shady ways and become legitimate businessmen after becoming rich, but most black marketeers are unwilling to give up their highly profitable black market activities after becoming rich. Instead, they use more money to cultivate more relationships and expand the scale and scope of their black market activities.

Among these activities, human trafficking is something many black market dealers are willing to do. It requires little capital and no special skills; "goods" are everywhere, and there are countless "buyers."

Some unscrupulous merchants, in pursuit of greater profits, sold Han Chinese to other ethnic groups. Many of these foreign nobles enjoyed eating Han Chinese and raping Han women. These nobles also possessed valuables looted from the Han people and goods from their own territories, such as wool and leather. Transporting these back to the Han people was incredibly profitable. If it weren't for the risk of being double-crossed, many unscrupulous merchants would have dared to cross the Great Wall to trade with these foreign tribes. Therefore, wealthy and powerful merchants always held considerable amounts of "goods."

As for wandering knights and thieves, there's not much to say. Kill them all and none of them will be innocent. Besides engaging in robbery and plunder, they also engage in "forcing good people to go to the mountains" just like officials and powerful families.

These people are absolute traitors to the Han Dynasty.

Chen Mo didn't know how effective His Majesty's blood oath and secret book were, or how determined the officials, powerful families, wealthy merchants, and chivalrous clans were, but the sheer number of hundreds of thousands of people they could muster was within his expectations.

"Xiao Mo, since you know there are so many people, why do you still want us to kill them?"

Zhou Gong suddenly stood up. "Don't even mention so many people, even if we killed all these pigs, we couldn't kill them all, no matter how hard we tried. How are we going to kill them? I'm asking you, how are you going to kill them?"

Hundreds of thousands of lives lost.

It's terrifying to think about. He's not like Lord Wu'an Bai Qi, but a born butcher who kills without hesitation.

Chen Mo pressed his hand down, and a smile appeared on his lips. "Uncle, have you not heard the saying, 'Killing one person is a crime, killing ten thousand is a hero'?"

If there really are that many pigs, I believe Uncle Shi can't kill them all, but humans always have a way.

Zhou Gong remained silent.

Chen Mo gazed at him and said, "The rebels want to enter the pass. The main roads are not the way the rebels can go. So, the only way is through mountains and rivers."

"While hiking in the mountains, rocks fell from the sky; upon entering the forest, a fire suddenly broke out; downstream, the water surged, and the boat's hull burst... Heaven and earth have feelings, but nature is heartless. Uncle, am I right?"

Xiao Qing and Zhang Cheng shuddered.

How can someone kill hundreds of thousands of people with just a few words?

How heartless! How cruel!
Zhou Gong's body trembled, his jaw chattering. "Killing people in water or fire is a sin against heaven. The deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in water or fire are an affront to the natural order, intolerable to heaven and earth, and punishable by both gods and men. Chen Mo, don't you know that?"

"I know."

Without hesitation, Chen Mo took the bait and said with a smile, "So, I'll have Uncle Shi do it."

"livestock……"

"Uncle, don't get agitated."

Chen Mo interrupted Zhou Gong's curses, looking at the three of them, "Without the rebel army, His Majesty's rebellion is nothing but nonsense. Even if His Majesty were to publicly shout that he is rebelling, people would think he is old and senile, and would laugh at him, asking: 'Why is His Majesty plotting a rebellion?'"

This is a solution to His Majesty's restoration without harming the reputation of the former emperor. Whether to adopt it or not is a decision for the two uncles and Zichuan.

Zhou Gong was about to refuse on the spot.

Chen Mo interrupted, "Zhou, Xiao, Zhang, and Chen have been friends for generations. I must remind you that knowing the solution and not doing it is one thing in the eyes of those in power, and not knowing the solution and doing nothing."

Zhou Gong, Xiao Qing, and Zhang Cheng's faces turned pale instantly.

(End of this chapter)