Chapter 125 All the Same

The academy's teachers and students began to flee frantically towards the mountains, trampling all over respect for teachers, morality, and ethics.

Elderly instructors and Confucian scholars were trampled under the feet of their own students. The friendship between classmates turned into a shove if you dared to block my way. The plaque inscribed by the current Grand Secretary lost its protective effect and was thrown to the ground, already cracked from being trampled on.

Some words, some slogans, it's okay to shout them out loud usually, but smart people know not to take them to heart;

But foolish people will brainwash themselves.

When the blade really came down,

The dream shattered,

After cutting through that false veil of beauty,

Only then did they see the ugly face beneath, the one that belonged to themselves.

From galloping forward on horseback,

To the raising and falling of the blade,

Zheng Fan maintained a calm demeanor.

However, when watching these seeds of the Great Yan scholars, these proud bones of the Great Yan literary style, howl and scurry like stray dogs, a trace of melancholy appeared in Zheng Shoubei's eyes.

Life, if it is all predictable, often means it will be monotonous.

Zheng Fan actually wanted to see these seeds of Great Yan culture unyielding in the face of the butcher's knife, united as one, which would have been refreshing and added a lot of meaning.

But, he had thought too much.

Sigh,

The blade, dripping with the blood of that Huang Zichong, slowly raised forward,

Zheng Fan said,

"Take them all down. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without mercy!"

Liang Cheng behind Zheng Fan repeated the order in barbarian language. In fact, Zheng Fan had been learning barbarian language recently. It was not difficult to learn, but at this moment, to be safe, Zheng Fan still used Liang Cheng as a translator.

He was afraid that his orders would not be clear, and that the barbarian soldiers under his command would misunderstand and slaughter everyone in the academy, which would be hilarious.

The barbarian soldiers all dismounted, leaving more than twenty people to guard the horses. The rest rushed into the gatehouse with their weapons.

Zheng Fan also dismounted and, accompanied by Liang Cheng, followed the barbarian soldiers and walked up the mountain steps.

In front of them lay an old man with tattered clothes and a bloody face, probably an instructor or a Confucian scholar of the academy, who had been knocked over and trampled on by his students when they fled earlier.

He was already lifeless.

Zheng Fan walked around the old man and sighed,

"Tell me, it's okay for young students to think the world is beautiful and innocent, but this old thing is so old, he's really lived a dog's life."

"My lord, he was the one who was shouting at the end just now."

"But in the end, he was the first to be trampled to death."

"That's true."

Zheng Fan continued to walk up, stopping in front of the plaque.

The plaque had been trampled with many cracks and was severely damaged.

Zheng Fan pointed to the plaque on the ground and asked Liang Cheng,

"Should it be able to be repaired?"

"It's not a big problem if we just want to make a rubbing of the calligraphy."

"Well, it's still the calligraphy of the current Grand Secretary. Take it back and make a rubbing to hang in our Cui Liu Fort. 'The sea of learning is boundless' is also a jack-of-all-trades phrase that can be hung anywhere."

"Okay, I understand."

Zheng Fan suddenly turned his head and looked at Du Juan, who was following behind him and Liang Cheng, and asked,

"Miss Du, do you think the Grand Secretary will blame me for trampling on his alma mater today?"

Du Juan first thought about the meaning of the words "alma mater", and then replied,

"The Grand Secretary has always been tolerant."

"Look, look, did you hear that? Miss Du Juan said that the Grand Secretary won't retaliate against me openly, but will play dirty tricks behind my back."

"…………" Du Juan.

Continuing to walk up, along the way, there were books, headscarves, fans, and other elegant objects scattered everywhere.

"Hey, don't move."

Zheng Fan raised his hand, signaling Liang Cheng and Du Juan beside him to stop.

Then, Zheng Fan bent down and picked up a jade pendant from the steps in front of him, guessing that it must have been dropped by one of the teachers or students who had fled earlier.

"Huff, huff..."

He held it in his hand and blew on the jade pendant.

Zheng Fan turned to Du Juan and asked,

"Miss Du, does this need to be handed in?"

"If Zheng Shoubei likes it, he can take it."

"Thank you."

Holding the jade pendant, Zheng Fan began to continue walking up.

Qingming Mountain was not high to begin with, and it didn't take long for the three of them to see the school buildings and dormitories above.

This kind of school building was the first time Zheng Fan had seen it since coming to this world.

At least, in Tiger Head City, he had not seen the existence of a school building.

One of the foundations of aristocratic politics was that aristocratic families monopolized education. Their families had their own clan schools for their own clansmen to study in. As for ordinary people, it was really difficult.

The monopoly of education was equivalent to cutting off the path to promotion for most of the common people. This also led to the fact that even if this generation of Yan Emperor was consciously promoting scholars from humble backgrounds, it was still difficult for them to become a force to be reckoned with.

After all, most of the real elites still came from aristocratic families, and they were born with the mark of the aristocratic family.

On the field outside the school building, hundreds of teachers and students were all kneeling on the ground, not allowed to stand up.

At first, a middle-aged scholar seemed to want to stand up and shout a few words of "insulting to culture, insulting to culture,"

But he was directly knocked out a tooth by a barbarian soldier who couldn't understand him at all.

Yesterday, Zheng Fan had said in front of Jingnan Marquis that barbarian soldiers and scholars were a match made in heaven. In fact, that was indeed the case.

Most of the teachers and students were here, but some were scattered outside. However, the agile barbarian soldiers quickly caught them back one by one.

Du Juan took out the list and began to call names.

"Xue Chugui, Zhao Mingyang."

She called out two names, but no one stood up to respond, and it was unknown whether they were inside or not.

"Are these two people from the Qian Kingdom?" Zheng Fan asked.

"Yes."

Zheng Fan nodded.

He didn't stand next to Du Juan, holding a knife, and repeatedly question and threaten the teachers and students about where the two people were, telling them to hand them over quickly.

Because Zheng Fan felt that this scene was too much like the Japanese devils interrogating the villagers about where the Eighth Route Army was working.

Although he himself felt that his previous behavior of riding a horse outside the mountain gate to coerce these scholars while beheading one of them was exactly the same as the villains in the old-fashioned martial arts films he had watched long ago, he still had a bottom line after all.

So, Zheng Fan pointed to a young student in the crowd in front of him.

Two barbarian soldiers immediately stepped forward and grabbed the person out.

The young student with acne on his face was obviously trembling, but when he was dragged in front of Zheng Fan, he straightened his neck and shouted in a trembling voice,

"I will not betray my classmates!"

Then, he looked at the academy classmates and instructors who were being watched over there, while secretly sizing up Zheng Fan, his calves trembling.

Zheng Fan took out a small iron box from his arms, took out a cigarette from it, knocked it upside down on the palm of his hand first, and then bit it in his mouth.

He took out a fire starter, lit it,

Leisurely puffed out a smoke,

Only then did he open his mouth and say,

"Don't worry, I don't plan to ask you anything."

The student was stunned for a moment, unable to understand the meaning of Zheng Fan's words.

Zheng Fan shook the ash,

At the same time, he said softly,

"Behead him."

"Bang!"

A barbarian soldier kicked the student in the knee, knocking him to the ground, and another immediately raised his knife.

"I'll talk, I'll talk, I'll talk!!!!!!!!!!"

The student immediately shouted.

The two barbarian soldiers hesitated,

Zheng Fan silently put the cigarette back in his mouth,

Took a puff,

Two wisps of smoke slowly spewed out of his nostrils.

The two barbarian soldiers looked at each other, and one of them still slashed down with the knife.

"Pfft!"

A head,

Fell to the ground again.

In the crowd of people being held, many teachers and students had already lost control of their bowels, and a stench quickly filled the air.

Du Juan watched Zheng Fan's actions from the side, without speaking.

Zheng Fan took another puff of his cigarette. This version of the cigarette was a bit harsh on the throat, and he couldn't help coughing. At the same time, he randomly pointed to a middle-aged scholar.

Immediately, a barbarian soldier walked over and dragged him out of the crowd.

"I'll talk, I'll talk, I'll talk. I know them, they're in the crowd, in..."

"I hate people who sell out their friends the most. This kind of person deserves to die."

"............" The middle-aged scholar.

Zheng Fan ignored him and turned to look at Liang Cheng and asked,

"Leave it to you to handle?"

To avoid a bad influence, Zheng Fan didn't directly ask Liang Cheng: Are you hungry?

Liang Cheng looked at Zheng Fan and responded,

"Is that appropriate?"

"Appropriate."

"Is it convenient?"

"Convenient."

"Okay, I'll take him to the forest over there to torture him."

Liang Cheng walked over, picked up the middle-aged scholar, and dragged him into the depths of the forest in front of him.

"Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!"

Soon, extremely shrill screams came from the forest.

Zheng Fan threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stepped on it with the sole of his boot, mindful of public morality.

Looking up again, when his eyes swept across the crowd of the academy in front of him, the bodies of these people collectively shrank back.

"Miss Du, please continue to read."

Zheng Fan looked at Du Juan.

Du Juan picked up the document,

"Xue Chugui!"

"Swish!"

The other academy teachers and students next to a man all looked at him, and voluntarily distanced themselves from him.

A look of despair appeared on the man's face.

Immediately, a barbarian soldier stepped forward and grabbed the guy over.

Du Juan continued to call names,

Very efficient.

Taking advantage of this moment, Zheng Fan walked alone to a relatively remote pavilion on the west side and began to empty his mind.

After a while, Liang Cheng returned and found Zheng Fan in the pavilion.

Zheng Fan pointed to the corner of his mouth and took out a handkerchief from Si Niang from his sleeve and threw it to Liang Cheng,

Said,

"Wipe it."

Liang Cheng took the handkerchief, but directly wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve and asked,

"Is there any more?"

"No more."

"Hmm."

At this moment, there were footsteps outside, and Du Juan also came to the pavilion.

Liang Cheng took a step back, giving space to Zheng Fan and Du Juan.

"Lord Zheng, the people have been caught."

"Is that so? They are all fools, don't they know how to run?"

"They probably didn't expect us to rush up and catch them."

"Hmm."

Du Juan looked at Liang Cheng and bowed slightly.

Liang Cheng understood and walked out of the pavilion.

Du Juan looked at Zheng Fan and said,

"Lord Zheng, I am very curious. I think Lord Zheng should not be unaware of the trouble that what you did today will bring to you in the future, right?"

At this moment, in this scene, Zheng Fan suddenly wanted to recite a poem.

But in the end, he just smiled,

Said,

"Why does Miss Du want to ask me this question?"

"What, can't I ask?"

"Is Miss Du asking for herself, or for..."

"Who does Lord Zheng want me to ask for?"

"Miss Du, you have made things difficult for me."

Du Juan took two steps back and saluted Zheng Fan,

Said,

"The criminals have been captured. Thank you, Zheng Shoubei, for sending troops to assist."

"It's my duty."

"Then I will take the criminals away. Zheng Shoubei, I hope we meet again."

Zheng Fan nodded,

"Miss Du, be careful on your way."

"You too, Zheng Shoubei."

Du Juan left,

A horse, immediately carrying the secret agent brother who had been knocked unconscious before;

A woman, holding a hemp rope in her hand, tied up two criminals, and in the warm afternoon sun, she walked farther and farther away.

Zheng Fan squinted at the sun,

Behind him, four hundred barbarian soldiers were all on horseback, waiting for orders.

The academy was still the same academy, except that a few people died today.

Liang Cheng said to Zheng Fan,

"Aren't you taking anyone from the academy?"

"What's the point of taking them? They can't carry anything on their shoulders or lift anything with their hands. It would be a waste of food to take them back to Cui Liu Fort, and we would have to waste rice to feed them."

"But, if we just let them go like this, the bad reputation will come immediately..."

"The bad reputation will come immediately, right? They will petition everywhere, write letters to their classmates and friends, and use all their strength and possibilities to return the humiliation they suffered today?"

Liang Cheng didn't speak.

"Acheng, you are only suitable for leading troops to fight.

Why didn't Zuo Jiqian accept this military order?

Why does the Jingnan Army have 50,000 troops, but can't spare a few hundred soldiers to come here to arrest people?

Why is it clearly a crime of harboring spies from the Qian Kingdom, a crime of covering up, but that woman named Du Juan only arrested two criminals and left, without asking about the rest?"

Zheng Fan reached out and patted Liang Cheng on the shoulder, and smiled,

"We are here to take the blame, to bear the infamy. Some people cherish their feathers very much, and they need someone below to take the blame."

"My lord thinks more clearly than I do."

"But we have to take the blame, you can take the blame, which proves that you are useful, maybe they will give you three or two sweet dates as a reward. In order to eat this sweet date, I don't care about anything.

As for the future, since we have come to this world, we have not thought about planning for a peaceful old age."

Saying that,

Zheng Fan cast his eyes on the gatehouse behind him,

Said,

"Let them live, let them promote us, free hype, don't let it go to waste."

"My lord is generous."

"Don't force yourself if you can't flatter, your flattery is always as stiff as you are."

"Hehe, my lord, are we going back next?"

"Go back? We rode horses for three hours just to come and bully a group of pedantic scholars?"

"Then where are we going?"

"Go to a place I've always wanted to go to. Since we're already prepared to bear the infamy, it doesn't matter if we create a big news."

Zheng Fan raised his whip,

"Pa"

The warhorse under his crotch spread its hooves and began to gallop desperately. Behind him were Liang Cheng and four hundred barbarian cavalry following closely!

…………

The setting sun was like blood,

A fort stood quietly under the sunset,

Within sight,

On the east and west sides of the fort, similar watchtowers could be seen from afar. If the perspective could continue to be raised higher and higher, you could see that on this piece of land, there were densely packed forts of various sizes.

Without getting too close,

From a distance,

Zheng Fan pulled on the reins,

The warhorse under his crotch raised its hooves and stopped.

Behind him, four hundred barbarian cavalry also reined in their horses together.

Looking at the fort in front of him, Zheng Fan's mouth showed a smile:

"Great Qian, I'm coming..."