"Men, take their heads and hang them on the flagpole as a warning to those who come after!"
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Han Mo personally picked up a bloody head, confirmed its identity, and then tossed it back onto the grand drill ground.
At this, the entire grand drill ground fell utterly silent.
The vast majority of these people had never even seen blood in their lives. Faced with such a scene, how could they dare to utter another word?
Seeing their submissive and fearful state, Han Mo was truly satisfied.
"Come, bring out the items I've had made!"
"Yes!"
At Han Mo's command, a carriage pulled by eight horses, escorted by dozens of strong men, slowly drove into the grand drill ground.
"I won't hide anything from you now. At this very moment, thirty thousand rebel soldiers are heading straight for Mingzhou! The people standing before you are rebel scouts! To assassinate a sitting general in broad daylight is a crime punishable by death! Now, I issue my first military order: everyone line up in sequence and each shoot one arrow! Those who hit will be rewarded with five guan of copper coins, and those who miss three arrows will receive fifty strokes with the military cudgel!"
After hearing Han Mo's words, not only were the soldiers below stunned, but Han Shizhong himself was taken aback.
These were not the soldiers who had violated military discipline earlier. Those men deserved their fate, and even the Emperor himself could not find fault with their execution in the Golden Hall.
However, the people before them were different. Although these individuals had also committed capital offenses, having them directly brought out by Han Mo to serve as targets for the soldiers was a bit excessive.
This was nothing short of brutalizing prisoners of war!
If word of this reached the ears of the censors, it would likely bring him endless criticism.
"My Lord, perhaps we should reconsider this?"
After a moment of thought, Han Shizhong quickly approached Han Mo and said in a low voice.
"Do you have an opinion on my military order?"
"This humble subordinate dares not!"
Under Han Mo's piercing gaze, Han Shizhong quickly knelt on one knee.
"Withdraw!"
Compared to Han Shizhong, Du San showed no discomfort in carrying out such tasks.
Taking the command flag from a nearby soldier, he directly began to direct the soldiers to step forward in sequence, receive their bows and arrows, and prepare to act.
"Our Lord is truly ruthless. He is forcing these soldiers to pledge their loyalty!"
On the periphery of the grand drill ground, Shao Bowen observed Han Mo's imposing figure on the high platform and said sincerely.
"But if Big Brother does this, won't it bring trouble upon himself?"
Upon hearing Shao Bowen's words, Liang Hongyu became even more worried.
Having originally come from an official family, and with the Liang family having suffered great misfortune, she understood the ugliness of officialdom with utmost clarity.
"Don't you see? Your Big Brother is paving the way for your future husband! With his vast capabilities, what are such minor accusations to him?"
Seeing Liang Hongyu's worried expression, Shao Bowen suddenly said with a smile.
"Sir is joking with me again..."
Liang Hongyu was startled, but she soon understood Han Mo's good intentions.
He could have assigned this task to Han Shizhong, but if he himself had done the same thing, he would have likely only incurred minor criticism.
If he had been in Han Shizhong's shoes, no matter how many merits he had earned in this battle, with the impeachments from the censors, he would never have been able to advance in officialdom in his lifetime.
"Just wait and see the show. This should only be the first step. If it's about pledging loyalty, this much is not enough."
As Shao Bowen spoke, his gaze towards Han Mo intensified with admiration.
Although Han Mo's previous performance had been outstanding enough, with their increased contact in recent days, Shao Bowen had grown increasingly concerned about Han Mo.
More than anything else, he worried whether Han Mo would falter at a critical moment.
It had always been said that benevolence could not command troops, and righteousness could not manage wealth.
Without the courage and resolve to cut off one's own arm, he found it difficult to believe that Han Mo could achieve anything in the even more brutal arena of officialdom than on the battlefield.
However, judging by the current situation, he seemed to have underestimated Han Mo.
In this era, even with the poor quality of these soldiers, they would have some understanding of archery.
After all, in this era, arrows were the only means of ranged attack.
Even ordinary mountain dwellers and hunters would teach their children to learn some archery skills.
With the dozen heads as a deterrent, coupled with the temptation of the vast amount of copper coins from the carriage nearby, even if the soldiers felt a pang of reluctance, they all ultimately picked up their bows and arrows.
Once a person entered the army, their consciousness would be involuntarily swept along by the collective consciousness.
Under strict laws, severe punishments, and enticements, thousands of soldiers began to form neat queues, step forward one by one to receive their bows and arrows, aim, and shoot!
Nearly three hundred Manichaeans, after an hour, had thoroughly turned into porcupines.
And these new recruits, having seen blood, were already beginning to show distinctions among themselves.
Some, after seeing blood, not only felt no discomfort but even experienced a surge of bloodlust.
While others, after seeing blood, could only squat on the ground and vomit incessantly.
Han Mo, at this moment, stood on the high platform like an observer, coldly watching everything unfold.
"Big Brother, why did Big Brother do this..."
Outside the drill ground, Liang Hongyu's body began to tremble slightly.
Although she had initially viewed the situation from Han Mo's perspective, by the end, her womanly nature had ultimately taken precedence.
"What do you think this battlefield is? This is inherently a life-and-death struggle. If he shows mercy, what will become of the hundreds of thousands of civilians in this city?"
Since Shao Bowen had brought her, he naturally did not want Liang Hongyu to leave with any lingering doubts.
"But..."
"You think he is too cruel in slaughtering these people? These people were indeed ordinary civilians not long ago, but the moment they raised their butcher's knives, they sealed their fate to die by the butcher's knife. Whether it's having one's head severed or being pierced by ten thousand arrows, in the end, it's only dying once. What difference is there? Trading their blood for the unity and loyalty of these thousands of men is a very worthwhile transaction!"
"Little girl, you must see clearly. Everything he is doing is for you, for the peace of these common people..."