The video takes us to ancient times; Li Er transforms into the Tongtian Emperor of Shu Han.

In the palace.

From Liu Hong down, all the officials were driven here.

The once bustling hall, where music and dance never ceased, was now filled with a chilling atmosphere.

The one sitting on the dragon throne was no longer Liu Hong, but Xiang Yu.

"This seat isn't exactly comfortable."

Half-reclining on the dragon throne, Xiang Yu smacked his lips disdainfully.

Even now, he still feels that enfeoffing princes is more suitable for him!

At least it won't cause everyone in the world to suffer because of one person's opinion!

"Tell me, gentlemen, how do you want to die?"

No one dared to utter a sound.

"Your Majesty, if we kill them all, the court will likely be unable to function, and the world will descend into even greater chaos!"

After a quick bandage, Cao Cao rushed over.

Although he also wished he could personally slaughter these inhuman officials in front of him, if he left none of them alive, it would definitely cause a huge mess!

"The world is getting more chaotic?"

"Then tell me, what should we do?"

Xiang Yu looked at Cao Cao with great interest.

He deserves great credit for the early capture of Luoyang.

"Let them report the crimes of the other officials themselves. In the end, those with minor crimes may be pardoned once to observe their future behavior, while those with serious crimes will have their entire families exterminated!"

That's a pretty good idea.

If it were Liu Bang instead of Xiang Yu here, perhaps he would have actually listened.

Unfortunately, Xiang Yu was not the type to listen to others' opinions.

Letting Cao Cao speak was merely giving him face.

He stood up and pointed to the officials kneeling on the ground below.

"Mengde, kill all these people; perhaps some of them are innocent."

"But if we kill every other one, who knows how many will escape our grasp!"

"Officials like them, if they remain in the court, will only bring more harm to more people."

"Let's kill them all and start over with everything in the court!"

"What I promised Zhang Jiao wasn't to create a second Han dynasty, but to be the first Yellow Turban!"

"Besides, all we have at the moment are Luoyang and Sishui Pass. What use are they if we leave them behind?"

As Xiang Yu approached step by step while speaking, Liu Hong trembled like a leaf.

"And then there's this biggest piece of trash. Tell me, how do you want to die?"

Xiang Yu looked down at the emperor of the Han Dynasty.

"My father told me that you, Overlord, will not kill me. You still need me to abdicate the throne to you, right?"

"Your Majesty, are you trying to scare me?"

Liu Hong gave a fawning smile.

Unfortunately, in Xiang Yu's eyes, that smile seemed to be mocking him.

"If I want to ascend the throne and become emperor, why would I need the Liu family to abdicate?"

"Liu Hong, are you mocking me for losing to Liu Bang in the Chu-Han Contention?"

Although Xiang Yu arrived in a time when he had not yet been defeated, his decline was already evident.

Liu Bang gained the empire, and he could accept that.

What he could not accept was that if he wanted his ascension to the throne to be legitimate, he would have to have Liu Bang's descendants abdicate in his favor!

"If Liu Bang can sit on the throne, then I, Xiang Yu, can sit on it too. My position here is perfectly legitimate!"

"Guards, drag him out of the palace and throw him into the street, let the people do it themselves."

"Remember, you can only take a piece of flesh from each person. Don't kill them too quickly; let them suffer for a couple more days."

Xiang Yu waved his hand, and two armored soldiers stepped forward, one grabbing Liu Hong by one leg and dragging him away.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please don't kill me! I'm willing to abdicate! I'll do anything!"

Liu Hong struggled.

But how could his frail body possibly break free from the grasp of two armored soldiers?

The two hands left two bloody trails on the ground.

This scene chilled the officials present to the bone.

Before this, they all thought that Xiang Yu was just making threats.

If they were all killed, who would be left to serve the court?

But now it seems that Xiang Yu didn't even care about the legitimacy of abdication, so why would he care about them!

"The rest of the people will be taken out one by one and identified by the people of Luoyang. If the number of crimes identified is small, the entire family will be killed. If the number of crimes identified is large, the entire clan will be exterminated."

"Zhu Hejin, such a ringleader, shall have his entire family exterminated!"

Since none of them wanted to say how they wanted to die, Xiang Yu kindly made arrangements for them.

In just a moment, many people burst into tears.

Let the people identify their crimes.

How many of them can have a good ending!

All the officials came from aristocratic families, and even the one who claimed to care the most about the people had never done anything good in practice.

On the contrary, they have done plenty of things that exploit the people.

After all, without the sacrifices of the common people, where would their centuries-old aristocratic clans have come from!

"Mengde, did you see their expressions? I don't deny that there are people like Zhang Jiao in this world, but such people usually don't appear in the court."

“None of these people deserved to die.”

"How can one claim to love the people like one's own children if one has never truly experienced their suffering?"

Xiang Yu believed he had witnessed it himself; at Julu, Zhang Jiao had deliberately had Zhang Liang show him the miserable state of the people.

In the places the Yellow Turbans never reached, there were countless skeletons and corpses.

Only in the places occupied by the Yellow Turban Army, or rather, in the places where Zhang Jiao was, did the people truly have a glimmer of hope.

Now, he has brought this hope to Luoyang!

Seeing the officials being dragged away one by one, Cao Cao panicked.

"Your Majesty, if we really don't leave a single official behind, are we just going to keep losing territory after conquering it, just like before?"

Without capable people to govern the region, even leaving troops behind to garrison it will be of no use!

To conquer the world, force alone is not enough!

“Select talent from humble backgrounds and let the people recommend them themselves.”

Xiang Yu thought for a moment and said.

The imperial examination system is not suitable for modern times.

He doesn't have the time.

But ordinary people are not as stupid as most people imagine.

They know very well who treats them well.

Talented individuals recommended by the people themselves may be slightly less capable, but at least they won't exploit the people!

"what?"

Is this really the right thing to do?

Cao Cao was stunned.

Most people from poor families probably haven't even read a few books!

Can such a talent truly be of use to the imperial court?

“It wasn’t my idea; Zhang Jiao told me through Zhang Liang. If it were him, he would have done it.”

"Since it was his idea, even if something goes wrong, I'm sure he won't blame me."

Xiang Yu had to admit that he wasn't good at this kind of thing.

Fortunately, Cao Cao had some knowledge of this subject.

After a moment of contemplation, he came up with a solution.

"If the people recommended by the common people are not capable enough, there are ways to make up for it."

“Whenever we passed through a place, we asked the people to recommend a governor to take control of the military, and we asked the local gentry to recommend a prefect to handle all matters, big and small.”

"Furthermore, the prefect must not have any blood relation with the gentry family that recommended him!"

Recommended by the gentry?

Responsible for all matters, big and small?

"Doesn't this prefect wield a bit too much power?"

"Rest assured, Your Majesty, no matter how powerful the prefect is, it is not as powerful as the military!"

If the governor is indeed colluding with the gentry to commit evil deeds, the governor can mobilize a large army to suppress him at any time!

If the people recommend someone who is not capable enough, then that person should only be responsible for oversight!