Chapter 1286: The Desires of the People! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
How many people were pretending not to see and feigning ignorance over the fact that the shy and bashful youths they saw now would grow up into those vicious and bloodthirsty Hu cavalry?
How many Han men, women, and children on the border had fallen to the swords and sabers of these Hu and been left to drown in pools of their own blood?
The cruelest butcher could put on a kind face, be filial to their parents, and show concern for their children, but when they stepped onto the battlefield, they would never show mercy to their foes.
”Let's go!”
Wang Chong sighed. Loyal advice was jarring to the ears, and just because something was right didn't mean that people would listen. Each person was more inclined to see what they believed.
And the hearts of the people had already changed!
Wang Chong's eyes were brimming with worry.
At the same time, on the other side of the street, another figure was looking down at the scene. Unlike Wang Chong, this person gave a satisfied nod when they saw the people of all countries amiably laughing with each other, a gentle smile on their lips.
All the effort had paid off. The people of the Great Tang being friendly with the people of the other countries had once more proved that Confucian principle. If everyone was of the same mind, then although they looked different, spoke different languages, lived in different countries, and had different customs, in the end, once all these extraneous things were cast aside, their minds and hearts were the same, and they shared the same senses and emotions. Wars arose out of the unknown, out of mutual misunderstanding and ignorance.
If both sides knew that the other person was an ordinary person of flesh and bone just like them, wars could be done away with. And in order to achieve this grandiose ideal, one was compelled to take certain lines of action.
Li Junxian turned his head and said to the people behind him, ”Let's go! Send a notice to hasten the next phase!”
”Yes, Young Master!”
Elder Song and the others bowed.
Li Junxian waved his sleeve, and as he stood up from his table, he took one more glance at the people outside harmoniously intermingling. His starry eyes slowly became determined. The people of different countries could coexist with each other, and the scene outside the balcony was extremely precious for the entire world. For this sight, he was willing to pay any price, and if anyone tried to stop him, then for the people of all countries and for the sake of that lofty ideal, he would sacrifice that person.
Whoosh! In a gust of wind, Li Junxian vanished from the restaurant.
……
Several days later, in the Wang Family Residence.
”Your Highness, there's a voice rising from the streets. The people are gathering together and asking for there to be no more war!”
In the early morning, Su Shixuan rushed into Wang Chong's room.
The situation was getting worse and worse. The stories told in the tea houses and inns about the shift in the economic situation on the borders after wars and the Hu of various countries entering the capital had caused the voices rejecting war in the capital to get stronger and stronger. The mass disarmament of the surrounding countries and the withdrawal of the armies had strengthened these voices, causing the situation to get increasingly dire.
The occasional call for reason would be drowned out.
”Are the people of the Confucian Sect in the crowds trying to guide their voices?” Wang Chong calmly asked.
”No!”
Su Shixuan shook his head.
”These are all small groups of people who have been influenced by the anti-war atmosphere in the capital and decided to group together!”
Wang Chong said nothing, only closed his eyes, concealing the worry within them.
”We have to do something,” Wang Chong said. He raised his head slightly, his mind in turmoil.
War was cruel, and none enjoyed it. And it was understandable for the common people to be tired of war. But unlike a child's game, there were no do-overs in war, and feelings meant nothing. It was irrelevant if one hated war or liked war. In the face of war, one's only options were to fight or not fight.
And not fighting a war would lead to the ruination of the land and people, the obliteration of everything one cared about. This was the case whether one hated war or not.
When an enemy was knocking on one's door, one did not have the right to refuse. The Confucian Sect's ideas of war were far too simple! Moreover, the common people had been influenced by this attitude to think of war too simply as well. Wang Chong could already sense that an undercurrent was building strength. Although this undercurrent had been guided by the Confucian Sect, there was an even deeper and more fundamental reason.