Chapter 213

"War?"

When Wu Zhao's voice rang out, the whole hall suddenly became quiet.

The gazes of several people were all gathered on Gao Yang's face, carrying endless horror.

Gao Feng even said decisively, "Rebellious son, do not talk nonsense in front of Her Majesty!"

Even Gao Tianlong looked at Gao Yang with suspicion; clearly, these words had also set off a monstrous wave in his heart.

Gao Yang, however, had a very calm expression.

Wu Zhao took a deep breath, suppressing the horror in her heart, and looked at Gao Yang, "Junior Official Gao, this is not a small matter. Your every word and action even concerns the direction of the entire Da Qian."

"Since you say so, what proof do you have?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Yang's gaze did not change significantly.

He had read the history books of Da Qian; the historical process of this strange era was actually not much different from his previous life.

It was just more chaotic and complex.

And what he was about to say next was the essence of capital and the essence of dynasties. From the perspective of capital, although he was guessing, he had an eighty percent certainty.

"Your Majesty, although I am guessing, I have an eighty percent certainty. The world is changing; this is by no means an empty statement."

An eighty percent certainty made Wu Zhao's expression even more solemn.

She knew Gao Yang's caution very well; his eighty percent certainty was probably a hundred percent certainty.

"Let's take alchemists and witchcraft as an example. In ancient times, sacrifice was greater than everything, even vaguely overriding imperial power. At that time, slavery was prevalent, and the status of wizards was transcendent. Sacrificing lives to pray for favorable weather was a very normal phenomenon."

"At that time, the lives of slaves were not even worth as much as cattle and sheep, but nowadays, slavery has turned to dust, and wizards are shouted at by everyone. How is this?"

This sentence suddenly stunned Wu Zhao and Shangguan Wan'er.

Gao Feng and Gao Tianlong were also stunned, and then they began to think.

Wu Zhao pondered for a moment and said directly, "Because the Hundred Schools of Thought were born, people know rites and laws, and use morality to constrain behavior. Slavery violates the Dao of Heaven, so it was abolished."

"As for wizards, they were just a group of people pretending to be gods and ghosts, deceiving the common people, and falling from the altar. Isn't this a very normal change?"

Wu Zhao's voice rang out, and she even didn't know what medicine Gao Yang was selling in his gourd.

A great war is about to start; what does it have to do with slavery that has been abolished for hundreds of years? What does it have to do with wizards?

"Your Majesty, then I will ask another question. If the world really changes and Da Qian and the six kingdoms fight repeatedly, but war will involve captives, if Your Majesty captures a million soldiers, how should you deal with them?"

One sentence made Wu Zhao's eyes change again.

Gao Tianlong's eyes became even sharper.

Gao Yang continued to strike at the heart, "Does Your Majesty want to settle these million captives in batches and incorporate them into the army?"

"Or, kill them and bury them alive?"

Once these words were spoken.

Wu Zhao and Shangguan Wan'er's expressions changed suddenly, and their eyes looked at Gao Yang fiercely.

That was a million captives, and they were to be buried alive?

Gao Feng couldn't help but speak, "Rebellious son, that is the life of a million people, how can you kill them?"

"If you dare to talk nonsense again, I will use family law."

Gao Feng kept a straight face, his expression serious. If these words were spread out, Gao Yang would definitely be spurned by the scholars of the world!

But Gao Tianlong was silent, because he already knew what Gao Yang was going to say, and his deep eyes were full of complexity.

Gao Yang heard Gao Feng's words and said directly, "Since there are years of war, the food consumed behind it is an astronomical figure. Once the war drags on, even if you win, how can you settle tens or hundreds of thousands of captives?"

"Settling them in the rear, once they unite to rebel, who can take the responsibility? It is even more impossible to return them to the six kingdoms; otherwise, wouldn't the war have been fought in vain? But tens of thousands of mouths, how much food do they eat a day? Can Da Qian supply it?"

"Killing them and burying them alive is the simplest and most effective method!"

Gao Feng heard this, his body felt as if it had been hit hard. The sentence "tens of thousands of mouths, how much food do they eat a day" made him silent.

Although this method harms the harmony of heaven, it is indeed the optimal solution.

Wu Zhao also understood Gao Yang's point. Whether it was slavery or the example of captives, he pointed directly to a core problem.

Food, land, and... population!

But this was clearly the art of emperors; how could Gao Yang know it?

She had the answer about slavery in her heart, but she didn't say it, because it involved the way of emperors!

"That old man you met in the mountains, which of the Hundred Schools of Thought does he belong to?"

Wu Zhao's expression was solemn.

She could conclude that Gao Yang's set of theories, whether it was the endless vicious schemes or these words pointing directly to the origin of emperors, were definitely not simple!

Gao Yang smiled indifferently, "My teacher does not belong to any of the Hundred Schools of Thought. Strictly speaking, he is self-taught. The book he left me is called 'Das Kapital'!"

"Your Majesty can also call me a capitalist!"

Wu Zhao's eyebrows moved, and she took a deep look at Gao Yang, "Capitalist?"

At this moment in her heart, just based on Gao Yang's current performance, the terror of this capitalist was more terrifying than the Confucian and Legalist schools!

Nationalizing salt and iron, replacing production with sales, and invisible taxation; these means shocked her.

A capitalist, simply terrifying!