Chapter 2478: Order and Law

Ye Chen's promise made Li Nianzong's heart surge with excitement.

He knelt on the ground, looking up at Ye Chen with eyes full of passion, and asked excitedly, "Sir, what should I do next? Please give me your instructions!"

Ye Chen's eyes were like torches, and he said loudly, "The Governor and the Special Envoy here have already been controlled by me. Right now, you Cavalry Guards are the ones with the highest authority here, so I need you to cooperate with me to first catch all those among the Cavalry Guards who are wholeheartedly working for the Anti-Qing Society, leaving none behind!"

Li Nianzong said with a shocked expression, "Sir, please forgive me for being blunt, but the Cavalry Guards have also suffered under the Anti-Qing Society for a long time, just without the opportunity to break free from their control. Now that you can give us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I believe all the Cavalry Guards will definitely follow your footsteps, listen to your instructions, and do their best to defeat the Anti-Qing Society!"

Ye Chen shook his head and said indifferently, "You have courage, strategy, and backbone, but you seem to lack some understanding of human nature."

As he spoke, Ye Chen said with a cold expression, "You don't know that the Middle Banner Chief just now told me the truth about the antidote and your plan word for word. Compared to opposing the Anti-Qing Society or living as a fugitive, he prefers to stay in the Anti-Qing Society and climb up the ladder."

Li Nianzong widened his eyes and blurted out, "Sir... this... is this true?!"

"Of course." Ye Chen nodded and told Li Nianzong the content of his conversation with the Middle Banner Chief just now.

After hearing this, Li Nianzong was instantly furious, gritted his teeth, and said, "This damned Ma Chenfei actually wanted to betray the entire Cavalry Guard! I must kill him with my own hands!"

Ye Chen said indifferently, "Among the Cavalry Guards, there are quite a few people like him!"

Pausing slightly, Ye Chen added, "According to him, there are at least a dozen people he can be sure of. Those who are ambiguous or temporarily wavering but will choose to betray the Cavalry Guards at a critical moment are also not to be underestimated!"

"I now want all of you Cavalry Guards and all dead soldiers to unite, pretend that nothing has happened on the surface, and become a steel knife inserted into the interior of the Anti-Qing Society!"

"However, to achieve this goal, we must ensure that there are no traitors among you!"

"Otherwise, once one person tries to tip off the outside, it could bring disaster upon all of you!"

Li Nianzong said without hesitation, "Sir, don't worry. I will immediately take people to catch Ma Chenfei, force him to say the names of all the others, and catch them all in one net!"

Ye Chen waved his hand, "That would also be inappropriate, because this matter is likely to have fish that slip through the net. I have already arranged this matter. Ma Chenfei doesn't know my true identity, and he has believed my words. I have already let him secretly mobilize those who are like-minded with him. I believe those people will also help him pull in other wavering people. At that time, they will hold the towel in their left hand. What you need to do is to explain the situation to the people you absolutely trust. When I go to distribute medicine to all the Cavalry Guards later, you take my cup-smashing as a signal to catch everyone who holds a towel in their left hand!"

Upon hearing this, Li Nianzong said with a convinced expression, "Sir, what a good idea! With your method, you can actually catch this bunch of people without leaving a single one!"

After speaking, he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked Ye Chen, "By the way, Sir, how do you plan to deal with this bunch of people?"

Ye Chen asked him, "Do you have any good ideas?"

Li Nianzong said with a firm expression, "I think these people disregard the tragic experiences and deep-seated hatred of their ancestors, only care about their own interests, and even don't hesitate to betray their comrades-in-arms for this. Their hearts deserve to be punished! What is the difference between such people and the great traitor Wu Sangui, who let the Qing army into the pass and even killed the Southern Ming Yongli Emperor with his own hands?!"

Ye Chen didn't expect that when Li Nianzong mentioned traitors, he would think of Wu Sangui from hundreds of years ago.

However, he quickly understood the reason.

Many of the ancestors of these Cavalry Guards should have been subjects of the Southern Ming. The Southern Ming was the last dynasty of the Han people. To the Han people at that time, Wu Sangui was the most treacherous official in the world.

Not only did he let the Qing army into the pass for his own glory and wealth, taking away the Han people's country, but he even acted as a pawn for the Qing army, committing many unforgivable crimes against his own compatriots and clansmen.

Even more infuriating was that this person was originally a minister of the Great Ming, but after surrendering to the Qing, he personally captured the last emperor of the Southern Ming, the Yongli Emperor, to Chuncheng and killed him with his own hands. Such an act of regicide is rare in the five thousand years of Chinese history.

Therefore, this person can almost be counted as the greatest traitor among the Han people.

However, Ye Chen waved his hand at Li Nianzong at this time and said, "Although I agree with your evaluation of these people, I do not agree with your punishment for them."

Li Nianzong hurriedly asked, "Sir, what do you think is inappropriate?"

Ye Chen said indifferently, "Killing is always easy, but in most cases, killing lacks sufficient justice. You are, after all, just a group, not a sound society. If you want to kill them, first of all, there is no law to follow, and secondly, it may not be able to convince everyone. In case your behavior gives others a feeling of 'those who go against me will die', then what is the difference between that and being controlled by the Anti-Qing Society for others?"

Li Nianzong was stunned and asked him, "Sir, what do you mean?"

Ye Chen said indifferently, "Once today's goal is achieved, you will have effectively broken free from the control of the Anti-Qing Society. And I am not your new master, but have just reached a fair agreement with you. The content of this agreement is that I provide you with antidotes, and you work with me to fight against the Anti-Qing Society. Once the Anti-Qing Society is eliminated, this agreement will naturally terminate;"

"Therefore, during the period when this agreement exists, although your general direction must follow our agreement, within your internal affairs, you need to establish a set of internal order with credibility. Any internal affairs must be able to convince everyone when making decisions."

Speaking of this, Ye Chen paused and continued, "Once this credible internal order is established, this set of order is equivalent to your internal basic law. Everyone's behavior must be constrained by this set of basic laws, and you must ensure the fairness of this set of laws to ensure that it applies to everyone among you;"

"As for those who intend to betray the Cavalry Guards, they should be punished according to this set of basic laws after it is established. Only then can you truly convince everyone."

Having said this, Ye Chen looked at Li Nianzong and said earnestly, "If you really want to kill them, it must be that everyone wants to kill them, not just you."

Li Nianzong was silent for a long time, then said with a grateful expression, "Sir, I understand what you mean!"

Ye Chen gave a hum and said indifferently, "You go down and prepare first. Find the people you completely trust, tell them these situations, and let them be prepared. I still have to meet the people behind one by one to see if there are any people like Ma Chenfei among them. If there are, I will also let them hold a towel in their left hand for easy distinction. At that time, you will take people to catch them all in one net!" ===== CHAPTER 2479 =====