Chapter 304
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Chapter 304: Killing One to Warn a Hundred
Zhou Yi caused quite a stir.
In one sweep, he almost entirely apprehended the former Great Zhou nobles in Great Zhou City.
Indeed, over 90% of the Great Zhou nobles were implicated in this incident!
As one mansion after another was sealed off, the news spread completely.
Luo Ji also quite timely had his subordinates post the new announcements that had been prepared.
The announcements primarily detailed the crimes of these individuals, listing each one clearly.
“What did I say back then?! That guy who kept saying ‘Am I the only one who thinks…’ spoke in such a sarcastic tone, I knew right away he wasn’t good!”
“Then why didn’t you say anything back then?”
“I did! But did you listen?! Now you’re dumbfounded, aren’t you? You were fooled by a bunch of traitors and kept causing trouble for His Majesty!”
“I… Ugh! These scoundrels are truly detestable!”
“We absolutely cannot let them go!”
“Exactly, we absolutely cannot let them go! Everyone, let’s go settle the score with them!”
Upon learning that these Great Zhou nobles had colluded earlier, intending to escalate tensions between them and the Great Zhou citizens and then use it to instigate a rebellion, the faces of the common people instantly filled with righteous indignation.
However, compared to these Great Zhou nobles, what angered them even more were the bribed traitors!
But at the same time, through this incident, the common people invisibly grew to view Zhou Yi, the young general who had abandoned darkness for light, much more favorably, and their emotional barriers significantly lessened.
With the assistance of the populace, all the bribed traitors on the list were easily apprehended.
Some of them were even half-beaten by the enraged citizens by the time the enforcement team arrived.
Upon seeing the enforcement team, they immediately cried and pleaded with the officers to quickly arrest them, fearing they would be beaten to death if not.
Once all these traitors and masterminds were apprehended, Luo Ji quickly announced their punishment.
First, they would be paraded through the streets for 3 days.
Then, the Great Zhou nobles who were the masterminds would be publicly beheaded outside the Imperial Palace of Great Zhou City 5 days later as a warning to others!
As for the traitors bribed by the Great Zhou nobles, considering their repentance and their provision of the masterminds’ list, they were spared death as atonement for their deeds.
However, while they escaped death, they could not escape punishment.
They were demoted to hard labor, exiled to the mines, and sentenced to lifelong service!
Luo Ji was clearly determined to impose severe penalties this time, even with a hint of killing one to warn a hundred.
In this incident, the traitors apprehended by the Mirror Council all had very low loyalty, generally hovering around 60 points, indicating they were the kind who could rebel at any moment if something happened.
And Luo Ji believed this was by no means the complete picture.
This was inevitable.
As the civilization’s population grew, the number of such troublesome individuals would certainly increase.
This was a necessary process to endure.
5 days later, at the execution ground, Luo Ji personally presided over the beheadings, which also drew a large crowd of spectators.
Many people even traveled from other cities days in advance specifically to witness it.
Watching the formerly high and mighty Great Zhou nobles, now disheveled and disheveled, being led onto the execution platform, the Great Zhou citizens who had suffered their oppression and the populace they had schemed against cheered loudly.
Sitting on the high platform, Luo Ji was unaffected by the clamor.
He looked up at the sun in the sky and then casually said.
“It is noon. Execute them!”
With Luo Ji’s command, the soldiers temporarily conscripted from the sword and shield unit swung their bronze sabers.
With a flash of the blade and a gush of blood, round heads rolled off the execution platform.
This scene, whether described as shocking or spectacular, ignited the entire execution ground.
The common people outside cheered, feeling that these Great Zhou nobles deserved their fate, having been hated to such an extent by so many.
However, at this moment, Luo Ji’s attention was unexpectedly not focused on the execution ground, because a system notification sounded in his mind the instant the beheadings were completed.
[System Notification: Congratulations to player ‘Luo Ji’ for unlocking the legal project ‘Public Beheading.’]
Since no one noticed him anyway, Luo Ji, sitting on the high platform, lightly moved his finger to bring up the development panel and glanced at it.
[Public Beheading (Level 0): Publicly behead criminals who have committed serious crimes to achieve the effect of killing one to warn a hundred and serving as a deterrent. Within the civilization, the crime rate among the populace decreases by 30%, and the livability of all cities decreases by 1.]
After reading this new project, Luo Ji raised his eyebrows decisively.
He found that many projects in the law system were double-edged swords, their benefits were clear, but their drawbacks were equally apparent.
However, he had to admit, it was very realistic.
This relatively iron-fisted approach could indeed achieve the effect of killing one to warn a hundred, deterring many from committing crimes.
But this was a form of deterrence.
However, harsh deterrence inevitably brought some negative impacts, such as people living in fear.
Even law-abiding citizens might feel a pang of unease when occasionally seeing the blood-stained execution platform.
This unease and apprehension were likely the main reasons for the 1 point decrease in city livability.
The 30% reduction in crime rate was very appealing, but the cost of a 1 point decrease in livability for all cities made Luo Ji hesitate.
Livability was truly important.
The higher the livability, the happier the residents of that city lived.
Under this premise, work efficiency and loyalty would also increase.
Conversely, if livability decreased, people would become dissatisfied, work efficiency and loyalty would also decline, eventually leading to internal strife and rebellion.
Thus, it was self-evident how conflicted Luo Ji was about choosing this development project.
It was no exaggeration to say that a casual tap of his finger now could trigger a series of chain impacts, even bringing immeasurable consequences in the distant future.
After agonizing for a long time, from the execution ground in Great Zhou City to his office in Mirror City, Luo Ji, whose head had swollen to twice its normal size, finally decided to put this development project aside for now.
This decision was truly difficult to make.
As the ruler of this entire civilization, the thought of potentially facing countless such decisions in the future caused him a distinct headache.
