Chapter 3962: Unknown killings and prisoners
Zhang Xingcheng felt chills in his heart, fearing that Cheng Yaojin would really kill him later, so he quickly expressed his position: "The Duke of Lu has made great military achievements and has military power. All the families can only rely on him. How can he hide his evil deeds and destroy the Great Wall?" Mr. Lu Guogong, you are worrying too much. ! But what you meant will be brought back verbatim, and you will also tell us that the current situation can be reversed without fighting to the death. You must let all the powers support you in joining the Ministry of War, and then control all the armies of the Tang Dynasty in the near future!" br>
He is confident that he can convince the heads of various families on this point. Li Ji has almost parted ways with the Shandong family. Cheng Yaojin is their last force in the Tang Dynasty military. If Cheng Yaojin can be promoted to the position of Minister of the Ministry of War and control the world's soldiers, what will happen? What about enjoying it but not doing it?
"Haha."
Cheng Yaojin sneered twice and did not comment on Zhang Xingcheng's guarantee. He picked up the tea cup and said calmly: "Okay, I will act according to the situation. Go back and tell those old guys not to make any mistakes, otherwise the situation will collapse and no one will do anything." Know what it will be like in the end.”
"Here! Excuse me."
Seeing that Cheng Yaojin wanted to see off his guests, Zhang Xingcheng did not dare to stay long. He stood up, saluted and then exited the tent.
When the accompanying servants came with the war horses, the group got on their horses and drove out of the military camp at high speed. The oncoming breeze carried the raindrops, and his body was cold. Only then did Zhang Xingcheng realize that his middle coat had been soaked with cold sweat.
At that moment, he really felt Cheng Yaojin's murderous intention...
He is worthy of being called the "Demon King of the World", and it is simply a fantasy for the heads of various families to want to completely control him and let him be driven at will. Even if you don't understand the situation and anger Cheng Yaojin, you may suffer severe backlash.
Dark clouds rolled in the sky, and the breeze brought raindrops. The sky was dark and vast. It seemed that there was a group of fierce soldiers hidden in every forest. When he got close, they would rush out... Zhang Xingcheng kept urging his horse. Quickly, he ran towards the south of the city.
*****
At the foot of Lishan Mountain, inside the military camp.
Li Ji took a sip of tea and looked away from the drizzle outside the window, focusing on the battle report spread out in his hand, his face expressionless.
After getting out, Zhou Daowu, who had just arrived here, was dusty and dusty. His handsome face in the past was dark and thin, and his eyes were bloodshot. On the way back to Datang, he heard that His Majesty Li Er fell from his horse and was injured. He knew that there would be a drastic change in power within Datang, so he hid in Liaodong for a winter. In the end, the situation was as dilapidated as he had guessed, but what he didn't expect was that due to the severe shortage of winter supplies, large numbers of prisoners under escort died. Even those who were lucky enough to survive suffered from frostbite. Laborious and deeply disabled, they became a huge burden, so they were cruelly killed...
Killing prisoners was a serious crime, so he was procrastinating and refused to return to Chang'an before the situation became clear. He was thinking that when the East Palace fell and the new prince came to power, he, the current prince-in-law and commander of the army, would be wooed and reused. The sins committed will be gently put aside and will not be held accountable.
As a result, the East Palace turned defeat into victory and completely defeated the Guanlong rebels in one fell swoop...
Immediately afterwards, Li Ji's military order arrived, asking him to hurry back to Chang'an to rendezvous. No matter how unwilling Zhou Daowu was, how could he dare to disobey Li Ji's military order? He had no choice but to abandon the large army and lead his own soldiers to travel day and night, arriving here exhausted.
On the other side, Zhang Liang stroked his beard under his chin and said in a bad tone: "Is the Duke of E crazy? He has repeatedly disobeyed military orders, and there are a lot of discussions in the army. The commander-in-chief should severely punish him to correct military discipline, otherwise everyone will follow suit. This army will But I can’t take it with me.”
Discipline is the most stringent in the military to demonstrate fairness and justice. Otherwise, how can countless men who are not afraid of life and death carry out orders and prohibitions? Yuchi Gong first went to Dayun Temple in Zhongnan Mountain without permission, trying to resist Zuowuwei's rescue of the remnants of Guanlong, and then stationed himself east of Baqiao, confronting Zuowuwei west of Baqiao across the river, and the situation became tense. In this way, Li Ji's military order was put in place. Regardless, it caused an uproar in the army, leading to unstable military morale and widespread rumors.
After all, after Guan Long raised his troops and ravaged Guanzhong, Li Ji held hundreds of thousands of troops but remained indifferent. Some people had long speculated that he was either waiting for the destruction of the East Palace to take the opportunity to destroy Guan Long and establish a new crown prince, or that he had already concluded an alliance and reached a deal with Guan Long in advance, and just waited. Sit back and enjoy the results. Sitting back and watching Yuchi Gong run around on Guan Long's orders seems to have confirmed the existence of a transaction between Li Ji and Guan Long. Otherwise, why not punish Yuchi Gong with military law?
Nowadays, there are very few people in the Eastern Expedition army who have anything to do with Guan Long. Most of them are angry about Guan Long's army. Once it is determined that there is a transaction between Li Ji and Guan Long, it will immediately lead to the disunity of the army and a split within the army.
Li Ji put down the battle report in his hand, glanced at Zhang Liang, and said: "I am very pleased that Duke Yun is so keen on military affairs. Why don't you let Duke Yun hold my military order and enter the right marquis guard to capture Wei Chi Gong and bring him to justice?" , severely punished by military law to serve as a warning to others.”
Zhang Liang was startled and quickly shook his head: "You can't do it! The Duke of E is now ignoring military orders and obeying orders from Guanlong. If anyone rushes to Youhouwei, won't he be put on the knife's edge? Is it because I'm afraid of death? It is really meaningless to die in such a way, we should think about it in the long term..."
He was really afraid that Li Ji would issue a military order asking him to rush to the Youhou Guards to capture Wei Chi Gong...
Fear of death is one thing, but he also has a private agreement with Changsun Wuji. If he captures Yuchi Gong and is finally punished by Li Ji, causing the last Guanlong army to collapse, Changsun Wuji will not go to him to fight for his life?
Li Ji took a sip of tea and said: "The Duke of Yun is a sensible person, and this is exactly the truth. Although the Duke of E has disobeyed military orders, if he uses strong methods to punish the crime at this time, it will inevitably lead to violent conflicts, exacerbating the already tense situation. Oil is becoming increasingly difficult to control, so we must focus on the overall situation.”
Zhang Liang nodded repeatedly and did not dare to say more.
Li Ji then looked at Zhou Daowu and said in a cold tone: "General Zhou escorted the prisoners back to the Tang Dynasty first. Why did the commander-in-chief refuse to set off from Liaodong despite the urging of several military orders, and now he is so late?"
Zhou Daowu quickly stood up and knelt down on one knee: "The general evacuated from Pingrang City and chose to return to Datang by land through Liaodong. Unexpectedly, he encountered a heavy snowstorm on the way. It lasted for several days. The road was impassable and countless soldiers suffered from frostbite. We had to stay in Liaodong City temporarily. When the road is clear in spring, we will set off again.”
Killing prisoners was a taboo. Once the royal censors and celebrities in the world made noise about this, Li Ji was likely to throw him out to calm the public anger, which made him frightened.
However, what we fear most often comes...
Li Ji stood up, put his hands behind his hands and stared at Zhou Daowu condescendingly, and said slowly: "I have received dozens of letters reporting that you abused prisoners and even killed them to reduce the burden. I wonder what General Zhou's explanation is for this?"
Zhou Daowu was shocked, his face turned pale with fright, and he hurriedly defended: "Commander Mingjian, this is slander! It is true that the prisoners escorted by the last general suffered heavy casualties, but they were all due to heavy snowfall and natural disasters in Liaodong, and there was a serious shortage of soldiers in the army. Winter supplies, this This resulted in a large number of casualties among the prisoners, as well as among the soldiers in the army. The general couldn’t kill his own brothers, right? Such accusations are simply insane. I hope the commander understands this clearly!”
Li Ji sighed, stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, with a gentle tone: "General Zhou was ordered to escort the prisoners, which is a hard job. I also believe that the heavy snowfall caused the prisoners to suffer heavy casualties... But you have to know, Although this eastern expedition destroyed Gaoju, Li, but our army of hundreds of thousands was completely defeated. It was the Royal Navy that was responsible for the destruction of the country. The army of hundreds of thousands was so powerful that it wasted countless money and food, but ultimately fell short... Someone always has to take responsibility for this kind of thing. .”
"Uh..." Zhou Daowu was stunned for a moment.
He grew up in a palace and came from a noble family. He was used to political battles and power struggles, so he agreed with Li Ji's statement. In the end, someone needs to bear responsibility for everything, whether it is merit or fault. If a nationwide battle ended in defeat, and caused His Majesty Li Er to be seriously injured and comatose, and he did not know whether he was alive or dead, someone must bear the responsibility.
But the problem is that Zhou Daowu is not even a general in charge of the army, and he only accepts the task of escorting prisoners. No one will put the responsibility for the defeat on his head, right?
Zhang Liang, who was standing aside, quietly added: "Torturing prisoners harms the peace of heaven, which is something a saint would not do... Now many people in Chang'an City are clamoring, saying that God has the virtue of good life, and it is precisely because our army tortures and kills prisoners that this That led to the wrath of heaven, making this victory inevitable Incidents in the war escalated, and ultimately the victory fell short... What's more, some people said that it was because of General Zhou's brutal killing of prisoners that he suffered karmic retribution and suffered divine punishment, which caused His Majesty to be accidentally injured and fell from his horse. "General Zhou, these public opinions are very unfavorable to you." br>
"What?!"
Zhou Daowu felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He was stunned, his face turned pale and he was at a loss.
I was just escorting a few prisoners, but how could I be involved in the defeat of the Eastern Expeditionary Army? Can I be blamed for His Majesty's fall from his horse?
After being stunned for a long time, Zhou Daowu finally came back to his senses, squeezing his neck and shouting: "Commander, the general is unjust! How can your majesty's rich body be punished by God because of the weak general? Not to mention the large number of casualties among the prisoners. It was after winter, and the army had already begun to withdraw from Pingrang City, so it didn’t matter at all.”
He understands the power of public opinion very well. There is a saying that "A lot of words make a fortune, but accumulation destroys bones." When everyone accuses you with one voice, it doesn't matter whether you did it or not. The important thing is that the top management will often regard you as Deal with it to calm public grievances and eliminate public opinion.
So what if he is the current prince-in-law?
There are countless princesses and countless princes-in-law, which are nothing to mention in terms of the stability of the regime and the direction of public opinion...
Li Ji sighed and said: "You are under my command, how can I not protect you? It's just that the killing of prisoners has a great impact and cannot be quelled silently. How about this, you return to Chang'an immediately and meet with His Highness the Prince to hand over military affairs. , please the prince to come forward to clear your name, so that you can be safe." (End of this chapter)