Chapter 746 Trampling
Xi Shen had no idea what was happening. He swallowed his saliva and looked at the ring-shou knife inserted in front of his eyes, feeling horrified.
Just because it was inserted into the soil with the scabbard.
Immediately, he kowtowed to Zhang Chong in sorrow and fear:
"Your Majesty, the general deserves to die, but I don't know what went wrong with the general? The king wants to kill the general..."
Zhang Chong interrupted Xi Shen's remaining words and sneered:
"You still dare to quibble at this time, so let me ask you, why don't you report it to the general as soon as possible?"
Xi Shen was confused. He didn't understand what was wrong with this? He surrounded Liu Bei and even suffered heavy casualties in order to attack the mountain.
Yes, it’s true that I didn’t report it right away, but what’s wrong with that? Didn't you Zhang Chong also say that it is the duty of a general to act decisively before the battle?
What's wrong with him?
So he felt a little aggrieved and said:
"The general surrounded Liu Bei and others on this mountain half an hour ago, and then he did not dare to delay in selecting troops to attack the mountain without any slack."
Zhang Chong was very impatient and asked directly:
"Let me ask you, why didn't you send me the military report as soon as possible?"
Xi Shen was already a little panicked at this time. He swallowed and organized again:
"The final general wants to take Zhang Fei's head to lay the foundation for the Guo Liang brothers."
At this time, Zhang Chong angrily slapped the case and cursed:
"So you know that Guo Liang has died at the hands of Zhang Fei, so you want to use Zhang Fei's head to ask for military honors. So you know that I searched the battlefield and couldn't find Zhang Fei, but you are still here Want to win people’s hearts?”
Zhang Chong's speech speed is faster than the previous sentence, and each sentence is heavier than the previous sentence. Especially after the last sentence "inviting to buy people's hearts" is spoken, it is even more powerful.
Xi Shen directly put his head on the ground and begged:
"The last general will not dare, the last general will not dare, the last general will not dare."
Zhang Chong's words of "inviting to buy people's hearts" just now directly broke through Xi Shen's guard. For a moment, Xi Shen's mind went blank and he didn't know what to say, so he could only kowtow and beg for mercy.
After Zhang Chong finished saying this, he calmed down surprisingly. He asked Xi Shen again:
"I've always heard that there are four generals in your army. I wonder why I haven't seen him now?"
No one present dared to raise their head to answer Zhang Chong, just because Zhang Chong today was too terrifying. In the past, King Zhang always left the thunder to his enemies and gave warmth to his brothers. But when the thunder hit their heads, they understood the horror of the king's wrath.
Seeing Xi Shen still begging for mercy, Zhang Chong said calmly:
"I know everything you did. The reason why I transferred you back to Yecheng from Heji was because Heifu said that you formed a clique for personal gain so that you could use your personal life. But at that time, I saw that you were not neglecting official duties, so I gave up. . After all, I can’t ask all of you to be selfless people. Sometimes, as long as you don’t delay official business, I will turn a blind eye.”
"But what about you? You think I'm easy to bully. Do you think I, Zhang Chong, am my mother-in-law?..."
At this time, Xi Shen suddenly straightened his back and asked slowly:
"Your Majesty, how dare I, Xi Shen, to bully your Majesty? When did I dare to bully your Majesty? If Your Majesty wants to kill me, just say a few words. The general will kill himself here, so why use such language to slander me? "
At this time, Xi Shen's behavior was very abnormal. All the other knights glared at him, but only Xu Huang was more concerned. He saw someone flashing past the tent outside, and followed him out uneasy.
At this time, in the military tent, Xi Shen's tone became increasingly "harder". He began to talk about his meritorious deeds one after another. What he meant in his words was, Your Majesty, are you confused today? Now that Yuan Shao's enemy has not been eliminated, he must kill his own general first. Isn't this stupid?
When Xi Shen started to debate, Zhang Chong squinted his eyes and sneered. He simply didn't say anything and let Xi Shen finish.
Xi Shen didn't know whether he felt that he had something to rely on today, or whether he felt that he could not escape death and just said it openly.
He began to accuse Zhang Chong one by one:
"Your Majesty, my brothers have followed you through birth and death, and then what? In the end, you became the king, and we old brothers are still spinning around in circles. When the great ancestor conquered the world, the first step was to ennoble the heroes and retire with the country. But then What? You’re not even willing to entrust your own brother, what can we hope for?”
As he said this, he pointed at people like Li Hu and complained about them:
"None of us want to climb the dragon's scales and have the phoenix's tail. We want to be a master of men. If you don't deserve it, just let the beasts and horses go and endure the hardships. So many battles have been fought, so many people have died, and you can't even be a marquis." None, isn’t it a vain fight?”
Xi Shen's words simply stirred up a storm. Old people like Li Hu were trembling with anger. He was afraid that he would be implicated by his grandson, so he just said:
"Fart, you are a ridiculous bitch. You want glory and wealth, so don't take us with you? Do you know what Huangtian's great cause is?"
It's okay if Li Hu didn't talk about Huang Tian's great cause. When he mentioned this, Xi Shen really laughed so hard that tears and runny nose came out. He stood up directly, then put his hands on his hips, turned to look at Li Hu, and cursed:
"Repay Huang Tian's great cause. These are just scams that Zhang Chong used to deceive you and others into giving up their lives. Li Hu, when your brother Li Tao and we died in the battle to suppress Shanliao in Mount Tai, did Huang Tian's great cause exist? At that time, that Zhang Chong just told you to burn your brother's body. Damn it, this is called a dead body, you know? Then Zhang Chong told you to burn it. "
"So, you understand, idiot, that's all a lie to you. You guys can't even recognize a few words, you know nothing about Daye, you know nothing about Huang Tian, are you full?"
Li Hu did not argue with Xi Shen, but directly took out the knife and walked towards Xi Shen.
But Zhang Chong shook his head and stopped Li Hu. He shrugged and said to everyone in the military tent:
"It doesn't matter, let him talk. And I know he must have a lot to say."
Then he pointed his halberd at Xi Shen and mocked:
"You are also an old man of our Taishan Army. You also know the history and style of our army. Now I want to see what you can say. Let me see how our Taishan Army deceives the world and steals its reputation."< br>
This time, Xi Shen fell silent.
Because he knows very well that he can only talk about these things at most. In terms of righteousness, the Taishan Army is undoubtedly the army and group with the highest moral standards in this era.
He himself was from a lower-class background, and evil young men like him seemed to be gathering in the world, but in fact they were just the dogs of local powerful men. Today they took over the business, and tomorrow they will demand a meal from this person.
The place where Xi Shen truly gained his dignity was in the Taishan Army.
But why do you, Zhang Chong, target me? Why are you forcing me to die?
So he first said in a low tone:
"Your Majesty, I have made meritorious service to the Kingdom of Heaven, and I have never done anything to disgrace the Kingdom of Heaven. I just want a fair treatment."
Zhang Chong had no expression on his face and just asked:
"How fair do you want it to be."
Xi Shen did not answer this directly, but pointed to the back, which is the direction of Badou Mountain, and said loudly:
"I don't want to see brother Guo Liang die with his eyes open. His head is still in the hands of Zhang Fei. Please give me a chance to kill Zhang Fei. What punishment will the king have after that? Xi Shen dare not have a trace of resentment." .”
Zhang Chong nodded and said:
"If you dare not have any grievances, then you have grievances. Come on, talk about your grievances first, otherwise the brothers will see it and think that I, Zhang Chong, am some kind of murderer?"
When Xi Shen heard Zhang Chong say "kill", he was stunned. He didn't expect that Zhang Chong would not give him a way to survive. He still wanted to kill him despite what he said. At this moment, he asked with grief and anger:
"Your Majesty, you pursue the greatest lord in the world, but why is it so unfair to me, Xi Shen? I would like to ask, if I, Xi Shen, had not stopped Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, would they have fled the battlefield by now?"
Zhang Chong nodded, which means you are right.
Seeing that Zhang Chong admitted it, Xi Shen said again:
"Your Majesty, have you always pursued legal punishment for crimes, saying that punishment must be based on guilt? Then may I ask which crime Xi Shen committed?"
Seeing that Zhang Chong still didn't speak, Xi Shen, who thought he had taken the high point, asked again:
"I have both merit and innocence, so why did the king want to kill me? Why did he kill Zhongliang?"
As he spoke, he said sadly to the knights:
"You guys are just looking at it like this. How come today's situation where I am pranking you is not the result of you in the future?"
To be honest, many old brothers didn't know why Zhang Chong insisted on killing Xi Shen. From their perspective, Xi Shen had meritorious service after all. As for not reporting it immediately, it was just because of his eagerness to make meritorious service.
This is originally the space for the front-line generals to make decisions freely. You can't just ask the king for instructions before taking action. Then what do you want them as generals to do?
There is another point that they are also concerned about, that is, the king's behavior today is so abnormal that killing someone is a crime, let alone a general of Xi Shen's level.
But unfortunately, when Xi Shen said the last words, even those who wanted to persuade him did not dare to come forward.
If you say this and they try to persuade you again, won't you tell the king that they are worried about themselves in the future? Isn't this taboo?
So, everyone looked at each other in silence.
But wordless silence is also an attitude, so Zhang Chong naturally felt it. He clapped his hands and gave Xi Shen a thumbs up. He said to Xi Shen seriously:
"I thought you were a figure back then, but once the evil party in Yanzhou dared to rob the son of the current prince, you were brave and dared to do things, so I used you."
"But I didn't expect that you, Xi Shen, have developed such a good eloquence after all these years of experience. I see that many people present have been moved by your persuasion, and they all think that I am persecuting you. So it's no wonder that you can win over a group of people. Batch people and support a group of dead soldiers?”
When Zhang Chong mentioned the dead soldier, Xi Shen was startled and doubtful. He subconsciously glanced at the corner and saw that the man was no longer in the tent, so his heart became more stable. Then he continued to listen to Zhang Chong's words with an expressionless face, as if everything was over. It's slander.
Zhang Chong spread his fingers and said to Xi Shen:
"I gave you three opportunities, but you failed to seize them each time. The first time you formed a clique in Jiyin and squeezed out Heifu and other military officials. The second time was when you fought with me in Liucheng, and your attitude was ambiguous. My main force was surrounded, but I still chose to stay on the south bank and not advance. The third time, you made friends with the imperial officials in Yanzhou. I gave repeated orders to you about sectarianism, and even asked Du Man to mention it to you, but you still didn't realize it."
At this time, Zhang Chong walked up to Xi Shen, smiled and said to Xi Shen:
"You are very smart, and you have a good way of fighting. And as you said, you have not failed the Taishan Army. You have made great contributions and shed blood and sweat. So I gave you three chances. Even, you hidden the military field in Heji I only see it being used to raise troops for myself, and I don’t want to do anything about it.”
Zhang Chong patted Xi Shen, who was already trembling all over, and said solemnly:
"Because I have always believed in one thing, and that is that everything is tested on the battlefield. It tests a person's loyalty and his quality. But unfortunately, you are not qualified."
As he spoke, Zhang Chong poked Xi Shen's chest with his finger, clicked on one sentence and said:
"Do you know why the first thing I said when I met you was that you make me sick? Because you, a piece of trash, dare to use your dirty thoughts on A Liang. Do you want to exchange for your reputation with A Liang's death? In your heart, A trace of sadness for the death of Paoze? Even so, I never thought about killing you with my own hands, but wanted you to commit suicide to save yourself some dignity.”
At this point, Zhang Chong slapped Xi Shen on the face and drove him to the door of the tent.
He pointed at Xi Shen on the ground and cursed:
"But you bitch is so dirty that you have tarnished a noble cause, tarnished the sacredness for which countless people died. You don't understand. You can say nothing, or you can choose to leave. But you will never be allowed to use your pathetic You have a dirty mind to slander the cause that others have devoted their lives to. You are not sorry for me, but for the brothers who died in the war.”
Speaking of this, Zhang Chong felt inexplicably uncomfortable. He suppressed his emotions and told a fact lightly:
"In this world, the noble people have always used their death to awaken the public, while the despicable people have survived and had the last laugh. But I, Zhang Chong, feel uncomfortable with this matter. If I don't feel comfortable, I have to change it. Since the noble people can't be awakened with blood. People, let these despicable people simply die.”
With that said, Zhang Chong walked towards Xi Shen and wanted to give him the final judgment.
But Xi Shen suddenly jumped up and ran outside the tent. Hearing the countless footsteps behind him, he roared:
"Zhang Chong, if you insult me like this, you will understand the wrath of a common man and the true nature of my evil party. Don't talk about you Zhang Chong today. Even if Emperor Huang Tian comes, I will kill him."< br>
As he spoke, he shouted to the people behind him:
"Huang Xu, kill all these people. Kill Zhang Chong, and I will lead the brothers to create great achievements."
But what responded to him was not Huang Xu's voice, but Xu Huang's big foot, which kicked Xi Shen back to Zhang Chong's feet.
Xi Shen vomited a mouthful of blood and looked outside the tent in disbelief.
There, his cronies, Huang Xu, were tied behind their backs by Wu Xian, Qiu Gong, and Li Hui. Xu Huang was holding his fists in the tent and said to Zhang Chong:
"Your Majesty, this Huang Xu dog slave actually instigated the officials of the Flying Leopard Army to commit rebellion. Fortunately, everyone in the Flying Leopard Army was loyal to the King and decisively suppressed Huang Xu and others."
Xi Shen didn't understand why this happened. He looked at Wu Xian, Qiu Gong, and Li Hui in disbelief:
"Why did you betray me?"
But the three of them didn't answer him at all.
Zhang Chong looked at Xi Shen who was like a dead dog at his feet, and sneered contemptuously:
"Betrayal? You betrayed the great cause!"
With that said, Zhang Chong stepped on Xi Shen's neck with his foot. With a strong force, the garlic-haired general was trampled and his neck was broken like a dead chicken.
After doing all this, Zhang Chong stepped over Xi Shen's body. He didn't think Xi Shen could survive any storm. He had only one purpose here, which was to get back Guo Liang's head and end it all with his own hands.
Then he issued the first military order in front of the generals:
"Dian Wei, Li Damu, Ma Chao, and Pang De received the order."
Then the four generals who had been on guard with their swords drawn all stepped out and sang to Zhang Chong:
"The end will be here."
Zhang Chong faced Badou Mountain ahead, waved his arm and roared:
"Take Badou Mountain for me within half an hour, otherwise I will attack the mountain myself with General Hengchang!"
Then, without waiting for Zhang Chong to say anything, Dian Wei, Li Damu, Ma Chao, and Pang De leaped out in armor, and each led their troops to Badou Mountain.