Chapter 351: False reporting of soldiers in Prancing Horse Town
There is no airtight wall in the world, not to mention that Mi Yang's act of releasing his military power with a glass of wine last night was done in public.
Perhaps because of Mi Yang's behavior last night, all the military commanders in Liangzhou surrendered their military power, but it has always been a tradition for generals to let their close associates take charge of the army.
So after a night of fermentation, by early this morning, the middle-level general Yiying who was a close confidant of the generals in the Han army camp outside the city learned about this matter.
When this incident spread in the Han army camp, it instantly caused quite a stir in the Han army camp.
If Mi Yang simply confiscated the military power of the generals, given his prestige and his dominance, this matter would not cause much commotion.
Because this does not infringe on their interests.
But a group of middle-level generals learned from their commander that the reason why Mi Yang wanted to take away all the military power was to streamline the army.
When the middle-level generals in the Han army camp learned about this incident, some of them immediately felt like a poisonous snake that had been caught seven inches away, and began to feel fear in their hearts.
Everyone knows that if Mi Yang wants to streamline the army, the first step he must take is to take back military power, and the second step must be to sort out the actual situation of the soldiers in each battalion.
And it is precisely this that scares those generals the most.
Because in the past, these generals have falsely reported the number of soldiers and paid them empty wages.
False reporting of soldiers' pay was a chronic problem in ancient armies that could not be eliminated for a long time. This phenomenon was not only found in the Han Dynasty, but also in the armies of the other two armies.
As a master, there is no one who does not feel deeply disgusted by this phenomenon.
Because if this phenomenon is not suppressed, it will not only seriously affect the combat effectiveness of the army, but also greatly increase the financial burden of the country.
However, from the pre-Qin period to the present, and even for thousands of years in later generations, this phenomenon has been unable to be cured.
The root cause is that this behavior is an important way for some generals to seek benefits for themselves.
Compared with killing the enemy on the battlefield, it is faster and safer to obtain profits by falsely reporting the number of soldiers and taking advantage of their wages. How can this not make some generals flock to it?
But the generals who did this knew that their behavior was strictly prohibited by military orders.
So after learning about Mi Yang's intentions, some generals in the camp began to become nervous.
The strictness of Mi Yang's military law is known to all the world.
If once Mi Yang learns of their empty pay behavior, the best outcome for them will be to be dismissed from their military posts, or even be beheaded by Mi Yang in public.
Driven by fear in their hearts, some generals with evil intentions began to spread rumors in the Han army camp.
This rumor talks about Mi Yang's intention to eliminate all the tens of thousands of troops originally belonging to Hanzhong County, and then use the large amount of food and grass saved to support his direct army.
This rumor undoubtedly misinterprets Mi Yang's original intention, and even if examined carefully, there are still many loopholes.
But rumors, which ones can withstand scrutiny?
But as long as they are spread well, the destructive power of rumors can be very great.
Almost all of the tens of thousands of Han soldiers were from illiterate peasants, and many of them had no opinions of their own.
In addition, the person who spread this rumor was their superior officer, so this rumor spread at an extremely fast speed in the Han army camp.
When this rumor slowly fermented in the Han army camp, it immediately caused panic among many Han soldiers.
In troubled times, everyone is in danger. Under such circumstances, many people join the army. They just want to have a fixed place to go to survive.
Now, under the influence of rumors, many Han soldiers thought that Mi Yang was going to eliminate them all and let them fend for themselves. This kind of outcome was absolutely unacceptable to them.
Fortunately, Mi Yang's current reputation is enough to act as a strong deterrent, and a large number of generals in the Han army camp are not involved in this conspiracy.
Therefore, the camp roar did not immediately occur in the Han army camp, something that would be feared by anyone in charge of the army.
But as time goes by, once more and more Han troops believe this rumor, then even if there is no such thing as a camp roar in the Han camp, it will definitely cause a mutiny.
And this is exactly the result that those generals with evil intentions expected.
From the bottom of their hearts, they don't want to resist Mi Yang.
They just wanted to spread rumors to cause unrest in the Han army camp, and then use this to force Mi Yang to give up his plan to track down the soldiers in each camp.
So when they saw that the situation in the Han army's camp was slowly developing towards what they expected, they all secretly rejoiced in their hearts.
But what they didn't know was that there were some elite soldiers outside the Han army camp who were quickly approaching here.
This group of elite soldiers was led by Wei Yan and other generals.
The Han army's camp outside Nanzheng was originally established to defend Nanzheng City, so the Han army's camp was not far from Nanzheng City.
In addition, Wei Yan and other generals were anxious, so they arrived outside the Han army's camp only half an hour later.
When Wei Yan arrived outside the Han army's camp, he immediately discovered something unusual.
The vast military camp in front of him was built when he was the governor of Hanzhong.
After building this military camp, in order to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army, he issued a strict order that on the fifth day of every month, the soldiers in the camp should start training at dawn.
Today is the day when tens of thousands of Han troops in the Han army camp begin training.
The sun is already high in the sky, but in the camp with tens of thousands of Han troops, there are no training shouts. This is very suspicious.
When this happens, there are only two possibilities.
One possibility is that Wu Yi later canceled the training system he set, but Wu Yi is also a man who knows soldiers, and there is no reason for him to do this.
Then there is only one possibility left.
An accident is brewing in the Han army camp, which prevents tens of thousands of troops from starting training smoothly.
After realizing this, Wei Yan immediately informed Ding Feng and others of his suspicion.
After Ding Feng and others learned about Wei Yan's guess, they all had heavy looks on their faces.
As Lu Yi said, the person who knew the Hanzhong army best was Wei Yan.
Therefore, when Wei Yan said this guess, Ding Feng and others believed in Wei Yan's guess.
Ding Feng and others looked at the thousands of elite soldiers brought behind them, and thought that an accident might be brewing in the camp in front of them. Fu Qian was the first to suggest to Wei Yan:
"If, as the general said, there has been turmoil in the camp, then it is useless for us to go there now.
I can quickly return to Nanzheng to report the matter to Zhou Mu, and it won’t be too late to wait for Zhou Mu’s decision before taking any action.”
After the Battle of Xiangfan, Fu Wei shamelessly visited Mi Yang and asked for a military position for his son Fu Qian.
Mi Yang, who knew history, had a good impression of Fu Wei and Fu Qian, and he readily agreed to Fu Wei's request.
Fu Qian is now a Sima of another department directly under the command of Mi Yang.
Fu Qian has been trained by Fu Wei since he was a child. Under Fu Wei's influence, he has a calm personality that is inconsistent with his peers.
In addition, Fu Qian had seen turmoil in the military camp, which was extremely dangerous for anyone.
So he would make such a suggestion.
But after Wei Yan listened to Fu Qian's suggestion, he shook his head decisively.
Compared with Fu Qian, Wei Yan, who climbed up from the bottom step by step, has very rich experience.
He carefully observed the outer perimeter of the Han army's camp with a pair of tiger eyes. He saw that the outer defense measures of the Han army's camp were still very complete.
Coupled with the fact that there were no noisy shouts of killing coming from the camp, he quickly came to a conclusion.
He raised the whip in his hand and pointed at the Han army camp ahead and said:
"I expect that the situation in the camp is not too bad now. Otherwise, if there were a large number of rioters in the camp, the camp would not be so quiet and the gate of the camp would have been destroyed by the rebels."
"Although I also suspect that there may be unrest in the camp, I believe that most of the soldiers in the camp are unwilling to rebel.
But they must be indecisive now, and they should be comforted as soon as possible while they are hesitating.
"What's more, when Zhou Mu sent us here, didn't he assume that there would be some unrest in the camp, so he asked us to solve it?
If we have to ask the State Shepherd for instructions on everything outside the camp and delay important matters, what else does the State Shepherd want subordinates like us to do?
If I cannot put down the rebellion, I will suffer disaster, but I am still fulfilling my duty!"
After saying these words, Wei Yan resolutely mounted his horse and continued to approach the Han army camp.
Wei Yan's courageous words and his unstoppable actions greatly inspired Ding Feng and others behind him.
Ding Feng and other generals were originally brave people. Even Fu Qian only suggested that to Wei Yan out of safety considerations. This does not mean that he is timid.
So inspired by Wei Yan's words and actions, Ding Feng and others immediately led more than a thousand Han troops behind them and followed Wei Yan closely.
Soon after, Wei Yan rode his horse to the antlers on the outskirts of the Han army's camp. When he arrived, there were soldiers on the tower outside the Han army's camp firing arrows to stop him from moving forward.
Obstructed by arrows, Wei Yan stopped his horse's hoof.
After Wei Yan stopped, a voice of inquiry came from the barracks ten steps away in front of him.
When he heard the inquiry asking to prove his identity, Wei Yan took out the document Mi Yang gave him from his arms.
On the other hand, he reached out and took off the helmet on his head, completely revealing his appearance to the eyes of the soldiers on the barracks.
Wei Yan came from a humble background, so although he did not get along with most of his colleagues, he was very kind to the ordinary soldiers under his command.
Wei Yan did not serve as the governor of Hanzhong for a long time, but in those short few years, he had absolutely no low prestige among the army in Hanzhong by virtue of his love for his soldiers.
The most important thing is that many of Hanzhong's tens of thousands of troops have seen Wei Yan.
So when the Han soldiers on the barracks saw Wei Yan's appearance, their minds immediately recalled how Wei Yan had loved and cared for them in the past.
"It's Du, the former governor is back!"
Soon such sounds of joy resounded throughout the towers of the Han army's camp.
After hearing these sounds, Wei Yan had a smile on his face.
He held up the document in his hand and shouted to the soldiers on the camp building: "On the order of Zhou Mu, I am here to take charge of the army in the camp. Why don't you open the door quickly!"
When Wei Yan's shout reached the camp building, the soldiers led by Ding Feng and others also came behind Wei Yan.
Among the thousands of Han troops standing in rows behind Wei Yan, a guard of honor dedicated to Mi Yang was tied up high.
Each position of Champion Marquis, Liangzhou Mu, Zuo General, and Mi Yang has its own guard of honor.
And when so many ceremonial guards representing prominent power appeared in the eyes of the soldiers on the barracks, they looked at Wei Yan with even more awe.
The guard of honor is here, as if Mi Yang is here in person.
This was Mi Yang's insurance for Wei Yan because he was worried about unrest in the camp.
Now this insurance has taken effect very quickly.
After seeing this scene, although the Han troops in the camp were also affected by the rumors in the camp and had other thoughts in their hearts, they still quickly responded to Wei Yan's words with actions.
After a while, the camp gate, which was originally closed to Wei Yan and his group, opened to Wei Yan and his group with the combined efforts of the soldiers on the camp tower, making bursts of activating sounds.
As soon as the camp gate opened, Wei Yan couldn't wait to lead thousands of people behind him and rushed into the camp gate.
...
As time goes by, the turmoil at the school grounds, the center of the camp, is becoming increasingly uncontrollable.
More and more soldiers gathered in the school grounds under the influence of rumors.
They were supposed to be training today, but they all had their weapons handy.
And above the crowd of soldiers, there are many generals with ulterior motives spreading rumors.
"The state pastor is wise. He was only deceived by villains to issue such an order."
"We have been in the army for many years. If one day we are disarmed and return to the field, where will we go?"
"In order not to let the state pastor be deceived, and for the sake of our future, we cannot sit still and wait for death."
"We might as well rush out of the camp and go outside Nanzheng City to cry to Zhou Mu and let Zhou Mu make the decision for us."
...
The extremely bewitching words spread among the many soldiers, which quickly affected the hearts of many soldiers.
Those generals were smart. They did not directly tell the soldiers to raise troops to fight against Mi Yang. Otherwise, with Mi Yang's prestige, most of the soldiers present would have dispersed in an instant.
What they said could not only prevent many soldiers from dispersing, but also inspire their resistance to a great extent.
Under the ill-intentioned words of those generals, many soldiers indeed began to be eager to give it a try.
Of course, as Wei Yan said, most of the soldiers present have not been bewitched by the generals in a short period of time, but as time goes by, it is impossible to tell.
The people present were not only soldiers, but also many generals who had not participated in the seduction.
After most of the generals noticed this, their faces were full of anxiety.
It's just that since the two sides are of equal rank and the other side's words are obviously more deceptive, they can't do anything about it for the time being.
Just when the situation in the school grounds became more and more dangerous, a burst of rapid horse hooves sounded around the school grounds.
Soon after, Wei Yan, who was sitting on a tall horse, appeared in the eyes of everyone in and around the school grounds.
When they saw Wei Yan's appearance, many soldiers' faces showed joy, and the crowd began to riot involuntarily.
Their commander-in-chief has returned.
When Wei Yan came to the school grounds and heard those ridiculous words, he angrily pointed his riding whip at the generals who were spreading deceptive words on the high platform, and shouted at them:
"The villain you are talking about refers to me, Wei Yan!"
Wei Yan's voice was as loud as a bell, and he shouted angrily with all his strength, which quickly spread throughout the surrounding area.
At the same time, his rough face also showed a devouring look like a tiger and leopard!
Wei Yan's sudden appearance and his angry expression immediately frightened those generals with evil intentions.