Man Chong, who had a face full of anger, slapped the case and reprimanded him angrily, even spilling the wine cups on the table, which also made Li Changshi, who came to report, smile bitterly.
With Xia Houhui's current position, he cannot directly report military affairs to Man Chong.
Therefore, he found Li Changshi and told him exactly what happened.
And quite responsible.
In order to allow Huang Ji and the families of other knights who died in the battle to receive pensions, he did not mention that everyone expected to return with the prisoners.
But this also made Man Chong despise him.
Yes, contempt.
It is normal for high-spirited young people to commit crimes such as slight disobedience to general orders and greed for merit.
Not to mention that Xia Houhui, who was the founder of Qiao Pei, was sent to Huainan by the leftist exile. It is understandable that he is eager for fame and wants to make some achievements.
What was really unacceptable to Man Chong was that after Xia Houhui succeeded in attacking the Fuling garrison, he was so unpopular that he escorted the prisoners and returned with weapons, resulting in the death of twelve scouts.
How can people not be despised by people who forget their lives for small profits and still have luck on the battlefield?
People who are not worthy of training are naturally not worthy of being spared.
He had already thought about how to deal with it this way.
For the sake of Qiao Pei's successor, he did not make comments that would affect Xia Houhui's future career, such as "courage but no plan, eager for quick success and no military strategy", but he did not want him to continue to serve as the chief of the scout camp. He directly violated the law.
The general ordered him to report to the temple why he was greedy for merit and rushed forward, claiming that he was not suitable for guarding the border and told him to go back to where he came from.
However, before he could speak for Li Changshi to draft the memorial, Li Changshi took the lead to speak out.
It was an angry rebuke filled with righteous indignation.
say:
"What the general said is absolutely true! That Xiahou Zhiquan is a short-sighted and contemptuous man! When he was released to Huainan, Your Majesty still added a postscript saying that he was 'brave and resourceful, and should not be looked down upon by ordinary people'. However,
He failed to live up to His Majesty's expectations. He actually ignored the general's orders and advanced rashly. Although he gained more than a hundred levels, obtained weapons and burned down the Fuling garrison, he allowed twelve of our elite scouts to die in battle and lost our army.
Awesome! How can such a person be allowed to serve as the chief of the scout camp?"
After scolding him angrily, without waiting for Man Chong to say anything, he bowed his hands and continued to remonstrate.
"General, I was blind and blind, and recommended him as the commander of the scout camp. As a result, I cannot escape the blame for today's incident. Please give me the general's staff to teach you the law of war! And behead Xiahou Zhiquan to show the public, as a warning to others.
!”
After saying that, he bowed deeply and waited for Man Chong's treatment.
But as soon as Man Chong finished listening, he calmed down and sat down.
Moreover, he poured himself a cup and drank it leisurely, directly treating Li Changshi as if he did not exist.
He has been immersed in the official career for most of his life. How could he not hear that what Li Changshi said was ironic?
You will know it if you think about it carefully.
First he echoed his own statement and angrily denounced Xia Houhui as a mean man, and then mentioned that Emperor Cao Rui praised him for being "brave and resourceful". What did he mean? It was clearly a veiled admonishment, asking him to deal with it carefully and not to let others criticize him.
Accusing the emperor of not having the knowledge to understand people~
Also, he deliberately put the captured and dead twelve scouts together to accuse Xiahou Hui of losing military prestige, and suggested that he beheaded in public display in accordance with military law.
Can this reason convince the public?
It is clearly claiming that the army is full of despicable people and will not consider the difference between elite scouts and Jiangdong soldiers. They will only count the number of beheadings. If Man Chong punishes Xia Houhui for this reason, it will cause dissatisfaction among the soldiers in the army.
Well~
After all, Li Changshi was trying to excuse Xia Houhui, asking him to be more lenient and give him a lighter sentence.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Man Chong just ignored him.
There was silence in the inner hall for a while.
Li Changshi, who kept bowing and saluted, but received a favored response for a long time, turned his head slightly and glanced furtively.
When he saw Man Chong just minding his own drinking, he straightened up, smiled without any embarrassment, and said slowly, "General, the loss of twelve elite scouts cannot be entirely blamed on Xiahou Zhiquan's greed.
The shortcomings were due to bad luck. If the thief general Ding Feng, led by Wu General, had not led his troops to pursue him with strong crossbows, Zhiquan would have succeeded in defeating him. The thief general Ding Feng was quite brave, and our army had not been able to do so before.
The general has heard that Shao Pi will die at his hands."
Man Chong listened but didn't even raise his eyelids.
Li Changshi didn't mind this either.
He sat down on his side first, picked up the wine bag and poured a glass for Man Chong and himself respectively, and then he sighed loudly and muttered to himself sadly.
"well"
"Previously, Zhang Wenyuan guarded Huainan and shocked Xiaoyaojin, making the children in Jiangdong stop crying."
"Emperor Wen of the Later Dynasty failed to attack the traitor Wu three times, so the traitor Wu was afraid of our country Wei and often raised troops to invade the country."
"Later, Grand Sima did not listen to others' advice and was defeated by Shiting. This made our Wei State on the eastern front no longer have the power to attack Wu. It also made the thief Wu Sunquan wantonly from then on. He actually assumed the title of Emperor and moved the capital to build an industry. He regarded us as a soldier in Huainan.
It will be like nothing!”
"What a pity!"
"General, you may not know that I have been serving in Huainan for more than ten years. When I am getting old, I have witnessed our country Wei being bullied by the bandit Wu. I often hate it! I also look forward to seeing my country Wei revitalize its army in my lifetime."
This is the time when the thief Wu is in panic all day long. Although Hou Zhiquan has made mistakes this summer, he still killed more than a hundred people and returned, and his achievements are not equal. Therefore, I also ask the general to watch our troops after the battle of Shiting.
It is because there are few generals who have the courage to fight, so we will not hold them accountable for their faults."
This time Man Chong listened and no longer ignored him. Instead, he put down his wine cup, dipped his beard and pondered.
When Li Changshi saw it, he couldn't help but add something while the iron was hot.
"Furthermore, no matter how unbearable Xiahou Zhiquan is, he is still a man of great talent to Your Majesty. If the general does not miss him young and allows him to have a chance to change, this is also an act of training generals for the country and benefiting the country."
"Chang Shi Mo persuaded me."
He waved his hands impatiently, Man Chong looked solemnly, and stared at Li Changshi for a while, before he asked with confusion, "Xiahou Zhiquan is young, and he has never interacted with Chang Shi before.
, and he has only been in Huainan for a short period of time, why did Chang Shi protect him so much? Furthermore, my original intention was just to send him back to Luoyang, and I did not intend to deal with him under military law. Why did Chang Shi do so much?
Are you talking about Xiang Xie?"
Upon hearing this, Li Changshi immediately calmed down and returned to his original serious look.
He looked at Man Chong with burning eyes and replied loudly, "No one else. One is that Xiahou Zhiquan and I are both Qiao Pei. The other is that I know that you are in Huainan now, and only Xiahou Zhiquan is Qiao Pei."
He is a son of the founding father; and he is the only one who has been privately asked by Your Majesty, the General, and me to take care of him."
Uh~
It turns out that this is the case because there are no successors for the clan generals who defended the country...
Man Chong's face showed surprise.
At an advanced age, he is already tired of the turmoil in his official career, and he is even more intolerant of the sloppiness of being a fool.
For example, when he returned to the capital Luoyang to report on his duties, he also learned about Wang Ling's private criticism of him, so he asked the emperor Cao Rui to stay in Luoyang and serve. However, the emperor encouraged him with the story of Lian Po and Ma Yuan. He claimed that Huainan could not be settled except for him, which made him frustrated.
"Oh, that's all."
After pondering for a while, he picked up the wine cup and drank it all in one gulp, sighing leisurely, "Xiahou Zhiquan is waiting outside, right? Chang Shi, please call him in."
"Wei, thank you, General, for your understanding."
Seeing that he finally relented, Li Changshi thanked him happily and stood up to go out of the inner hall.
After a while, he brought Xia Houhui in.
"The last general, Xia Houhui, pays homage to General Zhengdong."
As soon as he entered, Xia Houhui gave a military salute respectfully.
"If you violate the general's orders, you will be punished with a stick according to the law, and please ask the court to transfer you out of Huainan."
Man Chong squinted his eyes and said in an unhurried voice, "However, Li Changshi will say something for you. I think you are the first offender and you have achieved quite a lot, so I will not record your achievements and punish you for one day at the city gate." Yue, are you convinced?"
Of course I am convinced~
I still expect to be by your side, waiting for the thief Wu Sunquan to attack!
Immediately, Xia Houhui breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly thanked him, "I am convinced, and it is not a sin to thank the general!"
"If there is a next time, both crimes will be punished and beheaded!"
But as soon as he finished speaking, Man Chong's voice suddenly became stern, revealing his decisive and murderous spirit, which also made Li Changshi and Xia Houhui fall into silence for an instant.
The inner hall was silent for a while again.
Perhaps it was because Xia Houhui's forearm and waist were still slightly stained with blood.
After a while, Man Chong's expression softened a little and she waved her hand, "Everyone, please go out and don't disturb my drinking pleasure."
"only."
After leaving the inner hall and turning around the outer hall of Li Changshi's office, Xia Houhui's expression relaxed.
At that moment, he really felt Man Chong's killing intent.
Moreover, Man Chong, who once imprisoned and tortured Yang Biao, the fourth generation and the third prince, really did not care about his status as a Qiao Pei Yuanxun, so he beheaded him with the marching law!
Alas~
For the sake of military merit, it is better not to offend him in the future.
With a secret thought in his heart, Xia Houhui bowed his head to Li Changshi, "I will never forget the kindness of Changshi through his mediation!"
"Zhiquan's words are serious."
Li Changshi smiled solemnly and said softly, "You and I are from the same village, so why do we need to see foreign evil? Well, Zhiquan is injured. Let's go back to find a doctor first. Don't delay."
Three days later.
The scout camp received rewards, and the pensions for those killed in the war were transferred to their families by Yousi.
And Xia Houhui also began to serve as a gatekeeper, standing at the gate of Shouchun City all day long as a pawn on guard duty with a spear.
In this regard, whenever the cavalrymen of the scout battalion went out to inquire, when they led their horses through the city gate, they would give a very respectful military salute before mounting their horses and leaving.
They were truly convinced of Xia Houhui.
After all, they get the benefits, but Xia Houhui bears the blame alone. Where can I find such an officer~
The deceased is like a man who never gives up day and night.
Before I knew it, it was already the end of September in late autumn.
Xia Houhui, who had received his punishment long ago and worked diligently and peacefully every day, received a letter from his family and a message from Li Changshi telling him to go back to "visit relatives".
The family letter was brought personally by Uncle Sun's eldest son, Sun Kan, who settled in Qiao County.
The content is nothing more than informing him about the children he had adopted and placed in the past few months, the recent situation of Yangquwu Fort, and other trivial matters.
And the message Li Changshi conveyed~
It was Emperor Cao Rui who asked him to take leave to visit relatives and rush to Xuchang Palace immediately.