Chapter 195 Zhuge Liang's Sword, Li Linfu's Handle

"I will investigate clearly what is right and what is wrong. If it is true, I will sympathize with you, but I will never tolerate your treason."

Li Xuan nodded slightly.

State-owned state laws, family rules.

If Li Xuan were Helian Chengying, he might do the same if he lost his mind.

But there are many unfair things in this world.

Personal grudges only represent bloodiness. If everyone follows suit, the country will be in chaos.

If Helian Chengying were pardoned for this reason, the various Hu tribes in Hexi would be difficult to manage in the future.

"Thank you, Li Shuai!"

Helian Chengying kowtowed to Li Xuan again.

With Li Xuan's words, he would have no regrets even if he died!

Li Xuan was the most prestigious person in Helong. The former border commanders such as Wang Jue, Gai Jiayun, Fu Menglingcha, and Huangfu Weiming were far inferior to him.

When people think of Li Xuan, they will think of Li Xuan's majesty and ignore Li Xuan's age.

After a while, Liu Zhiru, the envoy of the Moli Army, arrived with his cavalry, dismounted and bowed, "Greetings, General Li!"

"No need to be polite! General Liu learned about the rebellion of Moli Tuyuhun and did not take the initiative to attack. This is very rare. You are a general with vision."

After meeting Liu Zhiru, Li Xuan gave him affirmation and praise.

When Tuyuhun rebelled, Liu Zhiru took the initiative to attack, which was not considered a violation of military regulations. If he could pacify Moli Tuyuhun, it would be a great achievement.

If it were any other commander in the Moli Army, he might have already attacked with red eyes.

"General Li, you are too kind. I think Tuyuhun is besieging but not attacking, and they have 2,000 cavalry, which is more than the cavalry of the Moli Army. We should not fight hard for merit. Once the reinforcements arrive, it will be a very easy victory."

Liu Zhiru replied to Li Xuan. He was very happy to receive Li Xuan's praise.

"The chieftain of the Moli Tuyuhun tribe said that Xu Zhi, the deputy governor of Jinchang, killed more than 20 people from his tribe. Is this true?"

Li Xuan asked Liu Zhiru.

The Moli Army was stationed in Jinchang City and inevitably had to deal with the local officials of Jinchang.

However, the officials in Jinchang, even the prefect, had no right to give orders to the military envoys under the Jiedushi.

Whether to send troops when encountering an enemy is up to the military commander, who can even command the county troops.

"As a frontier general, I only know how to defend my country and am not familiar with the affairs of the county. The governor of Jinchang County has been urging me to wipe out the Moli Tuyuhun tribe, but I did not agree."

Liu Zhiru replied to Li Xuan.

"Well done. How dare the Jinchang governor command the border generals?"

Li Xuan nodded, then turned to Helian Chengying and said, "Go back and bring the witness to Jinchang City. Withdraw your tribe to the Mingshui tributary under the Great Snow Mountain, release the detained soldiers, and reopen the Silk Road."

"As ordered!"

After receiving the order, Helian Chengying hurried back.

After Li Xuan said this, the Moli Tuyuhun tribe immediately reopened the checkpoint on the Silk Road and the Tang army took over.

The Tuyuhun soldiers led their tribesmen to break camp and head towards their original garrison.

Helian Chengying left three thousand cattle and sheep as rewards for the Tang army soldiers, hoping to be forgiven for his people.

Li Xuan then asked Liu Zhiru to take him to Jinchang City.

"Meet the Governor!"

Jinchang County Governor Fan Changhai and Deputy Governor Xu Zhi, along with a group of assistants, came to the city gate to welcome Li Xuan.

Li Xuan, who also served as the interview ambassador for Hexi and Longyou, was like a sword hanging over their heads.

Unlike other interviews, Li Xuan doesn't tolerate any sand in her eyes, otherwise it will kill her...

"When I was in Chang'an, I longed for the Hexi Corridor and the Silk Road. I passed through Jiuquan and came to Jinchang. Although it was not a good life, fortunately I had some reputation, which stopped the war and no casualties were suffered."

"But I heard that you urged General Liu to go out of the city to fight. Are you holding the military scepter? Or the imperial edict? Does this make sense?"

Li Xuan was very rude and questioned the prefect Fan Changhai in a harsh voice.

Regardless of whether what Helian Chengying said was true, this alone made Li Xuan very unhappy.

"Governor, please calm down. We saw the rebels besieging the city and were worried about the danger, so we asked General Liu to go out of the city to suppress the rebels!" Fan Changhai said incoherently with cold sweat on his forehead.

I thought Li Xuan was just a young boy. Although he had great martial arts skills, he was young after all and would not be investigated in depth.

But they were caught off guard by the fact that they were caught and pursued relentlessly before they even entered the city.

"Since we know that Jinchang City is dangerous, what we should do is to defend Jinchang City, not to leave the city. Does the governor think that defending the city is more difficult than fighting on the plain? Mo Li's army has powerful crossbows, doesn't Jinchang City have thunder stones and rolling logs?"

Li Xuan sneered and refuted Fan Changhai's remarks.

Only these people would say that defending a city is harder than fighting in the field.

"It's my fault for not noticing it, it's my fault for being ignorant..."

Seeing Li Xuan's sharp words, Fan Changhai had no choice but to correct his mistake.

"Let's enter the city first!"

Li Xuan glanced at Fan Changhai, then glanced at Beijia, and said lightly.

Then he took Yan Zhenqing, Liu Zhiru and his personal guards and strode into Jinchang City.

Li Xuan did not go to the military envoy's residence, but went directly to the prefect's residence.

In the main hall, there were only Li Xuan, Yan Zhenqing, Liu Zhiru, Fan Changhai, Xu Zhi and the Chief Clerk of Jinchang County.

All the guards at the government office were replaced by the Shen Ce Guards.

Everything inside and outside, even the tea that is served, must be inspected by the Shen Ce Guards.

Before the tea was served, Li Xuan suddenly asked Fan Changhai: "A good governor would appease the local Hu tribe. You are also responsible for the rebellion of the Moli Tuyuhun tribe!"

"The chieftain of Moli Tuyuhun suddenly rebelled, and our subordinates were caught off guard. Before we had time to appease him, they cut off the Silk Road and besieged Jinchang."

Fan Changhai discovered that Li Xuan was confronting him, but a higher-ranking official could crush a person, not to mention that he was countless levels higher than him.

Just take the Duke of Chu, plus the Pillar of the State.

Which Jiedushi is treated like this?

"But I heard Chief Helian say that it was Governor Fan who led his men to kill more than 20 people from the Tuyuhun tribe, which led to such consequences!"

Li Xuan began to talk about this to Fan Changhai.

In fact, Helian Chengying did not mention Fan Changhai, but Li Xuan ignored Jinchang Beijia Xu Zhi and pinned the matter on Fan Changhai.

"Commander-in-chief, how could this happen? I have no grudges against Chief Helian and the Moli Tuyuhun tribe, so I would never do such a thing."

Fan Changhai seemed to have his tail stepped on, and immediately stood up to report to Li Xuan.

It seemed like Helian Chengying asked him to hand over Xu Zhi, so why would Li Xuan target him?
"Then why did Chief Helian rebel?"

Li Xuan asked again.

"Reporting to General Li, Helian Chengying must be the thief crying thief, he has evil intentions and wants to take advantage of this opportunity to establish his own regime!"

Fan Changhai guided Li Xuan to convict Helian Chengying of a serious crime.

"Haha... General Liu, you are a veteran of the battlefield and have been stationed in Jinchang for a long time. You are familiar with the topography and culture. What do you think is the probability that Helian Chengying will seize control of Jinchang County?"

Li Xuan laughed and asked Liu Zhiru who was sitting below.

"Reporting to General Li, the Moli Tuyuhun tribe has a total of 40,000 people, among which there are only 10,000 men aged 15 and above and under 50 who can participate in the battle. But they have neither strong crossbows nor strong armor. Let alone the Tang Dynasty, even compared with the Hexi Army, they are still a world away. Even if the Moli Army is not careful and they occupy Jinchang City, they can only be kings for a few days at most. After a few days, they will find that this is just a dream!"

Liu Zhiru's words were very insightful, he even assumed that the Mo Li army failed to defend Jinchang City.

so what?

When the reinforcements arrived, although Jinchang was large, the Moli Tuyuhun generals had nowhere to hide.

"There is an old saying: If you hold the map of the country in your left hand and cut your throat with your right hand, no fool would do it. Governor Fan, would you do it?"

Li Xuan looked at Fan Changhai with a sharp gaze.

Who would throw away his life for a few days of scenery?
In Jinchang County, Moli Tuyuhun tribe had nowhere to escape.

"I won't..."

Fan Changhai felt upset. Li Xuan said that a fool would not do it, so if he said he would, wouldn't he be a fool?
"The Moli Tuyuhun tribe has been in our Tang Dynasty for decades, and has also received some education from the Central Plains. If they had not lost their minds, how could they do such a foolish thing? So, I have to investigate it thoroughly."

While Li Xuan was speaking, his eyes fell on Xu Zhi again.

Xu Zhi glanced at Li Xuan inadvertently, and the sternness in his eyes made him immediately lower his head and tremble with fear.

Just like that, the main hall was silent for a moment. No one dared to say anything until Li Xuan spoke.

"General Li, Chief Moli Tuyuhun is here to see you?"

A quarter of an hour later, the personal guard came to report to Li Xuan.

"Let them in."

Li Xuan ordered.

After he finished speaking, Fan Changhai and Xu Zhi's faces changed.

Only when Helian Chengying arrived with a Tuyuhun member did Fan Changhai and Xu Zhi react.

"Chief Helian, you said that your people witnessed the Jinchang governor killing more than twenty people from the Tuyuhun tribe?" Li Xuan asked Helian Chengying.

"Reporting to General Li, it was Jinchang's deputy who committed the crime. This is absolutely true. The tribesman who witnessed it has also been brought here."

Helian Chengying thought Li Xuan had remembered the wrong person, so he gave him a brief reminder and pointed at the Tuyuhun man next to him.

"Tell me, which person present was the murderer you saw?"

Li Xuan asked the Tuyuhun man again.

"I saw him leading knights dressed in county uniforms to kill my people and take the bodies away."

After looking around, the Tuyuhun man pointed at Xu Zhi, the deputy governor of Jinchang.

"How dare you slander an official appointed by the imperial court."

Xu Zhi stared at the Tuyuhun man and said angrily, "General Li, I didn't slander him. It was him. I was hiding in the bushes dozens of steps away and saw everything clearly."

The Tuyuhun people were in a panic and explained to Li Xuan in a choked voice.

"Captain, the words of this Hu people cannot be trusted."

Xu Zhi also stood up and bowed to Li Xuan.

"Let me ask you, where is that place?" Li Xuan ignored Xu Zhi and asked the Tuyuhun people.

"It's on Baitu Slope beside Mingshui, 120 miles south of Jinchang City."

The Tuyuhun people thought about it and replied to Li Xuan.

"Did you use swords during the battle?"

Li Xuan asked more carefully.

"There was fighting. I saw them holding knives and blood splattering."

The Tuyuhun people kept nodding.

"Judge Yan, take him to the place called Baitupo and see if there are any traces of blood."

Li Xuan instructed Yan Zhenqing.

There had been no rain during this time, and killing two dozen people with knives would have resulted in a lot of blood.

If there were traces of blood there, I would trust Helian Chengying a little more.

"As ordered!"

After receiving the order, Yan Zhenqing led the Tuyuhun people out and prepared to ride on horseback to Baitupo.

This made Xu Zhi and Fan Changhai in the main hall feel very uneasy.

"Taishu Fan, I remembered it wrongly. Chief Helian did not sue you, but Biejia Xu. But as a prefect of a county, how can you ignore such a thing?"

Li Xuan suddenly said to Fan Changhai, but still blamed Fan Changhai.

"Xu Biejia should not be that kind of person, please understand, Governor!"

Fan Changhai also wanted to exonerate Xu Zhi.

"Snapped!"

"Well, it seems that the governor and the deputy driver share the same honor and disgrace."

Li Xuan clapped his hands and said this inexplicably.

After hearing this, Fan Changhai and Xu Zhi felt a chill down their spines.

"General Liu, order the Moli Army to disarm all the soldiers of Jinchang County and escort them to the parade ground for guard. Wait for Judge Yan to come back, and then let the eyewitness identify the soldiers..."

Li Xuan gave Liu Zhiru another order.

"Commander-in-chief, the county soldiers are responsible for keeping the people safe, there is no such rule!"

Without waiting for Liu Zhiru to accept the order, Fan Changhai hurriedly spoke.

"Rules are made by people. In Hexi, I have the power to hold the county soldiers accountable."

Li Xuan glared at Fan Changhai.

He felt more and more that there was something wrong with Fan Changhai. How dare he get angry with him?

"As ordered!"

Only then did Liu Zhiru bow and leave.

The atmosphere in the main hall became tense again.

They fell into silence again. Fan Changhai and Xu Zhi didn't dare to look at each other, while Li Xuan drank his tea slowly. The invisible pressure made the two of them dare not even breathe.

"Sir Fan, Lord Xu, the weather is not too hot right now, right?"

Li Xuan looked at Fan Changhai and Xu Zhi, who were sweating profusely, and asked them with a smile.

"no no……"

The two of them quickly shook their heads and became even more flustered.

"It is said that Zhongli Yi in ancient times was kind to take the blame for his subordinates, but I think that blame is not a fault. It is truly virtuous to be like Bingji, a famous prime minister in the Han Dynasty, who did not blame his followers for vomiting in his carriage. Governor Fan, if such a crime is true, is it a minor offense or a major crime? You should think about it carefully! Now that you have the chance, it will be too late to regret."

Li Xuan stood up, walked to Fan Changhai, patted him on the shoulder and said.

"Commander-in-chief, I have no idea what Xu Zhi did. I am just the chief official of Jinchang County, and I am protecting my subordinates. Even the famous Prime Minister Zhang Jiuling could make such a mistake. Now I dare not plead for Xu Zhi, so please investigate!"

Fan Changhai suddenly stood up and bowed to Li Xuan.

It shows that it has nothing to do with him. If evidence is found, Xu Zhi should be held accountable.

Li Xuan sent people to Baitupo to interrogate the county soldiers.

Once those county soldiers are identified, who can withstand the torture?

There were only fifty knights in the county army, and Li Xuan captured them all.

At this point, he could only put all the blame on Xu Zhi.

But Fan Changhai overlooked one point. He used Xu Zhi as a scapegoat without consulting him. Naturally, Xu Zhi was dumbfounded.

He looked at Jinchang Prefect Fan Changhai in disbelief.

Xu Zhi also knew that those county soldiers were unreliable and that the truth would be revealed sooner or later. He risked his life and knelt on the ground to kowtow to Li Xuan, saying, "General, please understand. This was all Fan Changhai's idea. I was just following Fan Changhai's orders and had no choice."

"You... Governor, I didn't expect Xu Zhi to be such a person. He slandered me even when he was about to die!"

Fan Changhai cursed angrily.

If he were still in office, he would take good care of Xu Zhi's family.

If he also gets caught, who will support the two families?
At this moment, Fan Changhai realized that he had made a fatal mistake. He should not have betrayed Xu Zhi directly. He should have explained the pros and cons to Xu Zhi after going down.

Mainly because of Li Xuan's momentum, he was in a state of panic for a moment and did not consider the consequences.

Li Xuan threatened and warned, ignoring Xu Zhi from beginning to end, and only bit him, making Fan Changhai always in a state of fear.

He always felt that there was something behind Li Xuan's words and was sure that he was the one who did it.

"Governor, you can't turn your back on me! It was you who set your eyes on Helian Xing's sword and asked me to kill someone to get the sword back, saying you wanted to give it to the Right Prime Minister!"

Xu Zhi said loudly regardless.

If Fan Changhai is unkind, don't blame him for being unjust.

"How dare you! This person who speaks so arrogantly should be dragged out and chopped off!"

Fan Changhai also roared, furious.

"Master Fan, who dares to kill the deputy driver without the approval of the saint?"

Li Xuan seized on this point and asked Fan Changhai back.

In his opinion, Fan Changhai had become extremely angry.

Moreover, Li Xuan caught something that interested him.

Right Prime Minister!

Isn’t it Li Linfu?
What kind of precious sword is this? It’s actually going to be given to Li Linfu.

Making trouble for Li Linfu was Li Xuan's favorite thing to do, and he seemed to see a glimmer of opportunity.

"Commander-in-chief, everything I said is true. If I say anything false, God will punish me. Fan Changhai said that he would ask the right prime minister to recommend me as the governor of Jinchang in the future, and he used threats and bribes to coerce me, so I had no choice but to do it!"

Fan Changhai's words made Xu Zhi even more heartbroken. It didn't matter whether he lived or died. He wanted to fight to the death with Fan Changhai.

He is not the mastermind and hopes that his family will not be implicated.

"Oh!"

Fan Changhai sat down on the ground, looking somewhat dejected.

Li Xuan no longer looked at him, but asked Xu Zhi to explain the matter from beginning to end without missing any minor details.

The story begins with Helian Chengying's son Helian Xing.

Not long ago, Helian Xing went to Tianshui to visit his relatives. When he came back, he got a sword from somewhere.

Helian Xing came to Jinchang City to publicize that his sword was of great origin and was the famous sword of Zhuge Liang.

In the first year of Zhangwu in the Later Han Dynasty, Liu Bei mined iron ore in Jinniu Mountain and asked famous craftsmen to forge eight swords.

One of the swords was worn by Liu Bei himself, and the other seven were given to Liu Chan, Liu Yong, King of Lu, Liu Li, King of Liang, Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun respectively.

And let Zhuge Liang inscribe words on the sword.

Among the Eight Swords of Zhangwu, the most famous is undoubtedly the sword of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang.

When Fan Changhai heard the news, his eyes lit up and he immediately bought Zhuge Liang's sword from Helian Xing.

But Helian Xing refused on the spot and threatened that he would not exchange it even for a thousand gold.

Helian Xing always carried Zhuge Liang's sword on his body, replacing his previous sword.

Fan Changhai wanted to give Zhuge Liang's sword to Li Linfu, implying that Li Linfu was the famous prime minister Zhuge Liang throughout the ages, and had the spirit of devoting himself to the cause until his death.

At that time, he would definitely be favored by Li Linfu and promoted to the court.

So in order to get Zhuge Liang's sword, he would do anything.

He promised Xu Zhi that he would take his troops to kill Helian Xing and take away Zhuge Liang's sword while Helian Xing was out.

Then they destroyed the body and pretended that Helian Xing had disappeared for no reason.

When Helian Xing was hunting in Baitupo with more than twenty followers, Xu Zhi appeared with his only fifty riders, and they also pretended to be hunting.

Then he took advantage of Helian Xing's followers' unpreparedness and shot them to death one by one.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Helian Xing fled with his last few followers, but was caught up and killed by Xu Zhi.

It was because Helian Xing ran a little further that the Tuyuhun people who were passing by accidentally saw it.

Otherwise, in the absence of evidence, Helian Chengying would have had to let the case go.

(End of this chapter)