Chapter 39 Wang Zhongsi

Huile City, the residence of the Shuofang Jiedushi.

"How arrogant! How dare you fight with the army?"

At the same time, Wang Zhongsi received Lu Yu's war declaration and the report from Hun Shizhi, the governor of Hegao Lanzhou, and summoned the deputy envoy and military commander Zhang Qiqiu, the chief military officer Li Guangbi, and the judge of the Jiedushi.

Zhang Qiqiu said angrily after seeing the two battle reports.

"What do you think, Yu Hou?"

Wang Zhongsi asked Li Guangbi calmly.

He has a square and dignified face, is six feet tall, and has a strong and sturdy build.

At the same time, Wang Zhongsi was also a man who didn't like to talk, but was calm and brave.

Although he was not good at speaking, he was able to get to the point when commanding the army, and his level of rigor was like that of Zhou Yafu of the Western Han Dynasty.

The name of the user was written on the weapon and even the arrows of every soldier in the Shuofang Army.

Before Wang Zhongsi, the border troops suffered serious consumption of weapons. In every battle, a large number of weapons were lost. Some were abandoned on the battlefield, and some were lost inexplicably.

Now if you write your name on a weapon and lose it, you will be punished. So everyone should encourage themselves and have enough weapons.

Writing names on arrows can also accurately record military achievements.

"According to Feng'an Army Envoy Lu Yu, although the Gaolanzhou cavalry made the mistake first, it was the deputy envoy Li Xuan who acted on his own will and shot and crippled the Gaolanzhou knights and seized the Gaolanzhou warhorses. Gaolanzhou Governor Hun Shizhi's official document stated that his subordinates traveled all night and were impatient, so they robbed the herdsmen's cattle and sheep. He believed that the Feng'an Army had no right to seize the Gaolanzhou cavalry's horses, let alone shoot and cripple the cavalry."

Li Guangbi pondered for a moment and said, "I think both sides are at fault."

Li Guangbi was in his thirties, vigorous and handsome, with a very short beard.

Although he was a Khitan, he was well versed in historical books, especially the "Book of Han". This made Li Guangbi resourceful and able to win by surprise.

The Du Yuhou was equivalent to the confidant of the Jiedushi. Although Li Guangbi had no merit at this time, he was highly valued by Wang Zhongsi.

At the same time, Li Guangbi was a pure soldier who cared more about the interests of soldiers.

"I misjudged this Li Xuan. He was able to lead the Feng'an cavalry, killing nearly a thousand enemy cavalrymen and capturing five hundred war horses at the cost of dozens of casualties."

Wang Zhongsi did not respond to these words, but instead discussed the matter based on Li Xuan's military achievements.

He initially thought Li Xuan was a poet.

Wang Zhongsi understood that most poets had the desire to make contributions on the frontier, and those inspiring frontier poems were sung in the army.

However, these poets did not have the conditions to go directly to the Jiedushi's court, let alone become a deputy general of the army in one step like Li Xuan.

Wang Zhongsi believed that Li Xuan was such a person, who was sent by Li Shizhi to be gilded.

Wang Zhongsi usually doesn't ask too many questions about such things, after all, he used to be a person with connections.

However, when the battle with the left wing of the Turks might break out at any time, Chen Huiguang was transferred away, which made Wang Zhongsi feel that Li Shizhi was acting too frequently and too hastily.

In addition, Wang Zhongsi's father, Wang Haibin, died in battle as the military envoy of Feng'an, which made Wang Zhongsi have different feelings towards this position.

Due to these factors, Wang Zhongsi did not meet Li Xuan when he returned to Lecheng to report.

"Li Xuan is indeed extremely brave and has the ability to kill generals and capture flags. It seems that the rumors are true. In the battle against the Turks, the Feng'an Army can still serve as a vanguard."

When Li Guangbi heard Wang Zhongsi say this, he must have his own conclusion.

To be fair, Li Guangbi also admired Li Xuan's decisiveness and bravery.

But as a soldier, he thought that Li Xuan was impulsive and acted too recklessly by shooting his companion.

"Doctor, Li Xuan's military achievements are his, but I think the one who shot and injured the knight of Gao Lanzhou should be severely punished. Otherwise, if everyone follows suit, there will be no law and order in the army."

Zhang Qiqiu insisted on his own opinion. "The merits and demerits cannot be judged by this. On the frontier, if there are soldiers who violate military law, they can be beheaded directly to serve as a warning to others. From the moment the Gaolanzhou cavalry plundered the people, Feng'an Army General Lu Yu should have executed the cavalry commander on the spot to appease the public anger."

"In the past, Zhuang Jia was a military supervisor. He was just late for training, so Sima Rangju beheaded him. Do you think Hun Xuan's crime is lesser than Zhuang Jia's?"

Wang Zhongsi was silent for a moment, then his eyes wandered over Zhang Qiqiu and he spoke calmly and slowly.

When Zhang Qiqiu heard this, he was stunned.

Does General Wang mean to execute Hun Xuan?
Even Li Guangbi didn't think of this.

But Li Guangbi immediately thought of the military orders that Wang Zhongsi had repeatedly issued after taking office.

For a long time, the border troops had not corrected their bad habits and had constant problems, and even the commanders of the various armies did not take it seriously.

This is to kill the chicken to scare the monkey and deter the entire army.

Thinking of this, the clever Li Guangbi stopped talking.

As the "captain commander-in-chief", Zhang Qiqiu wanted to take over Wang Zhongsi's position, so how could he go against Wang Zhongsi's wishes?

Previously, he wanted to punish Li Xuan because he misunderstood Wang Zhongsi's intention and thought that the upright Wang Zhongsi hated Li Xuan.

"The country raises soldiers to save the people. There is no point in arguing about what Li Xuan did. Order Hun Shizhi to remove the cavalry general Hun Xuan from his post and escort him to Huile City for questioning. The 1,000 war horses should be returned to the Gaolan Prefecture Governor's Office by the Feng'an Army. Judge, go to the Feng'an Army and tell Lu Yu to read the Wei Jin Law more. If he knows military law, it means he is too indecisive. As a commander, he should not be like this."

"Allow the Feng'an Army to report its meritorious service. Silk and money will be provided from the Jiedushi's treasury. In addition, the Feng'an Army will be awarded 300 sheep. They will be delivered to the Feng'an Army immediately!"

"I personally drafted the report on Li Xuan's achievements and sent it to the Ministry of War."

Wang Zhongsi issued a military order to the judge.

The words contained criticism of Lu Yu. Wang Zhongsi saw from the two documents that Lu Yu could have stopped it earlier, but he did not. Later, he thought Li Xuan was wrong.

This gave Wang Zhongsi a very bad impression of Lu Yu.

"Doctor, the Dulu tribe dared to invade our border and kill our border residents. We should fight back."

Zhang Qiqiu realized that he had just said the wrong thing and immediately asked Wang Zhongsi for instructions.

Lu Yu was a civil servant who served as a general. He was also a Jinshi graduate. As a civil servant who served as a general, he was powerless.

Zhang Qiuqiu found Wang Zhongsi's words of teaching Lu Yu harsh.

"The Turks are fickle and will inevitably be destroyed. But not now. The saint has promised that the Huihe can occupy all the former Xiongnu territory. I have sent envoys to contact the Huihe. Let the Huihe, Karluk and other tribes take the lead. The most important thing for our Shuofang Army is to train the soldiers and horses and wait for military orders at any time."

Wang Zhongsi shook his head slightly.

When he was young, Wang Zhongsi was warlike and brave. He dared to charge into tens of thousands of people with only a few hundred cavalrymen.

Now in middle age, Wang Zhongsi has become mature.

Use the smallest cost to achieve the greatest victory, cherish the national strength and pity the soldiers.

"The doctor is wise."

Zhang Qiqiu smiled awkwardly and said with a bow.

"Doctor, when General Ningyuan came to visit you, you didn't see him. After all, he is the son of the Left Prime Minister. Now that he has made military achievements, do you need to summon him?"

Li Guangbi reminded Wang Zhongsi: "The left prime minister is a wise man. General Chen was suddenly transferred away. There seems to be a cause and effect."

"No need. I'll summon you next time I have official business."

Wang Zhongsi shook his head. He didn't care about such details.

……

(End of this chapter)