Chapter 45: Building an Army

"I don't understand what Marshal Wang means."

When Lu Yu heard the words "murder to silence the witness", he turned pale with horror.

But he still pretended to be calm and acted as if he was unaware of the situation.

"This is the account book left by Xu Jun. Pick it up and see if your name is on it?"

Wang Zhongsi didn't want to listen to Lu Yu's excuses.

In his mind, the Feng'an Military Envoy was the most important position in the Shuofang Army.

His father, Wang Haibin, died in the Feng'an Military Commission. He hoped that all the successive Feng'an Military Commissioners would perform their duties conscientiously and inherit his father's spirit.

Accepting bribes from the powerful is tantamount to colluding with the powerful, which is intolerable.

Lu Yu's body had frozen.

The two words 'account book' dealt a heavy blow to his heart.

This rat Xu Jun actually keeps an account book.

How did Wang Zhongsi get the account book?

He felt a tightness in his chest and had difficulty breathing.

In the hall, Wang Zhongsi said nothing, his eyes sharp.

After a long time, Lu Yu bent down and picked up the account book.

His fingers kept trembling and big beads of sweat dripped onto the account book.

He felt the names on the account book swaying left and right. It took him a long time to turn three pages.

"Tell him to turn to page ten."

Wang Zhongsi became impatient and gave instructions to his assistants.

The chief secretary of the Jiedushi Mansion stepped forward and turned the account book to the page mentioned by Wang Zhongsi.

The third day of September in the first year.

Deputy Envoy of Feng'an Army, Lu Yu.

A pair of golden tigers.

After finally seeing the words clearly, Lu Yu almost fainted.

He didn't know where he got a breath from, he knelt on the ground and shouted: "General Wang, please understand, this is an injustice. Someone deliberately framed me!"

A thief, a dog, a bastard...

Lu Yu used all the dirty words he could think of to attribute to the dead Xu Jun.

He was cheated!

"Whether the account book belongs to Xu Jun or not, we can tell by looking at the handwriting. Now that Xu Jian and Xu Jun died in your hands, even ordinary people will know that you are responsible!"

"I have already sent people to search the residence of Feng'an Junni."

"The golden tiger symbolizes power and bravery. I want to see what it looks like!"

Wang Zhongsi was very calm and knew that he had to have solid evidence in his hands before reporting to the court.

"General Wang, please understand. I am innocent."

Lu Yu kept repeating this sentence, feeling extremely confused.

"I often hear that after many local officials have been in office for several years, the people's surplus food has become less and less, and their winter clothes have become thinner and thinner, while the local officials' homes have hidden tens of millions of coins. How could a soldier do such a thing?"

"Get out! Magistrate, arrest Lu Yu's personal guards and interrogate them to find out the cause of Feng An Ling's death."

Wang Zhongsi shouted sternly, not wanting to see Lu Yu, so he ordered him to be taken away first, and at the same time instructed the prosecutor.

Since Lu Yu accepted bribes, his account of the death of Feng'an Ling is one-sided and cannot be trusted.

An explanation must be given to the court.

"Is this man stupid? Accepting bribes is not a capital crime, but killing an official appointed by the imperial court must be punished with capital punishment."

After Lu Yu was dragged away, Wang Zhongsi told Li Guangbi that he was still angry.

"Doctor, please don't get angry. Throughout history, many people have tried to cover up small mistakes and ended up making big ones. Lu Yu is from the Fanyang Lu family and passed the imperial examination. How can he be called stupid? I think he thinks he is too smart."

Li Guangbi spoke slowly to Wang Zhongsi, using words to comfort Wang Zhongsi.

"Lu Yu's crime is probably unforgivable. The Feng'an Army needs to select another commander to stabilize the morale of the troops."

Wang Zhongsi turned to Li Guangbi to see his opinion.

"At this moment, stability in the army is the most important thing. The Feng'an Army needs to be able to fight when called upon, just like the other troops in Shuofang."

Li Guangbi could only give some superficial suggestions. He knew his own status and it would be against the rules to recommend a new general.

"The general of Feng'an Army told me that when the herdsmen gave sheep to Li Xuan, he refused to accept them. When the herdsmen killed the sheep and forced them to give them to him, Li Xuan compensated the herdsmen with the gold rewarded by the saint and shared the mutton with the whole army. Look at Lu Yu, he accepted gold as bribes from the powerful. The strengths and weaknesses of the two generals can be seen from this." Wang Zhongsi was no ordinary person. He quickly became calm and said this thought-provoking remark.

There are very few generals whose abilities are judged by their moral conduct.

In Wang Zhongsi's eyes, virtue is as important as ability, otherwise a general will bring disaster to the country.

"The doctor's intention is to appoint Li Xuan to command the Feng'an Army."

Li Guangbi was slightly surprised. Li Xuan had just joined the army and although he had made military achievements, they were not achievements in the strategic sense and he did not qualify to be a commander-in-chief.

Unless Li Xuan can gain a few more years of experience.

"Li Xuan was able to gain the respect of the entire Feng'an Army in a short period of time, which shows his ability to command the army; he was able to kill a thousand cavalrymen and a general in a short period of time with only a few hundred cavalrymen, which shows his bravery. The leader of the Huihe, Guli Peiluo, is willing to submit to the Tang Dynasty. The saint ordered us to act according to the circumstances, which means that the battle to destroy the Turks will begin at any time. The Feng'an Army is not suitable for frequent changes of generals. I will report to the saint and let Li Xuan temporarily serve as the Feng'an Army envoy."

Wang Zhongsi said solemnly.

There was one thing he didn't say, which was that Li Xuan was a man of moral integrity, which was exactly what Wang Zhongsi wanted.

"Xing" means agency.

Salary remains unchanged, but power increases.

As long as you make meritorious contributions again, the "agent" will be removed naturally.

"Who should be Li Xuan's deputy envoy?"

There must be a chief general and a deputy general in the army.

Under normal circumstances, there is one main and two secondary ones.

"Appoint Wang Sili as the deputy envoy. He is resourceful and skilled in martial arts, and can be a good general."

Wang Zhongsi decided to find a relatively young general to partner with Li Xuan.

Wang Sili was the son of Wang Qianwei, a general from Shuofang. He had known about military affairs since he was a child and had served in the frontier army for ten years. He was very experienced. Wang Zhongsi had always been optimistic about him and was ready to give him important tasks at any time.

"Wang Shuai is wise."

Li Guangbi also felt that Wang Sili was suitable.

In less than three hours, the prosecutor pried the truth out of Lu Yu's personal guards.

It can be confirmed that Lu Yu deliberately murdered Feng Anling.

Not long after, the people sent by Wang Zhongsi to Feng'an Army also found two golden tigers in Lu Yu's residence.

This brings the "Golden Tiger Case" to a final conclusion.

Wang Zhongsi drafted the memorial overnight and sent it to Chang'an by express horse.

……

Seven days later, Chang'an, Pingkangfang, Right Prime Minister's Mansion.

"Oh!"

"What a glutton!"

After Li Linfu left the court, he returned to the main hall angrily, slamming the table and cursing.

A while ago, Li Xuan made military achievements, and Li Longji was very pleased and praised him for his ability to judge people.

But Li Linfu felt very sad and could only praise Li Xuan with a dark heart.

This was not his intention.

He also hoped that Lu Yu would find time to kill Li Xuan.

As a result, I got into trouble first.

He can still protect ordinary things.

The county magistrate was killed to silence him because of bribery. How could he dare to say a word?
Fortunately, Lu Yu was not transferred to the Shuofang Army through him, otherwise he would have been attacked by Li Shizhi again.

Since it was he who recommended Li Xuan, when Wang Zhongsi proposed that Li Xuan be temporarily appointed as the military envoy of Feng'an, he had no reason to object.

Li Shizhi would not object. In addition, Li Longji liked Li Xuan very much, so Li Xuan was in charge of an army when he was sixteen years old.

"Li Shizhi, this fool, has been acting against me recently and even trying to win over Wei Jian, this ungrateful man. Just wait, I will kill you sooner or later."

Wei Jian was newly appointed as the Minister of Justice, and he had a strong chance of becoming a prime minister. In addition, the fact that Li Daosui, the Minister of the Supreme Court, was in cahoots with Li Shizhi put him in a passive position.

He is the chief prime minister. If he cannot control the criminal law of the world, he will inevitably be weaker than Li Shizhi.

That night, Li Linfu sat alone in the Yanyue Hall. Sometimes he looked at the bright moon in the sky, and sometimes he stood up and wandered under the beautiful flower trees.

When the Jade Rabbit was about to slip away from the attic, Li Linfu stood up and muttered to himself: "It seems that we should persuade the Saint to take action against the Turkic Left Wing and the Royal Court as soon as possible. As long as Li Xuan is not killed, there is no way to curb Li Shizhi's arrogance."

At the same time, Li Linfu smiled sinisterly again. This time, Yuetang was thinking about a plan. He not only had a plan to deal with Li Xuan again, but also a plan to make Li Shizhi fall from grace.

(End of this chapter)