Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 168 The time is ripe
Outside the parade ground, the crowd gradually dispersed to prepare for their own rewards and punishments.

Cheng Liang was walking when suddenly someone patted him from behind. He turned around and saw Zhu Ye looking at him with a smile, with Guan Yu, Zhang Yong, Cui Jun and Ye Xiang beside him.

"Hey, second and third brothers have survived a disaster, we brothers have to go celebrate!"

Zhang Yong also agreed, "Yes, I wanted to ask my eldest brother to come along, but my sister-in-law just sent someone to say that my son was a little unwell, so he went back first."

Cheng Liang became a little anxious when he heard this: "What's wrong? Is our nephew sick? We have to go and see him."

"It's okay, it's not a big deal. My eldest brother sent two doctors over, and they said everything will be fine. He said that we have been busy with military affairs these days, and now we can finally take a breath of relief. He asked us to relax."

After hearing what Zhang Yong said, Cheng Liang sighed, but he couldn't catch his breath and couldn't help coughing a few times.

Guan Yu asked hurriedly, "It seems that Third Brother's injury is more serious than we thought. You should go back and rest early. I will ask two doctors from the county government to come and see you and prescribe some medicine."

A mere thirty military sticks were nothing to them. Moreover, the soldiers in charge of the execution had deliberately reduced the force. Although it was said to be thirty sticks, the actual force was probably not even as strong as twenty sticks. Cheng Liang was already injured, so the executioner naturally hit him even lighter.

Cheng Liang shook his head: "Hey, that's not necessary. These minor injuries are nothing. It's just... hey..."

He seemed to be hesitant to speak, which made Guan Yu and others a little anxious.

At this time, Cui Jun, who had been silent, spoke.

"Hehe, it's just that the three generals may have some thoughts in their minds about the punishment they received today."

Cheng Liang seemed a little embarrassed when his thoughts were revealed.

Guan Yu immediately frowned and asked, "Why? Is Gong Yi really so ignorant of right and wrong?"

When Cheng Liang saw that Guan Yu, who was punished like him, said this to him, he seemed to feel that something was wrong with him.

"Hey, how could that be? Big Brother is very clear about rewards and punishments, and we all know that, so why would we have any thoughts?"

Guan Yu's expression looked better now.

"That would be best."

Cui Jun smiled and said, "The Third General is not unreasonable, but he is just outspoken and does not understand military law and discipline as deeply as the Lord, so he misunderstood what happened today. I wonder if what Jun said is correct?"

Cheng Liang saw that he couldn't pretend any longer, so he just told it all.

"Hey, big brother, you need to enforce strict military discipline, and I, Old Cheng, will not say a word. Last night, I encouraged my second brother to follow me out of the city to rob the camp, and the cavalry brothers suffered heavy casualties. I, Old Cheng, should have beaten him, but not my second brother! Besides, even if he was wrong, it was our military affairs. Why should we beat him in front of those surrendered soldiers? It would bring shame to my hometown for my second brother and me."

When everyone heard this, they realized that this was the reason why he was unhappy, and they were all at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

"Third brother, how can I say good things about you..."

Cui Jun laughed and said, "Third General, you don't know the good intentions of our lord today. If he doesn't enforce military law in front of those thousands of surrendered soldiers today, the suffering and loss you and I will suffer in the future will be far more terrible than these thirty military sticks."

After saying this, not only Cheng Liang, but even Guan Yu and others didn’t understand.

"What do you mean, military advisor?" Guan Yu asked.

As they were talking, several people had already arrived at the door of Cheng Liang's mansion, and Cheng Liang invited everyone in to talk.

Cui Jun took a sip of water and spoke slowly.

"Have you ever thought that these surrendered soldiers are called rebels, but in fact, their actions in recent days are similar to those of bandits, looting the local area, and their military discipline is lax. It is only because of the many years of kindness of the Taiping Dao and Zhang Jue's series of so-called promises to them after the change of dynasty that they can maintain such military morale and fighting spirit."

Everyone nodded frequently, and they were deeply touched by this. "And they are numerous. There are more than 2,000 people who can be recruited into the Anmin Army. Such a large number of guerrillas will inevitably have a great impact on our military discipline. But as the saying goes, 'the law does not punish the masses'. If so many soldiers violate military discipline, will they all be punished or even beheaded?"

When Cui Jun asked this, everyone fell into deep thought.

Cui Jun struck while the iron was hot and said, "So, the lord deliberately wanted to stage such a scene today in front of everyone, and the person punished in this scene must be of high status, so as to deter these surrendered soldiers and let them know that as long as they violate military discipline, even if they are close to the lord, they will never escape the punishment."

Zhang Yong understood everything after hearing this.

"Great! After punishing and establishing authority, we can then promote and reward those who have made contributions. The ancients said 'use both kindness and authority'. After such punishment and reward, the majesty of military discipline will be established in the hearts of most of the surrendered soldiers, and they will certainly not dare to violate it easily."

Everyone suddenly realized.

"Hey, so that's how it is, big brother, why didn't you tell me earlier? Hey, it's me, Old Cheng, who is petty. I deserve to be punished, and I got it right!"

Cheng Liang wiped away the depression on his face and laughed heartily.

At this time, Zhu Ye asked: "But if the military advisor had not said those words at that time, the second and third brothers would have been beheaded now. Could it be that the eldest brother had already guessed that the military advisor would come out to plead for mercy?"

Cui Jun smiled mysteriously: "My lord is not a real god, how could he have guessed it. In fact, this matter was discussed by him when he summoned me to the training ground after returning to the city. My lord has a deep relationship with his brothers, how could he really bear to kill you?"

This time everyone finally understood.

"Haha, it's me, Cheng, who is being stingy today. Come on, let's go find my eldest brother and I'll apologize to him. By the way, we should also go and see how our eldest nephew's illness is."

Everyone said yes and was about to stand up when they were stopped by Cui Jun again.

"Wait a minute, everyone. To be honest, the young master is not ill. It's just that the master is shy and feels sorry for the two generals today, so he is embarrassed to come out. He wants me to explain everything and test the waters. As for the young master's matter, he just asked his servants to come here to pretend so that he could slip away."

After saying that, he took out two medicine bottles from his arms.

"This is the wound medicine that the lord specially prepared in advance. The two generals, teach your wives to apply it to the wound on your back. It will heal in a few days. In addition, the two doctors the lord found are not here to treat the young master, but to treat the internal injuries of the three generals. I'm afraid they are on their way now."

When Cheng Liang saw that Liu He had made such careful arrangements, he immediately felt extremely happy and proud.

"Hahaha, I see. That's what I thought. After all, it's Big Brother who cares about us! Let's go have a drink with Big Brother!"

"Hey, Third Brother's injury hasn't healed yet, so it's better not to drink."

"Nonsense, this injury is nothing, it won't be too late to recover tomorrow. Since you are happy today, you must drink, let's go!"

Within a few days, more than 2,000 young and strong surrendered soldiers were incorporated into the Anmin Army, and the rest were also arranged. It just so happened that they had seized the property of the major tyrants and obtained a large piece of land, otherwise they would have been really stretched.

Qian Li specially selected more than 5,000 acres of paddy fields as military fields for the Anmin Army.

The planting of the hundred kinds of vegetables that Liu Qian was personally responsible for finally bore fruit. More than thirty kinds of vegetables had been successfully planted. This was a real event worth celebrating.

With such guarantees, the Anmin Army no longer has to worry about logistics.

It was during these two days that a piece of news spread throughout the states of the Khanate, shocking the world!

The Taiping Dao rebelled, Zhang Jue's attack on Luoyang city was thwarted, and the two sides fell into a stalemate. The Yellow Turban Army appeared in You, Bing, Qing, Xu, Ji, Yan, Yu, Jing and other places, attacking cities everywhere. Now dozens of cities across the country have been captured!
“The time has finally come!”

Liu He was holding an imperial edict that had just been sent from Jinyang City in his hand. He squinted his eyes, looked towards the northeast through the pouring rain outside, and muttered to himself.

"Come here, summon Military Advisor Cui and all the generals to the meeting room immediately!"

(End of this chapter)