Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 731: Execution of Military Law
When the five men heard that they were going to be beheaded, they immediately panicked.

"Zhang... General Zhang, you can't do anything reckless... The five of us are officials appointed by His Majesty, not generals under your command. Your military discipline cannot apply to us..."

"That's right, they can't control us..."

Zhang Yong sneered, "That's right, you are all local officials of Liangzhou, not generals in our army. Logically speaking, this military discipline does not allow you to be killed."

The five men breathed a sigh of relief. Guo Qiao said, "Since you know this, it's the best. Although we disobeyed the military order, firstly, we five are not generals in the army, and secondly, your military order is unreasonable and wrong. As officials appointed by the court, we should correct the mistakes to prevent you from losing the war and damaging the reputation of the court."

Zhang Yong felt both angry and amused when he saw him trying to argue with others.

"Is the general's order unreasonable? It's clearly just an excuse for your laziness. If it's unreasonable, why did Captain Wu Qin and others go to carry it out?"

"This..." Several people were speechless for a moment.

Guo Qiao spoke again: "Even if they go, they will accomplish nothing. They are useless anyway, so why waste their time?"

"How dare you! You don't want to do it yourself, but you are still trying to make excuses and slander General Zhang. It's so abominable!"

Chen Lie admired Zhang Yong very much, and seeing how hideous they looked, he was extremely angry.

Guo Qiao shouted, "Don't do anything stupid! We didn't say anything wrong. I think he is taking this opportunity to suppress us. He wants to punish the five of us for such a small matter so that he can vacate our positions and give them to his trusted aides who he promoted."

"Yes, that must be the case. I think you, Zhang Yong, are a traitor who pretends to be loyal, and you have all your own little tricks up your sleeve."

"Wu Qin followed you many years ago, so you should naturally speak well of him. Even if he finds nothing in his investigation, you will still give him credit."

Now the other generals around could no longer bear to listen and began to speak up in defense.

"Nonsense, General Zhang has always enforced the law impartially and strictly enforced military discipline. He has never been partial to anyone."

"However, the general himself accidentally violated military discipline that year. He was supposed to be caned 40 times, but he doubled the punishment and received 80 military sticks. The next day, he forced himself to get up and train the soldiers. He is truly a role model for us."

"You disobeyed military orders first, and then slandered the general. These crimes are extremely serious and unforgivable."

"Yes, unforgivable!"

Many generals surrounded the five people, frightening them so much that their faces turned pale.

"You...you guys, don't mess around..."

Zhang Yong waved his hand and said, "You all should withdraw. I will decide the guilt of these five people at my discretion."

The many generals then retreated, but they still glared at the five men.

Zhang Yong said, "Since you think this military order is unreasonable, let me tell you. When marching and fighting, food and grass are the most important, and information is the second. These two are indispensable. Without food and grass, you will be hungry and lose without fighting. Without information, it's like a blind man touching an elephant. Marching and fighting recklessly is like a child's game and there is no chance of winning."

"Zhang Ren left this city and fled to another place. His army of tens of thousands could not have disappeared without a trace. He must have left clues. As long as we investigate carefully, we will be able to find out the direction he left. Then we can deal with him. People like you are afraid of death and afraid to fight. This is not only a taboo in military strategy, but also a disregard for the laws of the court. You dare to make excuses here. You are simply shameless."

"You are just afraid that Zhang Ren has set traps and ambushes around because you see that he is very resourceful. That is why you are afraid and dare not go forward, fearing that you will fall into the trap and lose your life. If everyone is like you and is afraid to move forward, how can our Han Dynasty deal with these powerful enemies?"

His words were righteous and reasonable, and the five people found it difficult to refute them. But even so, how could they admit their guilt?
One of the four county magistrates said, "Even if that's the case, so what? You have countless generals under your command. Why don't you send them? Why only send the five of us? It's obvious that you are making things difficult for us."

Zhang Yong laughed so hard upon hearing this that the five men suddenly felt guilty.

"How ridiculous! With your little courage, you dare to ask for orders to guard the gateway between Liangzhou and Yizhou? It's simply a joke. Zhang thought you had no experience in leading troops, so he gave you the responsibility of gathering information. You don't have to be the vanguard, you don't have to fight, you just need to go out and gather information, you can gain experience, and you have the opportunity to make merit. Such a good job, if it were an ordinary general, everyone would be eager to get it, but only idiots like you want to get promoted and make money, but you are not willing to take any risks. Isn't it ridiculous?"

At this moment, a soldier outside the door said, "General, General Wu Qin is back and waiting outside the door."

Zhang Yong was delighted and thought that Wu Qin came at the right time.

"Call him in quickly."

Soon, Wu Qin strode in and said, "I greet the general."

Zhang Yong gave him a false helping hand: "General Wu, there's no need to be so polite. Tell me quickly, did you gain anything from your outing this time?" Guo Qiao and the others said sarcastically: "Gains? It would be strange if there were any gains. What kind of person is Zhang Ren? How could he leave any clues for you to investigate?"

When Wu Qin was about to report, he heard their words and felt unhappy.

"How can there be no harvest? Zhang Ren is not some god or demon, he can't fly. If he wants to leave the city and withdraw his troops, he will naturally leave clues. It's fine if you don't know about it, but how dare you talk nonsense here?"

Guo Qiao was not convinced: "Then why don't you tell me what you found out? Tsk, I want to see who is talking nonsense."

Wu Qin said, "You are so rude. I was just about to report to the general, but you interrupted me with your sarcastic remarks. Now you are blaming me for this. It is really ridiculous."

After saying that, he no longer paid attention to the five people and reported to Zhang Yong on his own.

"General, I heard from several villagers in a village north of the city that two days ago, hundreds of strangers, claiming to be a merchant caravan, passed through the village. But when they were resting in the village, the cover on one of the vehicles suddenly fell off, and a passing villager saw that there were no goods on the vehicle, but weapons and armor."

"Oh? Is this true?" Zhang Yong became cautious.

"Yes, this situation is not limited to this village. It has happened in many villages in the north and east of the city. And I also found that in several woods in the east of the city, there were obvious signs of people gathering and camping. Many trees were cut down, and the gaps were very fresh. There were many traces of campfires on the ground. Although they were deliberately handled, it was still difficult to completely cover it up."

After thinking for a while, Zhang Yong said, "It seems that they are pretending to be multiple caravans, spreading out and marching eastward."

Wu Qin nodded and said, "That must be the case."

The five people were dumbfounded when they heard this: "How... How is it possible... With just this little thing, we can find out the enemy's movements?"

Chen Lie sneered, "This is the way of marching. General Zhang promoted and taught you with good intentions, and gave you the opportunity to learn military affairs and make meritorious deeds. You don't know what is good for you, but instead slandered the general. You are really courting death."

Zhang Yong shouted, "Left and right, take these five people down!"

A group of soldiers ran over and arrested the five people. Now Guo Qiao and others became extremely anxious.

"You...you can't kill us...we are officials appointed by the imperial court..."

"I am the eldest grandson of the current imperial servant family..."

"I am the second son of Zhao Rong, the Grand Master of Imperial Households..."

"I am the nephew of Jingzhao Yin, you can't kill me..."

Zhang Yong listened to them counting out their backgrounds one by one, but just smiled slightly.

"Yes, I know that you all come from extraordinary families. Your families are all noble and honorable. Your elders have at least held high positions as the Nine Ministers. In terms of seniority, qualifications, and official positions, you are all above me, Zhang."

At this point, his face suddenly changed. "However, you all pretended to obey military orders but secretly disobeyed them, wantonly slandered the commander of the army, feared death in the army, spread rumors and caused trouble, disturbed the morale of the army, and committed such heinous crimes. No matter who your parents, uncles, and uncles are, I will enforce military law today! Come here..."

The five people then realized that he was serious about this, and they all became extremely panicked.

"You can't kill me... You can't kill me..."

"We are not your generals. Your military discipline cannot kill me..."

Zhang Yong sneered when he heard this: "You may have forgotten that His Majesty ordered me to be the governor of Liangzhou, in charge of all military and political affairs in Liangzhou. At the same time, he granted me the authority to execute any official below the rank of 2,000 stones without reporting to the emperor! Among the five of you, except for Guo Qiao, I have the right to execute the other four. As for Guo Qiao... Humph, I will report your crimes to the emperor and escort you back to Luoyang for His Majesty to decide!"

The five men were terrified, their faces pale, especially the four who were trembling all over.

"General Zhang, we were wrong. Please forgive us this time..."

"General Zhang, please spare my life..."

Zhang Yong waved his hand and said, "Drag him away and kill him!"

(End of this chapter)