It had been three days since Chen Qing led his army back to Chun'an County. Less than half an hour after returning to the military camp, the supervisory censor Wang Huan arrived unexpectedly.
"I heard that the commander annihilated the traitor Zhang Kui. I'm very happy and congratulated!"
As soon as he entered the tent, Wang Huan congratulated Chen Qing with a face full of hypocrisy. Chen Qing really didn't like Wang Huan. Just now, two county officials told him that Wang Huan checked the soldiers' salary payment line by line, and also
The need to check the fingerprints pressed by the soldiers was almost finicky.
In the final analysis, they are suspecting that they have embezzled soldiers' salaries, or even that they have emptied their salaries.
Regardless of whether it was his duty or not, no one would like this kind of censorship, and Chen Qing was no exception. However, Chen Qing did not want to deliberately offend these censors. Firstly, it was unnecessary, and secondly, he had a clear conscience.
"Thank you so much, Wang Yushi, please take a seat!"
Wang Huan was not polite. He sat down and asked straight to the point: "I saw a lot of prisoners of war just now. How many are there in total?"
"There were about 1,800 people. The battle was very fierce at that time. More than 1,000 people were killed on the other side and nearly 300 of us were killed."
Wang Huan didn't care how many officers and soldiers died in battle, he only cared about how Chen Qing dealt with these prisoners of war.
"What does the commander plan to do with these prisoners of war?"
"Did Wang Yushi come to me just to ask about these prisoners of war?" Chen Qing was slightly unhappy.
Wang Huan's eyes also turned cold, and the hypocritical smile on his face disappeared. "This is my responsibility. I must ask, please understand, commander."
Chen Qing stared at him for a long time, and then said calmly: "These prisoners of war will be treated differently. There are no lives on hand, and there are no gangsters who raped women. I will release them, of course not directly, but to local officials, like Mu
I will hand over the bandits in this state to Governor He, and I will send people from other states to escort them back. As for the bandits who have committed serious crimes, I will publicly execute them."
"Why didn't you escort them to Lin'an, but instead executed them on your own initiative?"
Chen Qing heard the hostility in Wang Huan's tone, and he felt even more disgusted, so he said coldly: "When I went on the expedition, the Privy Council only asked me to capture the bandit Zhang Kui and the three hundred rebel soldiers who followed him back to Lin'an, or to bring him back to Lin'an.
Their heads were sent back to Lin'an, and the rest of the bandits were left to my own devices.
And I did not kill innocent people indiscriminately. Of course, these gangsters will be dealt with after strict interrogation. Basically, there will be witnesses and their own confessions, and even the perpetrators will be identified."
"What if I give in and get beaten?"
Chen Qing sneered continuously: "Who do Wang Yushi think they are? They are bandits, not ordinary people. How can they beat the bandits into submission?"
"What the commander means is that it is up to you to decide who deserves to die and who does not deserve to die?"
Chen Qing was also a little angry. He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and said slowly: "Everyone's fate is determined by themselves, just like some people decide to become bandits, and some people are determined not to follow Zhang.
Kui rebelled, and since they chose to become bandits, they must be responsible for their own decisions. If Wang Yushi has no other problems, I will excuse you!"
...........
Wang Huan left, and that afternoon he led his entourage to leave Chun'an County and return to Lin'an.
But not long after Wang Huan left, Chen Qing received another visitor, Xu Yun, who was accompanied by Hu Yantong.
"Since the commander has wiped out Zhang Kui, why don't you go back?"
"Arrange a few days to repatriate the prisoners of war and return the bodies of the fallen soldiers to Lin'an. Then I will go back. In fact, it won't take long. I will return to the DPRK in three days."
Xu Yun glanced at Chen Qing, pondered for a moment and said slowly: "Actually, the commander is in a very dangerous situation!"
Chen Qing frowned, "Are you talking about the supervisory censor Wang Huan?"
"Does the commander know what Wang Huan is here to investigate?"
Chen Qing shook his head, "I'm not sure. He and I have never had any interaction."
Xu Yun said earnestly: "The commander is still a little young. He doesn't know that the officialdom is dangerous. Even an old bureaucrat like me who has been there for more than ten years has to be cautious every day, lest he say the wrong thing or have a close relationship with someone.
If you pay attention, you will be implicated and impeached. In comparison, the commander is too careless."
Chen Qing laughed and said, "I am just a martial arts student at the moment. Is it so serious?"
"The problem is not big now, but what about the future? Do you still have a future?"
Xu Yun looked at Chen Qing solemnly, "As long as you are convicted of a crime, even if there is nothing we can do to you now, you will never have a good future in the future. Once you are involved in promotion, you will definitely be rejected by the officials, and you will also
I don’t want to be a Zhongwei Lang twenty years from now!”
Chen Qing cupped his fists and saluted, "The senior's lesson is right, and the junior is willing to listen attentively!"
Xu Yun stroked his beard and nodded, "Let me tell you first why Wang Huan came to Muzhou!"
...........
Xu Yun left, and Chen Qing paced back and forth in the big tent. Although it sounded like the imperial court sent the supervisory censor to Muzhou to investigate him because of some rumors and misunderstandings, Chen Qing was still keenly aware that someone was doing something here.
Things are directed at oneself.
Although he was only a martial arts student, Xu Yun was right. Once he was convicted of killing innocent people indiscriminately, his career would be cast into a shadow.
After all, the Song Dynasty was still a world ruled by civil servants. Civil servants would only define good and evil according to their own Confucian concepts, and they were even pedantic. They only cared about whether they were brutal in killing bandits, but did not consider the serious disasters these bandits brought to ordinary people.
At this time, Hu Yantong walked in. He was silent for a moment and said, "I have to tell you something!"
"What's the matter?" Chen Qing looked back at him.
"Wang Huan once looked for me."
Chen Qing frowned slightly, "When did it happen?"
"It was noon today. He found me just after we came back. He invited me to have dinner at Tianxiang Tower, and I didn't refuse."
Chen Qing nodded. He could understand that Hu Yantong was a son of an official after all, and he did not want to offend the supervisory censor.
"What does he want from you?"
"He asked me how much reward I received?"
Chen Qing was startled, "What do you mean?"
"We distributed the captured trophies, including money, to the soldiers. He asked me how much I got?"
"how do you say?"
"I told him that we will allocate according to the merits of the war. I will be assigned first-class merits and will receive 240 guan of money. The average soldier will receive at least 20 guan of money."
"Did he ask about me?" Chen Qing asked with a sneer.
"When I asked, I told him that you didn't take any money, but he obviously didn't believe me and said I was too naive."
Hu Yantong sighed and said: "I think this Wang Huan is not a normal supervisory censor. He has selfish motives."
"How did you tell?"
"He preconceptions about many things, believing that you are guilty, and then looking for various evidences to prove the crime. Commander, you have to be careful, there is obviously someone behind your back."
Chen Qing walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and suddenly asked: "Does this Wang Huan have anything to do with Wang Bo?"
"I'm not sure about this, but I can check it out. Do you mean that Wang Bo is plotting against you behind your back?"
Chen Qing clasped his hands and looked outside the tent and said, "I can't think of anyone else? I've thought about it for a long time, and the only person I've offended so far is Wang Bo. He wanted to take the lead in martial arts, but I blocked his way."
"It's very possible that if you get the martial arts leader level, you can advance to three levels, while ordinary students can only advance to one level at most. There is a big gap."
Hu Yantong was really worried, "Then what does the commander plan to do?"
Chen Qing said calmly: "What else can I do? The soldiers are coming to block the water and cover it with soil, but there are two things I want to ask your help for."
"You said it! As long as I can do it, I will try my best."
"One thing is to ask you to help me investigate Wang Bo. I want to know his family background, and at the same time what is his relationship with Wang Huan? Secondly, I still have one thousand five hundred taels of silver here, and I am going to give it to him.
I will give you the money and the list of additional pensions for the families of fallen soldiers, and you can handle it for me!"
Hu Yantong nodded, "No problem, I will do both things for you!"
