In the early morning, light shrouded the silent military camp, and the dull drum beat sounded all around. When the drum beat, the Flying Tiger Guards had already dressed and walked out of the military tent and rushed to the school field to assemble.
Gan Ning and his troops followed closely behind and gathered in the school grounds.
Then, in twos and threes, the disheveled sergeants ran quickly towards the school ground. Due to the haste of running, one by one bent down and gasped for air. Liu Qi on the high platform watched all this calmly, silently counting the time. Zhao Lei and the sergeants blocked the entrance of the school ground.
, it seems that he wants to block the door at any time to prevent latecomers from entering.
The rapid sound of the drum was like a death knell, causing the sergeant to run very fast. There were more than ten soldiers of all sizes gathered in Cai He's military tent, and they all looked at Cai He with flashing eyes.
A young general couldn't help but asked: "General, are we really not going? The general said that anyone who fails to arrive will be beheaded. Will we be beheaded if we don't go?" No one refuted the young general's words.
They are loyal to Cai He, but when they risk their lives, they all choose to remain silent.
Cai He looked at the people in front of him with a gloomy expression. After the young general finished speaking, he smiled and said: "All of us here are generals, regardless of their official position. Plus your subordinates, there are at least a thousand of them.
Does Liu Qi still dare to kill us all? Don’t worry, I will take care of anything."
After Cai He finished speaking, everyone heaved a sigh of relief. With Cai He's background, Liu Qi would have to think carefully if he wanted to move him.
The drumming stopped suddenly!
"Seal the school grounds." The moment the drum beat stopped, Zhao Lei immediately ordered people to block the door to prevent outsiders from entering.
Several people who came late were blocked outside the door, shouting: "Let us in, let us in..."
When the drum beat again, Zhao Lei ordered his men to open the door and let in the few people who had just been blocked outside. Seeing that the door was open, the people outside happily rushed in.
"Take them down." Zhao Lei ordered, and the guards waiting on the side immediately stepped forward to take them down and brought them to Zhao Lei.
"Anyone who can't beat the drum three times will be killed! Today is the first day and everyone will be given a lighter sentence. I'll hit him with thirty military sticks and pull him off." Zhao Lei had already discussed the punishment measures with Liu Qi. Anyone who couldn't beat the ribs three times would be punished.
Thirty military sticks. If the drum beats six times and fails to pass, sixty military sticks will be given. If the drum fails to pass after nine beats, ninety military sticks will be given. Those who fail to show up at the end will be beheaded in public.
Not long after, screams rang out on the school grounds, and those watching on the side were secretly glad that they had arrived early.
The screams resounded through the military camp, and some sergeants who were still hesitant at first ran quickly to the school grounds one by one. Those sergeants who had been ordered not to go by their superiors also ran out of the tents in confusion and looked towards the school grounds.
In Cai He's tent, Cai He laughed loudly when he heard the report from his subordinates: "I thought he really wanted to behead those who arrived late, but I didn't expect it to be a bluff."
The drumming stopped suddenly. In order to reassure everyone, Cai He ordered people to go to the school grounds to see if Liu Qi had really beheaded the people who hadn't arrived. When the servants came back to report, Cai He and everyone heaved a sigh of relief.
The screams continued on the school grounds. With the beating of the sixth and ninth toms, more and more people arrived, including some of the sergeants who had been ordered not to come by their superiors.
The sight of dozens of military sticks made the people present tremble with fear. The screams of the beaten and bruised sergeants kept coming one after another. The people on the side held their breath or closed their eyes directly, but the screams still passed through their ears and made their bodies tremble unconsciously.
.
The nine drums fell, and the screams gradually subsided. Zhao Lei and the sergeant walked up to Liu Qi and said: "General Qi, there are still 513 people who have not arrived. They will be executed according to military discipline."
Liu Qi nodded and said, "In that case, I'll just do as you say." After saying that, he looked at Gan Ning and said, "General Gan is here to assist."
When Zhao Lei took Gan Ning's 800 men and Liu Qi's men to arrest them, the scene exploded.
"Really beheading them? This is more than 500 people."
"Eighty percent of it is true. I think the general will definitely establish his authority this time."
"I didn't expect that the general at such a young age would be more ferocious than those veteran generals, killing five hundred people at will."
………………
"Liu Qi, please let me go. I am a member of the Cai family, but you dare to arrest me. Aren't you afraid of offending our Cai family?" Cai He, who was captured, said in a stern tone.
Liu Qi glanced at him and said to Zhao Lei, "Kill."
Su Fei raised the knife and dropped it, blood splattered, and Cai He's head rolled to the ground.
Several subordinates of Cai He shouted: "Liu Qi, how dare you kill our general? Our general is directly related to the Cai family, so you dare to kill him. The Cai family will not let you go." Like Cai He, they thought Liu Qi was just killing them.
He was arrested and given a beating and everything was fine. I didn't expect Liu Qi to dare to kill anyone.
"Humph, you don't know when you are about to die." After Zhao Lei finished speaking, he waved his hand and several sergeants stepped forward to behead them. Looking at the bloody heads on the ground, the others were so frightened that they became weak.
These people supported Cai Hedan and were loyal to Cai He. When they saw Cai He being killed, they immediately knelt down and begged for mercy.
Liu Qi did not spare them. The school ground was filled with blood, and the smell of blood spread everywhere. Some people couldn't help vomiting, and some others wanted to escape and stay away from here, but were killed by the Flying Tiger Guards guarding the side.
Panic spread among the army. Liu Qi stepped forward and shouted: "Who are you? You are soldiers. If soldiers are afraid of even this bit of blood, how will they go to the battlefield and kill the enemy in the future?"
The mood of the sergeants on the school field calmed down a little. They just hadn't seen blood for a long time and hadn't been on the battlefield, so they couldn't adapt to it for a while.
Liu Qi added: "You can rest assured that as long as I do not violate military discipline, I will not kill people randomly. As for the vacant position, I will find someone to temporarily fill it. From now on, punishment will be based on military merit. Those who have meritorious service will be rewarded, and those who have made mistakes will be punished."
After the disbandment, the sergeants returned to their tents one by one with lingering fears. Liu Qi and others also breathed a sigh of relief, finally settling the matter. Otherwise, panic would spread and sooner or later it would break out.
………………
In the Changsha Prefecture, Zhang Xian was hosting a banquet for Changsha officials, big and small. Since Zhang Xian's rebellion, these officials have not expressed their stance. Although Zhang Xian controls the military power in Changsha, he only has a few generals available.
For example, generals such as Han Xuan and Huang Zhong have high prestige in the military and have never expressed their stance. Today, he took this opportunity to make sure that there will be no more opponents in Changsha City.
Zhang Xian raised his glass and said: "Today is my big day in Xiangyang, because after today, we are finally out of Liu Biao's control and can be self-sufficient. We no longer have to rely on others to look at their faces. The troubled times have arrived, and the winner will lose.
Kou hopes that you will join me in doing something great together." After saying this, he drank the wine in one gulp.
When everyone saw Zhang Xian finish drinking, they could only raise their glasses, because most of their family members were in Zhang Xian's hands.
Zhang Xian looked at Huang Zhong and said, "Brother Huang, what do you think about Liu Biao sending that yellow-haired boy Liu Qi to die this time?"
Huang Zhong is a veteran general in Jingzhou. He is almost fifty this year. If his son had not been seriously ill, he might still be serving as a lieutenant general in Xiangyang at this time. Looking at Zhang Xian, Huang Zhong shook his head secretly. He knew Xiangyang well.
With Zhang Xian's little strength, he wanted to rebel, which would have cost him his own life. But now he had to bow his head under the roof, and his wife and children were still in the hands of the other party.
Huang Zhong nodded and said, "It's true that Liu Jingsheng is too big for you. I've seen this Liu Qi. He's cowardly and incompetent, and he's not good enough."
Zhang Xian laughed loudly and looked at Han Xuan. Han Xuan's prestige in Changsha was no less than Zhang Xian's, and Han Xuan's prestige among the people was higher than Zhang Xian's, but he had no military power, so Zhang Xian just let it go.
At this time, seeing Zhang Xian asking, Han Xuan said to his scalp: "Han Sheng is right, Liu Qi is nothing to worry about."
Seeing Huang Zhong and Han Xuan relented, Zhang Xian was very happy and only half-sleeped before leaving.