Chapter 660 Qiqige’s begging!

Although they were blown to pieces by the first round of grenades, as Liu Zongchang’s escort troops, these people were also the elite of the Zhennan Army. Under Liu Zongchang’s shouting, they quickly stabilized their position and tried to use their numerical advantage to resist the offensive of Zhang Chenghu and others······························
The elite Fengwu Army under Zhang Chenghu were unmoved by this and focused on charging towards Liu Zongchang.

Seeing that the brothers who stood in front of him were killed one by one, Liu Zongchang's deputy general advised Liu Zongchang:
"Sir, please withdraw! This group of Fengwu soldiers is charging too fiercely, and the brothers can't hold on any longer. As long as you have a green mountain, you will never have a shortage of firewood!"

Liu Zongchang gave his deputy general a cold look at his dissuasion, then drew his sword and walked towards the forefront of the battle formation with his personal guards, shouting as he walked:
"Brothers of the Zhennan Army! I, Liu Zongchang, am here. Brothers, follow me and kill! Let's see how many heads these Fengwu Army soldiers have. Are they enough for us to chop off?"

Hearing Liu Zongchang's shouts of killing, the deputy general behind him knew that he was getting angry, so he could only sigh and signal his men to go to Huaiyuan County for help, while following Liu Zongchang step by step. The soldiers of the Zhennan Army who were fighting, saw Liu Zongchang coming, and their morale was immediately boosted. They even showed signs of resisting the charge of the Fengwu Army.

Liu Zongchang’s leading by example has many benefits for the soldiers of the Zhennan Army, but it also means that the Fengwu Army has locked on his position. Originally, it was dark now, and Liu Zongchang was hiding in the Zhennan Army formation, so it was difficult for Zhang Chenghu to find them. Now that he took the initiative to jump out, it undoubtedly helped the Fengwu Army a lot...
Seeing Liu Zongchang appear, Zhang Chenghu immediately led his troops to turn around and kill Liu Zongchang. Liu Zongchang truly deserved the title of a fierce general. Seeing Zhang Chenghu and his men rushing towards him, he did not dodge or hesitate at all, and immediately went to meet him with the guards around him.

As a famous general in the Zhennan Army, Liu Zongchang's personal martial arts were also very powerful. Using a heavy ring-handled sword, he killed two Fengwu Army soldiers with just two swords. Just as he wiped the blood from his face and was about to chop out the third blow, a Tang sword silently chopped towards his neck!

Facing this sneak attack, Liu Zongchang seemed to have eyes behind his head. He immediately turned around and drew his sword to block. The huge force from the ring-handled sword immediately pushed Zhang Chenghu, who took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack, back several steps. After forcing Zhang Chenghu back, Liu Zongchang did not take advantage of the situation to pursue him, but observed the ring-handled sword in his hand. Under his gaze, a tiny gap suddenly appeared on the sharp blade of the ring-handled sword.

Liu Zongchang was a little surprised to notice this. The next second, he raised his head and looked at the Tang sword in Zhang Chenghu's hand. A hint of greed flashed in his fierce eyes, and he couldn't help but praise:
"Good knife!"

Hearing Liu Zongchang's praise for the sword in his hand, Zhang Chenghu's expression did not change. He gathered his strength and rushed towards Liu Zongchang again...

Seeing Zhang Chenghu rushing towards him, Liu Zongchang laughed and went to meet him with his ring-handled sword raised. In his hand, the ring-handled sword weighing dozens of pounds was swung wildly and fiercely. After only a few moves, Zhang Chenghu was beaten back step by step and in danger. If he continued like this, Zhang Chenghu would probably die miserably under his sword in two or three more moves!
At this critical moment, the musketeer of the Fengwu Army finally found an opportunity and shot a bullet into the abdomen of Liu Zongchang, who was holding up a sword. The fierce general of the Zhennan Army, who was so majestic in the previous second, fell to the ground with a bang. Seeing this unexpected turn of events, Zhang Chenghu was also filled with surprise.

However, at this moment, Liu Zongchang, who was shot in the abdomen and bleeding, was struggling to stand up. Zhang Chenghu was a little surprised to see this scene. He knew the power of the Fengwu Gun. Although its armor-piercing ability was not as good as the Fengwu Army's Po Lu Gun, it was greatly improved compared to the Weiyuan Gun. Even if Liu Zongchang could not be killed with one shot if he was hit in the abdomen within a hundred steps, he should at least not be allowed to stand up again.

Although it was a bit unexpected, Zhang Chenghu reacted quickly. He immediately picked up his knife and wanted to kill Liu Zongchang. At this moment, Liu Zongchang's personal soldiers saw that Liu Zongchang was shot, and they desperately surrounded him, trying to stop Zhang Chenghu...
However, these little bastards were no match for Zhang Chenghu and were directly dealt with by him. When they came to Liu Zongchang, Zhang Chenghu raised his sword and chopped him without any hesitation. Liu Zongchang, who was shot in the abdomen, managed to stand up, but could no longer lift his heavy ring-handled sword. Facing the murderous Zhang Chenghu, he could only instinctively raise his arms to block.

The knife chopped on Liu Zongchang's arm, but it did not cut off his arm directly as Zhang Chenghu expected, but only left a bloody wound on Liu Zongchang's arm. At this time, Zhang Chenghu was surprised to find that the cotton armor Liu Zongchang was wearing was much thicker than that of ordinary soldiers, and there were many iron plates on the key positions of the cotton armor for protection.

Although the bullet fired from the Fengwu gun just hit Liu Zongchang, its potential energy had been greatly weakened after passing through the cotton armor, so it did not cause the expected fatal damage to Liu Zongchang. Zhang Chenghu realized this and chopped directly at Liu Zongchang's head.

There was no surprise this time. As Zhang Chenghu raised his hand and swung his knife, Liu Zongchang's head with his eyes wide open rolled to the ground.

Looking at the huge head of Liu Zongchang, Zhang Chenghu, who had completed the mission, felt relieved. However, the next second, the grief-stricken cries of Liu Zongchang’s soldiers around him made him realize that the mission was not over yet. He had to try his best to bring his brothers back to Hebei and Henan...

Their mission was to kill Liu Zongchang, so after completing the mission, there was no need to continue to fight with Liu Zongchang's guard troops. So after Liu Zongchang's head was covered, Zhang Chenghu ordered each unit to take turns to cover the retreat. However, at this time, because Liu Zongchang was dead, his guard troops were all blood-thirsty and kept attacking the Fengwu Army.

Zhang Chenghu took great pains to get rid of them and return to a safe place when it was dark. After counting the number of people, Zhang Chenghu's mood suddenly became serious. In the fierce battle just now, almost half of their small army was injured. In addition, more than 40 people were killed and eight were seriously injured. You have to know that these people are the elites of the Fengwu Army. Such casualties are not small. However, when he thought that they killed Liu Zongchang and completed the task assigned by the superiors, Zhang Chenghu felt much better. As long as they could kill Liu Zongchang, they would get what they wanted even if the whole army was wiped out.

Taking advantage of the short break, Zhang Chenghu immediately found Lu Wu to discuss the next retreat route. Time is life for them now. After dawn, the news of Liu Zongchang's assassination will spread, and then the surrounding Zhennan Army will begin a mopping-up operation. Therefore, in order to survive, they must start the action tonight and run as far as possible under the cover of night!
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Yijing, Governor's Mansion, Study
Ye Mingsheng, with a solemn expression, was carefully reviewing the memorial in front of him. Recently, due to the deepening of trade with Jiangnan, the Fengwu Army had obtained a large amount of silver. With the support of this money, the Fengwu Army also began to recruit soldiers and expand the army in full swing!

In addition to letting Xun Ke serve as the general of the Eighth Division, Ye Mingsheng also plans to let Ye Dong serve as the general of the Ninth Division. The army will be expanded by two divisions first, and then other troops will be supplemented and expanded. The General Staff estimates that this expansion will be about 50,000 to 60,000 people. Including the cost of settling in and weapons and armor, a total of about 500,000 taels of silver will be required.

This month, the Finance Department has transferred this sum of money to the General Staff Department in batches. Originally, the matter was considered completed, but what was unexpected was that just a month ago, the Coordination Office received news that a clerk from the Logistics Department under the General Staff Department lost more than thirty taels of silver in an underground casino in Yijing in one night.

According to his salary, these thirty taels of silver were his salary for more than three years without eating or drinking. There was no doubt that there was something wrong with this matter!

Therefore, the Coordination Office also followed the clues through him and successfully cracked a corruption case. Yuan Sheng, deputy director of the Logistics Department of the Fengwu Army, colluded with some grassroots generals of the Fourth and Fifth Divisions. Dozens of people were involved in the case. They joined forces and distributed some substandard weapons and armor to new recruits, and then sold these good things on the black market, thereby making huge profits. By the time the case was discovered, they had sold thousands of weapons and armor and made a profit of 50,000 taels of silver...
This case can be said to be the first case of corruption in the Fengwu Army so far. There have been cases of corruption in the Fengwu Army before, but neither the number of people involved nor the amount of money involved was so large. Ye Mingsheng was very angry about this. He not only demanded that all the military officers involved be handed over to the Military Chief's Office for severe punishment, but also directly ordered the Coordination Office and the Military Chief's Office to conduct a major investigation into the logistics department of the Fengwu Army, and make sure that such a situation does not happen again in the logistics department.

What Ye Mingsheng is reading now is the joint report on this matter given to him by the Military Administration Department and the Coordination Office. In the joint report, the Coordination Office and the Military Administration Department believe that after the Logistics Department removed Yuan Sheng and his minions, the remaining officials of the Logistics Department can basically be trusted. Even if some individuals have some minor problems, it is not enough to initiate an investigation and they can just be criticized and educated.

Ye Mingsheng was also somewhat relieved about this result. He has decided to give the logistics department an extra month's bonus to appease people and also to reward their integrity.

However, Ye Mingsheng was somewhat dissatisfied with the solution of the military department regarding the handling of the people involved in the case! He felt that the treatment of some people was too lenient!

Regarding this corruption case, Yue Qing of the Military Justice Department proposed a solution: to execute the main culprit Yuan Sheng and his minions and to search their homes and confiscate all their properties.

However, Yue Qing’s punishment was much lighter for some grass-roots generals involved in the case, some of them were even only given a serious warning, criticized by the whole army, and fined one year’s salary. Only three people were sentenced to beheading, and the vast majority were only demoted or dismissed from their posts...
In this regard, Ye Mingsheng believes that the punishment measures are too light. Major cases like this involving dozens of people must be dealt with seriously to serve as a warning to others, so that everyone understands that corruption is a red line in the Fengwu Army. Whoever touches this red line must pay the price, so as to create a political environment within the army where corruption cannot and dare not be corrupt.

As for why Yue Qing was sentenced so lightly, Ye Mingsheng could guess a little. The grassroots military officers involved in the case were all chief officers of various departments, and they were all good at fighting. Some of them had made many military achievements and were the trusted generals of the generals and commanders of various departments. Now that the Fengwu Army was about to fight, if these people were punished too harshly, it would likely cause some problems in the command of the army. So if nothing unexpected happened, someone or more than one person would have said hello to Yue Qing! Otherwise, with Yue Qing's upright character, he would not have done so!
Ye Mingsheng also knew that this was a problem, but he still had to stick to his principles, so he, Ye, would be the villain!
Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng left a comment on the report and asked Yue Qing to re-formulate a strict treatment plan!
After solving this problem, Ye Mingsheng was about to have some tea and rest for a while, when suddenly Ye Cheng came in and reported to Ye Mingsheng:
"Sir, Qiqige wants to see you for something!"

Ye Mingsheng just thought that An Miaoyi had something to tell him, so she asked Qiqige to pass the message. Therefore, he nodded at Ye Cheng without thinking too much.

A moment later, the tall Qiqige appeared in front of Ye Mingsheng. After glancing at her peak and long legs, Ye Mingsheng asked:
"What is it that Miaoyi asked you to come here for?"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, Qiqige's pretty face showed a complicated expression, but she did not speak under Ye Mingsheng's gaze. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng felt that An Miaoyi asked her to convey some embarrassing things between husband and wife, so he continued:
"There are only two of us here, if you have anything to say, just speak up!"

Qiqige made up her mind after hearing this. The next second, she knelt down in front of Ye Mingsheng and begged with tears in her eyes:
“I beg you to please stop getting entangled with Xiao Ruolan…”

(End of this chapter)