Chapter 826 Full of complaints!

Besides Yuan Song, there was another person who was also very happy about Ye Mingsheng's series of appointments, and that person was Zhao Han...

When the Fengwu Army General Staff was first established, Zhao Han was the only first-class staff officer, responsible for the formulation of various combat plans of the Fengwu Army. It can be said that Zhao Han's hand was more or less behind the Fengwu Army's campaigns in the south and the north over the years.

Zhao Han was promoted to Deputy Chief of the General Staff due to his merits, assisting the then Chief of the General Staff He Jingyun in his work. In the later period of He Jingyun's tenure as Chief of the General Staff, he gradually delegated power to Zhao Han. As Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Zhao Han was not only responsible for the formulation of combat plans, but also for coordinating the logistics dispatch of various troops.

Later, He Jingyun replaced Yuan Song as the commander of the First Army. Zhao Han was generally considered to be the best candidate to succeed He Jingyun as the Chief of the General Staff. However, later, in order to arrange for Yuan Song, who had made great contributions, Ye Mingsheng appointed Yuan Song as the Chief of the General Staff, and Zhao Han could only continue to serve as the Deputy Chief of the General Staff.

Although Ye Mingsheng comforted Zhao Han and rewarded him with some gold, silver and fertile land because he knew that Zhao Han was wronged by this matter, the matter of the Chief of Staff still became a thorn in Zhao Han's heart.

Fortunately, Yuan Song is not a person who likes to fight for power. During the time he served as the Chief of the General Staff, he fully delegated power to Zhao Han to let him display his talents. Therefore, the two get along well. However, Zhao Han still misses the position of Chief of the General Staff...
Now because of Lin Huaiwu's incident, there have been new changes in the top leadership of the Fengwu Army. Zhao Han finally got the position of Chief of Staff that he had always dreamed of. How could he not be happy? He has already decided to celebrate when he returns home tonight.

As the saying goes, some are happy while others are sad. While Yuan Song and Zhao Han were happy, there was naturally someone disappointed in the conference room. This person was another deputy chief of the general staff, Guo Zhiping. He was transferred to the General Staff at the same time as Yuan Song. Now Yuan Song has been transferred back to the battlefield, while he is still doing a sinecure in the General Staff. This is really depressing.

Ignoring everyone's emotions, Ye Mingsheng made such a major personnel adjustment, and then emphasized some principles before ending the staff meeting. Guo Zhiping, who was in a depressed mood, had no interest in continuing his work in the General Staff Headquarters. He found an excuse and returned home.

After returning home, Guo Zhiping took his two new concubines to drink alone. When he was the commander of the Third Army, Guo Zhiping was obsessed with how to achieve success, bring honor to his family, and provide his wife and children with a good life, so he had no time to enjoy himself.

During the period when he served as Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Guo Zhiping was too lazy to take care of things because his title was just a sinecure. He took in several new beautiful concubines and began to think about how to expand the Guo family!

Just as Guo Zhiping was getting a little drunk, a maid came over quickly and reported:

"Master, Master Zhang wants to see you for something!"

Guo Zhiping burped upon hearing this, waved his hand and said:

"What is Master Zhang doing here at this time?"

“No see! No see! I want to get drunk with the beauty today…”

Although Guo Zhiping refused the request to meet Master Zhang, after a cup of tea, an elegant middle-aged scholar came to Guo Zhiping despite the obstruction of the maids and servants.

This man was named Zhang Dezheng. He was a Jinshi in the early years of Anhe. He had served in the court for more than ten years. However, because of his upright character, he did not want to be involved in the corruption in the court at that time. In addition, he was ostracized by his colleagues, so he resigned in anger and went home. After returning to his hometown in Liaoyang, he opened a school to teach children.

Later, by chance, Zhang Dezheng met Guo Zhanshan, the father of Guo Zhiping. As a Jinshi, Zhang Dezheng naturally had a contempt for bandits like Guo Zhanshan. However, because of some things later, Zhang Dezheng gradually realized that Guo Zhanshan was different from ordinary bandits.

Other bandits shouted slogans of "acting on behalf of heaven", but actually committed evil deeds such as bullying men and women. However, Guo Zhanshan really practiced these four words and only killed those rich and unkind gentry, and distributed the looted property to the poor people. Therefore, people's impression of Guo Zhanshan changed.

Although Guo Zhanshan had not received much education, he had great respect for people with real talent like Zhang Dezheng. Therefore, with Guo Zhanshan's deliberate efforts to make friends with him, the relationship between the two sides became closer and closer.

Later, Guo's father and son joined the Fengwu Army. The older Guo Zhanshan retired, while the young and strong Guo Zhiping stayed in the Fengwu Army to realize his ambitions.

As Guo Zhiping became more and more powerful in the Fengwu Army, Guo Zhanshan was worried that his son, who came from a bandit family, would not understand the affairs of the court and would suffer misfortune. So he wanted to ask Zhang Dezheng, who was a Jinshi, to be his son's legal advisor and give him guidance.

At first, Zhang Dezheng declined Guo Zhanshan's invitation. He had retired for many years and didn't want to participate in government affairs. However, he could not resist Guo Zhanshan's repeated invitations. He also owed Guo Zhanshan a lot of favors over the years, so he finally couldn't resist the kindness and came to Guo Zhiping to take on the role of advisor.

Knowing that Zhang Dezheng was a man of real talent and knowledge, Guo Zhiping respected his advisor and often consulted him on matters concerning the officialdom.
Looking at Guo Zhiping, who was disheveled and drunk, Zhang Dezheng immediately glared at the two concubines in Guo Zhiping's arms. The two women hesitated for a moment, but still chose to retreat...

The departure of the two concubines still made Guo Zhiping sober up a lot. Looking at Zhang Dezheng who appeared in front of him, Guo Zhiping pointed at him with some annoyance and said:
"Master Zhang, didn't I say I didn't want to see you? Why are you here?"

Seeing Guo Zhiping like this, Zhang Dezheng bowed and asked:
"Why did Dong Weng come to this? But what happened?"

Faced with Zhang Dezheng's question, Guo Zhiping hesitated for a moment, but still complained to Zhang Dezheng about what happened at today's staff meeting.

"Lin Huaiwu is really a bastard. He defeated the Yunbing war in a mess, and he also embezzled so much money, but the Marshal only raised the board high and put it down gently, and transferred him to be the general of Qilu. If it were me, Old Guo, I'm afraid that ten heads would not be enough for the Marshal to chop off!" "Back then on the battlefield of Yunbing, if I, Old Guo, hadn't fought hard against Shangguan Hongyuan's Shenwu Army in Dakou Township and rescued tens of thousands of brothers, we would have been defeated in the first Yunbing war, and it's not certain whether Jinzhong could have been defended!
"Lin Huaiwu and He Jingyun were playing the big shots behind the scenes while I charged into battle and got hurt. In the end, I, the commander of the Third Army, was demoted and transferred back to Yijing to be the deputy chief of the general staff. Who can I complain to about this matter?"

“And there’s the deputy chief of the general staff. Although this official seems to have a high rank, it’s just a nominal position. They let me be a mascot here, and I’m supported by a high position and generous salary. Every day in the government office, apart from reporting for duty, I either drink tea or read newspapers…”

"My Third Army brothers have been fighting on the Yunbing battlefield for more than a year, and many have died or been injured, and even lost their organization. Now, with great difficulty, the Marshal has given his approval to restore the organization, but in the end, that bastard Xun Ke got the advantage. It's really infuriating!"

At the end, Guo Zhiping, who was in an extremely depressed mood, raised his head and drank a large glass of wine. When he was in Yunbing, he knew a little about Lin Huaiwu's affairs.

Although he looked down upon Lin Huaiwu's actions, he had no grudges against Lin Huaiwu in the past or in the present. They were all under the command of the Fengwu Army and they would see each other every day. Lin Huaiwu was also the Marshal's trusted and beloved general, so it was not worth offending him for no reason. Therefore, Guo Zhiping pretended not to know. He never thought that Lin Huaiwu's little thing would be exposed at this time.
Looking at Guo Zhiping who was full of complaints, Zhang Dezheng's last sentence was the core of the matter. The Third Army of the Fengwu Army was a unit led by Guo Zhiping. Guo Zhiping had deep feelings for this unit. During his time as Deputy Chief of the General Staff, he had always been thinking about returning to the Third Army one day to continue fighting on the battlefield.

And now seeing Xun Ke officially become the commander of the Third Army, Guo Zhiping's little thought was completely shattered, so he couldn't accept it for a while and was full of complaints...
After a moment of silence, Zhang Dezheng said:
“Dong Weng, I think with Marshal Ye’s character, Lin Huaiwu’s matter will not end so easily!”

After hearing this, Guo Zhiping also became interested and said:
"Mr. Zhang, are you saying that the Marshal will kill Lin Huaiwu?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Guo Zhiping shook his head and asked himself:

"I don't think the Marshal will kill Lin Huaiwu. Lin Huaiwu is at best a commander, and he can only command a few thousand men. The reason he was able to become the commander of the Second Army is entirely because of his loyalty to the Marshal. Over the years, he has fought wherever the Marshal has pointed his finger!"

"Although he made some money in Yunbing, Yunbing itself is a poor place. As far as I know, the money he made is not even half of Ye Hongsheng's. The Marshal still remembers the old friendship and the old brothers who have served him for so many years, so he didn't kill Ye Hongsheng, let alone him!"

Zhang Dezheng said with a smile:

“Marshal Ye will naturally not kill Lin Huaiwu, but he will definitely not let Lin Huaiwu go easily. In my opinion, the reason why Lin Huaiwu fell this time is that corruption is just the fuse. The main reason is that in the past year, our army suffered countless casualties on the Yunping battlefield, but there was no progress. Lin Huaiwu cannot escape the blame...”

"Think about it, Mr. Dong. At the beginning of the year, the Marshal used He Jingyun, you, and Lin Huaiwu in Yunbing. Because the war was not going well, He Jingyun was transferred to Hebei and Henan to serve as the commander of the First Army, and you were also transferred to the General Staff to serve as the deputy chief of the general staff, a nominal position. Only Lin Huaiwu had nothing to do, and was promoted to the commander-in-chief of the Yunbing battlefield!"

"But how did Lin Huaiwu repay the Marshal? If Xun Ke hadn't arrived in time to support the Second Army, Pingyun County would have been defeated. The Second Army would have suffered more than just 10,000 casualties. The Marshal must be dissatisfied with Lin Huaiwu!"

"However, with the help of Xun Ke, Yunbing recaptured the five counties and completed the established combat objectives. The Marshal couldn't punish Lin Huaiwu too much. In my opinion, General Yue Qing looks impartial and never bends the law for personal gain, but in fact, he is very good at figuring out the Marshal's mind!"

"You, Dong Weng, know everything about Lin Huaiwu's situation in Yunbing. How could Yue Qing not know anything about it?"

"Then why didn't he report these things directly to the Marshal? It's because Lin Huaiwu is the Marshal's trusted general, and Yue Qing doesn't dare to offend Lin Huaiwu. Now he has figured out the Marshal's dissatisfaction with Lin Huaiwu, so he dares to investigate Lin Huaiwu's affairs!"

“The Marshal has always been quite fond of Lin Huaiwu during his years in the Fengwu Army. Although his combat record is mediocre and not very useful, the Marshal still appointed him as the commander of the Second Army against all odds. This shows how much the Marshal trusts him…”

"For someone like Lin Huaiwu, who only rose to power because of the Marshal's favor, his nightmare will come once the Marshal's favor for him declines. This time, the Marshal transferred him to Qilu to serve as the general. In my opinion, this is just for the sake of playing it safe!"

"After all, Lin Huaiwu is the commander-in-chief of the Yunbing battlefield, commanding tens of thousands of our troops on the Yunbing battlefield. If we capture him directly, it is hard to guarantee that the morale of the soldiers on the front line will not be shaken. Therefore, transferring him to Qilu and slowly dealing with him is the safest choice!"

Zhang Dezheng paused for a moment, glanced at Guo Zhiping, and then continued:
"Dong Weng, I think that although you are dormant now, you should not indulge yourself too much. Shangguan Hongyuan, Xu Zhaojie and their ilk have not been wiped out yet. The Fengwu Army still has many battles to fight. There are only a few good generals in the Fengwu Army. Sooner or later, the Marshal will have to use you, Dong Weng!"

"In my opinion, the Marshal will most likely focus on dealing with Shangguan Hongyuan in the spring of next year. Although Yuan Song is a famous general, the troops in Yunbing are far from enough. When the battle is in full swing, the Marshal will most likely form the Fifth Army to go to Yunbing for support!"

"By then, who else but Dong Weng will be the commander of the Fifth Army?"

“So Dong Weng, you’d better cheer up. There are many big and tough battles waiting for you to fight in the future. If you miss this opportunity to make great achievements, Dong Weng, you will regret it for the rest of your life...”

Listening to Zhang Dezheng's meticulous analysis, Guo Zhiping's eyes gradually brightened, and he immediately stood up and bowed to Zhang Dezheng, saying:

"Sir, what you said is very true. Zhiping has learned a lot!"

(End of this chapter)