Chapter 838: There is no way to escape the punishment alive!
Arriving at the Fengwu Army General Staff Headquarters, Yue Qing was preparing to summarize the recent progress of the military departments in anti-corruption, but he found that the expressions of his colleagues around him were a little strange, and some of them were secretly paying attention to him·························
After discovering this, Yue Qing was also a little surprised. He didn't know what was going on. He first thought that there was something wrong with his clothes, but he looked left and right and didn't find anything wrong with his clothes.

Just when Yue Qing was puzzled, his subordinate Tang Fei came over and whispered in his ear:

"Master Lin Huaiwu has come to Yijing. He is now walking towards the Marshal's Mansion through the West City Gate to apologize for his crime!"

Yue Qing was shocked when he heard this, and there was a hint of disbelief in his eyes. Seeing that Yue Qing didn't seem to believe it, Tang Fei became a little anxious, and then he continued:

"Sir, this is true. Lin Huaiwu was walking towards the Marshal's Mansion with his upper body naked and carrying thorns on his back. The entire General Staff has already known about this. Please quickly come up with a set of rules!"

After hearing what Tang Fei said, Yue Qing gradually came to his senses. He took a deep breath and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

No wonder those colleagues looked at me so strangely just now, it turned out that Lin Huaiwu had played this trick!
Originally, he thought that with Lin Huaiwu’s broad-mindedness and scheming, it would be good enough for him to clean up his mess now. However, he didn’t expect that he would actually use such a trick. It seems that there is an expert guiding him behind the scenes. Thinking of this, Yue Qing also got a headache····························

For a long time in the past, although the military department led by Yue Qing seemed to be very critical, the main task of the Fengwu Army at that time was external expansion.

Therefore, in order to ensure that this task was completed to the greatest extent possible, some problems were covered up intentionally or unintentionally. Even if there were problems, they were interfered with by generals and commanders from various departments for fear of affecting military morale. Some radical military figures even believed that the military department led by Yue Qing did not go to the front line to make achievements, but only knew how to deal with their own people behind the scenes.

Under such circumstances, the military department led by Yue Qing became increasingly useless and even faced the risk of being marginalized, so Yue Qing was anxious as he saw it.

Yue Qing had thought about giving Ye Mingsheng some advice, but at that time the Fengwu Army had successively taken over large tracts of land in Yunbing, Ji and Yu, and the generals and commanders of various units were in high spirits and at their peak of power.

Yue Qing knew very well that it was not a good time to advise Ye Mingsheng about the military's long-standing problems. Even though the Marshal attached great importance to the army's construction, at that time, those generals and commanders had many military achievements, and the Marshal had no excuse to touch them.

Even if he is not careful, he, the chief officer of the army, will be jointly liquidated by these generals and commanders. The Fengwu Army can do without him as the chief officer of the army, but it cannot do without these generals who can fight. So when the time comes, it goes without saying what choice the Marshal will make...

So at that time Yue Qing chose to be patient. He was waiting for an opportunity to strike back!

Although he chose to be patient, it did not mean that Yue Qing did nothing. He ordered his subordinates not to make it public, but to quietly collect evidence of the illegal acts of the generals of various departments, and then send the evidence of these generals' crimes to him.

In this way, the entire secret operation lasted for nearly a year, and Yue Qing accumulated a lot of evidence. During the time when he was collecting evidence, the Fengwu Army's heavy military presence in the Yunbing battlefield was not progressing smoothly.

At this time, Yue Qing was keenly aware of Ye Mingsheng's dissatisfaction, and this made him realize that the opportunity he had been waiting for for a long time had finally come!
He wrote an article to Ye Mingsheng, in which he eloquently described to Ye Mingsheng the long-standing problems in the army. He bluntly stated that the fundamental reason why the Fengwu Army failed to meet expectations in the Yunbing battlefield was due to the long-standing problems in the army. In addition to writing the article to Ye Mingsheng, he also presented some of the evidence he had collected to Ye Mingsheng.

Next, just as Yue Qing expected, Ye Mingsheng, who had always been very sensitive to anti-corruption, was very angry when he felt that corruption was spreading in the Fengwu Army, which he had founded. He launched a large-scale investigation in the army, vowing to root out the black sheep in the army one by one...

After receiving Ye Mingsheng's order, Yue Qing, like an imperial envoy holding the imperial sword, began to lead this large-scale investigation.

Yue Qing finally got this opportunity, and he also wanted to take advantage of it to establish his and the military department's position in the Fengwu Army in one fell swoop!

There are only a few chairs in the Fengwu Army. If you want to get to the top, the best way is to pull one down and step on his shoulders to get up!

Yue Qing thought the same, and the target he chose was Lin Huaiwu!
Yue Qing had given full consideration to the reason for choosing Lin Huaiwu. To be honest, although Ye Mingsheng was very strict with his subordinates, he was in a high position and held great power. Even if you didn't want it, those people would come around and corrupt you with money and corruption.

Therefore, among the senior generals of the Fengwu Army, Lin Huaiwu was not the only one with problems. Quite a number of them also used public power for personal gain. However, these people were also wary, so they tried to make a fortune quietly from some minor details and did not dare to make too big a deal!
Only Lin Huaiwu made nearly 20,000 taels of silver during the more than one year he was in charge of Yunbing, which had a very bad impact. In addition, as the commander-in-chief of the Yunbing battlefield, he certainly could not shirk the responsibility for the unfavorable progress of the Fengwu Army!

Of course, in addition to the reasons mentioned above, Yue Qing also had personal reasons for choosing Lin Huaiwu as his target.

Among the military leaders in the Fengwu Army, Yuan Song and He Jingyun are older and have very calm and low-key personalities. Guo Zhiping, due to his background, although not excluded, finds it difficult to integrate into the mainstream, so he cannot be high-profile even if he wants to.

Only Lin Huaiwu was born as a military officer of the Imperial Guards. He was also one of the first people to follow Ye Mingsheng and had the most seniority in the Fengwu Army. Therefore, he often seemed a little arrogant. Except for a few big guys of the same level such as Yuan Song, He Jingyun, Guo Zhiping, he seldom gave face to other people.

At the same time, Lin Huaiwu interfered the most in the affairs of the Second Army, so Yue Qing, as the chief officer of the army, had long been very dissatisfied with Lin Huaiwu, but at that time Ye Mingsheng was favoring Lin Huaiwu, so Yue Qing could only swallow this breath. Now that he has this opportunity, Yue Qing will naturally not let it go. He wants to use Lin Huaiwu's head as a stepping stone for himself!
During this period, Yue Qing was digging for evidence of Lin Huaiwu's crimes, and at the same time he was actively advising Ye Mingsheng, explaining the harm that Lin Huaiwu posed to the Fengwu Army, and saying that not killing Lin Huaiwu would not be enough to quell the anger of the officers and soldiers, and not killing Lin Huaiwu would not be enough to rectify the military style and discipline.

The Marshal has been hesitant about this matter, so Yue Qing is urging his men to dig up evidence against Lin Huaiwu as soon as possible. Although the Marshal has feelings for Lin Huaiwu, as long as he can produce more evidence, the Marshal will definitely put the overall situation first...
This time the Marshal transferred Lin Huaiwu to serve as the General of Qi and Lu. Yue Qing thought that victory was in sight, but he never expected that Lin Huaiwu would play such a trick on him!
Just as Yue Qing was thinking about how to deal with it, a guard came over and reported:

"Master Yue, Chief Zhao wants you to attend a meeting in half an hour!"

Upon hearing the news, Yue Qing's heart sank. There was no meeting agenda for the General Staff today, so when Zhao Han called him to a meeting now, it was obvious that this meeting was added at the last minute, so the agenda of the meeting was very clear!
Although he didn't know what the old fox Zhao Han was thinking at this time, as the saying goes, blessing is not a disaster, and disaster cannot be avoided, so Yue Qing nodded to the guard, indicating that he understood, and the guard immediately said goodbye and left.

Half an hour later, several important figures including Zhao Han and Yue Qing were all present in the General Staff meeting room. Zhao Han did not waste any time and reported directly:
"General Lin Huaiwu came to Yijing, but Marshal did not meet him. He was kneeling in front of the Marshal's mansion, asking for forgiveness!" In addition, General Lin also donated 15,000 taels of silver to the treasury, as well as another 10,000 taels of silver worth of various goods!"

"You are all important members of the Fengwu Army. Please share your opinions on this matter!"

After hearing what Zhao Han said, as it did not involve their own interests, the other people in the meeting room just watched and watched, and said that it was all up to Director Zhao to decide...
After getting everyone's answers, Zhao Han looked at Yue Qing and said in a deep voice:

"Master Yue, you are the chief military officer. You have the most say in this matter. I wonder what you think now?"

Seeing Zhao Han throwing the ball to him, Yue Qing cursed in his heart. After hearing what Zhao Han had just said, he knew that it would be difficult to take Lin Huaiwu's life now. Although the Marshal did not see Lin Huaiwu yet, he would most likely spare Lin Huaiwu's life!

However, the Marshal naturally could not be the first to speak on the matter of Rape Lin Huaiwu, so this old fox Zhao Han also thought of this, so he wanted to plead for Lin Huaiwu in the name of the General Staff. In this way, everything would be logical, and Zhao Han would also be appreciated by the Marshal.

Feeling Zhao Han's meaningful eyes, although Yue Qing was unwilling, he also understood that the situation was stronger than the person and he could not beat the opponent. However, he and Lin Huaiwu were fighting to the death now. If he was allowed to catch his breath, he would definitely cause trouble for him.

Therefore, for the sake of future safety, even if we cannot take Lin Huaiwu's life now, we must completely cut off the possibility of Lin Huaiwu making a comeback!

Thinking of this, Yue Qing met Zhao Han's gaze and said in a deep voice:
“Although General Lin has made great contributions, the amount of his corruption is shocking. So for the sake of military discipline, I think he can be sentenced to death, but he cannot escape punishment alive. He should be removed from all his posts and exiled to Posuo Prefecture…”

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Just as Yi Jing was caught up in a power struggle, in the Fengwu Army camp in Jinzhong, Yuan Song and Xun Ke were discussing the war situation.

Looking at the coordinates on the sand table, Xun Ke said very seriously!

"Sir Yuan, according to the intelligence from the cavalry troops ahead, the Yunbing troops in Wenshan, Xiaode, and Yi counties are on high alert and are equipped with a lot of firearms!"

"In addition, in the past few months, Wang Muzhi has been reinforcing the city walls to target our army's firearms. He has built a tight defense line in this direction, waiting for our army to rush up and gnaw at it!"

Listening to Xun Ke's introduction, Yuan Song nodded silently. In the past few days, they had sent seven or eight small cavalry groups to continuously infiltrate the enemy's rear.

In order to ensure the safety of these small groups of cavalry and prevent them from being surrounded by Wang Muzhi, Yuan Song made a feint in Dagu County to create the illusion of a trap for Wang Muzhi, but in fact Yuan Song did this just to test the strength of Yun Bing's army.

As the Art of War says, knowing yourself and knowing your enemy, you will win every battle. As soon as he arrived at the Yunbing battlefield, Yuan Song inspected the grassroots soldiers and surveyed the grassroots situation. In this way, he knew himself, and now what he had to do was to know his enemy·························
Judging from the current investigation, Wang Muzhi is a very capable person. He used three counties to build a solid defense line on the east side of Jinyang. If he wants to capture Jinyang, it is basically impossible to bypass this defense line!
Seeing that Yuan Song didn't say anything, Xun Ke continued to offer advice:

"Sir, since we can't bypass the enemy's defense line, our army will ask the Marshal for more heavy artillery, and then use all the heavy artillery to attack a county town, and so on to take down these three counties one by one!"

In the past, when facing such a strong city, whether the army adopted earth attack or other methods, the core idea was to fill it with human lives. After the Fengwu Army tasted the benefits of firearms, it also made many changes in its tactics. The core idea was to use artillery shells to replace human lives. If they could be blown up by artillery shells, they would never charge with human bullets!

Now the Third Army has basically completed the work of restoring its organization and has returned to a size of 50,000. Therefore, the total number of Fengwu Army in the Yunbing battlefield has exceeded 100,000, with a total of about 110,000. However, because some troops have to be left behind to guard the rear, the maximum number of troops that can be used to launch an attack is no more than 90,000...

(End of this chapter)