Qu Duan was stunned for a long time... When he first saw the jade belt, his first reaction was that it was the emperor who came out to see him in person, but as soon as the other party opened his mouth and he heard the familiar accent, Qu Duan suddenly realized that this must be his old acquaintance from the Western Army, Han Wu, the current number one military man, the Grand Tutor and the Jiedushi of the two towns, Han Shizhong, the Grand Commandant.

However, this doesn't seem like an attempt to kill people, right?

"General Han." Facing such a figure, Qu Duan hesitated for a moment and bowed properly, which was rare.

"You still remember to throw Han Wu's salute at me?" Han Shizhong stood on the steps, sneering. "I heard that hundreds of thousands of our Western Army soldiers died, some fled, and some escaped, but you became the number one general in Guanxi. Isn't it a joke? What's the saying of the government? When there is no tiger in the mountain, the wild cat will be king?"

Yang Yizhong, who was standing by, wanted to remind him to correct it, but he was too lazy to say anything more. Qu Duan, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs, opened his mouth to speak, but in front of this person, he really didn't know where to start to refute.

"Today I will not mention the deceased Liu Guangshi, the old Taiwei Yang who is living in Yangzhou, or the villain Zhang Jun who is flattering the emperor in the palace." Han Shizhong continued to sneer. "The few squad leaders who came out with me today are all senior figures selected by the Western Army. In front of everyone, I ask you, between you and me, Han Shizhong... who is one year older?"

Qu Duan pursed his lips and said nothing.

"I'm asking you a question!" Han Shizhong sneered, holding his belt. "Don't you know the size?"

"It's the general." Under the gaze of dozens of people on the steps, Qu Duan finally bowed helplessly. "The general is one year older than me."

“Who joined the army earlier?”

"It's the commander."

“Who has more experience?”

“……”Qu Duan finally stopped talking.

"Who made the greater contribution?" Han Shizhong no longer cared and just kept asking.

“…”

"Am I from the Western Army? Or is it that you in Jingyuan Road are from the Western Army, but we in Yanfu Road are not?"

“…”

"Well, I am the Grand Commandant now, and you are not. Why do you refuse to accept it?"

"I have no intention of disobeying the commander..." Qu Duan was inexplicably depressed... It was one thing to fire a cannon from a distance, but it was another to encounter such a situation face to face. From a soldier's perspective, he really couldn't think of any way in which Han Shizhong was worse than him.

"That's good." Han Shizhong suddenly pursed his lips. "Xiao Yang... this is Yang Yizhong, the grandson of your old boss, General Manager Yang... Xiao Yang, go down and take off his brocade robe!"

Yang Yizhong had been listening for a long time, just waiting for this sentence. He rushed forward with several squad leaders, and held Qu Da down under the drum tower in front of the Wende Hall. Then he tore off his clothes, revealing his white back that was full of muscles and scars.

At this time, another person handed a horsewhip to Han Shizhong with both hands.

"I don't accept it... I am a general of the imperial court. A soldier can be killed but not humiliated!" Qu Duan saw this and understood that Han Shizhong was going to use the whip to kill him, but he struggled even more. "Han Wu, even though you are better than me in every way, you can't humiliate me like this for no reason!"

"I am here to give you these twenty whips!" Han Shizhong calmly held his belt with one hand and the whip with the other hand, and walked around behind him, then raised his voice. "The emperor asked me to tell you that the Chief Censor is a minister of state, and Hu Mingzhong is his messenger. He was whipped in your defense area. No matter whether you knew about it or not, and whether you participated in it or not, you should pay it back in person today! Because among all the generals in the palace, only I, Han Wu, can cover all your qualifications and merits, so I was given this opportunity to make you look good!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Han Shizhong shook his wrist and hit Qu Duan on the back.

The whip hit his body, the pain was excruciating to the bone. Qu Duan gritted his teeth and swallowed his words... It can be seen that Po Han Wu is an expert in this field. It can be said that he is worthy of being a direct descendant of the Western Army.

And that was not all. Han Shizhong continued to scold and swear as he beat the man:

"I just don't understand. What are you so proud of? Why are you so domineering? Even I, Han Wu, have never been domineering. How can you be domineering in front of me?

"A commander dares to arbitrarily annex his colleagues?

"A prefect of Yan'an actually wants to kill the governor who is above him?

"A commander-in-chief who has only been appointed for less than three months actually dares to ignore the Chief Censor?

"Hu Zhongcheng said you have no intention of rebelling, but according to me, you deserve to be killed even if you have no intention of rebelling! Okay?

"You are the only one who is suffering? Are others enjoying themselves? The emperor is in Huaishang, and he is reluctant to light a candle. He lives in the palace and shoots rabbits to eat every day!

"I, Han, have only just learned to read, and you are still writing poetry? And you are still writing poetry to mock the government and the ministers?

"How did the emperor and ministers whom you mocked drive away the Jin army?

"Do you know that the scars on your back are not even one inch as many as mine, Han Wu?

"And Hu Zhongcheng, such a good man, how could he get beaten in your defense zone? He is an angel!

Han Shizhong kept yelling and scolding, and whipping him, but Qu Duan just gritted his teeth and said nothing the whole time, just like when Hu Yin was beaten that day.

After the beating was over, Han Shizhong put away the whip, turned to the other man, and said coldly, "How is it, do you have anything to say? Let me tell you in advance, if you dare to have any intention of complaining to the emperor, I will kill you with my own hands today, even if I have the two military governors on my body, in front of this Wende Hall!"

"have!"

Qu Duan's teeth were trembling slightly, and his back was covered in blood, but he struggled on the ground. "The government ordered that I be beaten with twenty whips... but you, Han Wu, abused the power of private punishment and beat me twenty-one times!"

"It was twenty-two, and the last two were given by me in private, because Hu Zhongcheng must be my brother, and I just wanted to avenge my personal grudge..." Having said this, Han Shizhong whipped him again on the face, and then continued to grin at him. "Or did you only know that I am Han Wu today? If you don't accept it, we will get along better in the future, and you can come to me anytime, I will be waiting for you!"

There were blood marks on the curved surface, but he finally gritted his teeth and said nothing.

"Give him some clothes and bring him in." Han Shizhong ignored the man, threw down his whip, and went back to the palace, holding his belt. "The emperor is discussing military affairs. According to the rules, he, the deputy commander of the imperial camp, should be listening in and participating in the discussion!"

Qu Duan was slightly startled, still gritting his teeth and saying nothing, but suddenly a tear fell from his eyes, and he quickly wiped it away.

PS: My cold has gotten worse... I feel like someone needs to whip me twenty times before I can recover.