"Wait a minute, it's not cooked yet!" In the yard, the mutton on the fire made a sizzling sound.
The fragrance wafted away, prompting a swallowing sound.
Seeing the aroma getting stronger and stronger, just when Yan Yingyuan was about to take the first bite, a soldier on duty ran in and reported: "Master Yan, Xuanfu Town Guerrilla General Ding Yi wants to see you."
Ding Yi?
"Let him in!" Yan Yingyuan put down the lamb skewers in his hand and looked towards the door.
Ding Yi, dressed in military uniform, walked quickly to the front and bowed: "Guerrilla General Ding Yi greets Lord Yan."
Ding Yi is not tall and although he is wearing armor, one can feel his physical strength in his every move.
That is not something that can be acquired overnight; it takes time to develop.
"General Ding, you've arrived just in time. Please try my freshly roasted lamb."
Ding Yi was a rough man. He didn't think much about it. After taking the mutton, he was about to eat it when he found that a group of soldiers led by Jiang Yingkui were staring at him with fierce eyes.
Ding Yi stood there in a trance.
After racking his brains, he found the problem and quickly returned the mutton skewers in his hand to Yan Yingyuan: "Master Yan, please go first."
After saying this, those sharp gazes moved away from Ding Yi.
call...
Ding Yi felt like he had escaped death.
He was somewhat curious about how Yan Yingyuan did it; the cohesion was too strong.
Yan Yingyuan tasted a bite of mutton, then picked up a string of meat and handed it to Ding Yi: "What can I do for you, General Ding?"
Ding Yi looked at the other people in the yard and hesitated.
"It doesn't matter, they won't leak the news!"
Ding Yi hesitated again and again, and finally made up his mind and said, "Master Yan, I want to impeach Wu Zhiyuan, the commander of the Wanquan Division."
"He exploited the soldiers in the garrison, embezzled military pay, and colluded with merchants to sell items that were banned by the court. As far as I know, there were firearms, gunpowder, and ironware..."
After a long while, Ding Yi finally expressed all his dissatisfaction.
Yan Yingyuan asked calmly, "Does General Ding have any evidence?"
Ding Yi shook his head helplessly.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were theoretically two types of evidence when handling cases.
Witness or physical evidence.
Any cautious person would not leave any physical evidence, and the testimony of human witnesses would be rejected because of the presiding judge's empty words.
Just when Ding Yi thought that Yan Yingyuan and Wu Zhiyuan were of the same kind, Yan Yingyuan spoke.
"I believe you are telling the truth, so I have decided to expose Wu Zhiyuan's crimes in front of all the soldiers. How do you think?"
Ding Yi stood up excitedly: "Thank you, Lord Yan, for handling this matter impartially. I am very grateful!"
"Wait..." Seeing Ding Yi was about to leave, Yan Yingyuan shouted, "Since we need to investigate Wu Zhiyuan, we need General Ding's help."
"What's the matter?"
"General Ding has 800 elite border troops. In order to prevent Wu Zhiyuan from rebelling and causing losses to both sides, I plan to transfer all of General Ding's men here in case of emergency."
Ding Yi suddenly felt something was wrong.
In name it was a loan of troops, but in reality it was a deprivation of his military power.
Could it be that he and Wu Zhiyuan are really in cahoots?
Ding Yi shook his head and denied the guess. Yan Yingyuan was very good at leading troops, and some things could not be faked. He was very good to his soldiers, and it was impossible for him to be in cahoots with Wu Zhiyuan.
Immediately, he understood Yan Yingyuan's thoughts.
The other party must be afraid of his strength, so they stripped him of his military power in the name of borrowing troops so that they could deal with Wu Zhiyuan with peace of mind.
Okay.
In ancient times, there was a story about giving up military power over a cup of wine. Today, Yan Yingyuan gave up his military power over a skewer of mutton, which is also a good story.
Thinking of this, Ding Yi reached out and took out the military seal from the package he was carrying and handed it to Yan Yingyuan: "Master Yan, this is my military seal. You can use these items to mobilize those people."
"Okay! General Ding, take care. I won't see you off! By the way, the day after tomorrow morning, the military pay will be distributed at the parade ground. General Ding must be there on time."
Ding Yi forced himself not to think too much, bowed and left.
Not long after, the soldier on duty came again to report: "Sir Yan, the commander of Wanquandusi, Wu Zhiyuan, wants to see you."
Yan Yingyuan sighed, as expected, what is supposed to come will come sooner or later.
"Let him in!"
Wu Zhiyuan walked in alone and after some polite exchanges, he got down to business.
"Sir Yan, I want to impeach the guerrilla general Ding Yi."
"He embezzled military funds, killed innocent people and took credit for his crimes. He was also derelict in his duty, overstepped his authority, was rebellious, and was greedy. I have witnesses. Please investigate, Lord Yan."
Yan Yingyuan pretended to be stunned, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "Does Commander Wu really have evidence?"
"I guarantee with my life that every word I say is true!"
Yan Yingyuan pretended to think again, and after careful consideration, he said, "I believe you are telling the truth, so I decided to expose Ding Yi's crimes in front of all the soldiers. How about that?"
"Thank you, Lord Yan!"
"Since we want to investigate Ding Yi, we need Commander Wu's help."
"What's the matter?"
"Ding Yi has 800 elite border troops. To prevent him from rebelling, I plan to borrow 1,000 garrison troops from Commander Wu, just in case. What do you think?"
Wu Zhiyuan blinked and thought quickly about countermeasures.
It is impossible to borrow troops, not in this lifetime.
Unless the other party is the general of Xuanfu or the governor of Xuanda, no one can do anything.
These soldiers are his confidence. Without confidence, he will be at the mercy of others.
The court must have had this consideration in mind when not appointing him as general or governor, so it was right not to lend it.
"Sir Yan, you are the governor of Xuanfu and the minister of the Ministry of War. You can mobilize me. But soldiers and commanders are one. I can obey your command, but I cannot borrow soldiers. This is the rule of the court."
"Besides, Lord Yan, there are still many places that have not been recovered. After you leave, the defense of Xuanfu will still be in my hands. Even if I want to borrow troops, I will not be able to do so."
Yan Yingyuan pretended to be enlightened: "I used to be a ninth-rank official in the county government, and I don't know much about the rules of the court. Fortunately, Commander Wu reminded me, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous."
"How about this? The day after tomorrow morning, I will distribute the salaries at the parade ground. At that time, Lord Yan will have all the soldiers of the garrison put on their armor and weapons and go to the parade ground to collect their salaries."
"If Ding Yi makes unreasonable arguments or even leads his troops to resist, Commander Wu will definitely help!"
After thinking it over seriously, Wu Zhiyuan bowed and left.
He had heard about the fate of Qi's army, so he was very resistant to the idea of receiving wages on the parade ground.
but...
Wearing armor and carrying weapons dispelled his worries. No matter how weak the garrison soldiers were, they would not be slaughtered.
This is his confidence!
Jiang Yingkui looked at Wu Zhiyuan's departing figure, and asked with a puzzled look on his face: "Brother Yan, what on earth are you going to do? I don't understand!"
Yan Yingyuan narrowed his eyes: "Kill three birds with one stone!"
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