In Bianjing, memorials impeaching Yue Fei poured in like snowflakes. They accused him of abusing private punishment, exceeding his authority to execute commanders (except during battles), and being inconsiderate to his soldiers.
Taiyuan Prefecture, Shanxi Province, the residence of Envoy Xuan.
Yue Fei stood in the center with a big "Shuai" character behind him.
The garrison commanders, deputy commanders, and counselors of various garrisons, along with a large group of military officers, stood below.
Yue Fei: "I have been promoted to the post of Shanxi Xuanfu Envoy. From now on, you will be part of the Yue Family Army. When you fight me, I will give you eight words: 'Words are followed by laws, and orders are carried out strictly.' Anyone who dares to disobey military orders will be killed without mercy!"
Yue Fei's eyes flashed like lightning: "Now, I, the Marshal, will announce the military orders: Anyone who stops in action will be beheaded! Anyone who retreats in battle will be beheaded! Any general who does not lead the troops will be beheaded! Any soldier who dares to steal from the people will be beheaded! The commander and the general will each be beaten with a hundred sticks. Any soldier who sleeps overnight in a civilian's house will be beheaded! The commander will be beaten with fifty sticks. Most importantly, most importantly, anyone who withholds military pay will be torn into pieces by five horses!" (The original sentence was "Anyone who withholds military pay will be beheaded!" The author felt that this was not enough to satisfy the author, so he changed it to "Torn into pieces by five horses." The author was even more foolish and willful than Zhao Huan.)
The generals below looked at each other in bewilderment. This was far too harsh. If a soldier dared to take even a blade of grass from the civilians, he would lose his head, and the commander would also be beaten with a stick. Who the hell would still want to be a soldier under such circumstances?
Everyone below was whispering. After a while, Bai Wanli jumped out and said, "Yue Fei, don't go too far. You don't allow me to do anything. What's the point of being a soldier? I don't want to be a soldier anymore!"
"Someone come!" Yue Fei shouted: "Drag him out and chop him off!"
Bai Wanli yelled, "Yue Fei! You abused private punishment and killed innocent Song soldiers. The emperor will not forgive you! If you have the guts, come with me to see the emperor, and he will definitely chop off your head!"
"Wait!" Yue Fei waved his hand and stopped the two soldiers who were about to grab Bai Wanli.
Yue Fei stared at Bai Wanli intently: "You think I'm abusing my power? Well, take off his uniform and bring him to the capital. I'll let His Majesty decide his fate!"
Soldiers had already come and captured Bai Wanli and took off his uniform.
Bai Wanli was left with only his white underwear. He struggled and yelled, "Yue Fei! Fine! I'm going to report you to the Emperor!"
"Snap!" The soldiers outside the tent put a big iron chain on Bai Wanli's head, treated him as a prisoner, and sent several officials to take him to the capital.
The remaining generals were all submissive and no one dared to say a word.
Yue Fei paced back and forth. "I know you garrison troops are suffering. Your pay has been long overdue. I have already reported this to the court, and your pay arrived yesterday."
The generals below erupted in excitement. Military pay had been in arrears for months, leaving the soldiers struggling to make ends meet. Now, upon hearing the news that their pay had arrived, they were all overjoyed.
"Your Majesty has promised me! You will never owe my Yue Family Army a penny in wages again. The Great Song Dynasty is supporting us with the entire nation's strength. I still say the same thing! My Yue Family Army would rather freeze to death than demolish houses, and starve to death than plunder. Anyone who violates this will be killed without mercy!"
Yue Fei was just speaking with great enthusiasm when something happened.
"Please, sir, please help!" A loud crying sound was heard outside the door.
After a while, a soldier came to report: "Marshal, there are people outside seeking justice."
Yue Fei frowned and led everyone to the door of the mansion.
Several civilians were dressed in mourning, and a corpse was placed on a stretcher, covered with a white cloth.
"What's going on?" Yue Fei said with a cold face.
The guard at the gate said, "General Yue, these civilians are accusing a soldier of raping and murdering the deceased."
The elderly couple in the lead knelt on the ground and cried bitterly.
Yue Fei stepped forward and asked, "Old man, what grievance have you suffered?"
"My Lord, please make the decision for my little girl!"
Yue Fei went over and helped the old man up: "Who are you? Tell me, and I will make the decision for you."
"I live in Liujia Lane, South City, Taiyuan Prefecture. My daughter was raped by several patrolling soldiers on the way back to her parents' home last night. I was so upset that I hanged myself. My daughter!" The visitor burst into tears as he spoke. A man next to the deceased was even more heartbroken. He must be the deceased's husband.
Yue Fei ordered his soldiers: "Who was patrolling Liujia Lane last night? Catch them all!"
The soldier bowed and accepted the order, then turned around and left with his men.
Soon, the six patrol soldiers from Liujia Lane were arrested.
When the six men saw the dead body on the ground, they immediately understood everything. Four of them lowered their heads, not daring to look up. A tall, thin man and a man with triangular eyes cried out that they were wronged.
One of the tall and thin men said, "Marshal, we two were not involved."
Yue Fei looked at him coldly: "Speak!"
The tall, thin man pointed at a short, fat man next to him who was lowering his head. "I'm from the South City Night Patrol Squad, and this is our Patrol Inspector Kui Dawan. Last night while on patrol, we happened to encounter a lone woman. Kui Dawan had evil intentions and, along with the others, dragged her to a dark alley and assaulted her. We were cowards, so we ran back to the barracks and didn't join in the action."
The man with the triangular eyes also said, "Kui Dawan knew he had committed a great crime, so he came back and urged us to go north and surrender to the Jin army. Since the two of us were not involved, we did not agree. Kui Dawan and the other three wanted to sneak out of the city tonight, but we were captured by the marshal before we even set off."
Yue Fei angrily said: "Although you two did not participate in this despicable act, why didn't you stop it at the time? Why didn't you report it to your superiors? Do you think you are not guilty if you didn't participate?"
The tall and thin man and the one with triangular eyes were so frightened that they knelt down and kowtowed, shouting for mercy.
Yue Fei waved his hand and said: "Drag these two out and behead them!"
The tall and thin man and the one with triangular eyes cried out that they were wronged, but they were soon silenced and killed with a knife.
The remaining four people knew they were doomed and sat on the ground trembling.
Yue Fei pointed at the four villains and said: "Chop off their heads and hang them on the city gate for public display. Then, cut out their hearts and livers and place them in front of the spirits of the deceased to comfort their souls in heaven!"
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