Chapter 1044 Stubborn as a mule
Yuwen Ye immediately said, "Come in."
A young soldier, travel-worn, walked in from outside and immediately knelt and saluted upon entering the tent. Yuwen Ye simply waved his hand: "What's the situation at Mengjin Pass?"
The soldier had clearly rushed over; he was covered in dust and dirt, but his face beamed with joy that even the dust couldn't hide. He looked up at Yuwen Ye and said, "Your Highness, at noon today, General Shentu led his troops to capture Mengjin Pass!"
"good!"
Yuwen Ye's eyes lit up, and he nodded, saying, "Well done!"
Upon hearing this, Mu Xian, who was standing to the side, immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Then, his face lit up with joy, and he said with a smile, "This is wonderful! General Shentu has indeed lived up to Your Highness's expectations."
Yuwen Ye nodded and said, "However, according to my estimation, he should have taken Mengjin Pass much earlier. It was only taken at noon today; could something have gone wrong?"
Upon hearing this, the messenger looked surprised. He felt that this Prince Qin was not only a brilliant strategist but also a prophet. He couldn't help but wonder if the rumors were true and if Prince Qin really had divine assistance. Or was he himself a divine being descended to earth?
Thinking this to himself, and with admiration in his eyes, the soldier nodded and said, "Your Highness's prediction is correct."
"Oh?" Yuwen Ye asked, "What happened?"
At this point, the soldier hesitated and dared not speak. Yuwen Ye frowned: "What exactly happened? Speak!"
The soldier could only say, "General Shentu returned to Cijian to reinforce the city. Although he repelled the people sent by Luoyang, His Highness Prince Qi's men said that General Shentu colluded with the Luoyang rebels, committed treason, and put His Highness in danger. They want to write to Chang'an and request that His Highness punish General Shentu."
"What?"
"Moreover, Zhaowu Colonel will also take over General Shentu's troops."
"..."
Yuwen Ye's face immediately darkened.
For this military expedition, Yuwen Yuan appointed Yuwen Cheng as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Henan Road Army and Shang Shoufei as the Zhaowu Colonel. Although these two men were not very capable in battle, their official positions were still there. In particular, Yuwen Cheng had the status of a prince. Even if Shen Tu Tai could disobey him in military matters, he could not be too disrespectful to him.
Previously, Yuwen Ye had ordered Shen Tu Tai to lead two thousand men away from Cijian in such a dangerous situation to intercept the five thousand men heading south from Mengjin Pass. This indeed put his third brother in an extremely dangerous situation, because Cijian was a key target of Luoyang's attack, and it had helped them attract a great deal of attention from Luoyang during that time, which enabled them to successfully capture several passes. Now, Yuwen Cheng was going to get angry and settle scores, so naturally he was going to target Shen Tu Tai.
However, he probably still had some fear of Shen Tu Tai and dared not deal with him directly under military law, so he wrote to Chang'an to let the emperor decide on the matter.
But Yuwen Ye still didn't expect that he would also want to take away Shen Tu Tai's military power!
Once he completely controls the troops there, Yuwen Ye will be practically crippled, and his plans to advance into Luoyang will likely be hampered by his incompetence and hostility.
However, since Shen Tu Tai captured Mengjin Pass at noon today, the matter is now resolved.
Yuwen Ye asked, "So, how was the matter resolved?"
The soldier said, "Fortunately, Military Advisor Shen stepped in and eased the situation."
Yuwen Ye raised an eyebrow slightly: "Fu Ming? How did he do it?"
The soldier said, "Right after Your Highness captured Dagu Pass and Huanyuan Pass, Military Advisor Shen petitioned the court for an emergency allocation of provisions and attached Your Highness's and General Shentu's achievements in several battles to the document. At that time, His Majesty's decree arrived, which not only allocated more provisions but also issued an imperial edict praising General Shentu for his unparalleled bravery in the army."
"..."
"With His Majesty's decree, His Highness Prince Qi could not say anything more."
Upon hearing this, a hint of a smile appeared in Yuwen Ye's eyes.
He knew that Shen Wuzheng would not sit idly by.
This is one of the reasons why Shen Wuzheng did not allocate too much grain from the Ministry of Revenue before this expedition. The main reason is that they were preparing to attack Huiluo Granary. With this nearby granary, they would not have to rely too much on transporting grain from the rear. However, before they could take Huiluo Granary, they would need to request grain from the court multiple times. This would give him a legitimate reason to submit the battle reports to the emperor several times and receive feedback from the emperor.
Even though Yuwen Cheng was hostile to them, he dared not go against the emperor's decree.
Upon hearing this, Mu Xian also breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thanks to Lord Shen."
Yuwen Ye nodded, but when he looked up and saw the undisguised admiration and praise for Shen Wuzheng on Mu Xian and the messenger soldier's faces, a strange displeasure suddenly arose in his heart, and he snorted: "That's all he knows."
The soldier was standing quite far away and hadn't heard clearly yet, but Mu Xian looked at him in surprise.
Yuwen Ye seemed to realize that he had been too emotionally expressive at this moment, even revealing his true feelings, which was rather shallow. He could only cough awkwardly twice and say, "Yes, he did very well, and Shentu Tai did well too. You, go and get it—"
Before the word "reward" could be finished, the tent flap was opened again.
Zhao Deyan, who had already received forty lashes, limped in.
The military was governed by strict discipline. Since Yuwen Ye had given the order, he would naturally receive every stroke of the rod. Even if the soldiers carrying out the punishment didn't use excessive force, forty strokes would still break even a man of iron, let alone a person of flesh and blood. Zhao Deyan was quite tough; he actually walked back to report to his commander.
"This humble general..."
But he had only uttered two words when the pain aggravated the injury between his thighs, causing his vision to go black and him to collapse to his knees, letting out a suppressed, hoarse cry of pain: "Ah—!"
The soldier who delivered the order was so shocked that he didn't dare to utter a sound and silently retreated to the side.
Mu Xian couldn't bear it and was about to step forward to help Zhao Deyan up, but he was stopped by Zhao Deyan's hand. Large beads of sweat were dripping down his forehead. He gritted his teeth and straightened up again, cupping his hands to Yuwen Ye and saying, "This subordinate reports back."
Seeing that his eyes were red, Yuwen Ye said expressionlessly, "Do you know you were wrong?"
"..."
Zhao Deyan did not answer immediately, but instead panted heavily and remained silent for a long time before saying, "This humble general knows his crime. This humble general is just—unable to accept this."
Mu Xian immediately frowned.
Unexpectedly, this man was not only stubborn but also tight-lipped. Even after being beaten so badly, he still wouldn't give in. Yuwen Ye was afraid that he would be even more furious and punish him even more severely. Just as he was about to plead for mercy, he heard Yuwen Ye sigh deeply.
Mu Xian immediately held his breath.
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