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"...Imperial Envoy, are you planning to let Fang Zhenshan go just like this?"
Mao Jiadong couldn't help but ask.
After hearing Mao Jiadong's inquiry, Zhao Junchen still looked thoughtful and did not express his position for a long time.
However, the anger and murderous intent that Zhao Junchen showed just now became weaker and weaker as he pondered.
Seeing Zhao Junchen's performance, Mao Jiadong couldn't help but change his expression.
After the battle at Zhenning Acropolis, the relationship between Mao Jiadong and He Zhang became closer, and they also had the same views on Fang Zhenshan.
In this battle, Mao Jiadong's cavalry suffered heavy casualties. They were all elite soldiers trained by Mao Jiadong himself. There were also several military attaches who had a fatal friendship with Mao Jiadong. It can be said that the casualties of these people were all due to Fang Zhenshan's greed for merit and rash advancement. Because of this, Mao Jiadong also hated Fang Zhenshan in his heart. He really hoped that Zhao Junchen could severely punish Fang Zhenshan this time. It would be best to dismiss Fang Zhenshan from office and imprison him!
However, after Mao Jiadong saw Zhao Junchen's increasingly calm expression at this time, he knew that Zhao Junchen must have other ideas, and Zhao Junchen's ideas might be different from his own, and he might not be able to get what he wanted.
On the other side, after Zhao Junchen pondered for a long time, he sighed softly, raised his head and told Mao Jiadong: "How to deal with Fang Zhenshan... I have some concerns in my heart, and I can't make up my mind for a while! Let's do this, you send someone Bring He Zhang and Fang Zhenshan to see me. Before convening all the officials for a meeting, I want to personally ask them what they think!"
Zhao Junchen said that he wanted to ask He Zhang and Fang Zhenshan in person what they thought, but Mao Jiadong could be considered a close confidant of Zhao Junchen, and his interactions with him over the past few days had allowed him to gradually understand some of Zhao Junchen's habits. Zhao Junchen has now regained his composure. With his eyes and calm expression, he knew that Zhao Junchen must have made a decision in his mind. The so-called "personal inquiry" was just internal ventilation before the decision was officially announced.
Considering that Zhao Junchen might want to let Fang Zhenshan go, Mao Jiadong was a little dissatisfied, but after all, he was a close confidant in the military whom Zhao Junchen had been cultivating these days, and he also knew that Zhao Junchen would never do something without any reason. It was decided that if Zhao Junchen really wanted to let Fang Zhenshan go, there must be a real reason.
Therefore, after Mao Jiadong hesitated for a moment, he finally did not question Zhao Junchen's decision. He just turned around and left the commander's tent to summon He Zhang and Fang Zhenshan.
After Mao Jiadong left the handsome tent, Zhao Junchen shook his head gently, with some helplessness on his expression.
Then, Zhao Junchen slowly closed his eyes and took the time to rest.
Next, there are still many things that consume energy and energy, and there are still not many opportunities for Zhao Junchen to rest.
*
About a quarter of an hour later, Mao Jiadong led He Zhang and Fang Zhenshan into the commander's tent.
When the two of them walked into the commander's tent, He Zhang looked expressionless and serious, while Fang Zhenshan had a slightly frightened expression, completely missing the Confucian style he had deliberately maintained.
"He Zhang (Fang Zhenshan), a humble official, came to obey orders and met the imperial envoy!"
As the two of them were saluting, Zhao Junchen, who had closed his eyes to rest, slowly opened his eyes, only to see that He Zhang was just clasping his fists and bending over to give him an ordinary military salute, while Fang Zhenshan was kneeling on his knees and kowtow. in front of yourself.
However, Fang Zhenshan obviously had his own little thoughts. When he knelt down and knelt, he deliberately placed his hands in a conspicuous place, so that Zhao Junchen could see the burn marks on his hands - these burn marks were caused by Fang Zhenshan's injuries in Yunluan. It was left behind when rescuing Zhao Junchen on the mountain.
After seeing this scene, Zhao Junchen's expression remained calm. He just nodded lightly towards He Zhang and said: "General He, there is no need to be polite. You are lucky to have been fighting continuously these days... Dali, why did the old general move a stool?" Take a seat."
After hearing Zhao Junchen's instructions, Zhao Dali quickly moved a stool and placed it behind He Zhang. He Zhang considered himself a die-hard confidant of Zhao Junchen and did not refuse politely at this time. He thanked him and sat down directly.
At the same time, Zhao Junchen ignored Fang Zhenshan who was kneeling in front of him, and just let Fang Zhenshan keep kneeling.
Zhao Junchen's attitude could be described as a distinction between closeness and distance, and it also made He Zhang quite satisfied. He thought that Zhao Junchen would punish Fang Zhenshan severely next, and he was quite looking forward to it.
On the other side, Fang Zhenshan's attitude became more humble, and his head pressed closer to the ground.
Zhao Junchen glanced at Fang Zhenshan from the corner of his eye and said slowly: "Mao Baihu has reported to me the whole story of the Zhenning Acropolis battle in detail... If Mao Baihu's statement is not biased, our army The heavy casualties in Zhenning Acropolis in this battle were all due to Fang Zhenshan, the commander-in-chief of Guyuan, who took advantage of the situation and violated military orders! In the end, not only did the battle at Zhenning Acropolis almost fail, but it also seriously affected the progress of the Xiaochuan River battle. As a result, the troops on the north bank of the Xiaochuan River were unable to support the south bank in time, and the frontline soldiers on the battlefield on the south bank of the Xiaochuan River suffered unexpected heavy casualties... Mr. Fang, do you have anything to defend Mao Baihu's statement?"
After hearing Zhao Junchen's question, Fang Zhenshan finally raised his head. His eyes were filled with tears, his face was full of sadness, and he said with a cry in his voice: "Your Majesty, there is nothing to defend my humble position! This war, because The command mistakes and poor thinking of Humble Post resulted in the death and injury of countless frontier soldiers, and even caused the Imperial Envoy to fall into a trap. These are all the fault of Humble Post. I feel sorry for the frontline soldiers, the court and Your Majesty, and the Imperial Envoy. It is not an exaggeration to say that death is not a pity! I dare not defend myself because I am a humble official, and I cannot defend myself. I just ask you, the Imperial Envoy, to punish me severely to comfort my souls in heaven who died on the battlefield!"
After saying that, Fang Zhenshan wiped the painful tears from the corners of his eyes with his burned hands, looking extremely remorseful!
However, after hearing Fang Zhenshan's confession, He Zhang became furious!
Although He Zhang has an upright personality, he is by no means a fool, and he is not completely ignorant of all the tricks in the officialdom!
Fang Zhenshan's crime this time was clearly "disobeying military orders privately, greedy for merit and advancing rashly." If this crime was followed, and considering the losses caused by Fang Zhenshan, even if Zhao Junchen ordered him to be beheaded in public, no one would dare to raise objections!
However, in Fang Zhenshan's confession, he played a word game and described his crime as "ill-thinking and command error." These two crimes are not at the same level.
So, He Zhang immediately stood up, pointed at Fang Zhenshan's nose and cursed: "Fang Zhenshan, in front of the Imperial Envoy, you still dare to quibble! Isn't your crime just a mistake in command? I have been working with you for many years, how can I not do this? Do you know your little thoughts? You are selfish and want to take all the military glory. In the end, it was because of your greed for credit that you killed many soldiers? These soldiers were all carefully selected elites from the border army. We lost them. How much impact will it have on the Imperial Envoy’s great cause of eradicating Mongolia? And how much impact will it have on the Shaanxi-Gansu border defense? When things have reached this point, if you still have a trace of conscience, you should die to apologize!"
Fang Zhenshan ignored He Zhang's angry accusations, but looked at Zhao Junchen pitifully with tears in his eyes.
In fact, when He Zhang was still in Guyuan Military Town, he had repeatedly criticized many of Fang Zhenshan's actions, but Fang Zhenshan always greeted him with a smile and would never argue with He Zhang in public, but would only retaliate and make things difficult for him afterwards. thing!
In a way, He Zhang's attitude has never been able to affect Fang Zhenshan. On the contrary, He Zhang's emotions are often affected by Fang Zhenshan. This is the main reason why He Zhang has been suppressed by Fang Zhenshan over the years.
Seeing Fang Zhenshan's performance, He Zhang became even more indignant, but he also knew that his accusations could not affect Fang Zhenshan at all, and Fang Zhenshan would not care about his accusations at all, so he turned to Zhao Junchen and said loudly: "Your Majesty, according to your best wishes, According to the plan made at the beginning, this battle should have been a complete victory for our army. However, due to Fang Zhenshan's corruption and disobedience of orders, it ended up being a miserable victory. Our army's strength advantage over the Mongolian coalition was also greatly weakened. This was all due to Fang Zhenshan. I hope the imperial envoy will severely punish Fang Zhenshan as a warning to others!"
Zhao Junchen looked at the performance of Fang Zhenshan and He Zhang with cold eyes, but suddenly changed the subject and asked: "General He, can the damage of our army be calculated? What is the result of the battle?"
Seeing Zhao Junchen's change of subject, He Zhang couldn't help but be startled.
However, the damage and results of this battle are also extremely important matters. After hearing the inquiry, He Zhang did not dare to neglect and quickly replied: "I would like to inform you, your Majesty the Imperial Envoy, during the two battles at Zhenning Acropolis and Xiaochuan River, I The army dispatched a total of more than 57,000 troops. More than 23,000 troops participated in the battle at Zhenning Acropolis, and more than 33,000 troops participated in the Xiaochuan River battle. The enemy Mongolian army had about 25,000 troops. Among them, there were about 10,000 troops on the Zhenning Acropolis battlefield, and about 15,000 troops on the Xiaochuan River battlefield... In the end, our army almost completely annihilated the two Mongolian armies. General Gugen of the Mongolian coalition died in Xiaochuan Henan. On the shore, two other leaders, Yasida and Amul, were captured. Another leader, Su He, took advantage of the chaos and escaped. In total, more than 15,000 people were beheaded and more than 7,000 prisoners were taken. Only more than 1,500 Mongolian cavalry managed to escape. , most of the Mongolian cavalry who escaped were Chagatai cavalry..."
At this point, He Zhang's expression showed sadness, and he added: "However, our army also suffered heavy losses in this battle! During the battle at Zhenning Acropolis, the humble officers under his command suffered thousands of injuries while defending the city. In addition, more than 500 people were injured in the subsequent battles. Fang Zhenshan's army lost more than 7,000 people. Our soldiers on the north bank of the Xiaochuan River also suffered more than 2,000 casualties, while the soldiers on the south bank of the Xiaochuan River suffered the most casualties. The damage was heavy, with more than 10,000 casualties... After statistics, our army had a total of 21,000 casualties. In addition, more than 3,000 people were seriously injured. Now there are only 32,000 available troops left. !”
Having said this, He Zhang turned around and glared at Fang Zhenshan again, but Fang Zhenshan still lowered his head and remained silent this time.
On the other side, Zhao Junchen also had a heavy look on his face.
Zhao Junchen also guessed that his army must have suffered heavy losses this time, but after hearing the exact numbers, he was still shocked!
However, no matter how shocking the numbers are, they are still just a bunch of numbers and will not affect Zhao Junchen's final decision.
After Zhao Junchen was silent for a moment, he suddenly sighed and said: "Of course General Fang made a big mistake, but our army's casualties were so heavy. Under such circumstances, I can't punish General Fang severely!"
Hearing Zhao Junchen's statement, Mao Jiadong on the side had already made a guess in advance, and was just silent at this time. After Fang Zhenshan's body trembled slightly, he couldn't help but look happy, but he was also not in a hurry to speak.
He Zhang, on the other hand, looked at Zhao Junchen with wide eyes and an expression of disbelief. His tired and old face was filled with shock and anger, and he asked loudly: "Your Majesty, what do you mean by this? Fang Zhenshan's guilt is so heavy." , are you still going to let him go?"
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