After listening to Xin Shijie's introduction, Yang Ji suddenly sighed and said without hesitation: "I didn't expect that Xin Changshi was a general of his late father's army, but I wonder how many people in the Binzhou Army today recognize this old relationship?"
Xin Shijie made an impassioned speech: "In Binzhou's army, there are indeed many generals who were drawn from local elites. Leaving aside this part, for example, nearly half of the team commanders, brigade commanders, and school lieutenants of this age were served by King Wei Zhao. Jian Ba's subordinates, we are all delighted to hear that our young master has repeatedly made meritorious deeds in Liangzhou."
Yang Ji looked at him silently, without comment, thinking that even if there were such people, they were probably corrupted, otherwise he would not sit back and watch the Binzhou Army rot. Of course, this is also related to the general environment.
According to what he learned from Yang Su, the combat effectiveness of the Binzhou Army began to collapse around the 15th year of Kaihuang's reign, and the 19th year of Kaihuang was a very critical watershed. In the decisive battle, he was responsible for the main attack. Although he defeated the fierce Turkic army, many outstanding soldiers and low-ranking officers of the Binzhou army were sacrificed in the battle. At this point, the combat effectiveness plummeted.
Afterwards, in order to restore the combat effectiveness of Binzhou Army, Yang Jian transferred a large number of elite soldiers and generals from the border army and local military government to supplement them. For a while, Binzhou Army became a hodgepodge, noisy,
For example, Wang Sheng, Liang Hong, Yuzan, and Tang Shizong were all generals who came from the local military government.
Although Yang Jian had good intentions, the general Doulu Kuan who was entrusted with the important task did not have the ability or reputation to suppress everything. The so-called military talent was more on paper. He developed many training and troop leading methods. They are flashy and cannot stand the test of actual combat, which makes many veterans who have experienced hundreds of battles, made outstanding achievements, and are unruly and dissatisfied.
Not only did Doulukuan fail to study humbly and reflect on himself, but in order to establish his own prestige, he either suppressed these outstanding veterans or tried every means to transfer them away; in addition, after Yang Jian successfully transferred to Yichu, in order to pave the way for the new prince Yang Guang, Subsequently, Yang Yong's troops and the Beijing troops were purged, which further weakened the combat effectiveness of the Beijing troops, including the Binzhou army.
In addition, the heyday of the Sui Dynasty has already appeared, and the social atmosphere has also changed from diligence and simplicity to luxury and exaggeration. The golden war and iron horses of the early Sui Dynasty have gradually faded away, and the wind of play and enjoyment has prevailed here. Various weird "trends" have become increasingly popular. prevail.
The 14th Battalion of Beijing Soldiers was stationed close to the imperial capital, and the middle and high-level generals were all descendants of aristocratic families and high-ranking officials. Not only did they bring all kinds of bad habits into the military camp, but in order to maintain a luxurious life, they also engaged in corrupt and illegal things.
The combination of the above many external factors and the imperfect internal military system and weak supervision led to the rapid corruption and degeneration of the Beijing Army.
Therefore, Yang Guang's drastic military reform of the Beijing soldiers not only planned to deal with the Guanlong nobles, but also had the intention of saving the Beijing soldiers of the Sui Dynasty.
Yang Ji suppressed all the thoughts in his heart and said to Xin Shijie: "Xin Changshi, you come to my place, it must not be as simple as reminiscing about old times, right?"
"There is indeed something urgent for me to do with my humble post!" Once you know this, report it immediately and ask the young master to take it seriously."
Yang Ji frowned, as if he realized that the problem was not simple. He leaned forward slightly and asked, "Why did they do this?"
Xin Shijie raised his voice and said solemnly: "The Binzhou Army is said to be 70,000 people, but there are 23,000 vacancies. This vacancy is a full one-third less. Once they are all assembled, the young master will know the strength of the troops at a glance. Seriously inadequate, they were afraid that the young master would hold them accountable, so they mutinied to prevent the young master from gathering the entire army."
Yang Ji asked: "I remember that the previous general was General Zhou Luohu. Did this also happen when he was in office?"
Xin Shijie shook his head, cupped his hands and replied: "When General Zhou was in office, although the Binzhou Army did not dare to say that there was no shortage of every single one, and although it did not dare to say that its combat strength was when King Wei Zhao was a general, the actual strength was at least 90%. In normal times, There was one small exercise every three days and one big exercise every five days; later in the Northern Expedition commanded by Yue Guogong, the Binzhou Army lost nearly 10,000 elites, and then the grand occasion was no longer the same."
Yang Ji got all the useful information and was too lazy to continue acting. He suddenly shouted loudly: "Both generals, please come out. Xin Changshi, get up too."
Yuzan and Tang Shizong, who were staring at each other in the back hall, immediately strode out from the back hall after hearing this. They didn't look kindly on Xin Shijie, who directly accused him of being a thief.
When Xin Shijie saw the two of them, he stood up in shock.
Yang Ji ignored the three guys with bull-eyed stares and ordered the guards at the door: "Invite Zong Luohu, Zhu Can, Liu Changgong, and Fang Er immediately."
In the struggle for power hunting ground, there is a method called triggering but not launching, which means that whenever a major case occurs, first bring the case up, but do not rush to deal with it, and then wait and see what happens, and always keep a close eye on those who have evil intentions in their hearts. A kind of psychological high-pressure situation, once the time is right, it will give a fatal blow to the person with ghosts.
Now Yang Ji's method is to lead without attacking. He was ordered to come to rectify the Binzhou army, but after he arrived in the army, he did not start to rectify it. Instead, he asked his Xuanwu guards and two hundred elites borrowed from Yang Zhao to guard the left and right sides. The army camps are walking. On the one hand, these people announced to the soldiers that the purpose of rectification was to punish lawlessness, eliminate scum in the army, and attract ordinary soldiers and low-level generals to come over; on the other hand, they collected evidence of crimes from the bottom up.
Under such high pressure, cracks will definitely appear within the interest group headed by Doulu Kuan.
The arrival of Yu Zan, Tang Shizong, and Xin Shijie made Yang Ji know that the time had come. If he failed to do so again, it would be too much and not enough.
Zong Luohu and Zhu Can were outside. They heard the sound and went inside to wait. After a while, Liu Changgong and Fang Er, both wearing imperial uniforms, stepped over the threshold and entered the hall. They cupped their hands and said, "I'm sorry to see you, Your Majesty."
Liu Changgong and Fang Er were powerful generals in the "Royal Secret Guard". They and eight other warriors were ordered to protect Yang Ji. They defended silently in the darkness of the courtyard. When they heard the call, they came quickly. .
When they saw people wearing guard uniforms coming, the three people in the hall felt a very bad feeling.
Yang Ji asked the time and knew that no one would come to "snitch" again, so he took out four lists and handed them to Zong Luohu, Zhu Can, Liu Changgong, and Fang Er respectively, and ordered: "Send the order and arrest Dou immediately according to the list." Lu Kuan, Wang Sheng, Liang Hong and other criminals who dare to resist will be killed without mercy!"
"I obey my orders!" said the fourth general, and turned around to assign the accompanying Xuanwu Guards and East Palace elites.
When Yu Zan, Tang Shizong, and Xin Shijie were handed out the list by Yang Ji, they were already frightened and sweating coldly.
It was obvious that Yang Ji had come prepared, and it would not have any impact if they reported on him or not.
Doulu Kuan, Wang Sheng, Liang Hong and others conspired to incite the soldiers to mutiny. Their crime was tantamount to starting a rebellion. This time, they were definitely doomed!
And I, if I hadn't run to surrender, would have been finished as well.
At this moment, the three of them felt a sense of joy in surviving the disaster.
Yang Ji glanced at the three people who were either frightened or silent, and said coldly: "Xin Changshi, General Yu, and General Tang; although I, Yang Ji, am a prince, I am not the king of Qi. I have led troops, Having fought in battles and reorganized the Liangzhou Army, I know all about your illegal methods. You can't hide it from me at all."
Yang Jian: "..."
He felt offended, but when he saw Yang Ji suddenly becoming murderous, he didn't dare to say a word.
“Over the years, you have taken shortfalls, embezzled military pay and pensions, stolen and sold weapons and equipment, collected bribes, sold your positions, and made illegal gains during the procurement process... In addition, you must have done evil things such as killing good people and taking merit. "After counting their methods of committing crimes, Yang Ji added: "At least all the illegal gains you earned must be handed over... As for the rest, I can't control it for the time being, and you can also check and report it. Come to atone for your sins; if you are still hiding it, then I will have to get to the bottom of it. When the time comes, don’t blame me for not giving you a chance."
These three people are not fools. As long as they see a chance to go ashore, they will not take risks. Otherwise, they will not come to inform one after another. For now, they will leave a bone hanging. As for how to deal with them in the end——
People are like fish and meat, and I am like swordsmen. "Why rush?"
Yuzan breathed a sigh of relief, cupped his hands and said, "I will obey your orders."
"I will obey your orders." Tang Shizong responded with a change of expression.
Xin Shijie also responded: "I humbly obey my orders!"
Although they are very painful, at least they are alive.
. . . . . . . . . .
Two-quarters of an hour later, all the gates of the Binzhou Army Camp were taken over by the soldiers of the Fifth Battalion of the Left Army. After the handover, the camp gates were slammed shut, and no one was allowed to enter or exit. The old troops were dispatched one after another, and groups of fully armed soldiers ran through the passages in the camp. Their armors were shining, their blades were fierce, and they were full of murderous intent.
The soldiers in the camp went out to watch, but soon the "old and weak" from the Fifth Battalion of the Left Army explained behind them, saying that King Wei was arresting corrupt and lawless generals, so that everyone could go back to sleep without worries, and also told them , in addition to General Doulu Kuan, General Wang Sheng from the left, and General Liang Hong from the right, this case also involves many generals, generals, and lieutenants...
Outside the military camp, the secret sentries posted by Yang Ji saw three rockets soaring into the sky from the military camp. They fired the same rockets one after another and issued orders to the 300 guards hiding in Xinping County.
The three imperial guard brigades hiding in inns near Doulu Mansion, Wang Mansion, and Liang Mansion received the rocket interrogation, and each rushed towards their target.
One hundred guards, led by Brigadier Fan Wenchao, broke open the gate of Doulu Mansion and rushed towards the inner house. A concierge ran as fast as he could to the back house.
In the study, Doulu Kuan was discussing the details of tomorrow's mutiny with his counselor Shen Zhong and the commander of the soldiers. At this moment, he heard rapid footsteps outside, and the door was knocked loudly.
The concierge howled in shock and fear: "Alang, something bad is going to happen."
"What?" Doulu Kuan was shocked. He stepped forward and opened the door. He saw the door steward standing outside with a face full of panic. He shouted sternly: "What happened?"
"Alang, a group of soldiers wearing imperial uniforms rushed into the house. They said they were ordered by the King of Guards to arrest the main culprit who attempted to rebel."
Doulu Kuan's expression changed drastically. Who leaked the secret?
For a moment, he was flustered and quickly said to Shen Zhong and Doulu Zhen: "I'll deal with Yang Ji. You two go to the secret room to hide first. Make sure to destroy the letters and other evidence. As long as he can't get these important stuff, we’ll be fine.”
After Shen Zhong and Doulu Zhen heard this, they stood up quickly and opened the movable bookshelf, revealing a dark square door. However, before they could get in, dozens of guards rushed in and surrounded the three of them. Surrounded them, and pointed their crossbows with arrows in their bows.
A handsome young brigade commander glanced at Doulu Kuan and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He bowed his hands to Doulu Kuan and said in a deep voice: "General Doulu, my humble position is Fan Wenchao, the commander of the Imperial Guard Brigade, under the order of the King of Guards. If you want to be more dignified, please come with us to arrest the main culprit who is trying to plot the rear. If the general wants to resist, the general will have no choice but to order the arrows to be fired."
Doulu Kuan and Shen Zhong looked at each other and sighed secretly: In addition to the soldiers entering the camp, Yang Ji actually used the imperial guards to deal with them, but they lost the game and were half a night late.
Fan Wenchao looked at the dark door and ordered: "Duan Duanzheng, please leave General Doulu and the other three."
Under the threat of the guards' cold crossbows, Doulu Kuan and the others had no choice but to walk outside. Fan Wenchao pointed at the door: "First thing, go in with a torch and take out everything inside one by one. be careful."
At the same time, Wang Sheng and Liang Hong who lived in the city were also arrested one by one and taken to the Binzhou Army Camp overnight.
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