"Your Majesty, I have seen the Commander." Huang An appeared in the Commander's tent wearing regular clothes.
"Master Huang is here, please take a seat." The conductor Li Kaiyang pointed to the seat next to him.
"Thank you, sir." Huang An cupped his hands and bowed his waist, walked to the seat next to him and sat down.
Li Kaiyang sat on his seat with a golden sword and said: "Master Huang, I heard that a bandit escaped from the Beiying camp you were guarding?"
Huang An, who had just sat down, stood up quickly, hunched over his waist, and said with a nervous look on his face: "It's the incompetence of the lower officials who allowed the twenty-odd bandits on horseback to escape in the dark. Please punish me."
"Master Huang, don't be nervous, sit down, sit down, sit down." Li Kaiyang pointed to the seat and motioned Huang An to sit down.
Huang An sat on the seat with only half his butt this time, looking nervously at the conductor Li Kaiyang in the middle seat.
Seeing Huang An's cautious look, Li Kaiyang smiled and said, "It's not a big deal to run away a few bandits. I came to Mr. Huang this time to discuss other matters."
"Sir, please speak." Huang An bowed in his seat and looked in the direction of Li Kaiyang seriously.
"Come here, serve tea to Mr. Huang." Li Kaiyang ordered the soldiers, and then said, "During the day, Mr. Huang and Zheng Qianhu went to encircle and suppress the remnants of Shi Yunhu's group of bandits. I heard that they were defeated?"
"S-Sir..."
Li Kaiyang waved his hand and said, "Master Huang, don't be nervous. Victory and defeat are common matters for military officers. Besides, Master Huang and Zheng Qianhu also suffered some losses because their archers were taken away by me."
"Thank you for your understanding." Huang An secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
At this time, the soldiers walked into the big tent, brought two cups of hot tea, and placed them on the desk in front of Li Kaiyang and Huang An respectively.
Li Kaiyang picked up the tea cup, blew the tea leaves on the water, and said: "If I give you two hundred archers, will you have the confidence to lead people to destroy the group of escaped bandits?"
Huang An suddenly stood up from his seat, clasped his fists with his hands and bowed his waist, saying, "I will certainly live up to your expectations."
Hearing this, Li Kaiyang smiled and said, "You must be wondering why I must kill the escaped bandits."
"Your Excellency, you serve the people justly, and the bandits and cholera are in the area. Your Excellency's actions are for the justice of the court. I admire you greatly." Huang An cupped his fists and cupped his hands in the direction of the capital.
"Okay, okay, there are only you and me here, there is no need to say these high-sounding words." Li Kaiyang said, "I learned a piece of news from the bandits captured during the day. The one you and Zheng Qianhu let go The gangsters are in charge of food and grass, and I asked you to arrest and suppress them, firstly for food and grass, and secondly, to exchange a few more heads with the imperial court for silver rewards."
Huang An's eyes moved and he quickly said respectfully: "Yes, I understand."
After taking a sip of tea and putting down the cup, Li Kaiyang said again: "I have sent someone to send a letter to the magistrate of Yangyuan County, asking him to assist you. This group of bandits must be wiped out in Yangyuan County. Opportunities for them to continue to flow.”
"I have the order." Huang An knelt down on one knee and cupped his hands into fists.
"Okay, it's too late. Mr. Huang, go back and rest early. Tomorrow morning you and Zheng Qianhu will lead the troops to Yangyuan County to chase down the bandits." Li Kaiyang picked up the teacup and poked it with the lid. of tea.
Huang An excused himself, bowed and retreated from the tent.
The soldiers on the side brought the horse over, put on the reins, and helped Huang An mount the horse and return to the camp.
………………
In the Yangyuan County Magistrate's Office adjacent to Tianchengwei, County Magistrate Zhu Jiuchang slapped the table heavily after reading the letter in his hand.
"It's unreasonable, it's simply unreasonable." County magistrate Zhu Jiuchang looked angry.
Master Qian on the side saw this and asked, "I wonder what the commander of the Tiancheng Guard wrote in the letter to make you so angry."
The county magistrate Zhu Jiuchang said angrily: "A mere third-grade military general dares to instruct his own officials to do things for him. He has no sense of superiority and inferiority. When will it be the turn of a warrior to climb over a civilian official and dominate him?"
In the Ming Dynasty, the nobles were noble and the military was humble. Many times, fourth- and fifth-grade generals had to kneel down and salute when they saw seventh-grade civil servants. Even if they did not kneel, they had to be the first to greet them and give way when they met.
After hearing the reason, Master Qian advised: "Why should you get angry with such a vulgar warrior? Just ignore him."
"No, even a martial artist wants to climb on my head. I want to join him." Zhu Jiuchang said, "Prepare a memorial for me. I will write a memorial to join him now."
"Your Majesty, please calm down, your Majesty, please calm down." Master Qian advised, "Your Majesty, you don't know something. This Tiancheng Guard Commander, Mr. Li, comes from a family of officials. Li Guangyi, the deputy envoy of Shaanxi Military Preparation Road, Mr. Li is his uncle. If you tell me His arrogance and domineering attitude are of no use, and will only harm your reputation."
County magistrate Zhu Jiuchang has been in office for less than half a year, and naturally Qian Guang, a local coward, does not know many things clearly.
Hearing that Li Kaiyang was not just a military general, his desire to write a book faded away.
He could join in the performance of military commanders, but if he offended a military commander with a civilian backing, it would be a bit of a loss. Besides, he was just a county magistrate without a foothold, otherwise he would not have been assigned to the border town as a county magistrate.
County magistrate Zhu Jiuchang snorted. He was a magistrate with a dignified background as a top three Jinshi, but he couldn't do it even if he wanted to join a military general. He felt very depressed.
After reading the letter from the commander of the Tiancheng Guard, Master Qian next to him said with a smile: "Don't be angry, Lord County Lord. I have an idea to treat the commander of the Tiancheng Guard."
"Oh? What's your idea?" Zhu Jiuchang looked at Master Qian doubtfully.
Master Qian pointed to the letter on the table and said: "The letter says that a group of bandits have fled to our Yangyuan County. Mr. Li of Tianchengwei asked the county magistrate to cooperate with the people he sent to exterminate this group of bandits. This is what my subordinates can do.”
"Hmph, how can I, a civil servant, cooperate with a warrior under him? It's a joke." Zhu Jiuchang flicked his sleeves in his uniform angrily.
Master Qian smiled and said: "My lord, don't be anxious. In fact, Tiancheng Wei Lord Li has already put the handle in your hands. It's up to you to decide how to handle it."
"What's the clue? Why don't I know this?" Zhu Jiuchang picked up the letter on the table and read it again.
Master Qian said with a smile: "My lord, please think about it carefully, how did this group of bandits enter our Yangyuan County, and how did he, the commander of the Tiancheng Guard, get the news?"
Zhu Jiuchang's hand holding the letter shook and he laughed, "Yes, yes, yes, it was Li Kaiyang who failed to suppress the bandits, which caused the bandits to wander into Yangyuan County. I want to ask the governor to help him suppress the bandits." The crime of incompetence.”
"My lord, the county magistrate, is wise. In this way, even if the bandits do something outrageous and resentful in Yangyuan County, you will not be blamed. Everything is due to Li Kaiyang's inability to suppress the bandits." Master Qian agreed.
"Haha." Zhu Jiuchang laughed while stroking his beard with his hand.
"Your Excellency, this letter..." Mr. Qian pointed to the letter on the table.
"You must keep this letter," Zhu Jiuchang said. "With this letter here, no matter how Li Kaiyang tries to defend himself, he cannot escape the fact that he was ineffective in suppressing the bandits."
Master Qian carefully put the letter back into the envelope and called a servant to take it down and put it away.
