"What does the General mean?
Li Xiang cannot take the blame blindly. Even if he wants to deal with this matter, he has to see what these two generals mean. They must have a bottom line, and he cannot cross this bottom line when doing things.
"It's a simple matter. It ensures that major matters are not delayed and minor matters do not go wrong."
Cheng Yaojin pointed to the farmers in the distance, and his meaning was very clear. Our army has just set out, and we cannot let any unfavorable news spread because of this matter. In addition, these farmers must also be appeased.
"I understand. Please wait a moment, General. It will take at most an hour. I will be back soon."
After Li Xiang finished speaking, he jumped on his horse and headed northwest with his thirty guards, who were located close to the mountain village.
"Go back, go back. Someone has gone to take care of this matter for you. If you don't believe me, leave some people here to watch. I won't leave until I've dealt with this matter for you."
Cheng Yaojin saw that the people were still waiting here, and he knew that these people did not trust others and might only trust himself. After all, his reputation was still relatively high among the people of the Tang Dynasty.
At the beginning, few people went back, but soon everyone realized that Cheng Yaojin had no intention of leaving. Maybe the man just now was going to deal with something for them, so these people started to rush home in groups of three or five.
When Li Xiang arrived at Kaoshan Village, he was immediately shocked by the situation in front of him. Li Zhi and his men occupied the two largest houses in the village, and the rest of the villagers were driven out of the village, as if they were the masters of the place.
"How dare you! Who are you? This is the temporary residence of His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin. Dismount immediately."
The two soldiers guarding the gate were drunk and staggering. Looking at their appearance, if thieves really came, they would be serving as food for the thieves in their current state.
"What is the crime for drinking alcohol while on the march?"
Seeing the common people with bruised faces and noses being beaten in the distance, Li Xiang was also very angry. There were also several common people lying in the arms of the crowd, and it was obvious that they were seriously injured.
These are the people of our Tang Dynasty. You may not have such ability on the battlefield, but instead you are just filling your homes with garlic cloves.
"Report to the military officer, punish him with thirty strokes of the cane."
"And plundering the people's property for no reason?"
"Twenty sticks."
"They're injuring civilians for no reason."
"Thirty sticks."
"Drag him down and let me beat him up."
Li Xiang and his men spoke loudly, and all the people around them could hear them clearly.
"Who are you? We are the personal guards of the Prince of Jin's palace. We are not ordinary people. You all need to open your eyes and see clearly. We all hold official positions. Do you know what it means to assault a court official without reason? It's a capital crime."
The two guys were drunk, but they knew that if they were tied up they would definitely be beaten, so the effect of the alcohol immediately dissipated by half. In the past, there were servants in their palace who made mistakes. Not to mention being beaten with eighty sticks, even if they were beaten with fifty, half of their lives would have been sacrificed in the palace long ago.
"Ah... my prince..."
Screams rang out immediately. The people in the house heard them just now, but no one dared to come out. The people outside were murderous. Now Li Xiang rode his horse directly into the yard. Let's see how long you guys can hide.
"Uncle Jiu, have you finished your meal? Your nephew is here to take you back to the team."
Although Li Xiang spoke very respectfully, he did not move at all. He still rode on his horse, looking coldly in the direction of the door.
"It sounded like your voice just now. I didn't expect you to fall behind. This army is moving so fast, it's normal that we can't catch up. After all, we are different from those soldiers. I just happened to have a pot of tender beef soup here. Come in and try it."
Li Zhi walked out of the house with a few guards who were still able to stand upright. People nearby could smell the smell of alcohol on them. If the Tang Dynasty could only rely on people like you to fight on the front line, it would have already been defeated.
"I won't drink the beef soup. I don't have that kind of pleasure. But Uncle Jiu, do you know that the cow you are eating is the working ox of this village? The villagers have complained about you to the general, and the general sent me to handle this matter."
Li Xiang would not be fooled by this guy. If he wanted to drink a sip, it would be related to him.
"Oh my, look at what's going on. How did I know I was a plowing ox? It was all done by those bastards down there. Why don't you all get out of here?"
Li Zhi's acting skills were quite good, but Li Xiang knew that besides being treacherous, this guy was also greedy for pleasure. If it weren't for your instructions, would your men dare to slaughter the oxen? This is a serious crime in the Tang Dynasty.
When everyone in the house came out, Li Xiang was really shocked. He originally thought that he was the same as himself, with at most thirty guards, but he didn't expect that there were more than a hundred people in it.
If there weren't many people, Li Xiang would have one way of dealing with it, but now there are more than a hundred people. In addition to Li Zhi's trusted subordinates, some are borrowed from Li Tai. Li Xiang has to use another way of dealing with it, which is to take this opportunity to cripple you all, so that you won't cause trouble for me when you return to the capital.
"The boys were wrong."
A group of people were drunk. Although they were apologizing, there was no sign of admitting their mistakes on their faces. Many of them were children of nobles in Chang'an City, so they thought eating a cow was no big deal. The law is used to restrain the poor, not people like us.
"Who hit the villagers just now?"
Li Xiang asked someone to call a few villagers from a distance. Although they all ran to complain, they still did not have the courage to face these noble sons head-on. They only dared to point fingers behind Li Xiang's guards.
"Hurry up, hurry up, whoever hit the villagers just now should stand up quickly, so that we can get on the road after being punished."
Li Zhi knew that this matter had been brought to the attention of the two generals, and he also blamed the villagers in his heart, so he wanted to quickly end the matter here and catch up with the two generals in front so that he could explain himself quickly.
Hearing what Li Zhi said, more than 30 guards stood up reluctantly.
"Drag them away and beat them, and each of them shall be given eighty strokes of the cane."
Li Xiang said this without changing his expression, but everyone present was frightened. This punishment of yours could be enough to beat someone to death!
Li Zhi was also stunned. He had thought Li Xiang would just give him a small punishment and a big warning, just to show the villagers how to deal with it, but he didn't expect this guy to be serious...
