Jiuxi

Chapter 675 [Today is Different from the Past]

Li Jingda looked at the faint smile on Xiao Wangzhi's face, feeling mixed emotions for a moment.

He had witnessed the scene in the borderland where Xiao Wangzhi's words were followed by a large number of people, which formed a sharp contrast with the current situation. Perhaps a person like Li Daoyan could accept this gap calmly, but he did not expect that Xiao Wangzhi, a military hero accustomed to killing and decisiveness, could also face it calmly, and he could not help but admire him even more.

Thinking of Lu Chen's heartfelt instructions when he was about to leave Ruyin City, Li Jingda cleared his throat and said with a smile: "Marquis Yongding is right. The court must make clear rewards and punishments, and the army is even more so. In this battle, the Feiyu Army, led by Commander Li, faced an enemy several times their number and bravely fought bravely. They annihilated 7,000 enemies in the encirclement and severely damaged the main cavalry of the Jing Army. It was a great victory that enhanced the prestige of our country. How can we not reward them highly?"

Han Zhongjie turned his head and looked at this colleague whom he had known for nearly twenty years, feeling extremely strange.

During Han Lingfu's preparations for the establishment of the Beijing Army, Han Zhongjie made great contributions and Li Jingda also played a significant role. This is why he was later able to replace Hu Hai and secure the position of the General of the Southern Yamen.

In terms of connections in the Beijing army, Han Zhongjie relies on his father's legacy to surpass others, while Zhang Xu and Li Jingda are not much different. On the contrary, Chen Lanyu, the current commander-in-chief of the Jinwu Camp, is a little weaker.

When it comes to the relationship with the Jiangnan clans, Li Jingda, who came from a prominent family, is obviously more connected than Han and Zhang.

Some time ago, Li Jingda returned to Beijing, and Han Zhongjie made a special visit to him. They just chatted about some romantic things, but Han Zhongjie could clearly feel that Li Jingda had a different temperament than before.

He didn't think too much about it at the time, and just thought it was a natural change after his experience in the frontier.

However, after hearing what the other party said, Han Zhongjie couldn't help but pick up the teacup and take a sip to hide his surprise.

Although he was in the capital, he was familiar with Li Jingda's experience in the frontier. He knew that this man had been living a very depressed life in the past two years and was almost like a puppet without real power.

Logically speaking, Li Jingda should be full of resentment towards Xiao Wangzhi and Lu Chen. After returning to Beijing, even if he did not take the initiative to provoke Xiao Wangzhi, at least he would not mind adding insult to injury and following the pace of others to belittle Xiao Wangzhi's prestige.

But this guy is actually speaking for Xiao Wangzhi?
Han Zhongjie couldn't figure it out.

As he expected, today was undoubtedly a good opportunity to strike Xiao Wangzhi.

Shen Yulai would definitely not participate, and Chen Lanyu's attitude was very ambiguous. As long as Zhang Xu brought up the topic, he would play supporting roles at the critical moment, and with Li Jingda's support, facing this absolutely disadvantageous situation, Xiao Wangzhi would probably be forced to bow his head.

Once Xiao Wangzhi transfers Li Bingxue away from the Feiyu Army according to their opinions, this will be an excellent start.

The so-called struggle for power and profit is essentially so simple and direct.

Compared to Han Zhongjie's confusion, Zhang Xu seemed very calm. He looked at Li Jingda expressionlessly and asked, "Master Li, was it possible that what I just said was not clear enough?"

Li Jingda said leisurely: "To be honest, I really don't quite understand what you mean."

Zhang Xu finally frowned slightly.

Although he had always looked down upon Li Jingda, thinking that he was all show and no talent, he had to admit that in terms of military experience, Li Jingda was even better than him, and that this person had a deep foundation in the capital and was not the kind of person who could be dismissed with a few words.

He suppressed his dissatisfaction and said calmly: "The soldiers of Feiyu Army deserve to be rewarded for their meritorious service. I have no objection to this. However, this credit comes from Li Zhijun's greed and recklessness. If the Duke of Shanyang County had not led his troops to the battlefield in time, the Feiyu Army would have been annihilated. Da Qi could not afford such a loss. I believe that Lord Li knows that the Feiyu Army is an elite cavalry built by the Duke of Wei for ten years and the whole army of the Jingzhou Military Governor's Office. How many more decades do we have to do it again?"

Li Jingda smiled and said calmly: "The final result is not bad, isn't it?"

Zhang Xu said in a deep voice: "So the court should reward the soldiers of Feiyu Army, but Commander Li's problem is also obvious. As the Minister of Military Affairs, how can we turn a blind eye to it? When Feiyu Army was still Feiyu Camp, they were only responsible for scouting battlefield intelligence. Commander Li did an excellent job, and no one can deny that. But it seems that she is not competent to lead an army alone, and the Duke of Shanyang is too lenient with her. There is no guarantee that similar situations will not occur in the future."

"Lord Zhang is wrong."

Li Jingda spoke in a calm tone, but his attitude was firm: "Old Prime Minister Li once said in the court that no one can frame the meritorious officials of Da Qi with unfounded charges."

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly turned cold.

Han Zhongjie interrupted, "Master Li, I'm afraid the word 'frame' is not appropriate, right?"

Li Jingda smiled and said leisurely, "I am just repeating what the old Prime Minister Li said. I am not saying that Lord Zhang deliberately framed me. Specifically speaking, I personally don't think this matter is that serious. Commander Li's decision was not negligent. During the two years at the border, I deeply realized the complexity and variability of war. Many times, opportunities are fleeting, and a general must be brave to make decisions. The Jing Army's cavalry crossed the border to harass, and many of our people were killed and injured. The Feiyu Army should protect the border and the people. This is their responsibility."

Zhang Xu fell silent.

Li Jingda continued, "What did Commander Li do wrong? Before the battle, she set a strategy to lure the enemy and annihilate them. During the battle, she led the way. After the battle, in order to preserve half of the Feiyu Army's troops, she personally led her subordinates to fight to the death and personally killed hundreds of enemy soldiers. If the court does not want to show favor and reward such a loyal and brave person, but instead wants to seize her military power, wouldn't that make her loved ones sad and her enemies happy? Duke, do you think what I said makes sense?"

Xiao Wangzhi had been listening patiently. At this moment, he could not help but nod slightly and said, "Master Li is right."

Li Jingda smiled innocently, and then said to Zhang Xu: "Lord Zhang, I have one more thing I want to ask you." Zhang Xu said indifferently: "Please go ahead."

Li Jingda said: "If I have to be punished for winning a battle, then do you think I should commit suicide to apologize for my crime?"

Zhang Xu was slightly startled, frowned and asked: "Where did you get this from?"

Li Jingda said frankly: "When I was the Grand Commander of Dingzhou, I caused the fall of the northern part of Dingzhou due to my poor command. However, the late emperor did not blame me for this, but let me continue to lead the troops. At that time, I learned from my mistakes and did not dare to give the enemy any chance, so I was lucky enough to hold the eastern line. To be fair, I am indeed not as good as you in military affairs, but because of the trust of the late emperor, I finally made up for my mistakes. Even a mediocre person like me can get a chance to correct my mistakes, so why did Marquis Zhang pursue a young and promising new general like Commander Li?"

Zhang Xu's face looked a little ugly.

In fact, he made this proposal today not to target Xiao Wangzhi, nor was he intentionally targeting Li Bingxue, but out of consideration for the overall situation, hoping to allow the Feiyu Army to return to the Jingzhou Governor's Office.

The preparations he had made earlier were for the next step, which was not to take away Li Bingxue's military power, but to persuade Xiao Wangzhi in exchange to transfer the Feiyu Army back to Jingzhou.

After all, he didn't want to see all of Da Qi's elite cavalry fall under Lu Chen's command.

Originally he had great hopes of achieving this goal, but he didn't expect that Li Jingda would suddenly appear to disrupt the situation.

He calmed himself and said slowly, "I have said before that Da Qi has always lacked cavalry. Unlike the Jing army, which is rich, such a decision to exchange is a mistake in principle. As the saying goes, good steel should be used on the blade. Our cavalry must play a role at the critical moment, and not become a means for some people to gain military merits!"

"Ah."

Li Jingda sneered and raised his eyebrows, "What is a critical moment? Does the crossing of the border by the Jing army cavalry to slaughter our people count as a critical moment? When Marquis Zhang led his troops south to repel the Nanzhao troops, he should have known the importance of the relationship between the army and the people on the border. If the border soldiers cannot protect the people, who will support our soldiers after the war breaks out? Does Marquis Zhang think that the death of a few thousand people on the border is not a big deal?"

"boom!"

Zhang Xu raised his hand and slapped the table, angrily saying: "Li Jingda, don't make trouble!"

Li Jingda crossed his arms and said calmly, "Who is making trouble? Commander Li and the soldiers of the Feiyu Army have obviously made contributions, but you insist on finding faults. Don't you think you are ridiculous? On the battlefield, how can there be an absolute guarantee of victory? If according to what you said, in the future, unless our border army has an absolute advantage, we will not be able to fight against a strong enemy. If so, where is the great victory of Qingxia? Where is the great victory of Lei Ze? Where is the great victory of Yongqiu?"

Zhang Xu's face turned pale, and he gritted his teeth and said, "This is not the same thing!"

"That's the same thing!"

Li Jingda's eyes were cold and his words were sharp as a knife: "In my opinion, you are jealous of the reputation and status of Duke Wei, so you are trying to make him look bad! Such a despicable and shameless person, I am ashamed to serve in the same court with you!"

"You are presumptuous!"

Zhang Xu was so angry that his hair stood on end and he stood up suddenly.

Li Jingda said calmly, "Why, Marquis Yongding wants to beat me in front of all the adults?"

Han Zhongjie, Chen Lanyu, Shen Yulai and others had to step in to smooth things over.

Xiao Wangzhi also spoke up, "Please calm down, both of you. Arguments are common, so don't hurt the harmony. Lord Li's words are not without reason, and Lord Zhang's concerns are also reasonable. Based on your opinions, the Military Academy has temporarily formulated the following opinions. On the one hand, we will reward the soldiers of the Feiyu Army, and on the other hand, we will privately inform Lu Chen to remind his generals that they need to be more cautious in the future. What do you think?"

Zhang Xu glanced at Han Zhongjie who had lowered his eyes, knowing that he could not move forward any further today, so he could only muffle his voice and say, "I'll leave it to the Duke to decide."

Li Jingda smiled and said, "The Duke's proposal is very appropriate. I absolutely support it."

Xiao Wangzhi looked around at everyone and saw that no one else objected, so he nodded and said, "Okay, this matter will be handled in this way. I will report the truth to His Majesty."

Zhang Xu raised his hand, saluted, and left solemnly.

When he passed by Li Jingda, his eyes were extremely cold.

However, Li Jingda sat there contentedly, completely indifferent, and said with a smile, "Have a nice day, Lord Zhang."

Zhang Xu snorted coldly and strode away.

(End of this chapter)