Brutal touch

Chapter 26: The general public is angry and Tongma takes the blame, but the murderous intention arouses the young master to set up another trap
  The Fourth Young Master's battle report was copied in two copies according to the custom of touching the country. One copy was sent to the Prime Minister's Mansion, which was already read by brothers Nan Yichang and Nan Yixian. The other copy was naturally sent to the Military Temple, but it was sent to In addition to the battle report of the Fourth Young Master, the Military Temple also included many letters from the officers of the Baiyunfeng Camp. It turned out that the Fourth Young Master's bed crossbow accidentally injured and killed many soldiers who had rebelled against the country while supporting the camp. The subordinates, relatives and friends were naturally dissatisfied and wrote letters to seek revenge on Tongma.

When Tongma saw the letter, he sighed and said: "The incident of accidental injury and accidental killing is really deplorable, but if the army bombs the camp and disobeys the order, according to the military law, it is to kill without mercy. Without the support of the Fourth Young Master, if there is any mistake in the Baiyunfeng camp, These people will either die at the hands of savages or at the hands of military law. There is no way to redress their injustice. What are the intentions of these people?"

Tong Kui said: "It's no wonder that I usually look down on the Fourth Young Master and don't let him get involved in anything. Huguo is like this right now. If there is something to be done by the Fourth Young Master, there is nothing wrong with it because you can't practice Qi to pick it out." It's your mistake. If something really went wrong, then just wait. If the supervisors from the past were sent, this group of people wouldn't be able to plead guilty now, how could they talk about redressing their grievances and taking revenge?"

Tongma said: "That's exactly what I mean. Ask the chief clerk to respond to them accordingly and let them stop talking such embarrassing nonsense."

Tong Kui hurriedly stopped him and said: "This is just a word between us brothers to relieve our anger, but we must not write it out like this. At the moment, it is not just the idea of ​​two families, nor is it just the idea of ​​the Military Temple, it is the whole country. All the nobles have this idea. In this matter, either the Fourth Young Master is wrong, or so many soldiers are wrong. The Fourth Young Master is wrong. It is just a prince who does not understand things. If we decide that so many of our men are wrong , can we still bring it to the Military Temple in the future?”

Tongma said angrily: "How can there be such a ridiculous reason? Tomorrow we will gather the families of those who died in the Baiyunfeng Camp. I will tell them personally that it makes sense."

Tong Kui hurriedly tried to dissuade him: "No, it's ridiculous to damage your base because of this."

Tongma ignored Tongkui and called the chief registrar of the Military Temple to order him to gather together the families of those who died in the Baiyunfeng camp tomorrow. He wanted to tell them this truth in person. Some family members had already received letters from the Baiyunfeng camp, and many noble families in the royal capital received news that the Fourth Young Master had led his crossbow troops to kill their own children. Without asking about the cause and effect of this incident, I felt that the Fourth Young Master had a grudge to take revenge because he could not practice Qi, and deliberately ordered people to massacre those who practiced Qi in the Baiyunfeng Camp. What's more, rumors began to spread that the Fourth Young Master was not a prince, but a barbarian, so he could not use his skills in the Hu Kingdom.

On this day, Tongma invited the noble families involved in the incident one by one. Tongma first invited a few elders to sit down. He stood at the tea table and greeted them one by one. Sitting in the middle were Guanyin Sect, Xiaoyao Sect, The elders of the Chaos Sect, who are either the most influential and influential figures in the noble family of Hu Kingdom, or the high-ranking masters and leaders of the sect, this group of people covers almost half of the capital of Hu Kingdom.

Seeing that everyone had come, Tongma stood up and introduced: "You are all important figures who are respected by the king. Not only that, you are also loyal ministers who work hard for the country. Take this elder of Guan Yin Zong as an example, Your Majesty When he had just ascended the throne and his position was unstable, the savages took the opportunity to invade. Faced with several times the savage invasion, he led his men to guard the Baiyunfeng Camp for three days and three nights. Now his son has inherited his father's legacy and is currently a senior citizen in the Baiyunfeng Camp. "Shi, unfortunately a few days ago." Tongma didn't say anything else. Elder Guan Yinzong burst into tears when he heard Tongma talk about the pain point. The people around him also sat together in similar situations, so he also started to sigh.

"Losing a son in old age is painful and breaks the bone marrow. Everyone knows this elder of Xiaoyao Sect. He is an old hero of the Army Temple. He has trained many soldiers for the Army Temple. Not long ago, many soldiers were the disciples of the elder." Tong Ma Yiyi told the past achievements of everyone present here, as well as the people who were related to Baiyunfeng camp who died in the battle not long ago. Many people in the venue burst into tears.

Elder Guan Yinzong said: "Master Tongma, although my son is dead, he died fighting the savages. I have nothing to say. But the others here are different from me. They died unjustly. Let the four The young master was killed by various means. He went into battle to kill the enemy and died on the battlefield, wrapped in horse leather. This is nothing to say. Anyone who talks about ink stains is not worthy of being a national. However, someone shot a cold arrow behind his back and died at the hands of his own people. This is not okay. !”

After the elder finished speaking, everyone stood up and said, "Yes! It doesn't matter if you die at the hands of one of your own. Mr. Kiruma, you have to say something. You can't just let it go just because it's a prince."

Tongma sighed: "The battle report was verified by Sima Baiyunfeng and several other soldiers. I also read it myself. In my opinion, the biggest problem is that the commander of Baiyunfeng failed to lead the troops and was greedy in logistics, resulting in the soldiers not having enough food and clothing. Nuan, the camp was bombed at night, which gave the savages an opportunity. If the Fourth Young Master had not fired the arrows, there would have only been more casualties. If the Baiyun Peak camp was lost because of this, I'm afraid the stakes would be even greater."

Someone here asked again: "According to Kiruma-sama, do you want to put the blame on the dead person?"

Tongma suddenly yelled: "Who said I would put the blame on the dead!" Everyone was shocked with the loud shout. Everyone knew that Tongma loved soldiers as much as sons, so they took the opportunity to cry to Tongma. They thought it was nothing serious, but this shout reminded everyone that in terms of skill, Tongma was the most powerful among the ten philosophers. The pressure was so sudden that there was silence on the field.

Tongma continued: "That's right. The commander-in-chief of the Baiyunfeng Camp has died in the battle, and the chief clerk in charge of logistics has also died on the battlefield. It stands to reason that dust will return to dust and dust will return to earth. This matter can be regarded as a headless case. But if you are angry at someone who cannot practice Qi because of this, I, Tongma, look down on such things. I can tell you that it is I, Tongma, who recommends the Fourth Young Master and recommends to the king to use bed crossbows to deploy the Baiyun Peak Camp. Ma, if you want to complain about your grievances, you can't avoid me. If you have any grievances or grudges today, I will take them out on you. If I, Tong Ma, fight back or take revenge for personal gain in the future, I will be punished by heaven and earth. But if anyone comes out of this house today and still complains, If he does something disgraceful with dissatisfaction, he will be punished by heaven and earth."

As soon as Tongma said this, everyone said nothing, and no one dared to come forward and do anything to Tongma. They had to cry loudly on the spot, and within two hours, they all found excuses and left. However, the nobles But I didn’t dare to provoke Tongma, and I didn’t dare to say
  Seeing that everyone was gone, Tong Kui sighed and said, "Brother, why do you need to protect the Fourth Young Master like this? What you said just now is really too much."

Tongma said: "It's not that I want to protect the Fourth Young Master, it's just that people who practice Qi should have such character. If you don't dare to retaliate because this person has a high position or has higher means than him, then it's nothing like revenge. And What they are saying now is so high-sounding. In the final analysis, they just think that the Fourth Young Master is a person who cannot practice Qi, so they want to be a soft persimmon." Tong Kui continued: "Having said that, we are not here to reason. , There is no sense in this world."

Tongma said: "Confused, there is another layer to this matter. If things like bed crossbows are spread, the troops will no longer have to be determined by the level of force, and the second son's life will be easier in the future."

Although the nobles dispersed from Tongma, they did not dare to resent Tongma, nor did they dare to resent King Chu who gave the order. They secretly placed the blame on the Fourth Young Master. A few days later, although some good news came from Baiyunfeng Camp, almost no one in Chuwang Capital was willing to discuss these matters. It was very different from the previous situation where any disturbance on the border would cause the teahouses and restaurants in Chuwang Capital to be full.

Here, the Protector Palace knew about this, and the Fifth Young Master ordered people to stir up trouble in the houses of the nobles, inciting them to make the matter bigger.

The nobles who had violated the country could not stand up to people fanning the flames, so they wanted to make an appointment and knelt down outside the palace gate, claiming that they had been greatly wronged and wanted to bring the fourth son to justice.

After hearing the news reported by his subordinates, Mr. Chaos immediately threw the cup angrily and said angrily: "Are these people really beasts? What does it mean to kneel down in a large area outside the palace gate? This is Force the king to kill his own son?"

Lisheng sighed: "These people are thinking that they have to find ways to make up for the loss of their son. It's also because the Fourth Young Master is a person who can't practice Qi, otherwise this group of people wouldn't be able to do this. Internal Minister, I want to Don’t let me take the soldiers in the palace to drive them away.”

Chaosheng said: "We can't do it for the time being. We will not deal with the troops from the Temple of the Army and the troops in the palace. If there is a conflict in the future, it will be a big disaster. I think Tongma is a decent person anyway, so I will send someone to tell Tongma about this." , ask him to take the person away, and it’s best not to let the king know about this matter.”

Lisheng took the order and sent a confidant to tell Tongma about the family members involved in the Military Temple who knelt outside the palace to beg for grievances. Tongma suddenly felt his eyes darken and was speechless for a long time. After a long time, he managed to say: "Please report to the Internal Affairs Minister and tell Kirima to take care of it right away."

As soon as the visitor left, Tongma immediately ordered two teams of personal guards and ran towards the palace gate.

When they arrived at the palace gate, they found that the king had already seen the group of people on the palace wall. Lisheng hurried over and said: "Lord Tongma, this is a matter for the Military Temple, but we ministers don't I wish the King would see this, so the Minister of Internal Affairs said at that time that he would not let the King know if possible. Now that the King knows, it is something none of us want to see."

Tongma sighed and said, "I understand what your lord means. Does the king want me to go to the palace to ask questions?"

Lisheng said: "This is exactly what the king means."

Tongma sighed and said: "I understand." Then he asked the escort to stay outside the palace gate, and walked directly into the palace from the kneeling nobles. The nobles saw Tongma coming in person and did not dare to say anything. Just lowering his head, Tongma didn't want to say anything to them.

The inner guard on the palace wall saw Tongma coming, opened the palace door, and let Tongma and Lisheng behind him in.

(End of this chapter)