Chapter 144: Punishment

The stricter the discipline, the more solid the army, this violent machine; take Yue Fei, the great enemy of the Jin army of old, for example.

It was precisely because of the military discipline that forbade tearing down houses even when freezing to death and forbade looting even when starving to death that they could drive the Great Jin's commander-in-chief, Jin Wuzhu, into a continuous retreat; had it not been for Qin Gui and the Song dynasty destroying their own long wall, the capital of Bianjing would have been seized.

The Yue family army of old, with only one hundred thousand men, made the Great Jin sigh that moving mountains was easy but moving the Yue family army was hard, yet this time they faced two hundred thousand; the Qi and Lu region now has roughly over one hundred thousand, and the Henan region has eighty thousand.

Most crucially, they did not have the Zhao Song dynasty and Qin Gui holding them back.

Just as he was pondering, the messenger strode in to report: "Reporting to the Centurion, a soldier outside the military tent says he has important military intelligence to report; he says this matter concerns the decisive battle in a few days and hopes the Centurion will take it seriously."

Hearing the messenger's words, Wanyan Chen Heshang was slightly stunned, then smiled and said: "The outcome of a decisive battle involving hundreds of thousands of troops cannot be decided by a Centurion like me or a soldier like him, but since this man speaks with such boldness, he must have courage and strategy; let him come in."

Not long after, the messenger brought the man in; Wanyan Chen Heshang examined him closely, finding the man eight feet tall and burly, and seeing that he showed neither humility nor arrogance and no fear, he could not help but praise: "What a mighty warrior! My messenger told me you have important military intelligence to report to me, concerning the success or failure of the decisive battle in a few days; I am very curious."

That man clasped his hands and then asked: "Centurion my lord, may I ask if the rebels, in the areas they occupy, not only do not burn, kill, or loot, but also distribute the fields to the common people?"

"Indeed so." Wanyan Chen Heshang nodded.

"May I ask, Centurion my lord, do the rebels treat their captives very well, and after a period of education, give them travel expenses and let them go home?"

"Exactly." Wanyan Chen Heshang began to sweat coldly; he now realized how brilliant these tactics of the rebels were. Once these tactics were employed, the soldiers under their command would, at the very least, lay down their weapons and surrender upon first engagement with the rebels.

In severe cases, mutiny and rebellion would even occur.

Thinking of this, he suddenly stood up and asked: "Are you saying that within the military camp, people are widely spreading news about the rebels, even organizing troops and personnel to stage a mutiny?"

With a great battle imminent, a mutiny within the army is an extremely serious matter; most importantly, in this military camp, a dense gathering of hundreds of thousands, information will inevitably spread faster and faster; the news about the rebels will be known to the entire army without needing much time.

Wanyan Chen Heshang asked himself: if he were an ordinary soldier, would he hope his own unit would win? No matter how he thought about it, it was impossible.

If they lost, they would raise their hands and surrender to the enemy; not only would the enemy not mistreat them, but they would provide them with full meals every day, put them through classes for a while, give them travel expenses, and let them go home; upon returning home, they would find the enemy had given their families land.

Then what could they gain by winning? At best, a few full meals; it would not even be as good as being a prisoner of war for the enemy.

With the decisive battle imminent, if all his own soldiers did not hope to win, while the soldiers on the opposite side would risk their lives to fight him, how could they win?

Having clarified the pros and cons, Wanyan Chen Heshang, without any hesitation, immediately grabbed this man and rushed straight to his father's military camp.

Wanyan Qige was very angry that his son had barged into his military tent without any prior notification.

"Liangzuo, this is a military camp; how can a Centurion like you barge into a superior officer's military tent without any notification? Men, Centurion Wanyan Liangzuo has illegally entered a superior's tent; beat him thirty strokes with a staff."

"Father." Wanyan Chen Heshang threw himself down on his knees and said: "This son has important military intelligence to report concerning the survival or extinction of our Great Jin state; Father, please allow this son to present the military intelligence; after presenting it, even if Father beats this son to death, this son will accept it willingly." After speaking, Wanyan Chen Heshang struck his head against the ground.

"Very well, since you have urgent military intelligence, we will punish you for the crime of illegally entering the military tent after you finish reporting." Wanyan Qige saw his son wave his hand, signaling him to report first.

After listening to the end, his face changed drastically; if someone were truly spreading news within the army about the rebels beating the rich landlords and distributing land and treating captives well, the six hundred thousand troops under their command would be completely useless.

Without any wasted words, Wanyan Qige, serving as the Military Commissioner of the prefecture, immediately reported this matter; that night, various Jin armies held a meeting in the central military tent; they knew very well that if this matter was not brought under control, at the very least the Great Jin's six hundred thousand troops would have no combat power, and in more severe cases, mutiny and even rebellion would occur.

Wanyan Qige looked at the soldier who came to report and said sternly: "Are you saying that your elder brother, Li Gou'er, learned that after the rebels won, they distributed land to you, so he planned to spread this news everywhere so that at the time of the decisive battle, he could gather a group of people to stage a mutiny?"

"And you, Li Quan, because you felt this plan was too risky, decided to betray him to obtain wealth and honor?"

"Yes, who does not want wealth and honor? Why can rich masters eat delicacies and drink fine wine, have three wives and four concubines, and still frequently visit brothels, while a poor boy like me gets a beating just for looking at a wealthy young lady once? With wealth and honor, I could buy much land; I would not have to work until my back bent straight, nor eat chaff and swallow knife-edge blood."

Li Quan's expression began to become mad and ferocious, like a demon from hell.

"Hmm, isn't life in this world all about pursuing fame, profit, wealth, and honor? Brotherly loyalty is too childish compared to this." He was very satisfied with Li Quan's performance.

Before, when we Jurchens ruled the Central Plains, there were many uprisings, but in the end, what happened?

These people either died under the Great Jin's iron hooves or died from betrayal by their own people; things like promotion and getting rich naturally hold a fatal attraction for people.

That night, Li Gou'er, who was still sleeping in the military tent, was dragged out of bed by the Jin army.

"Rebellion, rebellion! I'll let you rebel!" The petty official in charge of the interrogation, holding a whip, whipped Li Gou'er again and again.

This petty official's father was a jailer; growing up in the prison since childhood, he developed a very perverted personality; he greatly enjoyed the agonized wails of prisoners and the look of wanting to kill him but being helpless.

However, this interrogation made him completely furious, because this prisoner showed no anger, no wails, only a provocative cold smile, as if saying, "Is that all you have got?"

He swore that from childhood to adulthood, he had never seen such an arrogant prisoner, never.

"You came from the Three Jin regions and have no connection with the rebels; why do you fight for them? Is it worth it for just a few acres of poor land?" Wanyan Qige asked curiously.

"Do you think the lives of us poor people are precious?" Li Gou'er grinned at Wanyan Qige.

How many families had people beaten to death, fields snatched away, yet were still forced to serve others; they actually asked if it was worth it for a few acres of poor land.

Li Gou'er coldly scanned everyone present and said: "Although I do not know them, and they do not know me, I believe they will surely seek revenge in the future; your heads will be placed before my grave as sacrificial offerings, hahaha."

Wanyan Qige's face grew cold, and he spoke a sentence containing no emotion: "Tomorrow at noon, bring this person to the army and execute him by slow slicing; let everyone see this is the outcome of rebellion."