Chapter 131: Rewarding the Meritorious and Punishing the Guilty

Liu Dengke is a Confucian scholar; Confucian students emphasize that "all pursuits are base, only reading is noble," so he inevitably harbored some scholarly arrogance, and at first, he looked down upon people like Meng Yifan who were merely Mountain Hunters.

For the sake of his own safety and that of his family, Liu Dengke reluctantly agreed to serve as Meng Yifan's Head of Propaganda, but at that time, he only considered it an expedient measure in his heart, ready to flee with his family at any moment.

However, now that Liu Dengke sees what Meng Yifan has done, there is truly hope for achieving great things; he has slowly come to accept Meng Yifan in his heart and decided to assist him wholeheartedly to achieve an immortal legacy.

Meng Yifan saw on the Game Panel that Liu Dengke's Loyalty had suddenly surged by more than ten points, leaping to 75, which made him pause; he did not know what this pedantic old scholar had thought of, for his Loyalty to have increased so much.

In Meng Yifan's view, this failed scholar Liu Dengke was also a talent; Confucian scholars possess noble spirit in their hearts, and they are very effective at bewitching people's hearts and brainwashing them.

Seeing that Liu Dengke was somewhat dazed, Meng Yifan asked again: "Mr. Liu, have you remembered everything I entrusted to you?"

Liu Dengke snapped out of it and hurriedly said: "Lord Meng, this old man has noted it all down; I will certainly arrange it well, please rest assured."

As the army returned to the city, Wang Xiuzhi saw the corpses of the fallen soldiers being sent back, and her heart rose to her throat; she was too nervous to breathe, fearing that Zhang Shagen might be among those corpses covered by white cloth.

"Zhang Ergou, Yang Zengsheng, Liu Sanmao..." Meng Qingshan was responsible for calling out the names of the fallen.

The families who heard the names stepped forward to bid farewell to their loved ones, and then specialized personnel were responsible for burying them in the Martyr Cemetery.

"My dear, you must not have any accidents; otherwise, how are Mancang and I supposed to live?" Wang Xiuzhi prayed in her heart.

One by one, the cold corpses were claimed by their families; when all the corpses had been claimed, the heart Wang Xiuzhi had been holding finally settled—there was no corpse of Zhang Shagen, which meant Zhang Shagen was still alive; this was truly wonderful.

In this great battle, more than thirty people were injured; some had minor wounds and could join the army again after treatment, but more than ten people had become disabled—some had lost an arm, and some had both legs blown off.

Meng Yifan also properly settled these disabled soldiers, allowing them all to live with dignity.

The army marched forward in a grand procession, and soon Wang Xiuzhi saw Zhang Shagen in the ranks; she looked very carefully and confirmed that Zhang Shagen was not missing any arms or legs, nor was he injured, and everything was normal, which made her unable to help but weep with joy, murmuring: "Great, it's truly great, Shagen is fine."

Zhang Shagen also saw his wife and child, but as the army was marching, discipline was strict and every move had strict requirements; Zhang Shagen did not move around, only grinning at Wang Xiuzhi and Zhang Mancang.

Meng Yifan led the army back to the Parade Ground in the city; he stood on the high platform of the Parade Ground, and the soldiers stood in straight, orderly rows, waiting for Meng Yifan to reward the meritorious and punish the guilty.

This battle against the Divine Machine Battalion was won, and some soldiers performed very bravely, still charging forward in the face of the Divine Machine Battalion's cannon fire.

There were also soldiers who usually trained well, but once they were truly on the battlefield, the moment the enemy fired their Cannons, they were so scared they only dared to hide in the Trenches and tremble; some were even scared to the point of wetting their pants, and some even deserted in the face of battle; for such cowards, Meng Yifan prepared to execute them as a warning to others to uphold military discipline.

"Wang Erdan, Qian Gang, Zhong Yifeng, step forward!" Meng Yifan said with a straight face, calling out the names of the three men.

These three were the ones who had deserted in this battle; at this moment, being called by name by Meng Yifan, all three of them walked to the front of the ranks, terrified and trembling all over.

Wang Erdan and Qian Gang were originally just ordinary refugees, while Zhong Yifeng was a First Grade Lower Stage Martial Artist, considered an expert among this batch of soldiers.

"Do you know your crimes?" Meng Yifan asked.

When these soldiers joined the army, Meng Yifan had already stated the military discipline and rules: desertion in the face of battle was a grave crime punishable by public beheading; at this moment, Wang Erdan and the other two knew Meng Yifan was going to enforce military law, and all trembled with fear.

Wang Erdan knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly, and shouted: "Lord Meng, this lowly one knows he was wrong; I beg you to be magnanimous and give us another chance; next time I will definitely not run away again."

Zhong Yifeng also kowtowed repeatedly, begging: "Lord Meng, the Cannons of the Divine Machine Battalion were too fierce; this lowly one was also scared out of his wits and subconsciously went to dodge the shells, not intentionally wanting to desert; I beg you, Lord, to show mercy and give me a chance to turn over a new leaf."

"Lord Meng, this lowly one knows he was wrong, but I beg you to consider that I have an eighty-year-old mother above and a four-year-old child below, and spare me this once," Qian Gang said, weeping bitterly.

"Desertion in the face of battle is a crime punishable by beheading! Execute!" Meng Yifan gave the order.

Meng Dayong, Meng Qingshan, and Meng Qinghe stepped forward, ready to cut off the heads of Zhong Yifeng and the other two.

Seeing that Meng Yifan was serious, Zhong Yifeng stretched his neck and shouted loudly: "No, I won't be a soldier anymore! I only ate your food for five days, I will compensate you, you cannot kill me."

Wang Erdan and Qian Gang also clamored, shouting: "I won't be a soldier anymore either, you cannot kill me."

"Lord Meng, this lowly one is also willing to pay money; I beg you to show mercy and let me go like a fart."

Meng Yifan smiled coldly and shouted: "What kind of place do you think the army is? You come and go as you please?"

"When you first joined the army, I said that to be a soldier and eat the grain, you must obey orders and follow military discipline and rules; now that you have committed a crime, you want to leave? It's too late!"

"Execute them, and hang their heads for all to see!"

Meng Dayong and the others pressed Wang Erdan and the others to the ground, raising their broadswords to carry out the execution.

Facing death, Zhang Ergou was so scared he lost control of his bowels, his body turning as soft as a pile of mud; Meng Qinghe could only step on his back, and with a flash of his blade, he cut off his head.

"No, I cannot die, I still have my mother and child to take care of, you cannot kill me." Qian Gang was tearful and struggling desperately; Meng Qinghe was an orphan whose parents were both dead, and he thought that if Qian Gang were killed, there would be one more miserable child in this world, so he softened his heart and looked at Meng Yifan with hesitation.

"Execute him!" Meng Yifan shouted again; Meng Qingshan was startled, knowing Meng Yifan was angry; he dared not hesitate any longer, raised his broadsword, and hacked down fiercely.

Zhong Yifeng was a First Grade Lower Stage Martial Artist; he surged his True Qi and unleashed an Iron Mountain Lean, slamming fiercely toward Meng Dayong behind him, wanting to take the opportunity to escape.

Unfortunately, Meng Dayong had long been guarding against this move; seeing Zhong Yifeng lean backward, Meng Dayong pressed his left hand down, his True Qi surging out, easily dispersing Zhong Yifeng's True Qi, pinning Zhong Yifeng to the ground again, and then with a flash of his blade, he cut off Zhong Yifeng's head.