The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 534 I’m serious

"With the heavy snowfall, it's definitely impossible to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun this year."

Looking at the swirling snowflakes, Gong Erniangzi sighed heavily, turned around and said to Yue Wenxuan, who had been standing beside her, "True Lord, I have to go inspect the camp. In this cold weather, the soldiers may suffer from frostbite."

Yue Wenxuan nodded: "Patrolling the camp is the right thing to do. You have to see for yourself these things. You can't just let the officers below report it up and call it a day. Otherwise, if a lower-ranking officer embezzles the warm supplies but reports to you that the soldiers are all warm, that would be a big problem. If a mutiny breaks out, the soldiers won't care who embezzled the supplies; they'll hold you responsible."

Gong Er Niangzi nodded. Over the years, she had been learning from Yue Wenxuan and had never disappointed him in this regard.

She whispered, "The army I'm leading is made up of our old brothers. They've followed the True Lord for many years, so there shouldn't be any major problems. The ones we should be conducting the most surprise inspection of are the old armies of the Southern Song Dynasty."

Yue Wenxuan nodded: "Haha, that's right! That's the right idea."

The two walked out of the command tent side by side, mounted their horses, and charged straight into the snowfield, heading towards the former Southern Song army stationed in the neighboring county.

The general leading this army was Yang Yizhong from the Southern Song Dynasty.

Yang Yizhong's army was mainly composed of the imperial guards who were former troops of the Southern Song Dynasty. In addition, a large number of scattered troops from the Southern Song Dynasty were also incorporated into his command, forming an army of more than 10,000 people.

Their combat strength is obviously inferior to that of Yue Fei's army and Han Xin's army, but they are perfectly capable of doing odd jobs and providing flanking support.

When Yue Wenxuan and Gong Erniangzi rode into Yang Yizhong's camp, Yang Yizhong was still in a daze in the central command tent. When he heard his subordinates report that the Grand Councilor Gong and Young Master Yue had arrived, he was startled and quickly got up to greet them.

But when they arrived at the camp gate, they couldn't find Yue Wenxuan and Gong Erniangzi. After asking around, they learned that the two had gone straight into the barracks to inspect the troops.

Yang Yizhong hurriedly chased after them back into the barracks...

At this moment, Yue Wenxuan and Gong Erniangzi had just crawled into an ordinary soldier's tent. Inside the tent were several thin sleeping bags, and several soldiers were sleeping in them. However, they were clearly not warm enough, so they huddled together, shivering.

Gong Er Niangzi was furious when she saw this style of painting: "What's going on?"

The soldiers, who had their faces buried in their sleeping bags, looked up in surprise when they heard Gong Er Niangzi's voice. When they saw Yue Wenxuan and Gong Er Niangzi's faces, they were so frightened that they quickly crawled out of their sleeping bags: "Ah, we greet Young Master Yue, the Privy Councilor."

Gong Erniangzi angrily asked, "Why are your sleeping bags so thin?"

The soldiers looked bewildered: "This is what the orders from above look like."

Gong Erniangzi: "Li Gang sent a large number of thick sleeping bags and cotton-padded coats half a month ago. Why haven't we seen any of them being used in your camp?"

The soldiers were even more bewildered: "We haven't seen them."

Gong Erniangzi said angrily, "True Lord, it was indeed the right thing to come and inspect the camp."

Yue Wenxuan was also furious: "We need to investigate this thoroughly."

The two men emerged from the soldiers' tent with furrowed brows...

Just then, Yang Yizhong caught up. Upon seeing the two, he saluted and said, "Young Master Yue, Second Madam Gong, are you here to kill me? Excellent! Execute Yang Yizhong!"

Gong Erniangzi: "Fine, I'll grant your wish. Guards, execute Yang Yizhong!"

Upon hearing her order, Yang Yizhong was stunned, as were the Imperial Guards soldiers beside him. Commander Yang had been playing the "please execute Yang Yizhong" joke for almost two years, and no one had ever actually done it before. Why was the Privy Council really going to execute him today?
After being stunned for several seconds, Yang Yizhong was overjoyed: "Finally, I will be held accountable for failing to protect the Emperor. I can now follow the late Emperor in death."

"Don't give me that!" Gong Erniangzi said, "It has nothing to do with that matter. I'm beheading you today because you embezzled and misappropriated military supplies! Your death will be extremely dishonorable, leaving a lasting stain on your reputation." Yang Yizhong: "Huh? Huh? Eh?"

His close associates were also collectively dumbfounded: "???"

Gong Erniangzi pulled open the tent flap and pointed inside: "Take a look for yourself at what sleeping bags they're using and what clothes they're wearing."

Yang Yizhong glanced inside and was also dumbfounded: "Huh? Didn't they distribute thick sleeping bags and thick cotton-padded coats a few days ago? How come they've turned it into this?"

Seeing his bewildered expression, which didn't seem fake, Gong Er Niangzi's anger subsided slightly. She turned to look at Yue Wenxuan, who was also looking at her. The two spoke almost simultaneously: "He was unaware of it."

Although Yang Yizhong was somewhat obsessed with the death of Zhao Gou, he was not stupid. He immediately realized what was happening and shouted, "Summon the chief clerk, the quartermaster, and the battalion commander of this battalion!"

The Imperial Guards quickly sprang into action, and soon a large group of people were dragged over. These people were clearly terrified, kneeling in a row in front of them, none of them daring to raise their heads.

Yue Wenxuan had already guessed what was going on, so he kept quiet and watched them make a fuss.

Yang Yizhong questioned him one by one, and after a while, he finally figured it out.

Yang Yizhong did distribute the supplies, and the military clerk did not embezzle them. Most of the supplies were distributed to the military camps, except for the five hundred men in this battalion, who did not receive them. The battalion commander embezzled them all.

The battalion commander kowtowed to the ground, trembling.

Yang Yizhong was furious: "You bastard!"

The battalion commander cried out, "Commander, spare my life! Spare my life!"

Yang Yizhong roared, "How dare you? You're still using those old, lousy tricks? What era are we living in? The Song Dynasty is a completely new Song Dynasty now. Do you really think nobody cares about this?"

The battalion commander saw that everyone around him was looking at him with murderous intent, especially Gong Er Niangzi and Yue Wenxuan. One of them was the mastermind behind the Song Dynasty, and the other was the highest military commander, the Privy Councilor. Alarming these two people could be considered as stirring up trouble.

Knowing he was doomed, he stubbornly retorted, "It's all your fault! I dared to do this because of you!"

Yang Yizhong laughed angrily: "Blame me? You embezzled and it's my fault?"

Battalion Commander: "You're always yelling about beheading Yang Yizhong, but your mind is still stuck on the day the late emperor died. You just casually ask about military affairs and don't investigate them in detail. You keep indulging in your daydreams... If you don't manage things, why shouldn't I dare to embezzle?"

Yang Yizhong: "..."

Everyone: "..."

Gong Erniangzi's brows furrowed deeply.

Yang Yizhong drew his sword in a flash and beheaded the battalion commander in one stroke. Then, he knelt down in front of Gong Erniangzi and Yue Wenxuan with a thud: "It was indeed my fault! Please execute Yang Yizhong! I am serious."

Gong Erniangzi: "The crime of oversight is not punishable by death. Your request to be executed is useless; I will not execute you. However, you are no longer suitable for the position of commander-in-chief. Who is the deputy commander of this army?"

A young general stepped forward and sighed softly, "This humble general is Liu Qi, the deputy general of this army."

Gong Erniangzi: "Liu Qi, you are now the commander! Yang Yizhong, come back with me, write a self-criticism, and then we'll discuss how to punish you."

(End of this chapter)