At the beginning, I became a county magistrate with greed of 500 million. The empress asked me to be

"Master Pei, there are nearly 20,000 barbarian troops stationed in Guihua City, which is about 200 miles away from Nanmo City."

"Do you know about this?"

Xia Yun's cold gaze was fixed on Pei Xingyuan. This information was learned from the previous report of the spy.

As soon as these words were spoken, all the civil and military officials present looked towards Pei Xingyuan.

It was obvious that although Xia Yun's voice sounded calm, there was a clear sense of accountability in his words.

"Marshal, Guihua City is an empty city. There are no ordinary people living in the city any longer."

Pei Xingyuan realized that something was wrong and quickly retorted.

He was not completely unaware of the affairs of Guihua City.

"Master Pei, let me ask you, is Guihua City a city in Gansu? Is it the territory of our Daliang Dynasty?"

Xia Yun's words gradually became gloomy, and even exuded a sense of severity.

"You have been the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu for many years. I will not talk about other places for now. Guihua City is less than 200 miles away from Nanmo City! Are these 20,000 barbarian troops worthy of your fear?"

Xia Yun continued to speak, his cold voice echoing throughout the lobby.

All the civil and military officials present, including the prefects, governors and county magistrates who had come from nearby prefectures, roads and counties, had a bad premonition in their hearts.

Could it be that the Grand Marshal wants to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys?

But who is Pei Xingyuan?

He was the Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu in the imperial court, a minister of the first rank!

"General, I am the one who made the mistake. I wonder how you plan to punish me?"

At this moment, a look of obvious indignation appeared on Pei Xingyuan's face.

He had served as the Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu for many years, and even the empress had never scolded him like this.

What's more, almost half of the civil and military officials in Gansu gathered in the hall at this time.

This kind of behavior that hurt his reputation in front of everyone has already touched his bottom line of tolerance.

"Sir Pei, I will give you a chance to redeem yourself and make meritorious contributions. You must return to Nanmo City tonight. Within three days, you must lead all your troops to wipe out all the barbarian troops in Guihua City!"

Xia Yun slammed the gavel and immediately ordered Pei Xingyuan to lead the troops to fight.

Upon hearing this, everyone present was stunned again.

Considering the various words that Xia Yun had said before, it seemed to them that Xia Yun was going to directly remove Pei Xingyuan from the position of governor.

Unexpectedly, Pei Xingyuan was only ordered to lead troops to wipe out 20,000 barbarian troops.

You must know that although Pei Xingyuan acted like a coward in the past month, he was able to become the Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu.

What he relies on is definitely not just the relationship within the court!

During the years that Pei Xingyuan served as the governor-general of Shaanxi and Gansu, there were no more cases of rebellion by the people in the two provinces, which had previously seen frequent rebellions.

Although the reason for this is inseparable from Pei Xingyuan's brutal means of suppression, no matter what, Pei Xingyuan still has the ability.

Pei Xingyuan currently has nearly 150,000 soldiers and horses under his command.

Asking him to lead his troops to wipe out a mere 20,000 barbarian troops doesn't seem to be a punishment at all.

same.

After hearing the order given by Xia Yun, Pei Xingyuan's pupils revealed a hint of surprise.

He originally thought that Xia Yun was going to take this opportunity to attack him.

He had even prepared himself to curse just now, but he didn't expect this to be the result.

"Why, Lord Pei, can't you defeat those mere 20,000 barbarian troops?"

While everyone present was stunned, a voice came out of Xia Yun's mouth again.

"In reply to the Marshal, I promise to complete the task within three days!"

Pei Xingyuan came back to his senses and immediately stopped hesitating and made a promise.

Why would it take three days to defeat a mere 20,000 barbarian troops?

Two days is enough!

"In that case, I hope to hear the news of victory from Lord Pei in three days."

Xia Yun nodded, and then swept his majestic eyes over the generals present.

"The orders I issued today are all orders that you must execute. If these small groups of barbarian troops are not completely wiped out, the people in Gansu will never have peace!"

"If anyone flees from the battlefield or is afraid of death, they will all be punished by military law!"

In front of everyone present, Xia Yun emphasized the importance of this operation.

"Don't worry, Marshal. We will complete the mission!"

Soon after Xia Yun finished speaking, all the civil and military officials present responded in unison!

……

As the sky darkened completely, the night enveloped the entire starry sky. Above this northwestern wilderness, the cool autumn breeze became even colder.

Inside Shuodong City.

The vast majority of officials who came from nearby prefectures, counties and cities chose to rest for one night in the city.

Only a few people, such as Pei Xingyuan, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and several officials who were on good terms with him, hurriedly left Shuodong City under the cover of night.

Outside Shuodong City.

When Pei Xingyuan led his men back to the army of 50,000, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, having been tense all the time.

"Finally we left this damn place. In my humble opinion, Lord Xia is too unkind. He ordered us around like this. He is the Grand Marshal appointed by the imperial court!"

"That's right. Even if he is the Grand Marshal, he shouldn't look down on us like that! After all, we are senior officials in Shaanxi and Gansu!"

"He wants us to wipe out the barbarian troops, but he won't give us money. How can we do it?"

"..."

Several officials surrounding Pei Xingyuan kept chattering, and a look of complaint appeared on their faces.

Among these people, there were the Governor of Shaanxi and the Governor of Gansu, as well as the provincial governors of two provinces.

Pei Xingyuan listened to everyone's complaints, and there was a constant flash in his eyes.

"No matter what, we still have to carry out the Grand Marshal's orders."

Pei Xingyuan didn't know what he meant, so he spoke indifferently.

Now that he had returned to the army, Pei Xingyuan's worries gradually subsided.

"Master Pei, can you really bear this? The Grand Marshal is only in his early twenties after all."

Shaanxi Governor Liu Yao had an unconcealable look of dissatisfaction on his face.

Obviously, he was still resentful about the scene where Xia Yun ordered these old ministers around.

"What can we do if we can't bear this? If we don't wipe out the barbarian troops, I'm afraid he will arrest us and execute us for treason tomorrow."

"By then, even if you want to repent, it will probably be too late to regret."

Pei Xingyuan's face still showed no emotion, he just shook his head lightly.

"Humph! What are you afraid of? This is Gansu! Not Jiangnan!"

"Master Liu is right. This is not Zhejiang after all. It is our territory. I don't believe he dares to slaughter the imperial officials here at will!"

Gansu Governor Cao Yong spoke up next, his face also revealing a look of indignation.