Chapter Thirty-Six: Debate

  Everyone in the Grand Hall knew that Bian Lingcheng had won the trust of Emperor Li Longji and was also approved by Yang Guozhong, and was almost a trusted person of Yang Guozhong. More importantly, Bian Lingcheng was also the supervisor of all the horses and men in Tongguan City. What kind of person is a supervisor? It is someone who leads the emperor's orders, supervises the military on behalf of the court, and can protest against the commander-in-chief of the army. The military commanders have no power to kill the officials who are supervisors, even if the supervisors are eunuchs. If the officials who supervise make mistakes, they can only be punished by the court or by the emperor's orders.

  But now, Yang Jie, the newly appointed Tongguan military commander, privately beheaded Bian Lingcheng, a third-grade supervising general, on the battlefield and sent his head to the imperial palace. How can this not shock people? Gao Lishi, who was standing by, stepped forward and petitioned: "Your Majesty, Yang Jie, the military commander, privately executed Your Majesty's personally appointed supervising general, damaging the court's system. He should be punished by imperial decree!"

  As Gao Lishi spoke, Crown Prince Li Hen immediately stood up and also demanded punishment for Yang Jue!

  "Your Majesty, Yang Guozhong has abused his power and secretly beheaded the supervisor of a military unit on the battlefield. This is because he doesn't want his actions to be known by the imperial court, and he's hiding his own selfish intentions. I request that Your Majesty immediately send someone to investigate this matter and not show any leniency, or it will dishearten the soldiers!" Li Hen glared at Yang Guozhong, whose face showed a hint of surprise, and continued: "Your Majesty, I think we should immediately remove Yang Guozhong from his position and appoint someone else to take charge of the military affairs in Tongguan. If not, there will be endless troubles ahead!"

  Yang Guozhong did not expect Gao Lishi to come forward at the first opportunity to ask the Emperor to punish his own son, and Crown Prince Li Hen, who had always been at odds with him, also joined in, only short of saying that Yang Hui had a treasonous heart. In his anxiety, he didn't bother to think carefully and immediately stood up to defend himself, saying: "Your Majesty, this matter must have its twists and turns, I think we should investigate the facts before making a decision!"

  At this time, Yang Guozhong kept blaming Yang Hui for his recklessness. He believed that his son could not have known the importance of Bian Liancheng, because when Yang Hui set out, he had repeatedly instructed him on who to trust, and Bian Liancheng was one of the most important people who would help Yang Hui a lot. However, unexpectedly, his own precious son actually killed Bian Liancheng with one knife.

  Killing Bian Lingcheng, Yang Guozhong naturally knew that it could play the role of Yang Jianli Cheng, gaining military support. He was not worried about being punished by the emperor for this reason, because with Yang Hui's head came a memorial, which must have stated the reasons, and he also believed that his son had sent him a private letter explaining why he did so.

  But Bian Lingcheng had a very good relationship with him, and his help was really too great. Except for Feng Changqing and Gao Xianzhi, whom he had always been wary of, Bian Lingcheng was indeed a great contributor. How could he face other people he had trusted if such a person was killed by his own son?

  But at this time, he will definitely maintain his own son.

  After listening to Yang Guozhong's words, Li Longji also came back to his senses from the shock, indicating that Crown Prince Li Hen should not speak yet, and opened the memorial sent with Yang Hui's head, and read it.

  After reading it, the expression on his face relaxed, but then he became angry again, and finally slammed his hand on the table, scaring Yang Guozhong, Gao Lishi and other ministers who were nervous in their hearts.

  "Jingzhong actually abandoned the army and wanted to escape back to Chang'an on his own, but after being forced to return to Tongguan, he still dared to say that he was preparing to go back to Chang'an to recruit reinforcements. He deserves to be killed! Kill him!" Li Longji's furious words startled the officials once again.

  However, many people who heard this relaxed, and Yang Guozhong, whose mood was complicated, also put down more than half of his heart.

  Let Bian Lingcheng die, and let his death be used to unite the generals of Tongguan, so that they will listen to Yang Guozhong's orders. As for who is lighter or heavier, Yang Guozhong can judge that himself. The detestable Li Hen actually had the nerve to kick him when he was down at a time like this, and Yang Guozhong's heart was filled with resentment.

  At this moment, he stepped forward and memorialized to Emperor Xianzong: "Your Majesty, it was originally the case that Geshu Han was cowardly and fled in defeat, abandoning his troops without a care. Such a person must be executed! Although my son Yang Guozhong's handling of the matter was somewhat improper and deserving of criticism, he has boosted the morale of the soldiers defending Tong Pass. I hope that Your Majesty will consider that Yang Guozhong repelled the rebel attack and achieved an initial victory, and not punish him, but rather allow him to redeem himself through further achievements."

  Wei Jian and Wei Fangjin, among others, who were close to Yang Guozhong, immediately came out in support of Yang Hui's decisive action.

  If we let Bian Lingcheng off like this without punishment and continue to let him return to the army as a supervisor, it will definitely greatly lower the morale of the soldiers and even disintegrate them. At this critical moment, those who flee in battle and are afraid to fight must be severely punished in order to respect and reward the brave.

  Gao Lishi also stood out and said he had misunderstood Yang Guifei.

  Yang Jia's actions were only because of Bian Lingcheng's desertion, and executing deserters is not a major crime.

  Yang Guozhong finally breathed a sigh of relief, immediately realizing that Gao Lishi was not targeting him with his words, but rather because Bian Lingcheng was also an eunuch, just like Gao Lishi, and it was the feeling of "the rabbit dies, the fox grieves" that led Gao Lishi to say such things. If there was one person in the court that Yang Guozhong had to be careful with, it was Gao Lishi. This eunuch was too deeply trusted by Emperor Xuanzong, and his influence on the imperial court was not much less than Yang Guozhong's.

  Even if it was Crown Prince Li Hen, Yang Guozhong was not very afraid, because Li Hen did not gain the favor of Emperor Xuanzong, who had been considering replacing him as crown prince. Since Gao Lishi did not take this opportunity to strike at Yang, Yang certainly breathed a sigh of relief, but he also became even more wary of Gao.

  While no one stood up to express a different opinion, Yang Guozhong stepped forward again and said: "Your Majesty, now that Tongguan is in a critical situation, extraordinary measures are needed in extraordinary times. Yang Hui publicly beheaded Bian Lingcheng, although the method of execution was somewhat lacking, but it's just a matter of executing first and reporting later, which is not too inappropriate. Your Majesty has already agreed to let Yang Hui have full authority over military affairs at Tongguan, so intervening excessively would be even more reasonable for him to execute those who flee in battle, please don't pursue this matter further!"

  At this time, Yang Guozhong already had some arrogance, and no one came forward to ask for accountability from Yang Hui, so he dared to make such a request in front of the emperor.

  "Hmm, Guo Zhong, you are right. Bian Ling's cowardice and desertion in the face of the enemy is indeed a capital offense. Since I have granted Yang Hui full authority to handle the military affairs at Tong Pass, he has done nothing wrong in this matter. Let us consider this case closed, my ministers should not pursue it further." Li Longji put down the memorial submitted by Yang Hui, indicating that the officials should no longer discuss the matter.

  Of course, he didn't pursue it, mainly because Yang Guo's escape had annoyed him, and Yang Kang had done a good job, so it was unlikely that he would punish Yang Guo at this time. Moreover, Tongguan is still in a critical situation, how could he possibly punish the general again?