diskusbooks Chapter 170: Slanderous Belt
Chapter 170: Slanderous Belt
But those who jumped out were beaten up by Jiang Fan in front of all the grain and grass soldiers! Their buttocks were broken into pieces!
His actions frightened the grain and grass soldiers, and they immediately became obedient.
Although being drilled every day was unbearable, being spanked was unbearable! Jiang Fan even said that if anyone dared to disobey military orders next time, they would be executed immediately!
No one dared to challenge Jiang Fan's authority anymore, because Jiang Fan was the leader of this trip.
Along the way, they and the civilian laborers ran and stopped from time to time, and then were trained in various ways, in addition to running, marching, and battle formation training!
The originally lax grain and forage troops and civilians became strictly disciplined and obeyed orders in less than three days! Their combat effectiveness at least doubled!
Fortunately, although Jiang Fan trained them desperately, he did not treat them badly and served them with delicious fish and meat every day.
Otherwise, few people’s bodies can withstand such high-intensity training!
What happened on Jiang Fan's side was seen by Ye Ren's men who were following him. They quickly used carrier pigeons to send back a message about what had happened.
When the news reached Ye Ren and others, they all stood there in a daze, unable to come back to their senses for a long time.
"What? He embezzled food and made trouble for the soldiers and laborers who transported the food along the way? Did Jiang Fan get kicked in the head by a donkey and is looking for death?"
Huang Zhenren cried out in shock, his eyes full of disbelief.
"Prime Minister Ye, this is good news. Why don't we take this opportunity to report him..."
Upon hearing this, Ye Ren frowned, with a hint of suspicion in his eyes. Jiang Fan's actions were really incomprehensible to him, but he had a vague feeling that Jiang Fan might have a backup plan.
However, he also felt that this was the best opportunity to investigate Jiang Fan and ruin his reputation.
No matter how Jiang Fan tries to make amends, the fact is that he embezzled the food first, and no matter how he tries to argue, it will be useless.
He had never thought that Jiang Fan would send someone to buy food first! This operation was really a bit tricky, and it had never happened before!
The only pity was that Jiang Fan's action caused his plan to deviate slightly! He lost the opportunity to use the food and grass to frame Jiang Fan.
"Not only should we participate, but we should also publicize it in the newspapers..." Ye Ren made the decision quickly.
How could we miss the opportunity to add insult to injury while Jiang Fan is not in Beijing and unable to defend himself?
Fan Xian and several princes nodded, and they also felt that they should take Jiang Fan's life while he was sick.
After hearing the news, Emperor Yan was stunned for a long time, but soon he smiled. If it were before, when his son did this, he might be worried and angry.
But ever since Jiang Fan had been doing these outrageous things and each time he acted unexpectedly, he had gotten used to it. He believed that his son always had his own plans.
Therefore, he did not even think of sending people to bring Jiang Fan back or to hold Jiang Fan accountable. What he was worried about now was that Ye Ren and others would not let this matter go.
Sure enough, at the court the next day, some imperial censors who were attached to the prince started to criticize Jiang Fan as soon as they came to court.
They said that he embezzled food and forage, and was mentally ill and tormented the food and forage soldiers and civilians. Even if the food and forage soldiers had lax discipline, weak combat effectiveness, and the civilians were incompetent, it was not a reason for him to punish the food and forage soldiers and civilians!
The Emperor of Yan simply responded by saying that his generals were away from the battlefield and were not subject to military orders, which directly shut up the mouths of all the censors.
His words almost made Ye Ren and the others die on the spot. It was too obvious that the Emperor of Yan favored Jiang Fan! What does it mean that a general is not subject to military orders when he is away from home?
Is this not obeying military orders? This is corruption and embezzlement of food and grass, which is a serious crime! Corporal punishment of soldiers is not a small crime either.
So, those instigated censors quit?
Keep on criticizing, but the Emperor of Yan just said, "How do you know that my son has embezzled food and grass? It's no use just blasting, show us the evidence!"
The Emperor of Yan even got angry in court. Anyone who dared to slander his son without evidence would be put in prison for the crime of insulting the prince!
All of a sudden, the imperial censors were frightened, and no one dared to report Jiang Fan anymore. Asking them to find evidence? Where can they find it?
Huaining County is Jiang Fan's territory now, it would be strange if they could find out.
Things were quiet in the court, but the morning newspaper published by Ye Ren and others was not so easy to deal with.
Unable to deal with Jiang Fan in the court, Ye Ren and others planned to use newspapers to discredit Jiang Fan.
They reported Jiang Fan's embezzlement of grain and fodder shipped to Jinzhou, and even exaggerated the matter.
In order to make the people angry towards Jiang Fan, the newspapers also reported that Jiang Fan tortured the grain soldiers and civilian laborers.
It is said that Jiang Fan was opposed by the grain and fodder soldiers and civilians because he embezzled grain and fodder, and he wanted to take revenge on them.
Jiang Fan physically punished and tortured the forage soldiers and civilian laborers on the grounds that they had poor fighting ability and lax military discipline.
The moment this incident was reported, the people were in an uproar and refused to believe it was true.
After all, in their hearts, the Eighth Prince is a god-like existence, and such a person cannot have any stain.
A stain like embezzlement of grain and fodder is simply too shocking.
Not to mention, there were also people who tortured and punished the grain soldiers and civilians for their own selfish reasons, although the people thought the reasons Jiang Fan used were reasonable.
After all, the grain and fodder army is notoriously lacking in combat effectiveness and military discipline.
Once on the battlefield, they are like cannon fodder. Not to mention facing the same number of Northern Mongolian cavalry, even if they encounter the same number of bandits, they will be easily wiped out!
But even if this is the case, it is not a reason for Jiang Fan to torture and punish the supply soldiers.
The morning paper described Jiang Fan's behavior in a way that made people angry, and also described the pitifulness of the soldiers in charge of food and grass in a way that made people feel sympathy.
They say that the food and supply soldiers and civilian laborers have a hard life. The food and supply soldiers are cannon fodder on the battlefield, have no fighting power, and are ostracized by their colleagues. The civilian laborers do hard labor, and go hungry and cold every day.
Now that they are in Jiang Fan's hands, such a miserable group of people have to suffer from Jiang Fan's torture, which is simply infuriating.
Zhu Xuanji was worthy of being the prince's aide. He wrote very well, with a clear distinction between the main and the secondary. In an instant, he made the people begin to waver in their love for Jiang Fan.
Some people began to get angry about Jiang Fan's actions. Some people, under the guidance of Ye Ren's people, began to call Jiang Fan shameless for embezzling food and grass for a little money.
For his own selfish desires, he even retaliated against the poor grain soldiers and civilians. Such a person is not worthy of being a prince, let alone being loved by them.
Some people even organized a group of people and started a march, demanding that Emperor Yan severely punish Jiang Fan.
They immediately created a lot of momentum, and the entire capital city was in an uproar because of Jiang Fan's embezzlement of food and fodder and his troubles with the food and fodder soldiers and civilians.
At the prince's mansion, the entrance was blocked by people. Inside the mansion, Chu Xiaoya looked at her young lady anxiously, her eyes full of anger and anxiety.