Chapter 79: Spare His Life

  Xiangyang is not far from Xinye, only over a hundred miles away, and can be reached in the morning and evening, but Wen Ping is cautious and orders to camp thirty miles away from Xinye County.

  This area is on the west bank of the river, surrounded by low and gentle hills, with a broad view. In the distance, tens of miles away, there is a dense forest.

  This is the element of camping, with water source, open fields, flat terrain, and Wen Ping's meticulousness. A camp for a 10,000-strong army was set up in just one hour, covering an area of hundreds of hectares.

  The largest camp is the grain warehouse and military supplies, followed by hundreds of large tents for the army, with carts and vehicles surrounding the outside, and 200,000 long spears encircling the outermost layer, with the sharp spearheads pointing outward.

  Not only that, but also in the easier places for cavalry to charge, tens of thousands of iron caltrops were scattered, which was also a sharp weapon against cavalry. In addition, eight watchtowers were built at the four corners of the big camp, which could overlook several miles and be guarded strictly on all sides.

  Wen Pi was about thirty years old, originally just a low-ranking military officer, with high martial arts skills, fond of reading military books, and excelled in both literature and martial arts. In one battle against the Jiao State, he led three hundred men to defeat thousands of enemy troops, standing out and being noticed by Cai Mao, who recommended him to Liu Biao.

  Liu Biao also highly appreciated his martial arts and tactics, promoting him to Military Marquis, soon after promoted to Chief Controller, five years later gradually promoted to Colonel, becoming one of the six great generals of Jingzhou, leading 20,000 troops to garrison north of the Han River.

  Wen Pin was strict in governing the army, yet loved his soldiers like sons. He was a man of great integrity and justice, so he was deeply admired by the officers and men of Jingzhou. He and Huang Zhong and Wang Wei were among the most prestigious generals in the Jingzhou army.

  Wen Ping, out of gratitude for Cai Mao's kindness in recommending him to Cao Cao, took Cai Mao's nephew Cai Xing as his apprentice four years ago. He was once considered a member of the Cai faction, but Wen Ping had a personal grudge against Zhang Yun and more importantly supported Liu Qi, the eldest son, while the Cais began to lean towards Liu Cong, the second son.

  So Wen Pin gradually parted ways with Cai's family, and since Wen Pin was from Nanyang, he had a very close relationship with Huang Zhong, and the Huang family of Nanyang also formed an alliance with the Kuai family.

  Although there is no necessary causal relationship between them, Wen Pin indeed began to lean towards Kuai Yue, and this time he became the main general of the northern expedition, it was all recommended by Kuai Yue.

  In the military camp, Wen Pin led a dozen or so generals to inspect the camping situation. He was a strict person and many things he had to do personally.

  Walking to the southwest corner of the watchtower, Wen Ping measured the construction of the watchtower, with a protective ditch dug around it, without any shoddy workmanship, he nodded in satisfaction.

  "General, shall we go up?" a general asked.

  Wen Ping didn't say a word, and directly climbed up the soft ladder to the watchtower. There were two sentries on the watchtower, each guarding one side. Once they discovered any unusual situation, they would strike the bell to sound the alarm. A cast iron bell was hung on the watchtower, which would ring loudly and its sound could be heard for several miles.

  "What's going on?" Wen Ping asked as he saw the two sentries seemingly having something to say.

  "Report to the General, just now we seem to have seen Cao's scouts."

  A sentry pointed southwest, "Found just one mile away."

  Wen Ping's face sank, and he walked forward, focusing his attention on the southwest direction. In the southwest direction, tens of miles away, was a dense forest that stretched for over a hundred miles.

  As far as the eye can see, low and gentle hills undulate, now at dusk, a blood-red sunset hangs above the forest, casting its last rays of light onto the earth, dyeing the forest and wilderness with a layer of gorgeous golden color.

  Just then several cavalrymen appeared on a mound about one li away from the main camp, gazing far into the distance at the main camp. Wen Ping took one glance and saw that they were Cao army scouts.

  Wen Ping was suddenly enraged. He had clearly sent out several patrols in all directions, so why hadn't they intercepted the Cao army scouts?

  "Where is Deng Wuhe?"

  Wen Ping turned his head and shouted loudly, a young general responded with a bow, "Your subordinate is here!"

  "Take three hundred cavalrymen and quickly surround Cao's scouts. If you let them escape, come back to see me with your head chopped off!"

  "Roger!"

  Yan led Deng Wu to rush away, and in an instant, a cavalry of three hundred men rushed out of the camp gate, heading towards Cao's army to intercept and surround them.

  But Wen Ping's anger had not dissipated, and he again shouted orders: "Bring me the leader of the patrol responsible for the southwest, and severely punish him!"

  Liu Xuan's 500 men belonged to the Dulicur tribe, responsible for protecting the grain and fodder, directly under the command of General Cai Zhong. Although Cai Zhong had a personal grudge against Liu Xuan, he did not show any animosity along the way, but instead treated him with extra care.

  When distributing the military tents, Cai Zhong also specially gave them thirty high-quality tents. While other soldiers had one large tent for every thirty people, Liu Xuan's group had one tent for every twenty people.

  And in terms of food and meat rations, they were also slightly better than those of other soldiers, which made Liu Jiong somewhat surprised. Was Cai Zhong thinking of putting aside past grievances with himself?

  But based on his understanding of Cai Zhong, he also felt that it was not very likely. Cai Zhong might have had other plans, so he didn't make any statement and just waited to see what would happen.

  The sun sets in the west, the sky is dimly lit, Liu Xiu's 500 men are gathered together to eat, laughing and chatting, exceptionally lively, from time to time can be seen Liu Hu's stout body squeezed among the soldiers scrambling for food, the soldiers also don't let him, quarreling in a heap.

  At this time, Liu Xuan suddenly saw a military officer being tied up with five flowers and coming to the central army account in front of him. The general looked at his uniform and was only a low-ranking military officer, but he was tall and handsome, although he was bound, he raised his head and was not discouraged, with a bit of momentum.

  Liu Jiong thought to himself: 'I don't know what military rule this person has violated, but they've been bound and brought here. They look quite majestic, though.'

  He immediately ordered one of his men, "Go and find out what's going on over there, why are they arresting people?"

  The soldier rushed away and soon returned to report: "General, this man is a famous patrol commander. It's said that he discovered Cao Jun's scouts within his patrol area, but Commander Wen was furious and had him arrested for questioning. It's said that such dereliction of duty could result in beheading."

  Liu Xuan nodded, so that's how it was. This man had a dignified appearance, and killing him would be a pity. Although Liu Xuan thought this way, he didn't want to get involved. Wen Ping governed the army strictly, with military law as severe as a mountain.

  He turned around and was about to leave when a soldier behind him said: "I heard that this man is called Wei Yan, his martial arts skills are quite good."

  Wei Yan!

  Liu Jiong suddenly turned around, suspecting he had misheard and asked again, "What's his name?"

  The soldier scratched his head, "He's called Wei Yan, many people know him, he has a bad relationship with others, offended quite a few people..."

  The soldier had not finished speaking, when Liu Jue rushed to the central army tent. What a joke! It was Wei Yan, a famous general of the Three Kingdoms, who was about to be executed.

  Liu Jue knew that Jingzhou was rich in talent, but mainly valued the literary and had fewer famous generals. Famous people like Huang Zhong, Gan Ning, Wen Ping, and Wei Yan were actually quite good, unlike the portrayal in the novel.

  These names have all appeared one after another, but Wei Yan has not shown up yet. Liu Jue had also asked someone to inquire about him, but there was no news. He was a bit suspicious that Wei Yan might not be in Jingzhou after all, but Wei Yan was from Yiyang, and Yiyang indeed belonged to Jingzhou.

  Just as Liu Jue was unable to find this person, unexpectedly at the most unexpected moment, Wei Yan appeared, and as soon as he appeared, he fell into a crisis and was about to be executed by Wen Ping.

  Liu Zhong's heart was racing with anxiety, and he rushed to Wen Pin's command tent at top speed, fearing that if he delayed for even a moment, Wei Yan would lose his head.

  If Wei Yan dies, who will help him conquer the world?

  Inside the tent, Wen Ping's face turned iron-green. Although Deng Wu led the cavalry to surround and annihilate them with all their might, two of Cao's seven scouts still escaped, revealing his military plans, which made him furious beyond control.

  Wen Ping heavily slapped his thigh and scolded, "The patrol was not strict, which allowed Cao's scouts to approach the main tent. Do you know your crime!"

  This is a characteristic of Wen Pin, even if he wants to kill a small soldier, he must publicize the reason and which military rule he has violated.

  This time's Northern Expedition is especially significant. For the first time, he will mete out punishment for wrongdoing, and of course, he must make the other side acknowledge their guilt, so that the three armies can be convinced and submit willingly.

  Wei Yan was bound and kneeling on one knee, he is already twenty-nine years old, has been in the army for seven years in Jingzhou, from fighting in Jiaozhou to attacking Changsha, with many military achievements.

  But unlike others, others make achievements to get promoted, he makes achievements to atone for his crimes. Wei Yan is a proud person, often speaking out of turn and repeatedly offending his superiors, with all sorts of troubles always following him.

  Every time he achieved merit, all sorts of troubles would appear to offset his achievements. Despite this, Wei Yan refused to change his nature. He was like a phoenix fallen among a flock of wild chickens, with no day to rise again. After seven years in the army, those who had joined the army with him had been promoted to high-ranking officials and generals, while he was still just a small garrison commander.

  Wei Yan refused to lower his head and said proudly: "Although I lost my job, there is a reason for it. I only brought twenty brothers with me, but I have to be responsible for the thirty-mile range. Especially in the southwest, the forest is dense, and the nearest forest to the military camp is only eight miles away. The scouts of Cao's army came out from this forest, but at least thirty people are needed to fully monitor this forest. Even if we don't take care of other places and focus all our attention on here, there are not enough people. Why doesn't the commander ask about this reason?"

  "I only care about the results, whether you bring ten people or a hundred, that's your own business, I don't care. But if Cao Jun's scouts appear within your patrol area and you don't take responsibility, who will?"

  Wen Ping's anger grew with each word, and finally he slammed his hand on the table, "Take him out and behead him!"

  Several halberdiers dragged Wei Yan away, and he turned his head to shout loudly: "The one who sent the troops was not me, why should I take responsibility? General, your punishment is unfair!"

  Wen's eyes narrowed, a small long tone, not begging for mercy, actually dared to accuse himself of being unfair, really got fed up.

  Wei Yan was pushed out of the big tent, and was forced to kneel on the ground. A executioner raised a sharp blade high in the air, aiming at Wei Yan's neck.

  Wei Yan closed his eyes and sighed softly, "I never thought that I, Wei Yan, would die in this place."

  At this moment, a loud shout came from afar: "Spare his life!"

  Only one person rushed over, and many soldiers recognized him, surprisingly it was Gongzi Xing. The executioner hesitated for a moment, and this knife did not chop down.

  Liu Jiong was so shocked that his heart almost jumped out, and Wei Yan's head would have fallen to the ground if it were just a little bit more.

  "Hold on, I'll go beg the commander for mercy; if that doesn't work, killing you can wait!"

  The executioner put down his axe, and Wei Yan let out a long sigh of relief. He hadn't expected anyone to come and rescue him either.

  Before he could see clearly who it was, Liu Xuan had already walked quickly into the big tent, knelt down on one knee to pay his respects, "Your subordinate Liu Xuan pays his respects to Commander Wen!"

  Today, a famous book friend mentioned the etiquette of kneeling and bowing. Lao Gao simply said that before the Tang and Song dynasties, people sat on their knees because there were no chairs, so standing up to pay respects was condescending and gave others a sense of oppression, which seemed somewhat impolite. In fact, performing the bowing ritual is a kind of egalitarian etiquette, where one sits in the same posture as the other person.

  So, generally speaking, kneeling and bowing is done indoors, while outdoors it's mostly just a bow.

  After the Song Dynasty, chairs became widespread, and at that time, kneeling was no longer practiced. Therefore, when officials still performed the ritual of kneeling and bowing, it had already become a kind of servile etiquette that looked up to those above with fawning eyes.

  So this is actually two completely different etiquette, although the posture is the same, but the meaning is completely different.