Ch 343: Establishing Authority In The Army
“It was me.”
Li Hanzhou nodded, ignoring the faint pressure, and shook the tiger talisman in his hand.
“It turns out to be His Highness the Heir arriving. I am Pang Wang. I didn’t know of Your Highness’s arrival and failed to greet you from afar. I hope Your Highness will forgive me.”
The leading Strong Man glanced at the tiger talisman, then clasped his fists and said, but these words sounded very insincere. Li Hanzhou was coming to the army camp for an inspection. As a General, how could he not know?
He just didn’t care.
Immediately, he turned his head and reminded the few people behind him: “What are you all still standing there for? His Highness the Heir has arrived. Don’t you few even understand the rules? I think you’ve been cooped up in the army for too long and can’t even speak.”
Hearing this, the few people behind him instantly woke up and hurriedly greeted Li Hanzhou one by one.
Li Hanzhou merely nodded.
He also learned their identities. They were all army Generals, some Centurions and some were higher ranking officers. Each of them had a heavy killing aura, and it seemed that they were all veterans of many battles.
But Li Hanzhou could smell a strong smell of alcohol on Pang Wang and the others. Looking up again, Pang Wang was fine; after all, his face was already black, so even if his face was flushed from drinking, it wouldn’t make a difference. As for the others behind him, it was obvious that they had been on a drinking binge.
Their cheeks were flushed, and even standing was a bit crooked. It was only after Pang Wang reminded them that they hastily used their Internal Force to refine the alcohol in their bodies.
It seemed that not only the ordinary soldiers, but also Pang Wang and his group were somewhat slack.
There had been no battles recently, causing them to become increasingly lax. Presumably, the King of Northern Qi had also discovered this but hadn’t personally intervened. He wanted to see the Heir’s abilities, after all, the army would eventually be commanded by him. If he couldn’t even control the army, wouldn’t he, the Heir of the King of Northern Qi, be a joke?
Li Hanzhou looked up at the sun. It was shining brightly, and it should have been time for training, but they were sitting in the tent drinking and ignoring their subordinate soldiers.
While Li Hanzhou was observing Pang Wang and the others, Pang Wang was also carefully observing Li Hanzhou.
News in the army wasn’t blocked.
On the contrary, under the depressing conditions, everyone was a gossip-monger.
Pang Wang had long heard about the reputation of the useless Xiao Han. Not only him, almost everyone in the army knew about it, and sometimes they even joked about him privately.
Therefore, his eyes contained a certain amount of disdain.
However, now that the main person has arrived, and he’s even carrying the Prince’s tiger talisman, it shows that the Prince attaches great importance to Xiao Han, so he couldn’t be careless. He didn’t need to be overly attentive; he just needed to smoothly send the other party away.
In their opinion, a Young Master like Li Hanzhou wouldn’t understand anything about the army; he was just going through the motions and getting acquainted.
Thinking of this, Pang Wang was the first to speak: “Your Highness, please come inside. The army is a bit messy. Your Highness doesn’t need to mind.”
“Someone, make some tea.”
“No need to bother. I’m here today to inspect the army, not to drink tea or eat.”
Li Hanzhou said bluntly: “Please, General Pang, gather the soldiers in the army and have everyone assemble in a wider area. I have something to say.”
“Yes.”
Pang Wang nodded and turned to his subordinates, saying: “Call everyone to assemble. His Highness has arrived; we cannot be lax.”
There was no emotion in his voice.
The Centurions looked at each other, then went to their respective areas and gathered the soldiers like herding chickens and ducks.
“It’s this late and you’re still sleeping? Don’t you know His Highness has arrived? Get up quickly!”
“Don’t play dice! What are you all still standing there for? Go to the training ground to assemble!”
“Look at the state you’ve gotten the army into! They can’t even speak! Now His Highness is summoning us, hurry up!”
“Oh, right, I’m not talking about you. Your thing is almost invisible to the Small one.”
“Remember, it’s His Highness Xiao Han who has come. Don’t say anything you shouldn’t!”
“……”
The soldiers’ enthusiasm was interrupted. They reluctantly and impatiently came to the training ground and then lined up in their respective positions.
When Li Hanzhou was led by Pang Wang to the high platform of the training ground.
He saw this scene: the soldiers were like rice seedlings randomly planted in a paddy field. Although they were relatively neat, a closer look gave them a crooked feeling, as if a gust of wind would knock them down.
Pang Wang made way and looked at Li Hanzhou: “Your Highness, please!”
Li Hanzhou stepped forward. His attire was very eye-catching in the army and quickly attracted the attention of others.
“Everyone seems very busy. It seems that I’ve come at the wrong time.”
The calm voice spread throughout the training ground. The soldiers below curiously looked at this legendary useless Heir.
Some people even had their old habits and thought about making a few jokes, but as soon as they opened their mouths, they suddenly remembered their superior’s instructions and quickly closed their mouths.
At this moment, Li Hanzhou’s eyes narrowed, and his sharp gaze swept across the entire field.
“I won’t say much nonsense. Those who solicited prostitutes in the army, step forward.”
As soon as these words came out.
Everyone was stunned.
Even Pang Wang’s gaze showed some surprise. He thought that Li Hanzhou’s inspection was just a formality, and he would give him some face, so that both sides would have a way out.
But he didn’t expect Li Hanzhou to play by his own rules and really planned to assert his authority?
But just relying on this young child to assert his authority in the army, wasn’t that a bit of a joke?
The entire training ground fell silent, the atmosphere gradually becoming tense. Li Hanzhou stood with his hands behind his back, quietly waiting, but no soldier dared to step forward.
Seeing this, Li Hanzhou immediately understood.
Soliciting prostitutes in the army was a violation of the ironclad rules, so naturally no one would be willing to admit it.
So he said calmly: “Dare to do it but not dare to admit it. So it turns out that there are such cowards in my Northern Qi army.”
“If you don’t even dare to admit this, I’m afraid that if your wives are bullied in the future, you’ll only be able to swallow your anger. In the future, when there is a war, you won’t even dare to fight fiercely and can only be deserters, right?”
As soldiers who protect their homes and country, calling them cowards would probably make them laugh it off, but once it involves their families and the battlefield, they would definitely not be able to bear it.
The strategy of provocation came out.
In less than a minute, someone immediately stepped out of the queue, stood in front, and shouted loudly: “I am not a coward!”
As a chain reaction, more than a dozen soldiers emerged one after another, standing in front, and echoing along.
“It’s good that you admit it.”
Li Hanzhou looked at Pang Wang: “General Pang, according to the army’s ironclad rules, anyone who solicits prostitutes in the army shall be executed.”
“There is such an ironclad rule.” Pang Wang frowned. Was this Heir serious?
Li Hanzhou smiled slightly: “In that case, what is the General waiting for?”
As soon as the words fell, all the soldiers were shocked and stared at Li Hanzhou.
The expression on Pang Wang’s face instantly froze. He slowly said: “Your Highness, this is a bit excessive. Although they have violated military discipline, they are also meritorious individuals. If they are rashly executed, it will be difficult to convince the others.”
“General Pang, relying on military merit to act recklessly is even more unforgivable. Otherwise, if everyone does this, what will the army become in the future? I think the General should know better than I do.”
Li Hanzhou said forcefully.
Pang Wang fell silent. After a long while, he raised his chin: “I hope Your Highness will reconsider. Your Highness might as well go back and ask the Prince if this is appropriate!”
“No need. This small matter, I can still decide.”
Li Hanzhou shook his head and raised a finger.
A supremely sharp Sword Qi suddenly shot out from his fingertip, swiftly as lightning, sweeping across the more than ten soldiers below.
In the blink of an eye, a tiny wound appeared on their necks, blood spurted onto the ground, and they fell straight to the ground, their aura gone.
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