Chapter 156: The pain of suffering, the child cannot be taught As Qin Zhen set up the situation, a plan to seize Lujiang officially began. The next morning, as soon as the generals got up, they heard a commotion in the camp. When they asked the reason, they learned that someone in the army had been drinking last night and was caught by the military patrol team. So everyone gathered together, but in the middle of the tent, Qin Zhen was sitting in the main seat, watching the attack with a cold face. Mei Cheng's face was red, and he was kneeling in the tent with a hangover look. Naturally, no one dared to enter the tent, except Mei Qian, who looked worried when he saw this. As he was watching, he saw Qin Zhen slap the table with his hand and shouted at Mei Chengdao: "You bold Mei Cheng, you tried to stop our army in the past, but because we showed kindness and justice, I spared your lives!" "I have also asked you to accompany me on this expedition, hoping that you can atone for your crimes with your merits." "Why are you feasting in your tent before the war even starts?" "Don't you know that drinking is strictly prohibited in our army? You broke the law knowingly. What crime should you be punished for?"

When he asked this question, all the generals were startled, and then they saw Mei Cheng bowing with a look of fear on his face and said: "Because I heard that General Zhao had won, I thought the enemy was no match for our army. If the military advisor comes, we will surely win a great victory." "I was so happy that I forgot the military ban. I didn't mean to break the ban. I hope the military advisor can bypass it!" When the generals heard this, they felt strange and thought to themselves that Mei Cheng was a good person. Since there was a chance to atone for his sins, he should just work hard. What kind of wine can you drink in the tent when you have nothing to do? Don’t you know that Qin Zhen hates it most when someone disobeys military orders? Now he is being punished, and he deserves it! But when they thought so, they saw Qin Zhen smiled coldly and said: "I know you have a rebellious mind. You must be upset because I don't use you, and you drink to drown your sorrows!" "If I spare you today, you will definitely rebel tomorrow!" "It just so happens that he has violated the law and should be beheaded. Come, help me push him over and behead him in front of everyone!" When Mei Cheng saw this, he was shocked. This was not what he said yesterday! But seeing Qin Zhen's serious face, he did not dare to ask more questions and could only shout: "How can you do this, military advisor? Even if I surrender, there is nothing wrong with that!" "I know the military advisor hates me. Treating him like this, isn't that using public power for personal gain?" Qin Zhen was furious when he saw this, and ordered his men to take the man out and behead him. When Mei Qian saw this, he was horrified and hurriedly stepped out and said: "I have heard that the military advisor is strict in enforcing the law. Although I have made a serious mistake, I do not deserve to be executed. I hope the military advisor will forgive me!" When the generals saw this, they were also shocked. Although drinking alcohol was a punishment, beheading was indeed too much. They thought Qin Zhen really wanted to take revenge, so they were horrified. Qiao Rui stepped out and said: "Our army has just set out, and if we kill the general right now, it will be disadvantageous to the army. I hope the military advisor will spare his life." Zhao Yun frowned when he saw this. Although he and Mei Cheng had no relationship, he was an upright man after all, so he stepped forward and asked: "I hope the military advisor will forgive his crime and not sacrifice public interests for personal gain!" Seeing everyone come out, Qin Zhen stopped and said: "Since all the generals have advised you to pardon me, I will spare your life. You can avoid the death penalty, but you cannot escape the punishment of living!"

"According to military law, you must be punished with twenty military canes. However, since you do not repent, the punishment shall be doubled. Drag me away and give me forty canes!" When Mei Cheng heard this, he shuddered and thought to himself that this self-torture scheme was really painful. After receiving forty beatings with the military stick, he would have to lie in bed for a month! But when he thought about his future, he gritted his teeth and remained silent. When the generals heard this, they tried to persuade him again. But this time Qin Zhen refused to give in and ordered his men to drag Mei Cheng away, strip him of his clothes, and beat him with a stick. Because Meicheng had delicate skin and tender flesh, a dozen or so blows would tear her skin and flesh apart, and blood would flow out. When the generals saw this, they couldn't bear to watch it and begged for mercy again. Mei Qian, in particular, burst into tears and begged for mercy. After beating him with the stick for twenty times, Qin Zhen raised his hand and said: "Remember half of this. If you commit the same crime again in the future, you will be punished for both crimes!" After hearing this, the generals hurried forward to help Mei Cheng up and walked quickly into the tent. Qiao Rui and Zhao Yun were confused when they saw this, and they entered the tent and asked: "We came here to attack Lujiang. If the military advisor had not moved, why would he punish Mei Cheng?" "That person values ​​profit over righteousness. Isn't it a disaster for him to be punished like this?" Qin Zhen saw that the two of them didn't notice, so he smiled and said: "Don't let this matter spread. This is a plan I am using to inflict pain on myself to lure Liu Xun to send out his troops!" "It's fine if others don't know, but you two just need to know it, and don't show any abnormality!" After hearing this, the two men came to their senses and thought that Qin Zhen was really tight-lipped. If they hadn't come to question me, I would probably have been kept in the dark. For a moment, he admired Qin Zhen's meticulous thinking, but while he was thinking, Qiao Rui reminded him: "But the military advisor's actions today may be biased. If this continues, the generals will surely be uneasy!" After all, he was experienced and knew that although Qin Zhen's move was effective, it might shake the morale of the army. When Qin Zhen saw this, he smiled and said: "This is also my wish. If our army does not move here, Chen Ce will surely be worried. We should find an opportunity to move!" "If our army's morale is not shaken, he won't dare to come out!" "We need to let him see an opportunity before he is willing to come!" "I was just trying to lure him into attacking our camp, and defeat him once again." "Right now, we are concerned about two things. First, the enemy is coming, and our army is unaware of it. I want Zilong to lead the troops to ambush outside, and send spies to investigate the enemy camp and guard against the enemy's night attack." "Secondly, I have already convinced Mei Cheng, but I don't know what Mei Qian is thinking. General Qiao can use the excuse of visiting Mei Cheng to see if Mei Qian has any resentment. If he does, he must be rebellious, and I will take the opportunity to deal with him one day!" "If Mei Qian has no complaints, you can use him. Please give me your reward and I will assign him other tasks in the future!" When the two heard this arrangement, they were shocked and surprised. Qin Zhen had used this self-torture trick to great effect. Not only does he want to seduce Liu Xun, he also wants to seduce Chen Ce, and even test the effectiveness of Mei Gan! This kind of scheming is truly beyond their reach! The two of them immediately accepted the order and left one after another, starting to act according to the plan.

On the other side, after Mei Cheng was helped into the tent, he began screaming in pain, one "ouch" after another. But he had no soldiers under his command and no close relatives in the army, so for such a long time he was left with only a few soldiers to look after him. When Mei Cheng saw this, he felt very sad for a moment. He thought that when he was leading the army in the past, there were people who would come and go to support him, but now that he was down and out, no one even visited him. It can be seen that the people in this world are all cold and indifferent. When I was feeling sad, I heard footsteps, and then I saw Mei Qian walked into the tent with a cold face and said: "I told you to be cautious, but you still don't know how to restrain yourself." "Now, the military advisor has found evidence against us, and we can start fighting again!" Mei Cheng felt warm at first when he saw Mei Qian coming to visit him, but then he became annoyed when he heard the sarcastic remarks and could not help but complain: "Brother, what do you mean by that? When have I ever been careless?" "But I drowned my sorrows in alcohol, and he caught me with something. He hates me, and I can't escape it!" "They say that an elder brother is like a father. I lost my parents when I was young, so I consider my elder brother to be my father. Now that I see my younger brother being punished, it would be fine if you don't come to comfort me, but why do you have to insult me?" As soon as he finished speaking, Mei Qian slapped him on the shoulder, took out a small porcelain bottle from his arms, and said coldly: "If I don't consider you as my brother, why would I come to visit you?" "Don't say anything more, or you won't even have this ointment!" He was a person with a cold exterior but a warm heart. Although he said something unpleasant, he still applied ointment to Mei Cheng. Mei Cheng was grimacing in pain, and he was worried that Mei Qian might have ulterior motives. If he could find out and report it, he would surely be valued by Qin Zhen. Then he pretended to be touched and said in a trembling voice: "I know that you love me, but now I am hated by Qin Zhen and I will be harmed by him in the future!" He turned around and looked at Mei Qian and said: "I know that you have been idle until now. If I were to do this, it would be fine. But you are a great general. How can you waste your time like this?" "Now that Qin Zhen is not kind to us, why don't we find an opportunity to rebel against Liu Bei and go north to Cao Cao?" There was something extremely inflammatory in his words and expression. But when Mei Qian heard this, his movements froze, and he suddenly looked disgusted and said: "If you and I were not brothers, I would have abandoned you here!" "Although I have not yet understood the Confucian principles, I do know the way of loyalty and righteousness." "Now the lord has treated us well, how can we rebel against him?" "If you hadn't violated the rules this time, why would the military advisor punish you?" "It turns out that what the military advisor said today was right. You are indeed an incorrigible child!" "What you just said is fine if it comes out of your mouth and enters my ears. If you say it again, don't blame me for not caring about our brotherly love!" He stopped talking here and said no more. After roughly applying the medicine to Mei Cheng, he stood up, threw the medicine bottle aside, and said coldly: "This medicine should be taken once a day, not more than once. After I leave, you can call the soldiers to apply the medicine." "I think you are not a good fighter. Take good care of yourself now. When we return to Shouchun, I will personally report to the lord and give you money, grain and land. Then you can just farm the land with peace of mind!" "As for those rebellious words, do not say them again. If you dare to involve me, I will not forgive you!" After giving this warning, he turned and left. Unexpectedly, as he just walked out of the camp gate, he saw Qiao Rui coming towards him.

Because the two of them were enemies before, it was quite awkward at this moment. However, Qiao Rui came here deliberately to test him, and when he saw Mei Gan, he smiled and said: "I wonder how Yuli is doing?" Upon hearing this, Mei Qian nodded, thinking that Qiao Rui was no longer the same as before and was now one of Liu Bei's generals. Logically, he should not visit Mei Chengcai. Could it be that Qin Zhen was afraid that Mei Cheng had some resentment, so he came to investigate? Thinking of this, he wanted to report Mei Cheng's words. But after thinking about it, he is my cousin after all, young and ignorant. As his cousin, he couldn't harm him, so he simply nodded and said: "Yu Li has already repented. I hope the general will remember our old friendship and speak a few good words to the military advisor instead of making things difficult for him." "I have already agreed with him that after this battle, I will let him go home and farm. He will never dare to do evil to the military advisor again!" After hearing this, Qiao Rui nodded, said goodbye to Mei Qian, and walked back into the tent. Seeing Mei Cheng lying on the bed, he smiled again: "I came here to visit you on the orders of the military advisor. I wonder if Yuli can still hold on?" Mei Ben was also confused when he saw Qiao Rui, but when he heard that it was Qin Zhen's order, he endured the pain and said with a smile on his face: "Thank you for your concern, General. I'm sorry to trouble you to pass on your message. I will work for you even if it means death. Why should I worry about such a small pain?" Seeing him like this, Qiao Rui nodded secretly, and smiled thoughtfully: "I wonder if Mei Qian has any complaints about Yu Li being like this?" When Mei Cheng heard this, he thought of Mei Qian's ruthless words just now, and thought that Qin Zhen must be suspicious of Mei Qian by sending someone to ask. For a moment, he was filled with anger and said in a deep voice: "Logically speaking, I shouldn't say too much about this matter, but I have received great kindness from the military advisor, so I dare not conceal it!" "In fact, Mei Qian is harboring evil intentions. Although he is my brother, he has evil thoughts in his heart and intends to betray the lord and secretly ally with Cao Cao!" He then repeated what he had just said to Qiao Rui. However, these words changed his words of testing Mei Qian into Mei Qian testing him. After saying this, Mei Cheng said with a look of sorrow: "I heard about this and I don't want to work with him. After I rejected him, he wanted to ask the military advisor to let me leave the lord's command so that he could act with peace of mind!" "But how could he know that I have long been the confidant of the military advisor. Although I am related to him, I dare not conceal the truth without permission!" "I dare you to tell the general to report to the military advisor as soon as possible after you return. I will let this person ruin our army's plan again!" Seeing him like this, Qiao Rui couldn't help but narrow his eyes and think for a while. Now that the two brothers' statements are completely different, who should he believe? But after thinking for a while, he decided that since Mei Cheng was respected by Qin Zhen, his words were probably true, so he nodded and said with a smile: "In that case, it's all thanks to Yu Li's reminder. I never expected Mei Qian to have such intentions!" "Take good care of Yuli. I will report to the military advisor and bring Mei Qian to justice!" Mei Cheng was secretly delighted when he saw this. This way, the secret he revealed would surely be taken seriously by Qin Zhen!

As for Mei Qian, although he is related to him, he is selfish and wants his death to be exchanged for his promotion! Thinking of this, he spoke to Qiao Rui for a few more words and then asked Qiao Rui to go back and report. Qiao Rui returned to Qin Zhen's tent and recounted the events that had just occurred, then said with a smile: "Military Advisor, this method is indeed useful. Once we give it a try, we will know what Mei Qian is thinking!" Seeing him like this, Qin Zhen smiled and said: "Then I wonder which of these two people's words General Qiao thinks is true and which is false?" When Qiao Rui heard this, he immediately said: "From what I can see, Mei Qian seems to be hiding something, but Mei Cheng is sincere. So what Mei Cheng said must be true!" As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Zhen shook his head and smiled: "If we follow the general's judgment, I'm afraid the loyal and honest people will be harmed!" "From what I've seen from Mei Qian's words, although he has something to hide, he is sincerely pleading for Mei Cheng!" "Although Mei Cheng's words were sincere, he was determined to kill Mei Qian!" "You two are brothers, so you should show some affection. Mei Qian's words are reasonable and true." "On the contrary, Mei Cheng's words seem to be affectionate, but in fact they are cold and indifferent. They must be a frame-up!" When Qiao Rui heard this explanation, he was shocked. After thinking about the logic behind it, he realized that it was indeed the case. He didn't expect that Mei Cheng would be so bold as to lie in front of Qin Zhen! When he thought that he had been deceived, he became furious and said: "How dare this boy do this? If it weren't for the wise judgment of the military advisor, I would have been fooled by him!" As he spoke, he looked at Qin Zhen again and said firmly: "This boy is so cunning and disloyal, he must not be allowed to stay!" "I know this, so I just tested Mei Gan!" Qin Zhen saw that he was angry, so he smiled and said: "Since this boy is useless, go and call Mei Qian over, and I will devise a plan to get rid of him!" He actually admired Mei Cheng's drive, so he gave Mei Cheng another chance. But Mei Cheng didn't catch it in the end, so it can't be blamed on him. However, he cannot dirty his hands in killing Mei Cheng, he also needs to borrow Mei Qian’s power! Only in this way can the impact of this incident be minimized. Therefore, he had to communicate with Mei Qian first. When Qiao Rui heard this, he secretly thought that Qin Zhen was very meticulous, and immediately went to invite Mei Qian over. At the same time, the news of Qin Zhen's army's handling of Mei Cheng also quietly spread to Chen Ce's camp. (End of this chapter)