Chapter 15 Chapter One Ending and Beginning

On March 15th of the seventh year of Jianxing, Zhuge Liang officially launched military operations against Wudu and Yinping counties of Wei State.The Shu Han called it the "Third Northern War", while Wei's public opinion called it the "Third Great Patriotic War". Wudu and Yinping counties are located at the southern foot of the west wing of the Qinling Mountains and the northwest of Hanzhong. They used to be the territory of the Shu Kingdom. Later, after the defeat of the Shu army at Jieting, they belonged to Cao Wei.As long as these two counties are still in the hands of Wei, the Shu army will face pressure from the left wing when it goes north to attack Longxi.

When the Chen-style army, which was in charge of the main attack by the Shu army, entered the Wudu area on March 15, Guo Huai also led reinforcements from Shangyu to the south on the same day, and rushed to the Xiabian, the seat of Wudu. One can't help but suspect that he knew the battle plan of the Shu army in advance.But on the afternoon of March 16, the Wei army had to stop advancing, because the scouts found a large number of Shu army troops in the right flank of the Wei army going south.This army consisted of 30,000 to 40,000 people, and the commander was Zhuge Liang himself. They rushed in the opposite direction 20 miles east of Guo Huai's army, and the assault direction was directed at Jianwei, the south exit of Qishan, which was located behind Guo Huai.

At this time, if the Wei army continues to go south, it will face the dilemma of being cut off from the rear; at that time, not only Guo Huai's troops will be wiped out, but even important military towns such as Shangyu may be taken advantage of. And the hole opened.After weighing the pros and cons, Guo Huai wisely gave up Wudu and Yinping counties, and led his troops back to Qishan Fort first, and then back to Shanggui Base Camp.And Chen Shi took advantage of this opportunity to quickly occupy the isolated second county.Xiabian, the last remaining city, surrendered on March 21, and the third Northern Expedition (Patriotic Patriotic War) lasted less than ten days and came to an end.

The two counties of Wudu and Yinping were originally the gathering places of the Qiang and Di people. The land is sparsely populated, the land is barren, and it is easy to attack and difficult to defend. For the Wei State, the two counties are like chicken ribs.Therefore, the fall of the two counties did not arouse much attention in Wei State. The military, including General Cao Zhen, appreciated Guo Huai's wise decision to retreat in time. In Shu, however, the victory of this local war set off a wave of celebration.The haze that shrouded the hearts of the Shu Han people during the first and second Northern Expeditions was swept away by this victory.The whole area of ​​Yizhou from Hanzhong to Nanzhong was immersed in excitement, and everyone regarded this victory as a harbinger of the revival of the Han Dynasty.Especially in Nanzheng, there is only one thing that the residents and officials of Nanzheng are interested in now, and that is how to prepare for a triumphant entry into the city.In Cheng Fan's words: "This will be an out-and-out celebration."

But in this carnival atmosphere, there was only one person who was neither in the mood nor had the time to cheer, and that person was Xun Xu. Xun Xu has been busy the past few days finishing the "Theft of the Crossbow Machine": interrogating the Five Dou Mi Cultists, cleaning up the craftsmen's files, hunting down the Wei State intelligence station that slipped through the net in Nanzheng City, and investigating everyone who had contact with Liu's father and daughter and Huang Yu , and - and this is the most vexing - writing a working report of the whole incident.The only thing that made Xun Xu feel gratified was that Gao Tangbing miraculously survived, and the doctor said that this was all due to his hard work in fitness.But Gao Tangbing's mood is not very high, Xun Xu specially sent Asher and Liao Hui to accompany him.

During this period, both Feng Ying and Yao You talked to him.The former's attitude was very ambiguous, probably because he was afraid that his relationship with Liu Ying would be exposed.You must know that the ambiguous relationship between Si Wencao's senior officials and the women of the Five Dou Rice Sect can no longer be summed up in just the words "peach sex incident". During the conversation, Yao You first criticized Xun Xu severely, and then privately expressed his understanding of what happened to him, and hinted that he would appeal the military's uncooperative attitude to Prime Minister Zhuge at an appropriate time.Of course, Xun Xu himself regards this as a consolation rather than a promise.

On March 25th, Xun Xu, who was still busy, received an official letter.It is not a good omen for official documents to be bordered in black; according to the customs of the Shu Han bureaucracy, official documents with vermilion borders are mostly good news worthy of publicity, while official documents with black borders often contain some negative things. Xun Xu calmly picked up the official letter and found that the sender was the military chief of the prime minister's government—this is the military police organization of the Shu army, but its authority is not limited to the army, but extends to all government departments in Hanzhong. It is a feature of the bureaucratic system of the Shu Han Dynasty-the recipient wrote Xun Xu's own name, and the place of origin was marked with a red pen in front of the name.

The black edging is from the Army Zhengsi, and it's for Xun Xu personally.These three points are enough to illustrate the seriousness of this official letter. Xun Xu raised his eyebrows, picked up a pair of scissors and cut the seal, took out the official document from inside, and unfolded it: 〖From: Han Prime Minister's Mansion Army Zhengsi To: Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office of the Han Dynasty heard that Cao Jing'an was engaged in Xun Xu Xiaohe (Changsha) Topic: Comments on circulars The Secretary of the Prime Minister's Mansion of the Han Dynasty heard that Cao Jing'an was engaged in Xun Xu Xiaohe (Changsha) was going to the Army Zhengsi to participate in the review and review on March 26, Yiyou, the seventh year of Jianxing in the Han Dynasty, and suspended all duties during this period.

today. Attachment: List of reviewing officials General Liu Min (Lingling) of the Right Guard Army Yangting Hou Jiangwei (Tianshui) Army Sacrifice Wine Auxiliary General Lai Min (Xinye) Zhongzheng Du Yong (Xiangyang) in Nanzheng Prefect's Mansion〗 After reading this official document, Xun Xu turned his head and dug his ears with the other end of the brush in his hand, with a strange smile on his face, and said to himself: "The one who should come has indeed come." "Comment" originated from Xu Shao in the late Han Dynasty, and it was originally used to evaluate the pros and cons of characters.Later, the Shu Han bureaucracy introduced this concept into the management of internal order. The term is still retained, but the connotation is completely different.According to the interpretation of the law, review is to discuss and discuss the improper behavior of the person being reviewed, in order to improve the work of the person being reviewed.However, most people change their colors when they talk about "review", because people who participate in the review are often made things difficult in various ways during the review process, and that kind of mental torture is tantamount to torture.There are even people who say, "It is better to be punished for three thousand years than to be judged for one day".

Xun Xu is well aware of this, he has also participated in the review as a review official, and is very familiar with its procedures and methods.He put down the writing brush, picked up the official document again and glanced at the list of reviewing officials, and not only blurted out: "Oh, they are awesome." There are a total of four officials on the list to participate in the review, three of whom have military backgrounds.Obviously, this time the review was instigated by the military behind the scenes, and they didn't even try to hide it.Xun Xu caused a lot of grievances in the military during the investigation, and now they seem to be planning to retaliate.

"I knew that there is no limit to how unlucky a person can be." Xun Xu thought to himself mockingly, stood up and began to organize his things in Jing'an Division.He put all kinds of documents made of silk, hemp paper, and bamboo slips back on the bookshelf, washed the brushes in the brush bowl and hung them back on the pen holder; he also took out a pigskin pocket and put all his personal belongings Entering: a stone town, a wood carving of Pixiu, a bronze mirror with a round edge, a sandalwood box containing incense from the Western Regions, and a cardboard with his son's palm print on it.When the work was finished, he called Pei Xu in. As soon as Pei Xu came in, he saw that Xun Xu's house was as tidy as if he was about to move, and he couldn't help being taken aback.Xun Xu smiled at him and handed him the official document.After Pei Xu finished reading, he waved his right hand in surprise and shouted, "It's not fair, Xun Zong. They can't treat a Jing'an official like this." "That's how they've always been treated." Xun Xu replied disapprovingly, "Don't be surprised, someone has to take responsibility for this failure." "But……" "After I leave, before a new appointment is made, you will be the top person in charge of the Jing'an Department. This is where the relevant documents are handed over, and the work here will trouble you in the future." Pei Xu was at a loss, and Xun Xu's unusual calm made him feel very scared. "Don't forget Zhulong, this is the biggest cancer buried in our Han army." When Xun Xu said this, his eyes froze. "If we don't get rid of him, our army will always be passive." "I see." Pei Xu nodded, not knowing what else to say.Xun Xu patted him on the shoulder in relief, picked up the pigskin bag and walked out of the house.When the people in the Jing'an Division heard the news, they all stopped, watching the officer stepping out of the gate of the Jing'an Division, and walked away slowly without looking back. At night, Xun Xu called Hu Zhong and Cheng Fan to drink in his house.During the banquet, when they heard that Xun Xu had been suspended from his post and called to review, they were both surprised and worried.Only Xun Xu seemed to be thinking about it, drinking one cup after another. Hu Zhong managed to catch a gap, pressed his hand that raised his wine glass, and asked, "Didn't Xiao and you do anything to offend the military besides the Sixth Crossbow Workshop?" Xun Xu answered frankly. : "Jing'an Division was born to offend the military, what can I do?" Hu Zhong stared at him suspiciously for a long time, Xun Xu said with a smile: "I said, don't stare at me with the eyes of your military adviser, I am not intelligence material." "Did you do anything to General Ma Dai?" "...uh... well..." Xun Xu muttered, and picked up his wine glass to hide his expression.Sitting cross-legged next to him, Cheng Fan tore off a large piece of mutton with a knife and put it in his mouth, then mumbled, "Xiaohe, you are just too impulsive. Those guys in the military are the ones who will take revenge." "Aren't you also from the military?" Hu Zhong interjected.Cheng Fan was caught talking, and scratched his head in embarrassment: "I'm different, I'm from the local government, not the Chinese military establishment." Hu Zhong didn't continue to find fault with him. He turned to Xun Xu and said worriedly: "It seems that the military is trying to punish you after this review. Have you communicated with Lord Yao? He may be able to exert influence. , cancel this review." Xun Xu shook his head: "Master Yao probably won't be of much help, and Wei Yan is behind the other party's support." Cheng Fan patted his chest: "If Xiaohe and you are more respectful, maybe they can be more lenient. Would you like me to inquire about the background of the reviewing officials?" Xun Xu curled his lips and made a firm negative gesture: "No, Even though I'm a small official, I don't imagine Yang Yi to be like that..." At this point, Xun Xu was so drunk that he raised his glass and said generously: "If they want to comment, let them comment. I'm not the first official who died of tongue-in-cheek since ancient times, and I won't be the last!" Hu Zhong and Cheng Fan were afraid that he would say something after drinking, so they quickly persuaded him and took him back to the house.It was not until Xun Xu fell into a deep sleep that Hu Zhong and Cheng Fan left Xun Xu's house. As soon as he went out, Cheng Fan worriedly whispered to Hu Zhong, "I'm afraid this time Xiaohe will be more or less fortunate." "Yes, if there is no miracle..." Hu Zhong looked at Nanzheng City, which was decorated with lanterns and festoons, and planned to celebrate the victory, and put his hands into his sleeves. On March 26, Xun Xu washed up early, put on formal official uniforms, and went to the Army Zhengsi.Junzhengsi is located in the ancient city tower in the east of Nanzheng. The city tower is a building in Liu Bang's era. The main body of the building is built with six-finger-thick big blue bricks. The structure is thick and grand, but the building is dark and cold. Xun Xu walked in the wide and empty corridor, thinking maliciously: "The ancients said that a person is as good as his name; this can also be said that an official is like a house." There are thick green brick walls on both sides of the corridor, and there are no windows. Only the sunlight penetrating through the entrance makes the passage a little brighter.With his back turned to the entrance, Xun Xu walked towards the depths of the gradually darkening corridor, his feet stepping on the bluestone floor, making a muddy sound.Breathing the cold air into his lungs made Xun Xu feel a convulsion. At the end of the corridor was a wooden door painted gray. Xun Xu pushed the door open and walked in, only to find a soldier in the uniform of the chief officer waiting inside.The soldier stood up straight. When he saw Xun Xu, he asked blankly, "Is Xun Xu from the Jing'an Division doing it?" "Exactly." "please follow me." Xun Xu followed the soldier and turned a few turns in the tower of the Army Zhengsi, feeling that he was almost lost.According to the number of steps down, he estimated that the review room would be in a certain room in the basement.The last time Xun Xu participated as a review official, it was in a closed cave.The people in the Army Zhengsi obviously believe that a good "environment" is an important factor in controlling the psychology of the people being evaluated. Soon, the soldiers came to a room and opened the door to invite Xun Xu to enter.After Xun Xu walked in, he found that the room was not big, but it had been carefully designed: the walls were whitewashed, monotonous and dazzling; the whole room was consciously divided into two parts with different heights. It is the lowest part of the room, where only a beard bed is placed; on the opposite side of the room, the floor is much higher, with four cold gray wooden desks lined up, overlooking the beard bed condescendingly. "Please wait here for a while." The soldier pointed to the bed, then closed the door and went out.Xun Xu pulled the bed and sat down, staring at the four cases in a daze. After an unknown amount of time, the door on the opposite side of the room suddenly rang, and then it was pushed open with a squeak. Four people came in one by one, without looking at Xun Xu, and sat down in front of the table one by one.Next to him was a small official who brought four glasses of water, and then quickly left the room. Xun Xu carefully looked at these four people.Sitting in the middle on the left is Liu Min, the right guard. He is the highest-ranking official among the deliberative officials today; according to the deliberative practice, the highest-ranking officials are not responsible for the main agenda of the deliberation, and their presence often represents the level and position of the deliberation; On the right in the middle is Lai Min, the military sacrificial wine. This old man in his fifties is a well-known doctor of Confucianism in Hanzhong. Unfortunately, his character is crazy and he relies on the old to sell the old. If any younger generation questions his authority, he will be angered. Not many people I like him; on the far right is Du Yong, Zhongzheng of the Nanzheng Prefect's Mansion, who belongs to the Xu Jing style celebrity that Xun Xu hates the most.It was obvious that Junzhengsi had intentions in choosing such two people. It is worth noting the last person, Jiang Wei, the general of the guard army who conquered the south.According to the ranks, Jiang Wei should sit in the middle, but he chose the leftmost seat, which is usually the seat for spectators.Jiang Wei is a close friend of Prime Minister Zhuge. Although his position is not high, he is regarded as one of Prime Minister Zhuge's successors; his presence and position suggest that Prime Minister Zhuge himself is concerned about this matter. Thinking of this, Xun Xu looked up, and Jiang Wei happened to meet his eyes, and smiled at him friendly.When Jiang Wei surrendered to the Shu Han for the first time, Jing'an Division had monitored him for a period of time, so Xun Xu knew that this man acted cautiously, treated people with propriety, and everyone spoke well of him. He was thinking about it when Lai Min suddenly slapped the table on top and shouted sternly: "Please note that the review of Xun Xu's work in Jing'an Division will start now." "Oh." Xun Xu sat upright indifferently. "Name?" Lai Min solemnly picked up the brush and asked, it seems that he will be the main force in today's review. "Xun Xu, surname Xiaohe, from Changsha, thirty-five years old, currently working for Siwen Cao Jing'an, is married, has a wife and a child, and I love them very much." Xun Xu was very familiar with this set of routine procedures, and answered all the next three or four questions in one breath.Hearing his preposterous answer, Lai Min felt that he was being mocked, and his nose turned red with anger, and he shouted, "Seriously, this is the Chief Military Officer!" "I know." Xun Xu blinked. Lai Min was furious, just about to growl.Liu Min coughed softly at the side, Lai Min closed his mouth resentfully, picked up the brush again, and said in an official tone: "You are..." "I joined the late emperor in the 24th year of Jian'an. Zhang Wu was transferred to Si Wencao in the first year, and was assigned to Jing'an Department in the next year until today." Xun Xu knew that the following procedure was to confirm his personal experience, so he spoke out again.Technically, his behavior was impeccable, but he answered a little too early, invisibly grasping the initiative of the situation, which made Lai Min unable to speak out, and could only grit his teeth and secretly get angry.At this time, Du Yong, who was on the sidelines, saw that something was wrong, and hurriedly called Lai Min over to whisper to each other. Lai Min consulted Liu Min and Jiang Wei in a low voice, turned around and said to Xun Xu in the audience again: " Xun Eng, please don't get emotional, we just want to talk to you about your work situation in the previous stage." "Where, why do I have emotions? Haven't I been actively cooperating?" Xun Xu put on a smiling face. "I hope you can always maintain this attitude." Lai Min said threateningly, "Given Xun Eng's open and honest attitude, we think we can omit routine procedures and directly enter substantive issues." "I can't ask for it." Xun Xu changed his position on the bed.Jiang Wei knelt and sat on the edge, looking at him without saying a word. Lai Min glanced at Du Yong, who quickly picked up a piece of hemp paper, and read slowly and carefully: "On February 24, the seventh year of Jianxing, Si Wencao received information that Wei Guo sent spies to sneak into our country. Attempt to steal the blueprint for the crossbow. You were in charge of it, right?" "Yes, Chief Wang Quan passed away not long ago. I am the first-line supervisor in charge of internal security." "On February 25th, you applied to enter the Military Technical Division for inspection, and you were signed and approved by General Wei Yan. You went to the Military Technical Division accompanied by General Ma Dai. That's right?" "Well, Lord Qiao and Lord Ma are both hospitable people." "When you entered the Military Technical Division, you once asked the sergeant in charge of the inspection, if His Majesty the Emperor came in person, would he also need a full-body inspection? Have you ever said that?" "Well, but I was just joking." Xun Xu didn't expect that they would even investigate this matter. "Presumptuous! How could His Majesty the Emperor use it as a joke!" Lai Min reprimanded domineeringly, "Your lack of basic respect for His Majesty the Emperor is a serious crime in itself!" Seeing that Xun Xu had no words, Lai Min felt very proud and thought that he had controlled the situation, so he continued to ask slowly: "Let's not talk about this matter, let's talk about other things. On February 26, you and General Huang Xi of the Sixth Ballista Workshop had a conflict. Can you talk about it in detail?" "Oh, we lost that fight, I'm so sorry." "I didn't ask you this, we want to know why there is a conflict." Lai Min corrected Xun Xu with suppressed anger. "Because he illegally detained two people we went to investigate on the 25th." Hearing these words, Du Yong regained his spirits; he took out an official document and handed it to Xun Xu for a look: "Is this the general Wei Yan's approval document?" Xun Xu looked at it carefully and nodded.This is not the original, but a handwritten copy, but the content is not bad. "It says that it is authorized to enter the Military Technology Division and Armament Workshop during the daily period, and the Sixth Ballista Workshop has been transferred to the combat preparation production track on February 25. Have you confirmed this before dispatching your subordinates?" "No, it's just a play on words." Du Yong's head immediately shook his head: "Xun Zeng's words are bad. Confucius said, 'There are no rules, and you can't make a circle'. The official document formats are all custom-made in ancient times, and they are used to support discipline. Isn't Xun Zong too contemptuous? gone?" Before Xun Xu could answer, Lai Min continued, "Are you admitting that you didn't notice this point in the approval document?" "Well, yes." "That is to say, because of your misunderstanding of the official document, you sent someone to forcefully enter the workshop at an inappropriate time. As a result, Si Wencao and the military misunderstood, causing chaos for a time." "Oh, what chaos are you referring to?" Xun Xu stared at Lai Min slyly.Lai Min was choked by Xun Xu's rhetorical question. On such an occasion, of course he couldn't bring up the matter of Yang Yi being frightened and crying, so he could only say something vaguely: "In short, because of your negligence, the two departments had a dispute. Hostility." "Tch!" Xun Xu's disdainful cold snort cut through the stagnant air in the room, he was too lazy to answer this question. Probably because they felt that if this topic continued, it would be difficult to get around the "Yang Yi's gaffe". Lai Min and Du Yong looked at Liu Min and Jiang Wei at the same time. Liu Min listened carefully to Jiang Wei's opinion. Then Chong Laimin shook his head.So Lai and Du didn't dare to pursue further, and went directly to the next question. "On February 28th, you visited General Ma Dai, didn't you?" Lai Min seemed confident this time. "yes." "Why do you want to visit him?" "Because I hope to get some information about Wudou Mijiao from him, which is very important for our investigation." "Did you get it?" "Yes, I also invited General Ma Dai to assist in the investigation and lure out the believers." Then Xun Xu told the ins and outs of Liuji Restaurant.Lai Min felt that the time was almost up, leaned forward, stared into Xun Xu's eyes and asked: "Did you use inappropriate means during your consultation with General Ma Dai?" "I don't understand what you mean by inappropriate means?" "Did General Ma Dai volunteer to assist you?" "yes." Lai Min showed a smile of "I have seen through your lies", and he shouted: "But as far as we know, he was coerced by you!" sleeve, calmly replied: "I was just looking for him based on the surveillance records of the Jing'an Division. Maybe he has a connection with the Wudoumi Cultist, and I can use it." "As a result, have you confirmed whether there is any connection between General Ma Dai and the followers of Wudoumi?" "There is nothing to do with it, General Ma Dai is innocent." "According to the records, that surveillance record was filed and sealed by Si Wen Cao You Cao Feng Feng Ying last year. What do you think is the reason for this?" "I think it's probably because he thinks this record has no reference value." Xun Xu thought to himself that it would be better not to reveal Feng Ying's affairs for now. "Very well, in other words, you used the worthless sealed file to intimidate a senior general of our army on February 28th, threatening him to cooperate with you. In fact, he was innocent. Is that so? " Lai Min asked complacently. "I think you have confused the concepts of 'relationship' and 'connection'. General Ma Dai did not collude with the Five Dou Rice Sect, but it does not mean that there is no connection. I think..." "Yes or no?!" "The facts are good, but I don't think that statement is correct." "If General Ma Dai refuses to obey, do you have to use that record to fabricate a charge against him? Isn't that what your Jing'an Division often does?" "I object to this accusation." Xun Xu raised his head sharply and shot Lai Min sharply, making him lean back. "You should know that what you just said is an insult to the entire Jing'an Department." Liu Min probably also felt that this outspoken old man had gone too far, so she couldn't help frowning and coughing loudly.Lai Min embarrassingly stopped the impassioned speech just now. Du Yong saw that it was not convenient for Lai Min to speak, so he took the initiative to say to Xun Xu: "Xunzheng, no matter what, you did coerce General Ma Dai for your own selfishness, right? I have a testimony from General Ma Dai here. He said that you promised that if he is willing to cooperate with you, you will not pursue his file any more. thing." Xun Xu thought that left and right cannot escape, so he nodded: "That's right, I said so." "A gentleman treats people with sincerity, deception is not the way. Even ordinary people should be honest and treat people with sincerity. You and General Ma Dai are both important officials of the court and pillars of the Shu Han Dynasty. You should cooperate sincerely; now your colleagues are actually When such surveillance and coercion happened, don’t you feel that what you have done is against etiquette?” "Oh, you may not understand the nature of our Jing'an Department's work. The premise of our work is that no one can be trusted." "You dare to threaten even the senior generals of our army, what else are you afraid to do?" Lai Min regained his momentum at this time.Xun Xu originally wanted to reply with a harsher sentence, but he suddenly saw Jiang Wei's eyes seemed to warn him not to act rashly, so he retracted the words. Lai Min thought that Xun Xu was retreating, so he decided to pursue the victory. He took out another piece of paper, pointed to Xun Xu and said, "On March 6th, the craftsmen of the sixth crossbow machine workshop went to the safety and epidemic hall for a physical examination. The area near the cliff was attacked by the enemy, and a craftsman was robbed. Two hours later, this group of bandits was captured by the Jing'an Division troops who had been ambushing for a long time at the Baoqin Crossing, right?" "yes." "How did you think of setting up an ambush near Baoqin Road?" "Because we planted inside the enemy." "That is to say, you already knew that the enemy would attack the artisan team in advance?" "Not bad, and accurate to every detail." "Why didn't you stop it on the spot?" "Because the leaders and they met in Baoqin Road, we hope to catch them all." "Then why didn't you notify the military? General Huang Xi said he didn't know anything about it, and he didn't receive any notification from the Jing'an Division." When Xun Xu heard this question, he secretly sighed.After learning that Huang Yu was going to rob the craftsman team of the crossbow workshop, he did not warn the military.He was worried that if the military took precautions, or planned to deal with it alone without the Jing'an Division—this was not unheard of before—then the last chance would be wasted.Xun Xu knew that this was a serious mistake in violation of the regulations, but he had no choice but to conceal this information from the military to prevent Huang Yu from being aware of it. "I'm afraid that if they know about it, it will affect the development of the whole plan." Xun Xu chose his words carefully.At this time, Du Yong said slowly in a condemning tone: "Do you know that during the escape of the artisans, a young soldier was attacked and died?" "Oh? Really? I'm sorry about that." "It's all because of your stubborn belief that the military's knowledge would affect your plans." "No, this unfortunate loss was not within our estimates..." Xun Xu replied in a low voice, he was indeed a little guilty about this result. "But he died because of your failure to report!" Lai Min slapped the paper heavily on the case, he seemed filled with righteous indignation: "Does this mean that, in order to facilitate your work, you would rather sit back and watch the death of our soldiers?" Du Yong took the opportunity to add a sentence: "Xun Zong, I can hardly believe that in the Han Kingdom, which was founded on benevolence and morality, someone would treat the soldiers who were fighting for the revival of the Han Dynasty like this." After a pause, he raised his head. The file in his hand continued to be compassionate, "The child is only seventeen years old this year. He is kind and filial to his mother who is over fifty years old. He plays quarterback in the army's Cuju team. He probably never thought of it until his death. , he will die because an official is greedy for the convenience of his work." Facing the aggressiveness of Lai Min and Du Yong, Xun Xu simply replied: "Everything I do is for the revival of the Han Dynasty." "Oh?" Lai Min narrowed his eyes maliciously, "Xun Zong, you said that you forcibly entered the crossbow machine workshop to prevent Wei's spies; The death of army soldiers is to catch the enemy better, so have you succeeded?" "Basically, in a sense..." "I asked you if you were or not." "No, it didn't work. The enemy successfully passed on the blueprint." "It means that you have consumed a lot of our country's manpower and material resources and caused indelible harm to many innocent people, but the result in exchange is a zero? Oh, no, not a zero, at least Cao Wei still has a lot to gain. Do you have any comment on this sad ending?" "No, this is my negligence. I was only focused on fighting the enemy, and I forgot that pleasing my colleagues is more important than fighting the enemy. I swear to you, next time I will first put my sincere face on the cold asses of the generals one by one." Xun Xu replied coldly, he couldn't help it in the face of such unreasonable accusations... ... The deliberation lasted until late at night, during which Xun Xu only went to the toilet twice, and ate a bowl of brown rice porridge and two pieces of roasted pork.Lai Min and Du Yong were very interested in the evaluation, and they often took the trouble to repeatedly ask Xun Xu about a certain detail when he was performing a mission; Its trust, just for this detail, the two people questioned Xun Xu for half an hour, and almost every answer of Xun Xu was extended to the height of dereliction of duty and corruption.Lai Min is fond of sarcasm, while Du Yong quotes scriptures at length. The two are not so much commenting on Xun Xu, but rather satisfying their own desire for performance—this may be inspired by Wei Yan. Contrary to them, Liu Min and Jiang Wei kept silent, only asking some innocuous questions now and then. As for Xun Xu himself, he was just annoyed by it, but he didn't feel any mental pain—since he knew that the military was deliberately punishing him, Xun Xu didn't have any psychological pressure. The bad result is nothing more than relegation to common people and emigration to other places, it's no big deal.Therefore, Xun Xu was very free and easy during the review period. He often confronted Lai and Du two people. Attack, the former employee didn't even show a trace of aggrieved expression. The deliberation finally came to an end at the turn of Zi Chou, and Lai and Du stood up contentedly with their thick notebooks.They threatened Xun Xu that his performance today would be recorded and become an important basis for criticizing him, and then followed Liu Min out of the room. Xun Xu stood up from the bed wearily, moved his hands and feet that had become numb from not moving for a long time, and yawned a little.Suddenly, he found that the reviewers hadn't left, and there was another person in the room.He looked up, and was surprised to see Jiang Wei still staying where he was, with his hands crossed on his chin, looking at Xun Xu with interest, with an incomprehensible smile on his thin face. "General Jiang? What are you still doing here?" Xun Xu asked a little strangely. Jiang Wei stepped down from the jury, came to Xun Xu's side and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Thank you for your hard work today." "Fortunately, anyway, this kind of work doesn't need to move your brain and hands." Faced with Xun Xu's sarcasm, Jiang Wei didn't say anything. He had learned many times in this day's review.The candles in the four corners of the room had almost burned out, and at this time there were only the two of them left in the room.Jiang Wei looked around cautiously, and then said in a low voice, "Xun Zong, I know it's late and you're tired, but there is one person who wishes to see you after the review anyway." "who is it?" "Prime Minister Zhuge."