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The King Of The East often ordered his subordinates to be flogged 100, 200, 300 times. Not long ago, he even flogged 1,000 times. Therefore, the executioner in charge of flogging was quite skillful. The flogging couldn't be carried out to the point of death. After 300 floggings, the bones couldn't be broken. Even so, it couldn't be like playing house. After 300 floggings, Zhang Yingchen was in so much pain that he almost fainted.
The executioner was also very tired. Two people immediately came up to support Zhang Yingchen. Zhang Yingchen's buttocks and thighs were already numb from the pain. He basically couldn't feel his legs anymore. Zhang Yingchen was carried away in a daze. He didn't know how much time had passed, but he could finally feel that his calf, which hadn't been beaten, was being dragged on the ground. He tried to support his calves on the ground normally. However, he felt that his legs were as weak as noodles.
"Brother over here, please stop for a moment. Let me move!" Zhang Yingchen used all his strength to squeeze out this sentence.
The executioner who was dragging him along stopped. Zhang Yingchen used all of his strength to drag his legs and support himself on the ground with great difficulty. As soon as he exerted force, he couldn't help but scream. He couldn't feel the flesh on his thighs. Zhang Yingchen only felt as if the bones in his legs were stabbed with a poker. The intense pain made all his strength disappear. If it wasn't for the executioner's nimble hands and feet, Zhang Yingchen would have collapsed on the ground.
The intense pain spread through his bones. Soon, the high heat caused by the pain made Zhang Yingchen feel cold all over. Cold sweat and hot sweat quickly drenched Zhang Yingchen's clothes, who was shivering non-stop. Zhang Yingchen had no idea what the others had said to him or what they had done to him. He was drowned in pain.
After being flogged, Zhang Yingchen was sent back to his quarters in the military camp. This gave the officers and staff officers on duty quite a fright. The staff officer on duty immediately called the military doctor over. When the military doctor saw the injuries, he was also stunned. After 300 strokes of the cane, a large area of soft tissue was injured. Zhang Yingchen's buttocks and legs had turned purplish black. Although there was no way to test if his bones were injured, it didn't look any better.
In Vézé's army, they were also beaten with sticks, but it was for punishment, not physical torture. One by one, he received ten or twenty strokes of the stick. The sound of the beating was very loud, but after walking a few steps, he would be fine. It was just that his buttocks were a little numb from the spanking. Moreover, beating him with a stick was the last resort. It was better not to beat him if possible.
Up until now, no one had ever seen anyone beaten to such a state. The official from the King Of The East Residence, who was responsible for escorting Zhang Yingchen back, immediately summoned the officers from Zhang Yingchen's army. This group of officers were all in the camp. They were dragged out of their beds and soon gathered sleepily.
The official first asked the guard who followed Zhang Yingchen to tell him what happened today. The guard stammered and said that Zhang Yingchen said bad things about King Of The East Yang Xiuqing to Prince Of The Qi Vézé, and then said bad things about Prince Of Qi Vézé to Yang Xiuqing, the King Of The East. Therefore, King Of The East Yang Xiuqing gave Zhang Yingchen 300 strokes of the cane.
Everyone was puzzled by this. How dare Zhang Yingchen say bad things about King Of The East Yang Xiuqing and Prince Of The Qi Vézé at the same time. However, since the King Of The East had sent someone to publicly accuse Zhang Yingchen of his crimes, it could not be groundless.
In the end, the official from the King Of The East Residence told everyone that the King Of The East had spared Zhang Yingchen's life on account that it was his first offense. After 300 strokes of the cane, Zhang Yingchen could not be in charge for the time being. The King Of The East Residence would send a new commander over to take over temporarily. After that, the official from the King Of The East Residence took out a roster and ordered all the commanders to gather and prepare for the new commander's arrangements.
At that moment, the troops from the King Of The East Residence, who were waiting outside Zhang Yingchen's camp, immediately marched into the camp. Although they did not act as if they were facing a formidable enemy, it seemed like they had made ample preparations to suppress and resist at any time.
Vézé's troops were under the General Staff Headquarters system. Although Zhang Yingchen's troops had been transferred to the King Of The East Residence, they still maintained Vézé's system. Although the General Staff Headquarters did not directly command the troops, they were the backbone of the troops. The officers were put in charge, and so were the chief of staff and deputy chief of staff. However, Vézé's General Staff Headquarters had a conference system, very similar to a military committee. According to the regulations, if something happened to the chief of staff or deputy chief of staff, the chief of the military operations department would naturally take over the chief of staff's duties.
The King Of The East Residence obviously had not fully grasped the organizational structure in this aspect. Therefore, the chief of the operations department, combat training department, personnel department, logistics department, as well as the military history department, which was in charge of keeping records and summaries, did not need to participate in the assembly.
Before the chief of staff was taken away, he had already given the order for these chief of staff to temporarily take over the operations of the General Staff Headquarters and clarify the situation.
The barracks' drill ground was brightly lit. All the officers from Zhang Yingchen's troops were brought there. The main tent, logistics warehouse, and armory were also sealed off by the King Of The East Residence's troops. However, this was not a problem for the chief of staff of the various departments. The entire barracks had been set up by them. The King Of The East Residence's troops seemed to have secured the vital points. However, there were many ways to circumvent these "vital points."
The staff officers immediately convened a secret emergency meeting. The first thing they needed to do was to figure out what had happened. It was unrealistic to go to the King Of The East Residence to seek confirmation or to the Prince Of Qi Residence to seek confirmation. Not to mention that without orders from above, the soldiers would not leave the barracks. Even if they sneaked out of the barracks, the ones guarding Tianjing City were Yang Xiuqing's trusted aides and relatives. The combat abilities of these relatives and trusted aides of Yang Xiuqing had not been proven. However, as the commanders guarding the various gates, they were indeed extremely responsible. This group of people worked hard as if they were guarding a house. Without orders from the King Of The East Residence, no one was allowed to walk freely in Tianjing City. Even with orders from the King Of The East Residence, as long as these people felt that the movements were suspicious, they would also stop them. They had to obtain Yang Xiuqing's orders before suspicious people could pass.
They could not see the parties involved, the King Of The East Yang Xiuqing and the Prince Of Qi Vézé. At this time, Zhang Yingchen had a high fever and was unconscious. There was no way to verify it with him. The only choice was the guards. The General Staff Division immediately sent someone to secretly get the guards. Under the interrogation of these people, the guards finally told everyone what Zhang Yingchen had said on both sides.
There were also some particularly straightforward or simple-minded people among the commanders who could fight. No one who could become a section chief in the General Staff Division was a fool. At the beginning, everyone did not dare to say it. However, as they asked one after another, even if some of them did not mean what they said, everyone gradually understood what had happened.
It was completely understandable that Yang Xiuqing, the King Of The East, wanted Zhang Yingchen to see if Vézé had any resentment. No one would be happy to drive Vézé away from Anhui. It was understandable that Yang Xiuqing wanted Zhang Yingchen to ask. However, Zhang Yingchen really treated finding Vézé's resentment as a mission that he had to complete.
However, Vézé did not have any resentment at all. At least, there was no resentment in the words he said to Zhang Yingchen. Zhang Yingchen thought that Vézé did not want to make suggestions because he was unhappy with Zhang Yingchen. Therefore, he said bad things about King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, in front of Vézé, trying to make Vézé resonate with the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing.
Seeing that Vézé did not show any such thoughts, Zhang Yingchen felt that he could not return empty-handed. Therefore, he took the opportunity to set up the Anhui strategy that Vézé had formulated, hoping to ask for credit in front of Yang Xiuqing.
Of course, due to their pride, no one dared to say that Yang Xiuqing had completely seen through Zhang Yingchen's thoughts and dealt with Zhang Yingchen instead. Such a clean and efficient way of dealing with the matter made Zhang Yingchen's subordinates feel a lot of pressure. King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, had clearly seen through Zhang Yingchen's thoughts and dealt with it decisively. Regardless of whether they fully understood this point, the staff officers who participated in the discussion were either strong or weak in shock.
After roughly understanding the situation, the staff officers who participated in the meeting looked at each other and did not know what to say. From what they knew, although King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing's way of dealing with the matter was ruthless, it could not be considered completely wrong. Moreover, no matter what, everyone was trained and promoted by Vézé. The system of the General Staff Headquarters itself provided this group of staff officers with a lot of room for improvement. Just this reason alone made everyone feel a deep sense of recognition towards Vézé.
Zhang Yingchen was ordered by King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, to test whether Vézé had any complaints. This itself made the staff officers very unhappy. And Zhang Yingchen's attempt to please both sides made everyone even more unhappy with him.
After bringing Zhang Yingchen's guards out, the chief of operations finally muttered, "Isn't it a little too ruthless for the King Of The East to do this?"
No one said anything. From what they understood, Yang Xiuqing's way of dealing with the matter was indeed ruthless. It was also like killing the donkey when it was no longer of use. However, no one could say that King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, did not have any reason to do so.
After a moment of silence, the chief of logistics said, "What do we do in the future? I don't know what the King Of The East will do to us. "
This question caused everyone to be really worried. After arriving in Tianjing City, everyone learned more about the system of the other Taiping army units. The other units did not have the General Staff Headquarters system. Even if there were staff officers, staff officers were not equivalent to staff officers. The General Staff Headquarters was the true core of the army. Ever since Vézé established the General Staff Headquarters, the military officers were trained and selected by the General Staff Headquarters. The appointment of military officers was decided by the General Staff Headquarters and the staff officers of the various armies. The General Staff Headquarters system was almost completely in charge. In the other Taiping army units, staff officers were subordinate to the commanders of the various armies. The ones who made the decisions were the generals of the Taiping army.
Now that the King Of The East had taken over Zhang Yingchen's troops, what would his attitude towards the General Staff Headquarters be? This group of staff officers who were once in power had no confidence at all.
"Then let's tell the Chief of Staff about this matter first," the chief of operations replied. After saying that, he let out a long sigh. "If only we were still working under the Chief of Staff!"
Vézé only found out about what happened to Zhang Yingchen on the third day when they were preparing to leave. The one who told Vézé about this matter was not one of Zhang Yingchen's subordinates, but Vézé's father-in-law, Qi Yuchang. Qi Yuchang did not know the whole story. In his statement, the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, punished Zhang Yingchen for some unknown reason and took away Zhang Yingchen's military power. Therefore, Qi Yuchang was more worried that this was a sign that the King Of The East was going to make a move on Vézé.
After reading the information provided by Qi Yuchang, Vézé could only laugh bitterly. Things seemed to be getting more and more intense. Since the King Of The East had already taken action, Vézé was not worried anymore. If he wanted to purge Vézé, Yang Xiuqing had other ways. Since Yang Xiuqing was doing this, his target was definitely not Vézé, but another important figure.
Vézé could more or less guess who the person Yang Xiuqing wanted to deal with was.
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