Execution to Establish Authority

Li Zhi cupped his hands and said with a modest air, "The Commander flatters me too much. Today's drills were a testament to the dedication of every camp, and an honor of this magnitude is more than this old man deserves."

Hearing this, the surrounding generals muttered inwardly. *What is this old fox pretending for? You want it more than anyone else, but do you even have the qualifications? Stop putting on airs of seniority and acting so falsely noble.*

Ma Cheng, the Commander of the Five-Army Division standing nearby, was even more displeased. This robe could be given to anyone, but absolutely not to Li Zhi. In short, his life's motto was to oppose anything beneficial to Li Zhi and wholeheartedly support anything detrimental to him, dedicating his entire existence to bringing Li Zhi down.

Stepping forward, Ma Cheng said, "Commander, wouldn't that be rather unfair? In terms of age, Li Zhi may be the eldest here, but today is a grand military review, and success is determined by strength. The state of the Three-Thousand Division is plain for anyone with eyes to see. I... I object."

Wang Lanping was overjoyed upon hearing this. *They are finally jumping out of the woodwork. Fight among yourselves, and I shall reap the fisherman's profit.*

Turning to Ma Cheng, Wang Lanping asked, "Then to whom does General Ma believe this robe rightfully belongs?"

Ma Cheng's opposition was targeted solely at Li Zhi. Naturally, receiving the robe himself would be ideal, but unlike those brazen, thick-skinned ruffians who would argue until their faces turned purple, Ma Cheng quickly smiled and stepped back. "This... this is entirely up to the Commander's decision."

Wang Lanping smiled inwardly, cast a glance around the assembled officers, and said, "Then tell me, gentlemen, does anyone have any objections to the Elder General Li receiving this robe?"

The generals certainly had objections, but seeing Ma Cheng step forward, they all kept their mouths shut. Everyone knew these two had been at odds for a long time, and given Ma Cheng's personality, he would undoubtedly oppose it to the end. Therefore, they were quite content to sit back and enjoy the show.

Ma Cheng turned around to look at the others. *Well, nobody else is speaking up, leaving me to stand my ground alone. I'm standing out too much.* Looking left and right, he found himself momentarily at a loss for words.

Stirring the pot further, Wang Lanping declared, "Since that is the case, and I have always held senior generals in high regard, I shall make the decision. Guards, drape the robe over Elder General Li."

By now, Li Zhi had also suddenly realized the truth. *This brat is trying to provoke a conflict between Ma Cheng and me. It seems he has been plotting this for a long time, even inquiring about the bad blood between us. Why is he doing this? Needless to say, he wants to strip me of my military command. But how exactly does Wang Lanping intend to use this situation to seize power?* That was something Li Zhi had not yet figured out.

The dragon robe now looked to Li Zhi like a hot potato. He took a step back and waved his hands frantically. "The Commander is too gracious; this old man cannot accept it. I truly cannot!"

Things had already reached this point, and Wang Lanping was hardly going to listen to his demurrals. With a tilt of his head, he ordered the soldiers of the Wind Division to forcibly place the robe over Li Zhi's shoulders before turning away.

The dragon robe was an imperial bestowal; letting it drop to the ground would be a grave offense. Li Zhi had no choice but to clutch it tightly with both hands, his expression a mixture of excitement and nervous tension. He squeezed out a few awkward words, "Heh, I feel unworthy of such an honor, entirely unworthy."

Not finished yet, Wang Lanping laughed heartily and said, "Look at that, how well the robe fits, how majestic! The old general's valor remains undiminished. Men, send a fast courier to report to His Majesty that during the Xiangshan military review, the Three-Thousand Division under Commander Li Zhi won the highest honors, and request a special imperial decree of commendation to encourage all three armies."

Standing nearby, Ma Cheng was so furious that his face turned crimson. An imperial commendation meant Li Zhi would be riding roughshod over him from then on.

Ma Cheng opened his mouth to object once more, but a sudden commotion arose from beneath the reviewing platform.

A disturbance broke out among the fifteen camps lined up below, as if soldiers were bickering and fighting. In the blink of an eye, the chaos escalated. Shouts of anger and cries for blood filled the air as hundreds of men grappled and battered one another.

Wang Lanping turned around and snapped at Song Dali beside him, "Go and see who dares to cause trouble! What kind of discipline is this? I am still right here, they have completely disregarded military regulations!"

Song Dali smiled inwardly, acknowledged the order, and departed. In truth, he had arranged the whole thing long ago.

Beneath the reviewing platform, the scene was truly spectacular: hundreds of men engaged in a massive brawl while thousands watched from the sidelines. The audience was growing by the minute, drawing in soldiers from all the surrounding camps until the area was packed solid.

Those fighting had bloodied noses, swollen faces, and rolled in the dirt, yet the thousands of spectators were even more excited than the combatants, cheering, jeering, and shouting, "Hit him! Well fought! Give it to him, bite him! If you can't win, it's because your mother didn't feed you enough milk! Poke his eyes! Grab his groin..." They were a classic crowd of onlookers eager for a bigger spectacle.

Song Dali and a dozen men shoved their way layer by layer through the crowd, finally squeezing into the center. They found the chaos overwhelming: over three hundred men and more than a hundred horses were crammed together, tumbling over one another in total disorder. Riders were repeatedly pulled from their saddles, beaten with fists, and kicked, missing only edged weapons.

Caught in the press of the crowd, Song Dali could barely keep his footing. Before he knew it, he took a few heavy punches to the face from an unknown direction, leaving his skin burning with pain. Enraged, Song Dali grabbed the nearest person, knocked him flat with a single punch, and cursed as he elbowed his way back to the reviewing platform to report.

Reporting was hardly the word; since Song Dali knew the cause all too well, he had already concocted his story.

Clutching his swollen, reddened cheek, Song Dali ran back up to the reviewing platform and announced in a loud voice, "Reporting to the Commander and all generals, this subordinate has investigated the matter. It was soldiers from the Three-Thousand Division and the Five-Army Division who ignored military discipline and engaged in a mass brawl. The situation spiraled out of control. This subordinate attempted to intervene and persuade them to stop, but suffered this fate as a result." With that, he pointed to the bruises on his face for everyone to see.

Upon hearing this, Li Zhi and Ma Cheng were shocked, exchanging a hostile glare. Ma Cheng grit his teeth, narrowed his eyes, and struck first. "Good for you, Li Zhi! How dare you instigate your men to ambush my Five-Army Division? Let me tell you, I'm no pushover either! Signal officer, pass down my orders: call up all my men! I've put up with your attitude for long enough!"

Li Zhi felt utterly wronged. He had no idea what was actually going on, but upon hearing that his men were fighting the Five-Army Division, his own temper flared. Thrusting his chin out, he roared, "Ma Cheng, stop throwing false accusations! If you want a fight, this old man is sixty years old and I'm not afraid of you. Bring it on if you have the guts!" Consumed by anger, Li Zhi momentarily lost his reason. Even though he sensed something suspicious about the incident, he could not stomach Ma Cheng's arrogant condescension.

Seeing the two men on the verge of exchanging blows on the platform, Wang Lanping gloated inwardly, though his face displayed extreme fury. He kicked over the wine table in front of him and thundered, "Have you both lost your minds? This is a military drill ground, not a bandit lair, and neither of you is a mountain chieftain! What are you trying to do? Are you trying to give me a show of force? Song Dali, bring the ringleaders up here!"

A hundred-odd men from the Wind Division, who had been waiting for a long time, quickly charged into the area of the disturbance. There were no ringleaders to speak of; when hundreds of men started fighting, many didn't even know why they were trading blows—they only knew that if Five-Army men were hitting Three-Thousand men, they waded in with swinging arms, and vice versa.

Using their blades to force the sides apart, Song Dali's hundred-odd men arbitrarily seized a few individuals from each faction and dragged them before Wang Lanping.

Six bruised and battered soldiers knelt before Wang Lanping, still wearing defiant expressions, cursing at each other and occasionally shoving one another, showing they had no concept of military discipline whatsoever.

Wang Lanping sat back down behind his official desk and sternly demanded of those kneeling, "Speak! Why did you start this brawl?"

Judging by his attire, one of them belonged to the Three-Thousand Division. Wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, he pointed at a Five-Army soldier beside him and said, "Commander, they started it! They dragged our men off their horses without asking any questions and beat them senseless. We only fought back because we couldn't swallow the insult."

The Five-Army soldiers immediately argued back, "That's not true, they started it! Their riders deliberately plowed into our men and knocked them down." The speaker wore the badge of a centurion at his waist.

The Three-Thousand soldier raged, "Bastard! You clearly struck first. If you've got the stomach for it, let's go another round!"

"Silence! How dare you speak so insolently in my presence? Guards, slap his mouth!" Wang Lanping had never imagined a mere common soldier could be so audacious.

Men from the Wind Division immediately stepped forward; two pinned his shoulders while others struck him across the face from both sides, eliciting yelps of pain.

Ma Cheng initially wanted to intervene when he saw his own man being beaten, but since his side was clearly in the wrong, the beating was deserved—it served his man right for lacking situational awareness, though he blamed the Three-Thousand Division for being overly arrogant.

After a thorough thrashing, the soldier became much more subdued. He didn't even dare look at Wang Lanping, letting his head droop.

Wang Lanping then asked the Three-Thousand centurion, "What is your rank in the army?"

"Centurion," the man replied, emboldened by the fact that the Commander had punished the other side.

Pressing his advantage, Wang Lanping slammed his hand on the desk, glared fiercely, and snapped, "Since you are an officer, do you not know that causing a mass disturbance in the military is a capital offense? Yet you keep talking about 'our men' and 'their men.' You are all soldiers of the Great Ming, you are brothers-in-arms! To resort to vicious fighting over a trivial matter—where is military discipline? Tell me, what is the prescribed punishment for inciting a riot?"

The centurion pursed his lips and muttered, "One hundred strokes of the heavy staff and three days of confinement. But they started it first, I—"

"Enough! You still dare talk back to me?" Wang Lanping turned his fierce glare upon Li Zhi and barked, "General Li, is this how you usually discipline your subordinates?"

Li Zhi finally saw through it all. *He engineered this entirely against me. The riot between the two divisions is ten-to-one connected to him. He wants to provoke my anger, but I must endure.*

Darkening his face, Li Zhi scolded the centurion, "Who gave you the gall to show disrespect before the Commander? Apologize at once!" Li Zhi's words still carried weight.

The centurion lowered his head slightly and offered a perfunctory, "Commander, I was wrong." However, his expression told Wang Lanping he felt no remorse at all.

Cupping his hands, Li Zhi smiled at Wang Lanping and said, "Commander, please don't lower yourself to his level. I will certainly discipline my men strictly upon our return."

Wang Lanping chuckled coldly. "Let me help you discipline this soldier who defies military discipline and holds his commander in contempt. Song Dali, bind him!"

"Understood!"

With a wave of Song Dali's hand, several Wind Division soldiers stepped forward and trussed the centurion tightly.

The assembled generals were baffled and exchanged glances, but since it had nothing to do with them, they decided to watch and wait. Ma Cheng wore a look of schadenfreude, thinking to himself, *Serves you right!*

Anxious, Li Zhi asked, "Commander, what is the meaning of this?"

"Execute him!" Wang Lanping ignored him.

The centurion was terrified and blurted out, "Execute? General Li, save me!"

"Hold!" Li Zhi panicked and tried to intervene. Executing a centurion was a minor matter, but if Wang Lanping dared execute a centurion today, he would dare execute a captain tomorrow, and likely this old man himself the day after. "Commander, he was merely acting rashly. I beg you to spare him for the sake of this old man's meager reputation."

The other generals were likewise startled, but each adopted a "sweep the snow from one's own doorstep" attitude. *It's just a lowly centurion; let him be killed, he's not one of my men.*

Ignoring him entirely, Wang Lanping shouted to Song Dali, "Song Dali, what are you waiting for?"

Song Dali brought his blade down in a swift arc, and a severed head rolled to a stop at Li Zhi's feet.

Every general present was struck dumb with horror. *He's actually killing him!* Ma Cheng's eyes nearly popped out of his head. *Good grief, he just executed him on the spot! Ruthless enough.*

Li Zhi's face turned livid with rage; his last shred of reason vanished completely. Pointing a furious finger at Wang Lanping, he roared, "Wang Lanping! This old man has served through three dynasties; if I have no major achievements, I have at least labored hard! Today I humbled myself to plead with you, yet you treat me with utter contempt. Do you really think you can cover the sky with one hand here, using a feather as an arrow for an imperial decree? I won't play this game anymore. Let me tell you, we'll see who has the last laugh!" With that, he flicked his sleeve and turned to leave.

The surrounding generals were dumbfounded. *Has Li Zhi lost his mind? Even if you don't respect the Commander, you can't just speak with such unbridled defiance!* Ma Cheng smiled inwardly. *You've got guts!*

Song Dali stepped forward, blocking Li Zhi's path.

Wang Lanping chuckled softly and said slowly, "Does General Li think he can simply swagger off after putting on such a grand display?"

Without turning back, Li Zhi let out a cold snort. "You wouldn't dare kill this old man! Hmph! I wager you haven't the nerve."