Li Kuan and Shi Rui galloped towards Yingzhou and arrived at their destination within ten days.
Yingzhou Governor Xue Wanshu personally hosted a banquet in honor of Li Kuan, and Li Kuan and Shi Rui went to the site for investigation the next day after taking a short rest.
After everyone arrived at the official road, Li Kuan pretended to carefully investigate the incident and asked the officials who escorted the grain and grass. Those people didn't hurt their lives, they just knocked them out and gave them a detailed account of what happened.
Shi Rui recorded them one by one, and Li Kuan compared what they had said before, and then returned to the hotel to rest. Xue Wanshu was busy with official duties and could not accompany him around the clock, and he was also responsible for the support affairs of the Liaodong Campaign, so he was naturally sloppy.
"Is there any news over there?"
Shi Rui shook his head and said: "Since the development of the matter, Xue Wanshu has not had any personal contact with anyone, but Xue Wanche has contacted him from time to time."
"Interesting!" Li Kuan smiled lightly, his eyes staying on the evidence of the investigation, he had no intention to continue the investigation at all.
Because this incident was originally a trap set by his plan, and all the evidence was in his hands, the reason why he went to investigate and interrogate every day was nothing more than a formality. In addition, if this matter was really done by other people, it would be impossible to find out based on their time calculations.
So Li Kuan and Shi Rui stayed in Yingzhou for five days, and on the sixth day they went to the Dudu Mansion. It happened that Xue Wanshu was in the mansion and heard that Li Kuan and Shi Rui had come and hurriedly left the mansion to meet the distinguished guests. Li Kuan and Shi Rui followed Xue Wanshu to the main hall, and the servants took the initiative to serve fruits and make good tea.
"Didn't His Royal Highness find the results?" Xue Wanshu looked at Li Kuan anxiously. After half a month had passed, there was still no news. Although the follow-up food and grass have been delivered to alleviate the food and grass problem of the soldiers in front of him, this matter is still blocked in his heart, making him sleepless.
Li Kuan smiled without saying a word, took a sip of his tea, and then said: "Dudu Xue is not anxious, the bridge is naturally straight to the bow of the ship!"
"His Royal Highness is joking!" Xue Wanshu was anxious, and said quickly: "This matter is related to the lives of soldiers in front of you, so why not worry!"
"Doctor Xue has a heart!" Li Kuan praised Xue Wanshu for his heart of the soldiers in front of him. Suddenly his face was gloomy and his eyes were cold. set?"
Xue Wanshu was surprised: "What does His Royal Highness Chu mean by this? Shumo didn't understand it!"
"In the 17th year of Zhenguan, our army under the leadership of Peking University Marshal Li Daozong defeated Xue Yantuo, and achieved great victories one after another, which forced the enemy to retreat steadily. However, I led an army to cut off the enemy’s food and grass after going around, but went by mistake. Enemy trapped, our army was annihilated in the Battle of the Xiongnu River, and only two or three survived."
Xue Wanshu's complexion changed drastically, with trembling lips, his eyes dodged and did not dare to look directly at Li Kuan. Li Kuan's eyes were cold, and he said, "Brother Ling is one of the generals in the army, and the generals ordered him to support me, but he was vain. Jiang Ling, not only did not want to reinforce us, but also merged with the main force in order to make military merits, and regarded our lives as if we were left behind."
"Did Governor Xue forget this? Because the person supporting General Xue is you, the Governor of Yingzhou, Xue Wanshu, his eldest brother. As far as I know, this incident has made my brother aware that I am still in a trap. Turning a deaf ear to it, it is clear that I will wait to die."
Xue Wanshu looked up to the sky and sighed, silent, and did not defend himself.
"You and Ling brother have not contacted privately during this period, but you have already known about the robbing of the official food, but you still ignore it. What is the difference between your behavior and Ling brother?" Li Kuan sneered, "You deserve to be a dear. Brother, it's really not that a family doesn't enter a family."
Xue Wanshu's complexion turned red, but he was still speechless, because Li Kuan was telling the truth.
"The reason why you are so nervous is because the official food was indeed lost, and you even disappeared. This panicked. If your Majesty blames it, you, the captain of Yingzhou, can't afford it." Li Kuan continued, every sentence Words are like inserting a knife into Xue Wanshu's heart.
"Because you set up a bureau against me from the beginning, as long as Li Taineng returns to Beijing early, even if he has completed the task, then I will find an excuse to say that I am unfavorable, and you, the Governor of Yingzhou, take this opportunity to rise. It’s a good strategy. It’s a pity that you have a thousand calculations, but you still missed one thing, and this one hundred secrets and one sparse will be a requiem for you."
Xue Wanshu changed his expression upon hearing the words and exclaimed: "Is this a game you set deliberately?"
"No, I'm just scheming!" Li Kuan smiled indifferently. "By the way, you can add to the flames. Do you really think that if you make your brother do something to cheat me, will I let him go? Every step since he left is in me. In my control, I didn’t expect to bring you, the captain of Yingzhou, out. It’s really an unexpected harvest by pulling out the radish out of the mud."
"You... how did you do it?" Xue Wanshu was dumbfounded, looking at Li Kuan in disbelief.
"Come out!" Xue Wanshu rolled his head and looked over. He saw Lieutenant Zhang in a uniform walked up to him and exclaimed, "It's you, Zhang Jian!"
Zhang Jian smiled slightly and said, "It's me, Zhang Jian!"
"You..." Xue Wanshu pointed at Zhang Jian decadently. The lieutenant he trusted the most would be Li Kuan's, which made him feel like a knife.
Li Kuan smiled and said, "Is it weird why Vice Zhang will take orders from me? It's actually very simple, because he was originally from the Jinyang Army. Although the Jinyang Army is not as good as before, the dead camel Ma Da, and I am the highest officer of the Jinyang Army, and I have received their approval. Therefore, I can mobilize any person in the Jinyang Army, including Deputy Commander Zhang beside you. In addition, I am telling you one thing, Deputy Commander Zhang and I'm a junior, and I'm still a minister of relatives."
"So that's it!"
Xue Wanshu smiled miserably. His smile was somewhat bitter and clear. He did not expect that Li Kuan was actually the highest officer of the Jinyang Army. As Li Kuan said, the Jinyang Army is definitely the most loyal army of the Tang Dynasty, and more importantly. The Jinyang Army’s allegiance was the Gaozu Emperor, and even the current emperor had to respect their hard work for the Li family.
"Duke Xue, you are a commander and you should have a good future. It is a pity that you are not divided between public and private, and you are in the same line with your brother Xue Wanche. To blame, you can only blame you for your favoritism and forget your own duties. As for you, the commander of Yingzhou and the captain of Dongyi. Leave all the duties to Vice Admiral Zhang!"
Xue Wanshu is indeed a talent, but he is cheating for personal gains, otherwise he will end up like this. Li Kuan did not kill him on the spot, but took Xue Wanshu back to the capital for cross-examination. As for Xue Wanche, Li Kuan would of course not let him off easily, as well as Wei Wang Litai.
Xue Wanshu knew that he could not escape the blame, so he had to resign. He was a little bit regretful and listened to his brother Xue Wanche's words and became an enemy of Li Kuan. Although he knew that Xue Wanche had done something wrong during the Battle of the Xiongnu River, he didn't cover up his crime for accusations, and this matter was discussed by Li Tai and Xue Wanche, Xue Wanshu just acted on orders. (End of this chapter)