Xie Ming

Chapter 50 Seventeen Prohibitions and Fifty-four Executions
On the evening of the 24th, we set up a temporary camp in the mountains, heated up a pot and started eating wild boar meat!

There were five wild boars in a litter. Li Huchen, Gu Changting and their team chased them all the way and were almost exhausted to death. They caught three, two adults and one child.

The whole army set up two big pots and cooked a meal of pork, the aroma spread for miles!
All the soldiers, totaling about 500 people, were divided equally and everyone had something to eat. They all had smiles on their faces, which was very happy!

While the heat is still on, Xiao Jingchuan is going to do something weird again. With a serious face, he starts talking to everyone about the strict military discipline while the pot is still hot!
He danced and gesticulated in front of the generals and soldiers, and gave an impassioned speech.

Perhaps it was because the pork in the pot added flavor, or perhaps it was because Xiao Jingchuan's ability to deceive people had improved by leaps and bounds again. In any case, the ban and execution order, which was the most difficult for this army to gain support from, was surprisingly smoothly issued and approved for execution in this bustling atmosphere!
Finally, all the soldiers gathered around a huge bonfire made of dry firewood. Led by Gu Changting, the entire army recited together the Seventeen Prohibitions and Fifty-Four Executions set by Xiao Jingchuan and neatly transcribed by Qiu Zhizhong!

The seventeen prohibitions are: disobedient troops, slow troops, lax troops, scheming troops, careless troops, deceitful troops, licentious troops, slanderous troops, treacherous troops, stealing troops, spying troops, betraying troops, cruel troops, chaotic troops, deceitful troops, corrupt troops, and misleading troops;
The fifty-four cuts are:

1. Do not advance when you hear the drum, do not stop when you hear the gong, do not raise the flag when it is raised, and do not lower the flag when it is pressed. This is called rebellion against the army, and anyone who violates this will be beheaded.

2. Failure to respond when called, not showing up when called, failing to arrive on time, and violating divisional rules is considered slow marching, and offenders will be beheaded.

3. If there is a fight at night and one fails to report it, or if one is slow in making plans and makes unclear calls, this is called slacking off in the army, and the offender will be beheaded.

4. To make many complaints, to anger one's commander, to refuse to obey orders, and to become difficult to control is called raising an army, and offenders shall be beheaded.

5. Laughing loudly, disregarding prohibitions and rushing into the military gate is considered disrespecting the army, and the offender will be beheaded.

6. The weapons used are: bows and crossbows with broken strings, arrows without feathers and arrowheads, swords and halberds with sharp edges, and flags withered and worn out. This is called deceiving the army, and anyone who violates this will be beheaded.

7. Spreading rumors and lies, fabricating stories about ghosts and gods, pretending to have dreams, spreading heresies, and misleading soldiers is called lewd military conduct, and offenders will be beheaded.

8. Having a sharp tongue and making random remarks about right and wrong, stirring up discord among soldiers, this is called slandering the army, and offenders will be beheaded.

9. Wherever they go, they oppress the people there, such as forcing women to have sex. This is called a traitorous army, and the offender will be beheaded.

10. Stealing other people’s property for one’s own benefit, taking other people’s heads for one’s own achievement, this is called robbery of the army, and the offender shall be beheaded.

11: When the military and civilians gather to discuss matters, and someone secretly enters the tent to spy on military secrets, this is called spying, and the offender will be beheaded.

12. If someone hears a plan or an order but leaks it to the outside and lets the enemy know it, this is called deserting the army and the offender will be beheaded.

Thirteen: When being called upon, he is tongue-tied and does not respond, with his brows lowered and his face bowed, with an embarrassed look on his face. This is called a cruel army, and anyone who violates this rule will be beheaded.

14. If one goes beyond the ranks of the troops, supports them from the front and the back, makes loud noises, and disobeys orders, this is called rebellion, and the offender shall be beheaded.

Fifteen: Pretending to be sick in order to avoid war, or pretending to be dead in order to escape, this is called deceiving the army, and the offender will be beheaded.

Sixteen: Those who are in charge of money and food, when distributing rewards, favor their relatives and friends, causing the soldiers to harbor resentment, this is called damaging the army, and those who violate this will be beheaded.

Seventeen: Observing the enemy without carefulness, investigating the enemy without thoroughness, not reporting the arrival of the enemy, saying less when there are more, and more when there are fewer, this is called misleading the army, and the offender shall be beheaded.

Seeing the soldiers reciting seriously and taking it seriously, Xiao Jingchuan felt very pleased.

It is so rare to truly breathe a sigh of relief and feel happy and relaxed from the heart.

After a while, while the soldiers were still studying the prohibitions by the campfire, Xiao Lang quietly called Qiu Zhizhong to go to the tent he had set up nearby, where it was relatively quiet and no one would disturb them.

"Old Xiao, it seems that your hard work these past two days has not been in vain, and your suffering has not been in vain either."

"Look, the whole army's look has changed instantly! And it's only been two days!"

"What if you don't care about what Changting said about you being possessed by a charlatan?"

"I didn't take it seriously before, but now I think it's very likely that you were struck by lightning!" Qiu Zhizhong was called to the front of the tent by Xiao Jingchuan. Before he even sat down, he started to tease.

"Hey! Feiyu (Qiu Zhizhong) what do you mean?!"

"You are the one who was struck by lightning!" Xiao Lang counterattacked.

"Hey, look at you, you can't even tell the difference between good and bad words!"

"I said you were struck by lightning, could it be ordinary lightning?"

"There's thunder rumbling in the sky! This is called transcending tribulation, do you understand?!" Qiu Zhizhong defended himself cleverly.

"Get out! Get out! You just know how to talk nonsense!" Xiao Jingchuan was impatient.

"Alas, you don't know, you are training your troops like a magic trick, and I, Minister Ni Yuanlu, has approached me several times intentionally or unintentionally!"

"I just want to know where you learned this method of getting struck by lightning, and whether there is any method or something like that!"

"Old Master, you always think about the mysterious things. You think some living Guiguzi took you as his disciple!"

Hearing Qiu Zhizhong say this, Xiao Jingchuan burst out laughing!
I was really speechless and could only stretch out my arms, raise my thumbs up, and silently give a thumbs up to the old minister's thought!
"Hey, alright, alright, I know Minister Ni well, you will definitely find a way to deal with it!"

"I called you over here to discuss something serious!"

Xiao Jingchuan suddenly looked serious.

Seeing this, Qiu Zhizhong also became serious and put away his smile.

"Well, go ahead." Qiu Zhizhong said.

"It's like this. During the first two days after we entered Sanpo, we could see some scouts sent by the bandits from far behind us."

"But judging from his behavior, he didn't seem to have any intention of getting closer to investigate in detail, so we ignored him."

"These days, I asked Wang Chuanwu to keep an eye on everything. He found that there seemed to be no scouts left. It seems that I have become an idle person with no one watching me!"

"Fei Yu (Qiu Zhizhong), have you found anything?" Xiao Jingchuan asked.

"Oh, about that. Since the day we arrived at Yuhu Peak, we have indeed not been able to find any trace of the scouts!"

"I guess Li Zicheng really looks down on the living prince in our hands!" Qiu Zhizhong replied.

"Well, if that's the case, it's a bit of a benefit to us. At least the pressure will be less for now."

"I guess that Li Zicheng might not even know about the fact that you and I broke out of Xizhimen!"

"If we had failed and been captured instead, Li Zicheng would have known about this. But now that we have successfully broken through the siege, Liu Zongmin, who was leading the troops besieging the city at Xizhimen, may not report this embarrassing incident to his superiors!"

"Besides, even if he knew, he might not really take us seriously!"

"Now, Beijing is his. He is busy enjoying himself and has no time to care about us!"

After Xiao Jingchuan finished speaking, Qiu Zhizhong nodded, feeling that it made sense.

(End of this chapter)