Chapter 17: The Two Great Talents Rise

  Although Ye Xuan led the crowd to win a battle, as far as he knew, there were still not many people who truly admired him. Although the soldiers all asked themselves, Ye Xuan was indeed a person worth following, because the treatment of the Ye family army was very good, even the regular army of the imperial court might not be able to compare. Every day, they ate three meals and were full, and every now and then, they could get some meat to eat. This made everyone very satisfied, and after a while, everyone gradually began to trust the person in front of them...

  However, there were still some people in the army who did not admire Ye Xuan so much.

  One day when Ye Xuan came to inspect, a squadron leader walked in front of Ye Xuan with a seemingly careless attitude, and said: "Report to the general, I am Xiao Su, the instructor of the new soldier company. I have something unclear, I don't know if the general can help me resolve my doubts?"

  Chen Fei took one look at Xiao Su and his anger flared up, he loudly scolded: "You damned bastard, what kind of thing are you? How dare you speak to me like that!?" As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves, ready to teach this insolent little brat a lesson.

  Only Ye Xuan's face remained unchanged, his left hand slightly raised to stop Chen Fei who was about to go crazy. He then coldly stared at the young man in front of him. Ye Xuan knew that this kid was one of the few who didn't submit to him. He knew that this bastard wanted to give himself a boost by intimidating others. If he didn't subdue these rabbits now, it would be difficult to lead them later.

  Ye Xuan calmly and coldly asked: "You should have memorized our Ye family army's rules in the past few days, right? So I'll ask you, according to the rules, during roll call, speaking out of turn and neglecting one's duties is punishable by what crime?"

  Xiao Su's expression changed slightly, and he suddenly felt a chill in his heart. He then remembered that Ye Xuan and the others had been strictly supervising and managing them day and night, and realized that he would have to suffer greatly for his arrogance. He couldn't help but secretly regret his actions, thinking to himself that just because he was good at math didn't mean he could act recklessly. However, he still spoke loudly and clearly: "According to the rules, anyone who speaks out of turn or leaves their post during training will be punished according to the severity of the offense, with penalties ranging from ten lashes to execution! Please forgive me, General!"

  Ye Xuan coldly sized up Xiao Su, saying: "The rules are the military law of my Ye family army. Those who violate them will be punished without mercy. As a military officer, you broke the law and should be severely punished, but since it's your first offense, I'll just give you five lashes!"

  Su Zhong, who was directing the training on the side, waved his hand and summoned two soldiers to execute military law. They came over and pressed Li Lingfeng to the ground, beating him with five loud slaps.

  Xiao Su was kneeling on the ground, enduring the punishment, and his heart became even more resentful. Although he didn't dare to make a move, he also began to harbor resentment towards Ye Xuan.

  When the five sticks were finished, Xiao Su should have gotten up to thank him, and Xiao Su was also prepared to do so. However, Ye Xuan shook his head and stopped him, saying: "I know you, don't say thanks to me now, you should be hating me to death. I know you're not convinced of my leadership as the new commander, fine, I'll give you a chance. If I can't make you believe in me, I'll step down from this position! Speak up quickly, otherwise these five sticks will have been wasted."

  Xiao Su was secretly scolding Ye Xuan in his heart, but after hearing Ye Xuan's words, he felt embarrassed instead. However, thinking that since the military stick had also been endured, if he didn't take this opportunity to vent his anger on the person in front of him, wouldn't he be at a disadvantage? So, with a determined mind, he cupped his hands and said to Ye Xuan: "Since General let me speak, I'll just have to offend you! If there's anything improper, please forgive me!"

  Ye Xuan nodded and signaled him to speak.

  Xiao Su also took a deep breath, then said: "General, I'll ask you a question. If you can answer it, I Xiao Su will obey you from now on. You say one, and I Xiao Su won't say two."

  "The problem is this, one time I had a new recruit battalion stand in formation, and I wasn't clear how many people were under me. So I had them line up three to a row, but the last row only had two people. Then I had them line up five to a row, but the last row still only had three people. Later, I had them line up seven to a row, and again the last row only had two people." Xiao Su looked at Ye Xu and asked "May I ask General, how many soldiers are in this battalion?"

  "With a smile, he said: 'With General's great talent, it must be easy to answer, without even blowing dust off.'"

  "Twenty-three people, dare I ask if what I said is right or wrong, Xiao Brother?" Ye Xuan blurted out without thinking.

  Xiao Su was shocked and stuttered: "General... you... how... didn't even need to think about it, this... I spent several nights thinking before coming up with it... this... this is not scientific."

  Ye Xuan sneered in his heart: This bird question had troubled me for six years when I was in elementary school, and you guys have already figured it out in a few nights, which is not bad! (Actually, it was the question that had troubled me for six years in elementary school, sigh!)

  But then he immediately put on a profound and mysterious look and said, "Actually it's very simple. I have a mnemonic device, let me see how you like it:"

  Three men traveling together, seven out of ten will fall out.

  Five trees with plum blossoms open one branch

  Seven sons reunite on the 15th of the first month

  Except for 105, everything is known.

  "What do you think? Brother Xiao, please comment on my oral formula." Ye Xuan asked with a sly smile, looking at Xiao Su.

  Everyone looked at Ye Xuan with admiration, finding that their general was simply omnipotent, able to lead troops, calculate numbers, and compose poetry, a true all-around talent.

  He treats his soldiers with such kindness and is a versatile talent. With a general like him, how can we not achieve great things? The crowd thought to themselves in admiration.

  Looking at the dispirited Xiao Su, Ye Xuan said: "My Ye family army has always been open to opinions from our soldiers and generals. If you have any dissatisfaction, just speak up, regardless of right or wrong, without fear of responsibility! Today's punishment is not because you had something to say, but because you chose the wrong time, disrupting the training order. From now on, as long as it's not during training or in the midst of battle, if you have ideas or objections, just come find me and I'll be happy to listen."

  After everyone had their say, only a little dissatisfaction and discontent remained. Ye Xuan suddenly felt that the feeling of being the leader of everyone had long since disappeared into thin air.

  ……

  Looking at Xiao Su's appearance, Ye Xuan felt a bit unbearable and said, "Xiao Su, I know you have great talent in math. Alright, I won't say anything else for now. You can go back and train first. Come to my place tonight and we'll have a good talk."

  After finishing speaking, Ye Xuan turned around and left, leaving behind a grateful Xiao Suo and an admiring crowd...

  At this time, Ye Xuan's face had already lost its serious expression from earlier and was replaced with a sly and pleased look. In his heart, he was secretly excited: "Heh heh, I've struck gold!"

  ……