The next morning, Qi You still took Qi Zhe to the court very early, and the princess always felt that Qi You looked like he was in a good mood after last night, could it be that Qi Zhe's influence was so great.

Today is the beginning of a normal court, before it was not so busy in the year, today the courtiers are all up very early for fear that something will happen on the first day, this is not early to the Hou outside the palace.

Emperor Qi Wen was earlier, to be precise, he didn't sleep much at all, and last night he listened to a long story and made a very complicated decision. He put on his court clothes, entered the main hall under the service of Xue Gonggong, looked at the dragon chair, and sighed in his heart: Only if you sit in person will you understand that the former goal may also be a happy grave.

The palace door was opened, and the courtiers entered the door one after another, and when they saw that the emperor was already sitting on the dragon chair, everyone couldn't wait for Xue Gonggong to shout to the court, so they hurriedly paid homage and said: "See the emperor, long live my emperor, long live, long live." ”

Emperor Qi Wen just looked at the courtiers, and after a while, when everyone was whispering, he shouted: "Flat." ”

The courtiers just got up, but everyone was a little strange, what happened to the emperor today? After the courtiers got up, Emperor Qi Wen said: "This year is over, presumably Zhong Aiqing has a good rest." ”

Emperor Qi Wen slowly spoke, and such a calm voice revealed a cold energy, and the courtiers did not dare to reply. I can only wait for Emperor Qi Wen to continue.

Emperor Qi Wen smiled: "What, are you not having a good time, I think there are only a few people, right?" ”

The courtiers were a little confused and looked at the two prime ministers, as if they were asking for ideas, this time Prime Minister Liu and Prime Minister Le also looked a little puzzled, but they all bowed their heads respectfully.

Emperor Qi Wen continued: "Okay, since the Aiqing don't want to talk about it, I have a few things I want to tell you. ”

"Grandpa Xue." Emperor Qi Wen commanded to Gonggong Xue beside him.

"Yes." Xue Gonggong tacitly took out a stack of rice paper and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, it's all here." ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, I didn't sleep all night last night, you seem to be much more energetic than me, come to me to tell you a few good news." Emperor Qi Wen said as he took the rice paper.

The ministers below were even quieter when they heard this, for fear of missing some important news and making a mistake. Some people have begun to sweat, and anyone can hear that the emperor's temper is suppressed, and no one dares to go on a business trip.

"This is the first thing, I think all of you Aiqing almost know, a few years ago, the civil strife in the northwest military camp, King Yong went to Shun to quell the matter, which made the whole country have such a stable year." Emperor Qi Wen didn't look at the rice paper in his hand and said: "King Yong has indeed made a great achievement, how do you think I should reward it." ”

Hearing this, everyone relaxed a little, and originally wanted to reward King Yong for his westward trip to quell the chaos, why did he make the atmosphere so tense.

The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Household are the best at this, and the ministers of the Ministry of Rites on the side came out and said: "The emperor is wise, King Yong's quelling of civil strife this time is indeed a great achievement, and the things that should be rewarded according to the regulations are nothing more than gold, silver and gems, silk and satin, etc., and the emperor can make adjustments according to the situation." ”

"Yes, what do you want?" Emperor Qi Wen threw the question to Qi You.

Qi You immediately knelt on the ground and said: "It is the obligation of Weichen as a courtier to relieve the emperor's worries, and the minister does not dare to exceed it." ”

Qi Zhe, the fifth prince on the side, looked at his second brother Qi You and said this, and muttered in his heart: Second brother, are you stupid, you should be rewarded for your meritorious service, you don't want to give it to your younger brother.

If Qi You knew what Qi Zhe was thinking now, he would definitely beat him up, even if he was so prodigal and still so wealthy, it would be really hopeless.

Prime Minister Le Cheng on the side came out and said: "Your Majesty, we have always had clear rewards and punishments, although King Yong is humble, he should still be rewarded." ”

Several ministers on the side also chimed in: "Yes, yes, Lord Yong really deserves to be rewarded." ”

When Emperor Qi Wen heard what the ministers said, he said: "Okay, Xue Gonggong wrote it down, King Yong has a meritorious service in quelling the chaos, with a bounty of fifty boxes of gold, silver and precious stones, two hundred silk and silk horses, and two mansions, so that he can be allowed to march forward." ”

A group of ministers were in an uproar, this royal horse is a grace of heaven, don't say it, after all, the prince of Yong has indeed left the great achievement, but this royal horse is facing his identity as a prince, doesn't it establish his identity as an invisible prince?

Qi You accepted and thanked him very calmly, these were what he exchanged for his own life and that of his brothers, and he deserved it, anyway, these gold, silver and jewelry were all going to be divided.

After rewarding Qi You, Emperor Qi Wen picked up the rice paper in his hand and said: "Prime Minister Le is right, there must be clear rewards and punishments, there must be rewards and punishments in the northwest, last night I saw a special witness, and listened to a special story, it was very exciting, I thought that such a good story could not be listened to alone, but all the Aiqing people had to listen to it, so I invited the storyteller, Xue Gonggong, tell him to come up." ”

Gonggong Xue bowed his head and led the order to bring a young man, who looked like his body was not very good, his face was a little white, especially when he was wearing a white dress, he looked even thinner, the young man went to the palace to ask Emperor Qi Wen for peace, and then waited quietly on the side without squinting.

Emperor Qi Wen spoke: "Feng Yuanbian, you tell the story I told me last night to the ministers again. ”

It turned out that this person was Feng Yuanbian, who was recuperating from his injuries in General Zhao's courtyard, how he entered the palace for the time being, this time his more important thing was to tell a story, telling a story that was related to everyone in the court.

Feng Yuanbian led the order and spoke slowly, just like he told the emperor last night, he told the infighting in the northwest military camp, the intervention of some Beijing officials, the intervention of some local officials, some local officials acted for the tiger, there were people in the army who secretly communicated with the Hu people, his assassination and disappearance, the poisoning and coma of his father General Feng, and so on, Qi Zhe is still about to break out.

When Feng Yuan's voice stopped, the hall was surprisingly quiet, and half a minute later, Prime Minister Liu Cheng took the lead in kneeling down and pleading guilty: "The minister is incompetent and didn't even notice such a dirty thing, it is a dereliction of duty for the minister." ”

The other ministers also reacted and knelt down and said, "It's the minister's dereliction of duty." Only Qi You and his brothers were still standing in place and did not say a word.

At this time, Feng Yuan glanced at Qi You and said to Emperor Qi Wen: "The emperor also asks you to eliminate harm for the army and the people." Then he knelt on the ground.

Emperor Qi Wen squinted his eyes and said: "What a dereliction of duty, I think it is a dereliction of duty, I didn't even find that you have so many tentacles to reach into the army, why do you want to rebel?"

The ministers kneeling on the ground were even more frightened and shouted again and again: "The ministers don't dare, the ministers deserve death." ”

"Hehehe, this is quite a concerted effort." Emperor Qi Wen smiled angrily: "Okay, you all want to kneel, okay, just kneel and listen." ”

The ministers were all kneeling and bowing their heads, and no one had the courage to raise their heads to look at the emperor, Emperor Qi Wen threw the rice paper in his hand to His Highness and said, "Take a good look at what is written on it, my Aiqing!"

The ministers didn't dare to understand, so they could only pick up one and look at it a few times in front of them, and then lay on the ground in horror.

Emperor Qi Wen smiled coldly and said, "Why are you scared when you see this, then I have to be afraid of death." Gonggong Xue, it's better for you to read it, my ministers don't want to. ”

Gonggong Xue knew that the emperor was already angry at this time, and he also felt sorry for the emperor and said, "Yes." ”

Xue Gonggong took out another holy decree and slowly unfolded it: "Fengtian carries the emperor, the edict is ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・" Xue Gonggong slowly read out the voice in a low voice, such a voice and content successfully made several ministers faint, even the two prime ministers were pale, half an hour, this holy decree can be pronounced for half an hour, and the lowly ministers are about to kneel.

What kind of holy decree can be pronounced for so long, it turns out that Emperor Qi Wen made a decision that frightened the courtiers after learning the truth about the military affairs in the northwest, this is probably the largest number of punishments since the founding of the country, the most severe one, a total of twenty-one people were convicted before and after, not including the generals who were directly executed by Qi You in the northwest military camp, six people were directly sentenced to death row, ten people were cut off on the spot and demoted to concubines, five people were demoted by different Cheng dù, these twenty-one people were all taken down by the guards to fulfill the will, and the hall seemed to be a lot empty, During the whole process, the ministers who knelt on the ground did not dare to look up, for fear that the next one would be themselves.

After such a toss, Emperor Qi Wen seemed a little lonely, looking at these respectful people hiding such a traitorous thing behind their backs, it really sent chills down the spine, no wonder the emperor was alone, there was no one in the Manchu Dynasty who could be trusted and relied on. Without waiting for the courtiers to speak, Emperor Qi Wen got up and said, "Okay, after the play is over, I should go back to rest, let's all retreat." Without waiting for the courtiers to kneel, Emperor Wen of Anqi took Gonggong Xue's arm and left the hall.

It took a long time for the emperor to leave and the ministers came to their senses, and this was the end, but it wasn't just that so quickly dealt with so many people, and everyone was apprehensive. Seeing that Prime Minister Liu Cheng was trying to support his body to get up, I don't know if he had lost his instinct in his legs after kneeling for too long, or if the emperor's handling just now made him afraid, he didn't stand up even after holding on a few times, or a few adults around him helped him before he barely stood up.

If you want to say that Prime Minister Liu Cheng is afraid, four of the twenty-one people who were dealt with are his protégés, all of whom are extremely close to him, and the emperor dealt with them but didn't say anything to Prime Minister Liu Cheng, which is too abnormal, the more this is the case, the more afraid he is.

This time, no one dared to talk to each other anymore, they all rubbed their sore legs and carefully went out of the palace and returned to their homes, and some things could only be said in a few days.

Qi You didn't say anything, but Qi Heng said, "Second brother, did you already know." ”

Qi You glanced at Qi Heng and said, "Big brother, today is the first time I've heard of it, just like you." ”

Qi Heng didn't ask any more questions, but smiled: "It's beautiful no matter what." ”

Qi You smiled silently.

Qi Heng flicked his sleeves and left quickly, but Qi Zhe said with a puzzled face: "Second brother, why does the eldest brother look at you unpleasantly every time." ”

Qi You glanced at him and said, "Who do you think the eldest brother has looked at?"

Qi Zhe also nodded and said, "Not really." ”

"Alright, it's time for us to go back." Qi You said as he looked at the white figure that disappeared outside the hall.