Under the spotlight of everyone, Hou Junji's expression did not change at all.
He had rehearsed the current situation countless times in his mind.
"His Majesty."
Hou Junji took the initiative to stand out and knelt on the ground.
He said in a deep voice:
"Before I went to war, I told Your Majesty that I would return my body wrapped in horse leather to repay God's kindness."
"But in the end, the sinner returned to Chang'an with his broken body and broke his promise."
"The guilty minister had no face to face His Majesty. At the end of the war, he wanted to draw his sword and commit suicide. However, his colleagues tried to dissuade him, saying that the fate of the guilty minister should be decided by His Majesty and that the guilty minister had no right to deal with it."
"The guilty minister also wanted to see His Majesty one last time, so he returned shamelessly. Now that he has seen Tianyan, he has no regrets in his heart."
"Your Majesty, please convict and punish the guilty ministers. Please be kind and submissive to the law."
boom!
After the words fell, Hou Junji's forehead hit the floor tiles, and there was a crisp sound.
There was silence in Liangyi Hall.
Li Shimin looked at Hou Junji's posture with a somewhat complicated expression.
Without Xu Fenglei's link, he would be relatively tolerant of heroes and could take advantage of their crimes and make meritorious deeds.
In a situation like Hou Junji's, the crime can already be expunged.
But he had to take Xu Fenglei into consideration.
well……
It would be great if this old boy died in Tuyuhun. I could give him the title of wife and endless mourning and glory.
But he just came back.
Xu Fenglei got it right again.
"I……"
Li Shimin looked hesitant and could not speak, so he looked at Changsun Wuji and said,
"What do the auxiliary engines think?"
Seek help from off-site and take a look at the attitude of the officials.
Changsun Wuji was a little confused. He thought to himself, what does your majesty mean?
If you have any inclinations, just give me a hint so that I can help you take the lead.
This doesn't mean anything, just asking me to express my opinion?
Dig a hole for us?
Changsun Wuji had wronged Li Shimin. In fact, it was Li Er who was a troubled man and hadn't fully thought about it yet.
"Return to Your Majesty."
Changsun Wuji cupped his hands and said,
"Since ancient times, there has been a saying that meritorious deeds should be paid for crimes, but there is also a saying that merits and demerits cannot be offset."
"If it is possible to make meritorious deeds, then it seems that Hou Jun's contribution to Tuyuhun can offset his sins, avoid death penalty, and restore his position."
"But if merits and demerits cannot be balanced, then his death penalty will still have to be discussed, but his merits can also be discussed, and his title and salary can be obtained by his family members and heirs."
"Both of them have their reasons, and it is up to His Majesty to decide how to deal with it in the end."
Li Shimin: "..."
Listening to your words is like listening to your words.
It’s the same as saying nothing! This ball is played, I am convinced.
Li Er rolled his eyes, but he also had a tendency in his heart.
"If the merits of the Hou Junji are passed on to his descendants, what kind of title will they get?"
He turned to look at Fang Xuanling and asked.
This question shocked all the officials!
Hou Junji's face changed slightly and turned slightly pale.
He has deduced it many times and believes that there is a high possibility that he can be punished and make meritorious service!
But in the end, the emperor actually wanted to make his merits and demerits irreparable!
I fought tooth and nail on the battlefield and almost had my head chopped off by the enemy several times!
Why are you working so hard for this?
Emperor, your heart is really cruel!
Hou Junji clenched his fists and lowered his head, with a look of hatred in his eyes.
"Return to Your Majesty."
Although Fang Xuanling was a little surprised, she responded quickly,
"Just talking about the merits of the collection of Hou Jun, his merits can lead to the title of Hou."
"Because he repeatedly dared to die first, defeated the Tuyuhun army, and it was he who finally recovered Murong Fuyun's head."
"Therefore, you can be granted the title of Marquis!"
Li Shimin nodded slightly.
The Marquis's gold content is not low.
But Hou Junji's military exploits were indeed outstanding, and it was not too much to make him a prince.
"Fenghou..."
Li Shimin looked at Hou Junji and said,
"Jun Ji, if you say that merit and demerit cannot be offset, then I will punish you and I will not treat you unfairly!"
"You can choose two heirs, one of whom can inherit the duke title that was originally removed from you, and the other one can inherit the marquis title!"
"The princes and princes of your family can also divorce with the country!"
After much deliberation, he chose this path.
Hou Junji should die and make the descendants of the Hou family rich.
This is worthy of Hou Junji and gives Xu Fenglei an explanation.
However, when Hou Junji heard this, he grabbed the ground with his head and said loudly:
"Your Majesty, the guilty minister only has sins, so what merit does he have?"
"Please, your majesty, only punish the offender for his faults and do not reward him with merit! Otherwise, even if the offender is under the Nine Springs, he will still be in fear!"
"The guilty minister has only one wish: plead guilty and obey the law. Please grant your permission!"
Li Shimin frowned slightly.
Why do you still want to die?
"Your Majesty, General Rong Mo will tell you that General Hou only has one son, and his son is extremely unfilial! He once insulted his father, and has long since severed the father-son relationship with General Hou. He has not been in contact with each other since old age, and now his whereabouts are unknown."
"If Your Majesty rewards him, it will only cause trouble in General Hou's heart!"
Colleagues on the side helped.
"Don't mention that traitor!"
Hou Junji roared, looking a little ferocious.
At this moment, he showed his true feelings, because that traitor had really caused him great pain!
"this……"
When Li Shimin heard this, his expression became tangled again.
"Your Majesty, Hou Junji has made great achievements, please let him put his merits in vain!"
"Yes, Your Majesty! Even if his merits are not enough to get rid of the death penalty, then at least the punishment can be reduced! It can be reduced to ten years or five years of imprisonment, that's fine!"
"That's right! Hou Junji charged into battle and was brave and fearless of death. Everyone saw this. Your Majesty, please commute his death sentence!"
"..."
For a time, all the generals began to plead for Hou Junji!
This is not because of the close relationship with Hou Junji, but simply out of a simple feeling!
After such great military exploits, you still have to die when you come back?
Who can accept this!
With their urinal nature, they might commit crimes in the future. If they can't get away with it, wouldn't they be doomed?
Therefore, helping Hou Junji, from a certain perspective, is also helping yourself!
The generals begged for mercy, but the leaders Li Jing and Xue Rengui remained silent and watched what happened.
They won't help and plead for mercy. It's already good if they don't step on you!
"Um……"
Li Shimin stroked his beard, and the balance in his heart began to tilt in another direction.
You have to be able to live with yourself.
The simple wishes of the soldiers must also be considered, and the meritorious ministers must not be chilled...
But at this moment, a voice came through the air!
"Your Majesty, I want to impeach you!"
The sound is sonorous, powerful and highly recognizable!
Without even turning around, he knew that the person speaking must be Wei Zheng!
I saw Wei Zheng walking out of the queue with bright eyes.
"oh?"
Li Shimin said in astonishment,
"Impeach?"
"Wei Zheng, who do you want to impeach?"
All the generals were a little unhappy and shouted:
"Shizhong Wei, it will be a while before you want to impeach me! Now we are discussing the life and death of Hou Junji!"
"Yes! Don't be so anxious! Come one by one!"
Everyone is cheering and putting pressure on the emperor.
As soon as Wei Zheng interfered, all the pressure was released!
"hehe."
Wei Zheng's expression did not change and he said coldly,
"Not later!"
"Because what I want to impeach is all the soldiers including Hou Junji and you!"
As soon as this statement came out, everyone was in an uproar!
The faces of the generals suddenly became extremely ugly!
What does this old man mean? To disgust them on purpose?
"Impeach? What are you trying to impeach? We are all heroes!"
"That's right! Wei Zheng, we respect you because you are a remonstrating minister, so we are polite to you, but you can't impeach randomly!"
"Bite randomly!"
"..."
Suddenly, the entire conflict shifted to Wei Zheng.
No one cares about Hou Junji's affairs...
"quiet!"
Li Shimin raised his hand.
The generals calmed down, but looking at their expressions, they still looked extremely angry, and they all stared at Wei Zheng fiercely!
"Wei Zheng, the soldiers are all heroes who fought bloody battles. Why do you want to impeach?"
Li Shimin said in a deep voice,
"You can't just look for trouble on purpose!"
Wei Zheng snorted coldly and looked up at the emperor.
"Your Majesty, when have you ever made a mistake and made trouble for no reason?"
He said loudly,
"I want to impeach them for a reason!"
"According to the battle report of Wuli Sima, there is no military law in Li Jing's army! Military discipline is very lax! The soldiers below are even more lawless!"
"Every time a Tuyuhun city or tribe is conquered, the first thing the soldiers do is not to clean up the battlefield and claim the throne, but to burn, kill, and loot, and keep the countless spoils for themselves!"
"If this is a matter of military law, everyone must use military sticks, at least fifty sticks!"
"But Li Jing condoned this behavior and even secretly accepted the filial piety from various generals!"
"If the coach is like this, can the generals below still be able to control them?"
"Therefore, at most 30% of the loot collected this time is only 30% of the total, and the rest has been embezzled by soldiers at all levels!"
"If we don't impeach such an appalling and heart-rending thing, I really don't know what the meaning of my existence is!"
A few words, impassioned and painful, telling the truth!
The generals were all submissive and guilty after being criticized by this.
because……
Everything Wei Zheng said is true.
It is true that they greedy the big end and handed over the small end to the country - but this is also the practice in the military!
Isn’t this how war wealth is made?
Otherwise, why are all the founding generals so rich? Do you really think their salary is very high?
"Thirty percent?"
Li Shimin's expression changed and he looked at Li Jing,
"Pharmacist, is there such a thing?"
"You're not as clear about the situation in your own army as Wei Zheng is, right?"
Li Jing's heart sank.
"Return to Your Majesty."
He went out to salute, cupped his hands and said,
"The military discipline in my army is indeed a bit lax. This is my fault!"
"Your Majesty, please punish me!"
Li Jing didn't defend himself and admitted it directly.
Some things, if they are not weighed, they cannot weigh four ounces, and if they are weighed, they cannot weigh a thousand kilograms!
Generally speaking, the emperor doesn't care much about winning a battle. Didn't he do the same thing when he was the King of Qin?
If you have to argue, it can only be done privately and at best.
But if it were put on the table and talked about in a large court meeting, the meaning would be completely different!
If we don’t punish him severely, that’s unjustifiable!
He didn't know whether this was the emperor's intention or whether Wei Zheng insisted on bringing it out.
He was only worried...that the title and estate he had just acquired would fly away again, right?
A stick of incense 'Wei Guogong' experience?
boom!
Li Shimin slapped the dragon chair with a serious look.
"How dare you be so presumptuous!"
"Do you really think that after winning the battle, I won't pursue anything?"
"Do you think that if you have merit to protect yourself and your fault is just scratching an itch, it won't hurt your muscles and bones?"
"Ah!"
A cold shout frightened the generals into beating their hearts.
"Your Majesty, this is an expedition after all, and it is difficult to boost morale. The general can only make this decision to motivate his soldiers. There is nothing he can do about it..."
"Yes, Your Majesty, it's all for morale! If you don't provide incentives when fighting outside, the soldiers will not be able to exert their combat effectiveness..."
"That's it..."
"..."
Several generals defended themselves, but Li Shimin sneered.
"Oh, is it so?"
Li Er smiled brightly,
"Then when Xu Fenglei was conquering the Turks, why didn't he hear about such a scandal?"
"The discipline in his army is notoriously strict! Some soldiers were even beaten to death for embezzling property!"
"It is also a foreign war. It is much more difficult to destroy the Turks than to destroy the Tuyuhun! Why can Xu Fenglei's soldiers maintain strict military discipline, but you can't?"
"So many reasons? They are all making excuses for corruption!"
"What I hate most are corrupt people!"
The emperor is furious!
The aura was fully activated, and the ministers were so suppressed that they did not dare to express their anger. The atmosphere in Liangyi Hall was extremely depressing!
Hou Junji's face began to look ugly.
He has deduced it so many times, but never like this!
The plan... really can't keep up with the changes?
"Li Jing, do you understand your guilt for bringing the army to this point?"
Li Shimin stood with his hands behind his hands, his expression stern.
"My lord, I am guilty."
Li Jing knelt on the ground and whispered,
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
"Okay!" Li Shimin said straightforwardly without any nonsense, "Li Jing will be removed from all military positions and fined for three years. I order you to stay at home and reflect on your mistakes, and you are not allowed to go out without any reason!"
Fuck it all the way to the end!
This punishment is not heavy!
But Li Jing breathed a sigh of relief.
At least the newly awarded title was not reduced.
Military power was originally handed over, and his position was that of Minister of War. As for his salary...he didn't lack that much money.
And shut yourself up and think about your mistakes?
He is planning to go home to retire.
"My lord, thank you for your holy grace!"
After careful calculation, he found that there was no real loss at all, so Li Jing simply confessed his crime and surrendered to the law.
"Um."
Li Shimin's expression softened a bit and he said,
"As for other generals, all their military exploits will be reduced by one level, no, two levels!"
"If anyone dares to say that he has not been corrupted at all, if he stands up now, I will not reduce his salary!"
"really?"
"There shouldn't be any, right?!"
His gaze was like a hawk, flying on the faces of the generals.
But a group of generals were already dripping with cold sweat at this moment, and big beads of sweat fell on the floor tiles with a crisp sound.
"Your Majesty, the general is not corrupt at all!"
Just as the pressure on the generals was increasing, a voice sounded, breaking the silence.
