At the beginning, I gave up my military power with a cup of wine, and I ascended the throne

Chapter 150: Questions from the Ministers
After a brief conversation, Xiao Han got off the dragon sedan and entered the capital city surrounded by civil and military officials.

The streets were lined with ordinary people watching, and even many dignitaries and wealthy children came to join in the fun.

After all, although Xiao Han has a bad reputation among the aristocratic families and princes, he does not seem too bad when compared with Xie Xuanli, the Marquis of Zhenbei.

Those noble families had to admit that this General Pingxi was undeserving of the title of the bravest general in the world.

No one can fight against him. No matter in Jizhou or Central Plains, there is no second general more brave than Xiao Han.

"Are you trying to follow the example of the late emperor and bring out another Xie Xuanli?"

When the car behind caught up, Prime Minister Chen spoke, with a hint of bitter smile and helplessness in his tone.

"I just wonder if your Majesty has the skills of the late emperor to control this fierce tiger."

Everyone can see the emperor's intention of praising Xiao Han, but there are too many people who don't want another Marquis of Zhenbei to appear in the world.

Xiao Han rode a warhorse and walked in front, all the way into the imperial city. The emperor had already set up a banquet to welcome him.

It seems like everyone is having a good time, but in fact there is intrigue. In the hall, more than a dozen graceful women are dancing.

The princes and ministers were chatting in groups of three or four, but Xiao Han, the protagonist of the banquet, was sitting alone. No one came to toast him or talk to him.

Sitting on the dragon throne, the emperor held a golden goblet in his hand, tilted his head, and looked at the scene nonchalantly.

I felt both annoyed and happy.

What annoyed him was that among all the civil and military officials in the court, there were so few who were willing to give him face, and they all ignored his trusted and beloved generals.

He was happy that by isolating Xiao Han in this way, the latter could rely on him closely.

Perhaps because they felt the atmosphere was a bit dull, some neutral officials stood up and came over.

"General, I offer you a toast."

The assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice came over, holding a wine glass: "The general has brought honor to our Central Plains court in Xiliang."

"You're welcome, Your Excellency."

Xiao Han responded with a smile.

"General, I'll toast to you, too."

The Minister of War stood up, and this action immediately attracted the attention of countless people.

Minister Gu seemed not to notice the gazes of others, and walked up to Xiao Han and said, "I heard that the general is also good with a sword. Let's spar with each other some other day."

"It's impossible."

He raised his glass and drank it in one gulp.

"General, I offer you a toast."

Chen Shoufu stood up and raised his glass from a distance: "Cheers to the general for expanding our territory in the Central Plains."

With these few people taking the lead, other officials also came over, and for a moment, the awkward silence disappeared.

Sitting on the dragon throne, the emperor glanced at Minister Gu of the Ministry of War with slight approval.

I thought to myself, although this guy is usually a bit slick and a fence-sitter, he still knows how to read people's expressions.

There were clinking glasses and lots of flattery, and even those officials from the Censorate, who prided themselves on being incorruptible, came to join in the fun.

Everyone's words almost praised Xiao Han to the sky, but Xiao Han was not stupid.

It was obvious that these guys had bad intentions, and as expected, after three rounds of wine and five kinds of dishes, the guests were overwhelmed.

When the emperor on the dragon throne was about to speak, someone spoke first.

"Your Majesty, I have this memorial."

The censor of the Censorate stood up.

The emperor's face suddenly turned ugly, and he said in a deep voice: "Today we are here to welcome the general, so we won't discuss government affairs."

"Your Majesty," the Imperial Counselor said, "The person I want to report is General Xiao Han of Pingxi."

"presumptuous."

The emperor was angry: "You are deliberately trying to make things difficult for me."

"I serve the country and the people and share your majesty's worries."

The Imperial Counselor had a cold expression on his face. He pointed at Xiao Han and said, "I have four complaints against General Xiao. First, he mobilized troops without orders from the Ministry of War and attacked at will. He disregarded the law and discipline and showed no respect for Your Majesty."

"Secondly, he privately forged weapons and armor and recruited soldiers, which was against his will."

"Third, they made peace with the grassland tribes without reporting to the court, which damaged the prestige of our Celestial Empire."

"Fourth, he keeps private soldiers. The three guards of Xueyan and the three guards of Shatuo all serve him as their leader. Among them, there are more than 100,000 elite cavalry."

The second counselor immediately stood up and said angrily: "I also want to accuse General Xiao of three crimes: plundering the people of Jiyou, illegally operating salt and iron, colluding with the Hu tribe, and nurturing the enemy for self-destruction."

"I accuse Xiao Han of three crimes. The first is attacking Jizhou and taking Tianxian Pass without authorization. The second is disrespecting the superior and taking the princess of Xueyan tribe into the mansion without authorization. The third is humiliating Confucian scholars and insulting them in front of the general's mansion."

"I will accuse Xiao Han of ten crimes."

"I will accuse Xiao Han of seven sins."

"I will accuse Xiao Han of three crimes."

The censors of the Censorate were all vying with each other. They would report anything that was not in accordance with the rules, from collusion with the Northern Wei to minor matters such as food, clothing, housing and transportation. They would find fault with every little thing.

Then came the officials of the Anxie noble family, and looking at their appearance, they seemed to wish to eat him alive.

At the low table on the right, Xiao Han's expression remained unchanged, he didn't even frown, he just drank his wine by himself, totally ignoring the complaints from these people.

Sitting on the dragon throne, the emperor's face became increasingly darker and darker, so gloomy that water seemed to be dripping out of it. His cold eyes made all the civil and military officials in the court tremble in their hearts.

However, the censors in the Censorate were not afraid at all. The angrier the emperor was, the happier they were.

In the end, he was convicted for his words and was pushed out to see the truth, which was also a good thing to leave his name in the history.

And those confidants of the emperor stood up to refute and defend Xiao Han, while the neutral faction headed by the Minister of War helped each other and watched the show quietly.

The two sides exchanged sharp words, one saying something after another, and finally the target of the criticism shifted away from Xiao Han.

They turned to attacking each other. It was really lively to see those civil and military officials arguing with each other until they were red in the face, just about to roll up their sleeves and fight each other.

Instead, Xiao Han seemed like an outsider, watching the show leisurely.

However, this farce soon ended with the entry of Prime Minister Chen. The Optimus Prime who was in charge of the imperial cabinet stood up, first saluted the emperor on the dragon throne, and then looked at the General Pingxi opposite him.

He said in a deep voice: "I have a few doubts. May I ask the general to answer them?"

"Just ask Prime Minister Chen."

Xiao Han nodded slightly.

"First, why did you mobilize troops to fight without the order from the Ministry of War?"

Chen Jing spoke.

"It's an emergency, there's no time to report it."

Xiao Han replied.

"Secondly, even if it is an emergency, it should be reported in advance, but the general always submits his reports after the battle."

Chen Jing was obviously dissatisfied with this answer.

Xiao Han narrowed his eyes and said, "Western Liang Capital is thousands of miles away. Even if we rush to 800 miles, it will take more than half a month to go back and forth. If we miss the opportunity to fight, I'm afraid that Prime Minister Chen will start to use this opportunity to report me again."

"They said I was not good at defending the territory and let the Northern Wei enter the pass."

(End of this chapter)