In Taiji Palace, the morning court was still going on.
Everyone's eyes were focused on Li Xiaogong. Due to the special nature of the previous battle, Li Xiaogong had only passed on the specific details to Li Er in the form of a secret report instead of a battle report. In this way, the ministers in the court naturally had no way of knowing the details.
Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that some well-informed people obtained the news through abnormal channels, but even if they knew, they had to pretend that they didn't know at this moment. Otherwise, if they exposed their so-called abnormal channels in front of Li Er, wouldn't that be looking for trouble ~? As a minister, if he attracted the suspicion of the Emperor, his good days would be numbered.
"That's a good question, Minister Wei!"
Li Xiaogong looked back at Wei Zheng and then bowed to Li Er. He said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I am guilty!"
Seeing that Li Xiaogong didn't answer Wei Zheng's question directly and instead apologized to Li Er, the ministers in the hall were confused. They didn't know what Li Xiaogong was doing. This time, the imperial court had sent a fleet to the south. The harvest from this trip was almost equivalent to the imperial court's annual revenue. It had greatly alleviated the empty state of the national treasury since the Wei River Alliance. Li Xiaogong was definitely considered a great contribution. How could he be guilty?
Li Er's heart sank. How could he start to apologize without saying anything? He was very worried that Li Xiaogong would make a mistake and worsen the situation.
"Xiaogong led the army across the sea and brought back so much food and money for the imperial court. What is his crime?"
Although many thoughts were running through his mind, Li Er remained calm on the surface. He slowly opened his mouth and asked the common question in the hearts of the ministers.
Li Xiaogong seemed to have been prepared. He hurriedly cupped his fist and said, "I attacked the Wei Nation's capital, Feiniao City, without Your Majesty's permission. The 50,000 kilograms of brass and 300,000 taels of silver were given to me by the Wei Nation's Queen! I am guilty! "
As soon as Li Xiaogong finished speaking, there was a buzz, and the court immediately exploded. The officials in the hall all stared with wide eyes, indescribably shocked. Some people didn't know whether to laugh or cry in their hearts because when Li Xiaogong had reported his gains from going south, they had secretly wondered if Li Xiaogong had plundered some country. Otherwise, how could he have brought back so much wealth?
However, judging from the results that were announced now, their previous guess was actually correct! Li Xiaogong had truly ransacked a country, and the target of his ransacking was none other than the Wo Nation that had previously paid tribute to the Great Tang!
How could this be?
Therefore, some people could not help but be eager to give Li Xiaogong a try!
Wei Zheng, who was standing in front of the officials, raised his eyebrows. He clearly didn't expect the truth to be like this.
He took a step forward and said, "His Royal Highness, without Your Majesty's permission, attacked the neighboring countries of the Great Tang. This action can easily cause panic in the neighboring countries, which is extremely disadvantageous to the Great Tang at this time. I think that His Royal Highness should be severely punished!
"I think that Left Minister Wei's words are reasonable. Now that the world has just settled down, the imperial court should be recuperating and getting along peacefully with the neighboring countries. His Royal Highness, for 300,000 taels of silver and 50,000 kilograms of brass, he attacked without authorization and ignored the relationship between the Great Tang and its neighboring countries. He simply has no respect for the imperial court! I think that he should be severely punished! "
As soon as Wei Zheng finished speaking, Minister Cui Shanfu of the Honglu Temple hurriedly jumped out. As the leader of the Honglu Temple, who specialized in dealing with the relationship between neighboring countries, he naturally had the right to express his opinion. Of course, as a core disciple of the Shandong aristocratic family, he also wanted to use this opportunity to bring down Li Xiaogong, the only person who could be used in the Li Tang imperial family. If he didn't know how to make good use of such a heaven-sent opportunity, he would really be blind!
"I second the motion. His Royal Highness must be severely punished!"
"Severely punish your grandma ~!"
Li Xiaogong's identity was not only that of the Li Tang imperial family, but also that of a general. Although he usually didn't like Li Xiaogong, at this time, Cheng Zhijie wouldn't just watch Li Xiaogong be besieged by Cui Shanfu and the others. The devil incarnate wouldn't talk about rules with you. This old guy came up and directly pushed Cui Shanfu more than ten steps away and almost fell to the ground. He stood up angrily and was about to argue with Cheng Zhijie, but he heard Old Cheng directly scold him in his rough voice.
"Damn it! Xiaogong didn't say why he attacked Nihon. How do you know that he went for the silver and brass? Is your father in Nihon? Did he tell you in your dreams? "
Cui Shanfu's expression changed and he felt greatly humiliated because Cheng Zhijie was saying that his father was from Nihon! As a person of the Celestial Empire, anyone who was said to be a descendant of the short and wretched people of Nihon would be angry.
"Cheng Zhijie, you … you … you've gone too far and disgraced the refined!"
At this time, Cui Shanfu was obviously blinded by anger and directly called Cheng Zhijie by his name.
"Bah! You slandered Xiaogong without any evidence. Isn't this a disgrace to the refined? "
This old guy actually spat a mouthful of thick phlegm in Cui Shanfu's direction and continued to scold him. However, he also knew that it was not a good idea to continue scolding like this. If this continued for a long time, it would be counterproductive. Therefore, after scolding Cui Shanfu, he cupped his hands and said to Li Er,
"Your Majesty, Xiaogong is not a person who is greedy for money and doesn't know the severity of the matter. This old official thinks that there must be something hidden!"
"Your Majesty, this official also thinks that this matter is not simple. Why don't we let Xiaogong finish speaking before making a conclusion?"
The "taciturn gourd" Li Jing in the imperial court also made a rare sound today. In this way, no one in the entire Tang military was still indifferent. ,
"This official agrees!"
The generals' camp all agreed in unison. The civil officials' camp was in an uproar and did not reach a unified opinion. This was because the heads of the civil officials, Zhangsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling, had not expressed their opinions yet!
In fact, the opinions of these two big shots were quite simple. For Zhangsun Wuji, because of the relationship with Empress Zhangsun, the Zhangsun family was a proper relative of the Emperor. In terms of position, Zhangsun Wuji naturally sided with the royal family and protected Li Xiaogong!
As for Fang Xuanling, he felt that a mere Wo Nation was not enough to change the attitude of the surrounding countries toward the Tang Empire. Moreover, the Tang Empire's current number one enemy was the Turks. The other small countries could not make any waves at all. Cui Shanfu's words were a little exaggerated. How could he agree?
"Silence!"
Li Er coughed softly and the noisy imperial court immediately quieted down. Then he stared at Li Xiaogong and asked in a deep voice, "Xiaogong, why did you lead troops to attack Wo Nation? You better explain the reason to Zhen now! Don't hide anything! "
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