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◎At the performance review banquet, Fu Daonian was stripped of his title and dismissed from office!◎
After Emperor Xingwu ascended the throne, he required the generals of the seven border states to return to the capital to report on their work every three years.
These seven generals were all famous generals with outstanding military achievements and were highly trusted by Emperor Xingwu. Whenever they returned to the capital, Emperor Xingwu would host a banquet to entertain them, and listen to the generals' reports while they drank and had fun. This year was no exception, and the guests were all high-ranking military officers in the capital, such as Prince Yong, Deng Chong, and Lu Zan, without a single civil official.
This year's performance review banquet is scheduled for the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month.
In addition to a group of military officers, Emperor Xingwu summoned his three princes and the legitimate sons of the generals who were over sixteen years old. Of course, the little princess who loved to enjoy this kind of banquet was not left out.
The banquet was held in the Taiji Hall. When Emperor Xingwu came with his four children, all the military officers and young men arrived and saluted in unison to welcome the emperor and the four princes.
Emperor Xingwu smiled and asked everyone to take a seat.
Qingyang followed her third brother and sat to the lower right of her father, and she was still the one sitting outside.
The little princess, who was about to turn thirteen, was already as tall as the eldest princess when she was seventeen years old when she first sat at the same table with the ministers. Although her figure was slender and her graceful figure could not be seen, she was as bright as the moon and had a fairy-like body. When she walked into the hall with Emperor Xingwu, she attracted the attention of several young men.
Emperor Xingwu sat high on the dragon throne, and saw clearly the steadiness of the famous generals and the uncontrollable gazes of the young men. However, his little princess had been in and out of the former court and had also been to the battlefield in Liang Province when she was three years old. His daughter ignored those gazes, and Emperor Xingwu would not be angry about it. It would be strange if the young men had no feelings about his daughter with such a beautiful face. It was okay to admire her, but not to be frivolous and presumptuous.
"Let's start the meal."
As He Yuanjing served the meal, palace servants came in one after another, carrying delicacies and fine wines.
After a lively social gathering, Emperor Xingwu took a sip and asked Meng Ji, the general of Liangzhou, to first report on his duties over the past three years, followed by Chen Chong, the general of Jinzhou, Guo Yanqing, the general of Jizhou, and Zhang Jie, the general of Liaozhou.
Only three years had passed since Emperor Xingwu's last northern tour, and there had been no major problems with military affairs and border defense in the four northern states. Only Jizhou and Liaozhou had experienced a few small-scale conflicts with the Donghu.
Next up is Li Yu, Marquis of Jining and the general of Qingzhou.
Qingyang had been in close contact with the generals of the four northern states, but he had only met the three generals of Qingzhou, Fuzhou and Yunzhou briefly at the performance review meeting every three years. When he was a child, he didn't have a deep memory of their faces, and he had almost forgotten them after not seeing them for three years, so today he had to take a closer look at each of them.
Jining Marquis Li Yu was forty-nine years old. He was the shortest among the generals, standing only seven feet five inches tall. However, he was the fattest. Even without eating much, his purple official robe had already bulged out. It hadn't been noticeable before when he was standing on the sides, but now he was standing alone in the middle of the hall. Deng Chong teased him, "Li Yu, didn't you lead the troops well? How did you get so fat?"
Li Yu scoffed at him and bowed to Emperor Xingwu, saying, "Your Majesty, I have no intention of being lazy. It's just that Your Majesty's majesty is so great, and the world has been at peace in recent years. I have no wars to fight, so I've been idle and put on weight."
Deng Chong: "We're also idle, so why haven't we gained weight?"
Li Yu: "Every family has a different physique. Most of the descendants of our Li family are naturally fat. It's rare to be as thin as I was when I was young."
Qingyang smiled as he looked at the three brothers of the Li family who were sitting at the back of the hall. Indeed, they all had chubby faces, especially the third son of the Li family, Li Fuyuan, who had been as lazy and cunning as his third brother since childhood.
Emperor Xingwu jokingly said, "So, you've gained weight because I don't have any battles for you to fight?"
Li Yu: "Yes, but I would rather not fight a war than see the emperor's grace benefit the whole world and protect the people in peace year after year."
It was a very flattering gesture. Emperor Xingwu smiled in agreement, asked Li Yu a few more questions and then let him return to his seat.
Qingyang recalled his father's evaluation of Li Yu: worldly-wise and smooth-talking, with no flaws in his moral principles.
Next is Peng Ying, the general of Fuzhou, who is 47 years old this year.
Among the seven generals, only Peng Ying was in charge of the navy of Fuzhou and Yangzhou. He was originally a famous general of the Yue navy. When Emperor Xingwu attacked Yue, Peng Ying resolutely resisted the enemy, causing Emperor Xingwu's navy to suffer a heavy blow and lose a general. After the Yue Kingdom was destroyed, Peng Ying was captured. When generals such as Deng Chong were calling for Peng Ying's execution, Emperor Xingwu insisted on using Peng Ying as his navy general against all odds. Peng Ying was grateful and was willing to be loyal to the Great Qi from then on.
Because he often trained the navy at the seaside, Peng Ying was the darkest among the generals. He had a burly figure and a calm gaze, giving people the impression that he could remain calm even when a storm came.
His report was concise but to the point, and Emperor Xingwu approved his proposal to scrap more than a hundred old warships and build new ones.
After Peng Ying returned to the table, it was the turn of the last Yunzhou general, Fu Daonian, the Marquis of Zhennan and the father of the eldest son-in-law.
Fu Daonian is fifty-seven years old and is the oldest general in the hall today. His hair is slightly gray, but he has a strong body and a straight back, without any signs of old age.
Although he became a relative of Emperor Xingwu, Fu Daonian did not forget the rules and reported his work respectfully, but Qingyang still saw some panic in Fu Daonian's expression.
Afterwards, Fu Daonian apologized for the fact that the people in the south of Yunzhou had been repeatedly invaded by the Pyu Kingdom in the past two years, and that he had twice led troops to return without success due to the scorching heat and heavy rains during the journey.
Emperor Xingwu laughed and said, "We returned empty-handed twice, but we also managed to kill 800 elite soldiers from the Pyu Kingdom once, so it can be considered that our merits and demerits offset each other."
Fu Daonian said ashamedly: "How can such a small achievement make up for the two ineffective military operations? I hope the emperor will punish me."
Emperor Xingwu said, "Victory and defeat are common in war. I naturally do not blame you for your failure due to poor timing. However, I have heard that you led your troops to Pyu just for the sake of accepting a beautiful woman sent by them. And those 800 Pyu soldiers you killed were actually Pyu prisoners, deliberately sent to you by Pyu to impress the court."
As soon as these words were spoken, the military officers who were still drinking leisurely put down their wine bowls in shock and all looked at Fu Daonian.
Fu Daonian knelt down in panic, looking up and shouting that he was innocent.
Emperor Xingwu sneered and winked at He Yuanjing.
He Yuanjing took three steps forward, pulled out a thin booklet from his sleeve, and unfolded it, saying, "In the summer of the tenth year of Xingwu, Yunzhou General Fu Daonian was ordered to lead 30,000 troops to attack the Pyu Kingdom. On June 19th, he arrived at the Pyu Kingdom's Sili Village and captured a stunningly beautiful woman..."
As He Yuanjing read out the height, facial features, etc. of the Pyu woman, and as He Yuanjing explained the rhetoric that the beauty had used to persuade Fu Daonian to withdraw his troops, including the fact that the beauty was the concubine's daughter of the prime minister of Pyu, all of which were well-founded, Fu Daonian finally stopped crying out for injustice.
Emperor Xingwu raised his hand, signaling He Yuanjing to stop reading. He looked at Fu Daonian, who was kneeling in the main hall, and said, "Considering your meritorious service in the conquest of Chu, Xiang, and Yue, and your loyal service in guarding the border in the past few years, it is only in recent years that you have been bewitched and deceived by the beauty trap of the Pyu Kingdom and have not yet committed a serious crime. As long as you confess your guilt truthfully, I can spare your life. Otherwise..."
"Your Majesty, I am guilty and confused!"
Knowing that Emperor Xingwu really had evidence of his deceiving the emperor, Fu Daonian dared not quibble any more. He kowtowed and repented, saying that it was because the Pyu Kingdom was poor and he had fought against it several times but had not gained any advantage, wasting manpower and material resources, so he was temporarily bewitched and bewitched by the beauty of the Pyu Kingdom. However, he absolutely had no intention of betraying the emperor or the court, and he was still loyal to the emperor!
Emperor Xingwu said: "The Pyu Kingdom is indeed poor, and because of this poverty they are attempting to seize our Central Plains land. Today they can use their pillow talk to persuade you not to attack them, but tomorrow they will take advantage of your mellow state and suddenly launch a large-scale attack. The day after that they will use their pillow talk to manipulate your fear of crime and lure you into betraying the country!"
Fu Daonian: "No! I swear on the lives of my entire clan that I will never betray my country, even if I die!"
Emperor Xingwu: "I discovered it just in time. If you had surrendered to the enemy and brought disaster to the people of Yunzhou, the lives of your Fu family wouldn't have been enough to atone for your crime!"
Fu Daonian's body froze, and then he continued to curse himself and begged the emperor to spare his life.
His eldest son Fu Shu and second son Fu Kui had already knelt and crawled beside their father, confessing their sins and begging.
Emperor Xingwu continued to interrogate Fu Shu and his brothers. Fu Shu knew that his father was confused but he could not dissuade him. Fu Kui, who lived in the capital, was completely kept in the dark.
Finally, Emperor Xingwu dismissed Fu Daonian from his post and stripped him of his title, confiscated his property and allowed him to return home to retire. Since Fu Kui was innocent, he was only demoted and continued to serve as his son-in-law.
Soon, Fu Daonian and Fu Shu, father and son, weeping tears of regret, were dragged out by four imperial guards. Fu Kui, devastated, tried to follow them out, but Emperor Xingwu stopped him and told him to return to the feast. "Your father is guilty, but you are not guilty as well. As long as you behave yourself, you will still be my good son-in-law."
Fu Kui knelt down and thanked him, crying, his forehead was red.
Qingyang had no interest in watching the Fu family father and son crying, and had already cast his eyes on the military officers who were silent as a mouse. Zhang Jie, Meng Ji and others were as steady as ever, but Wang Shu, Deng Chong, Deng Kun and others who were usually carefree were more shocked. They were all stunned, as if they had not yet recovered from their father's thundering measures.
As Qingyang was observing, he suddenly heard his father sigh from the dragon throne: "First, Yuan Zhaoxiong wanted to rebel, then Fu Daonian secretly colluded with the enemy. They were all my founding generals. How did they end up like this? Is it because I didn't do enough, causing my meritorious officials to suffer injustice?"
Just as Qingyang was looking at his father, he heard the rustling of fabrics and hurried footsteps. He then looked over at the main hall, where the military officers and young men who had been seated just moments before had all knelt in a neat row in the center. Deng Chong, Prince Yong, and Fan Zhong began their explosive rebuttals, and then Guo Yanqing, the second-oldest general and former general of Jizhou, interrupted with a resounding voice: "Your Majesty is a wise ruler of our time. We, your subjects, are willing to serve you wholeheartedly. Yuan Zhaoxiong and Fu Daonian, despite their military achievements, became complacent and betrayed the Emperor and the court. This is their fault, and has nothing to do with Your Majesty. I beg your Highness to examine this matter carefully!"
Li Yu, the general of Qingzhou, said again, "Yes, Your Majesty, there is no need to grieve over those treacherous ministers and villains. We, your servants, will faithfully perform our duties and live up to Your Majesty's great grace!"
The ministers finally agreed with one voice: "We will faithfully perform our duties and live up to the emperor's grace!"
Emperor Xingwu sighed again and said, "Everyone, rise. I was just feeling sentimental for a moment. Don't worry, I remember their contributions, and I also remember the contributions of each and every one of you. As long as you don't let me down, I won't doubt you. The people of the world will have peace for a few years. I will continue to rely on you to fight against foreign enemies with me and reassure the people."
The military officers continued to express their loyalty: "We, your servants, do not know merit, we only know how to be loyal to the emperor and serve our country!"
Emperor Xingwu smiled faintly and looked at the four children.
Qin Hong was thinking about his elder sister. Fu Kui has lost his status as the son of a marquis. What will happen to his elder sister?
Qin Bing was looking at the kneeling military officers. If anyone was frightened by his father's killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, it meant that he was also weak in his heart!
Qin Ren sighed for Fu Daonian. It would have been great if he had just been doing his job honestly. But now, a great founding hero has lost everything.
Only Qingyang met his father's gaze with a smile, and was proud of his father's dragon power!
【Author’s words】
Here they come, 100 little red envelopes, see you tonight!
It took me a long time to reorganize the ages of these generals and the ages and names of the young generals in their families. [Poor]
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