"Where is Zhang Wen?"
"Your subject is here!"
The head of the military officials, Lord Sikong, Zhang Wen, walked out steadily.
Liu Hong narrowed his eyes and stared at the person in the middle of the hall.
"Loyalty: 80! [Note: Loyalty below 0 is to treat the king as an enemy, 0 is to treat the king as a passerby, 0-60 is to treat the king as a citizen, 60-80 is to treat the king as a relative, 81-100 is to treat the king as a confidant!]”
Liu Hong nodded. Even though he knew that he was being held accountable, he still maintained a high degree of loyalty.
Not bad!
"Will Sikong win or lose in this western expedition?”
"Your Majesty, it's…"
"Zhen wants to hear the truth. As one of the three dukes, when facing Zhen, the country, and all the dukes in the court, think carefully before saying anything!”
Liu Hong said expressionlessly.
He knew the answer very well. He had said so much just to give the loyal minister another chance.
Zhang Wen slowly raised his head and met the Emperor's encouraging gaze. He sighed softly.
He sighed.
There was both joy and sorrow.
Fortunately, the Emperor was no longer a licentious man.
The sad thing was that he had made a big mistake and would probably not be able to serve the country faithfully in the future.
Zhang Wen knelt on the ground, put down the court board in his hand, took off the long crown on his head, took off the official seal on his waist, and kowtowed."Your Majesty, I'm guilty!"
"In this western expedition, I was anxious for success and chose to split my forces. Six armies attacked the Xianling Qiang, Xiongnu, and other foreign enemies at the same time. I misjudged the situation and was surrounded by the enemy.”
"I've let down Your Majesty, the country, the dead soldiers, and the hundreds of thousands of people in Liangzhou City!”
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Three kowtows!
One sound after another!
The empty hall echoed!
Zhang Wen's forehead was bleeding, and blood was flowing down his face!
"In order to prevent the entire army from being wiped out, I gave up on Liangzhou, causing countless people who could not evacuate in time to be plundered and humiliated by the barbarians. I can't escape the blame even if I die.”
Deyang Hall fell into dead silence.
Even a pin drop could be heard clearly.
All the officials were shocked. This was the first time they had heard the truth about the Western Expedition.
Although they usually enjoyed themselves, they were scared out of their wits by the sufferings of the people of Liangzhou City just based on their fantasies.
Dong Zhuo, the general of the Krupp Breaking Army, was standing in the ranks of the military officers. His clothes were completely soaked in sweat, as if he had just been fished out of the water.
"In that case, the Western Expedition was a failure!"
"Defeat! A complete defeat!"
"Why did the Xianling Qiang and Xiongnu retreat?”
"After plundering enough, we naturally retreated!”
Zhang Wen's head was pressed against the marble floor, relying on the cold feeling to keep himself alive.
He was waiting for His Majesty to grant him death!
"Zhang Rang!"
Liu Hong said coldly.
Zhang Rang, who was standing on the imperial steps, trembled all over. He prostrated himself on the ground and cried out aggrievedly,"Your Majesty, I don't know!"
"I was only following Lord Sikong's memorial and reporting truthfully to Your Majesty. I never had the slightest intention of deceiving Your Majesty!”
"I implore Your Majesty to spare this subject's crime of not investigating on account of the fact that this subject has entered the palace to accompany the Sage Emperor since he was young!”
The crime of deceiving the emperor became the crime of not investigating!
He even played the emotional card!
Minister Zhang was very clear about the current situation. The army had suffered a crushing defeat and Liangzhou was in trouble. If these two matters were connected, it would be a great crime to be beheaded.
Even if one thought with their heels, one would know that Dong Zhuo had killed thousands of people and escaped unscathed.
Especially the gold that Dong Zhuo had given him, which was still hidden in his sleeve. Now, it had become a death talisman.
Dong Zhuo, you old thief!
Attendant Zhang made up his mind that as long as he could successfully escape this calamity, he would definitely kill this bastard!
"Dong Zhuo!"
Liu Hong's gaze fell on the ranks of the military officials. His voice was like the wind in the cold weather, extremely cold.
"Your subject is here!"
Dong Zhuo, who had a fat head, big ears, and a big belly, looked a little like Zhu Bajie in novels. He fell down weakly and rolled out like a ball.
When the officials saw this comical scene, they did not smile at all. Instead, they were filled with cold killing intent.
"Tell me, how did you escape unscathed from the encirclement of the Xianling Qiang and Xiongnu, and even kill thousands of enemies?”
"Your Majesty, it's this…this…"
Dong Zhuo's face was pale, and he couldn't even explain himself. He had planned to say that he was brave and good at fighting before the court, but if he said it now, it would be an insult to the intelligence of the Emperor and the civil and military officials.
"Your Majesty, I understand!"
Zhang Wen raised his head, his face covered in blood, and said ferociously,""Before I submitted the memorial to the palace, Dong Zhuo once found me and told me that the memorial to the Western Expedition was written by him. At that time, I knew that I was about to die, so I simply handed it to him!”
"But I didn't expect that the contents of the memorial were completely different from what I had seen and heard. I was even more confused about Dong Zhuo's beheading of thousands of people!”
"Dong Zhuo's troop has less than ten thousand people, including the old, the weak, and the sick, but they can do such a shocking thing in the encirclement of thirty thousand enemies.”
"Thus, after investigating in secret, I discovered that Dong Zhuo had secretly given the route of Liangzhou City's retreat to the Xiongnu people in exchange for his troops to retreat unscathed!”
"What's worse is that Dong Zhuo was worried that he would be held accountable for the failure of the Western Expedition, so he secretly sent troops to find the people who had evacuated Liangzhou and killed them!”
"The heads of the people in the ten villages of Liangzhou became Dong Zhuo's battle achievements after they were disfigured. The treasures on the people became Dong Zhuo's spoils of war!”
"Dong Zhuo, you motherf * cker!"
All exposed!
The Western Expedition had no more secrets!
Liu Hong's killing intent was almost tangible.
Using the lives of the people in exchange for a chance to escape, using the heads of the people to forge military achievements, and using the people's wealth as spoils of war.
kuang！
Dong Zhuo fell to the ground!
The continuous shock, coupled with the killing intent of the Emperor and all the civil and military officials, caused his already fat body to enter a state of self-preservation shock.
"Zhang Wen!"
"Your subject is here!"
"You're not good at fighting and protecting the people! I remember that you have been loyal to the country for decades, so I gave you a pot of dove wine!”
"Thank you for your kindness!"
"Go, the people of Liangzhou City are waiting for you!”
With tears in his eyes, Zhang Wen took the poisoned wine from the eunuch and downed it in one gulp!
"Zhang Rang!"
"Your subject is here!"
"You deceived the emperor, deceived the emperor, colluded with the officials, and brought disaster to the country and the people! Since you have accompanied the emperor for many years, I have fulfilled your wish. I will execute you by a thousand cuts in front of the Meridian Gate and confiscate your family!”
"Spare me, Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty, please spare my life!"
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Spare me!"
……
"Dong Zhuo!"
"Deceiving the emperor, colluding with the enemy, betraying the country, killing good people, bringing disaster to the country and the people, dismembering the Meridian Gate, seizing the family, and killing nine families!”
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。