The emperor laughed and walked up. Duan Xi had already dismounted, stood aside, bowed and said: "I pay homage to your majesty!" The emperor stepped forward, took his hand, and said with a smile: "Hey,
Why should Mr. Duan be so polite?"
"Duan Jun has helped me get rid of such a serious problem as Tan Shihuai! He has also opened up thousands of miles of mountains and rivers. I should pay tribute to him for his contribution as a general!" As he said that, the emperor was about to salute him. Duan Xi was almost frightened.
He knelt down in front of him and said quickly: "It is all thanks to your majesty's wisdom that the world is in great order, and foreign enemies are not afraid. How dare I accept your majesty's courtesy!"
Hearing what Duan Xi said, the emperor just stood up with a smile, pulled him, and wanted to go with him. Duan Xi still didn't dare, and followed the emperor with his head lowered and respectfully. The emperor pulled him and took him to the
In front of all the officials, all the officials also paid their respects to Chen Zan. Putting aside their dislike of Duan Xi, Duan Xi's military exploits alone were enough to make them respect him.
In this expedition, he directly wiped out all the Xianbei people who had been harassing the Han border for decades, and also established two extremely large states and counties. How could such achievements in opening up and expanding the territory not be admired by everyone?
When entering Luoyang City, Duan Xi was also worshiped by many people. He has now become the number one general of the Han Dynasty. His prestige among the people is so high that he may not be able to match it. None of the other important ministers have this qualification.
After passing through the sea of cheering people, everyone returned to the palace. The emperor held a grand banquet for Duan Xi to celebrate his achievements.
The banquet was held very grandly, with singers, Yuefu, honor guards, and all the officials in Luoyang present. Except He Xiu, who resigned because he had to take care of Liu Bian. During the banquet, Duan Xi was still
He was very restrained, but he still felt fear in his heart. Halfway through the banquet, the emperor slowly stood up and asked Duan Xi's achievements to be read aloud as a reward.
Then, rewards were added. Most of these rewards were nominal, such as some special cases like He Xiu, such as adding titles such as the title of Attendant. After adding a lot of rewards, the emperor's brows slowly wrinkled.
, none of the ministers noticed it, but Duan Xi, who was always paying attention to the emperor, trembled in his heart. The emperor took out a letter and gave it to Huang Men beside him, asking him to read it out.
"Duan Xi seized three thousand stones of grain and grass and bribed Hezhou officials, as follows..." Huang Men read with a grimace. The cheering crowd suddenly stopped and was at a loss. Huang Men continued reading without saying a word.
After finishing reading it, he handed it to the emperor. But at this moment, Duan Xi was acting extremely unbearable, his legs were trembling. He suddenly fell to the ground in front of the emperor, and the officials were silent.
The originally lively atmosphere suddenly became extremely cold and solemn.
"Hehehe, Mr. Duan, but the imperial salary is not enough?"
"I'm guilty, I'm guilty. I hope your Majesty will atone for his sins!" Duan Xi said in a panic. This look made all the officials a little unbelievable. Is this still the general who beat the aliens and made them run away? The change was so fast that everyone was surprised.
They were all a little dull, except for the emperor, whose face was dull, and his mood and anger could not be seen. He squinted his eyes slightly from time to time, and Duan Xi fell in front of the emperor in fear.
He originally just wanted to deliberately give the emperor some excuses so that the emperor could rest assured of him. Unexpectedly, his behavior aroused the emperor's fear even more. If he had known now, why bother in the first place? He dug his own grave. The emperor saw it.
After watching him for a moment, he called out: "Here comes someone! Bring him in!"
Hearing this, Duan Xi was so frightened that he lost his mind. Some soldiers rushed in from outside the door, but they did not carry weapons, but held discs, which were wrapped and couldn't tell what they were. The emperor stepped forward and said,
When the cloth on the top was pulled apart, there was gleaming gold inside, which was extremely dazzling. All the officials could not understand what the emperor meant, and Duan Xi was even more frightened.
Because in the Han Dynasty, so much gold was only used when someone was buried with him.
The emperor looked at Duan Xi, stepped forward, slowly lifted him up, pointed to the gold, and said: "If Duan Jun is short of money, tell me that I will never treat any meritorious officials badly, but for the common people,
What belongs to the soldiers must never be taken away. If you return the greedy money to others, the gold will be given to you..."
Duan Xi was stunned. He slowly raised his head and looked at the emperor with some disbelief in his eyes. Just now, he had already thought of his last words. What is going on?
"Any merit must be rewarded, and every mistake must be punished. You are greedy and accepting bribes. However, you defeated Xianbei, protected one party, and made up for your merits. I will not punish you. If you take these golds and it is not enough, come to me for it.
..."
"If a hundred gold can be exchanged for peace on the border and prosperity for the people, I would rather spend all my money... to make the Han Dynasty strong and the people happy!"
"Thank you so much, Your Majesty!" Duan Xi stood up and bowed heavily to the Emperor, with a few tears falling from the corners of his eyes.
All the officials were moved by this kind of love between the emperor and his ministers, and they were even more moved by the emperor. They couldn't help but worship with all their hearts. With Yuan Feng as the leader, he shouted: "The emperor is a saint!!" The emperor turned to look at them, his face expressionless.
He was still so calm, and it did not change because of Duan Xi's tears and the bows from the officials. He shook his head, waved his hands, and said: "Everyone, get up. We are at the banquet today. Don't be too polite!"
Yuan Feng slowly raised his head. For some reason, he seemed to see Emperor Xiaowen standing in front of him. The emperor was becoming more and more like a Han emperor. No, he was becoming more and more like an ancient Han emperor. He had the world in mind. This is what he saw.
For the king, after that, the officials continued the night banquet. They looked at the emperor with more respect, and Duan Xi was so ashamed that he almost cried.
After the night banquet, the emperor drunkenly returned to the harem and went to the Yongning Palace of Queen Song. After entering the palace, Queen Song personally came forward and took him back to the bed. She also asked people to find soup and feed the emperor herself.
He looked at her with a smile, smiled and said, "Queen, I'm fine..."
Empress Song looked at the emperor who was still half-drunk just now and couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, why are you doing this?" The emperor smiled and said, "If I were not drunk, all the officials would be very restrained.
..", Queen Song knew in her heart that the emperor was not telling the truth, but the fact that he could show his sobriety in front of her made Queen Song very excited.
Her face was flushed and she was cleaning the bed. Suddenly, she frowned and asked worriedly: "I haven't seen Bian'er for a long time. I heard that you have offended His Majesty?"
"Hahaha, this guy called me a fool that day. I was so angry that I beat him up!"
"This..." Queen Song looked a little sad.
"Hey, don't worry. When I was young, I was no better than him. I was chased by Master He with a sword every day!"
"Ah? Then Master He wouldn't treat Bian'er like this!"
"Hey, I still hope that he will discipline him like this, but it's a pity that he regards Bian'er as his own grandson and dotes on him very much. However, I see that he has grown a lot by being with Master He. At least he can wear a sword.
Let him continue to stay!" The emperor said with a smile, and Queen Song continued: "The prince cannot live outside the palace for a long time. If not, let Master He move to the palace and continue to teach Bian'er."
"Master He will never agree. He is extremely stubborn. How could he agree to such an unethical thing?"
"Then... how about buying a courtyard outside the palace so that they can live closer? That way, Your Majesty can know Bian'er's situation at any time. Also, the Queen Mother has not seen her grandson for a long time, and she is also in the palace.
What a fuss..."
"This... is fine. Then I will send someone to ask Master He tomorrow..."
The two chatted for a while and were about to take a break. Queen Song suddenly asked: "The maids who served Bian'er before...did anything treacherous?"
The emperor frowned and said: "They deceived me and tried to give Bian'er a bad reputation as a bully and alienate father and son, so they were killed by me..." Empress Song was a little frightened when she heard that, and the emperor asked again: "They
Were you sent to take care of Bian'er?" Queen Song shook her head and whispered: "It was recommended by Mr. He, who said she was a trustworthy palace maid..."
"Oh, no wonder she has been claiming to be ill in recent days..." The emperor whispered, and a fierce light suddenly appeared in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared.