Chapter 199 The King of Wei who is just about right
Inside Fengtian Hall, it was unusually quiet.
The irrelevant palace maids and eunuchs had been removed long ago, and those present were all important people.
Facing the emperor's questioning, King Wei still wanted to put on airs and pretend not to know.
"Say it!" Xiao Ping said coldly.
"Why don't you dare to speak out? Do you dare to do something but don't you deserve it?"
The King of Wei trembled. He felt the emperor's anger. The fear caused by the majesty was really extraordinary.
"I don't know where to start. I am wronged, my father!"
Naturally, King Wei would not admit it.
Whether it is colluding with courtiers, buying people's hearts, or colluding with merchants to commit smuggling crimes and prey on the common people... this is not a good thing.
Once he takes the throne, he will naturally be an immoral person and unworthy of the virtues of a prince.
For a prince, before he is established, he must have a virtuous appearance, even if he is just pretending.
"Unjustly accused?"
Xiao Pingsi pointed to the confession on the imperial case: "The long history of your palace has been recruited. Do you really want me to send troops to raid your palace and get evidence before you can confess?"
Hearing this, King Wei trembled again.
When things got to this point, he naturally knew that he would not be able to escape, but his luck made him unwilling to admit it at the first time.
But if you don't admit it, something will really happen. Your Majesty has done such things as raiding the prince's residence.
Xiao Luoye and King Qi are very experienced in this.
"Father, father..." King Wei looked up, with a look of fear on his face.
Xiao Pingsi said: "You have been hiding deep these years. I noticed the King of Qin and was on guard against Xiao Luoye. I also kept an eye on the King of Qi...but I just ignored you. I didn't expect that your wolfish ambition would lead you to do such nonsense.
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King Wei swallowed his saliva: "Father, my son and I have not made any... big mistakes..."
He said: "Compared with the King of Qin, my sons and ministers have not disturbed the court order or overstepped their authority, but they are more familiar with the court officials."
"Compared with Xiao Luoye, I have not made friends with the military attachés with real power, and I have no intention of causing trouble."
"The King of Qi was ruthless and used any means to eliminate dissenters, and his subjects did not follow suit..."
The King of Wei felt aggrieved: "My father saw the blame, and I shouldn't have to forcefully defend myself, but I really can't understand why my father is so angry?"
He felt aggrieved, and indeed he seemed aggrieved.
Because compared with several other princes who had accidents, King Wei felt that he had not gone too far.
"Huh?" Everyone present was a little surprised when they heard King Wei's words.
Doesn't it sound like there's nothing wrong with it?
As a prince, if you have a little ambition, you will also make friends with courtiers. And if you want to have a career, you must have money to manage it, so it makes sense to make friends with some businessmen.
It sounds like it's right.
"Yo ho?"
When Xiao Pingsi heard this, he laughed angrily: "You are good at comparing. Compared with your brothers, you do seem to be very responsible."
"But, are these the only things you do?"
With that said, Xiao Pingsi patted the confession on the imperial case.
"I am too embarrassed to say what your long history told you, but you can do it all, and you still choose to explain it, thinking you can get away with it?"
King Wei shrank his neck.
He had never seen the confession, so of course he didn't know what Chang Shi had confessed, so he had to choose some unimportant confessions first.
Glancing at the palace chief Shi who was kneeling next to him, King Wei glared at him.
You little son of a bitch, what did you tell me?!
"bump!"
Xiao Pingsi slapped the case and cursed: "Do you still want to confess in front of me?"
"Speak! Tell me clearly. If there is one less crime than the confession, I will immediately issue an order to deprive you of your position as prince, remove you from the royal family tree, and demote you to return to Wei as a commoner!"
"Your Majesty, think twice!" Upon hearing this, Wang Feng immediately comforted the emperor.
Zhuge Qingshan and Mo Yuan also said in unison: "Your Majesty, please calm down."
It is extremely rare for a prince to be expelled.
It had happened before, but it was a prince who rebelled. The emperor couldn't bear to kill him, so he demoted him to a commoner.
Apart from this, there has never been a second case in the history of Xia Kingdom.
Several people present knew His Majesty very well and knew that he would never be so angry easily.
He immediately understood in his heart that what this King of Wei had done would be even more egregious than the previous princes who had fallen from power.
Involuntarily, Zhuge Qingshan also became a little interested. After all, he had not read the confession that Xie Qi gave to His Majesty.
Your Highness, King Wei, what on earth have you done... Zhuge Qingshan stared deeply at King Wei.
King Wei, who was kneeling in the middle of the hall, was even more frightened.
Hearing His Majesty's words, he still didn't understand. I'm afraid Chang Shi had already explained everything clearly.
Otherwise, His Majesty would not be so angry that he would threaten to demote himself to a common people.
Immediately, with no luck left, he knocked his head heavily on the ground and cried: "Father, forgive me..."
Seeing that King Wei finally gave in, Xiao Pingsi calmed down his anger a little and said in a lower voice: "Tell me, besides forming a party for personal gain and colluding with merchants, what else have you done?"
King Wei lowered his head, not daring to look at his father on the dragon throne. He buried his head and spoke, telling all his crimes.
From the moment he opened his mouth to the time he finished speaking, the sound of gasping for air in Fengtian Hall kept coming and going.
Because of some of the things King Wei said, even Zhuge Qingshan couldn't remember how many years ago the last case was.
"Haha...you are more honest."
After hearing this, Xiao Pingsi said coldly: "You feed the common people, rob the women of the people, bribe internal prison guards, monitor the harem, block disaster relief, drive up food prices, meddle in the cabinet, filter memorials..."
"You are really capable. You are able to elevate your people to the position of bachelor in the cabinet. I really underestimated you... Among all the princes, you are the only one who has such ability!"
"When I was a prince, I couldn't do this."
Xiao Pingsi's praise was a serious compliment, but King Wei failed to make good use of this ability.
"Li Xiuxian..." Zhuge Qingshan was also surprised.
Zhuge Qingshan was really frightened when he heard King Wei say that he had placed someone in the cabinet, and this person was Li Xiuxian.
Because among the cabinet, apart from him as the chief minister, the most famous one is Li Xiuxian, the cabinet bachelor.
Can be called the second in command.
With such a person in the cabinet, it is no wonder that neither the emperor nor himself knew about the things that King Wei did.
Anyone who dares to write a book will be immediately suppressed by Li Xiuxian, and then the person who wrote the book will die. If things go on like this, no one will dare to say anything bad about King Wei.
So much so that even he, the chief minister, thought that the King of Wei had really done nothing, and that was why he was always so innocent.
Let alone His Majesty, he has no way of knowing these inside stories.
"You actually control most of my cabinet. You have already read the details for me in the cabinet. It's really hard work!"
"Even veterans like Xia Song, the Minister of War, have already stood by your side... Haha, if I hadn't personally controlled the Imperial Army, I'm afraid you would have driven me off the throne long ago, right?"
"My son, I never meant this, my father!" King Wei was stunned, there was murderous intent hidden in these words!
To disturb the imperial court and control the military power is to combine civil and military affairs, but it is not justifiable!
What annoyed Xiao Pingsi the most was that he had been deceived by his own son for so long.
If it weren't for Mo Yuan, the best master in the world, to personally take charge of the imperial army, King Wei would really be unable to place anyone with real authority in it, so someone else would really have to sit on the throne.
The Forbidden Army is the most important force in the capital!
Those who control the Forbidden Army can overthrow the world at any time, so any emperor will never allow anyone with an unclear position in the Forbidden Army.
"Your Majesty, the Imperial Army will never be manipulated by anyone!" Mo Yuan assured after seeing this.
Xiao Pingsi nodded. The people he trusted the most were Mo Yuan and Wang Feng, as well as the chief minister of the cabinet, Zhuge Qingshan.
Today these three people are here, and he wants all three of them to be more vigilant, lest things happen twice to King Wei.
"Father, I have never thought of it this way!" King Wei kowtowed repeatedly, breaking his forehead.
But no one felt sorry for him, and everyone present felt scared.
"No wonder..."
Suddenly Zhuge Qingshan thought of something: "Xia Shangshu's previous incident against the young master can be explained now that he thinks about it."
Wang Feng nodded slightly.
Xiao Pingsi also said: "Li Xiuxian was worried that the young master would take his position in the future, so he thought of dealing with the young master first, but he didn't expect that he rashly attacked the young master without even studying the law clearly."
"Xia Song, and this Xia Song, have been pretending to be idle clouds and wild cranes, but unexpectedly they have already placed bets on the prince!"
Speaking of this, Xiao Pingsi gritted his teeth.
For the emperor, the most unforgivable thing was that a powerful military officer under his command got involved with the prince who was competing for the throne.
And Xia Song was not only implicated, but also deeply involved. According to the confession of the chief historian of the Palace of Wei, the benefits delivered to Xia Song by the King of Wei exceeded his salary in ten lifetimes!