Everyone stood up one after another and bowed to salute, "Welcome to Your Majesty!"

Perhaps because Yang Guang did not have a good rest last night, he seemed a little tired. He waved his hand and signaled everyone to sit down. Everyone sat down one after another, and the solemn atmosphere in the side hall was restored...

Yang Guang glanced at Zhang Xuan and said to Wei Xuan: "Let's start!"

Wei Xuan coughed lightly and slowly said to Zhang Xuan: "General Zhang, reporting on his duties is the system of the court. All foreign ministers, whether local county magistrates or garrison generals, need to report to the court every year on various matters in the past year. Of course, there are many ways and it may not necessarily be introduced to the capital, but reporting on his duties itself cannot be avoided. I hope General Zhang can understand it."

Zhang Xuan nodded silently, "I understand the humble vocation!"

Wei Xuan took another report written by Zhang Xuan before and said with a smile: "What I said just now is that there are many ways, including the report's own description, but there are also questions and answers. Today we will use the second one, and I will ask on behalf of the Ministry of War. Perhaps other ministers will have some questions. General Zhang can answer according to the facts, so don't be nervous."

Zhang Xuan nodded. He felt Yang Guang's suspicious and sharp gaze at him, and also felt another kind of depressing atmosphere in the hall. Perhaps this was indeed a unique report, not as simple as Wei Xuan said.

“My first question is about militia”

Wei Xuan slowly unfolded a scroll on the table. His tone was very slow, but his thinking was clear. "Since last year, General Zhang was ordered to garrison Beihai County and promoted the militia in General Zhang Beihai County. The Ministry of War wanted to know, what was the militia formed by General Zhang? What is the difference between it and a regular army?"

Wei Xuan's question is very sharp. This is actually a question of whether Zhang Xuan had expanded the army without authorization. You should know that the number of troops approved by the court to Zhang Xuan was 6,000, but Zhang Xuan led 10,000 troops to conquer Langya County in the south. What's going on with the extra 4,000 people? Wei Xuan just used implicit methods to hint at Zhang Xuan's problem.

The atmosphere in the side hall began to become a little nervous. Even Pei Ju realized that the person who reported the job this time was not good. He thought the question simply. This must be the intention of the emperor. When he asked Wei Xuan, Pei Ju secretly began to worry about Zhang Xuan.

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment and bowed without panic and said, "Your Majesty, Qibing Secretary Wei and all the ministers, the reason why Beizhi formed a militia temporarily was to fight the harassment of the rioters. Everyone knows that Beihai County is surrounded by enemies, and there are tens of thousands of rioters from Meng Rang in the south. Donglai County in the east, there are nearly 100,000 rioters from Zuo Xiaoyou, and Zhang Jin, in the north, said he was peeping across the Yellow River. What if we go south to attack Meng Rang. What should we do if Zuo Xiaoyou takes advantage of the opportunity? What to resist? Of course, we will have some army left behind, but there are only more than a thousand people. The tens of thousands of rioters facing us must be organized to help the army fight against the rioters. This is the original intention of rioters from Beizhi to establish a militia."

Wei Xuan nodded, "So has this happened?"

"It happened!"

Zhang Xuan said without hesitation: "In Linzi County. At that time, General Zhang led a large army to Jibei County to fight the invasion of Wagang Army. Beizi was ordered to lead 6,000 troops to restrain Zhang Jinzhi's 80,000 troops in Wucheng County, Qinghe County. At that time, there were only 500 defenders in Beihai County, so Zhang Jinzhi sent thousands of elite troops into Beihai County, trying to slaughter Beihai County and shake the morale of the soldiers. Ministers, there were only 500 soldiers in Beihai County. From Yidu County to Linzi County for rescue, but there was no soldier in Linzi County. How could he defend it when facing thousands of elite bandits attacked the city? But in the end, he not only defended Linzi. He also cooperated with the Sui army to wipe out thousands of elite bandits, saving the lives of more than 100,000 people. It was because of the militia that the militia guarded the county town."

There was silence in the hall, Zhang Xuan had a reasonable and well-founded manner, and used facts to illustrate the importance of the militia. Wei Xuan pondered for a moment and asked again: "Does the militia still exist now?"

Zhang Xuan shook his head, "I also said that the militia was only temporarily established. After the riots in Langya County were wiped out, there was no need for the militia to exist again. The militia was about to disband them after returning."

Wei Xuan quickly glanced at Emperor Yang Guang with an undetectable gaze. Yang Guang nodded slowly, indicating that he was acceptable.

Wei Xuan smiled and said, "Okay! The Ministry of War will send people to learn about the situation of the militia in the future. My second question is about Zuo Xiaoyou, the bandit leader of Donglai County. We heard that the general put Zuo Xiaoyou back to his hometown after attacking Squat Goushan. We were very surprised. Why didn't the general take him to Beijing for crime? Of course, the Ministry of War does not doubt that the general has any relationship with Zuo Xiaoyou, but it feels a little strange. I think it's a bit unreasonable. Can the general explain it?"

When the second question was asked, Su Wei and Xiao Yu couldn't help but look at each other. This was not a report on their work. They did not talk about how to suppress bandits, nor did they talk about the military's garrison arrangements, nor did they talk about military rations and materials expenditures. It was not a normal report on their work. It was clearly a strict review. Not only the two of them, but everyone else was unexpected.

Zhang Xuan himself was also very surprised. Su Wei gave him some questions, which were normal reports on his work, and asked him how to suppress bandits, how to deal with the surrendered bandits, etc., but he did not expect that Wei Xuan's problem was so sharp.

But Zhang Xuan saw the moment Wei Xuan glanced at Yang Guang. He already understood that it was actually Yang Guang asking himself.

Zhang Xuan was very alert in his heart. He replied carefully: "Reported to Secretary Wei, the attack on Donglai County bandits was led by General Zhang, and the army was led by General Zhang, and the main force of Zuo Xiaoyou was confronted by General Zhang. General Zhang led the army to confront Zuo Xiaoyou's main force. General Zhang sneaked into Zuo Xiaoyou's lair as a surprise soldier and captured Sanggou Mountain. In the end, Zuo Xiaoyou's 50,000 army was not defeated, but surrendered to the Sui army. According to the conditions of surrender, Zuo Xiaoyou was indeed released into the fields. General Zhang entrusted Beiye to monitor him?"

"Have you monitored?" Wei Xuan asked again.

Zhang Xuan nodded, "I sent ten soldiers to monitor his movements."

Since it was not Zhang Xuan's decision to release Zuo Xiaoyou back to his hometown, there was no need to continue asking this matter. Wei Xuan continued to spread the scroll and was about to ask the third question. At this time, Yun Dingxing, who was sitting in the back row, coughed gently and said with a smile: "Can I interrupt and ask General Zhang a small question."

Yun Dingxing's rudeness made Wei Xuan a little unhappy. According to convention, he asked first, and the prime ministers continued to ask after the end, and finally, the ministers watched the court to supplement some questions. Now it is not Yun Dingxing's turn.

However, Wei Xuan also knew that this was not Yun Dingxing's problem. Yu Wen Shu wanted to question Zhang Xuan. Yu Wen Shu couldn't come because of his health, so Yun Dingxing came forward for him.

Wei Xuan did not stop Yun Dingxing from asking questions. Yun Dingxing laughed dryly and asked, "I want to ask about the sudden death of Liang, the prefect of Beihai County."

As soon as Yun Dingxing said this, Zhang Xuan knew that Yuwen Shu was coming to trouble him. Originally, Yuwen Shu and Bohai would collude, so he wanted to use the Liang Zhi case to defeat him, but he was silenced in time, and the storm of this matter did not arise. Unexpectedly, Yun Dingxing actually used this matter to attack him when he reported his work.

Zhang Xuan's face changed. He was about to refute Yun Dingxing, but Yang Guang, who had been silent, said coldly: "I know very well about this matter. Don't ask General Zhang anymore. Secretary Wei will continue!"

Yun Dingxing was speechless and couldn't say a word. He heard the dissatisfaction in the tone of the emperor. He immediately realized that this matter was probably not as simple as Yuwen Shu said. Even the emperor knew about it. He was secretly annoyed in his heart. Yuwen Shu didn't ask, but asked him to trek in this muddy water. He must have known that the emperor knew about it. Yun Dingxing was angry with Yuwen Shu and did not dare to speak again.

At this time, Wei Xuan continued to ask: "My third question is about Beihai Pier. Why did General Zhang think of building Beihai Pier?"

Wei Xuan asked ten questions, which took an hour and a half. Each question was very sharp, including whether Zhang Xuan manipulated the local government of Beihai County? Did Zhang Xuanjian's cavalry get the approval of the Ministry of War? Why are there a large amount of forage planting in Beihai County, etc.

These questions shocked everyone. These questions all involved the core issues of self-respecting troops, which shows that the emperor had already become suspicious of Zhang Xuan, and if he was not careful, he would be doomed.

Zhang Xuan himself was also secretly shocked. These things were very secretive and the court might not know, but Yang Guang knew very clearly. Who secretly reported to Yang Guang secretly? Is it Xiao Huaijing or Pei In-ki?

Zhang Xuan restrained his inner tension and replied calmly: "The grass grown in Beizhi is called wild peas. It also has a common name called wild beans. It can be stored for ten years after drying. Beizhi accidentally discovered that hungry people planted this wild peas and survived the famine. At the same time, they raised dozens of sheep. This gave Beizhi a great inspiration. Planted wild peas to raise sheep and cattle, and prepare for disaster relief and food storage. Beizhi is a person who has seen famine and knows what a liter of bean cake means to the victims at critical moments. That is a matter of life."

Zhang Xuan talked happily and completely avoided the taboo topic of raising horses. It was obvious that the answers to these ten questions made Yang Guang quite satisfied. His cold face calmed down a lot. It was not until this time that Pei Ju breathed a light sigh.
Chapter completed!