In the Zichen Palace, everyone seemed to have been waiting for her to speak.

At the top, the old woman in dragon robe seemed to be used to such quarrels in private imperial meetings. She put away the memorial without changing her expression and asked:

"Where are the northern garrison troops?"

The female officer Caishang immediately led several palace officials to move an exquisite landscape sand table from the back hall and placed it in the center of the main hall.

Xia Guan Shangshu Wei Sixing immediately stepped forward and pointed out a certain location on the map respectfully:

"Sage, please read the latest news. These rebels have arrived in Hengzhou, and are still half way from Hongzhou and Jiangzhou where they threatened to return."

Wei Zhao lowered his eyes and nodded:

"It's been almost a month, and it's really slow."

Master Di put down his tea cup, held up his long sleeves with both hands, and nodded: "The sage understands clearly."

"Saint." Wei Jisi lowered his head slightly and reminded:

"The major affairs of the country are enshrined in the army, and there is no small matter in the army. The whole world is watching the saint. If it is handled improperly and indecisively, it will damage the majesty of the court and the face of the saint."

Shen Xisheng: "Dignity cannot be achieved by strong military suppression. The Great Zhou Dynasty should follow the king's way and be fair and clear, so that the world can return to its heart."

Wei Sixing, who was standing aside, suddenly said:

"I heard from people that Guizhou Governor Shi Lan Changhao has a heart for boxing. Since the imperial court promulgated the decree on Tianshu and the statue, he has actively responded to the call of the center, personally selected the site, and went to Jiangzhou to observe...

"I want to build an outstanding Buddha for the saint to spread the glory of the saint and the prestige of the Great Zhou Dynasty to the Tusi people in the remote southwest.

"I heard that the reason why Guizhou garrison is advocated for a small extension this time is because Guizhou is remote, has a lot of indigenous people, it is difficult to collect taxes, the state government's finances are relatively stretched, and demobilizing the garrison is a large additional expense.

"It is said that it is difficult to be a local official, let alone a local official in such a remote state capital. Lan Changhao had no choice but to prioritize and put the main financial resources of the current state capital on the construction of Buddha statues."

Shen Xisheng's heart thumped. Liang Han's previous concerns in his letter were correct. The two kings of the Wei family were indeed cunning and pulled the tiger skin of "a statue for the emperor" into trouble.

His expression remained unchanged, he turned around and chuckled:

"Why does His Highness Prince Liang talk more and more like Lan Changshi has a roundworm in his belly? He knows so clearly."

Wei Sixing didn't show any annoyance on his face and replied with a smile:

"Then Master Shen, whose belly is it like a roundworm?"

Ignoring the two "roundworms", Wei Jisi, who was the envoy of Tianshu and the supervisor of the Buddha statues, said with a straight face:

"Sage, I have read the transcript of Ouyang Lianghan's memorial, and what he said is not completely wrong. However, this person is a bit too demanding of others by the standards of saints and saints.

"Although Guizhou Lan Changhao is strict and impatient, and a little fierce in politics, what is wrong with his sincere heart to share the worries of the court and make statues of saints?

“Not everyone is as wealthy as Yangzhou and Jiangzhou.

"Looking at this matter, Lan Changhao made some small mistakes, but his attitude was correct. It would be difficult for anyone in his position to have both.

"In addition, it is too coincidental that the Guizhou mutiny happened at this juncture. It is difficult for people not to think that there are traitors who are opposed to Tianshu and the statue, instigating the garrison behind the scenes, inducing mutiny, and deliberately causing trouble.

, to interfere with the imperial policy.

"This matter cannot be ignored."

Wei Jisi's tone was meaningful.

Wei Zhao slightly raised his eyelids.

Wei Sixing caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye and took the opportunity to say:

"Knowing that the imperial court was in trouble and the state capital was in trouble, yet he mutinied and returned home without caring about the overall situation. There must be thieves making noise and the garrison soldiers returning north, so they returned home with malicious intent.

"If instead of suppressing it with thunder, the rebels were allowed to go and punish the chief minister Lan Changhao harshly, then other state capitals in the world who made statues and collected copper tributes would see it, wouldn't they imitate it?

"Everyone will follow the example of the Guizhou garrison who 'returned home maliciously'. How should the court deal with it then? Will the central authority of the court still be respected?

"The sage has a clear warning and is on guard against the slightest change."

Wei Zhao closed his eyes and listened for a while, then slowly opened his eyes:

"Ji Si, what Si Xing said is not unreasonable." He turned around and said, "What do you think, Mr. Guo? You have something to say."

On the imperial stool, the fat old man with downcast eyes seemed to be in a drowsy state while listening to the argument. He opened his eyes, took his long sleeves out of his sleeves, and propped them on his legs:

"The kings of Wei and Liang really took the overall situation into consideration and shared the worries of the saints everywhere.

"However, since we have talked about guarding against possible dangers, we will not discuss for the moment whether the mutiny among the Guizhou garrison soldiers was provoked by Lan Changhao.

"Old minister is foolish and still has some confusion.

"What if all the governments in the world, seeing that Guizhou has no worries, start to imitate the example, under the guise of creating a Buddha, holding high the banner of the Holy Spirit, wasting people and money, enriching their own pockets, and causing great trouble again, what should we do?

"How should the kings of Liang and Wei prevent Du from the 'slightly gradual' situation?"

Wei Jisi and Wei Sixing's expressions changed slightly.

Empress Wei Zhao tilted her head and held her forehead with her palms.

Shen Xisheng took advantage of the victory and pursued it, saying:

"In the final analysis, it is nothing more than a battle over which of Ouyang Lianghan, Lan, Wang, and Zhu is true.

"Then check it out!

"Your Majesty can send a supervisory envoy to Guizhou to comfort the border guards and investigate the statues in Guizhou Hall.

"Let's see if it's because of the real lack of money and food that forced us to reduce military expenditures, or because Lan Changhaomei bullied his superiors, acted selfishly, and misused official tools, which resulted in repeated postponements and forced a mutiny.

"The Supervisory Envoy will go to Hongzhou and Jiangzhou again to thoroughly investigate Lan Changhao's lobbying for an extension. He will also check to see if he bribed or gave gifts to the military commanders of the two states and secretly communicated with each other."

Wei Jisi was dissatisfied:

"Currently, the rebel garrison is on the way. The central government should focus on how to deal with the military disaster. At this juncture, Master Shen is investigating thoroughly one by one. Xiao Wang is very suspicious that Master Shen is taking the opportunity to eradicate dissidents."

Shen Xisheng sarcastically said: "His Royal Highness the King of Wei really knows how to use the overall situation to overwhelm others, standing on the commanding heights."

"You and I should put the overall situation of the imperial court first. We will wait until the urgent matters at hand are resolved. When the time comes, Xiao Wang will be the first to support you. Mr. Shen, don't forget the priority and the importance."

The old woman in the dragon robe sat leaning on her forehead, unable to see clearly the expression under her drooping crown. She was quiet for a while and said:

"Yao Qing, Wei Qing, what do you think?"

"Sage, this humble minister is ignorant and has little knowledge. After listening to it, I feel that Master Shen's words are reasonable, but..."

Yao Gongyu glanced at the empress Wei Zhao above him, paused for a moment, and said:

"But His Highness the King of Wei said something very good, and Wei Chen deeply believed it.

"We should focus on the overall situation of the imperial court, and the most urgent task is how to deal with the garrison troops returning from the north.

"Now the whole world is watching the saints and the court. We need to make a decision quickly. Please note that the longer these military matters are delayed, the easier it is to cause chaos. The example of Yingzhou is right in front of us."

Shen Xisheng frowned slightly, and in the mud again, he faintly tilted towards Wei.

However, this Yao Gongyu is not entirely a member of the Wei family, but has always been on the side of Her Majesty the Queen.

When Her Majesty the Queen changed her position to become emperor of Zhou Dynasty, this person was the first to stand up and support her.

Because he was good at figuring out the holy will, he usually said what His Majesty wanted to hear, without offending the Wei family and the Liberation faction too much.

So in a sense, this person's speech can roughly represent His Majesty's attitude.

"Ai Qing thinks whether to deploy troops to suppress it."

Wei Zhao asked.

"This matter..." Yao Gongyu hesitated slightly.

"Sage, I personally think it is inappropriate to mobilize troops to suppress this."

Wei Zhenzai spoke.

This old prime minister, who has always been taciturn, can be regarded as one of the senior ministers with the highest qualifications among the ministers Yi Zi present today, second only to Master Di.

"Wei Qing, please speak."

Wei Zhenzai coughed, waved his hand to reject the towel handed to him by the female officer, and said weakly:

"The garrison troops returning from the north have arrived at Hengzhou on the Jiangnan Road. The Jiangnan Road is no better than the Lingnan Road. It goes down the Yangtze River and connects to the Huainan Road. The Jianghuai River has been the most prosperous area in the world since ancient times, and the world's taxation relies on two roads.

"Even if an order was immediately issued to mobilize troops to suppress and intercept the garrison troops in the north, they would still be close to the two prefectures of Hong and Jiang, which are the gateways to the southeast.

"Even if the officers and soldiers defeat the northern garrison troops on the road, if they cannot be wiped out and the resulting chaos breaks out and causes trouble, how should we deal with it?

"The Jianghuai River has been at peace for a long time. Once the defeated troops disperse to the southeast to cause chaos and disrupt tax and water transportation, the consequences will be disastrous."

Wei Zhenzai sighed: "You must not force him or suppress him on the road."

Master Di nodded: "Good."

Wei Jisi and Wei Sixing frowned and stopped talking.

Shen Xisheng's face agreed:

"Mr. Wei is a man of true knowledge and insight, and is the pillar of the country. We should not force troops to suppress it. We should send envoys to appease the soldiers and allow the garrison soldiers to return home. At the same time, we should severely punish the criminal officials involved in order to calm the morale of the army and quell the mutiny."

Wei Jisi immediately refuted it:

"Master Shen indulged the arrogant and powerful generals, and paid off the criminal officials one by one. The little king appointed Songde Tianshu and the governor of the Buddha statues in all directions. Is it true that even the little king is the criminal official in your mouth, and Master Shen must also punish him severely?"
To be continued...