Emperor Zhou Ping's words were neither hurried nor slow, not impatient, but like a thousand pounds of stones pressed on everyone's hearts.

If the courtiers still treated the Xiyun Kingdom as before, they would agree with Emperor Ping of Zhou, and the Great Zhou Dynasty would be destroyed in more than thirty years.

They don't dare to say such a rebellious thing.

The official system and management of the Great Zhou, as well as the methods of selecting and promoting talents, and the policy of dealing with the enemy, were all continued from the previous dynasty.

At that time, the Great Qi was stronger than the Xiyun Kingdom, but it was still weakened by the continuous wars launched by the Xiyun Kingdom, coupled with natural and man-made disasters, turmoil in the court, corrupt officials and corrupt officials were rampant, the people were not able to make a living, and finally the country was destroyed.

The previous dynasty of Great Qi had such an end, how could the Great Zhou Dynasty escape such consequences?

"It is said that if you are poor, you will change, and if you change, you will be successful." Emperor Zhou Ping saw that everyone still didn't speak, and then continued to express his opinions, "It's time for change, what good opinions do you have Aiqing?" ”

Lord Zhou, the head of the household department, stood up, bowed to Emperor Zhou Ping, pondered for a moment and said: "There is a saying that if you do a good job, you will die, because there are too many battles, and the consumption of national strength is serious. Once there is a natural or man-made disaster, the imperial court cannot provide disaster relief in time, and it will be turbulent. In this way, it is necessary to reduce the consumption of war and fight less war, which is the most direct and effective way. ”

Emperor Zhou Ping heard the words of Lord Zhou, the head of the household department, and nodded, "Open source and reduce expenditure, now the effect of open source has not yet come out, so we can only start from the aspect of reducing expenditure." Reducing the number of wars can indeed reduce the cost of war. ”

"But now it's basically Xiyun Kingdom's offenses, and it's not that my Great Zhou wants to start a war, but to respond passively to the war. Now there is a question, how to get the West Cloud Kingdom to reduce the number of wars? How to make Xiyun Pavilion dare not start a war? ”

Lord Shangshu Chong of the Ministry of Rites got up, "Back to Your Majesty, my Great Zhou is the state of etiquette, and the co-lord of the world." We must use benevolence, righteousness and morality to influence these barbarian people and barbarian countries. ”

Emperor Zhou Ping raised his eyebrows when he heard the words of Master Shang Shuchong of the Ministry of Rites, "The Imperial Court under the Ministry of Rites is the yamen that has the most exchanges with Xiyun Kingdom and even neighboring countries. It is true that you have always advocated the use of etiquette and righteousness in dealing with neighboring countries. ”

"I won't talk about the things of the previous dynasty, Lord Chong is in the Ministry of Rites, from the bottom to the position of Shangshu, a total of twenty-six years. During this period, the Xiyun Kingdom launched a total of five wars against the Great Zhou, and the period of tearing up the peace talks became shorter and shorter. ”

"I want to ask you, with the etiquette of the Heavenly Empire, why didn't you reduce the number of wars waged by the Xiyun Kingdom? Why did the Great Zhou consume more and more grain, grass and military salaries in the last five wars? Why are there more and more dead and wounded soldiers? ”

After Emperor Zhou Ping said these words, his expression was gloomy.

When Lord Shangshu Chong of the Ministry of Rites heard this, he chuckled in his heart and immediately knelt on the ground, "Your Majesty forgives your sins, it is all humble and incompetent!" ”

Emperor Zhou Ping looked coldly at Lord Chong who was kneeling on the ground, "You are incompetent, otherwise how could you become more and more weak in dealing with the war of Xiyun Kingdom?" Obviously won the battle, why did my Great Zhou losses far exceed those of Xiyun Kingdom? For the sake of the so-called face, I actually gave the fat and ointment of the people of my Great Zhou to these shameless people in Xiyun Kingdom, who burned, looted, and rebelled! ”

Hearing His Majesty's stern reprimand, Lord Shangshu Chong of the Ministry of Rites trembled with fright and forced himself to calm down, "Your Majesty, Weichen is just dealing with it according to the usual practice. Before Weichen, it was also handled like this. ”

Emperor Zhou Ping laughed angrily when he heard this, "Since everything can be done according to convention, why promote a mediocre minister like you?" took my Great Zhou's Yulu, but what he did was to strengthen the Xiyun Kingdom. Are you a courtier of my Great Zhou, or a courtier of Xiyun Kingdom? ”

Master Shangshu Chong of the Ministry of Rites was even more afraid, and did not do a good job according to the usual practice, and the worst result was to be dismissed and demoted.

But the latter sentence is obviously that Emperor Zhou Ping suspects that he has dealings with Xiyun Kingdom, that is, he suspects him of collaborating with the enemy!

collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country, the crime will be increased by one degree, and the whole door will be beheaded.

Lord Chong hurriedly shouted injustice: "Your Majesty, Weichen is wronged!" Weichen is loyal to Da Zhou and His Majesty, and has no two hearts. Wechen swore to heaven that if he betrayed Da Zhou and betrayed His Majesty, he would let Wechen die a good death! ”

Emperor Zhou Ping replied coldly: "If everyone proves themselves with an oath, then what else is the law for?" So what else is the Criminal Department doing? After the Xiyun Kingdom mission entered Beijing, how many times did you go to the Shangshu Mansion of your Ministry of Rites? When did you go empty-handed? ”

Seeing this, Song Yushi got up and bowed, "Your Majesty, collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country is not a small crime, please also ask Your Majesty to be clear!" ”

Emperor Zhou Ping nodded and looked at the Shangshu of the Criminal Department, "Lord Sun, if there is one in the capital, as long as you have dealings with Xiyun Country and receive gifts from Xiyun Kingdom, they are all within the scope of investigation, and they can be found guilty of collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country." Liang Bao sent a copy of the dealings between the Ministry of Rites and Xiyun Kingdom to Lord Sun. ”

Lord Sun of the Criminal Department responded, "Yes, Your Majesty." ”

Regarding the behavior of Xiyun Kingdom, Lord Sun has heard about it, and it usually attracts people's attention. It's not that hard to investigate.

Lord Shangshu Chong of the Ministry of Rites kept in a cold sweat, "Your Majesty, Weichen has been wronged, and Weichen has never collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country." ”

Emperor Zhou Ping said coldly: "Is there any, you will know if you check it." He was taken down and put in a prison where he was carefully guarded to prevent him from committing suicide. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." The guards at the door came in and directly took away Lord Shang Shuchong of the Ministry of Rites.

The others looked at each other, not daring to plead.

Just now, the old man of Yushi Song spoke and demanded a strict investigation, and he did not dare to intercede with Lord Shangshu Chong of the Ministry of Rites.

Not only did His Majesty know, but even Lord Song knew that the envoys of the Xiyun Kingdom often gave gifts to the Chong family, and that Lord Chong also had exotic beauties sent by the Xiyun Kingdom. As for money, there should be it, but outsiders don't know the exact amount.

Lord Shangshu Chong of the Ministry of Rites was escorted down in public and imprisoned in prison. The follow-up needs to be investigated by the Criminal Department, and even if there is no collaborator and traitor in the end, the charge of dereliction of duty will definitely not escape.

It was very quiet in the study.

Emperor Zhou Ping looked around with a solemn expression, "My lords, with those so-called etiquette of the Heavenly Empire, you can't let the barbarians submit at all. The fall of the previous dynasty is a bloody fact. ”

"Since the founding of my Great Zhou Dynasty, Taizu and his three emperors, although they are not all working hard, have not appeared faint. However, the national strength is gradually depleted, and in the long run, the country will die sooner or later. I felt that I couldn't treat the Xiyun Kingdom like before, and I had to take new measures to change the consumption of the Great Zhou State by the Xiyun Kingdom. ”

Although Emperor Zhou Ping was very angry on the surface, he was very calm inside.

Li Yuanqing's method is really useful, just talking with his mouth, he can't talk about those Wenchen who are familiar with poetry and books and quote scriptures.

These data are real, as long as you are literate and can count, you can calculate them. No matter how good the writing is, it cannot negate the significance of these data.