Asked about Qi Guo, Zhao Xu's eyes sank, and his face showed a thoughtful look.

Zhao Heng didn't urge, just picked up the tea cup on the table and tasted it slowly.

After about a moment, Zhao Xu spoke:

"Father, my son has lived in Qi for three years, and although he has some experience in the affairs of Qi ...... country."

When Zhao Heng heard this, he waved his hand and smiled:

"It's okay, just talk about it, just talk about it after dinner. When it comes to the Qi State, Ruo Xu'er has been in the Qi State for three years, but what are I and the princes of the court? ”

In the end, there was no shortage of self-deprecation in the words.

Obviously, the defeat of the Northern Expedition has become an insurmountable hurdle in Zhao Heng's heart.

Seeing that when it came to this, Zhao Xu didn't want to say anything modest, and said everything he saw and heard in Qi Kingdom.

"Father, according to the opinion of the ministers, now the general trend of the Qi country has been completed, the soldiers are strong, although my Dachu has been recuperating for five years, but I can't compete with it."

Before the words fell, Zhao Jing, the eldest prince and king of An on the side, had already opened his mouth and said coldly:

"Third brother, I heard that you have been in Qi Country for three years, and you often linger in the Qin Mansion Chu Pavilion. Xu is this beauty's soft words, which completely wiped out the ambition in the fourth brother's chest, and actually said such depressing words. ”

The implicit meaning of these words is extremely clear, one is to accuse Zhao Xu of losing his ambition, and the other is to secretly poke and poke that he has lost the face of the Zhao family's royal family in Qi State.

When Zhao Xu heard this, his eyes swept over Zhao Jing's eagle eyebrows, and he said lightly:

"Eldest brother, you are stable in the Chu Kingdom, so naturally I don't know what kind of life the younger brother is living in the Qi Kingdom. If you don't often go to the hook column to listen to music, how can you dispel the doubts of the whole Qi country? If you don't linger in the Qinlou Chu Pavilion, how can you use the mouth of the singer to find out some information about the Qi Kingdom? Although the younger brother is a little out of line, he is still clean. ”

Seeing that Zhao Jing was about to open his mouth to refute, Zhao Heng frowned and said coldly:

"Boss, that's enough!"

Zhao Jing's eyes lit up, and he closed his mouth.

"Third brother, I've been suffering to you these days, it's the second brother who can't stand you."

Zhao Chun, who was sitting on the side, looked at Zhao Xu and said with shame.

The failed Northern Expedition five years ago was led by the crown prince Zhao Chun.

Therefore, Zhao Xu entered Qi as a hostage, and the most ashamed and uneasy thing in his heart was Zhao Chun himself.

In Zhao Chun's eyes, he himself was the culprit who single-handedly sent his biological brother into the mouth of the tiger wolf of Qi State.

"The second brother doesn't want to say this, as a child of the Zhao family, when the family and country are in danger, he has to stand up. Otherwise, what face do we have to accept the offerings of the people of this Chu country? ”

Zhao Xu's words made Zhao Heng nod his head.

"Xu'er, go on, you two, don't interrupt. If there are any different opinions, it will not be too late to wait for the third child to finish speaking. ”

Zhao Xu nodded and turned the topic back to the state of Chu again.

"Father, the Qi State respects the Buddha Gate [Great Bodhi Temple] as the state religion, and spreading the Buddhist martial arts up and down in the Qi army can indeed raise the combat power of the Qi army to a higher level, but there will be advantages and disadvantages. Now that Emperor Qi is nearly seventy years old, how many years can he reign? When Emperor Qi dies and the new emperor of Qi ascends the throne, will he tolerate the expansion of Buddhism in Chu as in the past? This is one of them.

Second, in order to fight against the Great Cadres and suppress the three prefectures in Jiangbei, the Qi State has more and more troops year by year, but recruiting troops and buying horses requires a lot of money. The land of Qi is far less vast than that of my Great Chu, even if you exhaust your geographical advantages and scrape the people's ointment, it is difficult to support it. What's more, Buddhism is a good hand at collecting money, and the current Chu Emperor will not talk about it for the time being, but when the new emperor ascends the throne, will he watch the private wealth flow into the hands of Buddhism?

Third, not to mention that my Chu State is in the same situation as the Great Qi because of the affairs of the three prefectures in Jiangbei and Buddhism. As far as the Confucian Qianguo is concerned, will it allow a Qi state that is politically integrated and extremely powerful to emerge? Don't you hear that on the side of the couch, how can you allow others to snore? ”

Zhao Heng listened, and his eyes couldn't help but show a look of appreciation.

The three points that Zhao Xu said all talked about his itch.

Among the three points, the first two points are the contradiction between the imperial power and the religious power of the Qi State, and the competition between the imperial power and the religious power for the wealth of the people.

As long as these two points exist, it is a big thunder buried in the Qi country, and it depends on when it will explode.

It is precisely because Zhao Yu, the Taizu of Great Chu, saw the disadvantages of Buddhism that he uprooted the foundation of Buddhism in Jiangnan in one fell swoop after unifying Jiangnan.

The last point is the external predicament of Qi State.

As Zhao Xu said, on the side of the couch, how can others snore.

As the largest country in the Central Plains, it is impossible for Qianguo to watch the strong rise of Qi.

As an emperor, what he lacks most is patience.

Even if his own generation can't succeed and recover the three prefectures of Jiangbei that fell into the hands of the Qi State, don't you still have these excellent children and grandchildren?

Looking at the three people sitting under him, Zhao Heng thought of it.

"However, father, although the Qi Kingdom has such and such hidden dangers, my Great Chu is not perfect. On the way back, after passing through Pingyang Pass, Erchen was robbed and killed by bandits. If it weren't for ......"

Before Zhao Xu finished speaking, Zhao Heng, who was sitting on the main seat, had suddenly got up, his face was full of anger, and he asked in a cold voice:

"Robbed and killed by bandits? Someone did it, what a bold man! ”

Zhao Heng's anger, one is that the person who was robbed and killed is the prince of Chu State, and the other is that the three words "Pingyang Pass" that Zhao Xu said in his mouth stirred his nerves.

After passing Pingyang Pass, he was intercepted and killed, which means that it happened outside Shenjing City.

This time it's outside the city of Shenjing, isn't it time to go inside the city next time?

Next time, in the palace?

This time it was the prince who was robbed and killed, will it be the crown prince next time, and will it be his turn as the emperor next time?!

The appearance of this kind of thing can't allow Zhao Heng to think about it too much.

As Zhao Heng, whose face was gloomy, spoke, the temperature in the Qianqing Hall dropped by several degrees suddenly, and a chill unconsciously welled up in everyone's hearts.

The Son of Heaven was angry and ambushed millions of corpses, not just talking.

"Near Shenjing City, there is such a bandit, what are the soldiers and the Beijing camp doing? Won't it take until these thieves storm the palace and cut off my head before they can react? This group of bureaucrats thinks that I am magnanimous and don't like to deal with others, so I can do whatever I want? His heart can be punished! ”

Zhao Heng said that, he still couldn't understand his hatred, got up suddenly, and threw the teacup in his hand out of the hall.

"Smack!"

I only heard a crisp sound, the tea cup and the bluestone slab collided together, the porcelain pieces splashed in all directions, broken everywhere, and the tea flowed sideways, only to feel shocked.

Zhao Jing and Zhao Chun glanced at each other, and they both saw the look of horror in each other's eyes.

In the past three or four years, I have never seen my father so angry.

"Father's anger!"

After Zhao Xu and the three of them were slightly stunned, they all knelt on the ground.

When the eunuchs and maids outside the hall heard Zhao Heng's angry voice and the sound of the tea cup breaking, their hearts were shocked, and they all knelt on the ground and said in unison:

"Your Majesty is angry!"

Looking at the figure kneeling inside and outside the hall, Zhao Heng took a deep breath, waved his hand, and said a little tiredly:

"Get up, I don't want to be angry with you. Tomorrow morning, the three of you will also go to court together. Tomorrow, I would like to ask this military department and the Beijing camp what is the intention of conniving at bandits in the suburbs of Beijing? ”