Ghost Festival.

It is the five-day court, before Zhou Zhaowu ascended the throne, the ten-day dynasty of the Chang dynasty, since his accession to the throne, the time of the court meeting has also been changed from the original ten-day dynasty to the five-day dynasty.

In addition to the Chang Dynasty, there are also the Inner Dynasty and the Great Dynasty Meeting, the time of the Inner Dynasty is not fixed, and most of the people who participate in the Inner Dynasty are generals, servants, permanent attendants, loose cavalry and other additional officials.

These members who can obtain the status of additional officials are all more favored people around the king of Zhou, mainly the attendants around the king of Zhou, they do not belong to the system of the three princes and nine kings, and they are different from the servants who serve the daily sleep and food of the king of Zhou. Their main duties are to discuss political affairs, advise and collect relics, serve as advisers to the king of Zhou, and guard the palace to protect the safety of the king of Zhou, etc., and have a close relationship with the king of Zhou.

Compared with the Chang Dynasty and the Inner Dynasty, the Great Dynasty Meeting was held on the largest scale, mainly to demonstrate the prestige of the country. The participants were huge, some of them were officials from 2,000 to 600 stones, and some were representatives of the surrounding ethnic minorities who submitted to the Great Zhou. They are all eligible to participate in the Great Pilgrimage.

Wudeden.

It has always been the place of the regular court, and as soon as the hour arrived, that is, at seven o'clock in the morning, all the officials from 2,000 to 600 stone in the court arrived.

All the officials stood in two rows, with the right officer wearing a feather on his hat and the left side not.

Obviously, the people standing on the right are military attachés, and the people standing on the left are naturally civilian officials.

The Great Zhou Dynasty established the country by force, so the status of the martial artists in the Great Zhou has always been higher than that of the literati, so the martial artists stand on the more noble right side of the position.

The two rows of officials are separated by several meters, and neither of them cares about the other, which can be described as a clear distinction.

Before the king went to court, the officials on both sides were whispering to their familiar colleagues.

"Master Wei, have you heard? The Kei County we just recovered has been lost again! ”

"It is true! The official also heard that General Zhu Bangguo died in battle, but it was a pity for General Zhu. ”

"It is said that the Xia people produced a peerless general, and General Zhu Bangguo died at the hands of this person."

"The news I got is that the peerless fierce general of the Xia Kingdom is the sixth son of the current Xia King."

"This is a problem! The Xia people were already belligerent, but now that they have a peerless general, there will be no peace in the west! ”

……

Everyone is talking about the incident ten days ago, because Kyoto is located in the east of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the western border of the Great Zhou is tens of thousands of miles away, and the news is very lagging behind.

This is still the most urgent military news, and if you do other things, it will often take a month or two before the Kyoto side receives it.

Of course, the imperial court naturally had a faster way to contact the west, but it was generally not used lightly, unless it was a matter of great urgency.

"The king has arrived!"

As the eunuch's sharp voice sounded, everyone immediately stopped talking, straightened their waists, and looked serious.

A middle-aged man walked in from the side of the main hall, followed by two teams of attendants.

This person is wearing a bright yellow dragon robe, with a crown on his head that can only be worn by the Son of Heaven, and there are 12 dangling before and after the crown, and each one has a total of 12 jade beads in red, yellow, blue, white and black.

He was in a majestic figure, nearly a head taller than the attendants behind him, with a long beard under his chin, sword eyebrows, firm eyes, and a solemn expression, like a god descending from heaven.

This person is the most noble and powerful person in this land - Zhou Zhaowu, the king of Zhou.

With a firm step, he walked over to the golden dragon chair and sat down.

All the civil servants and military generals in the main hall immediately saluted: "Meet the king!" ”

"Let's get flat!"

After getting Zhou Zhaowu's words, the ministers of civil and military affairs straightened their waists.

Zhou Zhaowu didn't squint and said: "Before the widow entered the hall just now, Zhu Qing seemed to be discussing the war in the west. The widow doesn't hide it from you, Ji County is lost, and General Zhu is killed in battle! ”

The hall immediately became noisy, because there were still many ministers who did not know about it.

Seeing that the discussion in the hall was getting louder and louder, the internal official immediately reminded "Silence!" ”

Then the people ceased to talk about it.

"Xia Guo pretended to return the treasure of my Great Zhou, and sent troops to attack Ji County, General Zhu was killed in battle, and more than half of the defenders of Ji County were killed and wounded. Zhou Zhao martial arts.

"Nothing to discuss!"

A burly middle-aged man walked out of the row of military attachés and said in a loud voice: "The Xia people betray the alliance first, and our army should send troops to fight!" ”

"Not bad!"

Another military attache walked out and said angrily: "It's not once or twice that Xia Guo has broken the alliance, and there is no need to talk about the rules with such a small barbarian country, just kill it!" ”

"The minister seconded the proposal!"

"The minister seconded the proposal!"

……

Almost all the military attaches came forward, but only the civil officials remained motionless.

Zhou Zhaowu looked at an old man standing at the front of the civil official and said, "What does Xu Xiang mean?" ”

The old man was dressed in a red official robe, with gray hair, a goatee, and deep eyes, like two abysses, holding a wat board, motionless like a mountain.

It is the left prime minister Xu Chang.

Xu Chang stepped forward, saluted, and said, "The minister agrees to send troops!" ”

"Oh?"

Zhou Zhaowu was a little surprised, and said, "Why didn't the prime minister say it?" ”

Xu Chang said: "The minister is just thinking, how many soldiers and horses should the imperial court send?" Will it take back Kei County or attack other places? Will this lead to a war between the two countries? ”

"Xu Xiang, is this scared?"

The same person who spoke was an old man in a red official robe, standing at the front of the group of military attachés.

He has white hair and is older than Xuchang, but he is burly and full of energy, and his eyes are as wide as copper bells when he speaks, like a devouring tiger.

The old man is Cheng Zhijin, the prime minister of the right and the Marquis of Wu'an, who is respected by the world as the captain.

Xuchang looked at Cheng Zhijin and said: "What Xuchang means is that Kyoto is tens of thousands of miles away from the western border, and what is the situation at the border has been a matter of ten days." Whether or not to send troops should be asked about the situation before making a decision. ”

"Xu Xiang has never led troops or fought battles, so he may not know that the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and when you find out the situation, the daylilies will be cold!"

Cheng Zhijin snorted coldly, looked up at the Son of Heaven sitting on the dragon chair, and said: "The king has forgotten that not long ago, the Black Eagle Army of the Xia people attacked my Yinshan Matou Town, plotted to seize tens of thousands of horses from our army, and then slaughtered many villages in Yinshan County, and now it is a sneak attack on Ji County, and our army has suffered heavy casualties, how can this heavy blood debt not be reported?" ”

He raised his voice suddenly: "King, Lao Cheng thinks there is nothing to discuss. The Xia people are all wolf cubs who can't be fed, and they don't know the pain if they don't beat them. ”

"The minister has a play!"

At this moment, a middle-aged man in a red official robe walked out of the ranks of civil officials.

Zhou Zhaowu saw that it was the new Guanglu doctor Wei Xu, and motioned for him to continue.

Wei Zhen said: "Is the king ready to go to war with Baiyue in the south, Gaoshan in the southwest, Xia in the northwest, Mengwu, Zheng, and Lu in the north?" ”

As soon as these words came out, the hall was suddenly silent, and even Zhou Zhaowu frowned.

"One country against six countries, can the king be the enemy?" Wei Zhen asked again.

Immediately after that, several more civil officials walked out.

"King, the war is no trivial matter, once my Great Zhou takes the initiative to send troops to attack, it will inevitably provoke a war between the two countries. Zheng Guo and Lu Guo in the north will definitely not watch quietly, they will definitely send troops. ”

"Yes! King! If a battle can destroy the Xia Kingdom, this battle can be fought. But the Xia Kingdom now has twenty-eight states, and if it can't be destroyed, it will inevitably cause it to retaliate frantically. ”

"The minister thinks that those who talk about sword soldiers should be killed!"

……

The military attachés on the right saw that they had risen to the height of wanting to kill them, how could they still hold back.

"I think you guys are eggless cowards! Everyone has hit us, and you still don't dare to fight back! ”

"Phew! Some of them must have received the benefits of the Xia Kingdom, otherwise how could they speak for those Xia people? ”

"King! Please ask the king to investigate thoroughly! Find out the spies and punish them for the nine clans! ”

……

On the one hand, the people on both sides shouted that the other party should be killed regardless of the overall situation, misleading the country and the people, and on the other hand, shouting that the other party had mixed into the Xia State and the nine clans.

"You reckless men, do you know all day long that you don't need money to fight, kill, and fight? Don't you die in war? ”

"Whew! Rotten! Eggless cowards! Hearing that Xia Ren was killed, were his pants wet? ”

"You're just wetting your pants! Although I am a civil official, I am also a person who practices martial arts. ”

"Yo! Do you dare to argue with Lao Tzu? With your small body, Lao Tzu can beat your out with one punch! ”

"Hit it! When Lao Tzu is afraid of you! Later, if you are disabled, don't cry your nose with the king! ”

"Come on! Grandson! ”

……

Zhou Zhaowu sat on the dragon chair, watching his subordinates arguing there, spitting stars flying sideways, and one hand couldn't help but support his forehead.

Brain pain.

Seeing that both sides were about to start moving, the internal official shouted again: "Silence! ”

When everyone heard this, they separated "reluctantly" and returned to their positions.

"What Zhu Qing said is reasonable, whether to send troops or not, let the widow think about this matter again, and retreat from the dynasty!"

After saying this, Zhou Zhaowu stepped down from the dragon chair, leaving a group of civil and military generals to stand there.

A young civil official approached Prime Minister Xu Chang and said, "Prime Minister Xu, what does the king mean by this?" To fight or not to fight? ”

Xu Chang's eyes flashed, and he muttered: "The power of heaven is unpredictable, the king may be waiting for something." ”

"What are you waiting for?" The young civil servant was puzzled.

Xu Chang said: "Huangzhou is too far away from us, it has been more than ten days since the war reached here, there must be some action in Huangzhou, it is impossible to do nothing." ”

The young civil official suddenly thought of something, and said, "What does Xu Xiang mean is that the king is waiting for news from Lord Bao?" ”

"Humph! Bao Zheng, this old boy is not a fuel-efficient lamp, the king sent him to serve as the assassin of Huangzhou, that is, he entrusted everything in Huangzhou to him, I believe that Bao Zheng will definitely deal with this matter. Xu Chang said.

"So, everything in the west is decided by Lord Bao, so what's the point of discussion?" The young civil servant was confused.

Xu Chang looked at him and said, "You! See more, listen more, talk less, learn more! ”

"Not bad! There's still a lot to learn! ”

At this time, Cheng Zhijin, the right prime minister, walked over, looked at Xu Chang and said with a smile: "Xu Xiang, go to Lao Cheng's mansion to have two drinks?" ”

"Then bother!" Xu Chang arched his hand.

Then, the two walked out of the main hall side by side.

The young civil official looked at the left and right prime ministers who were still-for-tat just now, turned his head and walked together, and was dumbfounded.

He thought back to what the two elders had just said, and he didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in the gourds of these two people.

However, there was one thing he could see, and the two old men had seen what the king meant.

"What the hell do you mean?"

Confused, he walked out of the hall, and suddenly thought that he had to ask the two elders about this, but after looking for a long time, he didn't find their figures, as if they had disappeared out of thin air.

How did he know that Xu Chang and Cheng Zhijin were invited to the Taihe Hall by an internal official as soon as they left the Wude Palace.

Zhou Zhaowu, the Son of Heaven, had already taken off his dragon robe, changed into his regular clothes, and leaned lazily on the wooden dragon chair.

After the prime minister came in, he immediately bowed and saluted.

"Sit down." Zhou Zhaowu said very casually.

The two of them knelt on Zhou Zhaowu's left and right according to their words, obviously not the first time they had come here.

In fact, the Taihe Hall is the place of Zhou Zhaowu's inner dynasty, and he is naturally often involved as the prime minister of the left and right.

"What do you two think of today's court meeting?" Zhou Zhao martial arts.

The two glanced at each other, and they both knew that Zhou Zhaowu was going to listen to them tell the truth.

"Xu Aiqing, you say it first." Zhou Zhaowu looked at Xuchang at the bottom left.

Xu Chang said: "The old minister once heard such a sentence, soldiers, the major affairs of the country, the place of death and life, and the way of survival, must not be ignored." War is the most important matter of the state, where the life and death of the people are concerned, and the way in which the survival of the country is determined. ”

"What you said was said by the new general of the widow, and he made a lot of sense." Zhou Zhao martial arts.

Xu Chang continued: "The old minister thinks that the initiation of the war needs to consider many factors. The first is the mind, whether the people's minds can be aligned with the king's. If neither the courtiers nor the people support the war, and the king insists on waging war, such a war will be lost! ”

"You're right."

Zhou Zhaowu nodded, he had thrown this question in the court before just to see the opinions of the civil and military officials.

He Zhou Zhaowu was able to pull the Great Zhou back from the brink of collapse in just over ten years, and his national strength was thriving, relying on his ability to think about the people everywhere.

"What does General Cheng mean?" He looked at Cheng Zhijin on the other side.

Cheng Zhijin said: "It has been a while since Ji County was seized, and Bao Zheng's old boy must have responded, so you might as well wait for Bao Zheng's news." If the Xia people have to make an inch, Lao Chen feels that this battle must be fought, and it must be fought! ”

He said murderously: "Under the governance of the king, my Great Zhou is thriving, far better than the previous kings. But there had never been a great battle, and the swords of the soldiers were rusty. The Great Zhou is now in need of a big war, a battle of Liwei, so that the surrounding barbarian countries dare not underestimate my Great Zhou. ”

Zhou Zhaowu nodded slightly, and then threw out a tricky question: "How to deal with Lu Guo and Zheng Guo in the north?" ”

"Brush!"

Cheng Zhijin got up directly and said categorically: "The old minister is willing to put on armor and go into battle and swear to defend the north for the king!" ”

"The old minister is also willing to go to the north to share the king's worries!" Xu Chang also got up and said.

Zhou Zhaowu was overjoyed when he heard this: "Okay! All right! Monarchs and ministers are single-minded, and I will win in the Great Zhou! ”

At this moment, there was a commotion outside the temple......