Imperial Palace, Imperial Study Room.
"Master Zhou, why are you so anxious to find me?" Empress Liang Zhao sat on the dragon chair, looking at Zhou Zhenwen and asked.
To be honest, she was very curious. Today was a day off. Why did Zhou Zhenwen suddenly come to her if he didn't stay at home to rest?
"May I ask, Your Majesty, have you ever sent someone to Qingzhou secretly?" Zhou Zhenwen bowed his hands and asked directly without covering up.
As soon as these words came out, Empress Liang Zhao frowned, raised her hand and ordered: "You all stand down."
"Yes." The palace maids and eunuchs all saluted and exited the imperial study.
"Master Zhou, what do you mean by this?" Empress Liang Zhao's face was not very good. After all, she is also the emperor, she is the king. To question her like this, this Zhou Zhenwen is simply daring!
"Did His Majesty send dragon guards to follow him secretly?" Zhou Zhenwen did not answer and continued to ask.
"Zhou Zhenwen, what do you want to do?" Empress Liang Zhao was furious. She stood up, pointed at Zhou Zhenwen, and scolded: "Zhou Zhenwen, you are so bold! Do I need to report anything I do to a minister of yours?"
"Are you questioning me?"
Facing the angry emperor, Zhou Zhenwen remained calm and lukewarm, and said, "Does Your Majesty know that they are heading to Qingzhou on a post horse?"
"So what?" Empress Liang Zhao frowned slightly, not understanding what the problem was.
The station horses were originally used for military and government affairs. As the emperor's personal guards, what was the use of these horses by the Dragon Guards?
"Even I know the movements of the dragon guards. May I ask, Your Majesty, Qingzhou Prefect Zhang Qi doesn't know?" Zhou Zhenwen looked at the empress Liang Zhao and asked.
As soon as these words came out, Empress Liang Zhao's face changed slightly. She understood what Zhou Zhenwen meant, and the whereabouts of the Dragon Guards were exposed!
The exposure of the Dragon Guard also means that the actions of the Dragon Guard may be under Zhang Qi's surveillance.
Once Zhang Qi, the governor of Qingzhou, knows that the Dragon Guard is in contact with the Qingzhou family, he may take the initiative and start the Qingzhou Incident in advance, causing her plan to fall short...
"Zhou...what are you going to do?" Empress Liang Zhao didn't care about Zhou Zhenwen's presumption and asked.
"For the current plan, we can only let Feng Qian hold Zhang Qi back and not return to the capital to report for the time being."
Zhou Zhenwen said calmly: "As long as he is still in Qingzhou, Zhang Qi, who does not want to break up with the court so quickly, will not rebel easily."
"But there is a premise, that is, the Dragon Guard's plan cannot be exposed. Once exposed, over time, I am afraid that Zhang Qi will find something wrong and take action in advance to control Qingzhou."
"Okay, I know what to do." Empress Liang Zhao nodded slightly, understanding Zhou Zhenwen's thoughts, "However, if we just stabilize Zhang Qi, the crisis in Qingzhou may still be difficult to solve."
"I think that if we want to break this situation, we must dispatch the worshipers from the enshrinement hall." Zhou Zhenwen said the purpose of entering the palace this time.
"Huh? Send out offerings?" Empress Liang Zhao thought for a moment and felt that this was a good plan.
Qingzhou's situation is difficult to break, there are only two points.
First, Zhang Qi has been in Qingzhou for many years and has deep-rooted influence. With the support of the forces of the Sirius Kingdom, he is considered a local bully and even Qingzhou Governor Chen Jia is difficult to deal with.
Secondly, the attitude of the Qingzhou family is ambiguous. They must be aware of Zhang Qi's behavior, but they all choose to turn a blind eye and watch indifferently the collusion between the Sirius Kingdom and Zhang Qi. Even the empress Liang Zhao is suspicious. Some people from the Qingzhou family were also involved in this transaction.
After all, without some support from the Qingzhou family, even Zhang Qi would not be able to empty out the entire Qingzhou grain reserve. The cooperation between them must be profit sharing at all levels. Anyway, Zhang Qi is on top, if something goes wrong, Qingzhou will The aristocratic family also has a way to stay out of the matter. It is impossible for them to directly cooperate in this matter in the name of the family. In this kind of transaction, it is particularly normal to pass one hand or two hands.
Find a scapegoat family to act as the middleman. If something happens, let their family take the blame and they can stay out of it.
It seems difficult to break the situation, but in fact, it is not impossible.
"Master Zhou, do you want to capture the thief first and capture the king first, and control Zhang Qi first to make Zhang Qi's plan fail?" Empress Liang Zhao sat down again and asked tentatively.
Zhou Zhenwen nodded and admitted directly: "Yes, Zhang Qi dared to embezzle the imperial court's grain reserves, and there must be support from foreign forces. However, foreign forces are foreigners after all, and they are not of my race. Their intentions must be different, and they cannot be on the stage. Once Zhang Qi dies, no one in Qingzhou can cause turmoil. The Qingzhou family does not dare, and other prefects and counties do not have the courage. As for Qingzhou governor Chen Jia, he is not a person who colludes with foreigners and seeks personal gain."
The meaning of Zhou Zhenwen's words is actually very simple. It simply means that only with Zhang Qi's presence can the power of the Sirius Kingdom and the forces under his command set off the Qingzhou rebellion, but without Zhang Qi, no one can shoulder this heavy responsibility.
Fame may seem illusory, but in fact, it is extremely useful.
With no prestige and just a few words, you can pull a large group of people to follow you to rebel?
Who did it?
No one is stupid. Of course, people will do things that are profitable. Naturally, no one will do things that are unprofitable and know that they will lead to death.
"Are you worried that there will be a strong master in Qingzhou when you send out offerings?" Empress Liang Zhao continued to ask.
Zhou Zhenwen nodded and said: "It's not about worry, it's about affirmation. Zhang Qi is only interested in profit and unscrupulous. Likewise, he is most afraid of death. If he dares to rebel, he must be protected by strong men. There is only one strong master in Qingzhou, Red Whale. The former leader of the gang, Ouyang Wudi, lives in seclusion in Cyanwood Mountain, but it is impossible for him to work for Zhang Qi. The Red Whale Gang is a major shipping gang, and he is aloof. Once he contributes to the rebels, he will inevitably be implicated in the Red Whale Gang."
"But those grandmasters from the Sirius Kingdom don't have so many scruples."
"I think that they support Zhang Qi so much. In addition to the food and grass in Qingzhou, I am afraid they also have the idea of taking the opportunity to invade the Central Plains after Qingzhou rebels."
Empress Liang Zhao nodded slightly and strongly agreed with Zhou Zhenwen's point of view. According to the prompts of Empress Simulator 2.0, there is indeed an option for barbarian invasion in the future, indicating that barbarian invasion will indeed occur in the future.
The Qingzhou Incident is probably one of the causes.
"I will arrange this matter." Empress Liang Zhao had a plan in mind.
"Then I'll take my leave." Zhou Zhenwen nodded. He had done what he should do. As for how Emperor Xuan arranged and dealt with it later, it had nothing to do with him.
After saying that, Zhou Zhenwen was about to leave, but was stopped by Empress Liang Zhao.
"etc."
Zhou Zhenwen stopped and looked at Empress Liang Zhao: "Is there anything else, Your Majesty?"
"I seem to have never said anything about Qingzhou, how did you learn about it?" Empress Liang looked after Zhou Zhenwen. She always felt that Zhou Zhenwen was extremely mysterious and difficult to see through. No matter how powerful his martial arts skills were, She was also surprised and shocked by the almost ghostly formation ability.
What other secrets is he hiding?
"Your Majesty, I have many friends. I have also heard about some things in the world. Although the whereabouts of the dragon guards are secret, they cannot escape the eyes of people in the world, nor can they escape the attention of interested people." Zhou Zhenwen naturally would not say anything about himself. There are also intelligence organizations that are constantly collecting intelligence from all over the world, and they said casually.
"Haha!" Empress Liang Zhao chuckled. She did not believe Zhou Zhenwen's words at all, "Okay, please step back."
"I excuse myself." Zhou Zhenwen saluted, turned and left.
Empress Liang Zhao watched Zhou Zhenwen leave and said, "Let Yang Lie and Zhou Xiong come and see me."
"Yes." The eunuch hurriedly walked towards the courtyard where the worship hall was located.
