Song Qing walked to the center of the hall, took out a neatly folded piece of rice paper from his sleeve and quickly unfolded it.
"Colleagues, at around 2:00 noon, our commander received a letter from the Golden Eagle from Ganzhou Huxiang Guard General Lu Chengjie.
I will now share the general information in the letter with my colleagues.
I, Chao Dai, Lu, Zhong...18 caravans followed the imperial decree, sold goods to benefit the country and the people, and went to the Western Regions for trade.
The specific reason is unknown for the time being, but we only know that this large caravan formed by eighteen merchants actually crossed the border of the Dawan Kingdom in the west and entered Tianzhu to trade with a country named Dashi.
And these 18 caravans, a total of 3,743 people, unexpectedly encountered the misfortune of killing and stealing goods from the local courts in the two countries.
There were more than 3,700 people, but only one person came back in the end, carrying the dragon flag and bringing the news back.
The rest of the people were brutally slaughtered and their bodies buried in foreign lands.
Regarding the specific situation that happened in the two countries, only the survivor who returned, Lu Fengshuang, the second son of the Lu family company, knew.
Now General Lu Chengjie has dispatched hundreds of elite Hu Xiang Guard cavalry to escort Mr. Lu Feng and Shuang Lu to the capital through wind and rain.
That's roughly the situation. "
After Song Qing finished speaking, he walked up to Liu Mingzhi and handed over the rice paper.
"Your Majesty, please take a look!"
All the officials reacted from the shock, and there was an uproar in the palace. The officials looked angry and discussed in low voices.
More than three thousand people were massacred. This was something that had never happened in the two years since the founding of the new dynasty!
Jiang Yuanming, the Minister of Household Affairs, looked even more gloomy and angry.
At first he was a little confused, but after Song Qing finished speaking, he suddenly remembered the identities of these eighteen caravans.
Aren't these the same group of eighteen caravans that came to the capital last year before setting sail on the Hou'an River in Haining? Their goods were overstocked and they came to the Ministry of Household Affairs for help, and were issued customs clearance documents by themselves?
Liu Mingzhi looked at the content on the rice paper, and the murderous intent flashed in his eyes. Although he had heard the news once from Song Qing, Liu Mingzhi was still furious when he saw the content on the letter with his own eyes.
If he hadn't been in the Qinzheng Palace, he would have lost his composure long ago.
Suppressing the anger in his heart, Liu Mingzhi looked calmly at Jiang Yuanming, the Minister of Household Affairs.
"Hubu, do you know the situation of these eighteen caravans?"
Jiang Yuanming hurriedly walked out holding the Chao Hut: "Report to Your Majesty, I know!"
"Oh? Tell me about the situation!"
"According to the decree!
To report back to Your Majesty, the old minister dared to make a long story short.
This matter has to start with the sailing of Hou An Jianghe of Haining in May last year. At that time, the veteran was handling official documents from the Ministry of Household Affairs in the cabinet, and the clerk from the palace office came into the palace to ask for an audience with the veteran...
Later, the old minister had no choice. After all, the ship had already set sail, and there was absolutely no possibility of turning back.
The old minister thought of a compromise and issued a customs clearance document from the Ministry of Revenue, allowing these eighteen caravans to go to Xinfu, Beifu, or the Western Regions for trade.
But why they passed through the countries in the Western Regions and entered the Tianzhu mentioned by King Wuyi, the veterans of the two countries had no way of knowing.
Not only did the veteran know about this, but he also had the official seals of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel. After all, the customs clearance documents were not issued by the veteran and the household department alone. "
"The Ministry of Personnel! The Ministry of War!"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, there is something like this.
At that time, it was indeed the customs clearance documents that were wholesaled by the two old ministers and Jiang Shangshu. "
"The veteran seconded the proposal."
"In other words, the caravan formed by these eighteen merchants has customs clearance documents issued by the imperial court that allow all state capitals to pass through without hindrance, and all the subordinate countries to allow them to pass. They also allow the caravan, like the officials and merchants, to fly under the flag Set up a big dragon flag to show your identity.
Yeah? "
"Reporting to your Majesty, according to the newly issued decree by the imperial court, this is indeed the case."
After Jiang Yuanming finished speaking, his face was filled with shame. He suddenly raised his hand and slapped his old face hard.
"Your Majesty, I think back to last year, I told the leaders of eighteen merchants that as long as the goods are genuine, all countries in the world can buy them. Everything will have the support of the imperial court.
Now that I think about it, irony! Extremely ironic!
It was the veteran who harmed them! "
Liu Mingzhi pounded the stone slab in the hall with a gloomy look.
"What a shame!
Naked shame!
There was a customs clearance document and Long Qi revealed his identity, but more than 3,000 merchants and civilians were brutally slaughtered, and their bodies were buried in a foreign country with no one to collect them.
This is my shame!
It is also a shame to all the ministers here!
It is even more of a disgrace to the imperial court!
This is a provocation to our Great Dragon Heavenly Dynasty, and it is also a demonstration against me! "
"Your Majesty, the map is here!"
"Spread it out!"
"According to the order!"
Xiao Chengzi greeted the six young eunuchs and slowly spread out a huge map in front of Liu Mingzhi. The latest map after Dalong unified the world and settled the territory was displayed in front of everyone.
Baiguan straightened up and looked at the map, directly skipping the map of Dalong's inner palace and scanning the maps surrounding the countries in the Western Region.
Xia Gongming looked at Liu Mingzhi with a puzzled expression: "Your Majesty, there are them in Tianzhu, Parthia, and Arabia, but there is no so-called big food in black!"
Liu Mingzhi took off his shoes, picked up the bamboo pole and walked towards the locations of the countries in the Western Regions, tapping the bamboo pole heavily on the map.
"This Arabia is the food in black."
The officials nodded clearly and glanced at the vague map of the border between Tianzhu and Dashi.
After all, Dalong's hand has not reached there yet. The current territorial map of the two countries is just a rough summary based on various situations. No one knows what the specific situation is.
Liu Mingzhi glanced at the map at his feet with a focused gaze: "These caravans composed of eighteen merchants, even if they passed through the border between Ershi City and Da Yuezhi in Dawan Kingdom, they should have entered the Parthian Kingdom. It's within the territory of.
How could he enter the territory of Black Clothes Dashi and Tianzhu?
Could it be that something has happened to this relatively strong Parthian country since I returned from the expedition to the Western Regions? "
Song Qing stood up and walked to the edge of the map and stopped: "Your Majesty, it has been ten years since the Western Expedition in the second year of Ruian.
We don’t know whether the Parthian Kingdom was engulfed or not. Since there is no news about the Parthian Kingdom in the letter, it seems that something happened to the Parthian Kingdom. "
Liu Mingzhi nodded thoughtfully: "The Spring and Autumn Period can be seen in ten years. Perhaps after we started training in the Western Regions, some turmoil unknown to us occurred in the countries of Parthia, Tianzhu, Kangju, and Dashi in the west.
But these are not important anymore.
The most important thing now is how to solve the problem of three thousand of my people being killed, raped, and brutally massacred. "
Liu Mingzhi threw the bamboo pole to Song Qing and walked towards the outside of the map.
"Little Chengzi!"
"We're here!"
"Immediately send me an oral order to have the imperial guards escort ten highly skilled doctors along the official road leading to Ganzhou in the northwest to meet with the officers of the Huxiang Guard.
At all costs, we must ensure that the second son of the Lu family, Lu Fengshuang, returns to the capital alive to attend the palace. "
"According to the order!"
"Chengzhi!"
"My son is here!"
"You leave the palace immediately and return to the house. Ask your concubine politely to ask for a ginseng plant. Then wait at the palace gate and hand it over to the imperial doctor with your own hands!"
"In compliance with the order, I will retire!"
After Liu Chengzhi and Xiao Chengzi ran out of the palace, Liu Mingzhi stood under the dragon platform and scanned the civil and military officials in the palace.
“My lords, please express your stance on this matter!
Especially the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs, your attitude is particularly important. "
Song Yu, Minister of the Ministry of War, walked out holding the Chao Hut with a heavy expression.
"The old minister suggested sending troops to fight against the thieves!
After the dispersion of the dynasty, the veteran officials immediately summoned officials from the Ministry of War to draft a strategy and submit it to the cabinet for approval.
Such a shame and humiliation must be paid for with blood by both countries. "
"Tobe?"
Jiang Yuanming walked out with a blushing face.
"Your Majesty, even if I tighten my belt and eat sweet potatoes for ten years, I will definitely raise enough food and grass for Your Majesty.
We, the Celestial Empire, will definitely raise an army to attack such a bloody feud to comfort the souls of more than 3,000 people in heaven! "
The statements of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Households completely made hundreds of officials who were equally angry come out to agree.
Even the old guy Xia Gongming showed his bloody side besides his uprightness.
"I respectfully invite your Majesty to march with heavenly troops to defeat the barbarians!"
Liu Mingzhi's eyes were focused, and he walked toward the dragon stage with a dragon's pace. He stood on the dragon stage and looked down at the civil and military officials in the palace.
"The world has just been unified, and the people feel at ease. I feel that God has the virtue of good things, and I want to make friends with all the countries in the world through friendly exchanges and exchanges of information. I don't want to start another war.
However, the barbarians are without moral principles and greedy. Seeing wealth makes you want to insult my heavenly power.
Kill my defenseless people and slaughter my loyal and kind subjects.
Such evil deeds are outraged by both humans and gods, and it is difficult to write about them.
From now on, we will expose the evil deeds of barbarians to the world.
Recruit a large number of brave soldiers and send them out to fight against the thieves.
The barbarians killed more than 3,000 of my people, so I destroyed more than 300 of their cities to rectify the power of Heaven.
Waiting for the day when all the generals rush to the capital.
Immediately attack the cruel barbarians and execute them from heaven! "
"Your Majesty, your Majesty, long live my emperor!"
