In the luxuriously decorated Longtai Palace, the lights flickered constantly.
"Oh? Uncle Cheng is back?"
Being disturbed by Chen Zhong, Zhao Yong's original sleepiness disappeared instantly. He simply stood up and asked Si Yue to change his clothes.
"My lord, you are too tired. If you have anything to do, we can discuss it at the meeting tomorrow. Just go to bed early today." Si Yue stood up and said angrily.
"No, Zhao country is in a critical moment now. As the king of a country, how can I be greedy for temporary pleasure?"
"It is said that Xiangbang, Fei Yi, Li Dui, Lou Xu and Lord Anping are meeting in the Beigong." Zhao Yong said to the outside of the palace.
"You go take a bath first, and I will pamper you when I get back." He kissed the girl's forehead lightly.
After saying that, Zhao Yong strode out of Longtai Palace.
…
In the winter in the North, the days are short and the nights are long. At three o'clock in the morning, most of the people in Handan City are already immersed in sleep.
In Zhao Wangcheng, in the North Palace, the entire palace was like daytime, brightly lit.
Zhao Yong sat cross-legged alone at the top.
Sitting cross-legged on the left side of the lower head are Zhao Bao, Prime Minister Yang Wenjun, and Zhao Cheng, Lord Kou Anping.
On the right are three important ministers: Fei Yi, Li Dui and Lou Su.
Zhao Yong glanced at the people below him, and he understood that these five people were the top leaders of Zhao State at this time, and they were also the team left to him by Zhao Suhou.
"Uncle Cheng, this mission to South Korea went smoothly. What is Han Hou's attitude towards our Zhao country?" Zhao Yong asked first.
"When I return to my country, I no longer trust me, Hanhou Kang is willing to renew our alliance with Zhao. When I said goodbye, Hanhou promised in person that if Wei and Qin attack Zhao, South Korea is willing to fight with Zhao and help us. ." Zhao Cheng replied truthfully.
"Okay! With South Korea controlling the rear, our Zhao country will no longer be afraid of the threats from the two countries."
Han Kang's choice was wise. If he followed the opinions of Qin and Wei and had a quarrel with Zhao Sheng, it would undoubtedly be seeking skin from a tiger, which was never advisable.
Today's South Korea also needs the power of Zhao to control each other.
No one dares to act rashly, which is the best choice for South Korea, which is a weak country.
Although Zhao Yong had already predicted this, the feeling when he heard Zhao Cheng say it in person was still different.
"I just returned to the Kingdom of Zhao when I heard that the monarch was harassed by assassins in the palace a few days ago. Has the identity of the assassin been found out now?" Zhao Cheng suddenly said worriedly.
Today, Zhao Yongyiran is the spiritual pillar of Zhao State. Especially this time, he outsmarted the five-nation coalition and kept the enemy out of the country without spending a single soldier. This won the hearts of the entire Zhao people. Even Zhao Cheng, who originally did not support Zhao Yong's succession, completely surrendered. .
In this special period, Zhao Yong's body must not have any problems, otherwise Zhao Guo will face a disaster.
Without waiting for Zhao Yong to reply, Fei Yi took over the conversation, cupped his hands towards Zhao Cheng and said, "Fei Yi has obtained the monarch's order and has found out on behalf of Lord Anping that this assassination was planned by Luo Sheng."
Zhao Cheng's job is to be the chief secret officer of Zhao State, specializing in criminal law and anti-theft. This time Zhao Cheng went to South Korea as an envoy, and Fei Yi performed his duties on his behalf. This is what he said.
"Can we find out who killed him?" Zhao Cheng asked again.
"No." Fei Yi replied helplessly.
When the ministers heard Fei Yi's words, they all looked at each other in shock.
Zhao Yong was once embarrassed when he saw the scene.
He hurriedly changed the subject and said: "Li Dui should be the chief contributor in this war with the Five Kingdoms. I want to confer him the title of Yaqing. Lou Sui also made great contributions in guarding the border, so he can be conferred the title of Grand Master. Dear ministers, do you have any objections?"
Li Dui and Lou Huan's original titles were Shangdafu, but now Li Dui's title was directly upgraded to Yaqing by two levels, which shows that Zhao Yong recognized his contribution this time.
(At this time, except for the Qin Kingdom, which had the title of twenty-first rank after Wei Yang’s reform, the ruling tiers of the other countries were divided into three levels: Qing, Dafu, and Scholars: Qing was further divided into Shangqing, Yaqing, and Shaoqing, and Dafu was further divided into chiefs. Doctor, upper doctor, middle doctor.)
"I dare not take the first credit, everything is planned by the king." Li Dui flattered him at the right time, and then continued: "However, I should ask for credit for one person."
"Oh? Who?"
"Captain Lian Cheng of Zhongmou! This son is not afraid of the threats from other countries outside Zhongmou City and vigorously refutes the envoys. If we want to say that he has merit, this son should be in front of the ministers." Li Dui replied.
"Lian Cheng, are you the queen of famous people?" Zhao Yong felt that this name was a bit familiar.
He had never heard of Lian Cheng, but Lian Po was well known. He was a well-known veteran of the Zhao Kingdom in later generations and the hero of the war between generals. However, in Zhao Yong's memory, Lian Po should not have been born yet. Since they are both Lian surnames, is there any relationship between these two people?
Li Dui was a little confused, wondering why the king asked such a question. But he still replied truthfully: "This son was originally a famous scholar in Kuxing, Zhongshan. After Lian Cheng, he followed his father to our country of Zhao as a general."
After hearing this, Zhao Yong nodded clearly: "Since this son has made great achievements, he should be promoted to the rank of Lieutenant of Zhongmu Kingdom and be conferred the title of Zhongdafu."
(Guowei was the highest military officer of a city at this time, but the official position did not have as much power as the title. Guowei was just a position! Although Feiyi was also a Guowei, Feiyi was a noble minister in Zhao Suhou, and the title became Qingqing. .)
"The king is wise." All the ministers worshiped.
...One of the purposes of this meeting is to discuss merit and reward, so that Zhao Guocai can be more cohesive.
The second is to discuss the future development of Zhao State, although Zhao Yong already has a rough idea of Zhao State's next development path in his mind.
But if you want future government decrees to be effective, they must be recognized by the empire's ruling class.
Of course, if Zhao Yong enforces his plan in the name of the monarch, Zhao Yong's reputation at this time and the ministers of Zhao State would not dare to refute on the surface, but it would be bad if someone uses deception to fool Zhao Yong behind the scenes.
So Zhao Yong looked around at the crowd and said, "Although the other countries have retreated, the crisis in our country of Zhao is still there."
Everyone knew what the king was talking about. Prime Minister Zhao Bao was the first to reply: "If we had not defeated the enemy without fighting this time, our country of Zhao would have been in danger. King Loufan has sent envoys to our country of Zhao several times. They asked for a large amount of property, but did not station a single soldier at the border of Yan State."
"Hu people can't conspire with them." Zhao Cheng also echoed angrily.
"A few days ago, the border troops from Haidi came to report that there was something unusual in Zhongshan." Zhao Bao continued.
"What!" Everyone was shocked.
Li Dui stood up and replied directly: "Xiangbang, are you sure of this news?"
"It's absolutely true. I have confirmed it repeatedly." After saying that, he took out a piece of white silk fabric from his sleeve robe. "This is the news from the border. I would like to ask the monarch to read it."
Chen Zhong took the silk book from Zhao Bao and handed it to Zhao Yong, who was in charge.
Zhao Yong took the silk book and read it carefully from beginning to end. The content is about Zhao Jun's scouts discovering abnormalities in the Zhongshan Great Wall garrison at Hadi, and they sent detective horses to the border between Zhongshan and Zhao many times. It is estimated that something strange has happened.
Then he handed the silk book to Chen Zhong and asked him to circulate it to the ministers.
Li Dui quickly took the silk book and was horrified when he saw it. He stood up and said, "The Zhongshan thieves have an evil plot. When..."
Before Li Dui finished speaking, he was interrupted by Zhao Yong: "How does Prime Minister think this matter should be handled?"
Zhao Bao saw that Zhao Yong's face was as normal and he didn't look panic at all. In terms of courage, it was really rare for a fifteen-year-old boy.
"Although the details of the border customs are unknown, we, Zhao State, should make preparations in advance to report on the horse detection." Zhao Bao said.
"What do Feiyi think?"
"The heart of Zhongshan is well known to everyone in the Zhao Kingdom. But this time the countries are about to retreat, Gu Chen believes that we should not act rashly for the time being..." Fei Yi thought for a moment and replied cautiously.
"Your Excellency is overly worried. I believe that if Zhongshan wants to fight against Zhao, he should lead a large army to attack him." Li Dui was somewhat dissatisfied with Fei Yi's conservative attitude and said to Zhao Yong.
Li Dui may have just gained Zhao Yong's favor and was promoted to the top of the empire, and he was eager to perform in front of Zhao Yong.
Zhao Yong did not reply to him. Instead, he looked around the audience and saw that Zhao Cheng and Lou Xu did not agree. He knew it was time to make a decision.
"Our country, Zhao, has been invaded internally by barbarians such as Zhongshan and Loufan from time to time since its founding. This has reached its extreme level."
Then Zhao Yong emphasized his tone and said: "Even a small fan of the building dares to blackmail me!"
"Sure! I have decided that we should change our national policy now, make friends with the countries in the Central Plains, and focus on the north. Reproduce the ambition of my ancestor Jian Xiang of the Zhao family!"
"The king is wise!" All the ministers of His Highness prostrated themselves.
