In the days that followed, the entire county governor's mansion turned into a large construction site.
Because Shao Xi felt guilty about what happened before, he spared no expense this time. He spent a lot of money to buy high-quality materials. He also hired many plasterers and craftsmen to renovate the entire county governor's mansion. . Originally, only the main hall collapsed, but Shao Xi decided to demolish all the back halls, flower halls, and side rooms, and the entire county governor's mansion was completely renovated.
Seeing Shao Xi throwing away money like this, Tao Qingyun felt a twinge of pain.
In his mind, the money was used to help the local people do more things, but now it was all spent on building houses for him, the county governor. He actually felt that he was sorry for the local people, but the money was not his. He has no control over how Shao Xi spends his money, he can only watch Shao Xi spend so much money in his governor's mansion.
After a few days, Lao Wu was also confused. I thought to myself, is there something wrong with this kid’s brain? If someone's house collapses, just repair it. You have to say that there is no problem in spending more money to make the repairs better than before. Why does this child seem to be hysterical? The entire county governor's mansion was demolished and new ones were built. Could it be that the pig manure last time damaged his brain? Or was it because the knife was stimulated by something?
He couldn't control Shao Xi's affairs, and he didn't want to. Anyway, I just sit in the yard every day, drinking wine and watching them fuss. It seems that the mission to Nan Zhao will be postponed for an uncertain time. Drag it! Anyway, the other party's boss has been detained. Whenever Nan Zhao sends a fourth-grade officer, they will set off.
They are not in a hurry, but some people are!
Southern Zhao is extremely anxious now. Ever since someone sent the news back, the imperial court of Southern Zhao has been in a state of panic. Although an eighth-rank official is not a high-ranking official, being detained by officials of Jingyuan Kingdom is not a small matter, as it involves the diplomatic relations between the two countries.
At this time, in the court of Nan Zhao, both the emperor and the ministers were constantly arguing about this matter and discussing a solution.
"Holy Lord, this Jing Yuanguo is really rude. He dares to detain our officials so blatantly. This is simply not taking Southern Zhao seriously and deliberately provoking our country. We must not let this matter go. I need to ask Jing Yuanguo for an explanation. For many years, the two countries have not had much contact. At the beginning of the year, the Holy Lord sent envoys to show their goodwill to them, which was enough to give them face. Unexpectedly, they actually considered themselves to be a great country. Such a Arrogant! We cannot swallow this matter and pretend it never happened."
The speaker was none other than Southern Zhao General Fu Zuoliang. He looked tall and well built. Although his hair, beard, and eyebrows were all white, his eyes were still bright and shining, and he had a long beard. Coupled with his majestic appearance, he looked even more domineering, and his whole body exuded the power of a general commanding thousands of troops.
Fu Zuoliang has always been a hardliner in Southern Zhao's foreign policy. Whether it is the surrounding barbarian tribes or the huge empire in the north, he has always advocated the use of force to obtain land.
In recent years, under his leadership, Southern Zhao has continued to expand its territory to the surrounding areas. Many surrounding tribes have been destroyed by his troops and the land has been included in the territory of Southern Zhao. As for the Jingyuan Empire in the north, he has always been thinking about grabbing a piece of land in the south of Jingyuan Kingdom. After all, no matter how poor it is, it is better than Southern Zhao.
As the saying goes, he is a master of great achievements. Over the years, he has opened up territory for the Southern Zhao Kingdom and was also the late emperor's entrusted minister. As time passed, he felt that the Southern Zhao Kingdom could not survive without him. Only he could get the Southern Zhao Kingdom out of this corner of peace, and one day be able to look north to the Central Plains and expand its territory to the north, creating a huge and immortal empire. And these are things that the little emperor in front of him cannot do, so he can only rely on him.
For a long time, his arrogant attitude towards the young emperor Zhao Hongjin aroused the dissatisfaction of another auxiliary minister, Nan Zhao Xiangguo Han Zeng.
Although Han Zeng is a few years younger than Fu Zuoliang, his prestige among the civil servants group of Southern Zhao Kingdom is extremely high.
When the late Emperor of Southern Zhao Tuogu was entrusted with the throne, he and Fu Zuoliang were chosen as ministers because they had high prestige among civil servants and military officials respectively.
Of course, the most important thing is that in the eyes of the late emperor, the two of them were out-and-out virtuous ministers, good generals, and loyal ministers. They felt safe entrusting the prince to them.
I just didn't expect that the general Fu Zuoliang would become so tyrannical and domineering, without a holy master.
At this time, as soon as Fu Zuoliang finished speaking, Prime Minister Han Zeng stood up and objected: "What the general said is wrong! We were at fault in this matter. The reception team sent to the border between the two countries should have Let an official of the corresponding rank go there, but before you were a general, you insisted on sending only an eighth-rank official to receive you. The Jingyuan Empire was a great power in the Central Plains, and the envoy sent by it was also a fourth-rank official. How could you not do this? Anger the other party? This time they detained the head of the reception group, which also reminded us that we were negligent, so I think we should send an official with the same rank to resolve the matter and take over the position of leader of the reception group. , responsible for introducing the Jingyuan mission to the capital."
Hearing Han Zeng's opinion, the young emperor of Southern Zhao, Zhao Hongjin, who was sitting in the main hall, was about to agree, but was overtaken by Fu Zuoliang.
"Hmph! Isn't it that the Prime Minister is afraid of Jing Yuan Kingdom? Although they claim to be a great country in the Central Plains, Southern Zhao is not a small country. Do you think we will be afraid of them? Let's send an eighth-rank official to receive them , it has been considered as giving them face, but they themselves don’t know what is good or bad. At the beginning of the year, wasn’t it also my idea to send envoys to Jingyuan Kingdom? Face was given to them. If they themselves are shameless, don’t blame me. People broke into his Jingyuan territory and snatched them back. We haven’t interacted with each other for so many years, are we still afraid of offending them now? "
When Han Zeng saw Fu Zuoliang's arrogant attitude, he felt displeased. How could the diplomatic relations between the two countries be so trivial?
The Jingyuan Empire in the north is a huge behemoth to the Southern Zhao Kingdom. The Southern Zhao Kingdom has been able to stay in a corner for so many years because of the advantage of the terrain. If the Jingyuan Dynasty is really angered by this incident, then the soldiers will How capable is Nan Zhao to deal with the situation?
"When the general agreed to send an envoy to the Jingyuan Empire, wasn't it just to make peace with it and avoid future friction between the two countries, which would lead to a large-scale war? Now, Jingyuan Kingdom is sending an envoy to reciprocate the favor. Before responding, We sent an envoy to go on an envoy. This just shows that the Jingyuan Empire intends to have good relations with our Southern Zhao country. But if we do such a thing at this time, wouldn't it be counterproductive? It will destroy the good relations established before. , it may even be worse than before when the two countries did not have contact with each other.”
"What are you afraid of? Now our Southern Zhao has either wiped out the surrounding tribes or surrendered to us. It is a time when the troops and horses are strong and morale is high. If Jingyuan State dares to go to war with us, it will be a good opportunity to seize the southern part of it. The land of Lingzhou will help us expand the territory of Southern Zhao and occupy a better land."
"This is nonsense! How powerful is the Jingyuan Empire? If we go to war with it, we will be like a mantis trying to control the chariot. We, as a small country on the southern border, should have the consciousness to be a small country. We should compete with the Jingyuan Empire in the north. The Yuan Kingdom has established friendly diplomatic relations and thus won itself a chance to survive. How can we say that we should go to war with it? Once defeated, won't our century-old foundation of Southern Zhao be destroyed? I'm sorry I can't agree with this. I still suggest that the Holy Lord send an official with a similar rank to go there, firstly, to negotiate with the other party, hoping that they will release our principal, and secondly, by the way, to bring the delegation to the capital, and then apologize to the other party nicely, so as not to affect the two parties. Diplomatic relations between countries come first.”
Fu Zuoliang still wanted to argue. At this time, the young emperor Zhao Hongjin hurriedly interjected: "I think what Han Xiangguo said is reasonable. Our southern Zhao country's national power is limited. Although its territory has expanded and its population has increased over the years, it is not enough compared to the Jingyuan Empire." To contend with them, the best way is to maintain good diplomatic relations with them and have friendly exchanges with each other. If the two countries are at war because of this matter, and the people who suffer are the civilians, how can I bear to let them suffer because of my mistake? Are so many people in our Southern Zhao country suffering?"
Fu Zuoliang raised his hands to Zhao Hongjin with a proud look on his face and said: "The Holy Lord cannot be benevolent as a woman. The expansion of territory and the establishment of an eternal foundation must be made of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. How can the Holy Lord just be compassionate?" People give up their lofty ambitions to build an immortal empire? As a king, you should have the heart of an emperor. How can you achieve great things if you always have compassion?"
Zhao Hongjin felt extremely uncomfortable when she heard Fu Zuoliang say such words.
The people are the foundation of a country. If we don't even take the foundation of the country into consideration, how long can this country exist? The Southern Zhao Kingdom has been pursuing a people-oriented approach and paying attention to people's livelihood for more than 100 years. It is originally a small country in the south with a small population. If we don't treat the small population as one thing, won't it mean that we will lose the hearts of the people and dig our own graves?
"General, there is no need to say anymore. This matter was originally our fault before. Although the other party did go too far in detaining our chief, it can be regarded as having a reason. What we have to do now is to find a way to solve this matter, not Let the situation intensify again. I have decided to send a fourth-grade official from the DPRK to negotiate with the border between the two countries, hoping that the other party will release him. At the same time, the assigned official will take over the role of the leader of the reception team and be responsible for receiving the Jingyuan delegation. Lead the delegation all the way to Beijing."
"Holy Lord...!"
Fu Zuoliang took a step forward and wanted to say something, but Zhao Hongjin raised his hand to stop him. This made Fu Zuoliang very unhappy, but it was difficult to go too far in front of the civil and military officials of the court.
"Since the Holy Master is unwilling to listen to Wei Chen's blunt words, there is no need for Wei Chen to continue discussing with everyone here. I forgive Wei Chen and leave first."
After saying that, Fu Zuoliang handed over his hand and walked away, leaving Zhao Hongjin, Han Zeng, and Manchao Civil and Military in the palace. Everyone in the Wu Chen Group also surrendered and followed Fu Zuoliang, making the scene extremely embarrassing.
"you……!"
Although Zhao Hongjin had overwhelming anger in her heart, she could only hold it back to prevent it from happening.
After all, disharmony between monarch and ministers will shake the foundation of the country. Some things can only be solved slowly and cannot be rushed. If this kind of thing is exposed openly, many people will die.
"Xiangguo Han, do you think we should send someone to take over this matter?"
"Going back to the Holy Master, I think we can just send Zhang Shou, the Minister of Rites, to go there."
Some people died, but not completely...
