Outside Jinshen Hall, the four ministers moved slowly along the steps towards the gate.
There was still half an hour before the discussion, so they were not in a hurry and even had time to chat.
"Yesterday at the Nancheng campus, I was experimenting with that... grenade. I have to say that this thing is really a treasure!" Chen Anming couldn't help but admire it.
Zhou Chengping couldn't help but answer: "Could it be... the thing that caused the explosion in the palace five days ago?"
"Exactly this!" Chen Anming nodded.
"What's the use of this thing?" Zhou Chengping asked.
"After this thing is ignited, it will make a loud noise like thunder. It is extremely powerful. It is suitable for dealing with those monsters!"
"It's such a big one. If you light it and throw it into the crowd of corpses, it won't be a problem to kill dozens of them!"
While talking, Chen Anming also gestured.
"So, as long as we have this thing, ordinary people can easily kill monsters!" Cheng Wenguang couldn't help but ask.
"This is natural. When we regain the rivers and mountains in the future, the palace will have another sharp weapon!" Guan Hetai took over.
While everyone was discussing, Huo An was seen walking out of the hall with a warm smile on his face.
"Sir, the prince is already waiting in the palace!"
The meeting time was set, so they walked calmly, but today Zhao Yanxun was in place early.
At this moment, being reminded by Huo An, everyone stopped talking and consciously quickened their pace and entered the hall.
"My lords, please come this way!" Huo An pointed his finger to the east.
Generally speaking, when Zhao Yanxun convenes meetings, the location is in the west side hall.
The East Side Hall is also called the Martial Arts Hall, which is usually used during wartime.
Everyone walked through the passage in the hall and outside the east hall door.
Zhao Yanxun was seen wearing a black gauze winged crown and a red round-collared python robe, standing in front of the sand table in the center of the hall with his hands behind his back.
Generally speaking, Zhao Yanxun wears simpler regular clothes when discussing matters in the side hall. It is rare to see him wearing a python robe like today.
From these circumstances alone, several ministers can infer that the matters to be discussed today should be very important.
The four of them carefully entered the main hall, then saluted and said: "I will see you, Your Highness!"
Zhao Yanxun then raised his head, looked at several ministers and said, "My dear friends, please forgive me!"
After everyone stood up, Zhao Yanxun waved to them: "A few dear friends, come and have a look!"
After several ministers got closer, they discovered that the sand table had been replaced, and it showed the situation in the northern part of Longyou.
Yuanyang Mansion, Liaoping Mansion, Tianjin Mansion, and Laixuan Mansion are all displayed on the sand table.
Several ministers were looking at the sand table, while Zhao Yanxun returned to the throne and sat down, but at this moment
"Now that spring plowing has ended, in the next three months... what do you think the palace should do?"
Discussions have already been held in the west hall, and the sand table shows the northern part of Longyou. This meaning is very obvious.
But this question can only be answered by the two Privy Councilors, otherwise the rules will be violated.
After a few breaths, I saw Guan Hetai bowing and saying: "Your Highness, how can you allow others to snore on the side of the bed? I think... the primary purpose of the palace is to concentrate its forces to attack the rebels entrenched in Liaoping Mansion!"
In the land of Longyou, Zhao Yanxun represented the imperial court, so Zhu Jinzhang was naturally a rebel.
"Killing relatives of the emperor indiscriminately, deceiving people's hearts, raising troops to rebel, his actions are outrageous and resentful..."
Speaking of this, Guan Hetai said solemnly: "If you don't kill these traitors, it won't be enough to correct the law, and if you don't kill them, it won't be enough to appease the people!"
After an impassioned speech, Guan Hetai explained the justice and necessity of the Northern Expedition.
Zhao Yanxun looked at the other three ministers: "What do you think, dear ministers?"
"Reporting to your highness, what Guan Shushi said makes sense!" Cheng Wenguang was the first to respond.
Then Chen Anming said: "I also agree with Ambassador Guan's intention!"
Of the four ministers present, only Zhou Chengping had not yet spoken.
"Zhou Qing?"
After being pointed out by Zhao Yanxun, Zhou Chengping took a step forward, bowed and replied: "Your Highness, in addition to the rebels in Liaoping Prefecture in the Seven Prefectures of Longyou, there are five remaining prefectures that are occupied by monsters. The people are in dire straits and are on the line between life and death!"
"Although the rebels are evil, they are nothing more than ringworm and scabies, which is a serious matter of life and death for the people!"
At this point, Zhou Chengping knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Highness has accepted the mandate from Heaven to save all people... Please put Li Shu's life and death first!"
There was dead silence in the main hall, and the three ministers standing lowered their heads.
They never expected that Zhou Chengping would do something like this.
But when they thought about his temper, everyone present felt relieved. This guy just had such a temperament.
Zhao Yanxun said nothing, which put great pressure on everyone in the hall, including Zhou Chengping who was kneeling on the ground.
But in order to save the people, he was willing to speak out. The saint's words required him to do so. He was a true gentleman.
In today's situation, Zhao Yanxun was very embarrassed.
If you publicize your destiny to the outside world, you will inevitably be kidnapped by this sentence. Saving the people is naturally the first priority.
Objectively speaking, Zhou Chengping's words are very correct, but they are inconsistent with Zhao Yanxun's ideas.
This made Zhao Yanxun very unhappy, but he couldn't directly refute the opponent.
But to say that Zhao Yanxun hates Zhou Chengping is hard to say. After all, this person also has his own merits.
Just as Zhao Yanxun was thinking about how to deal with Zhou Chengping's words, he heard Cheng Wenguang say: "Your Highness, what Zhou Changshi said is only one part but not the other. I dare not agree with it!"
"Just tell me!" Zhao Yanxun said calmly.
"His Royal Highness accepts Heaven's response, represents Heaven's herdsmen, and rescues the people. It is his duty..."
"But the people of the Seven Prefectures of Longyou are all the prince's subjects... Things must be done step by step!"
"In comparison, the people of Liaoping Prefecture not only suffered from monster attacks, but also suffered from mutilation by rebels. Shouldn't they be rescued even more?"
Cheng Wenguang's move could be described as leveraging his own strength, and for a while Zhou Chengping was unable to refute.
But his words changed the concept. The most important point is that compared to other prefectures, the people of Liaoping Prefecture are not that miserable at all.
After all, they are protected by the rebel army and can live in the city without worrying about food and drink, which is much better than other provinces.
At this time, Guan Hetai said: "Your Highness, what the growth history says is absolutely true!"
"The Northern Expedition to Liaoping, firstly, killed the rebels, and secondly, rescued the people. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone!"
Among the four, Chen Anming was the least knowledgeable. He could only bow and say: "I second the proposal!"
Zhao Yanxun didn't even need to speak, he could easily defeat Zhou Chengping in a one-on-three situation.
Finally, Zhao Yanxun opened his mouth and said: "What you all said makes sense..."
"The Northern Expedition... is just the first item of today's discussion. Originally, the lonely king thought that after discussing the Northern Expedition, we would discuss the matter of rescuing the people!"
Speaking of this, Zhao Yanxun couldn't help but laugh and said: "Unexpectedly, Zhou Qing proposed to rescue the people first!"