My son, Fusu, please abdicate the first emperor!

Zhou Qingchen just kept shaking his head, which made Qin II want to kill him with a sword.

"You are hopelessly stupid."

"Chen Gong, go and summon the Grand Minister Chen Ping, the Fifth Senior Official Ji Bu, and the Grand General Zhao Tuo."

Chen Gong had expected this, and the emperor always regretted letting Chen Ping go.

The current emperor would always consult Chen Ping first when he encountered a problem.

Chen Gong knew that he would never be able to match Chen Ping's status in the palace, but he had other plans.

After Chen Ping arrived and learned about the situation, his pupils also trembled.

How is this different from what we agreed?
Chen Ping looked at Zhou Qingchen, then at the emperor.

Seeing Qin II's face turn pale, Chen Ping then realized that the emperor was probably so angry because a small bad apple had messed up the whole pot of porridge.

It was agreed that this opportunity would be used to catch all the corrupt officials in the court, but unfortunately, someone punctured the net in advance.

Chen Ping only thought about it for a moment and immediately came up with an idea, which was in sharp contrast to Zhou Qingchen who was trembling in the corner.

"Your Majesty, the taxes of Liang State are all paid by the Liang State's Prince's Guards, and our Qin State has even sent a large number of troops to support them."

"Although the number of taxes for a 3,000-man guard is insignificant compared to the size of the army."

"But Liang's grain and grass escort team has always been the strongest among all the countries."

"Most of the generals of Liang State were trained by General Wang Jian when he conquered the world. Not only are they very familiar with the situation of the empire, but they also know better than anyone what it means if taxes are not sent to the central government."

"The Liang Kingdom has just implemented the Enfeoffment Order. Although this Zheng Jun is young, he has his mother, Princess Yin Man, who controls the government behind him."

"Zheng is quite powerful, and the ruler of Zheng is young and can be easily deceived."

"Although the King of Liang and the Lord of Zheng were originally brothers, they are now the rulers of different countries. The two brothers have never been on good terms with each other."

"And now, Zheng State and my Great Qin are close. At this time, Liang State will not dare to act rashly and will certainly obey my empire."

"This time, the taxes paid by Liang State increased by nearly 20% compared to last year."

"It can be seen that Prince Liang Wang Li dare not offend His Majesty."

"So they must have kept it strictly confidential and definitely didn't want anything to go wrong with this matter."

"However, the route of escorting the tribute has always been a top secret matter."

"Only Liang State and several generals specially sent by the central government knew about it, but a robbery occurred on the way."

"Three thousand men, all strong and elite soldiers, were robbed by a gang of hundreds of thieves. It may sound unbelievable."

"But if you think about it for a moment, you will understand that someone must have received intelligence in advance and selected a suitable ambush location, so that they could use the least amount of troops to ambush and attack an army of 3,000 people."

Jing Ke listened to Chen Ping's analysis and nodded continuously. He was indeed Chen Ping.

"The person who planned this robbery has superb intelligence control methods, sharp judgment, and certain military leadership capabilities."

“This is not something that ordinary people can do.”

"This is a very powerful enemy. He is robbing taxes and offending two countries at the same time. He knows the consequences better than anyone else."

"But he did it anyway."

“It can be seen that his purpose is not only to provoke a war between two countries, but also to provoke one person.”

The big guy exclaimed.

"Is there such a powerful person? He dares to go against the empire." Zhao Tuo expressed his disbelief.

Ji Bu just thought of a man he met many years ago. That man was very young, but he had a hatred for the empire. He lived, ate, slept, and dressed for one thing - to restore his country and take revenge.

But Ji Bu quickly shook his head, impossible.

It's impossible. He is just a commoner. How could he do that?

And it has been many years since South Korea was destroyed.

Everyone just looked at Chen Ping, "Who is it? Tell me quickly."

Chen Ping looked at Fusu.

Everyone was watching the fun at first, then they realized something and their faces turned pale with fright.

"For me?" Fusu raised his eyebrows. "It's really interesting. I've lived for almost 30 years, and this is the first time I've encountered something like this."

"Since this person is coming for me, I'm afraid he has been planning this for a long time, waiting to teach me a lesson when I'm not paying attention."

Fusu appeared to be amiable on the surface, but he was naturally filled with hatred in his heart.

He is the head of the empire, the supreme leader, yet he was challenged.

And he still couldn't catch the other party, and he didn't even know who the other party was.

Everyone suddenly realized that this matter was very small, but if you said it was big, it would probably be too big to count.

There was actually a person within the empire who was able to master the secrets of the empire. He also led a group of people, lurking within the empire, planning a successful robbery.

This shows that the empire’s public security is seriously problematic.

It also shows that many people have become bandits.

There are too many people in the world who don't have enough food to eat, so there are more and more "green forest heroes".

There are hundreds of people today, thousands tomorrow, and after some time, tens of thousands.

A crazy era is coming, and everyone is trembling at the forefront of the wave.

The emperor didn't speak, and no one dared to speak loudly.

"Are you all mute?"

Qin II said coldly, "Aren't you all talkative on weekdays? But when something goes wrong, you can't say anything useful."

"So many people? No one is here to solve this problem?"

Everyone was looking at Chen Ping, but at this time, Chen Ping looked at Zhou Qingchen.

Zhou Qingchen looked panicked, "Me?"

"The most urgent thing is for someone to pay the tax. Then we can just pretend nothing happened."

"But what about Liang State?" Zhao Tuo didn't quite believe Chen Ping.

Chen Ping is not from the old Qin state. He is not honest at all and is very cunning.

"Your Majesty, I think it is better not to play tricks on such an important matter. It is better to send troops to wipe out the bandits honestly. Let them know the power of the empire."

Zhao Tuo had long wanted to prove his strength.

He was promoted to general, but many people under him did not recognize his ability.

He used to be very calm, but after three to five years of criticism, he began to feel a little restless.

And more importantly, he had long known about the empire's proposal to go to war, and Zhao Tuo had his own considerations.

The best strategy is to send troops and take back Liang State.

Chen Ping objected, "Even if the King of Liang knew the truth, he would never tell anyone. Otherwise, Zheng would definitely take the opportunity to cause trouble. Wang Li is not that stupid."

Zhao Tuo was dissatisfied, "How is this possible? I know Wang Li. Wang Li will definitely take this opportunity to express his disobedience to the empire and stop paying tribute to the empire from now on." Chen Ping laughed, "This matter is big or small. If it gets out of hand, it will only hurt your majesty's reputation."

“It’s best to make big things small and small things nothing.”

Zhao Tuo had no idea about Qin II's plan. In his mind, the once wise and enlightened Qin II had been corrupted by people like Chen Ping and Zhou Qingchen.

They colluded with the concubines in the inner palace and corrupted the emperor's heart with wine and beauty.

Chen Ping knew the emperor's plan, so he should first deal with his internal affairs. If the emperor could not stand the provocation and rashly sent troops, it would be a disaster.

This is where the two men disagree.

Zhao Tuo could not help but sarcastically say, "In ancient times, King Tang of Shang once said, 'If you improve yourself every day, you will improve yourself every day, and improve yourself every day.'"

"Now I, Qin, am like this, taking things for granted. Everything is small, and then small again. It's really ridiculous."

"If something happens to the empire, no matter how big or small it is, it will be handled according to this principle. Isn't it absurd?"

"If war comes one day, will we choose to solve the problem by marrying off our daughter?"

"State affairs are state affairs, and they can never be handled in the same way as family affairs. For such a big matter, we should mobilize troops and let those villains know that the empire is not to be trifled with, and your majesty's majesty cannot be offended."

Chen Ping exclaimed, "It is true that they should not be offended, but they have already been offended? What can you do? Are you going to mobilize 200,000 troops to hunt down these rebels?"

"Originally only a few people knew about this, but now everyone in the world knows that Your Majesty has been offended."

"Some small things need to be treated as big things, and some big things need to be treated as small things."

Chen Ping's argument was very logical and Zhao Tuo was completely helpless in his defense.

The two men faced each other, and every word they spoke was sonorous and powerful.

The third person summoned this time was Ji Bu, who was inexplicably sandwiched in the middle.

He was a little confused. Why would His Majesty think of calling him over for such an occasion and such a matter?

Ji Bu was usually very principled, but at this moment he chose to keep silent.

He had a hunch that there was something fishy going on here.

The two men were probably arguing not about the lost taxes, but about something bigger.

These two people are wholeheartedly devoted to Your Majesty and have no selfish motives. Moreover, both of them are top-notch superiors to him. What can he do by getting involved?

The wise Ji Bu, the agile Ji Bu, the talkative Ji Bu, at this juncture, took two steps back.

Qin II's sharp gaze instantly fell on Ji Bu, the moving object.

"Ji Bu, what do you think?"

Ji Bu raised his head and met the gaze of Qin II.

"Your Majesty, I think we should start from the overall situation. I think what we have seen is just the tip of the iceberg."

"If my narrow-minded view is not the only factor that determines how to handle important matters."

"Isn't this just like a frog sitting in a well and talking about the world?"

"I have no opinion."

Fusu looked at Ji Bu and said meaningfully, "You are not able to comment without knowing the whole story."

"I see that among the three of us, you are the only one who doesn't like to argue, and you don't like to fight. This is rare."

"Li You is a county governor, but he is not doing his job well. I will deal with him according to the law, but this is a special case, so I'd better keep a low profile. I will first dismiss him from his post and take him back to Xianyang City for interrogation."

"I'll leave this matter to you, Ji Bu. From now on, you will be the governor of Sanchuan County. You will also be responsible for escorting Li You back to Xianyang."

Everyone looked at Ji Bu.

Ji Bu was still trembling with fear, not daring to look at the others, but bowed his head and said earnestly, "I obey your command."

Zhao Tuo looked at Ji Bu and felt much more at ease.

Chen Ping squinted at Ji Bu with his pair of slender almond-shaped eyes, thinking that it was fortunate that it was Ji Bu, because if it was someone else, who knows what big trouble would have been caused.

Qin II looked at the three people in front of him and couldn't help but admire them and said, "My Great Qin is really full of talented people. You three should accompany me tonight to have dinner before going back."

All three of them expressed that they were flattered.

Zhou Qingchen was left aside by Qin II, feeling ashamed and embarrassed. He took advantage of Qin II's inattention and walked away in disgrace with his tail between his legs.

This incident made him fully realize his own shortcomings, but it also caused his self-judgment to become unbalanced.

Zhou Qingchen realized that he was a complete waste. His little intelligence had only barely fooled Qin II for a while. It would not be long before His Majesty would find out that he was a complete waste.

What Zhou Qingchen didn't know was that the abilities of the ministers were actually all about the same, and the most important thing was their character.

Although Zhou Qingchen had some powerful people supporting him in the past, he would never dare to covet the national treasury with them. In his opinion, such a thing was ridiculous.

He is just an honest man who just wants to provide himself and his family with enough food and clothing.

But His Majesty kept him and gave him a high position.

Now, Zhou Qingchen is completely unbalanced.

Zhou Qingchen no longer dared to trust his past judgment. He found that he was simply not capable of handling these major events, so he made a dangerous decision. He wanted to rely on his retainers and those powerful people.

He would rise and fall with them.

In the past, Zhou Qingchen was actually very afraid of death, so even though he dared to do bad things, he still had his limits.

It’s different now. He has given up his principles and bottom line.

Zhou Qingchen ran away in shame like a big rat.

Qin II invited Ji Bu, Zhao Tuo and Chen Ping to a delicious dinner.

During the meal, Chen Ping left first with an excuse, followed by Ji Bu and Zhao Tuo.

As a result, Chen Ping returned and Qin II was waiting for him there.

"This Zhou Qingchen is more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything."

Chen Ping felt that His Majesty still overestimated Zhou Qingchen.

"Let's wait and see. Maybe after today's incident, there will be a turn for the better. After all, with such a big incident, those who hold grudges against Your Majesty will probably take the opportunity to make trouble."

"The empire's internal and external troubles are about to be exposed by someone. Then there will be another bloody storm."

Qin II responded calmly, "Yes."

"Chen Ping, can you set up an intelligence agency for me?"

Chen Ping was a little stunned. To be honest, his relationship with the emperor was sometimes close and sometimes distant.

As for this intelligence agency, that could only be done by the emperor's closest relatives and confidants.

"Your Majesty, am I suitable?"

"It's appropriate, very appropriate. I am very curious about who betrayed the empire's secrets. I want the truth." Fusu was wondering which person around him betrayed him.

Chen Ping looked at the lonely Qin II, who was sitting alone on the golden throne with a gloomy face.

After a long while, he bowed and said, "Yes." (End of this chapter)