Our family has been rebelling for generations, and you've become the top scholar in the imperia

The next day.

The sun had not yet risen outside.

In the palace.

Qin Feng stood at the very back, yawning, listening to the discussions of national affairs, but showing no interest whatsoever.

However... quite a few civil officials on the other side kept glancing at him, probably waiting for the important matters above to be discussed before jumping out to submit a memorial.

They all looked rather hungry and thirsty.

"Your Majesty, I hereby impeach Qin Feng, a junior official in the Ministry of Works, for publicly assaulting an envoy from the grasslands, which has led to a deterioration in relations with the grasslands. I implore Your Majesty to severely punish Qin Feng and give the grasslands an explanation."

coming!

Seeing that an official had stepped forward to impeach him, Qin Feng rubbed his cheeks vigorously, trying to perk himself up.

"Your Majesty, the envoys from the grasslands have come with tribute. As a great power in the Central Plains, we should naturally demonstrate the demeanor of a great nation. How can we take action against the envoys over such a trivial matter?"

"Your subject reports to Qin Feng: The annual tribute has not yet been finalized. This year, the tribute for the grasslands has been increased to 100,000 taels of silver. Now, we have offended the envoy, who insists on the 100,000 taels of silver, all because of Qin Feng."

"Severe punishment is necessary! I will also impeach Qin Feng!"

"..."

In a very short period of time.

Qin Feng looked at the civil official team, and apart from a few grand tutors and old ministers, almost everyone else stood up.

They all impeached him, even the officials in the north.

"It's truly rotten to the core."

He muttered a curse under his breath.

Qin Feng flicked his sleeves and walked out from behind.

"Your Majesty, since the envoy from the grasslands has arrived in the Great Zhou, he must abide by the laws of the Great Zhou. I believe he has done nothing wrong in this matter."

Zhou Zhengde above nodded, but did not speak directly.

He had already ordered his men to investigate yesterday's events thoroughly; these wild boars on the grasslands simply didn't take the Great Zhou Dynasty seriously.

He actually wanted to eat beef in front of so many people at the city gate.

If Qin Feng agrees to this on the spot, what will the people of Da Zhou think?

If a draft ox dies in a village, the entire village will be punished. But wild boars on the grasslands, who want to eat beef, can slaughter draft oxen at will?

"Nonsense, Qin Feng. Do you know that this matter concerns the stability of the grasslands? The Great Zhou has not seen war for decades. If the grasslands attack because of you, you will be a sinner of the Great Zhou."

Across from them, a civil official with a goatee jumped out, pointing at Qin Feng and spitting everywhere.

A huge hat was slapped on top of him.

"An envoy can influence the stability of the grasslands? May I ask, sir, if that's the case, then the grasslands are far too unstable. What's the point of having a trade market? Why not just give them away for free? What if the two sides start arguing over prices, leading to a large-scale invasion of the border by the grasslands?"

Qin Feng glanced at the guy, wishing he could just go up and punch him twice.

He immediately cupped his hands and said:

"In that case, Your Majesty, I humbly request that Your Majesty close the border trade to avoid provoking the grassland people, which could lead to instability on the grasslands and an attack on the border. This would be a permanent solution. According to this gentleman, it would be best not to have any contact with the grassland people, as they are too unstable."

"Nonsense..."

The goatee opposite him glared, trembling with rage.

"How can these be the same?"

"How is it different? It's not like what you said, sir, that offending the steppe people will lead to an attack on the border. What's wrong with my suggestion to close the border trade and avoid contact with the steppe people altogether? If we can't afford to offend them, can't we at least avoid them?"

"This time, we are envoys from the grasslands; how can our status be the same as that of ordinary grassland people?"

"Oh, I understand what you mean, sir. You can't offend the envoy, but you can offend ordinary steppe people without any problem, is that right?"

"Even ordinary grassland people cannot be offended!"

Upon hearing this...

Qin Feng couldn't help but go up and kick the guy.

"Your Majesty, I humbly suggest that the task of receiving the envoy be entrusted to Lord Sun. Since he is so familiar with the people of the grasslands, I think that in the future, we might as well let Lord Sun accompany the grassland envoy back to the grasslands and be responsible for educating the grassland barbarians."

"I...I...I can't!"

The goatee got up from the ground, his face pale with fright.

Going to the grasslands?

How could they possibly survive?

"Your Majesty, as far as I know, it seems that last year, Lord Sun was one of the officials in charge of receiving the envoys from the grasslands. This year, there has been no unusual activity on the grasslands, which proves that Lord Sun did a very good job in receiving them. I suggest that we let Lord Sun take over from me and be in charge of receiving the envoys from the grasslands."

"No!!!"

Lord Goatbeard shook his head anxiously and spoke.

Last year, he was in charge of receiving them. In just half a month, he spent tens of thousands of taels of silver trying to please these nomadic people from the grasslands. He lost a lot of money just from the compensation he had to pay for the trouble they caused.

That's it...

Some of the maids in the mansion had to be given to these barbarians to cause trouble.

"Lord Sun, this is where you've gone wrong. You complained that I didn't receive you properly, and you refused when I asked you to. What do you want to do then? If you think I'm incompetent, wouldn't it be better if you did it yourself?"

Qin Feng glanced at the many civil officials who had their heads bowed.

A cold smile played on his lips.

The prepared notebooks seem completely useless. These civil servants are good at finding fault, and one of them is worth several others. If you let them do it themselves, they'll all run away faster than the last.

Nowadays, everyone in the court knows that receiving barbarians from the grasslands is no easy task.

These people harm the people, vandalize property, and everyone has to clean up their messes.

Even brothels wouldn't let these wild boar skinners in, but what if they wanted to go in and have fun? What were the officials in charge of receiving them supposed to do?

The only options are to spend a lot of money to book the entire brothel, or to have the maids from the mansion personally serve them.

"Is there anyone else who thinks I'm not doing a good job? I'm willing to give up my position as the reception envoy and let you take over the reception duties."

Zhou Zhengde sighed slightly.

Disappointed, he glanced at the civil officials and couldn't help but shake his head.

"My esteemed ministers, is there anyone willing to take charge of this matter? Qin Feng is currently in charge of the Xishan Coal Mine. I feel that it is indeed inappropriate to let him be solely responsible for receiving the envoy. Who is willing to take over this task?"

Everyone shuddered, lowered their heads and remained silent. Some even hid behind others, afraid of being noticed by the emperor above.

"Although he is an envoy, this is the Great Zhou Dynasty, and he should abide by the laws of the Great Zhou. I believe Qin Feng did nothing wrong. The emperor is subject to the same laws as commoners. Qin Feng, continue to be in charge of receiving the envoy. Court adjourned!"

Zhou Zhengde stood up and left the court hall directly.

Qin Feng was right about one thing: the grasslands have always been like this, with the annual silver reward increasing every year.

This can't go on forever.

and……

This has been a constant threat to the border.

He wasn't sure whether he should give the grasslands a warning. The Great Zhou hadn't had a war in decades, and he didn't know how strong its military was now.

……

West Ward.

Inside a hidden shop located behind the inn.

"Big big!"

Several barbarians from the grasslands took off their shirts and slammed their fists on the table with ferocious expressions.

His eyes were fixed on the dice cup on the gambling table.

"big!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

As the sieve was lifted, several barbarians from the grasslands threw their heads back and laughed loudly.

Without spending a single tael of silver, he used the gambling tickets that were given to him to play, and in just one night, he actually won over a hundred taels of silver.