Upon hearing the king's question, everyone fell silent.
One by one, they all lowered their heads, trying to minimize their presence. Now that the military power was in the hands of the Grand Marshal, it would be useless for them to speak.
If things go wrong, we might offend the powerful Song family, and then we wouldn't even know how we died.
The king's face darkened briefly as he looked at his cowardly ministers. He slammed the memorial onto the imperial desk and shouted, "I'm asking you a question! Why are you all mute?"
They eat the emperor's food and share his burdens. Look at his ministers; in critical moments, not a single one of them is of any use.
The king glanced around, then fixed his gaze on the Duke of Qin. He pursed his lips, his hand, hidden in his sleeve, tightening slightly. "Duke of Qin, in your opinion, how should this be handled?"
Duke Qin opened his squinted eyes, bowed deeply, and said, "Your Majesty, this old minister is incompetent and cannot share Your Majesty's burdens."
The King: "...What does the Duke of Qin mean by this? The court is in trouble, and the Duke of Qin intends to sit idly by?"
After saying this, the king's face darkened, and his eyes were full of threat.
"Your Majesty has misunderstood this old minister. Not only is this old minister old, but I also have no military power and cannot lead troops to fight the enemy. All military power is currently in the hands of the Grand Marshal, who is at the border and at war with the Yue Kingdom. It would be feasible to send half of the troops to the Zhou border."
After speaking, Duke Qin turned to look at the Prime Minister opposite him and smiled slightly, "What does the Prime Minister think?"
He was the one who recommended the Song family in the first place. Now that something has happened, how easy is it for the Prime Minister to stay out of it?
The Prime Minister watched helplessly as the ball was brought to his side, yet he couldn't refuse it. The look in Duke Qin's eyes was clear: he was the one who had recommended the person, and he couldn't get away from it.
As the prime minister of a country, he was not a brainless person. Ji State had limited military strength. Apart from the troops guarding the capital, the rest were stationed in various places. If other troops were temporarily transferred, it would inevitably attract the attention of Xiang State. If the three states attacked together, Ji State would be defeated without a fight.
"Your Majesty, the strategy proposed by the Duke of Qin is not unreasonable. The State of Yue is adjacent to the State of Zhou, and neither of them is too far from our border. If we let the Grand Marshal divide his troops into two groups to simultaneously deter the border, this would be the best strategy."
After listening to the prime minister's suggestion, the king pondered for a moment and finally nodded, "In your opinion, draft an edict."
"As you command."
Even though the imperial court provided a countermeasure, the news that Zhou was stationing troops on the border still spread quickly, causing panic throughout the entire Liangjing city.
Regardless of whether the Zhou and Ji states will actually go to war, the fact remains that a large army is pressing in, and the situation is still dangerous.
With a formidable enemy at hand and surrounded by powerful foe, the Ji Kingdom is already unstable, and chaos is bound to ensue if this continues.
The atmosphere in the court was even more tense. The courtiers watched helplessly as the king grew more irritable and gloomy day by day, fearing that they might accidentally step into the line of fire and be reprimanded or punished with demotion. After a month, no one dared to speak out casually anymore.
Mo Lan walked down the street, looking at the hurried people, and sighed in her heart. Since ancient times, when war begins, it is always the common people who suffer the most.
She guessed Qin Su's purpose and knew his plans. He couldn't swallow the grievances in his heart when the king humiliated the Qin family.
He wanted to make the king see clearly the situation in the world. Now, the State of Ji was surrounded by enemies on all sides, but the Qin family remained unmoved and its attitude was clear. Even if the king was angry, there was nothing he could do.
He was the one who first stripped the Qin family of their military power; now that he's being asked to speak, it means he's compromising and begging.
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