When they heard the three words "White Lotus Sect", all the ministers in the court, including the emperor, felt their heads buzzing.
Speaking of it, the White Lotus Sect has a very deep connection with the Great Qi Dynasty. When Emperor Taizu of the Great Qi Dynasty was conquering the world, he relied on the power of the White Lotus Sect.
Taizu had a very high status in the White Lotus Sect. However, for some unknown reason, Taizu fell out with the White Lotus Sect after he took over the country, and later directly classified the White Lotus Sect as a cult.
From that moment on, the two sides completely broke off relations, and the White Lotus Sect became a thorn in the side of the entire Great Qi court.
Whenever the world is unstable, the White Lotus Sect always pops up to stir up trouble.
When the White Lotus Sect was at its peak, it even occupied several important cities in the southern region.
In order to eradicate the White Lotus Sect, the Great Qi court has spent a lot of manpower and material resources over the years.
After years of suppression, the White Lotus Sect has finally been forced to hide in the open. How come it has suddenly revived?
Li Zhuo's face turned very ugly. Now the treasury was empty, powerful enemies were surrounding the border, and natural disasters continued in the country.
Now the White Lotus Sect has suddenly emerged, which is really adding insult to injury.
Li Zhuo waved his hands towards Li Xiang and said, "My dear, please go and rest for a while. I want to discuss state affairs with you, my dear ministers."
Li Xiang nodded and sat down obediently beside the desk. Feeling a little bored, he simply picked up the memorials on the table and flipped through them casually.
Logically speaking, this was against the rules, and Wei Yong, as the Imperial Censor, should have reprimanded him.
But now all the civil and military officials in the court are worried. The White Lotus Sect's affairs are like a thorn in their hearts, leaving them no time to care about other things.
After Li Zhuo checked the sealing wax, he opened the urgent message from eight hundred miles away.
Looking at the content above, his expression became more solemn.
Wei Yong, standing by, also anxiously asked, "Your Majesty, is it true that the White Lotus Sect is causing trouble again?"
Everyone looked at Li Zhuo with worry. The entire Great Qi court was in a precarious situation and could not withstand any more turmoil.
Li Zhuo handed the urgent report to the eunuch beside him and said, "Pass it down and show it to all of you, my dear ministers. These are truly troubled times!"
The report stated that the White Lotus Sect had appeared in Yangzhou, Suzhou, Jiangling and Jiangning areas.
These people have some evil tricks and have deceived quite a few foolish men and women in the countryside.
After reading the report, both Wei Yong and the Minister of Rites looked solemn.
Liang Licang said anxiously, "Your Majesty, the Jiangnan region is the imperial court's granary and a major tax collection area. We cannot tolerate any disturbances in such a place! I suggest that they must be annihilated with lightning speed."
As the Minister of Revenue, Liang Licang hoped to collect more taxes from Jiangnan every year.
If there really is some trouble in the Jiangnan region, then his good days as the Minister of Revenue will be over.
"I naturally know that the Jiangnan region is very important. The White Lotus Sect has been causing chaos in our Chinese Divine Land for many years, and I also want to eliminate them as soon as possible. But the problem is that we have been shouting and killing the White Lotus Sect for so many years, but have we ever really wiped them out completely? Moreover, the situation on the border is tense now. Can we really spare enough manpower to deal with these remnants of the White Lotus Sect?"
Minister of War Cui Shanzhan hurried out of his post and said, "Your Majesty, the brave soldiers in the army are now busy fighting on the frontier, and they simply don't have the energy to care for other areas. Moreover, I believe that the chaos caused by the White Lotus Sect is, after all, just some stubborn internal problems of the country. They have not yet formed a large-scale rebellion. I think the Ministry of Justice should contact the Dali Temple and send special personnel to the Jiangnan region to handle these matters. When the time comes, those who need to be arrested will be arrested, those who need to be sentenced will be sentenced, and those who need to be beheaded will be beheaded. This matter will be put to an end."
"Your Excellency's words make sense. Judging from the pace of events, the White Lotus Sect has merely revived, and has not yet reached a significant scale. Furthermore, the reason these evil cults persist like a centipede is because some local individuals with ulterior motives are funding them. Where is the Minister of Justice?"
Upon hearing this, the Minister of Justice Xu Yan hurried out of his office and said, "Your humble servant is here."
"Lord Xu, your Ministry of Justice must shoulder responsibility for this matter. Afterwards, consult with the Supreme Court and the Censorate to discuss the appropriate personnel to send to Jiangnan to investigate. As Lord Cui said, arrest those who deserve it and sentence them accordingly. In times of chaos, severe punishments must be imposed. Set up a few examples to show these traitors what will happen if they disrupt the imperial court."
Xu Yan accepted the order without saying a word. He could see that the emperor was very unhappy and the consequences would be very serious. He had to do a great job on this mission.
Before he could say anything, Wei Yong at the side spoke up, "Your Majesty, this absolutely cannot happen. Lord Liang has said before that Jiangnan has been a vital source of grain and tax revenue for the imperial court since ancient times. Chaos cannot occur here. I understand that harsh punishments are necessary in troubled times, but there are some things that require a clear distinction between right and wrong. If the court continues to use heavy-handed measures, it will easily lead to popular unrest. And then we will only play into the hands of those evil White Lotus sects."
Li Zhuo was almost mad with anger. Why did this stinky old man in front of him always contradict him?
Li Zhuo suppressed his anger and asked, "Lord Wei, you've seen what's in the newspaper. It's precisely because of the support and protection of some foolish men and women that the White Lotus Sect has room to survive. How can you reason with people like them? Why not arrest a few typical ones and execute them as a warning to others?"
"Your Majesty has already said that they are just fools. They have never read any sage books and have no knowledge. Naturally, they will be deceived by the White Lotus Sect's demonic tricks. If we kill their entire family just because of such things, wouldn't that be killing without teaching? Your Majesty said that you cannot kill without teaching when dealing with the little prince's case. How come you have forgotten this principle when it comes to your people?"
Wei Yong shook the report in his hand and continued, "These ghostly tricks described in the report are so incomprehensible that even I, a humble minister, cannot understand them at the moment, let alone those foolish fishermen and women."
"I feel that instead of arresting some ignorant men and women and killing them to establish their authority, the court should expose the White Lotus's shady tricks and prevent them from using such methods to recruit followers. This is the only way to cut off the White Lotus's roots.
Although Li Zhuo was a little annoyed, he had to admit that what Wei Yong said made sense.
Killing people to establish authority is ultimately only a temporary solution. If you really want to deal with the White Lotus Sect, you still have to start with their strange methods.
So Li Zhuo spread his hands and said, "Okay, then you guys can study their strange methods."
When everyone heard this, whether it was Xu Yan or Wei Yong, the corners of their mouths twitched.
The White Lotus Sect has been in chaos for so many years. If they really wanted to figure out the White Lotus Sect's methods, they would have figured it out long ago. Why would they wait until now?
For a moment, the entire hall fell into a strange silence. The atmosphere was extremely awkward and almost uncontrollable.
Just as the Minister of Rites was considering whether to come out and smooth things over, he suddenly heard a childish voice say, "Father, the Ministry of Revenue has made a mistake in calculating the levies!"
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