In Changle Palace, Li Mu painted seriously. Over the past few days, he gradually felt that it might not be a bad thing that the painters in the palace refused to teach him.
The Queen was very accomplished in painting, and she was gentle and responsible when teaching him. In two days, Li Mu forgot all about the palace painter and followed the Queen wholeheartedly.
Zhou Wu stood next to Li Mu, looking at it, and said: "When you draw a painting, you don't have to stick to the appearance of the shape. You must use the shape to describe the spirit, and pursue a feeling between similarity and dissimilarity..."
Li Mu understood her words carefully. After a while, the queen sat back on the dragon throne and said softly: "Later today, the imperial court will entertain envoys from various countries at the Chaoyang Palace. You will go there with the officials from the Zhongshu Province."
As the suzerain state, the Great Zhou Dynasty would entertain envoys from various countries at a banquet every time it paid tribute. In addition to the important ministers of the court, the queen would also attend.
After painting this painting, Li Mu came to Zhongshu Province.
For today's banquet, only officials of the fourth rank or above in the imperial court will be invited. Only Zhongshu Ling and two Zhongshu ministers are qualified in the Zhongshu Province. Li Mu just returned to the duty room, and Liu Yi walked in not long after.
, asked: "Will Mr. Li also attend today's luncheon?"
Li Mu nodded and said, "Your Majesty asked me to go there with the officials from the Zhongshu Provincial Department."
Although Li Mu was not of a high level, he would go, just as Liu Yi expected. He smiled and said, "I will come back later and ask Mr. Li to come with me."
There was still some time before the luncheon, and with nothing to do, Li Mu stretched out his hand, a white light flashed, and the painting sage's brush appeared in his hand.
He held the brush and tried to draw a few strokes in the void, but nothing was left. Li Mu asked the queen to try, but she could not use the ultimate magic of painting "to create something out of nothing".
It's okay if Li Mu can't do it, but even the Queen can't do it. Li Mu has reason to suspect that this method, like Taoist magical powers, should also require formulas or incantations.
It is a pity that the tomb of the painting saint is very simple. Apart from this pen and a few authentic paintings, there is nothing else.
On the way to painting, Li Mu encountered the same dilemma as Xiaobai. They both lacked the method of practice. Xiaobai's dilemma was easy to solve. The Fox clan is still a big monster clan, but the painting way has not appeared for a long time.
The only thing Li Mu can do now is to learn painting with the Queen and wait for the opportunity.
Half an hour later, Li Mu, Liu Yi and others walked towards the Chaoyang Hall, which was just to the left of the Ziwei Hall. During the late emperor's time, officials and clans often held banquets here.
Walking into Chaoyang Hall, Li Mu walked to his seat and sat down, looking across.
At this banquet, the court officials of the Zhou Dynasty were on the left, and the envoys from various countries were on the right. Opposite Li Mu were the envoys from various countries.
There are more than ten small countries in the southeast and southwest of Zuzhou. The combined area of these small countries is only half of the Zhou Dynasty.
During these hundred years, they were all vassals of the Great Zhou. They paid tribute to the Great Zhou and the Great Zhou provided them with protection. Apart from this relationship, the Great Zhou would not interfere in their internal affairs.
Among these countries, the six kingdoms of Liang, Yu, Jiang, Jing, Shen, and Yong were the most powerful.
Among the six Taoist sects, except Fulu Sect and Xuanzong who were located in the Zhou Dynasty, the other four sects were located in the Liang State, the Yu State, the Jiang State, and the Jing State. They relied on the four sects. These four countries had considerable influence in the south.
Although the State of Shen does not have a Taoist sect, it is the place where Buddhism originated. It has the largest area and the largest population among all the countries, and its strength cannot be underestimated.
The Shen State was once a strong enemy of the Zhou Dynasty. At the beginning of the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Shen State took advantage of the early establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the instability of the country. It took the initiative to provoke the Great Zhou Dynasty. Taizu sent troops and almost reached the capital of Shen State. If not for the Great Zhou Dynasty,
Pursuing a peaceful policy, the Shen Kingdom has long been wiped out from its ancestral continent.
Since then, Shen Guo has become completely honest.
The Shen Kingdom has always had the ambition to become the hegemon of Zuzhou, but due to the existence of the Great Zhou Dynasty, they have always been able to settle for second place, but they have never extinguished their desire for hegemony.
Although the Yong Kingdom does not have a powerful sect, the royal family of the Yong Kingdom is extremely powerful, with more than one strong person in the upper three realms, far surpassing the Xiao family of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
What is even more rare is that when the emperors of the Zhou Dynasty were becoming more and more mediocre from generation to generation and were about to lose their ancestral foundation, the Yong Kingdom had five generations of wise kings in succession. They worked hard for a hundred years to clear away all obstacles in the country and complete the peaceful reunification of the country.
Over the past hundred years, the Yong State's national power has steadily increased, and in Zuzhou it was the third most powerful country after the Zhou Dynasty and Shen State.
At the beginning, all the countries were very surrendered to the Great Zhou, almost begging on their knees, wanting to use the country's tribute in exchange for the protection of the Great Zhou. Without the Great Zhou, they would have to face the enemies from other continents.
But with the decline of the Great Zhou Dynasty, their thoughts naturally changed.
They began to look forward to the demise of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and then replaced it and became the new overlord of the ancestral continent. However, the former emperor was fatuous, leaving the Great Zhou Dynasty in a quagmire. It happened that the Zhou family rebelled and seized power, and the Great Zhou Dynasty became even more chaotic. The minds of the countries must be more active. This time they paid tribute.
, these people must be given sufficient deterrence, otherwise, Dazhou will lose its right to speak in Zuzhou and the prestige of a great country.
When Li Mu was observing the envoys from various countries, opposite him, a man dressed differently from Zhou called the eunuch behind him and asked in a low voice: "Who is Mr. Li Mu from your country?"
The eunuch looked to the opposite side, searched his eyes, and said: "Back to the messenger, counting from the table directly opposite you, the third person on the left is Mr. Li Muli."
The man, as well as several people at the tables on both sides of him, looked at him at the same time, and their hearts were shaken.
"Is he that Li Mu?"
"So young!"
"Da Zhou has changed a lot in the past few years. This person is young, but his methods are really powerful..."
…
Everyone had been in Shendu for several days, and they were already familiar with Li Mu's name. On the first day they arrived in Shendu, they heard his name in the ears of the people.
They were curious at first, but after some investigation, they were just shocked.
He abolished the surrogate money law, reformed the policy of recruiting officials, purged the academies and halls, attacked the old and new parties, and returned power to the Empress of Zhou. Everything he did was an earth-shattering event.
Who doesn’t know about the silver law of the Zhou dynasty?
This law separates the common people from the powerful. Although it is convenient for powerful officials, it is a nightmare for the poor people. Since the promulgation of this law, the mental power of the people of the Zhou Dynasty has been declining year by year.
All countries see this in their eyes and are happy in their hearts.
The emperor of the Zhou Kingdom is so stupid and the court is so decadent. It is best to let the counties of the Great Zhou Dynasty rise up and rebel against the court. This will also give them an opportunity to carve up the Great Zhou Dynasty and never have to be subordinate to others.
But five years later, this law was actually abolished, and with the help of certain cases, Li Mu also stole all the late emperor's gold medals for immunity from death. From then on, when the powerful broke the law, they were as guilty as the common people...
After these events, the hearts of the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty began to unite again.
In addition, Na Li Mu also proposed the imperial examination, which broke the monopoly of the academy, recruited talents from local places, and once again united the people's hearts.
This is not enough. In the past few years, the Great Zhou Dynasty has been firmly controlled by the old and new parties and has been in internal strife. However, in the past two years, it has been attacked by Li Mu at the same time, which has greatly strengthened the centralization of power by the Queen of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
In the past five years, earth-shattering things have happened in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Foreign surnames have seized power and the country has changed hands. The various countries thought that the opportunity they had been waiting for for a hundred years has come, and they are gearing up to take advantage of this tribute to renegotiate the terms with the Great Zhou Dynasty.
But after arriving in the divine capital, everything here made them dumbfounded.
There were no people living in dire straits, nor a court that was about to collapse. The Great Zhou Dynasty was still the same powerful Great Zhou Dynasty. It purified and reformed the evil laws internally, and it was also extremely strong externally. It was as strong as the devil, and it could not be defeated in their hands.
A small loss and a moment of silence completely disrupted their plans.
And all this is because of the man opposite.
He saved the building from falling and won the trust of the people of the Zhou Dynasty. The most favored minister of the Queen of the Zhou Dynasty was Li Mu, a member of the Zhongshu family.
In everyone's eyes, there was regret, admiration, and resentment.
It's a pity that they lost the opportunity they had waited for so hard.
What I admire is what Li Mu has done. Regardless of his position, what he has done is worthy of everyone's admiration.
Resentment is also normal. Because of this person's existence, their many years of expectations have come to nothing. How can they not hate him?
Soon, the expressions of the two Shen envoys, who had resentment hidden in their eyes, changed. Their emotions and strength were actually sucked away from the air...
The two of them immediately held their hearts together, and only then did they maintain the power of their emotions.
In the main hall, several eyes swept over Li Mu, who was as calm as a bookkeeper, with a meaningful smile on his face.
Li Mu tilted his head slightly and asked Liu Yi beside him: "Mr. Liu, which country are the two people wearing hats opposite from?"
Liu Yi looked up and said, "It's the envoy of the State of Shen."
Li Mu said clearly: "Sure enough, he is from Shen Kingdom..."
Among the countries in Zuzhou, the one that was most dissatisfied with Zhou was Shen. For a long time, Shen had regarded itself as the overlord of Zuzhou, and its self-confidence was extremely inflated, until it wanted to bully the newly established Zhou Dynasty, which had an unstable foundation.
Zhou, on the other hand, was beaten to the vicinity of the capital by the Great Zhou Dynasty and was almost destroyed. Only then did he calm down and pay tribute every year to show his submission.
In these years, although the Shen Kingdom has not developed much, the Great Zhou Dynasty has been declining, one is declining and the other is increasing. If anyone in Zuzhou hopes the collapse and demise of the Great Zhou Dynasty the most, it must be the Shen Kingdom.
Liu Yi twitched her lips and said, "The people of Shen have always wanted to see our jokes. I'm afraid they will be disappointed this time."
The envoy of the State of Shen suffered a secret loss from Li Mu and did not dare to get angry. After looking at him angrily, he looked away.
As the banquet began, the gazes on Li Mu from the opposite side gradually decreased, but Li Mu noticed that the diagonal line of sight from the opposite side to the left was always on him.
Li Mu followed that gaze, and a young man quickly looked away.
Li Mu asked Liu Yi casually: "Which country is that young man from?"
Liu Yi looked at it and said, "It should be the state of Yong."
The country of Yong is not big, but its strength is not weak. Especially the Yong royal family is the strongest in the Zuzhou royal family. In terms of the number of strong men in the upper three realms, it is comparable to the six sects and four sects. One country has produced five wise kings in succession.
, can also be called the legend of Zuzhou.
Li Mu's eyes swept away from the young man and looked at the middle-aged man beside him.
The aura on this person's body is vague and flawless, and he looks like a mortal who has not practiced cultivation. However, the Yong Kingdom will not send a mortal here. Even if his cultivation level is not at the seventh level, it should be very close.
Li Mu's eyes quickly returned to the young man.
It wasn't because he was handsome, it was because although he stopped looking at Li Mu, he began to peek at the queen. His eyes would glance at the curtain in front of him from time to time. After he found that Li Mu was paying attention to him, he immediately lowered his head and looked attentively.
Eat the food on the table in front of you.
The young man discovered that every time he tried to peek at the legendary figure from Zuzhou behind the curtain, a look would fall on him from the other side. After a few times, he no longer dared to peek at him at all.
At the luncheon, the atmosphere was particularly harmonious.
None of the envoys from various countries proposed to break away from the Great Zhou and no longer pay tribute. They had already reached an agreement on this matter, but what they saw in the Great Zhou in the past few days made them have to be cautious.
When the luncheon was about to end, Mrs. Mei came in from outside and hurriedly walked into the curtain, as if she had something urgent to do.
Li Mu noticed that an envoy from Shen State opposite him seemed to have received some kind of message, and his face slowly darkened.
He left his seat, walked to the palace, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty the Queen, this envoy has just learned that some of our people were killed in your country. You must give us a satisfactory explanation for this matter, otherwise, from now on,
, Dashen will no longer pay tribute to your Zhou Kingdom!"
When the courtiers in the palace heard this, they were immediately in an uproar.
Even if it is an ordinary human life case, we should not be careless. At the juncture of tribute from other countries, people from other countries were killed in the Zhou Dynasty, and the impact was even worse. If you are not careful, it will trigger conflicts between countries, especially in the Shen Kingdom.
If they already have different intentions, they can just use this as an excuse.
Master Mei walked out of the curtain and said: "Your Majesty will move to the Ziwei Palace. The Ministry of Life and Punishment will immediately bring the people involved in the case to the palace..."
Yang Shilang of the Ministry of Punishment stood up and said respectfully: "I obey the order."
After saying that, he strode out of the hall and quickly walked out of the palace.
Ministry of Punishment.
A group of people gathered outside the Punishment Department and talked a lot.
"The Shen people obviously fell down and knocked themselves up the stone steps. No wonder others..."
"But if the young man hadn't chased him, he wouldn't have fallen..."
"Bullshit, if he doesn't steal anything, will others chase him?"
"But after all, he is dead, and he is still from another country. The young man may have to pay for his life..."
…
In the Criminal Department, Yang Shilang looked at Wei Peng, sighed, and said: "The envoy of the State of Shen is taking advantage of this. If this matter is not handled well, I am afraid something big will happen. Where is the criminal? I have to take him to the palace..."
Wei Peng nodded and said, "I'll pick someone up in prison."
He walked into the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, opened a cell door, and said to a pale young man: "Let's go, this is probably your only chance to enter the palace in your life."
The young man looked desperate and said in a trembling voice: "Sir, I, I don't want to die yet..."
Wei Peng glanced at him and asked, "Why do you want to die?"
The young man's body trembled, and he said with infinite regret: "If I hadn't chased him, he wouldn't have died..."
Wei Peng asked back: "You were just in a hurry. When did you chase him?"
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