The envoys from various countries came here with a premeditated plan, hoping to further damage the hearts of the people of the Zhou Dynasty by severing relations with the Zhou Dynasty.
It has been a tradition for more than a hundred years for the countries in the Zuzhou continent to pay tribute to the Great Zhou. If the countries declare independence, the title of the strongest country in the Zuzhou continent of the Great Zhou will exist in name only, which will continue to lose the hearts of the people of the Great Zhou.
If the people's support is further lost, the imperial power will be difficult to condense, and the royal family will not be able to give birth to new strong men, it will not be long before the Great Zhou Dynasty will go from decline to decline.
This is something that all countries like to hear.
But when they walked out of Honglu Temple, they found that there were only a few figures on the streets that were extremely crowded yesterday.
After some investigation, I found out that the people of Shendu voluntarily went to the ancestral temple to pay tribute. Because the people paid tribute, the streets were deserted. How strong is the unity of the people of Shendu?
In this case, even if they stopped paying tribute, the impact on people's hearts would be minimal.
In fact, cutting off the tribute will make the people of the Zhou Dynasty more united.
In the next half day, the Ministry of Punishment arrested dozens of foreign businessmen who violated the laws of the Zhou Dynasty. They were beaten with sticks at the entrance of the Punishment Bureau, attracting countless people to watch. Their cheers passed through several streets and could be heard in Honglu Temple.
Several others who have seriously violated the law may face several years in prison.
Envoys from several countries protested to the Zhou court about this matter and asked the Ministry of Punishment to release the relevant persons, but they were rejected.
An envoy from the State of Shen returned to Honglu Temple after asking around, and said to another companion: "I have inquired about it, and when I handed it to the Zhongshu Province of the State of Zhou, I was beaten down. It belonged to Li Muqian. This man is soft."
If you don’t take it hard, you won’t be afraid of anything.”
Another Shen envoy thought for a while and said: "There is no other way. Let's protest directly to the Queen of Zhou. I don't believe that she will not be afraid that we will cut off tribute from Zhou. In that case, she will become a sinner through the ages..."
…
In Changle Palace, Li Mu handed a letter to the empress who was reading a book and asked: "Your Majesty, the envoys of the State of Shen have threatened the court. If we don't release them, we will cut off tribute from the Great Zhou Dynasty. How should I respond to them?"
Zhou Wu turned over a page and said calmly: "It is decreed that from today on, the Great Zhou Dynasty and the State of Shen will sever tribute relations... Aren't they unwilling to pay tribute? They will no longer have to pay tribute in the future."
Li Mu nodded and said: "I obey the order..."
Not long after, Master Mei walked into Honglu Temple, and his voice echoed in all directions: "The envoy of the State of Shen has received the order."
Two figures walked out of a courtyard and stood quietly in front of Master Mei. They sneered in their hearts. Sure enough, it would be better to hand the certificate directly to the Queen of Zhou. The result would be obtained so quickly.
Then Li Mu didn't know that the sky was high and the sky was high, didn't Queen Zhou know that the overall situation was the most important thing?
Master Mei looked at them indifferently and said: "Your Majesty has an edict. The merchants of Shen State are of bad character and have done many illegal things in the territory of the Zhou Dynasty. The envoys of Shen State did not restrain their own people, but instead treated us harshly.
The Zhou court made unreasonable demands, and from now on, the Zhou Dynasty and Shen State will cut off their tribute..."
Lord Mei had finished speaking, but the Shen envoy was still stunned.
The most important task of their trip was to cut off the tribute to the Great Zhou Dynasty. Now that their goal has been achieved, they have no sense of accomplishment at all.
Five years ago, the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty gave them too many benefits and begged them to continue paying tribute. Five years later, the Empress of the Zhou Dynasty took the initiative to sever the relationship between the two countries...
After Master Mei read out the imperial edict, he drifted away, leaving the envoys from various countries in Honglu Temple looking at each other.
Although the imperial edict only mentioned the Kingdom of Shen, it also sent a message to all of them.
The Queen of Zhou didn't care about the tributes from other countries at all. If she used this as a threat, the fate of Shen State would be their fate.
From now on, everyone here must reconsider their relationship with Da Zhou.
Changle Palace.
After learning that the Shen envoy had left Honglu Temple angrily, Li Mu twitched his lips in disdain.
How can the Queen be so easily threatened? She has always been soft-spoken.
Wanting to threaten her with the same method as the late emperor, the Shen people obviously made the wrong calculation. She didn't even want to be the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, let alone the overlord of Zuzhou. Countries like to pay tribute, but if they don't like to pay tribute, they can just do it on their own.
…
For the Queen, compared to these things, raising grass and flowers, playing flying chess with Xiao Bai every night, and painting with Li Mu may be more attractive.
She didn't care at all whether envoys from various countries paid tribute or not, and she left all matters such as treating envoys to Li Mu.
Regardless of the evil intentions of the official states, the Zhou Dynasty must have the bearing of a great nation. Although there is no need to give them privileges over the people of the Zhou Dynasty, they must still be treated as landlords.
According to the rules of previous years, after the imperial court held a banquet for the envoys, it would also take them to visit the divine capital to show off the elegance of a great country.
Every year during the Tribute Month, the people of Shendu wash the streets and paint their houses. This has become a routine. They strive to show the best appearance of the Zhou Dynasty in front of these small countries.
In previous years, those in charge of this matter were officials from the Ministry of Rites.
Li Mu had never presided over this matter, so he came to the Ministry of Rites specially to consult the Minister of Rites: "How was this matter arranged in previous years?"
The Minister of Rites said: "Back to Mr. Li, in the past, I would select a certain yamen among the six bureaus and nine temples as a place for the envoys to visit. After selecting, I would notify them at least one day in advance so that the yamen officials can make preparations..."
After saying that, he asked again: "Excuse me, Mr. Li, which government office should we choose this time?"
Li Mu waved his hand and said, "Whatever..."
On the second day, worship at the door of the temple.
The Minister of Rites looked at the envoys from various countries and said: "This is my Zhou Dynasty Enshrinement Department, please..."
The envoys from various countries all had expressions of interest on their faces. In the past, the Zhou Dynasty would only allow them to visit six bureaus and nine temples and other government offices, but this was the first time they were allowed to visit the Enshrinement Department.
The Enshrinement Department is a place where the strong men of a country gather. From the Enshrinement Department, you can get a glimpse of the country's heritage and strength.
The Minister of Rites led everyone slowly in, passed through the front yard of the Consecration Department, and came to a large open space. The Minister of Rites took the initiative to introduce: "This is the place where the worshipers perform martial arts on weekdays..."
In the open space, there were waves of mana fluctuations.
On a small slope in the front, there is a human-shaped target.
A worshiper who exuded the aura of the fifth realm waved his hand, and more than ten talismans flew out of his sleeves, setting off a violent wave of spiritual energy, knocking down the humanoid target and leveling the slope.
Seeing this scene, the envoys from various countries felt their throats go dry.
The grade of each of those talismans is above the earth level. Talismans of this level are hard to find in their country. Anyone who has them is not allowed to hide them and use them as a life-saving trump card. Da Zhou worships them so extravagantly.
, use a dozen earth-level talismans for target practice?
This is too wasteful...
Just for that blow just now, the sixth realm had to deal with it in a panic. Below the sixth realm, even the soul might not be able to escape.
Another person worshiped and flicked his fingers, and a black pill-shaped object flew towards another human-shaped target.
The two collided, and after a burst of strong spatial fluctuations, the human-shaped target was swallowed by a black hole in the void.
Many people swallowed secretly. If this thing fell on them, they might not be able to avoid being devoured.
This weird attack method is simply unheard of.
Li Mu clasped his hands behind his back, turned around and saw everyone's shocked look, and said with a smile: "Don't be nervous, everyone, the worshipers are just practicing against the enemy, it's all routine operations..."
In the next hour, Li Mu led the envoys from various countries to see the routine operations of countless Zhou enshrinements.
Including various extremely powerful talismans, elixirs, and formations composed of multiple worshipers that can trap practitioners in the sixth realm to death.
In the past, ten talisman liquids were needed to draw one talisman, but now ten talismans can be drawn. Naturally, the worshipers no longer have to save money. They can just blow it up and collect it when it is not enough. The court now has no shortage of talismans.
In addition to spending thousands of talismans for the Queen, Li Mu and the Queen also refined some of the ancient elixirs they learned from the Taoist pages and gave them to the worshipers so that they could familiarize themselves with how to use them in advance.
The enemy will become more skilled.
An hour later, the envoys from various countries walked out of the Enshrinement Department, their faces all a little pale.
The scenes they saw in the Worship Department left a deep impression on them. Is this the strength of the Zuzhou Overlord?
Li Mu looked at them and said: "By the way, Your Majesty has decreed that the countries no longer need to pay tribute to the Great Zhou. The Great Zhou still has internal and external troubles and really has no time to take care of the countries. You can go back..."
Several envoys from small countries looked at each other, swallowed their saliva, and spoke immediately.
"Those who want tribute, those who want tribute, the centuries-old rules cannot be broken..."
"Wei Guo is loyal to Zhou Dynasty and has no second thoughts..."
