The Experienced Qin Zhiang

Zhou Tiancheng pondered for a moment and quickly figured it out.

That Qin Zhiang is truly a scoundrel.

It's possible that from the very beginning, Qin Zhiang and Zhou Tianze understood that conventional accusations would be ineffective in dealing with the Crown Prince.

Their goal was clear: to disband the National Protection Army and then obtain the gunpowder formula from their hands.

They're afraid!

They feared that Zhou Tiancheng would once again use the National Protection Army to gain merit, and that Zhou Tiancheng would use the National Protection Army to overturn the table when vying for the throne.

They wanted to extract Zhou Tiancheng's trump card first.

But Zhou Tiancheng wouldn't agree!

He formed the National Protection Army partly for the previous military training competition, and later for the purpose of rescuing the retired emperor in Northern Xia. Now these have become his trump cards, so how can he let anyone take them away so easily?

He spoke without even thinking.

"Father, let me put it this way: even if I had brought any other army to Northern Xia instead of the 10,000 Protectorate Army, I could have kidnapped Tuoba Lie in the Northern Xia palace."

"This is a dereliction of duty by the Imperial Guards of the Northern Xia Palace, a loophole in the Northern Xia national system, and has little to do with the National Protection Army."

"In my opinion, Lord Qin's remarks precisely expose his ignorance as Minister of Rites!"

He stepped to the front of the stage and began to talk about the situation in Beixia.

Firstly, the Northern Xia state was established for a very short time and lacked experience. It imitated the Great Qian state in many ways, but failed to grasp the essence, resulting in numerous flaws.

Another point is that the Northern Xia was a state formed by tribes. It was not formed by a powerful figure sweeping across the country. Their rules were also simpler: whichever tribe was stronger was qualified to compete for the throne.

This leads to a problem.

Powerful tribes fear decline and are even more afraid of being overshadowed by other tribes, so they will desperately try to suppress the space of other tribes.

Smaller tribes have no chance to develop, and any benefits they receive are taken by the stronger tribes.

"Today, the Kaka tribe is the most powerful tribe in Northern Xia, and their chieftain Tuoba Lie is the emperor of Northern Xia."

"The reason we were able to breach the Northern Xia imperial palace wasn't because our National Protection Army was particularly strong; quite the opposite, it was because their system had serious problems!"

"Smaller tribes that want to develop, and larger tribes that want to replace the Kaka tribe, can only seek help from outside forces."

"Coincidentally, I entered Northern Xia with 10,000 men at this time, had a brief discussion with the tribal chiefs, and they provided me with ample assistance."

"They brought us into the city, and they provided the thousand cattle that broke through the Imperial Guards. We also happened to be there during their cattle-chasing festival, which led to this great victory."

"But Lord Qin actually attributed all of this to the merits of my National Protection Army, which shows that he knows nothing about the situation in Northern Xia and has no understanding of this war. I believe that Lord Qin, as the Minister of Rites, has indeed failed in his duty."

"Your Majesty, I humbly request that you remove Qin Zhi'ang from his position as Minister of Rites, to prevent such a person from occupying an official post without doing any real work, lest such a ridiculous situation be repeated!"

Qin Zhi'ang's face darkened.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is being unreasonable. Even if I am not familiar with the situation in the Hu Kingdom, that is understandable, since I am not a military general."

Zhou Tiancheng suddenly turned around and stared intently at Qin Zhiang.

"Nonsense."

"Your Ministry of Rites is not only responsible for the Five Rites and the selection of candidates for the imperial examinations, but also for communicating with foreign countries. For example, when the Northern Xia envoy Kazan came to our Great Qian, you were in charge of the liaison."

"You don't even know anything about the situation in Northern Xia, how can I trust you to properly entertain their envoys?"

"If the situation in Northern Xia is like this, are you completely unaware of the conditions in other foreign lands?"

"Moreover, Lord Qin, the ministers of the Six Ministries participate in all court assemblies, large and small, and the Ministry of Rites is the head of the Six Ministries. They are also always selected as the chief officials of the three provinces and participate in the decision-making of all matters of the Great Qian Dynasty."

"You don't even know the situation in Northern Xia, how can I trust you to make better decisions regarding Northern Xia?"

"It's understandable that you were unaware, but if the Minister of Rites was unaware, then he is unfit to be the Minister of Rites!"

"Your Majesty, I humbly request that you dismiss Lord Qin from his post!"

Both are based on sound reasoning and evidence.

But Qin Zhiang never expected that when he tried to bite Zhou Tiancheng, Zhou Tiancheng would bite him back.

Zhou Rui smiled too.

He had long wanted to take action against Qin Zhi'ang. If this old fox hadn't boarded the pirate ship of the imperial family and powerful clans, Qin Zhi'ang would no longer be the Minister of Rites.

"Lord Qin, this is indeed a bit unreasonable."

"Among the six ministries, the Ministry of Rites is the most powerful. Moreover, the officials of the three provinces all come from the Ministry of Rites. They make decisions on matters of great importance to the nation. I don't expect you to be perfect in every aspect, but you should at least have a general understanding of the situation!"

Qin Zhi'ang was so angry that he vomited blood.

How could he not know about the affairs of Northern Xia?

You should know that the bone token he gave Zhou Tianze saved Zhou Tianze's life!

He wasn't unaware of the situation; he simply wanted to ignore Bei Xia's mistakes and prove the danger of the National Protection Army to Zhou Rui. Now, however, he has found himself in the predicament of proving himself.

He pondered for a moment, then quickly made up his mind and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Zhou Rui.

"Your Majesty, I actually know what the Crown Prince said, but I didn't know that the Crown Prince used this to capture Tuoba Lie. It was my oversight, and I confess my guilt."

"But the Crown Prince said that I am not worthy to be the Minister of Rites, and I do not agree with that."

When Zhou Tiancheng saw that he had broken down the issue in an instant and wanted to get involved in the debate over the powers of the Minister of Rites, he immediately refused.

He took a step forward, insisting on refuting Qin Zhiang's earlier words.

"Father, Lord Qin just said it himself. As the Minister of Rites, it's understandable that he might not know about the situation in the Hu Kingdom. Those are his exact words!"

"Why does Lord Qin want to change his tune now?"

Isn't it all because of this third-rank official, the Minister of Rites?

Everyone knows this, but no one has said it outright.

Zhou Tiancheng's use of blank space was particularly insidious; he was practically pointing his finger at Qin Zhiang and accusing him of being unreasonable and making trouble for the sake of official position.

Qin Zhi'ang was thick-skinned and didn't care at all.

"Your Highness, you've exaggerated. That's not what I meant at all. I meant that it's understandable if I didn't know about the situation in Hu Kingdom, but the problem is that I do know about the situation in Hu Kingdom."

"The Crown Prince's rebuttal was to my understandable point of view, not to prove that I am ignorant of the situation in the Hu Kingdom. On the contrary, I can recite the intricate kinship relationships among the many tribes of the Hu Kingdom!"

"That's why I said I don't know how you managed to subdue Tuoba Lie. This is my dereliction of duty, but it doesn't prove I'm unworthy to be the Minister of Rites!"

An old fox is an old fox; Qin Zhiang explained the relationship clearly in just a few words.

He could even recite on the spot the relationships of marriage and hatred among the tribes of the Hu Kingdom.

But he just wouldn't admit it. In order to frame the Crown Prince, he pretended to be ignorant and deliberately used a small oversight to cover up his evil intention to arouse Zhou Rui's suspicion of the Crown Prince and strip the Crown Prince of his military power in the National Protection Army!

This is where Qin Zhi'ang's rich experience lies.