From Joy of Life, the Tian Gang is reversed

Chapter 62 This is the Imperial Court

"The Ministry of Rites' problem has never been a problem. If you think it's a problem, then the entire Daqing, the imperial court, the six ministries, the prefectures, and even the counties are all problems."

"This is part of the system. The Ministry of Rites has always been like this," Li Chengqian said. "This system has been operating this way since the previous dynasty, or even before that. There haven't been many changes. The people involved are interconnected and their power is enormous. If they really connected, they could even overthrow the court. But, they won't do that?"

"why?"

"Because they are the imperial court. Why would they want to overthrow it? They even hope that the imperial court will be strong and that this prosperous era will last forever. Only when Daqing is strong and prosperous can their business grow bigger and bigger, and the profits they will get will increase. In fact, the larger the population of Daqing, the more beautiful women will be born, and the more targets they will have."

"They're just a bunch of people involved in the flesh trade," Li Chengqian said. "Even they themselves don't realize how immense a force they can become when they connect with one another. The reason they're able to wield such a formidable force is because Daqing has grown stronger, Qing has prospered, and their needs have increased, and they've grown along with it. They'll be the first to oppose anyone who seeks to harm Daqing, because Daqing's interests are their own."

A hint of surprise flashed across Emperor Qing's eyes, and he couldn't help but savor Li Chengqian's words carefully. The more he savored them, the more they made sense to him.

Yes, at first glance, this group of people seemed very powerful, so powerful that even he found it unbelievable.

From the Taichang Temple's Jiaofangsi to Liujing River, from the six ministries to local officials, from the Grand Secretary to the minor clerks in the ministry, all have interests involved with each other. Once something happens, they will protect each other and be extremely cruel to those who dare to infringe on their interests. They will kill the officials of the court at will. It has developed to the point that they even dare to assassinate the leader of the prince's guards and the son of the Qin family of the Privy Council, simply because Qin Yuanxuan's Black Cavalry station has affected their business.

Such great power, such courage, such means...

When the truth was first revealed, even Chen Pingping couldn't believe his eyes.

Under his nose, this group of people actually developed such a powerful force? His Dao heart almost collapsed.

For this reason, Emperor Qing regarded him as a formidable enemy, made various deployments, and took drastic measures.

However, they soon discovered that things were not as difficult as they had imagined, and it could even be said to be very easy.

It was so relaxing that they thought they were having an illusion.

Apart from anything else, Fuyuan Hou Bao Jianning had 30,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry under his command, but they had no defense and no power to resist, and were taken away by the well-prepared Qin Heng in one wave.

According to Qin Heng's secret report, the combat effectiveness of the brave soldiers guarding the border under Bao Jianning was far lower than expected. They did not look like border town officers and soldiers at all, but more like those old soldiers in Kyoto. They did not even react when they were killed and were taken away by Qin Heng in one wave.

It was not as serious as they had imagined.

In the past few days, they have been wondering what the reason is. How could such a large organization, which seems very tight, surrender so easily?

After hearing what Li Chengqian said, Emperor Qing's thoughts suddenly became clear.

Yes, that’s the truth!
They formed cliques for personal gain, spread their influence, formed factions, excluded dissidents, competed for bribes, and colluded with each other for profit...

Isn’t this what the court is like? Isn’t this what the officialdom is like?
If there is a problem with them, then there is a problem with the entire court and the entire officialdom.

But, is this really the case?
If that was the case, how come neither he, Chen Pingping, Fan Jian, Lin Ruofu, nor General Qin realized it at the time? Why did he have to wait until the Crown Prince said this before he realized it?
"No, they are forming a clique," Emperor Qing said decisively, "They are harming the interests of the court."

"Your Majesty is right. Daqing's interests are their interests, but their interests are not Daqing's interests. Ultimately, they are parasites clinging to Daqing and should be eliminated. I think Your Majesty is also very clear about the reason why they have become parasites."

"A prosperous age?" Emperor Qing closed his eyes slightly and finally understood. He always felt that something was wrong before, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Now, he knows.

Because the Qing Kingdom began to grow stronger, it became more and more powerful and wealthy over the years. In particular, the existence of the Neiku made Daqing's business extremely prosperous. Against this background, the various interest groups seized greater profits, and the greater the profits, the bolder they became, and they became more unscrupulous in doing things.

The group of people connected by the Jiaofangsi seemed to be in the same group, but in fact, they were never. They were only in the same group for the interests of human trafficking and flesh trade, that's all.

An official would accept money from brothels, shops, hooligans, and lawsuits.

Today, we investigate from the perspective of the Jiaofangsi (Chinese Music Bureau) and discover a single "force." Tomorrow, investigate from the perspective of the Salt and Iron Bureau and discover a similar "force." The day after tomorrow, investigate the Hedao (City of the Rivers) and find the same thing—even a large portion of the people involved overlap. This is Daqing, this is the imperial court.

The stronger Daqing becomes, the larger these forces will become.

The reason why Jiaofangsi was exposed was not because of his strength, but because he was too close and out of control.

Today, you dare to assassinate the commander of the prince's guards. Don't you dare to assassinate the prince tomorrow? The day after tomorrow, you will assassinate him, the emperor!

So, it is still intolerable!

I figured it out, but I found that this was a dead end!

"Cheng Qian, what do you think of this?"

"If you have no law at home and no rules for your people, and no enemies abroad and no external threats, your country will perish, and it will perish because of this!"

"speak English."

"This is the result of letting the civil servants rest in peace and the military idle, letting the horses run wild in the mountains. You have to find things for them to do, give them a goal. With a goal, there is motivation, and with motivation, they can move forward. For example, attack Northern Qi and unify the world!"

"Insufficient strength, and not the right time." Emperor Qing shook his head. Daqing now looks prosperous and thriving, but he knows that this is just an appearance. With the strength of Qing, it is not an easy task to destroy Northern Qi in one fell swoop. What he wants is not the long-lasting struggle for a city or a pond, but to gather strength and crush it with an unmatched momentum. This is why he has been recuperating with the people in the past few years. However, he did not expect that the national strength has been improved, but the hidden dangers in the country have increased.

What Li Chengqian said just now was clear, but the question was, as the Emperor of Qing, could he allow things to continue like this? Could he just watch the people below collude with each other and act recklessly without doing anything?

Of course not.

Just like this time, Chen Pingping's investigation was thorough and the deployment was appropriate, but even so, for the sake of the stability of the court, they did not dare to catch everyone in one fell swoop. Instead, they selected several key nodes and key figures to eliminate them, cutting off the entire network so that it could no longer be cohesive and could no longer pose a threat. The rest would be slowly dealt with over a few years.

But what about other aspects? For example, salt and iron, grain transport, etc.

"Actually, Your Majesty, there's no need to worry. The main reason this group of people poses such a threat to Your Majesty is because their core is located in Kyoto, too close to Your Majesty, and they've expanded too quickly. They naturally need to be pruned. They need to know the difference between the great and the small, and understand the importance of things. After this lesson, I think the court officials should all be more restrained. Also, the Inspection Bureau needs to get moving. It shouldn't be like a candle, unable to light unless it's lit. We can't let the entire Inspection Bureau become paralyzed just because the president is paralyzed."

"Well, now he looks like a prince."

"Crown Prince?" Li Chengqian raised his eyebrows. "Forget it, Father. I'm bringing up all these things just to tell you that you don't have to worry about my affairs. If you have the time, worry more about my second brother. The reason I'm lifting the lid on the Ministry of Rites this time isn't for Wang Daoan, but for my second brother."

"For Chengze." Emperor Qing was slightly stunned.

"My second brother rose to prominence too quickly, and he got a little impatient. The people around him were mixed, and he was observing politics at the Ministry of Rites. Although he was smart, he was easily influenced. I was afraid he would lose his position and be dragged down too early, so I helped him prune his branches. This way, you, the emperor, would not have no one to rely on and would bother me again, causing unrest in the family."

Emperor Qing took a deep breath and stared at Li Chengqian, "Aren't you afraid that he will take your position as Crown Prince?"

"He's not capable of that. He still needs Father to pay more attention and train him properly."

Emperor Qing was startled at first, then laughed, "Yes, he still needs some training."

Looking at Li Chengqian's indifferent expression, I suddenly felt that it was outrageous!

They were discussing in front of the Crown Prince how to train another prince to compete with the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince was still watching and watching for any shortcomings?
Their eyes met, looking at each other speechlessly.

It's quite embarrassing.

(End of this chapter)