I embezzled 100,000 taels at the beginning, and the empress begged me to be more greedy

Hall of Supreme Harmony.

All officials attended court.

"Meet Prime Minister Lu."

All the ministers arrived at the hall early, waiting for His Majesty to arrive.

"The Emperor has not attended court for a long time. He suddenly summoned all the ministers today. It must be because of the Fan Yuan case..."

The ministers discussed quietly.

The Fan Yuan case caused a lot of controversy and everyone wanted to stay out of it.

They all knew that the death of this close confidant of the emperor would inevitably lead to bloodshed.

Everyone here knows the ruthless methods of the Empress.

Now, all the ministers in the court looked uneasy.

A moment later, the empress went to court.

"See you, Your Majesty. Long live my Emperor."

All the ministers bowed down.

"Flat body."

There was majesty in Chen Qingyun's eyes.

She hadn't attended court for many days, and now facing the civil and military officials below, she actually felt annoyed.

To everyone's surprise, the first thing Chen Qingyun talked about when he went to court this time was not the Fan Yuan case.

"I summoned you all today to ask if you have anyone to recommend for the position of Prime Minister of the Cabinet."

Chen Qingyun said lightly.

Ever since the "Prime Minister Case" was over, Chen Qingyun has not decided on a new candidate for Prime Minister.

Back then, Emperor Taizong abolished the position of prime minister and established a cabinet in order to suppress the power of the prime minister. But later, due to the complexity of government affairs, he had to re-establish the left and right prime ministers to check and balance each other.

The Chief Minister of the Cabinet is responsible only to the emperor and ranks second in rank, so the Chief Minister of the Cabinet is also called the third prime minister.

Upon hearing this, the left and right prime ministers all looked solemn, and other officials dared not step forward to make recommendations.

No matter who you recommend, you will offend one party. It is better to change your stance according to the situation and observe secretly.

Seeing that none of the ministers said a word, Chen Qingyun said coldly: "Since none of you have a suitable candidate, I can only choose myself."

Her move was to prepare for Jiang Zuo to come to Beijing to serve as an official in the future.

Chen Qingyun understood very well that now in the court, various forces were forming cliques for personal gain, and they would certainly try their best to win over or suppress capable ministers like Jiang Zuo.

The hall fell silent.

Chen Qingyun then asked: "What is the situation on the southern border?"

At this time, the Minister of War came forward to report: "Your Majesty, Chen State has assembled 100,000 troops on the border, and it seems that they are preparing to attack northward. I speculate that Chen State's target is likely to be the Huaizhou area."

"How many defenders are there in the south? Is it still the same 80,000 as before?"

Chen Qingyun asked.

The Minister of War said, "Yes, Your Majesty. There has not been much change in the southern border troops. I propose to transfer 10,000 troops from the Six Garrisons to garrison Huaizhou to guard against the Southern Chen."

Chen Qingyun shook his head: "The Six Garrison Army is used to prevent the invasion of the Northern Barbarians. If we withdraw troops rashly, I am afraid that the Northern Barbarians will invade again."

The Minister of War said: "Your Majesty, compared to the barbarians in the northern desert, the threat from the Southern Chen is obviously greater."

"Hmm..." Chen Qingyun pondered for a moment and felt that the words of the Minister of War made sense, but he did not withdraw troops from the north. He only said: "First, transfer 10,000 troops from the Qingzhou army and rush to Huaizhou. The troops in the north will continue to defend the border."

"As ordered."

After a long silence, Chen Qingyun asked again: "My dear ministers, do you have anything else to report?"

"Your Majesty, I have something to report."

Duan Yide, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, stepped forward and said that he was an old minister in the court, holding the third rank, and had worked diligently for half his life without any selfish motives.

"speak."

Duan Yide leaned forward and said, "I want to report General Zhenbei Jiang Zuo for corruption and collusion with the Mobei people! Smuggling supplies for personal gain!"

As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar.

The scene of the impeachment of hundreds of officials last time is still vivid in my mind.

Jiang Zuo was able to quickly rise from a small county magistrate to the position of General Zhenbei, but no one knows what his real strength is.

Everyone was amazed that Duan Yide, an old minister, had the courage to submit a memorial to impeach Jiang Zuo.

"Oh?"

Chen Qingyun looked indifferent.

Duan Yide said righteously, "Your Majesty, this time the evidence is solid, with witnesses and physical evidence, which can prove that Jiang Zuo secretly sold the Yan army's weapons and armor to the Northern Barbarians and embezzled the court's military pay!"

"The negotiation between Jiangzuo and Mobei is a humiliation to the barbarians. If the border troops are all so cowardly, the border of Yan will be in danger!"

At this time, a minister was also quite excited.

"Jiangzuo not only collaborated with the enemy, but also opened up trade in the name of suppressing bandits and amassed huge profits. Your Majesty must investigate this matter!"

Duan Yide added.

The eyes of all the ministers fell on the empress.

You must know that the current empress hates corruption extremely. Even Zhang Zhi, the hero who supported the empress to ascend the throne, was beheaded for corruption and abuse of power. This Jiang Zuo seems to have no background at all and is bound to die.

The last impeachment by all officials could be said to be a misstep, but this time the evidence was irrefutable, and even if Jiang Zuo himself came, he would not be able to deny it.

In the hall, all the ministers were waiting for Chen Qingyun's reaction.

"You all say he is corrupt and commits corruption, but I allowed him to do so, so what?"

Chen Qingyun's voice was extremely low and calm.

She was even unwilling to defend Jiang Zuo.

Do you think the Empress doesn't know these things?

After seeing it with his own eyes, Chen Qingyun wished Jiang Zuo would be more greedy. As long as he had money, that guy would be more motivated to do things.

"what?"

All the civil and military officials in the court were dumbfounded.

Isn't Your Majesty angry?

Is this still the empress from before?

It's so strange!

"If you have the ability of Jiang Zuo, what would happen if I let you be a little greedy? I'm afraid some people are both greedy and incompetent."

Chen Qingyun glanced sharply at the ministers below.

There was complete silence in the court.

After a while, Duan Yide said again: "Your Majesty, the private sale of armor cannot be left alone. This has shaken the foundation of our Great Yan State. If the strength of those northern barbarians is allowed to grow, the border will be in danger!"

Chen Qingyun's face was calm: "I know that you, Duan Yide, are devoted to the country, but I have already sent people to investigate the matter of armor. It has nothing to do with Jiangzuo."

Hearing this, Duan Yide was speechless.

Chen Qingyun glanced at everyone and said dignifiedly: "I tell you, none of you can touch Jiang Zuo."

It seems that Jiang Zuo is the empress's confidant!

The ministers finally realized what was going on and were shocked.

"The imperial treasury is now empty and military pay is needed everywhere. As ministers in the court, you should share the country's worries." Chen Qingyun said calmly: "Above the fourth rank, each person should donate 10,000 taels, and below the fourth rank, each person should donate 5,000 taels."

Now Chen Qingyun has a list of corrupt officials in his hand, and they dare not disobey.

She dared to guarantee that there was no minister in this court who was not greedy. Even those who were truly completely loyal to the emperor would accept some bribes in private, it was just a matter of how much.

"Again?"

All the ministers looked at each other with grim expressions.

"After the court session ends, I will order someone to go to your residence to receive the goods. No one can refuse. So, report if you have anything to do, otherwise, the court session ends!"