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

"Shen Ye, please do not mention this matter in front of others. His Majesty will handle it."

Jiang Zuo reminded, still a little worried.

Shen Ye was silent for a while before nodding and saying, "I understand."

Originally, the empress had a lot of things to say, but Shen Ye's sudden impeachment brought some unexpected things to Chen Qingyun's plan.

After taking care of other matters, the empress wanted Shen Ye to leave.

"I want to see what happened to this case fifteen years ago."

Chen Qingyun said this, stood up, and walked towards the bookshelf behind him.

"What is your Majesty looking for?" Jiang Zuo asked puzzledly.

Chen Qingyun said: "I found the files that recorded this case fifteen years ago."

"This incident probably won't be recorded. Your Majesty, there's no need to look for it. What happens now is not important. What's important is that we already have a starting point to deal with that group of old ministers." Jiang Zuo said.

Hearing this, Chen Qingyun did not stop his actions, and said with a little doubt: "I am just not sure whether what Shen Ye said is true."

Jiang Zuo said: "Whether it is true or not, your majesty should not want those old ministers to continue to occupy the positions. Now that the imperial examination is over, as long as these new people are trained well, they can completely replace the positions of those old ministers."

"So do you think we should take action now?" Chen Qingyun sought Jiang Zuo's opinion. She has always been decisive in killing people, but this time too many people are involved and she needs to remain rational.

Jiang Zuo didn't think twice and replied, "No, we can't deal with this matter right now, so as not to alert the enemy and attract the attention of the right-wingers."

Chen Qingyun said: "I know that, but leaving them in the court for a day and making small moves in secret gives me a headache."

"Only by citing some crimes against them can we justifiably eradicate all of these people."

If she killed him directly, the empress's reputation as a murderer might be discussed by the world again.

After all, Lu Jun is a veteran of three dynasties and his prestige is not low.

Just as Jiang Zuo said, if one wants to eradicate the right party, one must have a reason that is convincing enough to convince the people. Now, it is difficult to truly convict Lu Jun based on Shen Ye's words alone.

The list of corruption in the Empress's hands is indeed enough to convict these people, but it is probably not enough to completely eradicate this force.

How to deal with it?

Thinking about that time, Chen Qingyun still searched through a pile of court files and found the records from fifteen years ago from the information of the Ministry of Justice.

When he opened the book, he found that Chen Qingyun had never heard of most of the cases. After searching for dozens of pages, he finally saw the case about the Shen family.

"The Shen family's crime was collusion with the Southern Chen forces?"

Chen Qingyun frowned.

This file clearly records how the Shen family committed treason.

Such crimes were enough to execute all nine generations of the Shen family, but because the Shen family had some connections in the court, they pleaded with the emperor. Moreover, Shen Dezhong's crime of treason was actually a bit far-fetched. The late emperor took their old friendship into consideration and did not impose a severe punishment, thus allowing Shen Ye and other members of the Shen family to live.

"Let me see it too."

Jiang Zuo stepped forward.

"Shen Dezhong was wrongfully imprisoned and died in prison, and his family members were also impoverished."

For some reason, when Jiang Zuo mentioned the Shen family of Huaizhou, he seemed to have some impression of them, but he just couldn't think of any connection with the Shen family.

Thinking of this, Jiang Zuo couldn't help but look serious and said, "So, the people of the Right Prime Minister's party must have noticed Shen Ye. No wonder they wanted to assassinate him some time ago. Maybe they were worried that Shen Ye would take revenge."

"How bold." Chen Qingyun snorted. His patience with those old officials had reached its limit.

Jiang Zuo added: "Perhaps he is not just targeting Shen Ye, but the entire court. To be more precise, he is secretly opposing the new policies of our dynasty."

Before the new policy was promulgated, Jiang Zuo had already anticipated that this reform would inevitably touch upon the interests of some conservatives, and there was still a long way to go for the Yan State's reform to succeed.

At least the problem facing the empress now is how to let those meritorious old ministers leave in a dignified manner.

Kill them? Or remove them from office?

Chen Qingyun was actually still a little hesitant in his heart.

After thinking for a while, Chen Qingyun could only ask Jiang Zuo for advice, "Since this group of people are eyeing Shen Ye, should we still let him enter the Ministry of Personnel?"

The Ministry of Personnel is the most important department. A newcomer like Shen Ye who has no official qualifications will definitely not be accepted by other officials.

"It seems that we should not do it for now. It is better to let Shen Ye be an eighth-rank official and not let him be too ostentatious. When the situation stabilizes in the future, we can see whether Shen Ye can take on this important task." Jiang Zuo said.

Although Shen Ye won the top three places in the imperial examinations and was indeed quite talented, the imperial court still had to first see how capable Shen Ye was as an official before considering whether to use him.

Chen Qingyun nodded: "Then do as you say."

Jiang Zuo put away the file in his hand and put it back to its original place. He turned his eyes to the memorial on the desk and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry too much, lest you get upset and have a headache again."

Chen Qingyun sighed and said, "Although Yan State seems calm on the surface, the number of memorials I have handled in the past few months is several times that of the previous years. It is obvious that the situation in various places is not optimistic at all."

Just as Chen Qingyun said, now that Yan State has unified the north and the south, it has actually increased the pressure of ruling. There are already many rebel forces in various parts of the south, waiting for the court to deal with them. However, due to the corruption and incompetence of local officials, administrative efficiency is low, and even within a month, the court's decrees are difficult to implement.

"If there were more capable ministers like you in this world, I wouldn't have to worry." Chen Qingyun said helplessly.

Jiang Zuo came to the empress, gently massaged her shoulders, and said, "Then Your Majesty, please use me as a few people."

In the current situation, Jiang Zuo can't just sit back and enjoy himself. Seeing the empress looking so worried, Jiang Zuo naturally wants to help her share some of the pressure. If he can handle everything, Jiang Zuo will be able to get rid of the problem once and for all.

Chen Qingyun held Jiang Zuo's hand tightly, slowly closed his eyes, and tried to relax himself.

But a moment later, a guard outside the door said, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Lu wants to see you."

"Lü Jun is here?"

Chen Qingyun frowned slightly.

Jiang Zuo was also slightly puzzled and whispered, "Coming here at this time is too coincidental."

Shen Ye had just left not long ago and Lu Jun arrived right after. It must have been intentional.

In other words, Shen Ye has always been under the surveillance of the right party.

Chen Qingyun opened his eyes and said, "Maybe he already knows Shen Ye's purpose. The more these officials say so, the more it proves that they have something to hide."

Thinking of this, Chen Qingyun felt even angrier.

These old ministers, relying on their seniority, have become increasingly arrogant.

No matter what, the reform of the court must continue to be accelerated.