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

Prime Minister's House.

Listening to the rain pavilion.

Right Prime Minister Lu Jun was sitting under the pavilion at this moment and took the secret letter handed to him by Xu Renyou.

The letter reads:

"The governor of Zhenbei, Jiang Zuo, was injured by an assassin and his life or death is unknown."

Lu Jun frowned, feeling that something was wrong.

When he received the letter, Li Yang had already died for two days.

But they were in the capital and were not so well-informed.

"Prime Minister, Jiang Zuo was assassinated, is that right..."

The expression on Xu Renyou's face was meaningful.

He suspected that it was done by the Prime Minister's party.

Lu Jun tore up the letter and threw it into the pool.

"I heard that the governor-general offended the Jiangnan Li family, and that's why he met with an accident."

Lu Jun also has spies in Yecheng.

"Dare to offend the Li family, this Jiang Zuo is quite arrogant."

Xu Renyou said.

"How daring it is to assassinate an official of the imperial court..." Lu Jun frowned, feeling that something bad was going to happen. He murmured, "Your Majesty should know about this. I wonder how he will react."

"Your Majesty has not attended court for several days. I wonder if he is dealing with this matter."

Xu Renyou said.

"I'm afraid that it will implicate me and others."

Lu Jun was a little worried.

If something happens to the Jiangnan family, many officials in the court will inevitably be implicated.

As an old fox in the officialdom, Lu Jun naturally did not want to see this happen.

What's more, his relationship with the Jiangnan Li family is actually not ordinary.

"Don't worry, Prime Minister. Your Majesty definitely knows how to choose between a Jiangnan family and a governor-general."

Xu Renyou is full of confidence.

In the court, there are countless officials who have had collusion with the Jiangnan family. If the Jiangnan family is to be liquidated, it will definitely cause a shock.

"That may not be the case. Have you forgotten that at the last court meeting, His Majesty executed all the officials who gave advice because of Jiangzuo?"

Lu Jun said.

He was in charge of submitting the memorial last time, and he himself was almost implicated.

"Who exactly is this Jiang Zuo?"

At this moment, a servant from the Prime Minister's Mansion came running over in a hurry, panting and saying, "Prime Minister, His Majesty has ordered all officials to come to court immediately."

Another court meeting?

Lu Jun and Xu Renyou were both shocked and confused.

……

Royal study room.

Chen Qingyun quickly opened the secret letter and saw Jiang Zuo's signature at first glance.

Is Jiang Zuo okay?

After hearing this letter, Chen Qingyun finally put his mind at ease after days of worry.

Then she read the contents of the letter carefully.

"Li Yang, the head of the Jiangnan Li family and assistant to the Jiangnan Salt and Tea Bureau, was corrupt and committed treason, and murdered an official of the imperial court. The evidence of his crime was irrefutable. The criminal Li Yang committed suicide out of fear of punishment, stabbing himself in the chest seven times and died..."

Li Yang is dead?

There was a hint of shock in Chen Qingyun's eyes.

Stabbing himself seven times, this cover-up is too far-fetched!

"I asked you, Jiang Zuo, to defeat the Jiangnan family, and you just killed the head of the Jiangnan Li family?"

Although Chen Qingyun is ruthless, he has not touched the Jiangnan family for all these years because he has some concerns.

The forces involved were far more complicated than she had imagined.

Once Li Yang dies, it is difficult to guarantee that the other noble families may already be ready to make a move.

In addition to worry, Chen Qingyun also had some doubts in his heart.

How to clean up the mess?

"I am preparing to confiscate the Li Mansion. I hope Your Majesty will approve it."

Jiang Zuo wrote this in the letter.

Chen Qingyun was well aware that after raiding the Li family, the imperial court would definitely gain a huge amount of additional income.

Since the incident had already happened, Chen Qingyun could only agree to allow Jiang Zuo to search his house.

"Your Majesty, Ma Hengwei requests to see you."

At this time, the chief eunuch stood up to report.

Ma Hengwei? Wasn't he assisting Jiang Zuo in Yecheng?

Chen Qingyun was puzzled and said, "Spread it."

A moment later, Ma Hengwei held two secret letters in his hands and knelt down, saying, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

"Stand up." Chen Qingyun said, "Aren't you in Yecheng? Why are you back to Beijing?"

Ma Hengwei stepped forward and handed the two secret letters in his hand to the emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, these are the secret letters that Lord Jiang entrusted me to hand over to your Majesty personally."

"Another secret letter from Jiang Zuo..."

Chen Qingyun quickly took it and asked, "How is Jiang Zuo's health?"

Ma Hengwei reported truthfully: "Lord Jiang is now in good health."

Chen Qingyun was finally relieved and said, "You can leave first."

"According to the order."

Ma Hengwei turned and left.

Chen Qingyun opened the first secret letter with some doubts.

When the empress saw the letter for the first time, she became furious.

The situation was far more complicated than Chen Qingyun had imagined.

Almost all the names on this secret letter are important officials of the court, and there are even royal relatives.

On the surface, they were loyal to the emperor, but secretly they colluded with the Jiangnan families.

Chen Qingyun stared at the names of the officials on the list, his eyes filled with chilling murderous intent.

Not long ago, she issued an order to execute all officials, and now, hundreds of officials who deserved to be executed appeared again. However, this time, these court officials were almost all important officials in the court, and they could not be killed at will.

The Empty Seal Case and the Prime Minister Case have left Chen Qingyun with almost no one to use. If half of the important officials of the court were to be executed, Dayan would really fall into chaos and stagnation.

And all of this also involves some royal relatives.

After Chen Qingyun seized the throne, these people were still loyal to His Majesty on the surface. Some of them even commanded elite troops and guarded the borders. If these people were forced to rebel, the world would surely be in chaos.

With a bit of anger and helplessness, Chen Qingyun opened the second letter.

This is Jiang Zuo's handwritten letter.

"Your Majesty, the list of names in the secret letter should not be made public. We should keep our composure and suppress it as a bargaining chip to suppress the ministers."

Keep calm?

Seeing this, Chen Qingyun’s anger gradually subsided.

"Now, all the ministers in the court have ulterior motives, but they will not rebel immediately. Your Majesty can give them a warning first, but don't force them into a desperate situation... And my suggestion is to first establish an imperial examination system, that is, the court will hold examinations to select officials. Whether it is an important official of the court or a local official, this method can be used to recruit children from poor families all over the world, and employ them based on their talents, regardless of their background."

Imperial examination system?

Regardless of origin?

Seeing this, Chen Qingyun suddenly realized.

Prior to this, most of the officials appointed by the court of Dayan were selected from the list of filial and honest officials or recommended by the officials' families, and the chances of children from poor families becoming officials were extremely slim.

As a result, the power of the aristocratic families grew increasingly powerful, to the point where it was out of control.

Just like the previous list, it involved so many officials.

Now Jiang Zuo's proposal has opened up new ideas for Chen Qingyun.

She could stabilize the current situation first, and then select talents from poor families to form an official system that is truly loyal to her, the empress.

Jiang Zuo’s plan is brilliant!

"Jiang Zuo, Jiang Zuo, who are you?"

With such talent, how could he still be just a county magistrate after all these years?

If Chen Qingyun had not come to Anding County to inspect in person, it would have been impossible for her to discover such a unique talent.