Ball Ball Cultivation

Unexpectedly, the emperor was born weak and was discovered after just a few attempts, often falling unconscious. This situation was not what Prince Xian wanted to see, but it was what the aristocratic families wanted to see! The emperor was bedridden and unable to handle state affairs, and the aristocratic families controlled the government. The two princes who participated in politics were foolish enough to be eliminated before they even had a chance to compete for the throne. In other words, they relied on their status to bully others, but in reality, they had no ability!

Three years later, everyone had lowered their guard, waiting for the emperor's illness to subside and for his young son to ascend the throne so that they could continue to control the government. The emperor finally regained consciousness and avenged himself without bloodshed, declaring the emperor's poisoning a crime worthy of the death of his entire clan.

The Empress Dowager requested to repent in the Temple of Confession for the rest of her life, and not see anyone. The Temple of Confession is next to the tiankeng, where the Empress Dowager's old acquaintance, her own concubine sister, lives. Seeing how she unblinkingly poisoned the Emperor and supported the Third Prince, her niece's son, to ascend the throne—a son who wasn't even the Emperor's son—how could the Empress Dowager, the previous champion of the palace intrigue, not be aware that Concubine Shu was cheating on the Emperor?

Therefore, Qiuqiu had every reason to suspect that the current emperor, Xu Jin, was not the Empress Dowager's biological son, but the son of her concubine sister. Because they were biological sisters, Xu Jin looked a bit like the Empress Dowager! However, there was no trace of the Empress Dowager's sister in the harem, and Qiuqiu could not find any evidence.

The virtuous concubine and the third prince were given to the idle prince who was demoted to a commoner, and his wives, concubines and children were imprisoned in the Yinfeng Valley for life.

The current left and right prime ministers, the minister of revenue, the minister of rites, the minister of personnel, the Marquis of Cheng'en, the empress dowager's mother's family, and a series of officials who participated in the poisoning of the emperor. All of them had their property confiscated, some executed, some exiled, and some sent to labor camps.

The eight great families directly involved in the poisoning were all eliminated, along with the ringleaders and participants. After their property was confiscated, they were exiled to different places based on their ancestors' contributions to the founding of the country!

The Minister of Rites, who was a firm believer in propriety and law, treated illegitimate children as human beings and oppressed them severely. His legitimate son, guilty of numerous crimes, had already been sentenced to death. His ancestor's founding of the state had indeed received strong support from his family. Therefore, his place of exile was only a remote county. He also allowed his illegitimate children to take the civil service examination after ten years. From then on, both poor students and children of aristocratic families could participate in the imperial examinations and become officials!

Another special case is the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War. He was a man of both civil and military talents who came from a humble family. He rose to a high position after being recruited as a son-in-law by a prominent family. He did not intervene in the poisoning incident, but simply kept silent while knowing about it!

His wife was indeed involved, actively connecting with the various aristocratic families and relaying information through her diplomatic connections. He was sentenced to immediate execution, but he had only a sickly daughter in her thirties. Father and daughter were indeed innocent. The father was exiled to the northern border for ten years, though he could be pardoned if he achieved significant military merit. The daughter was under five, and exile to the frontier was a death sentence. She could be placed in the orphanage established by the empress until she turned twelve. This was also meant to serve as a hostage.

……

Qiuqiu dealt with each person based on the severity of their mistakes and their own usefulness! The three officials finally felt relieved when they saw that the emperor did not kill crazily, but only punished the main culprits, and did not take the opportunity to uproot these aristocratic families and kill them all.

The Ouyang family suffered the most. After their property was ransacked, all the men and women who had committed homicide were executed immediately. This was a sign of a corrupt family tradition. Even a child as young as seven years old was responsible for several deaths. It was truly chilling!

Almost all the clan members were killed, leaving behind only two illegitimate daughters who were often bullied at home and were sent to an orphanage.

……

The vacant official positions were eagerly anticipated by the aristocratic officials who hadn't been involved! Qiuqiu wasted no time in immediately conducting professional assessments. Those currently serving, those recommended for appointment, and those who were about to be appointed were all assessed together, along with the disciples of the Emperor who were praying for the Emperor's blessing.

Especially the grassroots clerks, when they heard that they could also take the exam to become officials, they signed up enthusiastically!

United with the Prince's Grand Tutor, the Prince's Grand Tutor, and the Zong Ling,

The Emperor personally set the questions, and the Crown Prince and Prince Xiao reviewed them. There were still two questions. The first one was about governing according to one's position! The question required a specific implementation plan.

The second section is quite complex, divided into five sections, with different questions tailored to different departments. For example, the Ministry of Construction section requires not only measuring river channels and dams, but also calculating material requirements, and finally drawing construction drawings with examples. If you're not an expert in water conservancy, you can also use examples of drawings of other buildings and tools. It must benefit both the country and the people!

Upon hearing this kind of question, students recommended by aristocratic families would all apply to the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel. Others, without a few tricks, would simply not pass. And these two things had been ingrained in them since childhood! Etiquette was ingrained in aristocratic families, and they couldn't make mistakes. And how to employ people in the Ministry of Personnel and assigning them to the right positions was even easier for them!

The final selection results were quite satisfactory. The number of children from aristocratic families was controlled within 30%, and they were concentrated in the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Punishments, and the Ministry of Personnel; the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Works arranged more people themselves.

Then, a nationwide crackdown ensued. Jinyiwei would constantly expose which dandy sons had committed murder. Once they were caught with actual evidence, they were barred from denying their crimes. Each of them was sentenced to death. To avoid death and have their lives exiled, they had to pay a large sum of money or land to redeem their lives. The reason these dandy sons were so dandy was undoubtedly due to doting parents, who would even spend all their wealth to redeem their lives. Those dandy sons who were exiled from death were given a chance if they truly mended their ways. If they didn't change their ways, they were essentially condemned to death!

A large amount of money flowed into the national treasury, and some of the land was spitted out. Now the Jinyiwei throughout the country are secretly monitoring, and nearly half of the court officials have been dismissed, so the lower officials are keeping their tails between their legs and dare not reach out at will!

Most of the top-tier aristocratic families were confiscated and exiled, but they were given some leeway. The difficult-to-implement imperial examination selection system was much easier to implement because of this leeway. Many of these families had received a good education since childhood and were the cream of the crop. They possessed natural talent, and a few years of hard work was no big deal. Those children of these families were exiled for periods ranging from five to ten years, depending on the severity of their crimes. The places of exile were often remote and impoverished towns.

Even if all the wealth of a truly prestigious family is lost, they still have inexhaustible wealth and hidden power. At the very least, they can guarantee that they can pass the imperial examination and re-enter the officialdom ten years later. This is a beacon. Besides, there are still the real rulers of the family who are not involved in serious crimes and have not been exiled and detained by the emperor in an unknown place.

Qiuqiu was also helpless. The old court officials who had actually participated in the Emperor's poisoning had already been beheaded. These were the people who should have been promoted to manage the government, and the actual helmsmen cultivated by the great families. They were all those who had not openly participated, but knew about it but did not report it. Qiuqiu did not dare to release them, but he was reluctant to kill them. In this era, poor students had no formal channels for education.

It is impossible to let them govern the country directly, so they can only start from the grassroots and hone their skills slowly. These are the real talents cultivated by the aristocratic families.

If all of them were released back into the wild, they could unite and bring down the dynasty. Those left behind were kept as hostages, and we would figure out how to use them. Externally, we would simply tell them their crimes weren't punishable by death and keep them in secret. If their descendants made significant contributions, we could pardon one or two of them.

In this way, a group was killed, a group was imprisoned, a group was exiled, and a group was reused, and all the power of the aristocratic families was broken up.