Time Travel: After Seizing the Throne, I Lead the Ming Dynasty to Take Off

Until everyone stood up one after another.

Then someone, waking from a dream, sighed, "Did I...did I just hear it wrong? His Majesty's decree said...that Xia Weizhe should be appointed Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue? A third-rank official? Is there something wrong with my ears?"

"You have a problem with your ears, so does that mean we all have problems with our ears?"

"Crazy! Crazy! This world has gone completely crazy!!"

"Just because of those two seemingly ambiguous, meaningless exam questions, and because of that so-called 'lucky start to the new year'?!"

"How can this be such a joke? His Majesty..."

"this!"

"..."

In addition to a lot of praise, the imperial edict also roughly explained that Xia Yuanji had answered the test questions correctly a month ago and won the first prize, so everyone present understood the reason for this incident today.

But understanding is one thing, and accepting is another.

It was hard for them to accept the fact that they suddenly heard that their classmates who were preparing for the Spring Examination... had directly jumped to the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Disbelief, envy, jealousy, resentment, unwillingness, injustice... the atmosphere at the scene was somewhat mixed.

Some people even couldn't help but complain that "this is child's play."

If it weren't for the sheer number of people here, they would have started to complain about Zhu Yunhuan, the "incompetent ruler"—how could a wise ruler have acted with such a chaotic and frivolous system of government? Appointing a student who hadn't even passed the imperial examination to a third-rank official simply because of his own personal preferences, what future did the Ming Dynasty have?

At this moment, everyone felt like a thousand alpaca horses were galloping through their hearts.

Just don't say it.

My heart is also filled with anger and blame.

The atmosphere here suddenly became extremely depressing, and everyone looked at Xia Yuanji's back with eyes as if they were holding knives.

Xia Yuanji took the imperial edict from Fu Youwen.

Without even turning around to look, he could sense the oppressive atmosphere behind him. He took a deep breath to calm himself, then sighed quietly, "This is an unprecedented reward, but also an unprecedented resentment..."

He was a smart man. From the reactions of Gu Pu and Yu Xin, who were summoned by His Majesty together with him in the Qianqing Palace yesterday, he roughly knew what he would face next.

Fu Youwen narrowed his eyes slightly.

He obviously noticed the hostile atmosphere within the Imperial College.

Looking at the unfriendly looks of the many Imperial College students behind Xia Yuanji, Fu Youwen seemed to suddenly think of something and his gaze froze.

After a moment, a barely perceptible look of realization appeared on the old face.

He immediately looked up in the direction of the Forbidden City, his lower eyelids trembling slightly, and he sighed inwardly, "Oh! This is causing resentment for Xia Yuanji."

"The students within the Imperial College are not happy with this. The many ministers in the court... leaving aside those with military honors, after all, they only feel that His Majesty trusts them. And since they hold titles, they don't care much about the civil servants in the court. As long as His Majesty's decision doesn't threaten their interests, they're fine with it. But the civil servants and scholars in the court... are bound to be unhappy with this."

"Natsuhara Yoshi now stands in front of countless people."

"But for Xia Yuanji, this is a recognition and reward far greater than anything else... He will be filled with gratitude and loyalty to His Majesty."

"I understand now, this black-hearted fellow! Despite being so young, he's mastered the art of checks and balances, cutting off the source of the trouble. He's truly mastered it!"

"No wonder what happened in the Qianqing Palace became known to everyone in the court in just one night! It wasn't that the palace suddenly leaked, it was because His Majesty wanted the palace to leak so suddenly, so it leaked!"

How many years had Fu Youwen been a seasoned official? He had served under the mercurial Hongwu Emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, and the cunning and treacherous Kaiqian Emperor, Zhu Yunhuan...

In addition, he had experienced Zhu Yunhuan's methods of pressure, restraint, and weighing many times, and he knew Zhu Yunhuan's character too well.

So at this moment, the thought came to my mind.

He also understood why Zhu Yunhuan went through so much trouble and made such a big fuss, and even asked a second-rank official to personally announce the decree, turning the palace into a big sieve... and so on. What was the underlying logic behind these things?

"No wonder when Zhan Hui came to see me so quickly yesterday, I began to feel that something was wrong. It turns out that the crux of the problem is here!" Fu Youwen sighed secretly, and finally resolved a doubt in his heart.

And want to understand this level.

He immediately withdrew his gaze and returned it to the somewhat panicked Xia Yuanji, looking at him and thinking secretly: