Report to the Empress and the Eldest Princess: They're using the system to poach your men.

Shen Sang went to check on the other party's condition that evening and found that there was no way to save him.

He cursed himself inwardly. He had taken every precaution, thinking that as long as he sent someone to keep an eye on things, he would be fine. He never expected that there would be a slow poisoning.

"This person has taken poison."

"Your Majesty, the Princess is trying to use this opportunity to frame this old minister."

"This old minister has been utterly loyal to Nan Jing and to Your Majesty. This old minister is completely innocent. I beg Your Majesty to do justice for this old minister!"

The situation took a sudden turn, and other officials, seeing the wind blowing, offered their opinions, using this as an opportunity to seize Shen Sangwan's military power.

Just when Shen Yuchen was in a dilemma, a young eunuch brought out an account book, on which were stacked two fish-scale registers from Wuzhou and Chaozhou.

When Fu'an saw that the person who came was Xiao Ningzi, who was with him, he asked a few questions and then took the things.

Fu'an whispered in Shen Yuchen's ear, "Your Majesty, this was sent by the Empress, and she wants you to take a look."

The courtiers below the steps repeatedly denounced Shen Sangwan, as if she were some heinous criminal.

Shen Yuchen had barely flipped through two pages of the ledger when he was so angry that his blood boiled and his heart pounded.

There were also several letters from lower-ranking officials tucked inside, which I opened and examined one by one.

"It doesn't make sense! It doesn't make sense!"

"All of you, shut your mouths!"

Some of the letters were stained with blood. Enraged, Shen Yuchen threw the account books and letters at An Queyuan, who was kneeling in the middle of the main hall.

"Duke Anguo, is this what you call innocence?"

"Um--?"

The letters were scattered everywhere, landing messily on the ground. Wen Yunhe and Cen Zhouyuan picked up the letters at their feet, examined them closely, and said nothing.

An Queyuan picked up the ledger shakily; without even looking at it, he knew what was inside.

He simply couldn't understand why this thing would appear in the imperial court, even though he had placed it in a hidden compartment in his mansion.

"Does the Duke want to say that this is also a forgery?"

Shen Yuchen's face was ashen, his chest heaving violently, and his hand pointing at An Queyuan was trembling.

Shen Sangwan was still trying to figure out how to deal with it, but this sudden change actually relieved her of her burden.

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty, this old minister was confused for a moment. The prefects of Chaozhou and Wuzhou have repeatedly sent people to deliver gifts, this old minister..."

"So you can disregard the lives of hundreds of thousands of people?"

“You eat the emperor’s food, yet you do not seek the well-being of the people, but only think about enriching yourself. This is truly shameful and hateful.”

“Anguo’s public security officer Que Yuan abused his power for personal gain, sold official positions and titles, embezzled disaster relief grain, and harmed the people of the prefecture. He will be executed on a chosen day, all the land and property in his residence will be confiscated to fill the national treasury, all the men in his family will be exiled, and the women will be punished by being enslaved.”

"Your Majesty, spare your life, Your Majesty, spare your life!"

Even as the man was being dragged away by the Imperial Guards, the officials in the main hall were still in a daze.

Weren't we talking about framing someone for treason?

Why are we bringing up the people of Wuzhou and Chaozhou again?

Shen Sangwan never expected that her attempt to use the pretext of "treason" would fail to demoralize the enemy, but instead resulted in her being executed in this manner, which made her feel quite disheartened.

The prefect of Wuzhou had his legs broken by Shuyun during his escape and was now lying on the ground, followed by several other prefectural and county magistrates, kneeling trembling in fear.

Who is behind the General Who Assists the State?

"Your Majesty, it is the prefect of Wuzhou and several county magistrates under him. Your humble servant has collected evidence of their dereliction of duty. Today, I have brought them to the court, firstly so that Your Majesty may punish them, and secondly so that Your Majesty may know that what our soldiers of Nanjing fought so hard to win on the battlefield cannot be destroyed in the hands of these parasites."

Liang Huaiting followed suit, kneeling straight on the ground, his words carrying the fierce aura of a battlefield: "Your Majesty, what the Assistant General said is also what I think."

"Our soldiers have been stationed in the harsh and cold borderlands for many years. Instead of bringing peace and prosperity to the people and a strong nation, they have faced endless internal troubles. Your Majesty, are you going to discourage the hearts of tens of thousands of soldiers?"

He placed his hands together above his head, bent down, and kowtowed deeply.

Shen Yuchen followed up on Liang Huaiting's words, saying, "General Liang has spent half his life fighting for the Southern Army. How could I let my soldiers feel disheartened? General, please get up quickly."

"Since I ascended the throne, I have been pondering one thing every day: the corrupt practices of local officials. The incidents in Wuzhou and Chaozhou were just the beginning. The General of the State has suggested re-establishing the imperial examination system, which I think is a good idea. However, this is no small matter, nor is it an easy task. I wonder if any of my ministers have any suggestions?"

Shen Sangwan's proposal to re-establish the imperial examination system did not mean adding special examinations, but rather changing the existing system to prevent those in power from abusing their authority and to ensure that truly knowledgeable and capable people were given important positions.

This move is tantamount to attempting to overhaul the court in Nanjing in the future.

"What, Your Majesty, is this move to prevent your ministers from amassing wealth, or to cut off the path for your own relatives to seek their well-being?"

Shen Sangwan deliberately dragged out the last syllable, her tone extremely sarcastic, and the curve of her smile was utterly contemptuous.

"Your Highness—!"

One minister, feeling resentful, pointed at Shen Sangwan but didn't know how to refute her.

"Your Majesty, re-establishing the imperial examination system would affect the very foundation of the nation. I urge Your Majesty to reconsider."

In previous years, Cen Zhouyuan had made a fortune by taking advantage of the imperial court's special examinations to amass wealth from local officials. Now that the examinations had been changed, it was as if his source of income had been cut off.

Wen Yunhe remained silent, his face grim, and instead squinted at Shen Sangwan.

"I wonder what reform policies the Left Prime Minister has for re-establishing the imperial examination system?"

Shen Sangwan directly retorted to Wen Yunhe's blatant staring.

"Your Majesty, the imperial examination is a matter of national importance, concerning the very foundation of the nation. It requires careful consideration and weighing of all factors..."

"Since the Left Chancellor has no good plan, then listen to what I have to say."

Shen Yuchen directly interrupted Wen Yunhe's attempt to smooth things over, saying, "The practice of selling official positions and titles by the Duke of Anguo should not be allowed to continue, and favoritism and fraud in the imperial examinations should be completely eradicated."

"The imperial examinations, held every three years, will no longer be conducted with local examiners distributing the questions. Instead, I will work with the Hanlin scholars to set the questions, and the examination time will be unified, with no more regional examinations."

Wen Yunhe felt this idea was unrealistic and objected, "Your Majesty, if the provincial and metropolitan examinations are held at the same time and with the same questions, how can we achieve synchronization when the distances from the capital vary?"

"This is a question that the Left Chancellor and all of you should consider. I hope that after the Mid-Autumn Festival, you can come up with a solution that satisfies me."

Shen Yuchen's voice was neither loud nor soft, making it difficult to guess his mood.

"The prefect of Wuzhou concealed the disaster, neglected his duties and violated the law, disregarded the lives of the people of Wuzhou, and embezzled military pay for many years. He was sentenced to death, his family property was confiscated, all adult males were beheaded, and all other family members were enslaved. Several county magistrates who knowingly broke the law and oppressed the people were stripped of their official positions, exiled to southern Guizhou, and were never allowed to return to the capital."

"The prefect of Chaozhou has committed a serious crime by assassinating a court official. The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, please step forward to receive the imperial decree."

Lin Chaoli walked to the center of the main hall, knelt down and kowtowed.

"I hereby order you to go to Chaozhou and thoroughly investigate the prefectural government. You must not show favoritism."

"Wei Chen accepts the order."

Seeing that Shen Yuchen was determined to go his own way, Wen Yunhe and Cen Zhouyuan exchanged a glance, as if they were making an agreement.

Shen Sangwan kept a close eye on the two of them, and when she saw that they seemed to be heading somewhere after court, she became even more cautious.

She guessed that since the two of them weren't stopping her in court, they would probably resort to underhanded tactics in secret, so she had to be careful.