Great Xia: At the start, summon the Net of Heaven to suppress the martial arts world.

In this way, the collusion of interests and monopoly of power among officials can be effectively broken, resulting in a clean government and a prosperous country.

However, given the current situation, it is too early to implement such a comprehensive and in-depth reform. We need to wait until the time is right and all conditions are met before we can put it into practice.

After a moment of contemplation, Emperor Xia came to his senses and said, feigning anger.

"Nonsense! I don't believe that nearly half of the officials in the court are corrupt."

"Now that the ringleader has been brought to justice, let's leave it at that!"

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard should strengthen its oversight in the future!"

This measure was taken out of necessity; we couldn't possibly punish all 50% of them according to the law.

For now, we can only let them enjoy themselves for a few more days.

Emperor Xia's words immediately put the officials below at ease.

Xia Taige understood what was troubling Emperor Xia and did not press the matter further.

The quick-witted ministers below, watching the father and son putting on an act, understood to some extent what was going on.

But now that the evidence is in their hands, how dare they say anything?

"Minister Yang, please rise. The Minister of Rites and the Duke of Lu are guilty of heinous crimes and deserve to die. This case is also the duty of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Emperor Xia looked at Yan Kuan, the Imperial Censor, who was still kneeling in the middle of the hall, and said softly.

"Yes! Your Majesty is wise!" Censor-in-Chief Yang Kuan stood up and bowed in thanks as if nothing had happened.

After Censor-in-Chief Yang Kuan returned to his post, the Minister of Personnel stepped forward and said:

"Your Majesty, regarding the Yongning Prefecture case that His Highness the Crown Prince promised to investigate yesterday, I wonder if there have been any results yet?"

"The position of prefect of Yongning Prefecture is of great importance. It has been idle for more than three months now, and the people must be starting to complain bitterly."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xia frowned and looked at Xia Taige.

Before Xia Taige could respond, Jiang Huan stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said:

"Your Majesty, I investigated the Yongning Prefecture case yesterday. According to the investigation, the culprits were the Assistant Magistrate of Yongning Prefecture and the local powerful families."

"In order to amass wealth in Yongning Prefecture, He Shuren, the Assistant Prefect of Yongning Prefecture, did not hesitate to cooperate with local powerful families to assassinate the incoming prefect in order to better consolidate his own position."

"At dawn this morning, I dispatched the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Xuanwu Envoy with men to Yongning Prefecture to arrest He Shuren and the local powerful clans, and bring them to the capital to be dealt with by His Majesty!"

As soon as Jiang Huan finished speaking, some ministers below whispered in doubt.

"The investigation was only just started yesterday, and the results are out today?"

"Could it be that the Embroidered Uniform Guard just randomly picked a scapegoat to take the blame?"

"It's very likely. The capital is far from Yongning Prefecture. Even the fastest journey would take two days one way, not to mention the time needed for the investigation. It seems like they were just randomly dragged out to take the blame."

Hearing the murmurs below, Emperor Xia did not press the matter further and immediately made a decision:

"In that case, let's wait until the Embroidered Uniform Guard arrests the Assistant Magistrate of Yongning Prefecture and brings him back to the capital before discussing this case."

"Yes!" the Minister of Personnel replied.

Afterwards, the morning court proceeded as normal, with reports on various matters concerning people's livelihoods, both large and small, as well as local conditions and the results of implementation.

Before we knew it, the morning court session had come to an end.

After the court session, Xia Taige did not rush back to the Eastern Palace, but instead took Jiang Huan to the Imperial Study to meet Emperor Xia.

Inside the imperial study, Emperor Xia looked at the two people before him and then asked:

"Why choose to use the Duke of Lu and the Minister of Rites to establish authority?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Taige responded and explained:

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Lu and the Minister of Rites pose a greater threat, but have the least direct connection to the matter. It would be best to use them to establish authority."

"From what you're saying, there's someone else who's causing more trouble?"

"Yes, for example, the Minister of Personnel, and my uncle, Prince Kang."

"Is this really true?" Emperor Xia asked incredulously.

The position of Minister of Personnel is understandable, given his high rank and the prevalence of nepotism.

But the Xia Emperor couldn't understand his own brother.

Since the Xia emperor conferred the title of king, his own brother had always given him the feeling of being in a daze every day, never paying any attention to the affairs of the court.

But now, Xia Taige has made it clear to Emperor Xia that it is far more complicated than he imagined.

"Father, when the Embroidered Uniform Guard raided the home of the Minister of Rites last night, a force had already attempted to silence him beforehand. The person who did it was Prince Kang's men."

"According to information from the Zhenwu Division's spies, Prince Kang is secretly colluding with a group of unknown forces, intending to overthrow the imperial power and plot a rebellion during the turmoil in the Great Xia Dynasty!"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xia looked dejected. He couldn't accept that his brothers had let such a wolf into the house in their power struggle.

After a moment of contemplation, as he regained his senses, the somber look on his face vanished, replaced by a deep killing intent!

"If that's the case, why didn't you take action against him last night to prevent future troubles?" Emperor Xia looked at Xia Taige with a puzzled expression.

"Your Majesty, as the saying goes, 'No destruction, no construction; destruction precedes construction.' I am very pleased to see this happen, for only in this way can we eliminate the hidden security threats in one fell swoop. Why not do it!"

“A few days ago, when I had just become the Crown Prince, I said the same thing at a banquet with the other princes, and even offered to delegate power to them to create conditions for them to rebel.”

"Only when they rebel can I discern whether the many ministers in the court are truly capable and worthy of being given important positions!"

Xia Taige spoke eloquently, his resolute face radiating an unparalleled confidence.

He then added:

"Furthermore, we can use this pretext of rebellion to wipe out these treacherous officials and traitors, thereby freeing up positions and opportunities for those who are truly loyal to our Great Xia Dynasty!"

Upon hearing these words, Emperor Xia was slightly taken aback, his gaze fixed on his son, who was speaking eloquently and full of vigor.

At this moment, Emperor Xia seemed to see in Xia Taige the great emperor who would one day unify the entire Chinese continent.

Deep in his heart, after so many years of trials and tribulations, Emperor Xia had reflected on himself countless times and believed that he was unqualified as an emperor.

Over the long years, the complexities and trivialities of life have worn away his former ambitions.

Even today, despite his diligent and conscientious handling of state affairs every day, the various chronic problems facing the Great Xia Dynasty have not been effectively improved.

The long-standing problem of powerful families monopolizing power and resources has never been properly resolved.

Corrupt officials in the imperial court proliferated like weeds, while the supervision of them proved to be weak and ineffective.

If it weren't for the presence of that ancestor at the Land Immortal realm within the royal family, who would have been sitting behind the scenes, the seemingly prosperous Great Xia Dynasty would probably have been in a precarious and precarious state long ago.

How could they possibly dare to dream of any grand ambitions to unify the world and dominate the Chinese mainland?