At the tender age of eight, he was hastily dragged out and made emperor!

"Gudong~"

"Gudong-"

Inside the Daxing Hall, Chu Ling, his mouth parched, gulped down tea. Standing in the hall were a group of officials: Chang Han, the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy; Cang Bu, the Director of the Arsenal; Qi Lu, the Director of the Water Conservancy Bureau; Bao Hong, the Director of the Imperial Treasury; Rui Liang, the Director of the Imperial Workshops; and Xiang Pang, the Director of the Imperial Observatory. Behind them were brocade stools, but none of them moved. Many of them occasionally looked up to observe the emperor sitting on the throne.

For them, although they had been summoned to the central government to serve as officials, they had only seen the emperor once upon their arrival and had not seen him since.

After all, they need time to understand the situation and familiarize themselves with the environment when they take up their new positions.

As for their impressions of the emperor, they actually came from the past year. After all, so many things happened in the central government. Even though it would take time for the news to reach the local areas, it was still relatively easy for them to find out what was going on.

The three years of turmoil have ended, and the Great Yu has returned to stability. However, the damage caused to the country is obvious to anyone with a conscience.

Therefore, the future direction of Dayu is a question that not only some officials in the central government are thinking about, but also some local officials, and even more local officials are thinking about it than those in the central government.

If a new situation were to arise in Dayu, the region would undoubtedly be the most vulnerable!

"Don't be shy, have a seat."

Chu Ling, having put down his teacup, noticed that Chang Han and his entourage had not moved and gestured, saying, "The court session is over. This is before the Emperor, so there's no need to be too reserved. You don't feel awkward, but I do."

"Your subject kowtows in gratitude for Heaven's grace!"

After hearing this, Chang Han and his party exchanged glances and then bowed to the emperor.

Today's grand court assembly at the Taiji Hall greatly inspired Chang Han and his men. As the emperor of the Great Yu, he should have a strong presence.

Especially after the passing of the Empress Dowager.

If the emperor cannot express his attitude and will to the central government and local authorities, it is difficult to guarantee that new troubles will not arise, and for the Great Yu Dynasty, this is absolutely unacceptable.

"After all this time, do you all understand your respective duties?"

Chu Ling flicked his sleeves, looked at the seated ministers, and said calmly, "After the court session, I summoned you all to my presence to have a heart-to-heart talk."

At today's grand court assembly, Chu Ling displayed a cold and ruthless demeanor, clearly stating certain attitudes to let those below him know that the orthodox dynasty was about to change.

Chu Ling needs some ministers in the outer court to start taking action within their authority and to do what they are supposed to do. Only then will the Great Yu truly change.

Under these circumstances, what Chu Ling needed to do was quite simple: on the one hand, coordinate the ministers who had been mobilized, and on the other hand, mobilize some officials to do things closely around the capital region of Yu.

Chu Ling's base of operations has gradually expanded from the Shanglin Garden to the entire Yudu, but in Chu Ling's view, this is still far from enough.

He needs to expand this base to the entire Gyeonggi Province.

Only by doing this well can his imperial power be further consolidated.

To accomplish this, he needs a group of people who know him well and act according to his will and ideas. Only then can Chu Ling's plan be achieved.

Without a doubt, the Imperial Academy, the Arsenal, the Water Conservancy Bureau, the Imperial Household Department, the Imperial Workshops, and the Imperial Astronomical Bureau—these outer court officials—would perfectly fit Chu Ling's scheme.

And just as that was the case, a group of local officials who had passed Chu Ling's test were also placed in the aforementioned supervisory offices by Chu Ling as Chang Han and the others were promoted.

"Your Majesty, I believe the Imperial Academy needs reform."

In this situation, Chang Han glanced around and then stood up and said, "After I took office at the Imperial Academy, I have been observing the students and teachers there. I have found that the Imperial Academy is too superficial, and very few people are truly dedicated to studying."

"More often than not, people talk about social status and pomp, and even take pride in going to brothels. The Imperial Academy is the core of the official schools of the Great Yu Dynasty. It was established by Emperor Taizu Gao to select talents for the country. But the current situation is contrary to the original intention of the Imperial Academy."

"I have been thinking about the reorganization of the Imperial Academy for a long time."

Chu Ling frowned slightly and said, "When I was in Shanglin Garden, I knew that the Imperial Academy had a bad reputation. In the past, the central government had too many things to deal with, so it was inevitable that it would be lax in its management of the Imperial Academy."

"But things are different now."

"As you have said, the Imperial Academy is a place to cultivate talents for the country. If it deviates from this original intention, then I do not know what the point of establishing the Imperial Academy is."

"I think the Imperial Academy needs to be changed in the future. The dynasty selects talents and has corresponding civil service examinations, so the Imperial Academy should also have invigilators."

"Those who have no interest in studying should be expelled from the Imperial Academy, regardless of their background or origin. The Imperial Academy doesn't care about such things!"

Chang Han was somewhat excited after hearing this.

With the emperor's words, some of his ideas could be implemented at the Imperial Academy.

"What Changqing said was for the sake of the nation and the country. Do any of you ministers have anything to say to me?" Chu Ling flicked his sleeves and looked at Cang Bu and the others.

Although the ministers before him were recommended by the late Empress Dowager, Chu Ling did indeed summon them to serve in the central government as Sun Li had wished.

However, if they want to truly gain Chu Ling's approval and be regarded as members of the Emperor's Party, they still need to pass some tests. If they cannot satisfy Chu Ling, even if they are indeed talented, Chu Ling will replace them at the right time.

no way.

The location of these ministers in front of him was extremely important to Chu Ling.

The establishment and definition of the core foundation cannot be taken lightly.

"Your Majesty, since I took office at the Ordnance Bureau, I have discovered many problems." Under Chu Ling's gaze, Cang Bu stood up and said, "The most serious problem is the severe shortage of craftsmen in the workshops under the jurisdiction of the Ordnance Bureau. What alarms me even more is the large number of case files stored in the Ordnance Bureau's archives..."

This guy has his own ideas.

Chu Ling felt a surge of emotion.

The Military Equipment Bureau was responsible for the monopoly of military equipment. In layman's terms, this was the military industry system of the Great Yu Dynasty. All kinds of equipment produced by the workshops under its jurisdiction, such as armor, swords, spears, bows and crossbows, needed to be transferred to the armory for storage. The Military Equipment Bureau supervised production, and the armory managed storage. This could prevent theft by those in charge.

However, during that special period, due to various factors, some bad things began to happen. Some of the weapons stored in the armory were secretly taken out and sold, not to mention the Armory Bureau.

"Investigate this thoroughly!"

Seeing that Cang Bu had stopped speaking, Chu Ling's eyes sharpened. "A country that is large and fond of war will perish, but the opposite is that a country that is large and forgets war will be in danger!"

"The Arsenal is a crucial central location."

"Now that such a problem has arisen, if it is not rectified, how will the central government respond should anything happen on the border in the future?"

"Your Majesty, relying solely on the Ordnance Bureau to investigate this matter will likely be ineffective in the short term," Cang Bu said, immediately expressing his concerns.

The Ordnance Bureau, located in the central government, is considered a lucrative department. However, the Ordnance Bureau is responsible for the despotism of military equipment. It has many officials under its jurisdiction, but its main responsibility is to manage the artisans in various workshops, ensuring that matters clearly defined by the central government can be implemented in the Ordnance Bureau as quickly as possible.

Now we need to investigate some past deficits. It sounds easy, but it's actually very difficult. We can't just ask the officials of the Ordnance Bureau to lead the craftsmen to investigate, can we?

That's unrealistic and impossible.

"Then let's have the Embroidered Uniform Guard assist."

Chu Ling thought for a moment, then reached out to Cang Bu and said, "After this imperial audience concludes, you should go to the Embroidered Uniform Guard and explain this matter to Commander Zang Hao."

"Since you're going to investigate, then investigate thoroughly for me."

"Let's see who has embezzled from the Imperial Arsenal. This matter must be investigated as soon as possible. I will be paying close attention to it."

"The minister obeys the order."

Cang Bu bowed and said hello, but his heart was not at peace.

He hadn't expected the Emperor to order the Embroidered Uniform Guard to assist in this matter. Originally, Cang Bu had thought that this matter could be investigated together with the Censorate.

After all, at today's grand court session, the emperor clearly stated that he would instruct the Censorate to begin rectifying official corruption, which Cang Bu saw as a good starting point.

But what Cang Bu thought was completely different from what Chu Ling thought.

Chu Ling hoped that the Ordnance Bureau could be improved as soon as possible. Once the Ordnance Bureau was established, batches of craftsmen from Shanglin Garden could be transferred to the Ordnance Bureau.

Since it is a monopoly on military equipment, the Ordnance Bureau should focus on building a number of large-scale workshops around the capital city of Yudu to mass-produce various military equipment in an assembly line manner.

Chu Ling knew that productivity improvement could not be rushed, but it was feasible to appropriately accelerate the production model and then feed back into productivity.

Intensive handicraft manufacturing industry.

This is something Chu Ling plans to implement in the Yu Capital and surrounding areas in the coming period. As the core hinterland of Great Yu, it is an indisputable fact that various resources are converging on the Yu Capital and surrounding areas.

If, with his support, this model can be implemented in the Yudu and Jingji areas, then Chu Ling will have a trump card!

However, this matter needs to be handled gradually and cannot be rushed.

Being half a step ahead is called genius, being a full step ahead is called madness!

Intensive manual manufacturing was ahead of its time for the Great Yu Dynasty. Chu Ling needed to pilot it in specific areas first, accumulating experience and improving systems in the process. In particular, talent cultivation had to keep pace. Only when it reached a certain stage of development could it be replicated in its entirety.

Therefore, maintaining secrecy is of paramount importance.

A trump card that is unknown to the world is a true trump card.

Otherwise, it would be playing your cards openly.

As the emperor of the Great Yu Dynasty, Chu Ling's decision to play his cards openly is a complete waste of his political advantages!

Therefore, from the moment Cang Bu raised this matter, the test for him began silently. If he can pass Chu Ling's test, then Cang Bu will occupy an extremely important position in the central government of Dayu in the future.

"Your Majesty, the situation at the Water Conservancy Bureau is somewhat similar to that at the Military Equipment Bureau."

While Chu Ling was pondering, Qi Lu stood up and said, "Since I took office, I have been investigating the archives of the Capital Water Conservancy Bureau, but what I found has made me feel somewhat alarmed."

“A batch of money and grain allocated by the central government was used to build some canals and waterways, but the accounts before and after this do not match up at all.”

"Especially in the southern border region, before I took up my post in the central government, I served in the southern border region, so I am quite familiar with the water conservancy situation."

"What I find most unbelievable is the water conservancy project undertaken during Emperor Taizong's reign..."

Chu Ling frowned slightly when he heard Qi Lu say these things.

The longer he stayed in this position, the more he understood why his elder brother, the emperor, had been so impatient when he first ascended the throne.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong, the Great Yu Dynasty was experiencing a continuous rise in national strength and prosperity. However, hidden dangers lurked beneath this prosperity.

Chu Ling knew why his elder brother wanted to fight the Northern Barbarians and even adopted an extremely tough stance. This was clearly an attempt to establish his prestige and power through a war, so that the Northern Barbarians would not dare to invade easily, and he could also turn around and resolve internal conflicts.

However, Emperor Xuanzong overlooked one point: he was too hasty.

This urgency can easily provoke vested interest groups.

Putting aside other matters, the rebellion of the princes was fundamentally a result of Emperor Xuanzong's desire to weaken the power of the princes in order to solve some practical problems. However, he wanted to arrest them all, and none of the princes who had been enfeoffed were easy to deal with.

No matter who it is, they will inevitably react when their own interests are involved.

"Let's start the investigation in Gyeonggi Province."

Thinking of this, Chu Ling looked at Qi Lu and said, "The matter of the Water Conservancy Bureau is different from that of the other bureaus. We cannot investigate it in a high-profile manner; we must investigate it quietly."

"Investigate for me since the reign of Emperor Taizu, and see how many of the water conservancy facilities under the jurisdiction of Gyeonggi Province have problems. If any problems are found, investigate them thoroughly."

"The Directorate of Waterways submits confidential reports to me regularly. I need to understand the situation first."

"I obey the decree!!"

Qi Lu immediately bowed and said so, but in his heart he was secretly relieved. To be honest, he was really afraid that the emperor would treat it the same way as other matters and order the Directorate of Waterways to conduct a large-scale investigation.

The Water Conservancy Bureau is different from other departments. Its duties are limited to a certain number of years, ranging from a few years to three to five years. During this period, there are also personnel changes. If a large-scale investigation is carried out, it is easy to cause panic in the central government and local areas. In that case, the Water Conservancy Bureau will become the target of public criticism.

Having navigated the treacherous waters of officialdom for so long, how could Qi Lu not know what this predicament would mean for him and for the Water Conservancy Bureau?

He entered the central government to solve some practical problems, not because he was ousted by some people shortly after taking office.

This approach won't solve the problem; on the contrary, it will make the problem worse.

The ministers, including Chang Han and Cang Bu, were deeply moved when they heard what the Emperor and Qi Lu said. The Emperor was not as domineering as they thought; in certain special circumstances, he would change his approach. This was actually very good for the Great Yu Dynasty. They understood the principle that excessive rigidity leads to breakage better than anyone else...