The Tang Dynasty: Wu Zetian made me her imperial tutor

"I...I didn't!" Zhou Xing immediately prostrated himself on the ground.

The cruel officials of Empress Wu's court were all well-versed in criminal law, but few of them were well-educated. They were very good at fabricating charges, but in terms of knowledge, they were only slightly better than Erha.

He was so focused on attacking Lu Jun that he failed to realize that his own problems also had flaws.

"Kukuku..." The hall suddenly erupted in laughter, with chuckles rising and falling.

It has always been the cruel officials who interrogate people, and the opportunity to be interrogated is really rare. The ministers love to watch, want to watch, and urge for a quick update.

Wu Zetian knew that Zhou Xing was loyal to her and had no other intentions, so she smiled and smoothed things over:

"Minister Zhou, today is the palace examination. If you can ask the candidates questions, they can also ask you questions. There's no need to hold a grudge."

"Chu Yu, Vice Minister Zhou is an important official of the court. Although you are young and impetuous, you should still show him some respect."

"Don't take either of them to heart!"

"Yes," Zhou Xing and Lu Jun replied in unison.

Li Lingyue's eyes darted around, seeing a good opportunity, and she said, "Mother, this morning..."

She wanted to tell the story of Zhou Xingqiang kidnapping Lu Jun and almost torturing her to extract a confession, but as soon as she started, she saw Shangguan Wan'er shaking her head at her, and the rest of her words hung in the air.

Suddenly realizing, "I can't say it! My mother supports the cruel officials using torture; I can't expose them on the spot..."

When Zhou Xing heard her bring up this matter, a strange smile unconsciously appeared on his lips.

Lu Jun immediately straightened up and shook her head slightly at the steps, signaling Li Lingyue not to make a fuss for now.

Wu Zetian turned her head and asked, "What happened this morning?"

Li Lingyue smiled sweetly: "I encountered something interesting on the way this morning. I'll tell my mother after the palace examination."

"How absurd! Why bring it up now?" Wu Zetian rolled her eyes at her daughter.

She thought she doted on her youngest daughter and didn't take it to heart, saying to Shen Quanqi:

"Yunqing, continue the palace examination. Let the first candidate come up and answer my second question!"

Lu Jun breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, while Zhou Xing looked slightly disappointed and snorted inwardly.

The Empress Dowager told him not to hold grudges, so he couldn't delve any further into Lu Jun's matter and could only suppress the mockery he had just endured.

Wu Sansi suddenly spoke up: "Empress Dowager, how about we do the second question in reverse order? The first person to answer will inevitably be nervous. It would be fairer to the previous candidates if we go through it in reverse order."

He was resentful after Lu Jun's sharp remark and decided to sabotage her in secret.

Wu Zetian glanced at it and thought to herself, "Such a petty person! Always wasting her energy on things like this..."

But her nephew's words made sense, so she couldn't get angry and asked, "Chu Yu, what do you think?"

Lu Jun bowed to Wu Sansi: "Thank you for the suggestion, Minister. I am eager to answer all three questions in one go."

Tsk tsk—

The ministers, already secretly admiring his courage to counter Zhou Xing, now showed their approval.

"Good, you have the confidence! This is the talent of our Great Tang!" Wu Zetian's eyes lit up with a smile.

He immediately posed the question: "Listen carefully, the second question is: How can we ensure that officials throughout the country are honest and dedicated to their duties?"

A soft murmur immediately arose in the hall. The ministers were taken aback at first, then began whispering among themselves.

Everyone felt that this was a huge problem...

Throughout history and in every dynasty, "keeping officials incorruptible" has always been a difficult problem to solve.

Lu Jun hesitated for a moment before replying, "Your Majesty, the problem of official corruption is not easily solved. Please allow me to elaborate..."

Before he could finish speaking, a voice came from the ranks of the prime ministers: "The questions in the palace examination must be answered concisely, preferably in one or two sentences, like before. Otherwise, the candidates behind you will not have enough time."

He was the Left Chancellor of Wenchang, a third-rank military officer of Tongfengge and Luantai, and another nephew of the Empress Dowager.

Whether it was to maintain order as prime minister or to save face for his brother... he added restrictions on the answers.

Lu Jun bowed deeply and said:

"My lord, the governance of officials is a problem that has existed since ancient times, and it is truly difficult to explain it in just a few words."

"It's easy to define a loyal subject, but it's very difficult to make everyone a loyal subject."

"The causes of official corruption are varied, and there is no easy way to turn a corrupt official into an honest one overnight..."

If fighting corruption were that simple, Zhu Yuanzhang (the Hongwu Emperor) wouldn't have made so many scarecrows more than 600 years later.

Another prime minister interrupted him: "The greatest truths are the simplest; if they are complicated to explain, wouldn't they be even harder to achieve?"

This person is Wu Youning, a Grand Councilor and the Empress Dowager's cousin. This year, he succeeded Wei Xuantong as the Chief Official of the Imperial Palace.

Both prime ministers who spoke were from the Wu family... It seems they came to support Wu Sansi.

They were far more cunning than Wu Sansi; instead of directly confronting him, they acted as rule-makers, setting conditions to confine Lu Jun and limit his performance.

These conditions are hard to refute.

Firstly, people at that time did not understand science and preferred to use simple principles to describe the laws of things.

Secondly, the Tang Dynasty revered Laozi (Li Er) as its ancestor, admired the Tao Te Ching, and advocated the theory that the great way is simple.

Therefore, the Empress Dowager and the officials agreed with the two prime ministers' words and did not think they were excessive.

Lu Jun sighed and raised her right index finger: "One word: Effective."

"effect?"

The answer was so concise that Wu Chengsi and Wu Youning were immediately speechless and unable to question it further.

The others in the hall were also greatly surprised by this answer and fell into deep thought.

"One word? Interesting..."

Wu Zetian pondered for a moment, then shook her head: "Chu Yu, what does the word 'imitate' mean? Please explain it more clearly."

She has been involved in politics for thirty years and has more experience than any prime minister, but it is really hard to understand if she only gives a single word.

It's already hard to understand... If I don't use clickbait titles, why would you ask me to say more?

The original texts of the Book of Changes and the Tao Te Ching are not many, but they are extremely difficult to interpret.

Lu Jun smiled and replied:

"Originally, I wanted to say seven words: selection, observation, examination, law, salary, recommendation, and effectiveness."

"Selection refers to choosing virtuous and capable people; inspection refers to the court's supervision; examination refers to rigorous assessment and evaluation; law refers to legal restrictions; salary refers to using salary to encourage integrity; and recommendation refers to the people's whistleblowing."

"The first five points were already established by the court. The Empress Dowager set up copper boxes for the people to report, thus providing bottom-up supervision."

"Therefore, I will only say the seventh word."

"Effect means that what the superiors do, the inferiors follow."

"If the monarch does not accept gifts from officials, local officials will have no excuse to extort money under the pretext of offering tribute."

"If higher-level officials do not accept gifts from their subordinates, the subordinates will lose their protective umbrella and will not dare to take risks."

"If the monarch does not indulge his relatives and nobles, the officials will surely enforce the law strictly and dare not bend the law for personal gain."

"In this way, the administration can be cleaned up."

As Wu Zetian listened, she fell into deep thought...

In her thirty years in office, she had heard many officials discuss governance, which invariably came from three perspectives—

When selecting officials, the candidates' moral character should be assessed;

After assuming office, officials must be subject to supervision and performance evaluation.

Those who embezzle must be severely punished according to the law.

Especially regarding the legal aspect, they believed that as long as severe punishments and harsh laws were used to deter corruption, no one would dare to be greedy.

In fact, the Tang Dynasty had very strict punishments for officials who embezzled. The Yonghui Code explicitly stipulated that if the amount embezzled reached thirty bolts of silk, the official would be hanged.

However, in the last forty years, the administration has become increasingly corrupt.

The laws remained unchanged, and the censorship system was not abolished. Wu Zetian even used cruel officials to increase enforcement, but this did not alleviate the situation.

Even if corruption is uncovered, its actual implementation is often hampered by obstacles and entanglements, making it difficult to achieve the desired results.

The reason, in Lu Jun's single word "effectiveness," truly hit the nail on the head.

From the late Zhenguan period onwards, it became common for princes and nobles to indulge in pleasure and for local officials to engage in corruption and extortion.

Before his death, Emperor Taizong reflected on his mistakes and left Emperor Gaozong a piece of advice titled "The Imperial Garden":

"Do not take me as a precedent."

"If you aim for the highest standard, you will only achieve the middle; if you aim for the middle, you will only achieve the lowest. Unless you possess the highest virtue, you cannot emulate it."

"Since I came to power, I have created many exquisite garments, brocades, and pearls, which have been presented to me without end. This is not for the purpose of controlling desires."

"Carved pillars and intricate rafters, high platforms and deep ponds—such constructions are not indicative of a frugal mindset."

"To falcons and hawks, to travel no distance without seeking their aid, is not true loyalty..."

Even Emperor Taizong indulged himself, not to mention the princes and nobles, and lower-ranking officials naturally followed suit.

Over the decades, the trend of extravagance has become increasingly rampant, and has become an intractable problem.

Once a crime is committed, the officials and their relatives are intertwined, making it difficult to reach a verdict and often resulting in a hasty conclusion.

"Chu Yu's words are insightful, and he's not afraid to break taboos. He's responsible and a loyal subject." Wu Zetian nodded repeatedly.

To accomplish great things, one must be responsible.

Lu Jun's answer once again exceeded her expectations.

Wu Chengsi and Wu Youning were also surprised. They asked Lu Jun to give a concise answer in order to induce him to say clichés such as strict law enforcement and strengthened supervision. Unexpectedly, the young man actually summarized it in one word and got straight to the point.

They secretly thought, "He's truly a talented individual; perhaps we should recruit him and put him to our use..."

Many ministers realized: "Lu Chuyu is subtly admonishing the Empress Dowager, and he's not afraid to offend the imperial relatives. He's a truly upright official!"

They couldn't help but think more highly of Lu Jun.

Princess Taiping and Shangguan Wan'er both looked at the Empress Dowager, wondering what kind of evaluation she would give.

"The word 'effective' is concise, insightful, and dares to speak frankly about the current situation; it deserves first-class honors!"