Thief Emperor

Chapter 1032 Time Kills

The examination held at Ganlu Hall was not leaked.

After His Highness the Crown Prince answered the questions, His Majesty the Emperor simply kept the exam papers away, neither publishing them nor handing them over to the Ministry of Rites.

However, everyone in the palace knew that His Majesty the Emperor was in a great mood that day and was in the mood to practice martial arts. He invited Instructor Pei into the palace, and the two practiced together for a long time.

After this incident, it was as if nothing had happened. Everything continued as usual, and His Majesty the Emperor continued to handle official business every day and attend court as required.

It wasn't until almost half a month later that the autumn imperial examination finally ended. Only then did Grand Secretary Du emerge from the examination hall and personally escort the more than one hundred examination papers selected by the examiners, as well as those that were rejected, to the palace.

This is to allow His Majesty the Emperor to conduct random checks, so that the examiners will not, as they did in the seventh year of the Zhangwu era, arbitrarily grade the exam papers according to their own will.

At this moment, His Majesty the Emperor was working in the Ganlu Hall. After seeing these documents, he looked at Prime Minister Du and said with a smile, "Brother Shouyi, what are you doing? Do you think I don't trust you?"

Du Qian shook his head slightly and said, "Your Majesty, you have forgotten that after the corruption case was concluded this year, you instructed the Ministry of Rites to set some new rules, one of which was to send the new examination papers to the palace for random checks first, and then send them to the Ministry of Rites for safekeeping."

"Since it's a rule, everyone should abide by it."

Li Yun got up, walked to the test papers, and looked at the more than one hundred test papers that had been selected, as well as the ten test papers that had been specially chosen.

These ten exam papers represent the top ten candidates for this imperial examination. His Majesty the Emperor will personally review them and determine their specific rankings.

As for the subsequent palace examination, it should be held half a month after the rankings are announced, and the emperor will personally set the questions and supervise the examination.

These hundred-plus exam papers that were selected were the candidates who would enter the palace examination. Following the imperial examination system of another world, Li Yun still named them Gongshi.

Originally, two to three hundred candidates should have been selected for each examination, but this year's autumn examination was not a regular one, and the number of candidates was not particularly large. Therefore, the number of candidates admitted was halved, and the examiners only selected these people.

Emperor Li first picked up the top ten exam papers, selected two of them to look at, and then picked out a few more from each of the other two piles to examine.

There were ten exam papers in total. It took Li Yun half an hour to finish reading them. He put down the papers and said with a smile, "Brother Shouyi, you are reliable. There are no problems with these. After recording the list of candidates for the palace examination, send it to the Ministry of Rites for safekeeping."

"As for the ranking of these tribute students..."

Emperor Li said calmly, "Let's do it the way you've decided."

Du Qian breathed a sigh of relief, bowed to the emperor, and replied, "Yes." Then he waved his hand, ordering everyone to carry all the exam papers to the Ministry of Rites.

After the exam papers were taken away, Du Qian looked at Li Yun and asked with a smile, "Where does His Majesty intend to use the Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) selected this year?"

Emperor Li also looked at Du Qian and said with a smile, "Youyan."

"The battle at the front is progressing relatively smoothly. The Khitans are now only focused on escaping beyond the Great Wall. It's just a matter of time before they are wiped out. Youyan has been lost for ten years, and I've heard that the local people..."

Emperor Li frowned slightly: "Some still have their hearts set on those Khitans."

“This is not good. Therefore, the administration must be established. Those who rank high in this imperial examination should not be allowed to observe the administration in the Six Ministries. Instead, they should be sent directly to Youyan to serve as county officials.”

After receiving the exam questions, Du Qian understood Li Yunkai's intention in establishing this new imperial examination system, but he was still unsure where Emperor Li intended to use these newly appointed scholars.

Now, he was finally certain of the emperor's thoughts.

Upon hearing the emperor speak of the people of Youyan, Du Qian quickly said, "Your Majesty, the reason why some people in Youyan think this way is because although the Khitans have committed great slaughter in Youyan, during these ten years under Yelü Yi's rule..."

"Their lives are even better than when Xiao Xian and his son were in Fanyang, and even better than during the old Zhou dynasty. These people still feel that the current dynasty is similar to the old Zhou dynasty."

That's why I had this thought.

Du Qian said solemnly, "I believe that once the court's administration is in place, Your Majesty's benevolent rule will soon reach all the places in Youyan, and the people will surely be convinced and submit to the Holy Dynasty."

Li Yun smiled and said, "There's no need to be so tactful."

"When the Khitans governed a region, they would certainly employ some locals, along with some strange and unusual psychological factors. It is not surprising that some locals missed the Khitans."

"These are not things that Wang Hua can resolve."

Emperor Li remained calm and said, "Our dynasty employs a combination of benevolent and tyrannical methods. I am not a soft-hearted person. If anyone acts recklessly in Youyan, my sword will fall."

At this point, he looked at Du Qian and continued, "Brother Shouyi has been secluded in the examination hall for more than half a month. During this time, I have many things to discuss with Brother Shouyi."

Du Qian quickly bowed his head: "Your subject respectfully listens to Your Majesty's instructions."

Emperor Li pointed to the chair, gesturing for Du Qian to sit down, before speaking: "Originally, Youyan belonged to Hebei Circuit, but after such a long period of separation, I feel it should no longer be assigned to Hebei Circuit."

"I plan to draw a boundary along the Zhang River, with the area south of the Zhang River belonging to Hebei Circuit, and then establish a new Liaodong Circuit, encompassing the area north of the Zhang River, including the entire Youyan region, as well as the future Liaodong region." Li Yun looked at Du Qian and continued, "The three offices of Liaodong Circuit need to be set up as soon as possible. At this time, Meng Qing and Zhao Cheng are both in Youyan, so the Defense Commissioner among the three offices will not be established for the time being."

"The appointment of the Provincial Administration Commissioner and the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner should be finalized as soon as possible, and they should be sent to Youyan to handle the people's livelihood and government affairs."

As he spoke, Li Yun looked at Du Qian and said with a smile, "The abilities required to be a regional governor in a place like this are much higher than in other parts of the interior. Brother Shouyi, please find a few suitable candidates and send them to me during this time."

"It would be best to finalize these two official positions before the end of the year, so that they can take up their posts next spring."

Upon hearing Li Yun's words, Du Qian was taken aback, then looked up at Li Yun and coughed: "Your Majesty, I have someone in mind for the position of Provincial Administration Commissioner and Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Liaodong Circuit."

Li Yun asked in surprise, "You've already chosen someone?"

"The position of Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Liaodong Circuit can be filled by Fei Gang, the eldest son of Minister Fei. Fei Gang has been involved in criminal cases for many years and is currently serving as an Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice."

"It would be perfect to transfer him there."

"As for the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Liaodong Circuit."

He smiled at Li Yun and said, "Huang Chao, the Defense Commissioner of Jiannan Circuit, is also suitable for this job. He has been in Jiannan Circuit for too many years, and the natives of Jiannan Circuit..."

"They've all been completely subdued by him. I've heard that the native tribes of Jiannan Road can now stop their children from crying just by hearing the name Huang Chao."

"Now that the local people have submitted, we should be more lenient with them. There's no use keeping this fierce man in Jiannan Circuit. It would be better to transfer him to Liaodong and make him the Provincial Governor of Liaodong Circuit."

"It might have a miraculous effect."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Li's eyes lit up at first, then he rubbed his temples and said with a wry smile, "I think there's no problem with Huang Chao being put in charge of Liaodong, but the problem is, with his personality, where should we put him after he finishes one or two terms as the Chief Clerk of Jiangdong?"

Lord Du said calmly, "There are still large areas in the Northwest that we can send him to."

Emperor Li was taken aback and said speechlessly, "I was thinking that there was no suitable position for him in the Luoyang court. It turns out that Brother Shouyi wanted him to continue serving in the local area."

Du Xiangong said with a smile, "Huang Chao's personality is such that if he were to enter the court and become a vice minister of one of the six ministries, he would probably suffocate himself. As long as he is not allowed to command troops, but is instead allowed to go to the provinces to deal with those difficult places."

"I think it's just right."

Emperor Li nodded and said with a smile, "Then let's do it this way. The Secretariat can issue an edict to Huang Chao immediately, but before he goes to Liaodong, let him come to Luoyang first."

"I haven't seen him for many years."

Emperor Li said with a smile, "I would like to meet him first."

Du Qian smiled and was about to speak when the eunuch Gu Chang cautiously entered. He first nodded slightly to Du Qian in apology, then approached Li Yun and whispered to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, just now... just now, a palace servant from Prince Xue's household returned with news that Prince Xue has fallen ill again today, and the imperial physician has gone to treat him..."

"Speaking of Prince Xue..."

Gu Chang hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice, "It might not survive until the end of this year."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Li remained silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "Summon the Nine Departments to summon Marquis Changping back to the capital to visit him in his illness."

Marquis of Changping was the second hereditary title in the Empress's family, namely Xue Fang, the second brother of Empress Xue.

Although Lord Xue held a noble title and had a post in the imperial court, he was still away from home most of the year because of Li Yun's matter.

I only live in Luoyang for a few months a year.

Gu Chang bowed his head and responded.

Emperor Li thought for a moment and asked, "Has the Empress gone?"

Gu Chang shook his head slightly: "I haven't informed Your Majesty yet."

"Go and inform the Empress that the Empress and I will visit the Prince of Nanyang's residence to check on his health in a little while."

Gu Chang responded and carefully retreated.

"Brother Benefit".

After Gu Chang left, Emperor Li looked at Du Qian and sighed silently.

"Time is not forgiving."

(End of this chapter)