I just reached the maximum level, and you want me to be a puppet emperor?

Chapter 241 Li Chen wants to give him a decent chance! (Please subscribe, please vote)
The next day in the court, Li Chen was still sitting lazily on the dragon throne.

For some reason, the lazier Li Chen was, or even the more he squinted his eyes, the more awed the court officials were. They felt that Li Chen looked like he was in deep thought with his squinting eyes.

No one wants to wake up the squinting dragon.

Therefore, the court officials were extremely serious when reporting their work and did not dare to speak too loudly.

In fact, this was just because Li Chen did not sleep well yesterday. He fought with Master Ning Tao and his disciples for the whole night, causing this female elder of the sect who hated the royal family to be completely occupied by the royal family.

Li Chen now is like slacking off and dozing off at work, so he can get enough rest to have fun after get off work.

This is the lazy way Li Chen found.

The train track got off to a perfect start and multiple departments started working on improving the train track.

The first is the Ministry of Personnel. The train tracks are now state-owned, and the staff must have a position. Since new positions are to be created, the Ministry of Personnel also held a meeting to study the job arrangements for the train track department.

In the court, the Minister of Personnel handed the position list to Li Chen, and if Li Chen agreed, the position would be decided.

Li Chen glanced at the job list, and then looked at the Minister of Personnel, who felt a little guilty.

As we all know, once a new organization is established, there will definitely be many high-ranking officials and dignitaries who want to get their family members in. This is normal.

This position may not seem to have much power, but it is a stable job and as long as you don't make any mistakes you will have no worries about food and clothing.

Most of the grass-roots positions in the train track department are based on talent selection, but these management levels are all people with backgrounds.

As for why Li Chen knew this, it was because he had been the emperor for such a long time and had reviewed many memorials, so there would always be some familiar names that appeared.

The ministers who often attended the morning court knew that Li Chen didn’t care much about these things and would basically agree after just one glance.

But this time, Li Chen suddenly fell silent.

The atmosphere in the court suddenly froze. Many court officials lowered their heads, and officials from the Ministry of Personnel even began to shrink back.

Even General Guo Poyun and Prime Minister Zhao Wenyuan knew what Li Chen's silence meant.

The entire court began to quiet down. The court officials did not dare to breathe. Even the eunuchs standing beside them knew that someone might be in trouble.

After a while, Li Chen said, "If I am not mistaken, there are a few officials on this list who were dismissed by me some time ago due to lack of ability, right?"

When these words were spoken, everyone in the room was shocked. They thought that the Minister of Personnel really dared to do that.

As an emperor, what he feared most were mediocre officials, because such officials had no ability but occupied very important positions and did nothing.

Those corrupt officials do have some skills after all, and they think quickly.

Li Chen is not someone with a bad memory, nor is he senile. In the past, there was an official in the Ministry of Personnel, who was a vice minister. This was not an important position, and many officials came to him for work. However, this guy made excuses for various reasons, and failed to get anything done for more than a year.

The most outrageous thing is that this guy is not greedy, he is just lazy and has no skills.

Li Chen would definitely deal with this kind of ginseng.

Why did he appear again now? And he held an important position in the train track department. How could Li Chen not be angry?

If any problems arise at that time and this guy doesn't deal with them in time, it will cause some trouble.

Hearing Li Chen's tone of displeasure, the Minister of Personnel immediately knelt down and cried, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was confused for a moment. I think he has the intention to change. Besides, he is also an old man in the Ministry of Personnel, so I want to give him a chance."

Li Chen could guess the real situation, most likely they were related.

The Minister of Personnel was one of the oldest ministers in the court and a staunch supporter of the emperor.

During the reign of the Supreme Emperor, he was the Minister of Personnel, and could be said to be a veteran minister of three dynasties.

When Li Chen came to power, he was not as jumpy as other court officials. He was the obedient type.

The power of the Minister of Personnel cannot be said to be great, but it can be said to be extremely great.

Responsible for the selection, assessment, appointment, removal and supervision of officials.

If the Minister of Personnel is bold enough, he may even dare to sell official positions and titles.

Not to mention in the court, even in the entire Tiance Dynasty, the Minister of Personnel has a pivotal position.

Without certain qualifications, he cannot be appointed as the Minister of Personnel, a high-ranking official with real power.

He did this now, Li Chen really wanted to deal with him, but this guy had worked for the court for decades, and with a white-haired old man kneeling in front of him, Li Chen wanted to give him a decent chance.

Li Chen said calmly, "Since you are a veteran of three dynasties, I will give you another chance. Give me the list before tonight and ask for real talents and hard work. I will personally inspect them at that time. If any of them fails in their duties, you will be guilty as well."

The Minister of Personnel kowtowed with tears of gratitude and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your forgiveness. I will do my best."

After taking back the list that Li Chen had thrown aside, the old guy returned to the ranks of ministers with his heart pounding wildly.

It felt like going through the gates of hell.

Many court officials realized that it would not be long before the Minister of Personnel would resign.

Li Chen has given him a chance to retire and return home out of kindness. If he is still not satisfied, then if he is caught doing something wrong by Li Chen next time, or if a court official reports him, he will probably have to go to jail.

Thinking of this, the entire court suddenly began to surge with undercurrents.

Because this would vacate the position of the Minister of Personnel, a high-ranking official who holds great power. As the second-in-command of each ministry, who wouldn't want to occupy this position?

The smart court officials have already started working actively to make a good impression in front of His Majesty Li Chen.

Normally, the major parties in the court would compete for this position, but now no one dares to do so and everyone relies on their own abilities.

Li Chen was angry just now, who would dare to provoke him at this time.

After all, we have been court officials for so many years, and we all have some abilities!
After dealing with this matter, Li Chen squinted his eyes and dozed off again, continuing to listen to reports from court officials.

The second person to step forward was the new Minister of Rites, who was in charge of diplomacy.

After seeing the train tracks of the Tiance Dynasty, envoys from many countries wanted to learn this technology and bring it back to their own countries to rapidly develop their economies.

But it is absolutely impossible for the Tiance Dynasty to give them the technology for free.

In recent days, people from the Ministry of Rites have discovered that many foreign royal families are on the train, apparently trying to secretly learn this technology.

The Minister of Rites asked whether it should be regulated.

Li Chen said it was okay, this kind of thing could not be prevented, just let it happen normally. Instead of being on guard, it would be better to develop quickly and always be several versions ahead of other countries, so that they would always lag behind.

After listening to this, the Minister of Rites finally understood what it meant to be the emperor of a great country.

Next is the collection of the tax on carriages and horses by the Minister of Revenue, because rail trains can not only drive the development of various regions, but are also beneficial to the tax revenue of the imperial court.

Minister of Revenue Liu Minghan was talking about the construction cost and operating cost of rail trains as if he was chanting a sutra.

The construction cost includes track materials, train manufacturing, and protective formations, while the operating cost includes spiritual stone consumption, maintenance costs, and labor costs. Then there is the estimate of revenue, which is passenger revenue, freight revenue, military revenue, and economic growth.

These were all numbers, and the court officials nearby had a headache after hearing them.

Finally, after calculating the net profit and payback period, Liu Minghan concluded that he would be able to make his investment back within one and a half to two years, and would be making money from then on, with significant economic benefits.

Moreover, many merchant families and chambers of commerce participated in the investment this time. This approach is very good for the national treasury. Liu Minghan suggested that if there are any construction projects in the future, the chambers of commerce can also be considered for participation.

The old economic model of the Tiance Dynasty was basically to mobilize funds from the national treasury. This innovative approach achieved certain success, actively promoted the participation of chambers of commerce in construction, and reduced the pressure on the national treasury.

The data Liu Minghan said was like a spell to the generals in the court, and they couldn't understand it at all.

Anyway, the general idea is that building the train tracks will pay for itself within two years, and they understand that.

Li Chen carefully looked at the list presented by Liu Minghan, and felt that it was absolutely appropriate for him to be the Minister of Revenue, and he was truly worthy of being a child prodigy.

The generals were very curious. How could Li Chen understand this thing? Why was he looking at it so seriously?

If Li Chen knew they were thinking this way, he would definitely slap each of them in the face. I just don’t want to get involved in many state affairs, but that doesn’t mean I don’t understand them.

After all, I have been the emperor for such a long time. Do you think I am like you, who only care about fighting wars?

Li Chen also rewarded and praised Liu Minghan many times. Although it was his job, he still had to be rewarded.

This is in stark contrast to the Minister of Personnel just now.

Liu Minghan is obviously a minister with particularly strong working ability.

There were a lot of things to do at the morning court today. As soon as the Minister of Revenue stepped down, the Minister of Works stepped forward.

In other words, it means that with the success of the rail train from the imperial capital to Yunhai City, many places have requested to open the train and participate in its construction.

Li Chen knew this yesterday that as long as the Tiance Dynasty could adapt to this model, it would definitely be promoted vigorously.

Next, the Minister of Justice Pang Jin also joined in the fun. He said that the trains and platforms were crowded with people, and there were some safety hazards.

It was indeed thoughtful of him to consider this, so Li Chen let him arrange it himself.

Li Chen was relatively confident about Pang Jin. At least judging from his work style, he was a workaholic.

After the morning court session, the Minister of War came to Li Chen's imperial study.

He submitted a secret memorial concerning the troop movements of the Third Prince Li Yu.

Li Yu has withdrawn from the southern front and returned to Qingqiu City in the east.

Qingqiu City is an important military location.

The Second Army Group where Li Yu is located is actually mainly responsible for guarding against the invasion of the sea tribe and some neighboring countries in the east.

Now that the Second Army has returned, should the troops that were transferred from the central part of the Tiance Dynasty to the eastern part be transferred back?

In the Tiance Dynasty, the emperor had the highest authority to mobilize troops.

Of course, that’s what they say, but it also depends on the emperor’s prestige.

If he were a puppet emperor, no one would listen to what he said.

Who dares not to listen to Li Chen now?

Unless these large-scale military movements are extremely urgent, they must first be reported to Li Chen and be under Li Chen's command.

"Tell me what you think." Li Chen said to the Minister of War.

The Minister of War pondered for a moment and replied, "Your Majesty, that army is near the Second Army, and their defense zones overlap. Sooner or later, conflicts will arise. If they leave, the Second Army will become even more arrogant. In my opinion, it is better to keep that army in the east. As long as they withdraw from the defense zone, the Second Army will not dare to act rashly."

The Minister of War would definitely have to answer this kind of question. Having been Li Chen's subordinate for a period of time, he knew exactly which ministers Li Chen liked and which he disliked.

You can say that the Minister of War is a veteran, but his idea is not wrong.

Li Chen dislikes the kind of ministers who know nothing when asked. In that case, Li Chen will feel that you are useless in this position.

As long as Li Chen has this idea, this minister should basically be prepared to be dismissed from office.

The Tiance Dynasty is not short of talents, and a large number of officials are waiting for promotion.

The Minister of War must be quite capable to be able to hold this position.

According to Li Chen's management model, the ministers will definitely work hard to keep their official hats.

"Then let's do this. I will find an opportunity to deal with Li Yu." Li Chen said thoughtfully.

"Your Majesty, do you want to create some movement in the east?" The Minister of War was still working very proactively.

He finally became a powerful official, and now he is in high spirits, so how could he not work hard?

His idea was to create some conflicts between Li Yu and other armies of the Tiance Dynasty.

"No need. At his age, it's time for him to go to the fiefdom."

Li Chen remembered that when the late emperor was alive, he granted Li Yu a fiefdom, but Li Yu did not go with various excuses.

As the second prince, Li Xian must have had a fiefdom, but he just didn't have the chance to go there.

This guy has been convicted of treason, and if he is caught by Li Chen he will be sentenced to death.

Li Yu's situation is somewhat special. Li Chen is not unwilling to give him a chance. It all depends on whether he has good vision.

In fact, the Minister of War really wanted to know where the third prince's fiefdom was, but sometimes knowing too much was not a good thing, especially when it came to matters between royal family members. After reporting his work, the Minister of War said goodbye and left.

Li Chen had almost finished his work when Chu Ruoyan walked in.

She was indeed able to grasp the time point on time and not delay Li Chen's business.

"Shouldn't you be practicing at this time? Why are you here?"

Li Chen held her in his arms lovingly. She was his beloved concubine and was very sensible.

Chu Ruoyan has been practicing very hard recently, and with the guidance of Mu Qingrou and the secret book of dual cultivation, she has already reached the middle stage of the Void Breaking Realm. It will probably be the late stage of the Void Breaking Realm in a while.

Normally, he would form a sword formation with Li Si Ning and the others. After all, there were seven of them together, and the sword formation had begun to take shape.

Ever since they were punished by Li Chen last time, they have learned their lesson and will always teach gently when seniors like Mu Qingrou and Fairy Youlan come to guide them.

If Li Chen were to come, he would be able to knock them all down and then defeat them.

(End of this chapter)