If you're made a fake emperor, why did you change the country's name?

Inside the Imperial Study, a warm fragrance wafted through the air.

Zhao Yu leaned back on the soft couch, with nearly a hundred dishes laid out on the long sandalwood table in front of him, a dazzling array.

He merely raised his eyelids slightly, and a palace maid dressed in a thin veil beside him understood, using silver chopsticks to pick up a dish and carefully bringing it to his lips.

The fragrance of the woman mingled with the aroma of the food, creating a royal indulgence that he could never have imagined in his previous life.

They really know how to enjoy life.

Zhao Yu muttered to himself and gave him another look.

Another palace maid quickly stepped forward and used a warm, soft towel to wipe the oil stains from the corners of his lips.

Just then, Qiu Ping, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, appeared at the door and bowed as he came to report.

"His Majesty."

Zhao Yu waved his hand, signaling the palace maids to leave.

The vast imperial study fell silent instantly.

"Speak."

"Your Majesty, the secret talks between the Li, Lu, and Zhang families have fallen apart. The outcome is as you predicted."

Zhao Yu then asked, "And then?"

"All three families wanted to take the lion's share at the auction, but each was afraid that the other would profit from it. Li Chengzhi suggested that they join forces to lower the price and then divide the profits proportionally. Lu Mingyuan immediately turned hostile, saying that the Li family must be secretly raising money to take it all for themselves. In the end, no one trusted anyone else, and the meeting ended on bad terms."

Qiu Ping paused for a moment, then continued reporting.

"Our people just reported back that all three families are frantically selling off their assets. The Li family plans to get rid of 50% of their fertile farmland and 30% of their shops; the Lu family has 30% of their farmland and 50% of their shops; the Zhang family is the most ruthless, putting almost all of their assets up for sale except for a few core trade routes."

Zhao Yu's lips curled up, and the stampede began.

A batch of armored soldiers is nothing.

At most, they could produce 10,000 armored elite soldiers.

With this batch of armor, even with his prior instruction, elite troops could be trained.

The recruited people would not realize that it was a rebellion.

Conversely, even if one were to privately manufacture armor and train elite soldiers, the people would become suspicious, and the situation could easily spiral out of control.

So what was purchased was not this batch of armor at all, but rather an order he made.

More importantly, if one company wants to buy, the others have no choice but to jump in, and they have to jump even harder than the others.

Otherwise, if the country is divided into separate territories in the future, the stronger side will be the one that dies.

"Issue my decree." Zhao Yu turned around and announced to the world that for this royal auction, all families are allowed to mortgage their properties to the national treasury in advance for valuation by the court, which can then be used directly as proceeds from the auction.

A slight smile curved his lips.

"Aren't they eager to sell? Then let them sell to me. I'll take as much as they have."

Without this decree, these industries would only be divided among other small and medium-sized families, but the quantity would be too large for them to handle, and the prices would fall very slowly, resulting in an unsatisfactory volume of sales.

However, with the imperial court as their biggest buyer, a green channel was opened for them.

Qiu Ping replied, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will take care of it immediately."

Qiu Ping accepted the order and withdrew.

Zhao Yu paced back and forth a few steps. Now that things had come to this point, the major families were no longer able to extricate themselves, so it was time for him to take decisive action.

"Wei An".

"Your servant is here."

"Summon Chancellor Wang Zhang to an audience."

Before long, Wang Zhang hurried over and bowed respectfully as soon as he entered.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects."

"Prime Minister Wang, rise." Zhao Yu got straight to the point. "I have summoned you here today because there is a matter of great importance concerning the foundation of the nation that I wish to discuss with you."

Wang Zhang's heart tightened, and he quickly lowered his head.

"Please give your instructions, Your Majesty."

"What is the root cause of the powerful families' control over the government, which has become too influential to be controlled?" Zhao Yu asked.

Without a moment's hesitation, Wang Zhang replied bluntly, "It's because they have monopolized the talent selection process."

"That's right." Zhao Yu nodded. "The recommendation system is riddled with problems. I intend to implement a new system to replace it. I call this system—the Imperial Examination."

"The imperial examination system?"

Wang Zhang suddenly looked up. Although he did not know what the imperial examination meant, he knew that the matter of the Daily News Pavilion that morning had already caused the powerful families to lose a great deal of power. Now the emperor was going to take action against the "recommendation system," one of the lifelines of the powerful families!

"Your Majesty, what are the differences between this imperial examination system and the current recommendation system?"

"The recommendation system, whose people did they recommend? Their own people." Zhao Yu's tone was calm, yet it exuded an undeniable power. "But the imperial examination, it doesn't ask about background or social status, it only looks at talent and learning."

"I intend to establish a three-tiered system: the provincial examination, the metropolitan examination, and the palace examination. All scholars in the land may participate in the provincial examination; only those who pass the provincial examination may proceed to the capital for the metropolitan examination; and those who pass the metropolitan examination will be personally selected by me in the palace examination, where I will personally determine their rankings."

"Three tiers, each a rigorous selection process, only the talented are chosen. Those who reach me are the pillars of the nation!"

Wang Zhang was completely stunned.

He stood there, stunned, his eyes glazed over, Zhao Yu's words echoing in his mind.

Regardless of background, only talent matters!

The world belongs to everyone!

He came from a poor family and had witnessed countless talented people being buried and living in poverty because they lacked connections.

Now, the system proposed by the emperor is practically opening up a path to heaven for all the poor and needy children in the world!

With a "plop".

Wang Zhang knelt down, his forehead slamming heavily against the cold floor tiles.

"Your Majesty is wise!" His voice choked with emotion, his whole body trembling. "With this law in place, all the poor and needless will have a chance to rise! How can our Great Liang not prosper!"

Zhao Yu shook his head and reached out to help him up.

"Don't be too happy yet. Children from aristocratic families grow up in luxury, are taught by famous teachers, and read books that are far superior to those from poor families. Even if the examination is fair, the difference outside the examination hall is still enormous."

"This is already very good!" Wang Zhang clenched his fist excitedly. "Compared to before, when we were controlled by powerful families and had no chance at all, this is an immense blessing! This is a true path to heaven!"

Zhao Yu didn't say anything more.

He certainly considered the resource issue, and he also had solutions, such as papermaking.

But now is not the time. The powerful families have not yet tightened their nets. We must take things one step at a time.

"I'm giving you one month," Zhao Yu said, looking at Wang Zhang. "Produce a detailed plan. What will be tested, how will it be conducted, and how often will it be held—you'll need to figure that out."

"Your Majesty, I obey!" Wang Zhang bowed again, his tone extremely solemn. "Your Majesty, I will certainly do my utmost to live up to your expectations!"

After the emotional Wang Zhang left, the imperial study returned to quiet.

Zhao Yu sat back down at the table and continued shouting.

"Wei An".

"Your servant is here."

"The news comes from the late Prime Minister Gan Qing."

A moment later, a figure, supported by a palace attendant, walked in unsteadily.

Gan Qing, who is over seventy years old, walks with a limp, leaning on a cane with a crane's head, and exudes an air of impending death.

Only in those cloudy old eyes did a faint, almost imperceptible glint of light remain.

It's truly lamentable that this old man, who once personally helped the five great families reach their peak, has now become like this.

"This old minister greets Your Majesty."

Gan Qing was about to bow shakily when Zhao Yu quickly stood up and personally helped him up.

"Mr. Gan, please don't stand on ceremony. We're all family here. Please have a seat."

After Gan Qing was seated, Zhao Yu didn't beat around the bush and spoke directly.

"I have invited Elder Gan here today because of an important matter. I need the Gan family to cooperate with me in staging a play."

Gan Qing raised his eyelids, waiting for what would happen next.

"I order the Gan family to immediately begin a massive sell-off of their assets," Zhao Yu said calmly. "Make it seem like they're willing to go bankrupt and fight tooth and nail at the auction."

Gan Qing's cloudy eyes flickered, and he instantly understood the emperor's intention.

This is a continuation of using the Gan family as bait to provoke the other families into investing more of their assets in this auction.

He was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Your Majesty, I understand your intentions."

He raised his head, and a trace of worry flashed in his seemingly dim eyes.

"However... there is one thing I don't understand."

"Your Majesty, once those powerful families obtain the armor, they can legitimately expand their military and train elite troops. At that time, they will become too powerful and influential, and I'm afraid... the situation will truly be difficult to control."