A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Ordinary people don't have hidden accounts.

Those who were eligible to have hidden households were all powerful and influential families. They would hide the household registrations of some farmers who had come to live with them, so that they could pay less tax.

Sending Jiang Yuan to investigate these hidden households is essentially sending him to steal meat from the mouths of the powerful families.

If Jiang Yuan does something wrong, he will offend all the powerful families in the world, and his life will be worse than death.

If he doesn't perform well, Yang Jian can use this as a reason to remove him.

However, Yang Jian did not intend to do so. He would send several capable assistants to Jiang Yuan to help him complete his mission, praising Jiang Yuan to a high position so that the major families would want to devour him and drink his blood.

He prepared the same package for Shen Ye, and he would push the two of them to complete the mission, offending all the powerful families in the world.

Jiang Yuan was pale; he knew his political career was over.

Yang Jian was ruthless.

"Your Majesty, this old minister has been experiencing dizziness and blurred vision lately, and my health is not as good as before. I have come to court today to resign."

Upon hearing Jiang Yuan's words, Yang Jian immediately summoned the imperial physician and ordered him to treat Jiang Yuan on the spot.

"Your Majesty, although Lord Jiang is a bit old, he is still in good health and spirits. His fists are strong and powerful, and his eyes are sharp. He can serve the court for another 10 years without any problem."

After examining Jiang Yuan, the imperial physician spoke in front of many court officials.

"Did you hear that, Minister Jiang? Or are you saying that you are unwilling to serve the people? Unwilling to serve me? Unwilling to contribute to the Sui Dynasty?"

Yang Jian said in a low, somber tone.

"Your humble servant obeys the decree."

Jiang Yuan said with a bitter face.

Yang Jian nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Shen Ye.

After Shen Ye's heart leaped into his throat, Yang Jie looked away again.

"The second thing is to implement the equal-field system to reduce taxes."

"Su Qing, I'll leave this matter to you as well."

The good reputation of equal land distribution and tax reduction naturally favored those who were close to them.

"The third thing is to develop water conservancy projects."

"This matter will be entrusted to the Minister of Works. Does Lord Changsun have any objections?"

Changsun Pi stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your humble servant has no objection."

"The fourth thing."

Yang Jian paused, then looked at Shen Ye again, giving him a bright smile.

Just as Shen Ye was feeling uneasy, his gaze shifted away again.

"Yang Da, as the Vice Minister of Works, you will be in charge of the railway construction."

Yang Da bowed and replied, "Yes."

"Minister Wei, you are the Minister of Rites."

"I wish to establish medical colleges throughout the land, responsible for teaching medicine, admitting medical students, and providing aid to the local people."

"The government will allocate funds to subsidize and reduce the cost of medical treatment for ordinary people. This matter will be handled by the Ministry of Rites."

Wei Shikang stepped forward to receive the imperial decree.

Yang Jian looked at Shen Ye again.

Shen Ye wondered to himself whether this was a scare tactic or a genuine attempt to find him.

"Minister Shen, I have a matter concerning the well-being of all the people in the world to entrust to you."

Shen Ye's heart sank lower and lower. It concerned the well-being of all people under heaven. He did not believe that Yang Jian would be so kind.

Look at Yang Jian's tone now, and then look at how he spoke to Jiang Yuan before. It's clear that his tone was much more amiable when he spoke to Jiang Yuan, which means that the pit he's about to face is bigger and deeper.

"As more and more schools are established, more and more people across the land are becoming scholars."

"I believe that the system for selecting officials should also be changed appropriately."

"From this day forward, all newly appointed official officials must pass the court's assessment, which is conducted every three years."

"Only students who graduated from the major state academies, the Imperial Academy, and the National Academy, as well as students recommended by officials of the fifth rank or above, are qualified to participate in the examination."

"Different official positions were granted based on the results of the examinations."

The examination consisted of two subjects: Xiucai (a lower-level scholar) and Mingjing (a higher-level scholar).

"This matter concerns the path to officialdom for all people under heaven. It opens a door to the imperial court for the common people and allows the talents of the world to join the court. Its significance is profound."

"I entrust the first imperial examination of this court to Minister Shen. I believe that Minister Shen will not let me, the court, or the people of the world down."

Shen Ye's face was completely bloodless.

Yang Jian was ruthless; he not only wanted to make him suffer a fate worse than death, but also to completely ruin his reputation, making him a target of public condemnation throughout history.

This isn't a multiple-choice question; it's a life-or-death question.

On the surface, it seems that it needs to choose between the combination of commoners and the emperor, and the combination of powerful clans.

In reality, both of these paths lead to ruin and condemnation by everyone.

He wouldn't even have the chance to choose his own way to die; Yang Jian would definitely place his people in charge and sideline him.

The result of the imperial examinations was that the majority of the candidates came from aristocratic families.

There was no other way; the disciples of aristocratic families enjoyed a life of comfort and ease from a young age, and could focus solely on their studies.

Moreover, there are also renowned Confucian scholars who provide specialized instruction, and outstanding individuals may even receive one-on-one tutoring.

Ordinary people and geniuses from poor families have to consider making a living while studying, making their efforts twice as difficult and half as effective. They can only surpass the students from aristocratic families if their talent is several times greater.

But the common people don't care about these things. As long as they see that most of the students admitted are from aristocratic families, they will definitely think there is something fishy going on.

The public will surely be outraged and demand that the court find the person who pulled this stunt.

Who could this person be?

It will definitely be him, the chief examiner.

When that happens, it'll be mud dripping down your pants; even if it's not shit, it'll still look like shit.

Do you think the aristocratic families will be grateful to him? No.

The powerful clans would only feel that this was what they deserved, and that the imperial examinations he held had caused many commoners to lose their official positions.

The greed of powerful clans and aristocratic families makes them insatiable.

Therefore, they will definitely take advantage of his misfortune, nail him to the pillar of historical shame, and make him a sacrifice for the imperial examination system.

"Your Majesty, spare my life!"

Shen Ye immediately knelt on the ground. Yang Jian was simply too ruthless; he couldn't withstand such a blow. He was merely a vanguard soldier of a minor aristocratic family; was it really necessary to use such a deadly weapon against him?

Does someone as small as him deserve a karaomis?!

"What does Shen Qing mean by this? I have given you this excellent opportunity to be remembered in history, and instead of being grateful, you are begging for mercy. What is the meaning of this?"

Yang Jian waved his sleeve and announced, "Dismiss the court!"

One by one, the court officials left, leaving only Shen Ye collapsed on the ground, watching his former friends avoid him like the plague.