This son-in-law is wicked in a good way!

The hall fell silent instantly.

Everyone looked at Gao Changlin, who was speaking righteously.

Many people looked at him as if he were an idiot.

Is this guy out of his mind?

Even the Minister of War immediately frowned and turned away, too lazy to look at him.

Gao Changlin, however, remained unmoved and continued to do as he pleased, loudly proclaiming, "Your Majesty!"

"Although Mr. Zhang is a great scholar of the academy, the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel is mainly responsible for screening, dispatching and selecting officials. Mr. Zhang has been studying at the academy for many years and is very unfamiliar with the officials of Dawu. I am afraid he will not be able to do the job."

Suppressing her anger, the Empress asked expressionlessly, "Then, according to General Gao, who is qualified for the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel?"

Gao Changlin bowed and said, "This old minister recommends someone who is certainly capable of taking on the role!"

"Whom does Minister Gao recommend?"

Gao Changlin seemed oblivious to the suppressed anger in the Empress's tone and continued, "Tang Cheng, former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel."

Minister of War Xing Quan suddenly closed his eyes speechlessly, almost cursing, "What an idiot!"

Now it's hard for the Empress not to pay attention to Tang City.

As expected, the Empress looked at Guo Sanbao, who had remained silent and uninvolved, and asked, "Lord Dian, who is this Tang Cheng?"

Guo Sanbao stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I am the son-in-law of General Gao Changlin."

Sigh...

A murmur of dismay suddenly arose in the court.

Gao Changlin hurriedly defended himself, saying, "Your Majesty, the selection of virtuous officials should not be based on kinship. This old minister has absolutely no selfish motives. Please, Your Majesty, see the truth!"

His attempt to explain only made things more awkward.

The Empress then asked, "What achievements has this Lord Tang made during his tenure?"

Guo Sanbao shook his head: "He has accomplished nothing, but has repeatedly made mistakes, and is suspected of abusing his power."

"Has the Ministry of Personnel imposed any punishment?" The Empress's face had turned cold.

"His superior, Sun Guihua, only reprimanded him a few times and then did nothing more."

The Empress suddenly looked at Gao Changlin with icy eyes: "General Gao, is this the person you recommended?"

Gao Changlin immediately knelt down.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty! I did have selfish motives, and I never knew this scoundrel could be so despicable... Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

The Empress looked at Gao Changlin, who was kneeling on the ground and trembling, and sighed.

"I have a matter that requires one of my ministers to handle. Minister Gao, are you willing to atone for your sins with meritorious service?"

Gao Changlin was overjoyed and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, whatever your command, I will obey even at the cost of my life!"

The Empress nodded and glanced at Mo Yu beside her: "Xiao Yu, tell General Gao what needs to be done."

Mo Yu bowed: "Yes."

Turning to look at Gao Changlin, Mo Yu smiled and said, "General Gao, His Majesty has received guidance from a mysterious person and needs to use something."

"However, this plant only grows near the earthen walls of latrines. General Gao can mobilize the people of the capital to collect it."

Gao Changlin was dumbfounded. Was His Majesty ordering him to clean the latrines?

"Your Majesty, I... I am not skilled in this. I may be capable of leading troops into battle, but I have never done anything like this before!"

Gao Changlin looked troubled.

The Empress looked at him coldly: "So, General Gao, you're unwilling to share my burdens?"

Gao Changlin trembled and hurriedly kowtowed, replying, "Your Majesty, I will do my utmost to ensure the mission is completed."

When faced with the choice between courting death and courting excrement, General Gao clearly understood which was more important.

The court officials looked at Gao Changlin with disdain.

A dignified General of Divine Might, a fourth-rank official, is actually forced to clean latrines. I'm afraid Gao Changlin will be forever stigmatized.

"Hmph, serves him right!" Lu Qian, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, muttered under his breath.

Gao Changlin's actions also made the Ministry of War lose face.

The Empress ignored Gao Changlin, that clown, and looked at Zhang Xiaoru.

"Mr. Zhang, from now on I will address you as Minister Zhang."

"The Ministry of Personnel is burdened with heavy official duties; Minister Zhang, please assume your post immediately!"

Although a deal had been reached with the Left Chancellor, the Empress was still afraid that things might change if things dragged on.

"Your subject obeys the decree!" Zhang Xiaoru's face was full of enthusiasm.

"Court adjourned!"

……

The Night Watchman's Office.

After defeating Sun Guihua, Zhang Ping'an felt much more relaxed.

Now, he patrols every day, fishes, and listens to music in brothels; he lives a very comfortable life.

However, during his recent patrols, he discovered that a large number of disaster victims had suddenly appeared in the capital.

Judging from their accents, most of them came from the Yuzhou region.

It seems that the impact of the Yellow River floods has already reached the capital.

On the roadside, a woman dressed in rags and with unkempt hair, accompanied by a four- or five-year-old child, knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing to everyone she met.

"Gentlemen, please have mercy and give me a bite to eat!"

The woman was so weak from hunger that she was exhausted, and the child was also pale and emaciated.

Zhang Ping'an bought a few steamed buns, walked over, and handed them to the woman.

"for you."

The woman immediately kowtowed and thanked him, saying, "Thank you so much, sir, thank you so much..."

The woman took the steamed bun and gave it to the child first, saying, "Eat up!"

"There's still some here, you can have some too!" Zhang Ping'an said.

"I...I'm not hungry, I'll save it for the child..." the woman said with a forced smile, swallowing hard and trying to suppress the hunger in her eyes.

The toddler said in a childish voice, "Big brother, I have a sick little brother, and Mommy wants to save the steamed buns for him to eat."

Zhang Ping'an felt a pang of sadness and placed all the steamed buns in the woman's hands.

"Eat up, I'll go buy more if you're not full."

The woman knew she had met a kind person today, and with tears in her eyes, she kowtowed and thanked them, saying, "Thank you so much, sir, thank you so much..."

She finally picked up a steamed bun and carefully put it in her mouth to chew. To her, the most ordinary steamed bun seemed to be the most delicious delicacy in the world.

If any crumbs of bread fell from the child's mouth, she would quickly pick them up and eat them.

Zhang Ping'an initially wanted to give her some silver, but after thinking about it, he realized that doing so would probably harm her.

Orphans and widows simply cannot protect their children.

"How about this, from now on, if you get hungry, come here every morning, and I'll give you steamed buns whenever I see you, okay?"

The woman was both surprised and delighted: "This...how could we possibly trouble you so much, young master..."

Although she was being polite, the longing in her eyes was obvious.

"It's settled then."

Zhang Ping'an patted the child's head and turned to leave.

A jail cell.

Zhang Pingan, Wang Qisheng, and others returned from patrol and rested with some water.

Zhang Ping'an nudged Old Wang beside him: "Recently, many refugees from Yuzhou have arrived in the capital. Doesn't the imperial court have any countermeasures?"

Wang Qisheng sighed: "This was caused by the Yellow River floods. Yuzhou is not too far from the capital, so the disaster victims came to the capital to beg for their lives."

Zhang Ping'an stared at him intently: "I'm talking about the court's response strategy, don't change the subject."

Old Wang chuckled: "Peace and safety, with the national treasury empty, what other solutions are there? At most, we can open some soup kitchens so that the disaster victims can have some hot porridge to keep them alive."

"Is the imperial court really that poor?" Zhang Ping'an really didn't know this; the original owner of this body had no knowledge of this matter at all.

Wang Qisheng said in a voice only the two of them could hear: "The late emperor was somewhat warlike and launched several campaigns against the Northern Barbarians. Although he won many battles, the country's strength was severely depleted."

"Although His Majesty has worked diligently since ascending the throne, he cannot make up for the deficit in a short period of time. I heard that the funds for this disaster relief were forced upon the Ministry of Revenue."