The Prodigal Son

Zhao Luan was not at all surprised by Gao Yi's suggestion.

She also knew about Gao Yi's little scheme.

Frankly, she didn't want to appoint those officials.

She didn't want to see Gao Yi grow too big.

The consequences of a prime minister becoming too powerful are far more serious than those of a wealthy merchant colluding with local officials.

However, the imperial court is indeed facing a shortage of officials.

Moreover, once the court exonerates those officials, it will inevitably have to select some of them for official positions.

The matter of exonerating them cannot be considered completely resolved simply by exonerating them.

They must feel the boundless grace of Heaven!

"I have considered what Minister Gao said."

Zhao Luan raised his eyes slightly, "But I have been thinking about a question these days, and I would like to ask Prime Minister Gao to help me find the answer."

Gao Yi: "Your Majesty, please speak."

Zhao Luan's gaze fell on Gao Yi, and she said quietly, "When my elder brother was assassinated, many officials were implicated and all of them were tortured. Even those officials who were released from prison due to the general amnesty often ended up with their families destroyed and their lives ruined! It would be easy for me to reinstate them, but how can I guarantee that they won't harbor resentment towards the court because of what happened in the past, and still serve the court wholeheartedly?"

Upon hearing Zhao Luan's words, Gao Yi's heart skipped a beat.

This is a truly critical problem!

Zhao Luan is now practically asking him for a guarantee!

This ensures that those officials will remain loyal to the court and continue to serve it.

But once he makes this guarantee, he will inevitably be implicated if any official gets into trouble.

However, if Zhao Luan's concerns are not dispelled, she may not reinstate those officials.

In this way, his plan to expand his power would not be able to be achieved.

Gao Yi's mind raced, and after a moment, he chuckled and said, "Your Majesty's concerns are indeed reasonable, but in this old minister's opinion, this is an unsolvable problem!"

Why?

Zhao Luan narrowed her eyes slightly.

Gao Yi sighed softly and said with a bitter smile, "In the past, when has the court ever mistreated the officials of the Liangjiang region and the Hai and Yuan prefectures? But after Lord Qin's investigation, how many corrupt officials and those with ill intentions have been uncovered? Those who are loyal to the court will still be loyal even if the court has wronged them! But those of bad character, even if the court and His Majesty show them great favor, will still be greedy and plot wickedly..."

Zhao Luan seemed to be deep in thought, but inwardly cursed Gao Yi.

That old fox!

I dug a pit for him, but he avoided it perfectly.

Moreover, his answer was flawless, leaving no room for criticism.

"What Minister Gao says is absolutely right!"

Zhao Luan raised his eyes again. "I will consider this matter carefully. Prime Minister Gao, please arrange for people to investigate those officials from that year. This will make it easier for the court to exonerate them and also make it easier to reinstate them! The Ministry of Personnel must fully cooperate with Prime Minister Gao on this matter."

"yes!"

Gao Yi and Du Zhiwen received the order at the same time.

"Lord Su."

"Your humble servant is here."

"At the Confucian Temple and Academy, fifty talented and virtuous students will be selected and jointly examined by the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites, and then reported to me!"

"yes!"

"Lord Du, many officials in Min County were appointed after you conducted your assessments. You should be quite familiar with the officials in Min County. I intend to transfer twenty officials from Min County to other places. Please prepare a list for me as soon as possible!"

Faced with Zhao Luan's request, Du Zhiwen frowned. "Your Majesty, many officials in Min have only recently taken office, and they have probably only just begun to sort out their affairs. Is it not appropriate to transfer them to other places now?"

He understood Zhao Luan's meaning.

Use officials from other places to govern Min, and use officials from Min to govern other places.

We must do our best to prevent those officials from colluding and deceiving the court.

"That's definitely not appropriate!"

Zhao Luan did not deny it, "However, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures! Officials in Min are also officials of Da Ning. Cross-appointing officials from Min with those from other parts of Da Ning will help Min integrate into Da Ning as soon as possible!"

Du Zhiwen had no choice but to accept the imperial decree: "Your humble servant obeys!"

After arranging these matters, Zhao Luan "suddenly" remembered something else: "Prime Minister Gao, Qin Yu has almost finished reorganizing the salt administration in the Liangjiang region and the Hai and Yuan prefectures, and has also spent a lot of time investigating the assassination of the former Crown Prince. How is the work of the Prince of Fengyi progressing?"

"this……"

Gao Yi looked embarrassed. "Yu Jing has encountered some difficulties, and we are currently working hard to resolve them. I have been urging him to do so. His previous reply to me was that the salt route could be basically opened by the end of September this year."

In fact, Yu Jing told him that the salt route could be basically opened by the end of June, ensuring that one million shi of salt could be transported out of Mindi every year.

However, he felt that one million shi of salt was far too little, so he gave Yu Jing an extra three months, hoping that Yu Jing could expand more salt routes.

"Yes, we need to urge them on this matter again."

Zhao Luan said a few words and then stopped talking, turning to chat with several ministers about the war between Da Ning and Bei Qi.

Currently, the entire territory of Shuozhou has been occupied by Beiqi, and Daning and Beiqi have once again entered a stalemate.

Qin Fumeng also launched several raids from Wuguan to harass Beiqi, preventing Beiqi from grazing and farming in peace.

A major battle is very likely to break out between Da Ning and Bei Qi this autumn.

Supplies such as food and weapons must be prepared in advance, not after the fighting starts.

Lu Chunqiu suggested, "Your Majesty, I believe that since a major war between our dynasty and Northern Qi is inevitable, our dynasty should strengthen cooperation with the Yan state. Ideally, we should persuade the Yan state to send troops from Panshan Pass to join us in attacking Northern Qi during the war between our dynasty and Northern Qi!"

"Lord Lü is right."

Su Yu agreed, but immediately changed the subject, "However, the Yan people have always been fickle, and our dynasty must also be wary of them. We should send people to negotiate with the Yan state while simultaneously transferring troops to Dingzhou to prevent the Yan people from launching another sneak attack while our dynasty is fighting the Northern Qi!"

"Yes, yes!"

Du Zhiwen immediately nodded, "Don't be fooled by our current good cooperation with the Yan Kingdom; we must be wary of the fickle Yan people!"

All three of them knew the inside story.

With everyone chiming in, the idea of ​​transferring troops to Dingzhou became a matter of course.

Gao Yi was unaware of the details, but he still agreed with Su Yu's opinion.

While trying to win over the Yan people, we must also be wary of them!

Today, Da Ning's military budget is certainly more than sufficient.

However, the number of armored soldiers cannot be increased in a very short period of time simply by having sufficient military funds.

The current state of Da Ning may not be able to withstand the combined attack from both Bei Qi and Yan.

Whoever the Yan state sides with now will have the greater advantage!

"Hmm, that makes sense!"

Zhao Luan nodded in deep agreement.

Just as she was about to continue speaking, Yun Ying's voice came from outside.

"Your Majesty, urgent intelligence has arrived from our spies!"

"Bring it in!"

Soon, Yun Ying strode in and handed Zhao Luan an urgent intelligence report.

Zhao Luan quickly opened the intelligence report to check it.

Upon seeing the contents, a smile immediately flashed across Zhao Luan's face.

Emperor Yan has the idea of ​​making his third son, Yan Li, the crown prince!

The conflict between the Crown Prince of Yan and Yan Li intensified, almost to the point of life and death...