Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 179 Is there something wrong with this guy's health?

After giving Wang Qingci a good scolding, Lu Chen tossed her onto another chair and continued writing the reform plan for Beijun.

At this moment, Wang Qingci slumped in his chair, his gaze fixed on Lu Chen, who was working diligently, and he couldn't help but feel a little admiration for him.

Wang Qingci said softly, "Your Highness, how come you have so much energy? You just finished doing something bad to me, and you can immediately calm down and do other things."

Upon hearing Wang Qingci's words, Lu Chen chuckled as he wrote, then said, "Dealing with a female slave is nothing; how much energy could it possibly take for me?"

An ordinary person might have been heartbroken to hear Lu Chen's words, but Wang Qingci felt nothing at all, after all, her identity was that of Lu Chen's female slave.

However, Wang Qingci said somewhat unconvinced, "Your Highness is a Grandmaster, so you speak with such authority. When I break through to the Grandmaster realm..."

Hearing this, Lu Chen stopped writing, looked up at Wang Qingci in the chair, and asked, "What will you do when you break through to the Grandmaster realm?"

"Do you intend to rebel?"

At this point, Lu Chen revealed a kind smile.

Wang Qingci pursed her lips and then said, "Once I break through to the Grandmaster realm, I will definitely serve Your Highness even better."

Wang Qingci was also a little unsure. Although breaking through to the Grandmaster realm would greatly enhance her strength and physical abilities, it wouldn't be impossible for her to exchange a few blows with Lu Chen at that time.

However, Lu Chen cannot be judged by common sense. Perhaps he has even more powerful moves he hasn't used yet, and I might be suppressed again soon.

Who knows, by the time I break through to the Grandmaster realm, Lu Chen might already be a Great Grandmaster.

The difference in strength between a Grandmaster and a Master is like heaven and earth.

Lu Chen is already so fierce and powerful. Once he breaks through to the Grandmaster realm, who knows how powerful he will be?

The thought of Lu Chen breaking through to the Grandmaster realm and his physical abilities being greatly enhanced made Wang Qingci's delicate body tremble uncontrollably.

Fortunately, Lu Chen has so many women. Although she is Lu Chen's female slave, she has her own things to do and does not have to stay in the palace to serve Lu Chen every day.

It seems I can no longer provoke Lu Chen.

Just then, a guard's voice came from outside the study, "Your Highness, a letter has arrived from Tianguang City."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen said calmly, "Xiao Huan, bring it in."

A major battle had just taken place in this study, so the Imperial Guards were not allowed to enter.

The maid at the study door immediately came to the Imperial Guard, took the intelligence from his hands, and then took it into the study.

Lu Chen took the bamboo tube from the maid, took out the intelligence inside, and began to read it carefully.

Upon seeing the contents of the intelligence report, Lu Chen smiled again.

He initially had the soldiers of Tianguang City dress the barbarian prisoners who had died in battle in the clothes of the Great Xia people, mainly as a precaution. He didn't think Lin Xiuming would go digging up graves for no reason.

Unexpectedly, there were indeed spies in the imperial army who went to dig up graves to confirm whether the graves contained the bodies of soldiers from the Northern Commandery.

It seems that the Black Cavalry cannot be allowed to show themselves in Beijun for some time to come. The corpses can only be hidden for a while, and there will inevitably be other people coming to Yancheng to inquire about the Black Cavalry.

If the Black Riders were still running around at this time, others would realize that the heavy cavalry of Northshire had not been wiped out.

The Northern Commandery is about to undergo reforms, so we must keep a very low profile for the foreseeable future and avoid attracting the attention of the imperial court.

As for whether the reforms in Beijun would attract the attention of the imperial court, Lu Chen believed that those people in the court would not have the time to pay attention to a vassal king messing around in his own fiefdom.

Lu Chen then put down the intelligence report and continued writing the reform policy for Beijun.

For the next few days, Lu Chen spent most of his time in his study. He didn't ride horses or practice spear fighting for several days in a row, and the women in the inner courtyard of the Prince's Mansion noticed Lu Chen's unusual behavior.

They sensed that something big was about to happen in Beijun, otherwise Lu Chen wouldn't have stayed in the study for several days in a row.

About seven days later, the Northern Prince's Palace issued a royal decree, summoning officials from the Northern Commandery to the palace to discuss state affairs.

Upon receiving the decree from the Northern King's Palace, the officials of the Northern Prefecture were somewhat bewildered. Normally, officials of lower ranks were not qualified to participate in political discussions, yet the Northern King had ordered all officials of all ranks to go to the Northern King's Palace to participate in political discussions.

What are we supposed to do?

Is the Northern King planning to purge the officials of the Northern Commandery?

As soon as the decree was issued, some corrupt officials became extremely guilty and panicked.

Some officials were so frightened that they fled Beijun, but those who fled were quickly captured by Lu Chen's Imperial Guards.

Lu Chen did not actually intend to take action against corrupt officials. At present, Beijun lacked civil officials and management talents. If he took action against corrupt officials at this time, he would not have many people to do the work.

However, he still planned to single out a few of those who were particularly corrupt to make an example of them, and those who were scared away were basically the ones who had committed serious corruption.

early morning.

Lu Chen had just gotten up, washed up, and finished his porridge when his maid came to tell him that Li Rui and some other officials from Yancheng were already waiting for him at the door of his study.

Upon hearing the maid's words, Lu Chen immediately went to the study.

Seeing a group of people standing at the study door, Lu Chen smiled and said, "Lord Li, isn't it still several days before my council meeting? Why are you all here today?"

Upon seeing Lu Chen arrive, Li Rui and the officials of Yancheng immediately bowed, "Greetings, Your Highness! Long live the Prince!"

After Li Rui finished bowing, he said, "Your Highness, I have heard that your Embroidered Uniform Guard is arresting officials in Beijun on a large scale. Now the people of Beijun are in a state of panic, and many officials have already submitted their resignations to me, intending to return to their hometowns."

Most of the officials in Beijun were not from Beijun. Before Emperor Xia granted Beijun to Lu Chen, the officials in Beijun were all transferred from other places by the imperial court.

Now that everyone is hearing that Lu Chen is going to clean up the officialdom, some officials are so scared that they are rushing to flee.

According to the rules, once a vassal king arrives at his fief, the officials previously appointed by the court are entitled to submit their resignations, and they can leave the vassal king's fief without the king's consent.

This was a trap set by the previous Xia emperor for those vassal kings. If a vassal king arrived in his territory without appointing his own people, the officials appointed by the court could not only monitor the vassal king, but also undermine his authority.

Moreover, the imperial court could use these officials to discipline some disobedient vassal kings.

Normally, if all the officials in a fiefdom ran away, the fiefdom would quickly fall into chaos. There was a time when a vassal king disobeyed orders, and the court directly transferred all the officials away, leaving the vassal king's fiefdom without anyone to use.

Although the court officials were transferred away, and it seemed that the vassal kings had gained power and the power of their fiefdoms had been transferred to them, most of the enfeoffed vassal kings did not initially have their own faction.

For example, a prince like Lu Chen, who only knew how to eat, drink and have fun at the beginning, did not have his own administrative team when he first came to Beijun. If the court transferred all the officials of Beijun at this time, Lu Chen could only stare helplessly. The Beijun he took over was a complete mess. With the few people he had at the beginning, he was not able to make the entire Beijun run smoothly.

Upon hearing Li Rui's words, Lu Chen smiled and said, "No wonder you all rushed to the Prince's Mansion so early in the morning; it turns out it was for this matter."

"You don't need to worry about that. The officials I ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to arrest are all corrupt officials."

Hearing Lu Chen say this, Li Rui and the other officials panicked even more.

Corrupt officials?

Among the officials present, how many were truly clean? Even Li Rui himself had accepted bribes.

If Lu Chen were to truly clean up all the corrupt officials, there would probably be very few officials in the entire Northern Prefecture who would escape unscathed.

According to the rules of the Great Xia Dynasty, the poorer and less populated a place is, the less salary officials receive.

Beijun was a poor place, and the officials sent there by the imperial court received the lowest possible salaries each year.

Therefore, the first thing most officials do when they arrive in Beijun is to find a way to make money. With such low salaries, how could they possibly have a good life if they didn't embezzle and accept bribes?

These people become officials just for status and money, and now Lu Chen is actually cracking down on corrupt officials. Is he going to wipe them all out?

When Lu Chen first came to Beijun, they were worried, but seeing Lu Chen eating, drinking and having fun at the Prince's Mansion every day, they thought Lu Chen would be easy to deal with.

Unexpectedly, Lu Chen had been hiding his knife all along, only revealing it now.

Li Rui quickly said, "Your Highness, Beijun is poor. According to the regulations of the court, the salaries of officials in Beijun are less than half of those in Jiangnan and other places. The salaries given by the court are not enough to support an official's family. Therefore, officials in Beijun have all accepted some gifts."

"If Your Highness were to arrest all the corrupt officials, then I'm afraid not a single official in the Northern Prefecture would escape unscathed. I urge Your Highness to reconsider!"

As soon as Li Rui finished speaking, the officials behind him immediately bowed and said, "Please reconsider, Your Highness."

Although many officials believed that the Black Cavalry had truly been wiped out, Lu Chen still had a Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) under his command.

To arrest all the officials in Beijun, there was no need for Lu Chen's Black Cavalry; the Embroidered Uniform Guards could have done it all.

Now, there isn't a single official in Beijun who isn't afraid of Lu Chen.

Li Rui continued, "Your Highness, the officials in Beijun are all dispatched by the imperial court. If you crack down on corrupt officials, some officials may be frightened and flee Beijun without even resigning. In that case, some of Beijun's policies may not be able to reach the common people."

"We beg Your Highness to give those officials a chance, to give them time to repent and reform."

Upon hearing Li Rui's words, Lu Chen said expressionlessly, "Lord Li, are you threatening me?"

Sensing the off tone, Li Rui broke out in a cold sweat and quickly said, "Your Majesty, I dare not. I am merely stating the facts."

"Beijun is poor, and talented people are unwilling to come to Beijun. If even the officials dispatched by the imperial court run away, it may affect the prince's great cause."

Li Rui's words were not only protecting the other officials in Beijun, but also protecting himself. No one could say for sure whether Lu Chen's knife would fall on him.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the courtyard was extremely heavy, and light snow was falling from the sky. Li Rui and a group of officials stood motionless in the courtyard.

The officials dared not breathe, feeling a chill run down their spines and breaking out in a cold sweat.

Now it's up to the Northern King to decide what to do.

If the Northern King is determined to crack down on corrupt officials, I'm afraid none of them will escape.

Lu Chen glanced at Li Rui and the other officials' loyalty scores. Li Rui, the prefect, had the highest loyalty score, which had reached 95. The other officials' loyalty scores were mostly around 70 or 80.

They are fairly loyal, but everyone has their own ulterior motives.

After a moment of contemplation, Lu Chen said calmly, "I have no intention of carrying out any large-scale purge. The reason I asked you to come to the palace for a political discussion in a few days is simply because I am going to announce a reform plan. Some officials in Beijun were so frightened when they heard that they were to be summoned for a political discussion that they fled overnight with the money they had embezzled."

"Now is the time when the Northern Commandery needs capable people. Those officials have embezzled so much silver in the Northern Commandery, but when trouble comes, they just run away with the money. If I don't arrest these people, I would be too merciful."

Upon hearing Lu Chen's words, the officials were taken aback.

What the Northern King means is...

They embezzled so much money, and instead of giving it to him, they ran away with the money, leaving him nothing. So he ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to arrest those fleeing officials.

So it seems they do have a way out.

Once they return, they will hand over the embezzled silver. In that case, the Northern King should not cause them any trouble, right?

At this moment, Lu Chen continued, "Go back now. If I wanted to arrest you, you would already be in Yancheng's prison."

Upon hearing Lu Chen's words, Li Rui seemed to understand Lu Chen's meaning; Lu Chen was planning to make an example of someone.

Arrest a few, and then use that as a deterrent to the other officials in North County.

Then he's probably fine. When the Northern King first arrived in Beijun, he immediately handed over all his power. Although the Northern King only took over military power at the time, his initial attitude must have satisfied the Northern King.

The power he currently holds was granted to him by the Northern King. If the Northern King were to take action against him, he could easily crush him. He poses no threat to the Northern King, and the Northern King would most likely not deal with him.

Thinking of this, Li Rui finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Rui then bowed and said, "We take our leave."

After Li Rui and his officials left the palace, one of them immediately asked, "Lord Li, is His Highness really not going to settle scores with the officials of Beijun?"

Li Rui replied, "Didn't the prince just say that the reason he ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to arrest those people was because they were trying to escape from Beijun with embezzled silver, so the prince arrested them."

"If you didn't have such intentions, the Prince would most likely not care about you. If the Prince wanted to settle scores with the officials of Beijun, I'm afraid everyone here, including myself, would have been arrested long ago."

At this point, Li Rui glanced at the officials and then said, "The Prince is going to reform Beijun next. You all need to be more efficient from now on, and stop just drifting through life like before."

"His Highness has great ambitions. If you continue to hold him back, even if he doesn't punish you now, you will all end up in jail sooner or later."

At this moment, an official asked in a low voice, "Sir, what should we do with the silver we collected before?"

Since the Northern King has already said that he will definitely catch those who try to escape with the silver, it's highly likely that these officials in Yancheng won't be able to escape.

The county magistrates in those small places were all arrested by the Northern King's Embroidered Uniform Guard. How could these officials, who were right under the noses of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, possibly escape?

Since they can't escape, the money they embezzled in the past is probably a hot potato. Nobody knows if this embezzled money will one day become evidence to send them to prison.

Li Rui said, "That's simple. After you go back, send all the gifts and money you've received over the years to my residence, and I will deliver them to the Northern Prince's Mansion."

"By the way, I must remind you that the Prince's Embroidered Uniform Guard is very powerful. If the Prince wants to find out how much money you received in the past, he can easily find out. I still advise you not to take any chances."

Upon hearing Li Rui's words, some officials who wanted to secretly hide money immediately abandoned the idea.

They had dealt with the Embroidered Uniform Guard quite a bit and knew how terrifying they were. Li Rui was right; if the Embroidered Uniform Guard really wanted to investigate them, they could very well be completely exposed.

In the stillness of the night.

Lu Chen was still busy in the study.

The study was brightly lit. When Chu Qingli patrolled to the door of the study, she was surprised to find that the lights were still on.

A while ago, Lu Chen was doing bad things with the women in the Prince's mansion every day. How come he's suddenly become so well-behaved these past few days? It seems like she hasn't seen Lu Chen doing bad things with that woman for several days now.

Is there something wrong with this guy's health? Is he not able to keep going?

Given his personality, he would definitely feel uncomfortable if he didn't do bad things with women one day.

Yes! It must be that his body is failing him!

Even if he has a destiny to become a deity, he is still a mortal. Anyone would find it unbearable to be obsessed with beautiful women every day.

This guy comes to the study every day, most likely to prevent his women from realizing he's impotent. It's for his pride that he's been hiding in the study these past few days, not going home late at night.

Just as Chu Qingli was lost in thought, gazing at the light emanating from the study, a gentle voice appeared behind her, "Qingli, what are you looking at?"

Chu Qingli snapped out of her daze, turned her head and saw Chu Yuqin, so she immediately said, "I wasn't looking at anything, I was just thinking about something."

At this moment, Chu Yuqin's gaze also turned to Lu Chen's study. Seeing that the light was still on in Lu Chen's study, Chu Yuqin said to herself, "Chen'er has indeed grown up."

As soon as she finished speaking, Chu Yuqin couldn't help but blush. She suddenly remembered what had happened in the study not long ago.

(End of this chapter)