Dad, don't be greedy! My brother climbed into the emperor's bed, and I became famous overn

Thus, a simple "assassination case" turned into a joint trial by three judicial departments for officials embezzling and seizing land.

All staff members of the Work Department were investigated one by one.

The officials from the Court of Judicial Review and the Censorate joined forces to investigate.

Projects were reviewed one by one, and officials were mentioned one by one.

Several prison carts were parked in front of the Ministry of Works.

More than half of the officials were imprisoned.

Zhao Pei, Zhou Qiao, and their subordinates—including the clerks, assistant clerks, and other officials—anyone connected to the Cui family was implicated.

Those who deserve execution should be executed, and those who deserve exile should be exiled.

The rest were just low-level clerks who were usually suppressed and couldn't get a chance to handle matters.

The Ministry of Works was largely uprooted.

The main hall of the government office was completely empty.

The officials' chairs were missing row after row, and the official documents on their desks were piled up like small mountains.

The remaining minor officials huddled in a corner, going to the yamen every day like going to a funeral, not daring to even breathe loudly.

There are 67 chairs in the yamen, but now fewer than 12 are occupied.

The winds of change in the imperial court shifted rapidly.

One moment the Cui family was an invincible behemoth, the next the Ministry of Works became an empty shell.

Of the six ministries, the Ministry of Works is now practically useless.

The urgent road and bridge construction, water conservancy maintenance, and city repairs in each prefecture were all piled up there.

It was a complete mess, and nobody dared to take responsibility or handle it.

In the Imperial Study.

The afternoon sun streamed in through the window, casting patches of golden light on the ground.

Xiao Ye put down the last document in his hand concerning personnel appointments at the Ministry of Works and raised his eyes.

My gaze fell on the person next to me who was hunched over a rosewood desk, engrossed in drawing plans for the expansion of the logistics park.

Xiao Ye looked at him for a moment.

"Gu Qing."

"Um?"

Gu Mingli didn't even look up; the lines under his pen never stopped.

"I have something to tell you."

Gu Mingli casually replied, "Go ahead."

Xiao Ye pushed a bright yellow imperial edict over from the left side of the table.

"Effective immediately, you are promoted to the rank of Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, a fourth-rank official, and concurrently serve as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works."

Gu Mingli stopped writing with his charcoal pencil.

He looked up and blinked blankly.

"You got...promoted?"

Xiao Ye nodded calmly.

"The Ministry of Works is in a mess and needs someone to clean it up. You have the ability and management skills. The Ministry of Works can be put to its best use when it's in your hands."

Gu Mingli opened the imperial edict and looked at it.

"A fourth-rank official?!"

He jumped directly from the fifth rank to the fourth rank! A leap of two ranks!

Although he wasn't particularly interested in promotions and raises, this was an affirmation of Professor Gu's abilities.

Professor Gu was very satisfied.

Moreover, with the position of Minister of Works vacant, the Vice Minister was the de facto highest-ranking official in the Ministry of Works.

He was the one who called the shots in the entire Ministry of Works.

From now on, if his sister has any projects that need to go through the Ministry of Works' procedures, he will no longer have to worry about being tripped up, having approvals blocked, or having the project delayed.

Gu Mingli's lips had just curled up in a smile.

He was already starting to figure out how to schedule the remaining minor officials in the Ministry of Works.

Xiao Ye, observing his expression, continued:

"Starting tomorrow, the morning court session will be held every three days at 5:00 AM. No one may be absent."

"What the hell?!"

Gu Mingli's smile froze on his face.

5:00 AM (卯时).

What time is Mao Shi (5-7 AM) again?

He quickly calculated the ancient time in his mind...

That's incredibly early! Five o'clock!

"His Majesty!"

Gu Mingli looked at Xiao Ye with a resentful expression.

"Can I not go?"

Xiao Ye picked up his teacup and took a small sip.

"cannot."

"Officials of the fourth rank and above must attend court. This is an ancestral rule."

Gu Mingli slumped on the table, his forehead pressed against the cool sandalwood, on the verge of tears.

In modern times, at least he can sleep until seven in the morning before getting up.

Now look what's happened...

The contract worker, who was not officially employed by the company, was suddenly promoted to a permanent position and became a corporate slave who was forced to sign in at 5 a.m.

He got promoted but it was all for naught.

"His Majesty."

Gu Mingli made a final struggle.

He propped himself up, trying to make himself look as pitiful as possible.

"I am in poor health. If I leave home before dawn, the streets of the capital will be dark and gloomy. What if something happens on the way..."

Xiao Ye rolled his eyes at him indifferently.

"I have already added a squad of imperial guards to your guards. They will wait at the gate of the Gu residence before dawn every day to escort you into the palace."

Gu Mingli: "I still want to sleep..."

Xiao Ye: "Plus a padded carriage. It will have three layers of mattresses inside, and the curtains will be drawn to block out the light. You can continue to sleep on the road."

Gu Mingli: "………"

I want to flip the table!

[Ding! Xiao Ye's favorability towards you has increased by 2. Current favorability: -427]

Gu Mingli stared at the system panel that appeared before him, his expression complex.

Party A!

You can't buy me with these little favors!

Xiao Ye withdrew his gaze and said calmly:

"Six wharves along the canal route were seized from the Cui family. Three of these wharves, which belonged to the canal gangs, were merged into Pujitang for operation. The remaining three were taken back by the Ministry of Works."

Gu Mingli's eyes lit up.

His sister's logistics project happens to need to expand the logistics hubs along the route.

Such enticing offers were too much for Party B to resist.

In the end, Gu Mingli took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and admitted defeat.

"Your subject obeys the decree!"

That evening, at the Gu residence.

A night breeze blew in through the half-open window, causing the candle flame to flicker twice.

Gu Mingyue pushed open the door and entered her brother's room.

"Brother? Congratulations on your promotion."

Gu Mingli leaned against the armrest of the low couch and weakly raised his hand.

"Don't congratulate me. I have to get up at dawn tomorrow for the morning court session. Even the 996 office workers aren't as miserable as me."

Gu Mingyue sat down opposite him, picked up a piece of rice cake and took a bite.

"Huang Jiaojiao is quite good at using people. It seems she is also determined to be a wise and capable ruler."

Gu Mingli pursed his lips.

"A leader's achievements are built upon the hard work of his capable ministers."

Gu Mingyue smiled and said, "That's the difference. A wise ruler may not necessarily be a good general, but he will certainly be good at commanding generals."

Gu Mingli tilted his head back and gulped down a cup of tea.

He doesn't understand the intricacies of senior management.

"By the way! Today, Huang Jiaojiao assigned the three wharves of the Canal Gang to be operated by Pujitang. I saw the approval document she wrote with my own eyes."

Gu Mingyue stopped chewing, her eyes widening with excitement.

"The three wharves of the canal transport gangs?"

She's always wanted that.

Those three wharves are located at key nodes along the main canal transport route.

One is at Tongzhou Ferry Terminal, one is at Yuezhou Transfer Station, and one is at Xuzhou Diversion Point.

Previously, everything was controlled by the Cui family. Merchant ships on the canal line had to pay a terminal usage fee before they could dock and unload their cargo.

Now that these three properties have been transferred to Pujitang's name, it's as if the biggest bottleneck in the logistics chain has been cleared.

With the recruitment of minor nobles, a large logistics hub can be established.

"Very good."

Gu Mingyue was very satisfied.

Gu Mingli remembered something else.

"By the way, your mission is almost over, right? How much is left on your balance?"

"Hmm, three days left."

Gu Mingyue opened the system panel, and Gu Mingli leaned over to take a look.

"The 10,000 taels for building the wholesale market have already been allocated, and the wages for the craftsmen and materials have been paid. There are still 33,000 taels left in the task."

Gu Mingli frowned.

"Three days. It will cost 33,000 taels. That's an average of 11,000 taels per day."

"Is it too late?"

Gu Mingyue smiled calmly.

"The estimated settlement of accommodation expenses for the competition at the guesthouse is 30,000 taels."

"This money will be transferred to Wen Yanzhi first thing tomorrow morning."

Gu Mingli nodded.

"What about the remaining three thousand taels?"

"The operating funds for the two VIP reception points, the Imperial Palace and the Orange Red Villa, will be used to cover the costs of food procurement, flower replacement, and daily expenses.

Thirty-three thousand taels were divided up cleanly just like that.

Gu Mingli breathed a sigh of relief, leaned back, and rested his head on the armrest.

"Alright. So your mission is a sure thing?"

Gu Mingyue nodded.

"However, there is one more thing to do before the competition."

"What is it?"

Under the candlelight, Gu Mingyue's expression was calm.

"You've seen the crowds at the logistics park, the food court, and the Cuju (ancient Chinese football) stadium these past few days."

Gu Mingli nodded.

He not only saw it, but he was at the construction site every day, witnessing firsthand how the number of people had increased from a few hundred to tens of thousands.

"Now that we have popularity, the next thing to do is monetize it."

Gu Mingyue turned her head and looked at her brother's face.

"Starting tomorrow, we'll recruit tenants for GG slots. This will break the Cui family's commercial dominance in Kyoto and dismantle their alliances bit by bit."

~~~~~

[Knowledge Supplement Mini-Lesson]

"He may not be able to command troops, but he is good at commanding generals."

Original source: The complete text of "Biography of Marquis of Huaiyin" in the Records of the Grand Historian.

The emperor often calmly and sincerely discussed with his generals whether they were capable or not, noting that each had their own strengths and weaknesses.

The emperor asked, "How many troops could I possibly command?"

Xin said, "Your Majesty can command no more than 100,000."

The emperor asked, "What do you think of him?"

He replied, "The more the better."

The emperor laughed and said, "The more the better, why make them my animals?"

Xin said: "Your Majesty is incapable of commanding troops, but is skilled at commanding generals. This is why I was captured by Your Majesty. Moreover, what Your Majesty calls a gift from Heaven is not something that can be achieved by human effort."

Word and phrase explanation

1. General/Commander: Commanding soldiers

2. General: To command and lead generals

3. 禽: Same as 擒, meaning to capture or seize.

Plain Language Translation

Liu Bang once leisurely discussed with Han Xin the relative abilities of his generals.

Liu Bang asked, "How many soldiers can I command?"

Han Xin: "Your Majesty can command at most 100,000 men."

Liu Bang: "And what about you?"

Han Xin: "The more troops I lead, the better."

Liu Bang laughed: "Since you're such a capable commander, how did you manage to be captured by me?"

Han Xin: Your Majesty is not good at directly leading troops, but you are good at managing generals, which is why I was won over by you. Moreover, your abilities are a gift from heaven, something that ordinary people cannot achieve through hard work.