I am a director in Ark. If I am not banned, I will be considered successful.

At this moment, the surging imperial power and the immortal aura were condensed in the same person - and this was the effect Chen Qi wanted to achieve. Emperor Jiajing was a man who made all the ministers at that time believe that he was a "god who had everything under control", and only then was he an emperor.

The indifference and calmness like a giant beast and the supreme authority that a king should have constitute such an emperor. From the moment he appeared on the stage, this emperor was enough to make all the ministers fear him from the bottom of their hearts and want to serve him with the same care as they would serve a god.

You exist because he allows you to exist, and if one day he feels that you are useless, you will never know why you fell until you die.

"Old Yan Ge."

"I'm here." Wei Yanwu's words made Yan Song, played by the Rat King, who had nothing to do with the matter a second ago, suddenly become as honest as a domestic hamster.

"Yan Shifan said that Zhou Yunyi, who slandered the court, had a backer, and this backer is in your cabinet. Tell me, who is Zhou Yunyi's backer?"

"Your Majesty, there is no backer of Zhou Yunyi here." Facing Wei Yanwu's question, Yan Song, played by the Rat King, showed a much more sophisticated mind than his own children at this moment, suppressing all previous disputes. As the chief minister of the cabinet, everything he said to the emperor represented the cabinet's answer.

"Then why does Zhou Yunyi know so much about the court's expenditure last year?" Wei Yanwu asked again. At this time, the Rat King gave the simplest answer in the most calm tone, saying:

"The court has no private accounts. All disaster relief funds are allocated by imperial decree. This shows that the Ministry of Works uses open accounts."

"Great, great... What a cunning old fox."

The Great Yan Emperor laughed out of anger. After a cold snort, he couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Everything has become a clear account. All the doubts discussed earlier have been suppressed. Their suspicion of corruption has been cleared, and they are not afraid of being checked... This is more convincing than arguing a thousand or ten thousand times."

As expected, after hearing this, Wei Yanwu quietly covered up the matter. Faced with an account that could not be found out even if someone was sent to investigate, there was no point in investigating it in detail.

"——Don't look at your father like that." Wei Yanwu asked everyone to stand up and walked casually on the dragon throne, but he still maintained the dignity of an emperor. After noticing Lin Yuxia's look at the Rat King, Wei Yanwu immediately gave her a hint: "You must learn well."

Yan Song is old, and the person who will take over Yan Song and lead the Yan Party in the future must be Yan Shifan. Jiajing himself still needs a "black glove", so he naturally hopes that Yan Shifan, who is still young and cunning, can learn more from his father's shrewdness and not always make such a big fuss.

Now, Qingliu was speechless after being confronted by Yan Shifan, and the arrogance of Yan's party was also dissipated after being beaten by Wei Yanwu. Then Wei Yanwu began to show his way of controlling people:

"What I just read was a poem about Taoism left by 'Jie', one of the fragments of 'Sui'. My favorite is the last line, 'The clouds are in the blue sky and the water is in the bottle'."

"Some of you are clouds, some are water, you just do different things - you are all loyal officials, there is no treacherous official."

In one sentence, all the previous quarrels between the Qingliu and the Yan Party immediately became nothing. However, it also quietly showed Jiajing's attitude. What he needed was a minister who was loyal to him. As long as they worked for him and could do it, they were all loyal ministers.

As for who is a good person and who is a bad person, it is not important to Jiajing. All he wants is the result.

"An emperor who only wants capable ministers but doesn't care who are good ministers or treacherous ministers... Is this really good for Dayan?"

Now, with just one sentence, she understood the Emperor Jiajing played by Wei Yanwu. After muttering to herself, Amiya bit her lower lip slightly. For the first time, she felt so directly that in the prosperous Great Yan, which was called "paradise on earth", the court in the Terra continent was not as good as she imagined...

It is even darker and more unpredictable. The muddy water in the Great Yan court is probably deeper than that of any other country.

Chapter 276: Is Jiajing a tyrant? The promotion plan of the Great Yan Emperor

Emperor Jiajing, played by Wei Yanwu, left a deep impression on everyone from the moment he appeared on the stage. It's not that no one has played the role of emperor in Dayan, but they don't dare to film the court of Dayan directly like Chen Qi does. They don't have such power, let alone to film inside the palace like Chen Qi does.

Most of those crews only filmed the Great Yan Dynasty several dynasties ago, and they didn't even have the courage to use history to satirize the present. When Chen Qi watched those dramas, he felt like he was watching "Emperor Qianlong's Trip to the South of the Yangtze River". They didn't dare to talk about government affairs and the harem, and few of them understood.

The characteristic of the "emperors" in these dramas is that they want to have the words "I am the emperor" written on their faces. They either wear yellow clothes, gold and jade, or go out to inspect the people's conditions and name themselves "Huang San" or something like that.

However, there is no such setting for the Emperor Jiajing played by Wei Yanwu. He does not even wear a dragon robe or silk. He is just a blue Taoist robe. But when he sits there, the aura of an emperor is immediately apparent.

He also had a "sense of mystery" that many emperors did not have. He did not attend court for 20 years, but he was still well-informed about all the affairs in and outside the court. He wore thin clothes in winter and cotton clothes in summer. In line with his desire to become a "god", such a unique behavior made him look like a "god" and worthy of awe in the eyes of all officials.

Nothing in this world can be hidden from him. The life and death of all the ministers who seem to have unlimited glory is just in his mind.

After Wei Yanwu appeared on the stage, the Yan Party and the Qingliu, who were originally arguing fiercely, also restrained themselves. Zhang Juzheng, played by Wen Yue, put forward the first proposal for this year's budget at this time, which was to ensure the smooth flow of trade on Da Yan's trade routes.

"Our Great Yan has always had frequent trade. Among them, tea, silk, porcelain and other products that are much loved by other countries are mostly produced in Jiangnan. However, due to various reasons such as climate, only Jiangnan can produce these goods."

"However, due to the great disaster of 'Sui' that year, our Great Yan's national defense was severely damaged. Jiangnan was less affected by 'Sui', but after our Great Yan suffered this disaster, Haisi invaded the East Country, and the Deep Sea Church infiltrated it and joined forces with Haisi to frequently harass Jiangnan, causing unrest in Jiangnan and hindering commercial transportation."

"I am in the Ministry of War, and I am also looking at it from the perspective of the Ministry of War. I think it seems that we should increase the military pay for the Jiangnan region, let Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou recruit troops, build battlefields, and then take the initiative to attack and wipe out the Deep Sea Church of the East Country, so as to ensure the safety of our Great Yanjiangnan and ensure the smooth flow of trade routes."

Zhang Juzheng, played by Wen Yue, said a lot in one breath and considered it very carefully. The proposal was nodded by the Emperor of Yan in the lounge. From his own perspective, he thought:

"Finally, we are talking about something serious. However, if the national treasury is empty, there is no way to increase the military pay. We must first fill the national treasury with money before we can destroy the Deep Sea Church."

On the screen, Yan Song, played by the Rat King, obviously noticed the key point of the matter immediately. Before Wen Yue finished speaking, he took over the topic and suggested to Wei Yanwu:

"Zhang Juzheng has discussed this matter with me. I think as long as we ensure that the coastal defense line in the south of the Yangtze River is intact and the trade in the rear is unimpeded, the next step is to discuss what to transport."

"For example, the silk mentioned by Zhang Juzheng, a piece of top-quality Gouwu silk can be sold for six taels of silver in the mainland, but if it is sold to the Victorian countries, it can be sold for more than ten taels of silver."

"Now, in the two mobile cities of Gou and Wu, Su City has 10,000 looms and Zhe City has 8,000. Can we increase the number of looms and produce more silk?"

"Of course." Upon hearing this, Wei Yanwu immediately knew that this was a very good suggestion for Da Yan, whose treasury was now empty. However, even so, Wei Yanwu did not agree outright, but asked the key to the problem:

"The key is silk. How can we increase the number of mulberry fields and produce more silk?"

Of course, Yan Song, played by the Rat King, had a corresponding strategy in mind. He immediately explained, "The silk from Suzhou City has always been supplied by Zhejiang City. It's because of the climate."

"According to the cabinet, half of the existing farmland in Zhejiang City should be converted into mulberry fields. This will produce more than 10 million taels of silk each year, and we will be able to weave an additional 200,000 bolts of silk."

"All the farmland has been turned into mulberry fields... What do the people of Zhejiang City eat?"

"Many agricultural and mobile cities in Da Yan have been severely damaged by the disaster. The food reserves are not much to begin with. We can't let the people of Zhejiang City starve to death, right?"

However, even though the Rat King gave a solution, Emperor Jiajing, played by Wei Yanwu, was not as "incompetent" as everyone thought. He did not make a decision on impulse, but instead asked another key question.

This is also because Emperor Da Yan, Kal'tsit and others are quite knowledgeable about people's livelihood, and of course they know how important farmland is to farmers.

Although mobile cities can move, they generally will not move at will unless they encounter a severe natural disaster. Because outside the mobile cities, there are a large number of towns and villages built on the chassis of the mobile cities. Except for a few mobile cities dedicated to agriculture, most mobile cities still have to rely on self-sufficiency for material reserves.

However, the Rat King still had his own solution, which was to transfer food from other wealthy mobile cities and plan the additional food according to the increase in the number of mulberry fields. But this response still did not satisfy Wei Yanwu, so he continued to ask:

"Food from other places is definitely more expensive than local food. Are the people of Zhejiang City willing to pay for it?"

"The silk produced by each acre of mulberry field is higher than the grain produced by each acre of farmland." The words of the Rat King also dispelled everyone's doubts. At this moment, Wei Yanwu issued another decree, saying:

"The converted mulberry fields are still taxed as farmland, and no tax increase is allowed."

"——No one is more wise and intelligent than the Emperor!" At this moment, Lin Yuxia also delivered her compliments very promptly, but this time the compliments did not seem so sharp when heard by everyone outside the screen.

Because the Emperor Jiajing played by Wei Yanwu just now did provide everyone with a very good solution. By replacing rice with mulberry trees to increase income and enrich the national treasury, it is possible to increase military pay and expand the army to destroy the Deep Sea Church in the East Country. Moreover, trade will continue, and the national treasury will be enriched little by little.

"Wait, is this really a tyrant? Why do I feel that the Jiajing Emperor played by Lao Wei...seems to be amazing when he does something?"

Chen Huijie was also a little confused at this moment, what kind of emperor the Jiajing Emperor was. Chen Qi said that Jiajing was a tyrant and had not attended court for more than 20 years. He was thought to be a tyrant who neglected state affairs and was obsessed with becoming a giant, and was sidelined by powerful ministers.

But now, from the moment Emperor Jiajing appeared on the scene, he was feared and respected by all the ministers. No minister dared to oppose any of the orders he announced, and every issue he mentioned could be said to be the most critical point for the people.

“He can not only grasp the imperial power, but also has a deep understanding of people’s livelihood... ruling by doing nothing?” Kal’tsit was also a little surprised. Even she had never seen a “tyrant” like Emperor Jiajing.

Kal'tsit had met many emperors, including holy monarchs like the Great Flame Dragon Emperor, martial monarchs who expanded the territory like the former Emperor of Ursus, and tyrants like the Sorcerer King of Lethania... They all have their own strengths and weaknesses, and each one is very complex, with flaws and advantages, but the foolish and incompetent monarchs are basically the same.

But a king like Jiajing, who had both talent and ability, although he was very lazy in handling government affairs and allowed his ministers to form cliques for personal gain, but was still able to control the government and govern the country...it seems that he should not be too close to being a tyrant.

"As a king, your selfish desires are a bit too strong, but if you can still control the government and work for the benefit of the people, you can still be a king who maintains the status quo."

As for the selfish desires of the emperors... To be honest, it is hard for Kal'tsit to comment on them. After all, the kings are also human beings. Even many wise and virtuous kings still rely on the national treasury to satisfy some selfish desires. After all, in their position, facing the wealth of the world, the magnificent palace, and the environment of fine clothes and delicious food, it is not uncommon for selfish desires to expand.

Generally speaking, as long as it does not cause loss of life and property, these things are rarely mentioned in history, and they will not be regarded as "incompetent rulers". Therefore, after some speculation, Kal'tsit also asked Chen Qi:

"Director Chen Qi, could it be that Emperor Jiajing's selfish desire to become a giant beast...will spread to endanger the entire Great Yan Dynasty in the future?"

"Well, you will know later." Chen Qi saw that this part of the filming was over, and he called for a stop. Then he turned his gaze to the Great Yan Emperor beside him and said with a smile:

"Your Majesty, I'll trouble you next. The first episode still needs some shots of Prince Yu and Concubine Li, which we will edit in after we finish filming."

"Yes, I understand." The Dayan Emperor also nodded. He actually played a role in the script, the next emperor after Emperor Jiajing, Emperor Longqing. Of course, he is still the Prince of Yu.

However, in comparison, it was not difficult for Emperor Dayan to remember some not-so-complicated lines. What Emperor Dayan could not understand even more was the actions of Emperor Jiajing in the play, which did not seem to be bad. So, why was he rated as a tyrant? What went wrong?

As the ruler of a country, the Great Yan Emperor couldn't help but put himself in the situation and think about it. However, even with the limited information he had, he couldn't judge a result, so he had to say to Chen Qi:

"Director Chen Qi, when will you give me the next script? Can we speed up the filming?"

"That won't work. We can't delay His Majesty the Emperor from handling official business, right?" Chen Qi shook his head and promptly informed the Great Yan Emperor that this was unrealistic. Then he remembered something and immediately handed another list to the Great Yan Emperor, saying:

"By the way, we are about to go to Gouwu to shoot the next scene. I still have a few officials in the play, but I don't have good candidates yet. It would be great if His Majesty the Emperor could help me pick out the right candidates."

"It's a small matter." The Great Yan Emperor nodded. Looking at the two characters "Zheng Michang and He Maocai" on the list, and Chen Qi's evaluation of the two as "cooperating well, although there are barriers but still working closely together", he couldn't help but think of the two officials of Shang Shu who got along quite closely.

Thinking this way, the Great Yan Emperor had already chosen a candidate. Then he thought of something else and said to Chen Qi:

"I have another thing to trouble you with. After this TV series is finished, show it to the officials first, and then show it to the people after the officials have finished watching it."

"This work, which the officials had previously been extremely opposed to, can now fully expose their ugly behavior... They have no choice but to watch it and take it as a warning."

Chapter 277: Da Yan official: Watching "Da Yan Dynasty" is more torturous than being tortured

A month later, in the West Garden of the Great Yan Palace, all the officials came to court again. They were not there to discuss matters, but to watch the video after receiving the order from the Great Yan Emperor.

The officials were not particularly confused by this, after all, their emperor was a hidden fan of Chen Qi, and everyone knew it. And although most of them opposed Chen Qi to film in the palace, it was only because it was against the rules, and... Chen Qi's record was indeed a bit too scary, and the officials were afraid that Chen Qi would film a TV series that would cause unrest in Da Yan.

But now, the emperor invited all the officials to come and appreciate the content of the first episode, which made all the officials feel relieved. After all, they also knew that their emperor had always been in the crew, which at least gave them a clear answer.

After all, if the content would anger even the emperor, it would definitely not be filmed, let alone broadcasted for the people to see. On the contrary, since the emperor allowed it to be broadcasted in front of them, the content should be relatively safe.

With this idea in mind, all the officials came to Xiyuan this time because they had nothing to do during the holiday, so they just gathered together to watch the "Royal Drama". After all, how could they not watch this work that involved a large number of officials and even the emperor himself?

If they cheered more, the emperor might be happy and it would become a paid show. Therefore, most of the officials came with a tacit understanding, and only a few officials refused on the grounds of being busy with their duties.

What those officials didn’t know was that by not showing up this time, they actually avoided a movie-watching experience that could be described as “the most embarrassing in life.”

Inside the Western Garden, hundreds of officials who were watching the finished product of the first episode of "The Great Yan Dynasty 1566" felt as if they were watching a movie with their parents and suddenly saw the extreme embarrassment of an exposed scene. Many officials trembled, lowered their heads, and their toes almost poked through their shoes. They dug a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment out of the ground and crawled into it.

They were careless! They thought that with His Majesty personally checking, there would definitely be no mistakes, but they never thought that their Emperor would actually take it seriously and film all the wasteful aspects of the Great Yan court!

Many of the problems exposed in the first episode are already very obvious: forming cliques for personal gain, corruption, powerful officials in power, confrontations among various factions... Each of these problems is a potential hidden danger in the current Dayan court. Although they are not exposed in the open, everyone is very clear whether they have engaged in such behavior in secret.

They were all people who had been in the officialdom of Dayan for many years, and they were all officials in the imperial city, so they were naturally as shrewd as human beings. Now that His Majesty the Emperor filmed such a drama and broadcast it to them, he was basically telling them that all of their affairs were actually under his eyes!

Sitting on the dragon throne nearby, the Emperor of Dayan also had a serious look on his face, and the Grand Tutor was staring at the big screen intently. The feeling of watching it outside the play was completely different, and the more he watched, the more serious the Grand Tutor's expression became.

Soon, in a dull atmosphere, the first episode was broadcast. The Great Yan Emperor cast his eyes on the officials, and after a long while, he asked calmly:

"I've watched the first episode. What do you think?"

"——Your Majesty, I am guilty."

However, as soon as the Great Yan Emperor finished speaking, the first person to kneel down was the Grand Commandant who had always been at odds with the Grand Tutor. After this respected old minister knelt down first, the trembling officials immediately fell off their chairs, knelt on the ground in a great ceremony, and said in unison:

"I am guilty!"

"...Everyone, get up." After the Great Yan Emperor and the Grand Tutor exchanged a glance, they both sensed a teasing expression in each other's eyes. The Great Yan Emperor immediately turned his gaze to the Grand Tutor and asked:

"Taiwei, tell me, where did your crime come from?"

"Your Majesty, I have always been at odds with the Grand Tutor. This is known to everyone in the court. Your Majesty is now filming the film "Da Yan Dynasty 1566", and the story takes place in the future of Da Yan, but the future of Da Yan is full of holes."

The fact that the Grand Commandant could reach this position shows that his achievements were no less than those of the Grand Tutor, and he was also a smart man who could understand things quickly. He took the initiative to express his opinion, and obviously thought that he understood the emperor's intention, and immediately said:

"Your Majesty wants to use the future of Great Yan in this TV series, as well as treacherous ministers such as Yan Song and Yan Shifan, to warn me and others not to engage in meaningless internal fighting and party struggles. We should do our best for Great Yan and let the people live and work in peace and contentment, and not let such absurd Great Yan scenes as shown in the TV series appear."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your guidance! This old minister will no longer indulge in the lost path of power!"

As the general spoke, he bowed deeply to the Great Yan Emperor again. However, the Great Yan Emperor did not rush to let the general stand up. Instead, he turned his gaze to the officials and asked abruptly:

"The commander has already made his statement. What about you? Don't you have anything to say?"

As expected, when the Great Yan Emperor said this, some officials who were still hoping for the best took the initiative to come forward and knelt down in shame, saying:

"Your Majesty's words make us ashamed. Please forgive me."

"I will go home now, write my resignation and hand it over to the Ministry of Personnel. I will start over again tomorrow and serve Your Majesty with all my abilities."

Should we say, fortunately, it is still a prosperous Great Yan? In the prosperous times, most of the officials of Great Yan still have a heart to serve the country, but they have been in the big dye vat of officialdom for too long, and it is inevitable that they have lost their original intentions. Now that the emperor has specially filmed a play to point it out, they are naturally extremely ashamed. One by one, they knelt on the ground, their heads were bleeding, and they still couldn't hide their tears and regret.

The reaction of the officials was somewhat beyond the expectations of Emperor Yan. He broadcast the first episode to everyone to give the ministers some ideas, but more importantly, he wanted to learn the Emperor Jiajing's skill in controlling people in the TV series.

After getting part of the script from Chen Qi, Emperor Dayan summarized Emperor Jiajing's skills in controlling people. There was one interesting point - Emperor Jiajing seldom spoke very clearly, and liked to hint to his ministers in some way, letting them figure out his intentions themselves.

There was a reason why Jiajing did not want to take the blame. If the ministers guessed wrong, it would not be his responsibility. However, this inspired the Great Yan Emperor, who felt that Jiajing's psychological tactics were very suitable for use in the game with these ministers.

Now, he knew that the effect was quite good, even a little too good. Facing the officials who were so ashamed under the combined punch that they wanted to resign and go home, the Great Yan Emperor thought for a while and said solemnly:

"On TV, Emperor Jiajing said, 'The clouds are in the sky, the water is in the bottle.' I don't like Emperor Jiajing's indulgence of the Yan Party and the Qingliu Party. I hope that my Great Yan court will only have one kind of loyal officials, that is, officials who are loyal to Great Yan."

"The ground has been stained with blood and needs to be cleaned by others. You will be demoted one level each and temporarily take over the duties of your current positions. This time next year, I will be waiting for you to come and clean the ground under your heads."

"——Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The ministers all understood the Emperor of Dayan's current intention. They would be demoted by one level temporarily and their behavior would be carefully observed over a year. If they did not make any more mistakes, they would be allowed to return to their original positions.

No matter what the crimes of these officials are, they will submit their crimes through memorials later. By then, the Great Yan Emperor, who is unclear about many details, will understand what tricks the ministers have done without telling him.

It seems... this drama is really quite useful. The Great Yan Emperor couldn't help but think so. After a brief glance with the Taifu beside him, he immediately spoke to Lao Li who was in charge of playing the show:

"Mr. Li, please show everyone the content of the second episode."

"understood."