"Your Majesty, I feel that the locust plague is not as serious as the human disaster..." Hu Hengqiu's voice gradually weakened and became inaudible.

The unspoken meaning is: they are not just coveting your emperor's wallet.

Eleven years after the emperor ascended the throne, the only department that has not been affected by various forces is the Secret Investigation Department, which was established after he ascended the throne. Now, I am afraid it is also in danger.

"Monarch and ministers rule the world together" is actually a change that resulted from the failure of monarchy and dictatorship to last long, in order to "long-lasting the country".

The so-called co-governance is the cooperation between the emperor and the aristocratic families based on certain interests.

However, it is difficult to achieve a balance in "co-governance", so there will be division and centralized competition and confrontation for imperial power.

Chen, the class of scholar-bureaucrats. Theoretically speaking, scholar-bureaucrats are a general term for traditional civil servants. They can be from poor families or from aristocratic families.

However, resources are often concentrated in the hands of aristocratic families. Therefore, important national official positions are often monopolized by a small number of nobles. The impact of an individual's background on his official career is far greater than his or her own talent and expertise.

If the emperor wants to achieve his ideals, he will inevitably find ways to gather imperial power. For example, Emperor Qingde set up a "Secret Investigation Department" to monitor officials from a "God's perspective."

But in order to ensure their own interests, the aristocratic family will inevitably place family members in every corner. Therefore, the officials are like nodes on a spider web, seemingly independent, but yet implicated in each other.

The emperor is a spider, but the web is not his.

If the imperial power is not strong enough, the spider is likely to get caught in someone else's web and be tied into a cocoon.

If the imperial power is too strong, the cobweb will inevitably break, which is something that a distinguished family cannot allow.

Now, the Secret Reconnaissance Department, which is independent from this cobweb, is like a small spark. It may burn out the cobweb, but it may also become a node in the web.

Both the emperor and Hu Hengqiu could sense that the Secret Reconnaissance Department was slowly becoming attached to the cobwebs.

"Hmph! They wish I could 'rule it from the ground up'!" said the emperor.

Hu Hengqiu kept his voice quiet and pretended not to hear.

We won’t answer this question!

Don't look at the emperor talking to himself. He may not have noticed you, but if you dare to make a noise to make him notice it, do you believe that you will be charged with eavesdropping on the king and speculating on the emperor's will?

This group of ministers wished that the emperor would "use both civil and military forces and rule from the top".

Anyway, the peace in the world is due to the hard work of these mainstays; if they have made almost all the money and the dynasty collapses, then it is because the emperor has failed to act and is a fool!

During the emperor's reign, why did the examination age for children's examinations be advanced to twelve years old? In fact, it was to train students from "poor families" in order to "break" the situation where aristocratic families "dominated" the court.

Emperor Qingde raised this age to ten years old and lowered the admission threshold for this purpose.

The reform of the examination system, the establishment of the Secret Investigation Department, the development of wasteland, the reform of the military retirement system, plus...Chu Qing, this is also the emperor forming his own network.

The emperor is now like a shareholder of a company. Although he is the largest one, his shares do not reach 51%. No, it should be said that the part he can control is not even 40%.

With each taking half, the emperor can still have most of the decision-making power, but in the current court, almost every decision he makes will be restricted.

However, we cannot lay off all employees and replace them with new personnel across the board, we can only try to do it gradually.

Reforming the examination system and lowering the entrance threshold is to cultivate a capable political force that is only loyal to itself.

Of course, "poor families" are not really poor families, but must be small landlords who can afford to read.

It's just that this step will take a long time to be effective.

The Secret Investigation Department was originally designed to eliminate rebel forces, but its real role is to monitor officials and, by extension, the movements of aristocratic families.

The purpose of developing wasteland is to return more land rights to the royal family. Otherwise, there really won’t be much royal land in the world.

Adjusting the retirement system is not only to make rational use of young men and ensure agricultural production, but also to continuously replace the army and reduce the chance of "empty pay".

On the emperor's game of chess, a "living chess piece" appeared - Chu Qing.

The existence of this person gave the emperor hope to speed up his "weaving web".

First of all, this person "doesn't hide anything". She directly handed over the drawings that others regarded as treasures to the court. Of course, she didn't have the ability to "hide anything", so it was very difficult to live.

This is also the main reason why the emperor is willing to train her.

The emperor wanted to support her and let her inventions and creations promote the development of the handicraft industry and promote economic improvement.

These developments and improvements are the part of Daxuan that "grows" on its original resources, and are the parts that the emperor can directly control.

Including Xiaobao's "Baoqing Technician Academy", why does the emperor not want Xiaobao's income now? It's not a problem whether he looks ugly or not. Even if it looks ugly, who dares to dissatisfy it?

What the emperor really valued was the talents cultivated by this school, which would be the basis for the selection of future officials in Daxuan.

In a country, a few people formulate policies, but it is the officials at the grassroots level who really do the actual work, and officials rely on officials to implement specific policies and tasks.

The power of the aristocratic family is deep-rooted, but the emperor can be the "root" of Chu Qing, cultivate Chu Qing to become stronger, and serve as his own "tip of the spear" to pierce the big network woven by the aristocratic family.

Of course, being Chu Qing's "root" yourself is equivalent to not letting Chu Qing take root. Then if one day you don't want this "living chess piece", you can just cut it off.

Now, if Chu Qing's prediction of the locust plague comes true, then...did man-made disasters also take the opportunity to be carried out?

"You said..." The emperor's question to Hu Hengqiu was interrupted by Eunuch Li's movements.

The emperor asked: "What's the matter?"

Eunuch Li just saw the little eunuch poking his head outside the door, so he motioned for him to step aside first.

When the emperor was deep in thought, Eunuch Li didn't dare to move for fear of disturbing him, but the little eunuch refused to leave outside and kept making gestures.

Eunuch Li's actions were a little bigger, and finally the emperor saw it.

"Come in and report!" Eunuch Li had no choice but to glare at the little eunuch and said in his heart: Little bastard, you'd better report something serious enough, otherwise I won't hit you!

The little eunuch received the threatening look from Manager Li and became even more trembling. He walked a few steps in and knelt down: "Go back, report back to the emperor. The Secret Intelligence Department has sent someone to deliver a message to Mr. Hu."

When Hu Hengqiu heard this, he quickly looked at the emperor. The emperor nodded, and the little eunuch hurriedly raised the letter over his head with both hands.

Eunuch Li took it and presented it to the emperor. The emperor raised his chin towards Hu Hengqiu and motioned for Hu Hengqiu to take a look.

Hu Hengqiu read the letter and immediately reported to the emperor: "Your Majesty, this is a letter from Chu Qing."

Eunuch Li took the young eunuch out of the door and waited. He also wiped a cold sweat. It had something to do with Chu Qing, so he wouldn't be blamed by the emperor. It was lucky for this kid to avoid getting beaten up!

The emperor received two letters, and Hu Hengqiu also received two letters. It seems that Chu Qing is in a hurry?


Chapter completed!