Zhou Shuren had great ambitions. He just wanted to stay in the Hanlin Academy. As a result, he wanted to curse after hearing this!

Not only the three people in the YijiaFirst-class Jinshi, top-tier exam graduates were stunned, but even the people in the Jinshi ChushenJinshi-degree holders, selected for official positions andTong Jinshi ChushenSecond-tier Jinshi-degree holders, eligible for lower official positions were dumbfounded. They were also directly appointed as officials?

Let alone Zhou Shuren and others. This bomb was dropped and exploded in the court. Except for a few confidants of the Emperor who had already known the content of the imperial edict, the rest of the officials were in a daze.

The Emperor looked at the reactions in the court with interest and had the leisure to signal the Crown Prince standing aside to take a good look at the reactions of the ministers below.

The Crown Prince, “.”

He was also blown away, okay? He knew that his father was going to do something big, but he didn’t expect it to be so big. However, looking at the ministers of various forces below who were caught off guard and looked stiff, well, he also felt pretty good.

Zhou Shuren thought to himself, in the historical dynasties he had studied, including the two imaginary dynasties, it must be said that the Emperor of this dynasty was cruel, thick-skinned, had a low bottom line, and was good at scheming people’s hearts. Now he had added another amazing method.

Today, the Emperor issued four imperial decrees in one go. The first decree officially ordered the construction of Pinggang and the establishment of the Haiwu SiMaritime Affairs Bureau. A new position, Haiwu DachenMinister of Maritime Affairs, was created as a Zheng SanpinThird-rank official official. Additionally, two Zuoyou XietongDeputy Ministers positions were established at the Cong SanpinDeputy third-rank official rank, along with several other official posts, with the lowest-ranking position being TongbanAssistant official, an BapinEighth-rank official.

The second imperial decree established the Haiwu Jianguan SiMaritime Supervision Bureau. The position of Jianguan DachenMinister of Maritime Supervision was set at Zheng SanpinThird-rank official, and the ranks of other officials remained the same as those in the Haiwu SiMaritime Affairs Bureau.

The third imperial edict was an appointment. The officials for the two newly established departments were all officials transferred back from various states.

Zhou Shuren lowered his head and glanced at the confused ministers on both sides. The Emperor was very capable. The new dynasty was established not long ago, and the various forces were complicated and intricate. They were constantly fighting overtly and covertly, and were constantly testing the Emperor’s bottom line to seek greater power.

Among these forces, the ones with the biggest conflicts were the Yue family who followed the Emperor in the rebellion the earliest. In addition, they all had princes. As the princes grew up and entered the court, the conflicts became more intense.

At the beginning of this year, the Emperor announced that he would build Pinggang, which successfully attracted everyone’s attention. To gain benefits and compete for the throne, money was needed. The more you competed, the more you would be exposed. Very good, three imperial edicts swept all the snobbery of several major forces in various states and cities to Pinggang.

The two major departments had always kept each other in check, and with people from various factions mixed in, the Emperor did not have to worry about them colluding to amass wealth. Instead, they would restrain one another and weaken the major forces. Moreover, Pinggang was within the defense range of the Shoujun Shoubei garrison, which was ideal. No matter how fierce the power struggles became, there was no need to fear unexpected trouble. Everything remained firmly in the Emperor’s grasp, and eliminating them would be effortless.

The last imperial edict sent out several Jinshi who had not been won over by the court forces to take over the power. Those who had no foundation could only rely on the Emperor, and those who had a foundation were probably sent to check and balance. As for those who had no foundation and relied on the Emperor and played themselves to death, it could only be said that you were not capable. Anyway, the imperial examination was held every three years, and there were many people to fill it.

If you were sent out without any foundation, you were risking your life for a future even if you relied on the Emperor.

Zhou Shuren wanted to curse. No wonder there were only eighty people in this session. They were all people he thought were scheming. He was puzzled after seeing it. After carefully reading the list, he confirmed that none of the pure scholars he favored were on the list!

He had to admit that the Emperor had trapped everyone with these tricks. It was amazing. He admired him. This was the overall view.

Zhou Shuren was speechless. The Emperor had really put in a lot of effort in selecting officials, but—damn it! No matter what, aYijia JinshiFirst-class Jinshi, top-tier exam graduate should have been kept in the capital! Why was he being sent away too? Even though he was granted the position of Zhizhou starting asCong WupinDeputy fifth-rank official, he still would have preferred to stay in the capital and work at Hanlin Academy!

Recalling that he seemed to be the highest-ranking official among those sent out. Bah, the official position was high, but the place he went to was also the poorest place! Now Lizhou City was still selling children and daughters as they had no food!

The entire Lizhou City was the poorest place, okay. No one in the government office had money saved. It was almost time for spring planting, and the entire city was worried about seeds. His intuition told him that if he did a good job, he would be promoted quickly, but if he didn’t do a good job, his head would be in danger. The victims would riot if they were hungry!

A Cong WupinDeputy fifth-rank official wasn’t even as powerful as a ZhixianCounty magistrate, a lower-ranking official (6th or 7th rank) in Jiangnan!

Zhou Shuren truly envied Wu Ming. As expected, Wu Ming had fallen out of the Emperor’s favor, but the place he was sent to was great—he was appointed as a ZhixianCounty magistrate, a lower-ranking official (6th or 7th rank) in Hong County of Shuangzhou City! Although Shuangzhou City was further north than Pingzhou City and close to the border, its surrounding land was fertile, and it was rich in fur production. Many merchants traveled through the area—three words: there’s money!

Zhou Shuren looked at Wu Ming, the first ZhuangyuanTop scorer in the imperial examination to be sent abroad this year, a Zhuangyuan with a low official position, and a Zhuangyuan who was exiled to the frontier. This kid was very calm. Bah, there was nothing to compare. He was also exiled to the frontier, the first BangyanSecond-place scorer in the imperial examination to be sent abroad, and the conditions were the most difficult.

Zhou Shuren had memorized the maps of this dynasty. Although the maps on the market were approximate, he could also know where the products were abundant based on modern knowledge. He could directly judge the rich and the poor. Well, his was the poorest.

How handsome the TanhuaThird-place scorer in the imperial examination was, but now he had a bitter face. This one was also miserable. They all came for the Hanlin Academy, but in the end, they all left the capital.

The Emperor, Zhang Yu didn’t pay much attention to how the ministers turned into dead faces. He had expected that it was meaningless to look at them. He paid more attention to the top-ranking scholars in this session. He was not a person who followed the rules. He was not one to follow conventions; all that talk about “not entering the Hanlin Academy, not entering the Cabinet” was nonsense to him.

He valued ability. After learning from the lessons of previous terms, he still preferred pragmatic officials. Those who had never gone out to investigate wrote memorials filled with useless nonsense. Every time he read them, he had to recite the Heart Sutra to calm himself down; otherwise, he feared he wouldn’t be able to restrain the sword in his hand. He endured it with great effort. The fact that these ministers were still alive and writing nonsense was thanks to him having been Emperor for a long time—his temper had improved quite a bit. Otherwise—hehe!

Zhang Yu narrowed his eyes. He achieved three goals at once. In the end, he not only consolidated power, but also trained the first batch of hard-working officials. If the good environment he painstakingly planned did not work well, he would be angry.

Emperor Zhang Yu looked at the three people in the Yijia with great interest. The Zhuangyuan, well, he wrote a sharp essay, but he regretted it so much that his intestines turned green. It would be better not to mention him. The Tanhua, his ability was not particularly outstanding, but his family background was outstanding. He was perfect to be sent to Jiangnan to check and balance. There were not many only sons in the family now, and he would be protected with all his life!

In addition, he looked good, so he deserved to be the Tanhua!

As for the Bangyan, he had detailed information, all the information from Pingzhou to the capital!

(End of this chapter)

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T/N Yes, at last he is on the scene!! The Emperor. My favorite character after the ML and FL. And how funny is this chapter!!!