Chapter 34

The new emperor is finally going to hold his first court meeting since he ascended the throne.

　　The officials' thoughts were also different. Some of them were stubborn and conservative. They were worried that they had no chance to express their dissatisfaction to the emperor. After all, the emperor was living a life of debauchery in the harem and they were out of reach. But now the emperor was going to hold a meeting and needed them, so they naturally claimed to be sick or made excuses. More than half of them did not come to court.

　　There are die-hards, and naturally there are also opportunists and sycophants. These people don't care who the emperor marries, as long as they can get further promotion and wealth, they will certainly join in the fight.

　　But in the end, most officials were still in a wait-and-see state. Although most of them did not understand Li Que's behavior, they would not resist to the end. In the end, it still depended on what specific means Li Que would use to win over the hearts of the people and secure his throne.

　　…

　　Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Li Que, wearing a golden crown and dragon robe, looked at the large empty space at the bottom of the stairs with an unhappy look on his face and a frown on his face.

　　"Pass the order down. Since these beloved ministers who didn't come don't like attending court so much, I will show mercy and allow them to retire and return to their hometowns so that they can go back and enjoy a peaceful life." Li Que said in a deep voice.

　　As soon as these words came out, there was a commotion below the jade steps. The ministers whispered to each other for a while before an imperial censor stepped out and reported to Li Que fearfully, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Although these ministers have made mistakes, Your Majesty has only been on the throne for a short time and needs more people to work hard to govern the country. If these loyal ministers are missing, the court will be in trouble!"

　　"Yes, Your Majesty. Nowadays, there are many voices of criticism in the scholars because of Your Majesty's actions after ascending the throne. If you arbitrarily dismiss these ministers, I am afraid that the scholars of the world will be dissatisfied with Your Majesty!" Seeing that someone took the lead, a white-haired old man among the civil officials immediately stepped forward. Li Que took a glance and saw that the man was called Tang Gao, and he was one of the ministers who most strongly opposed Li Que's canonization of his biological mother as queen.

　　"Humph, what's the matter, Lord Tang, do you mean that the fault in this matter is ultimately mine?" Li Que said coldly.

　　The emperor showed signs of being angry, and everyone in the hall fell silent. However, the old man was really tough. Not only did he not give in, but he held his head high and said, "It would be best if Your Majesty could recognize your mistakes. You must know that as the emperor, you must rely on virtuous people to govern the country. If Your Majesty does not want to disappoint the scholars of the world, you should follow their advice. If the queen can give up her position and retire to the Cining Palace as the queen dowager..."

　　"That's enough!" Li Que was so angry when he saw that he was getting more and more excited. He punched the table and said, "Tang Gao, Tang Gao, I think you really think too highly of yourself. Do you think you can really represent the scholars of the world?"

　　"Although I am not very talented or well-educated, I still have some influence among the scholars in Daliang." Tang Gao said proudly.

　　"So what Lord Tang means is that even if I were to issue the 'Edict to Seek Talents' now, it would not win the ardent loyalty of talented people in the world?" Li Que stared at the old man for a while, and suddenly asked back.

　　The old man was stunned and didn't react to what Li Que was about to say.

　　"I hereby announce that from now on, I will recruit talented people from all over the world, breaking the usual restrictions on the grades of the imperial examinations. Talented people from all over the world, regardless of their family background and previous imperial examination grades, can take the exam. The examination items will be formulated by me and the university scholars for centralized consultation. The examination will be held in the early spring of next year. I order the Ministry of Personnel to take full responsibility and conduct it simultaneously in all counties and prefectures of Daliang. The best among them will come to the capital to be personally examined by me. What do you think of this move, my dear ministers?"

　　The officials present were all smart people, and they immediately understood Li Que's intention. Although the Liang Dynasty also had the imperial examination, the concept of family background was centralized, and the selection of talents was often controlled by prestigious local families or literati factions. If the emperor could personally intervene and organize a nationwide talent recruitment activity, it would definitely arouse great enthusiasm among the poor students. In this way, they would naturally stop criticizing Li Que's previous actions that were somewhat contrary to human ethics.

　　After all, these things are just the words of scholars. If the scholars who were cursing the emperor for incest the moment before really got the chance to be promoted, they would probably immediately say that these were insignificant "small virtues" and then praise the emperor for selecting talents and caring about the people. It has been a common problem of scholars since ancient times to be soft-hearted and not hard-hearted. If the superiors show a little humility, they can easily gain a good reputation.

　　At this time, many officials present praised Li Que's wisdom in their hearts. Just such a simple move could greatly redeem his bad reputation among scholars. Although this would still face the backlash of those wealthy and powerful families whose interests were affected, for Li Que, redeeming his reputation was more important at this time. This was a trade-off.

　　"Your Majesty, you should think twice about this. Our dynasty's original selection system is sufficient to provide talents for the court. Why should Your Majesty..." Although Gao Tang realized the brilliance of Li Que's move, he still subconsciously continued to dissuade him, but was immediately rudely interrupted by Li Que.

　　"My dear Minister Gao, I see that you are old and are no longer able to handle the affairs of the court. You should just retire and return home like your colleagues!" Li Que waved his hand impatiently.

　　After saying that, he no longer looked at Gao Tang, who had a look of reluctance, and continued to throw out more countermeasures that he and Chen Ying had worked out all night long over the past two days.

　　"Reduce the land tax, salt and wine tax for the people... exempt them from corvée service for three years..."

　　"A great reward to the soldiers..."

　　This series of measures, in the final analysis, benefited ordinary people, soldiers and other classes, because these people were most easily deceived by local forces. Ordinary people and soldiers would not care who you married as queen, as long as they lived well. Who would be willing to rebel if they got the benefits?

　　The officials in the palace were completely convinced. They realized that the new emperor Li Que was not just a licentious monarch. Maybe he was lustful, but he really knew how to maintain his rule. As a result, those who had been thinking about this before finally calmed down a little.

　　"In addition, I have prepared a list here. It was drawn up by me and the Grand Marshal after discussion to fill the vacancies of the ministers who have left. It will be submitted to the Ministry of Personnel for review. If there are no major problems, arrange it as soon as possible." Li Que calmly passed a list to the Minister of Personnel, and there were many people with the surname "Su" in key positions on this list. These were the candidates recommended by Su Yuexin to Li Que, and it was also a measure for Li Que to further strengthen his control over the court.

　　"Tsk tsk, Master Dong, our emperor dares to defy the will of the world. He is not only brave but also wise!" After the meeting, several officials surrounded Dong Xiuzhu and sighed. After this court meeting, Li Que managed to temporarily stabilize the court, and it seemed that if he continued to govern with his methods, public opinion would soon subside.

　　The speaker only sighed a few words, but the listener felt bad. In fact, Dong Xiuzhu came to the court today just to see how embarrassed Li Que was facing this vacant seat in the court, and to vent his resentment. But he didn't expect that Li Que's series of measures would stabilize the situation. He was timid by nature, and at this time he even had the thought of backing out.

　　But when he thought of his plump, beautiful wife, bending and enjoying herself in the lewd posture under the emperor's crotch, all his fears disappeared instantly, and his dignity as a man overwhelmed everything.

　　Stupid emperor, I, Dong Xiuzhu, will not let you do whatever you want! He thought angrily. At the same time, he knew that the plan he and Fu Feipeng had conspired to speed up. If they waited until Li Que had gained a firm foothold, it would be too late.