Chapter 837 A Dream of Youth 369

The young man smiled. As expected, Mr. Wen's prediction was accurate, but that wasn't enough.

“Commander Chen, you are the most prestigious, and you should take the lead in this matter, so... you have to show some sincerity.”

Sincerity is Wang Yuan's life.

Chen Xin picked up his sword with trembling hands, and then walked step by step toward Wang Yuan's tent. The guards who usually stood guard at the tent entrance were all drunk, clutching wine jars.

There was no sound from inside the tent. In the extremely quiet environment, the only sound was the crackling of the candlelight. Sitting inside was Mr. Wen, Wang Yuan's strategist, and kneeling on the ground was a trembling, scantily clad woman.

As the lamplight flickered, crimson blood stained a corner of the tent, and the woman trembled even more violently.

"Commander Chen is indeed courageous." He's just not tough enough; he needs to be pushed.

But it was precisely because he wasn't tough enough that so many people in the army respected him, because Chen Xin treated his subordinates well.

"Why?" Wasn't he Wang Yuan's strategist?

Mr. Wen stroked his beard and said with a smile, "He is not my master."

He would only be loyal to the lord he recognized, but Wang Yuan was too cruel and incompetent, though he was skilled at burning, killing, and looting. He had to cut his losses.

As for joining the rebels, that wasn't his intention; he simply needed a bargaining chip.

Chen Xin killed his superior and led his troops to join the rebel army. This made the rebel army even stronger, and they quickly occupied most of eastern Sichuan, with their numbers rapidly expanding to over 100,000.

Meanwhile, military reports of Chen Xin's rebellion quickly reached the capital. Some ministers suggested that the wives and children of Chen Xin and the soldiers who had defected to the rebel army be executed as a warning!

Yan Xi twitched the corner of her mouth. Did she look that cruel?

However, the minister who made the suggestion was quickly criticized.

"If we execute all the wives and children of the soldiers who defect to the rebel army, they will have no worries about their families. This will also enrage them. When will the rebel army in Sichuan be completely wiped out? I'm afraid their power will only grow stronger!"

The two quickly started hurling insults at each other—no, they started arguing. Before long, several other ministers joined the debate.

Yan Xi waited quite a while before stopping the debate, then asked if there were any other solutions, leaning towards appeasement.

Then a minister, following Yan Xi's wishes, suggested a solution: gather the families of these soldiers together, send people to persuade them to return, and pardon their crimes if they do.

This can also help to break up the mutinous army.

Yan Xi nodded, then asked the Empress Dowager who was ruling from behind the curtain. Seeing that the Empress Dowager also agreed, he issued the decree.

Having just finished discussing the unrest in Sichuan, a minister then submitted a memorial mentioning the current imperial examination controversy.

Since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, whether it was the appointment of court officials or the selection of scholars through the imperial examinations, the majority of officials were from the north. Moreover, there was an ancestral instruction that no southerner should be appointed as prime minister.

If it were just one person from the North, then there would be no dispute about the number of candidates selected through the imperial examinations, and those candidates wouldn't be able to cause any trouble.

As time went on, the number of officials from the south in the court increased, but there was still no prime minister from the south, although there were deputy prime ministers.

The current deputy prime minister in the imperial court is a southerner.

Xie Wangzhi listened as the ministers, who had been discussing the issue of the number of officials to be selected, started arguing after only a few sentences, and sighed silently.

He is from the south and is now a rising star in the court, enjoying the emperor's favor. Recently, many scholars have sought an audience with him, hoping he would speak on their behalf.

But this is far more than just a simple North-South conflict.

This involves factional strife. Previously, the court was dominated by the new faction. Now that Yan Xi has ascended the throne, although she has expressed her support for the new laws, the Empress Dowager and a group of old officials oppose them. Not to mention, the new faction itself has already fallen apart.

This is the result of not having a strong leader.

Xie Wangzhi thought of the letter that Master Shi left him before he passed away, which was full of expectations for him.

"Lord Xie, what are your thoughts on this matter?" The speaker was Prime Minister Xia, who had returned from Luoyang to assume his post as prime minister and was also a northerner.

In an instant, everyone looked over.

"...Since the chaos in the Northern Jin Dynasty last year, the court has lost many talented people, and there are vacancies in official positions in various places. Your humble servant believes that the Ministry of Rites should divide the candidates who have come to the capital for the imperial examinations into lists from the north and south, and then select officials according to their regions... This can quell the chaos among the candidates and prevent the people from complaining anymore."

Yan Xi nodded and said slowly, "That's right. This will not only calm the situation but also solve the court's personnel problem."

The problem of redundant officials and staff in the Great Zhou Dynasty remains serious, but this does not contradict the fact that the court has difficulty in employing people, or rather, that there are few people available.

The difficulty in employing people stems from a shortage of capable individuals, not from an abundance of officials.