Chapter 358 Imperial Sword

Li Nuo stared at Fenghuang in a daze, as if it was the first day he met her.

It can be said that most officials in the court, including Li Nuo, do not have as comprehensive and profound understanding of the situation on the mainland as she does.

Li Nuo couldn't help but ask: "How did Qi influence the decisions of the courts of other countries?"

Fenghuang looked at Li Nuo, then at An Ning, and asked, "Have you ever heard of the Qingluan Society?"

Li Nuo had never heard of these three words before. He shook his head and asked, "What is this?"

An Ning's eyes flashed with memories, and she said, "When I was in the Ministry of Justice, I heard them say that the Qingluan Society was a secret spy organization of Qi State. It was very mysterious and much more powerful than the Mingjing Division of Daxia..."

Fenghuang nodded and said, "Although every country has spies, Qi's spy capabilities are recognized as the best among all countries. When Qi was founded, the Qingluan Society was already established and has continued to this day. Over the past few hundred years, no one knows how many countries they have infiltrated..."

Li Nuo looked at Fenghuang and asked in confusion: "How did you know all this?"

Phoenix seemed to have recalled some memories. She lowered her head with a lost look on her face and said, "Nightingale and I grew up in Qi. We were still young at that time. When we served tea to the guests at the music hall, we often heard them bragging about how powerful Qi was. We also heard about the Qingluan Society..."

An Ning held Fenghuang's hand and said comfortingly: "What happened in the past is all in the past..."

In order to get Fenghuang out of her memories, she looked at Li Nuo and changed the subject, "Sister Fenghuang is right. Although Qi is not the strongest among all the countries, its intelligence capabilities are unmatched. In history, some confidential intelligence of Daxia was often obtained by them in advance. The court still doesn't know how they did it..."

Fenghuang said slowly: "I heard from them that the Qi court secretly raised some powerful diplomats to control the thoughts of ministers from other countries. Not only that, they also trained many beautiful female spies to marry with the noble families or officials of various countries. Some female spies can even lurk in various countries for decades, and their descendants hold high positions in the courts of various countries..."

No wonder Qi’s intelligence capabilities were so strong. Li Nuo found the way they planted spies terrifying.

The ability of a strategist is hard to guard against.

A female spy who had been lurking in the homes of aristocratic families and officials for decades - is she still a spy? Isn't she the ancestor of the family?

By that time, they would not need to actively steal intelligence. Their descendants would be the backbone of various families and the core officials of the courts of various countries. Who would suspect that their old mother was a spy for another country?

Take the Song family as an example. If anyone dares to say that Old Madam Song is a spy from a certain country, the Song brothers will tear him apart.

My father-in-law is the Minister of Personnel, and my uncle is a general in the army. A few seemingly unintentional words at the family dinner may contain some secrets of the court.

If such a spy were to infiltrate the military, and once the two countries went to war, the other side would be able to obtain intelligence in advance. How could the war be fought?

Fenghuang's words did give Li Nuo a sense of urgency.

He cannot be satisfied with the fifth level of cultivation. Once troubled times come, even if he is in the sixth level, he will not be able to remain immune.

The long-standing peace on the continent is already in jeopardy, and he does not have more time to prepare slowly.

In the afternoon, in the Secretariat, the Left Prime Minister met Li Nuo again.

He finished reading the tax reform plan submitted by Li Nuo. Although this plan did not affect the interests of several major families, it limited the upper limit of land that Daxia officials could own tax-free.

On the surface, the restrictions were on officials, but in reality they were on gentry and landlords.

Their power is not as great as that of the aristocratic families. They usually register a large amount of land under their names under the names of officials and distribute part of the profits to the officials to ensure their own interests.

The court had done the same thing before, but failed. The left prime minister said: "In this way, these local officials will create all kinds of heavy taxes and levies, and the huge tax burden will eventually fall on the people..."

Li Nuo said: "Then unify the tax system and prohibit local governments from establishing new taxes."

The left prime minister shook his head and said, "It's useless. They will use various excuses to transfer the gap to the people in disguised form. Even the imperial inspectors sent by the court have been murdered by them in various ways..."

Li Nuo said: "This time, I will be the inspector."

The left prime minister looked at him, and Li Nuo asked, "Is there anything that can allow the inspecting censors to handle cases without going through the Dali Temple for review, and execute first and report later?"

Zuo Xiang's eyelids twitched, and he asked in astonishment: "What do you want to do?"

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.

Phoenix's suggestion is a good one.

Either collect money or collect heads.

The cultivation of Confucianism and Legalism must be improved.

The left prime minister looked at Li Nuo and finally said, "The Imperial Sword can only be bestowed by His Majesty. The three ministries do not have the power to let you execute first and report later. However, you can go and ask your father..."

Li Nuo was surprised and asked, "Does my father have this power?"

The left prime minister said calmly: "If your father goes to ask His Majesty for it, His Majesty might give it to you..."

After leaving the Secretariat, Li Nuo went to the Dali Temple again.

When walking out of the Dali Temple, Li Nuo felt a little emotional.

If it were in Zhao State, there would be no need to trouble others for such matters.

The Imperial Sword is still necessary, otherwise it will be difficult to achieve the deterrent effect.

It would be best if those people were willing to cooperate. After all, he was not a bloodthirsty person.

The next morning, after Li Nuo got up and was having breakfast with them, Butler Wu came in from outside, holding a golden sword in his arms. He handed it to Li Nuo and said, "Master, this was sent by the master..."

Li Nuo took the sword. The scabbard and hilt of the sword were made entirely of gold. On the scabbard, there was a dragon pattern carved, and it was obvious that it came from the royal family.

More importantly, there is a strange aura entwined with this sword.

Just feeling this breath makes people have the urge to worship.

An Ning glanced at the sword in Li Nuo's hand and asked in surprise: "Is this... the Imperial Sword?"

Li Nuo went to see his father yesterday. This sword should be the one he asked for from His Majesty.

An Ning, the princess of Daxia, was somewhat shocked after learning about this. She murmured, "My father has never bestowed the Imperial Sword on anyone before..."

She knew very well that even with her status, her father would not give her such an important thing.

Whether it's the golden medal of immunity from death, the imperial sword, or the Mingjing Division that is above the law, my father's favor to my father-in-law has reached an incredible level.

With the Imperial Sword in his hand, Li Nuo had nothing to worry about.

Not long after, the three provinces issued two consecutive decrees, which caused widespread discussion in Chang'an.

The first one is about tax reform.

Over the years, the imperial court has tried many times to carry out tax reforms, but each time, it was just a lot of noise but little results, and it didn't make much of a splash, so it had to be abolished before long.

This tax reform is nothing more than a rehash of old issues.

Canceling all miscellaneous taxes and limiting the upper limit of tax-free land for officials may be possible in the capital, but it is simply impossible to achieve at the local level and will probably end in an embarrassing situation.

The second decree was about the imperial examination.

This incident is very shocking.

Next spring, the imperial court will hold another imperial examination.

This makes many people puzzled. The imperial examination has always been held every four years. If there are many vacancies of officials in a certain period, more Jinshi will be admitted in the current imperial examination.

The imperial court had held imperial examinations for two consecutive years, and admitted a total of 300 people. In the previous imperial examinations, not so many Jinshi were admitted in 20 years, because the vacancies of officials caused by the Rebellion of the Two Kings had been resolved, and even some new Jinshi were still not appointed.

Under such circumstances, there is no need to hold the imperial examination again.

The strangest thing is that no news had been leaked before this.

Even the officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel did not hear any news.

After inquiring, they found out that this matter seemed to be proposed by Li Nuo, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice and the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, and directly agreed to by the Left Prime Minister without being discussed in the Secretariat.

This is even more strange. To prepare for the imperial examination, the court has to invest both manpower and financial resources. This is not a wise move when there is no shortage of officials.

This doesn't seem like something a top scorer in six subjects would do.

But soon, news of an appointment came from the Ministry of Personnel.

Li Nuo, who was already the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice and the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, was appointed as the Inspecting Censor.

The censors supervised all officials, whether they were court officials in Chang'an or local officials, all were under their supervision.

Among them, the duty of the inspecting censors is to inspect local areas and monitor the dereliction of duty or illegality of local officials.

However, the inspecting censors only have the power of supervision, not the power of disposal. They can wait until they return to Chang'an to exercise the power of impeachment. The specific disposal will depend on the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple.

But soon, another piece of news came out from the palace.

Li Xuanjing from the Dali Temple asked Your Majesty for an imperial sword yesterday.

The Imperial Sword is something more terrifying than the golden medal of immunity from death.

The golden medal of immunity from death can only exempt one from punishment after committing a capital crime, but the imperial sword can legally kill people. For officials below the third rank, as long as there is a reasonable reason, they can be executed first and reported later.

Since the founding of Daxia, the number of ministers who have been granted the Imperial Sword can be counted on one hand.

Li Xuanjing is the Minister of Dali Temple and is also in charge of the Mingjing Division. He can kill anyone he wants, and he has no use for things like the Imperial Sword.

Then who is this imperial sword for?

The answer is self-evident.

His son was an Inspector-General. Being an Inspector-General alone was nothing special, but being an Inspector-General equipped with the Imperial Sword was a different matter.

The highest rank of the provincial governors in Daxia was no more than fourth rank.

As an inspector and wielding the imperial sword, he could kill people in the county and state governments.

Your Majesty, please give us such an important and powerful weapon.

Many people even doubted whether Li Xuanjing had saved His Majesty's life.

But right now, this matter is not important.

What’s important is that by connecting these things together, they found that these seemingly unrelated things are actually closely connected.

The imperial court did not allow local officials to help gentry evade taxes, and legislated to check their land. Li Nuo was appointed as an inspector and was granted the imperial sword. At the same time, the imperial court suddenly added an imperial examination...

When you think about it, it's extremely terrifying.

Does this mean that anyone who dares to disobey the imperial order this time will be beheaded by him with the imperial sword?

The imperial examination that will be added next year is a preparation for the large number of official vacancies that will arise soon.

There can't be so many coincidences. The intention of this series of actions by the court is already very clear.

For a time, rumors and suspicions spread everywhere in Chang'an.

The students from all the major academies have become so excited that they cannot extricate themselves.

The imperial examination was held every year for three consecutive years, which was naturally a great thing for the students.

Three hundred Jinshi were admitted in two years. Those powerful opponents have already successfully passed the exam. Their competition will definitely be much smaller in next year's imperial examination.

Under normal circumstances, the imperial examination was held every four years, and it was impossible for them to pass.

The court gave them three chances.

They not only hoped that the rumors were true, but also hoped that Li Nuo could kill more officials to make room for them, so that more Jinshi would be admitted.

The court officials with relevant interests have already sent out messages, asking the families to make preparations early.

Yuyin Pavilion.

The old woman looked at Fenghuang, frowned slightly, and asked, "Is what they said true? Is the Great Xia court really going to take action against local officials?"

Fenghuang took a sip of tea and said, "It's true. If those local officials haven't dealt with these matters by the time he inspects the places, they will be dismissed at best, or even lose their lives..."

The old woman said in a deep voice: "It seems that we need to let them prepare early, return the excess land as soon as possible, and cut off ties with those people."

Fortunately, Fenghuang has successfully infiltrated the Li family.

The secret spy that Da Qi cultivated with great difficulty has not yet played any role and cannot die under the imperial sword.

After saying that, she looked at another figure in the room and asked, "Yuanyang, what about you? Haven't you captured the young master of the Song family yet?"

Yuanyang sighed and said, "Mr. Song is willing to marry me, and he promised to marry only me in this life, but his father disagrees..."

The old woman pondered for a moment, a hint of murderous intent appeared in her eyes, and she whispered: "If he died, no one would stop him, right?"

Fenghuang glanced at her and said calmly, "I advise you not to do this. Don't forget what my husband does. Lord Song is his relative. If he finds out, not only will Yuanyang fail, but Yuyin Pavilion may also be implicated by you..."

The murderous intent in the old woman's eyes gradually dissipated. Fenghuang was right. Li Xuanjing's son was very good at solving cases. It was not worth taking the risk of Yuyin Pavilion for a child who was not a direct descendant of the Song family.

She looked at Yuanyang and said, "Think of a way yourself. Although the Song family is not as good as the Li family, it is not easy to seduce a military family's son. It may be of great use in the future. If it doesn't work, change your target as soon as possible..."

As if she had thought of something, she looked at Fenghuang again, curled her lips, and said, "Your husband? Don't forget, you are a member of Da Qi first, and then the wife of the Li family. Don't try to do anything irrational. If Li Xuanjing knew your purpose of approaching his son, you know what the consequences would be..."

Fenghuang's hand holding the teacup trembled, and then she said calmly: "I know, you don't need to remind me."

The old woman didn't say much, and said, "It's good that you know. Next time if you have any important information, please report it in time..."

After the old woman left, Yuanyang stood in the room and sighed softly.

Fenghuang walked up to her and asked, "Why, you don't want to marry Song Yu?"

Yuanyang sighed and said, "Mr. Song is very good to me. I am willing to marry him, but I don't want to lie to him..."

Phoenix looked at her and asked, "Do you like him?"

Yuanyang was silent for a moment, nodded slightly, and said: "He is different from others. He is the only one who is sincere to me. But if he knew that I approached him with other purposes..."

Phoenix fell silent after hearing this.

Yuanyang's worries are also her worries...

After a long time, she stretched out her arms, gently hugged Yuanyang, and comforted him: "If you like him, don't worry about other things, live in the present, who knows what will happen in the future..."

(End of this chapter)