Gao Shilian's words came entirely from the bottom of his heart.

Although Gao Shilian also had his own selfish motives, they were nothing compared to those of Changsun Wuji.

Gao Shilian was mostly thinking about the Tang Dynasty and His Majesty the Emperor.

Even though he valued scions of prominent families, it was out of a sense of public duty.

In his experience over the years, scions of prominent families have always been superior to officials from humble backgrounds, both in terms of talent and character.

Changsun Wuji dared not let Gao Shilian go to His Majesty. Firstly, Gao Shilian was his last trump card, and secondly, he was afraid that Gao Shilian's stubbornness would provoke His Majesty's rebellious mentality and accelerate the process of deposing the Crown Prince.

"Uncle, please don't..."

"His Majesty is only testing the waters now. If you bring this up in the palace, wouldn't that be confronting His Majesty?"

"My nephew plans to let Zhi Nu earn some merit and build up some popularity first. Once Zhi Nu's power is fully developed, even if His Majesty wants to depose him, he won't be able to!"

Gao Shilian nodded secretly upon hearing this. When it came to scheming and plotting, he was far inferior to his nephew.

"good!"

"I'll listen to you and not go to His Majesty for now. But have you thought about how to help Zhinu gain merit and build up his popularity?"

Upon hearing this, Changsun Wuji smiled confidently.

"certainly!"

"Li Jue's change of the official list is an opportunity!"

"What opportunity?"

"Uncle, just imagine, if Li Jue were to promote people from humble backgrounds, who would be the first to oppose it?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Shilian immediately muttered to himself.

"Is that even a question? Of course, it's those powerful and aristocratic families!"

"Yes!"

"As long as Li Jue arouses their resentment, when His Highness the Crown Prince raises his voice again, won't all these powerful families gather under His Highness's command and become his wings?"

"Oh, so you mean you tacitly approve Li Jue's promotion of people from humble backgrounds, thereby provoking the resentment of the powerful clans..."

Changsun Wuji snorted coldly upon hearing this.

"more than!"

"We also need to find ways to trip up officials from poor families and make them make more mistakes. Only in this way can we prove that Uncle's previous personnel strategy was correct, and that the sons of poor families are just a bunch of good-for-nothings!"

"oh……"

After three days of sorting, Li Jue finally found five men from humble backgrounds to replace officials from aristocratic families.

On this particular day, Li Shimin happened to be free, so Li Jue immediately ran to the Ganlu Hall and presented his memorial to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin took the document and looked at it. Seeing that Li Jue had only changed the appointments of five people, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

However, he still refused to approve it, not because he didn't trust Li Jue, but because he felt it was inappropriate.

After all, as long as Li Jue studies diligently, he doesn't have to do anything and can just wait for me to pave the way for him. There's no need for him to take any risks himself.

If any of the five poor scholars he promoted were to cause trouble, he, as the eldest grandson, would inevitably be attacked by the officials.

At that point, even if I, as the emperor, wanted to protect him, it wouldn't be easy.

"Li Jue, have you thought this through? If I approve this, the fate of these five officials will be intertwined with yours!"

"Grandpa, your grandson trusts his ability to judge people!"

"Besides, my grandson also needs to have his own people in the court..."

"this……"

Li Jue's words struck a chord, hitting the softest spot in Li Shimin's heart.

Yes!

What's the use of just paving the way for your grandson? You need someone your grandson can trust!

Thinking of this, Li Shimin once again lowered his head and carefully reviewed the people promoted by Li Jue.

He had some recollection of the first person, Li Yifu. This man was first recommended by Li Daliang, and later recommended by Ma Zhou and Liu Ji, which allowed him to gradually rise to a position in the Eastern Palace.

It is said that this person was a skilled writer and a man of good character. After entering the Eastern Palace, he even presented Emperor Gaozong with a letter entitled "Cheng Hua Zhen," demonstrating the upright and honest character of a gentleman.

If we rashly appoint him to the substantive post of magistrate of Chang'an County, I'm afraid he might not be able to handle it.

The second person, Su Dingfang, left the deepest impression on Li Shimin. This man had once allowed his troops to plunder, which is why Li Shimin kept him out of the public eye for more than ten years and never promoted or gave him important responsibilities.

However, this does not mean that Li Shimin disliked this person. He simply wanted to leave him for the next emperor to use, as a reserve talent for the Tang Dynasty.

He never expected that Li Jue would discover the talent he had hidden so well.

"Grandson, what do you think of this Su Dingfang?"

"Grandfather, I believe Su Dingfang is capable, but he was too young back then and his understanding of military discipline was not deep enough, which led him to commit the crime of allowing his troops to plunder."

"The old man has neglected him for over a decade, and his punishment is sufficient. Now that he has been reinstated, he will surely be moved to tears and work wholeheartedly for the court!"

"So what do you plan to do by promoting him?"

"May he be the magistrate of Wannian County!"

"Oh oh oh..."

Li Shimin was relieved to see that Li Jue had only been promoted to the minor post of county magistrate. He then looked at the subsequent officials. Seeing that they were all unfamiliar and their ranks were not high, he immediately lost interest.

"Since you have confidence in them, then I grant your request!"

"Thank you, Grandpa!"

"By the way, Grandfather, should this matter be discussed at the court meeting?"

Li Shimin waved his hand dismissively upon hearing this.

"Need not!"

"You're just a minor official below the fifth rank, so what if I give you face!"

The fifth-rank official position mentioned by Li Shimin was indeed a height that many people could never reach in their entire lives.

Li Yifu left the East Palace as usual, but just as he was about to go home, he was suddenly stopped by a young boy.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!