Chapter 65: Dispute in the Court
"How dare you, Lord Zuo! Is this what you should say to the Emperor? Purple Guards, take him down." The Queen was furious and stood up and scolded.
Suddenly, the woman in purple appeared silently beside Master Zuo, and before anyone could react, she subdued Master Zuo with one move, pressing the back of his head with her left hand, pressing his face to the ground, and holding his hand with her right hand.
Lord Zuo screamed in pain and shouted unconvincedly: "Queen, why are you standing up for this deposed emperor? Don't forget that you are from the Shangguan family. If it weren't for the mysterious master wearing the Taizu mask, this Qianyuan Empire would not have belonged to the Zhou family long ago."
The queen was so angry that her face changed. She glanced at Zhou An, who looked calm, and said cruelly, "This is simply a rebellion. Behead him."
When the Purple Guard heard this word, he grabbed the back of the left master's neck with his left hand. There was a sound of broken bones, and the left master's neck was broken. He opened his eyes wide with an expression of disbelief.
Zhou An smiled. It would be more effective if the Queen herself gave the order to kill the people from the Right Prime Minister's faction than for him to do so. This would intimidate the Right Prime Minister's faction and at the same time create a rift in the relationship between the Queen and the Shangguan family.
Of course, the queen herself issued the order, so she would not blame Zhou An. What he wanted was for Shangguan Rong to be just his queen, not the daughter of the Shangguan family.
Lord Zuo is from the Shangguan family faction, and he never expected that Shangguan Rong would kill him in the court.
“No....” the minister from the Right Prime Minister’s faction exclaimed, but by the time he shouted, the person had already been killed.
Lord You, who was second only to the Right Prime Minister, was shocked and angry and said, "Empress, you are really confused. Lord Zuo..."
"Shouldn't such a traitor be put to death? Or are all the civil and military officials in the court already traitors?" Zhou An stood up and walked down from the dragon throne.
"Your Majesty, please be careful about your words and actions. There are some things you cannot say casually, otherwise, hum." Several high-ranking and powerful ministers shouted angrily.
Zhou An ignored them and asked, "Purple Guard, what is the origin of this rebellion?"
The purple guard saluted and said, "Your Majesty, this thief is the second son of the Zuo family, which is the largest family in Pingyang County, Qianzhou. All officials there are from the Zuo family, and even if they are not, they must have close ties with the Zuo family.
Moreover, nine of these gangs are managed by the Zuo family, and they have some dealings with some immortal cultivation sects. Many of their customers are independent cultivators, and some are even evil ones. "
"Lingsha." Zhou An called out.
"Your subordinate is here." A voice came from outside the hall, and then 365 flying knives flew in from outside, dancing above the court, and whistling past the ears of these ministers. The speed and power scared all the ministers and they dared not move, for fear of being cut by the flying knives.
Then Zhou Lingsha flew in, landed in front of Zhou An, knelt on one knee and saluted. At the same time, 365 flying knives flew back, forming a pair of blade wings on her back, folded and retracted on her back.
Seeing Zhou Lingsha's domineering appearance, all the civil and military officials in the court broke out in cold sweats. This ability has already proved that Zhou Lingsha is already a congenital cultivator, otherwise how could an acquired warrior control the treasure so easily.
The minister, who was just full of resentment, suddenly felt his resentment disappear and instead felt a chill on his back.
"Investigate the Zuo family thoroughly. If there is any violation of the law, they will be severely punished. If there is resistance, the entire clan will be exterminated." Zhou An said.
"I obey your order." Zhou Lingsha stood up and was about to fly out.
"Wait a minute." Lord You hurriedly stepped forward and saluted respectfully before saying, "Your Majesty, this is absolutely not possible. The Zuo family has made great contributions to the founding of Daqian. Doing this is probably too much and will probably be despised by the world."
Zhou An snorted and looked at the young ministers below and asked, "Are they despised by the whole world, or are they cheered by the whole world?"
After Zhou An's scolding, no one present dared to respond. Of course, these ministers knew clearly what Zhou An wanted to do and to what extent. They had no idea and did not dare to be the first to speak out at this time.
Zhou An sneered, looked at the young minister and asked, "You say."
"Of course, this is good news for the people of Pingyang County. The Zuo family is like the emperor in Pingyang County. Whether it is the martial arts sects or the officialdom, the Zuo family has the final say.
In Pingyang County, whether being an official or doing business, one needs the consent of the Zuo family, and collects huge taxes, which is twice the national tax. The lower-class people can barely get a bite to eat, let alone raise offspring. For this reason, children from poor families will almost never be able to turn their lives around.
Only the immortals can make them afraid, but the immortals will only subdue demons and kill monsters, and will not care about these things. "The young minister said these words loudly.
The ministers around felt very uneasy and broke out in cold sweats when they heard this. It was obvious that the families behind these ministers were all in the same situation.
Zhou An glanced at the ministers and asked, "Is what he said true?"
All the ministers nearby lowered their heads and dared not look. If one were to see this kind of thing in person, one would know that they could not hide it even if they wanted to.
Lord You said again: "Your Majesty, Emperor Taizu once gave the Zuo family special privileges, and officials in Pingyang County were appointed by them."
Zhou An looked at Lord You and asked, "Did you say that the Zuo family is allowed to poison my people? Did you say that the Zuo family is allowed to disregard the imperial authority?"
"Lord Zuo offended the emperor and has received due punishment. As for poisoning the people, this matter is probably exaggerated." Lord You said again.
Zhou An smiled and waved his hand and said, "Lingsha, did you hear that? Go collect evidence and let Lord You and the officials in the court see if what you said is exaggerated."
"Yes." The blade wings behind Zhou Lingsha spread out, and she flapped her wings and flew out of the court in the blink of an eye.
Now many people were sweating profusely, fearing that the fire would burn them. They never thought that Zhou Lingsha would have such power. If they encountered such a blow, they might not be able to react in time.
Although those guests are all monks, they are not always in the mansion.
Zhou An walked up to the young minister at the end and asked, "What's your name?"
"I am Cai Xianfa," the young man said, clasping his fists.
"Do you think you have what it takes to take over the traitor's position?" Zhou An asked.
Cai Xianfa showed his delight and said loudly: "I am confident that I can do a good job, but I don't have enough prestige and a deep background. No one will listen to me. No matter how capable I am, I can't do anything."
"Hahaha, from now on, you will take over the vacant position of this traitor. If there is anyone who secretly disobeys the order and commits treason, report to the queen, and the Jinyiwei will invite them to have tea and talk about how to be an official. If anyone defends me, I will deal with it personally." Zhou An said loudly.
"I will obey your orders and will never let you down." Cai Xianfa's eyes gleamed with brilliance, and his hands trembled with excitement.
This time no minister dared to object, especially the people from the Shangguan family, they all bowed their heads helplessly. Lord Zuo held an important position, and this time it was equivalent to an important position in their faction being poached, but who dared to say anything now?
Zhou An sat back on the dragon throne, looked at the queen and nodded.
The queen immediately said, "Lord Cai, you are in charge of the reform of the imperial examination. If anyone disobeys and obstructs it, you can kill them first and report to us later."
"Queen!" The ministers exclaimed. Zhou An had just established his authority. Besides, he was the emperor and Zhou Lingsha was an innate cultivator. So they could tolerate it once.
However, this imperial examination would harm the family interests of all the important officials, so they had to speak up, otherwise they would be punished by their clan members when they returned.
Shangguan Ronghao stood up and said firmly: "Scientific research is related to the future of the country. There is no need to discuss it further. Anyone who dares to oppose this matter will be demoted three levels."
At this time, more than a dozen ministers in front looked at each other, then knelt down at the same time and said in unison: "The imperial examination cannot be changed. If the queen insists on changing it, we will resign from our official positions."
The queen showed anger and tried to persuade him, but Zhou An said, "Alright, take off your official robes and leave."
These ministers were all shocked and angry. Without them, the court would cease to function and all work would no longer be able to proceed.
You must know that once all the ministers here leave, the emperor will no longer be able to convey his will, which means that the national institutions and the emperor will be disconnected.
Zhou An said calmly: "Promote a group of people from below to temporarily replace the ministers who have resigned. Publish a list of talented people throughout the country, regardless of their background. The queen will be in charge of the selection personally."
Zhou An then glanced at the other ministers and asked, "Who else wants to resign? I will approve all of them today."
Under the gaze of those ministers, all the officials who followed them came out and asked to resign, and Zhou An actually approved all of them, which made the queen sweat. As a result, there were less than 20% of officials left in the court, and most of the institutions had to stagnate.
Zhou An smiled and said: "Queen, just choose the truly talented people. I will let the Purple Guards personally supervise all departments and institutions to promote new officials.
Jinyiwei will investigate the resigned officials and their families. If there is any violation of the law, they will be investigated immediately. If there is any resistance, I will let the King of Ten Thousand Monsters and the Queen of Hundred Flowers deal with it personally."
The ministers had just taken off their official robes and were about to leave with hatred, but they all turned pale with fear after hearing this. A minister who was about to resign said in disbelief, "The King of Ten Thousand Monsters and the Lady of Hundred Flowers were brought here by Emperor Taizu. How could they listen to the orders of a mere deposed emperor like you?"
Zhou An laughed loudly and looked outside and shouted, "Right Prime Minister, no, it's Emperor Taizu, did you bring the King of Ten Thousand Monsters and my Lady Hundred Flowers here?"
All the officials were shocked to hear this. Even the queen stood up in shock and looked towards the door with wide eyes.
(End of this chapter)
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