Chapter 14: Leader of the Hundred Cavalry Division
"Humph, she has more money than your treasury, do you believe it?"
Li Yueyao said with a solemn vow.
After hearing this, the emperor shook his head and thought it was impossible.
"You don't believe me, how about we make a bet?"
The emperor looked at Li Yueyao's confident face and suddenly became suspicious of Zhaoqing.
Because since she was a child, whenever Li Yueyao showed this expression, it meant that she had made a mistake in judgment and was in trouble.
Is Zhaoqing really rich enough to rival a country?
Seeing that the emperor was silent, Li Yueyao changed the subject and said, "By the way, I have a lot of things to investigate recently, and I don't have enough manpower.
I summoned Chen Yue last night using the White Jade and White Flower Order, but since they are secret guards, we can investigate secretly.
Mingli, you can decide who to lend me, it must be someone absolutely reliable."
The emperor thought for a moment and said, "Then let Gan Qing come."
Li Yueyao laughed when she heard this: "Gan Qing is the leader of the Hundred Cavalry Division. If he's busy, you can give me a deputy leader to use."
The emperor smiled and said, "No need, my Lord. I have been unwell lately and have not given Gan Qing any tasks. He is idle anyway."
Li Yueyao laughed when she heard this. It seemed that the emperor also wanted to know what he had investigated.
After the two of them finished their meal, they went to the imperial study, and the emperor ordered Princess Zhaoqing to enter the palace.
Li Yueyao said, "Your Majesty, please ask Gan Qing to come over. I have something to ask him."
After a while, a man of medium height, white face, beardless, and thin figure appeared. He was wearing a dark red and black wide round-necked robe with a lock edge and black long boots.
He walked in with the swift steps of a tiger and a dragon, but his feet landed without making any sound.
"Your Majesty, your servant Gan Qing greets the Grand Princess of Jinyang."
"No need to be polite."
His Majesty the Emperor, wearing a middle-length robe and lying on a recliner, spoke lazily.
Li Yueyao was sitting on the side, removing acupuncture needles from the emperor.
"Gan Qing, you will obey the orders of the Grand Princess for the time being." The emperor said
"Yes."
Gan Qing listened to the answer expressionlessly.
"Sun Fu, move a stool for Gan Qing." Li Yueyao said without raising her head.
Gan Qing quickly bowed and said, "Thank you, Grand Princess."
Li Yueyao asked as she removed the needle, "Gan Qing, where's your sister? What's little Gan Hong doing?"
"Your Highness, she has reached the age to retire from the Hundred Cavalry Division and is now idle at home."
Gan Qing's voice was still respectful, but it sounded a little more relaxed.
"Then ask her if she is willing to be my bodyguard for a while?" Li Yueyao said with a smile.
"It is her honor to serve His Highness."
Li Yueyao smiled and said, "Okay, that's settled. Go back and tell her to come and serve me tomorrow."
"Yes." Gan Qing replied respectfully.
Li Yueyao smiled and said, "Okay, don't be so serious. When you were a kid, you were punished during training and you cried.
How cute he was then, how come he has become so serious now? "
Gan Qing's expression moved slightly, as if he smiled, and he said, "Your Highness, I was still young at that time. I am sorry to have embarrassed you."
The emperor interrupted, "Aunt, please stop teasing him. I haven't seen him smile since he became the leader of the Hundred Cavalry Division."
Li Yueyao shrugged and said, "Okay, I called you here today to ask you about the affairs of the court.
I have just returned and am completely clueless about the court. You, the Hundred Cavalry Division, are responsible for monitoring all officials, so I believe you must know more about them.
Please tell me in detail about the current situation in the court."
After hearing this, Gan Qing looked up at the emperor. Seeing that the emperor still had his eyes closed and did not speak, he said:
"The court is now divided into three factions: the Left Prime Minister's faction, Princess Zhaoqing's faction, and a neutral faction."
After hearing Gan Qing's words, the emperor's eyes moved, but he did not open them in the end.
"Is there a list available?" Li Yueyao asked.
Gan Qing listened and said, "I submitted one to Your Majesty before, but there have been some additions and changes recently."
Li Yueyao said, "Oh, really? Sun Fu, go get the list for me to take a look."
Sun Fu glanced at the emperor and seeing that he did not object, he turned and went in.
After a while, he came out and handed a piece of paper to Li Yueyao. Li Yueyao looked at it for a while and had a rough idea in her mind.
Then he asked, "Who are the people who have made the most recent additions and changes?"
Gan Qing took out a note from his arms and handed it to Li Yueyao.
After Li Yueyao looked at it, she handed it to the emperor. The emperor opened his eyes, looked at it, and said nothing.
Li Yueyao handed Gan Qing the list of people who had managed water at the morning court session.
"Are there any honest and nonpartisan people among these people?"
Gan Qing looked at him for a long time, then pointed at a doctor from the Ministry of Works and said, "This man is quite talented, but because he doesn't belong to a party or group, he is being ostracized and denied promotion."
Li Yueyao took a look and saw Ye Yuanda, a doctor in the Ministry of Works.
"Aren't only those of the fourth rank and above allowed to attend court? Why is this fifth rank Langzhong from the Ministry of Works attending court today?"
Sun Fu said from behind, "Reporting to the Grand Princess, the Ministry of Works is currently reporting on the matter of siege engines, and this matter is being supervised by Doctor Ye.
He came to court so that he could explain more clearly when His Majesty asked."
Li Yueyao then asked, "Then why did he, a doctor in the Ministry of Works, go to provide flood relief?"
Sun Fu explained, "Princess, you don't know this, Doctor Ye is from Jiangnan Province. He was promoted to the Ministry of Works because of his meritorious service in governing his people.
I worked for many years as a sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Works before finally being promoted to the rank of doctor."
Li Yueyao listened and said, "So, his achievements in governance are due to... controlling the floods?"
"Yes." Sun Fu replied.
Li Yueyao nodded and said, "Okay, then let's send Ye Yuanda to Jiangnan Road to help with flood control and disaster relief."
The emperor suddenly asked, "Aunt, I see that the Minister of Works in the palace is very knowledgeable and has considerable experience. Why don't you appoint him?"
Li Yueyao heard this and said, "I looked at the list Gan Qing mentioned just now. The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works was promoted by Zhao Qing."
"Promoted by Zhaoqing?" the emperor wondered.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Gan Qing replied.
"What about the remaining two people?" asked the emperor.
Li Yueyao said calmly: "The one from the Ministry of Rites is the Left Prime Minister's open chess piece, and the Censor is the Left Prime Minister's hidden chess piece.
If I hadn't seen Gan Qing's list, I would have probably picked the Imperial Censor."
The emperor took a deep breath and asked, "Has Zhaoqing supported many people over the years?"
Li Yueyao didn't say anything, just stared at Sun Fu. Sun Fu wiped the sweat from his head and said:
"Your Majesty, the eldest princess often...occasionally asks Your Majesty to promote certain officials..."
After listening to this, the emperor thought about it carefully and realized that this was the case.
Then he said, “Most of the positions Zhaoqing mentioned are below the fourth rank.”
Li Yueyao heard this and said bluntly, "Your Majesty, did you carefully read the list of court officials that Sun Fu just brought out?
The positions of those promoted by Zhaoqing were not high, but they were all very important.
The Left Treasury Office Commander of Taifu Temple: Responsible for mineral taxes, financial revenue and expenditure.
Taifu Temple Changping Office Order: Responsible for stabilizing prices, regulating the market, and safeguarding people's livelihood.
Director of the Ministry of Personnel’s Performance Evaluation Department: Participates in the performance evaluation and promotion of officials.
The Chief of the Ministry of Justice: Responsible for auditing the financial revenue and expenditure of the court and local governments, and supervising corruption.
Langzhong of the Treasury Department of the Ministry of War: Responsible for the storage and allocation of weapons and armor.
Li Yueyao became angrier and angrier as she spoke, her voice getting louder and louder: "Well, she has good taste.
She took possession of all the key positions in the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of War, and the Imperial Household Department.
The chain is complete, including the revenue and expenditure of mineral resources, stabilizing prices, auditing the revenue and expenditure of the central and local governments, supervising corruption, and evaluating the performance of officials.
The rest are officials from the ninth to seventh ranks, let’s not talk about them for now, this Langzhong of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Treasury is the fifth rank.
Even though she's a newly appointed person, she's so bold that she's even reached out to the Ministry of War. What does she want to do?"
Li Yueyao was so angry that she slammed the small table beside her.
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