The Crown Prince led his troops to Yizhou Prefecture, where he met with the Prefect of Yizhou, He Guang, and deployed his troops directly outside the capital.
The small towns surrounding the capital did not dare to stop the Crown Prince, allowing him to lead his troops directly to the outskirts of the capital.
At the border between Yizhou Prefecture and the capital, the Crown Prince unexpectedly encountered the Third Prince, who had escaped. The Third Prince wept bitterly, recounting how the Eighth Prince had brutally murdered 20,000 soldiers.
The Crown Prince was much smarter than the Third Prince; he sneered and remained silent.
Aren't they all after his position as crown prince, or even his future position as emperor?
How is the Third Prince any better than the Eighth Prince?
The Crown Prince immediately ordered that the Third Prince be well taken care of, with good food and drink, and under constant surveillance.
When the Eighth Prince heard that the Crown Prince was leading troops to gather outside the city, he was surprised. The Crown Prince was clearly providing disaster relief, so how could his information be wrong?
The Eighth Prince and the Crown Prince fought, and both sides suffered casualties.
The Eighth Prince's reinforcements from Yuzhang Prefecture arrived at the edge of the capital at this time.
At the Crown Prince's command, troops were organized in the surrounding counties to block the invading troops from Yuzhang.
Meanwhile, chaos erupted within the capital city. The fifteenth prince, who was dissatisfied with the eighth prince, was preemptively imprisoned by the eighth prince.
The Fifth Prince led his men out and rallied his and the Third Prince's followers within the capital city, confronting the Eighth Prince's troops.
The emperor's fate is unknown, and the princes are locked in a life-or-death struggle.
The ministers were astonished and wondered what to do.
The Eighth Prince issued a call to action: all ministers will be promoted one rank and will be rewarded for following me.
Currently, only the Eighth Prince's family holds power in the capital, while Consort Tai is confined to the palace and unable to send messages.
The officials realized that no matter who came to power, they had no right to stop them.
We might as well just close our eyes, accept the Eighth Prince's money as usual, but do nothing. Let them fight it out however they want; we are civil officials and can't interfere with anything.
Military generals without allegiance shut up when they see civil officials, but they can't command troops like civil officials. What can they do?
Fine, fight however you want. I'll just guard the palace gates and protect the Emperor.
It must be said that Emperor Yelü De was always being pushed around by his ministers.
There was frequent infighting among the ministers, with one group rising and another falling. No matter which minister came to power or what policies they implemented, as long as it didn't interfere with his enjoyment, he would agree to it, letting them fight however they wanted.
All this fighting and infighting is just a power struggle among you nobles.
Your constant squabbling only makes the emperor's throne very secure.
However, due to frequent infighting among the ministers and the emperor's many children, who also joined in the infighting, the court became a chaotic mess.
The current imperial court is like an old tree that is rotten inside but still intact on the outside; it will collapse at the slightest disturbance.
Ministers without allegiance were happy to watch the spectacle, seeing that they could get promoted and make money without having to fight among themselves.
Shenxi looked at the urgent document and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Although Xiqiang Prefecture, Miaojiang Circuit, and Haozhou Prefecture are still nominally under the control of the imperial court, they have been out of the court's control for many years.
The imperial court has sent troops to suppress them, but they have sometimes surrendered and sometimes rebelled. Now that things are in chaos, who will surrender?
The self-proclaimed King Wen of Shoutian controlled three prefectures, seized most of Yonghe Prefecture, and was about to attack Zhonggui Prefecture as well.
The north is in chaos, occupied by Ma Zhigang's rebel army. A few days ago, the Prince of Qingjiang also submitted a memorial stating that the finances were tight and he could no longer pay tribute to the court. Although he did not attack the court, he was just doing his own thing, and the court could not interfere.
Lu Daxu of Xiangnan Prefecture even declared himself Emperor Lu and was about to march on the capital, while these princes were still fighting amongst themselves.
Chenxi gently tapped the document, carefully studying it.
Zheng Hongfang entered the conference room, bowed, and said, "Sir, the statements of Wei Xiaowei and others have been compiled, and the verdict has been issued. Please take a look."
Shenxi waved his hand: "I'll leave this matter to you. You'll have full authority. The criminal laws and sentences for these people will be announced publicly at the job fair tomorrow, as a warning to others."
"Yes." Zheng Hongfang put away the judgment he had received and then reported, "Zhang Xiong is seriously injured and will not be able to participate in the job interview for the time being. What do you think, sir?"
"Let's give him a chance to re-enroll after he recovers," Chen Xi decided directly. "What about the two women?"
Zheng Hongfang said, "They were removed from their village chief positions, their parents were each given ten strokes of the cane, and the two women can only wait to apply for jobs again next time."
Unlike Zhang Xiong, the two women did not get the chance to be admitted through supplementary enrollment. The main reason was that they were still not strong enough and followed their families' arrangements.
It seems that the only woman who can be recruited this time is a woman named Kong Yun.
A ratio of 100 to 1 is quite dire.
This process will be followed for all township-level civil servant applicants in the future, and it is believed that more and more women will participate in it.
The next step for Shenxi is to select officials in the county. Those who have participated in the recruitment of grassroots civil servants and have worked at the grassroots level for three years can participate in the selection of officials.
This time, there aren't enough reserve civil servants with three years of service. We can only conduct a preliminary selection to choose some capable people to fill the vacant positions. If they really can't do the job, then they will be dismissed.
The selection of officials is not a simple matter; it determines the development of a region and whether the people can live and work in peace and contentment.
Just then, another urgent document arrived. Shenxi opened it and breathed a sigh of relief.
It turned out that Qi Xiuwu had already assembled his troops and was ready to set off to attack Xiahe County.
Shenxi told Zheng Hongfang to go down and wait in the small living room next to the conference room.
Although Zheng Hongfang was puzzled, he still obediently went to the small living room.
When it was just her and Xing Xiuyan left, Chenxi asked, "Xiuyan, are you mentally prepared?"
Xing Xiuyan nodded, her eyes betraying a hint of nervousness.
Shenxi gently patted her hand: "You are someone close to me, and Hongfang is my capable official. We must not allow any conflicts to arise and should resolve them as soon as possible."
Xing Xiuyan solemnly said, "Don't worry, Chief, Xiuyan would never do anything that would be detrimental to you."
"Okay, go ahead, it's not good to keep them waiting."
Xing Xiuyan blushed slightly, but then she thought that this was a once-in-a-lifetime event, and she couldn't be careless.
She could have asked the commander to order Zheng Hongfang to marry her, but if he refused, wouldn't it be like forcing a melon to ripen without sweetness, or quenching thirst with bitterness?
Xing Xiuyan suppressed her fluttering heart and went straight to the small living room.
Holding a cup of tea, to outsiders it would appear that the leader had instructed Xing Xiuyan to deliver tea to Zheng Hongfang.
Zheng Hongfang was sitting in the small living room in a daze when he suddenly saw the leader's maid, Xing Xiuyan, arrive.
He felt a little uncomfortable. He rarely spent time alone with a woman, except for his childhood sweetheart from many years ago.
Xing Xiuyan placed the tea on the coffee table: "Mayor Zheng, please have some tea."
Zheng Hongfang obediently picked up the glass and took a sip, sensing that the atmosphere was a bit off.
Why isn't Miss Xiuyan leaving or saying anything?
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