However, although there was no one in the court who opposed Su Ming, there were different factions and different interest groups. Some of them were divided by region, while others were divided by identity.

There are old ministers left over from the previous dynasty, Li Cunxu, and old ministers from Hedong from Li Siyuan’s faction. The officials in Jiangnan are also a faction, but no one dares to interfere with the court’s affairs because of the struggle.

Of course, among these people, many saw the power of the imperial examination system.

This time, the imperial court had 100,000 people taking the first test. This is a huge number, and there will be more in the future.

The old bureaucratic system was gradually collapsing. The aristocratic families all saw the usefulness of the imperial examination, but they had no choice but to bite the bullet and take the exam according to the rules of the court. They no longer had the transcendent political advantages they had before.

The group of newly graduated Jinshi who went to compile the history books of the previous dynasty a year ago are still studying hard in the Jixian Hall and the National History Museum. It is estimated that they will not be able to come out for more than ten years.

The trend is set, so there is no need for Su Ming to consider their feelings anymore. In this imperial examination, the children of aristocratic families will no longer have so many places, and the children of poor families will have more opportunities to succeed.

Although this is unfair to them, their knowledge and experience are superior to those of children from poor families. If only the merits are considered, they can almost take up all the Jinshi positions.

But the fact is, this world has never been fair. Some people are born to enjoy wealth and glory, while others are born to suffer.

For the sake of the overall situation, we have no choice but to make them suffer a little more.

……

Harem.

Lu Linxuan walked into the hall with a big belly from ten months of pregnancy, and asked, “Brother, when will Zifan come back?”

Su Ming replied without even looking up, “The official sent by the court to take over is already on the way. As long as he doesn’t encounter any trouble on the way, he will be back in February.”

Pregnant women are troublesome. When Zhang Zifan is not around, Lu Linxuan keeps bothering the people in the palace. If Xu Huan had not entered the palace to take care of him, Su Ming might have been so annoyed that his scalp would be numb.

Speaking of pregnant women, he thought of Ji Ruxue again.

It must be said that since that night, Su Ming has often visited her residence. Compared with Yelu Zhiwu, she is more attractive and can inspire his fighting spirit more.

The battle between dragons and tigers is not just talk.

Seeing that Su Ming ignored her, Lu Linxuan was not angry. She sat aside and began to complain, “Senior Brother, my mother made another pot of soup today, and I don’t want to drink it.”

“If you don’t want to drink, then don’t drink. I see you’re very healthy, so it’s totally fine for you to skip a meal or two.”

“But I’m afraid the child will be hungry.” Lu Linxuan said with a sad face.

Lu Linxuan came so often that Su Ming’s ears were almost callused. “Shouldn’t you tell Zhang Zifan these words? I’m just your senior brother.”

“Alas, I’m just talking.” Lu Linxuan put on a smiling expression again and suddenly said, “Brother, if the child is born, I will let the child recognize you as his godfather. What do you think?”

Foster father?

Hearing these two words, Su Ming shuddered all over and looked up at Lu Linxuan. He found that her expression did not seem to be joking, which made him feel a little bit upset.

Can you just become a foster father these days? How can he be so worthy of such a high-risk job? Thinking of Li Keyong and Li Siyuan, he couldn’t help but shudder.

Therefore, Su Ming immediately rejected his kindness, “Forget it. The child in your belly is the next Heavenly Master of the Heavenly Master Mansion. What’s the point of asking me to be his godfather?”

Lu Linxuan opened his mouth and was about to say something, but at this moment, a figure walked in from outside the hall and reported, “Your Majesty, the bad commander wants to see you.”

Chapter 278: Civil and Military Affairs

“Xuan!”

Lu Linxuan’s expression froze, and bad memories flooded into his mind again. He forced a smile and said, “Brother, you go ahead and do your work. I’m going back.”

Su Ming nodded without saying anything and watched her leave. When he walked out of the hall door, Lu Linxuan, who was pregnant with a big belly, passed by Yuan Tiangang.

A familiar figure, a former enemy, has now become a subordinate of his senior brother. This feeling makes Lu Linxuan feel incredible.

After they came down the mountain, the shadow that Yuan Tiangang brought to them was still vivid in her memory. It was difficult for her to connect the arrogant and domineering man who wanted to control everything with the silent and respectful Yuan Tiangang now.

Lu Linxuan glanced at him, then looked away and walked away.

Entering the hall, Yuan Tiangang still saluted respectfully. “Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you.”

“Stand up, what’s the latest news about the Bad People?”

“Your Majesty, Shu has sent an envoy who will arrive in Luoyang soon. Li Siyuan of Jin has suppressed many powerful families, and Hedong will soon be peaceful.”

“Shu made a decision so quickly? It’s really beyond my expectation.” Su Ming’s eyes showed some surprise. Historically, major events like this would take a long time to discuss and drag on. Shu had been longing for peace for a long time and was more cautious. He thought it would take at least half a year for someone to come.

After thinking for a moment, Su Ming said, “We should conceal the news first and make sure it doesn’t leak out. After the Imperial Guards return to the court, we can let their envoys enter the court. Is this something that the Bad People can handle?”

If the imperial court wants to take control of the general trend, it must be strong enough. With a basic foundation, it will have the capital to make a comeback after failure. It is crucial for the Central Plains to be connected. In comparison, even if the Three Kingdoms surrendered to the imperial court.

The imperial court had no one available for the time being and could only rule in name. Economic and military control required long-term subtle influence. Even if taxes were paid, it would be half a year later, which was of no use to the overall situation.

In short, the court has insufficient reserve of officials and needs a buffer. At least it will have to wait until after this imperial examination before there will be people available.

We can’t always rely on the assistance of aristocratic families to rule the local area. Even the officials are their people. What’s the difference between this and ceding land and governing the country?

Just after the Kingdom of Shu surrendered, Su Ming might not even be able to find all the officials to send to Chengdu Prefecture.

“No problem, but it can only delay it for a month or two.”

“A month or two of buffer time is enough. The Imperial Guards’ war is not going to last for a day or two. The outstretched fist will only be more threatening if it is retracted. Shu Kingdom can surrender, but it has to discuss it with us.”

“If both sides move in unison, the imperial court will be able to smoothly take over the internal affairs of Shu to avoid mistakes.” Compared with Qi and Jin, which border Heluo, Bashu is really far away and it takes at least half a month for news to be delivered.

“I understand.” Yuan Tiangang immediately understood what Su Ming meant. Surrender only required announcing it to the world and submitting a letter of credence, but it would take the court at least half a year to reap the benefits.

Su Ming’s goal was to get on the bus first and buy the ticket later. He would send officials there first to take control of some key departments of Shu. At the very least, he would take the initiative and not be coerced by Shu.

Yuan Tiangang said in a deep voice, “Your Majesty, rest assured. Wang Yan is arrogant and extravagant, and only wants to live a peaceful life. The officials of Shu Kingdom have no ambition to make progress. As long as Your Majesty gives the order, the officials of Shu Kingdom will cooperate.”

At this time, Su Ming suddenly asked curiously, “Yuan Tiangang, I’m curious, how many bad people are there in Shu Kingdom? Did the 100,000 troops that Wang Jian brought really betray the court?”

Without the secret operation of the Bad People, Shu Kingdom would not have surrendered so quickly and recognized the overall situation. Yuan Tiangang dared to say this because the Bad People had already taken root in Shu.

“Your Majesty, you are wise. What you said is right. When the late emperor sent Wang Jian to attack Bashu, I had already seen through his rebellious intentions. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was in danger. We failed to recapture Li Keyong, and the imperial court lost its dignity. Zhu Wen became even more powerful.”

“Wang Jian can be destroyed in a snap of a finger, but killing him will not solve the overall situation. A hundred thousand troops cannot stop Zhu Wen. In order to allow Li Keyong to compete with Zhu Wen, I will go with the flow and secretly guide Wang Jian to split Shu and stop Zhu Wen’s ambition to get involved in Bashu.”

As expected, Yuan Tiangang had already laid out his plan.

Zhu Wen occupied the core of the Central Plains and had a large number of soldiers and abundant food. If it were not for the geographical advantage of Hedong, he would have been defeated long ago. If he had also taken over Bashu, Li Keyong would have had no chance at all.

Apart from Yuan Tiangang sending down justice to kill Zhu Wen, there is no other way for him to win. This would be even more difficult than when the Northern Zhou defeated the Northern Qi.

The reason why Li Cunxu was able to destroy the State of Liang in one battle was not only because he was powerful enough, but also because Zhu Wen himself was incompetent and caused the Liang State to become divided and chaotic. Zhu Yougui, who came after him, was not very good either.

Many times, your success depends on many factors, and all of them are essential. In addition to having the right people, you also need the enemy to be competitive enough to cooperate with you.

It is like a modern-day transport captain, whose logistics system is unrivalled in the entire era.

Our victory is inseparable from his contribution.

“The bad commander really has good intentions. I really admire him.” At this point, Su Ming had to admit his admiration. Everything was clearly arranged. If Li Xingyun had a little ability, he wouldn’t have been able to turn the tables. He was able to have everything he had today largely because of Li Xingyun’s cooperation.

“Your Majesty, thank you for your praise. For the sake of the world, I have no choice but to do this. Even if I live longer, I can only patch things up and barely maintain the situation. My selfishness outweighs the public interest. How can I compare to Your Majesty in rebuilding the mountains and rivers and reshaping the world?”

Su Ming had long been immune to Yuan Tiangang’s flattery. “Whether it’s selfish or public-spirited, as long as we do our job, it’s fine. In the future, we will all be working for the court. It’s difficult for the court, and it’s difficult for me too. Let’s just do our part.”

Compared to his immunity, Su Ming now wants to max out his role-playing ability and escape as soon as possible, but the progress is stuck at 90% and cannot move at all.

Perhaps only by unifying the world and rebuilding the prosperous Tang Dynasty can all the role-playing progress be completed.

“Okay, that’s enough of the small talk. You can go down and get busy first.”

“Wei Chen retire.”

……

The battle reports of the imperial army would be sent to Luoyang every ten days or so. They contained both joy and sorrow, victories and defeats. The generals of Qi State had nothing much to say.

After the Longquan treasure, Su Ming drew out all the elite troops of Qi State and selected 8,000 elite troops to join the Luoyang Imperial Army. Qi State now has few soldiers and generals, and having so many is already the limit, and it cannot afford to support more.

In comparison, Hedong was more than capable of mobilizing 10,000 troops, and could also support tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers. The level of Qi’s generals was extremely limited, and they were responsible for most of the defeats.

Military exercises are always military exercises. Their mediocre ranking in military exercises for hundreds of years cannot change the essence of their poor actual combat capability. Even if they have veteran and elite soldiers, they have not experienced a major war for a long time. Except for the army led by Li Wentong himself, which won many victories, the rest are not sufficient.

The troops in Hedong are truly powerful.

Not to mention Shi Jingtang, the brothers of Hedong Fu family and Huangfu Yu and An Shenqi he brought with him were all fierce generals. These people were generals who grew up in the struggle for hegemony between Jin and Liang. It was natural for them to defeat some small separatist forces.

Among them, Su Ming also saw a historical celebrity, Liu Zhiyuan.

This guy was the founding monarch of the Later Han Dynasty. Like Li Keyong and others, he made his fortune by relying on Hedong. But now, he is just a small deputy general of the imperial guards, who can only manage a thousand people.

Hedong is a place truly blessed by nature, both in ancient and modern times, and it only gradually declined in later times.

Among the imperial guards, Su Ming also discovered a talent, Guo Wei, who was also the founding emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty in history.

Wow, now Su Ming has gathered several monarchs of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms under his command, including Li Siyuan, Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang; Shi Jingtang, Emperor Taizu of Later Jin; Liu Zhiyuan, Emperor Taizu of Later Han; Guo Wei, Emperor Taizu of Later Zhou.

As for Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, he is almost born now, but whether he can accomplish anything in the future is still unclear.

With mixed thoughts in his mind, Su Ming quickly finished reading the battle report, and at the same time, the idea of ​​setting up a military academy became stronger and stronger.

These generals all have obvious regional attributes and have very strong personal marks on them. If there are no military academies, they will become powerful in the future and other generals will not even get a share of the benefits.

Su Ming didn’t want to have to use Bing in the future, so he had no one else available except the generals from Hedong, and the “Huaixi nobles” were not wanted.

However, the military academy had to be prepared in advance, and then proposed and chartered after the Three Kingdoms surrendered. What was the point of establishing it if there were only textbooks but no generals?

The strategies and tactics of leading troops are not something that can be learned slowly in school. Many things in this era are kept private and will not be written in military books.

For example, Qi Jiguang’s “Jixiao Xinshu”, looking back over thousands of years, he is the only one who wrote it. Is it possible that others can’t do it?

They are all generals, no one is worse than the other. Commanding and training troops are basically the same, there is no way they don’t know how to do it.

The strategy of leading troops depends on one’s understanding, and may not be used even if it is written down, but the methods of training and employing troops can be learned slowly through practice and will come naturally.

But if this kind of thing gets out and something goes wrong, what will the court do?

There were always refugees who rebelled in every dynasty, and not everyone was as open-minded as Taizu, who printed out the dragon-slaying techniques for people to see. These things were secrets that were not passed on at that time, and many times they were taken into the coffin, and even the descendants might not pass them on.

Don’t worry, everything needs to be done slowly.

……

The 20th day of the first lunar month in the second year of Hongwu.

The much-anticipated palace examination was held in the Taiji Hall. There were still ninety-nine Jinshi candidates. Those from aristocratic families occupied the top positions, but their numbers were less than those of the scholars from poor families.

Such subtle changes attracted the attention of some people, but no one dared to raise any objections.

As for the children of aristocratic families, they dare not do that.

These days, they were well aware of the miserable plight of the powerful people in Hedong. Li Siyuan really killed people in Hedong, and he framed all kinds of crimes against the direct descendants of the noble families.

He looted the local forts and manors, re-registered the hidden population, and sent the craftsmen and confiscated property to the court.