Duanmu Fenglei said it very tactfully, but in fact he was threatening Ma Xiaoyao. If he didn't agree to his request, he would not get the orchid leaf grass. This move was very insidious, and he directly took Ma Xiaoyao's lifeline.
Ma Xiaoyao's face twitched several times: "Okay... I'll stay... to help you..." These words were said through gritted teeth. He hated being threatened the most.
"Okay!" Seeing Ma Xiaoyao agree, Duanmu Fenglei laughed loudly: "I knew you would agree! From now on, you are my appointed imperial minister, and all officials in the country are under your control.
Even those relatives of the emperor must be restrained by you." At this point, Duanmu Fenglei added: "Let go and do it! I will help you take care of any trouble!"
"Since I promised you, I will definitely help you, but..." At this point, Ma Xiaoyao paused: "I am a bit tough and rude in my actions, and I might hurt some people... then..."
"It doesn't matter." Duanmu Fenglei waved his hand magnanimously: "As long as you act in a reasonable and well-founded manner, no matter how much trouble you cause, I will suppress it for you."
"With your words, I feel relieved." Ma Xiaoyao nodded.
…
In this way, Ma Xiaoyao became the imperial minister, and then began to vigorously punish those problematic princes and ministers.
At first, these princes and ministers did not take Ma Xiaoyao seriously, thinking that Ma Xiaoyao was just a useless guy who could not threaten them at all. Besides, to investigate them, there must be conclusive evidence. Ma Xiaoyao had just arrived.
, being alone, it is impossible to obtain evidence.
But after a few days, these princes and ministers became tired of it, or in other words, they were worried, because Ma Xiaoyao was so troublesome and had so many tricks, which made it difficult for these princes and ministers to guard against him.
The first thing Ma Xiaoyao did when he took office was to find a group of relatively upright subordinates, and then sent these subordinates out to collect evidence that the princes and ministers had committed crimes. Immediately afterwards, Ma Xiaoyao set up a "public opinion survey" organization and went down below every day.
The opinions of the people are asked, and as long as the people report the case, it will be recorded in the case, and then the investigators will investigate and collect evidence. If the facts are clear and true, they will be dealt with seriously.
After a few days, more than ten officials fell into the hands of Ma Xiaoyao, but they were all minor officials.
That afternoon, Ma Xiaoyao was sitting alone in his study, meditating.
After many days of investigation, he found that many princes and ministers were bullying the people and doing random things. Unfortunately, he couldn't find any evidence! He was really attentive, but... after all, he was only one person with limited energy, so he couldn't find any evidence.
I am too busy, and sometimes if I am careless, the princes and ministers will take advantage of the loopholes.
Duanmu Fenglei also often put pressure on Ma Xiaoyao, asking Ma Xiaoyao to quickly arrest a few typical figures to shock those unclean ministers, and at the same time prove to the people that he, Duanmu Fenglei, is a wise king!
"Alas..." Ma Xiaoyao sighed softly: "There are not enough manpower... I am powerless... My orchid leaf grass... When can you give it to me..." Ma Xiaoyao found some upright subordinates.
, but these subordinates have average abilities and cannot be of much help at all.
"Sir." A subordinate walked in quickly and handed a thick notebook to Ma Xiaoyao: "I have found everything you want."
"Oh, it's pretty fast." Ma Xiaoyao praised, and then opened the book to read: "The records are very neat and clear. Well, the person who wrote this book was careful." When he turned to the back,
Ma Xiaoyao stopped: "What does the alternate official written above mean?"
"They are people with a name but no actual position." The subordinate explained: "There are so many people taking part in the imperial examination in recent years that there are not so many places to place them, so they are asked to wait until they are suitable.
If they hold the position, let them take office. We usually call these people alternate officials."
"Oh...are there a lot of alternate officials?" Ma Xiaoyao asked next.
"More! Too many!" His subordinate nodded: "According to my estimate, there are hundreds of thousands of people at least."
"How much?" Ma Xiaoyao was shocked.
"Hundreds of thousands of people." The subordinate replied: "This is just a conservative estimate. It may be more than a million people."
"Good guy." Ma Xiaoyao secretly smacked his lips: "There are really enough."
"Sir, let me tell you, today's candidate officials have become a burden to the court. Although they do not work, the court still has to pay them salaries, which means they keep them in vain! Every year, the court will lose a lot of money.
Silver..." His subordinate smiled bitterly.
"This is indeed a problem..." Ma Xiaoyao touched his bald chin: "Maybe... I can help them improve their living environment..."
The subordinate was stunned for a moment: "Sir, do you have any idea?"
The corner of Ma Xiaoyao's mouth curled up slightly, revealing an incomprehensible smile: "With this group of people, what else do I have to fear? This group of candidate officials is simply a sharp sword! Kill whoever you want, whoever you want.
Dare you provoke me?!"
"Sir... what do you mean... why can't I understand..." The subordinate's face was full of doubts.
Ma Xiaoyao slapped the notebook on the table and said with a smile: "You're right if you don't understand! If you can understand, then you are the imperial envoy! Okay, I won't joke with you... I will send it to you now
You must complete a task with quality and quantity, and there is no room for sloppiness."
"Sir, you said that as long as I can do it, I will try my best to complete it." His subordinate nodded seriously.
"You go outside and spread the news that I can help those candidate officials arrange their positions, and they are all fat officials." Ma Xiaoyao ordered.
"That's it?" The subordinate was stunned. He had just seen Ma Xiaoyao's solemn words and thought it was something important, but who knew it was such a trivial matter.
"If you finish this matter well, I will remember your contribution and reward you later." Ma Xiaoyao smiled and said: "Remember, spread the news widely, it is best to let all the alternate officials know."
"Hey, I'll do it right away." The subordinate turned and left.
Ma Xiaoyao leaned on the back of his chair, tapped the table with his fingers, and said with a smile: "Let's see how I deal with you."
…
As soon as the news spread, a large number of alternate officials came to look for Ma Xiaoyao, and they all came empty-handed. Everyone was carrying gifts, expensive gifts, but in the end Ma Xiaoyao did not accept these gifts.
It took Ma Xiaoyao several days to receive all the alternate officials. After a simple exchange, he got some understanding of these alternate officials. This group of people is still capable, but the opportunity is not good and he has not caught up.
when.
But now, they met Ma Xiaoyao! This gave them a chance to show off their talents!
Next, Ma Xiaoyao divided all the candidate officials into several groups, and then asked these candidate officials to investigate the princes and ministers. Ma Xiaoyao made a promise that as long as the princes, princes, and ministers were found to have committed illegal acts, they would be captured on the spot, and then these candidates would be
Officials take over duties.
This is a good rule!
As long as those princes and ministers are removed from their posts, these candidate officials will be found.
All the alternate officials are working hard to investigate the princes and ministers. As the saying goes, there is strength in numbers, and these alternate officials have been in the imperial city for many years and have a wide network of contacts and popularity. Once they go crazy, the princes and ministers cannot stand it.
.
In the end, these princes and ministers could only go to Duanmu Fenglei for help, hoping that Duanmu Fenglei would stop Ma Xiaoyao and not let Ma Xiaoyao go so crazy.
Duanmu Fenglei agreed on the surface, but then he forgot about the matter. Ma Xiaoyao was appointed by him, and it was he who asked Ma Xiaoyao to investigate these princes and ministers. Now that it has worked, it is too late for Duanmu Fenglei to be happy.
Can you punish Ma Xiaoyao?
Duanmu Fenglei pretended to be confused, and Ma Xiaoyao pressed too hard. These princes and ministers immediately panicked. In the end, they had no choice but to visit Ma Xiaoyao, hoping that Ma Xiaoyao would be noble and let them go. The conditions were arbitrary, regardless of Ma Xiaoyao.
No matter what conditions are offered, they will agree.
Ma Xiaoyao was not as easy to talk to as Duanmu Fenglei. He directly kicked out these princes and ministers, and even said harsh words: No matter who it is, who violates the king's laws must be dealt with seriously, and they should be beheaded or imprisoned.
He should be jailed, should be dismissed from his post... and should not be tolerated! Of course, if he can surrender and plead guilty, and accuse others of meritorious service, he can be given a lighter punishment.
Ma Xiaoyao is just a helmsman. What really scares these princes and ministers are the alternate officials. These alternate officials are simply more ferocious than jackals. If there is a problem, don't talk about it. I will definitely find it out for you. No problem... they will also be ruthless.
I will torture you severely and I will not stop until I torture you to death.
This involves an issue of profit distribution. Only by pulling down these princes and ministers can these alternate officials ascend to the throne! For their own future, they can only deal with these princes and ministers ruthlessly.
Although the method is a little despicable, the effect is excellent.
No, in just a few days, a large number of princes and ministers were deposed, and Ma Xiaoyao was not merciful. He beheaded those who had committed many evil deeds, and sent those with slightly less serious crimes to prison. Of course, during the execution
During the process, there were also a group of people who wanted to resist or assassinate Ma Xiaoyao, but they were suppressed by the soldiers. Duanmu Fenglei was cruel this time. Not only did he give Ma Xiaoyao the power to kill first and then kill him, he also mobilized a group of soldiers.
Go and protect Ma Xiaoyao, so that Ma Xiaoyao can let go and do it.
After being punished like this by Ma Xiaoyao, the atmosphere in the officialdom suddenly became awe-inspiring! Almost no one dared to do bad things anymore.
Next, Ma Xiaoyao came up with another dirty trick for Duanmu Fenglei, which was to implement a rotation system, so that officials above the fifth rank would rotate every once in a while. You would take his place, and he would take yours.
There are two advantages. First, when facing different environments and dealing with different things, one's ability will definitely be improved. Second, it can effectively prevent the occurrence of violations of laws and disciplines. For example, when a person
After serving as the prefect for three years, he was forcibly transferred and replaced by a new person. After this person took over the prefect, he would definitely check the old accounts. At this time, he would be able to find out whether the previous prefect was honest or fatuous. This is also a disguised form.
Supervision, of course, in order to prevent collusion and cover-up from happening, we need to send people to conduct thorough investigations from time to time. It is best to send some people who have a bad relationship with the other party, so that there will be no cover-up.
Finally, strict laws must be formulated to restrain this group of people and make them afraid. Only fear will prevent them from breaking the law.
Anyway, Ma Xiaoyao will do it according to his own ideas, whatever works best. Since he is a migrant, he has no relatives or friends here, so he has a lot less worries.
I don't know since when, Ma Xiaoyao has been nicknamed "Executioner". This nickname was given by the princes and ministers. Through this nickname, we can see how much these princes, ministers hold grudges and are afraid of Ma Xiaoyao.
Duanmu Fenglei was happy. He had indeed seen the right person. Ma Xiaoyao had indeed helped him solve a big problem.
When things were almost done, Ma Xiaoyao entered the palace and asked for the orchid-leaf grass. This time, Duanmu Fenglei did not refuse and handed the orchid-leaf grass directly to Ma Xiaoyao.
"How to take it?" Ma Xiaoyao asked.
"Crush it into pieces and swallow it directly." Duanmu Fenglei said, "It will take about a day or so."
Ma Xiaoyao nodded: "I came here today, partly to ask for orchid leaves, and partly to say goodbye to you."
"Farewell?" Duanmu Fenglei was stunned: "You want to leave?"
"Yes." Ma Xiaoyao nodded.
"This... you are doing a good job as an official, why are you leaving?" Duanmu Fenglei asked: "Are you dissatisfied that the treatment is not enough? Or do you think the official is not big enough?"
"No." Ma Xiaoyao shook his head: "I like to be alone and don't like to be restrained..."
"You should think about it again. Through this period of observation, I have found that you are very suitable for being an official, and I still trust you very much. I very much hope that you can continue to be an official..." Duanmu Fenglei persuaded.
"Your Majesty! Thank you for taking care of me during this time. I will come to see you when I have the opportunity." After saying this, Ma Xiaoyao turned and left, walking very gracefully without any hesitation.
Duanmu Fenglei sighed softly: "This Ma Xiaoyao... is really a bit disrespectful... I trust him so much and use him so much, but he doesn't want to repay... If this is the case, then don't blame me for playing dirty tricks...
"
…
Only one day later, Ma Xiaoyao came back, his face full of anger: "Didn't you say that after taking orchid leaf grass, it only takes one day to untie my Dantian? Why have only half of it been untied so far?
?”
"If you want to unlock the remaining half of Dantian, you must continue to stay as an official." Duanmu Fenglei said calmly.
"Are you plotting against me?!" Ma Xiaoyao's eyes turned cold.
"I was also forced by you." Duanmu Fenglei did not feel any guilt at all, but said confidently: "If you stayed as an official honestly, I would not have made such a move."
