Lord Mei once reminded Li Mu to be careful with the Zhou family.
Li Mu used this to think that the assassination in Beijun was probably carried out by someone from the Zhou family. It was not until today that he met the old man in the memory of the killer on the street that he finally identified the mastermind behind it.
Through Wang Wu, Li Mu once again confirmed his identity.
Zhou Chen is Zhou Chu's elder brother, but he is not Zhou Ting's son. There are four brothers in the Zhou family, Zhou Ting ranks fourth, and Zhou Chen is the only son of the third oldest son in the Zhou family.
Zhou Chen is usually a low-key person, far less flamboyant than Zhou Chu, and he doesn't do anything to bully the people. People in Shendu know very little about him.
The old man beside him is his bodyguard. The children of big families like Shendu are surrounded by bodyguards. These bodyguards are the people with whom they have the closest relationship.
The old man appeared in the killer's memory, indicating that Beijun's assassination was probably Zhou Chen's plan.
At that time, Li Mu had just offended the old party. If something happened to him, the first person everyone would suspect would be the old party.
It’s just that Li Mu didn’t know whether Zhou Chen had done all this on his own or if someone who was really in charge of the Zhou family was involved behind the scenes.
The killer is dead, and Li Mu's words alone cannot accuse Zhou Chen.
Moreover, because of him, a young member of the Zhou family had just died. If Li Mu pointed the finger at Zhou Chen again at this time, it might completely anger the Zhou family and usher in their fierce revenge.
However, the revenge for the assassination must be avenged.
As long as he knows who is behind the scenes, the next thing can be planned in the long run.
Li Mu walked to the front office and saw Zhang Chun walking in listlessly from outside.
Li Mu greeted: "Sir, are you going to court?"
Since being promoted to the Shendu Order, Zhang Chun's rank has climbed from the sixth to the fifth rank, and he has become qualified to go to court.
Although there are a lot of fifth-rank officials in Shendu, not everyone has the opportunity to go to court, but Shendu Yamen is no better than the six-level yamen. There are also ministers and ministers, and the ministers and Yuanwailang can stay in the yamen if they have nothing to do.
There is only one official in charge of the government office, Zhang Chun, who has to go to court for everything. Unlike Li Mu, who can sleep as long as he wants with Xiaobai in his arms. Every three days, Zhang Chun has to get up early one day to prepare for the court.
prepare for.
Li Mudao: "My lord, it's a little late to go to court today."
Zhang Chun waved his hand and said: "Don't mention it. The argument in the court today was too fierce. The guy behind me almost spit on my face..."
Li Mu asked curiously: "What caused the quarrel?"
Zhang Cundao: "It's not because of the academy. Your Majesty feels that almost all the officials in the thirty-six counties, including Shendu, and major government offices, come from the academy. In the long run, it will be detrimental to the country, so he wants to give up some officials."
The quota was selected directly from the people, which was opposed by the ministers..."
Li Mudao: "This is very good..."
Zhang Chun glanced at him and said: "It's so good. Before the academy, the moral character and ability of court officials varied greatly. Many people with no talent, morality or incompetence could still hold important positions in the court. The people were miserable.
After the establishment of academies, the quality of officials has been greatly improved. If the selection of officials goes back to the past, wouldn't it mean that the people will suffer that kind of suffering again?"
It seems that Zhang Chun also supports the academy. Li Mu asked: "Is your Excellency also from the academy?"
Hearing this, Zhang Chun showed a proud look on his face and said: "That is, when I was young, I studied at Wanjuan Academy, and I was appointed as the magistrate of Yangqiu County after I graduated from the Academy..."
Li Mu asked: "Before there was an academy, the people were miserable. After there was an academy, would the people's lives be better?"
"Well……"
Zhang Chun moved his lips and found that he had no way to answer Li Mu.
Before Emperor Wen, after experiencing the prosperous age of Emperor Wu, the counties no longer suffered from the troubles caused by demons and ghosts, but the lives of the people did not seem to be much better.
After Emperor Wen, the officials were reorganized and their quality was greatly improved. Today, the people should be living a better life, but as far as he knew, the people in the three and six counties were far from living and working in peace and contentment.
He looked at Li Mu and asked, "You mean Emperor Wen was wrong?"
Li Mu shook his head and said: "Emperor Wen was not wrong, but the decrees during Emperor Wen's period are not necessarily suitable for today. During Emperor Wen's period, the officials in the court were mixed, and the method of selecting officials in the court had great flaws. Emperor Wen's decisive reform led to the famous
During the reign of Emperor Wen, the academies at that time were beneficial to improving the ecology of the court."
"But it's different now. The chaos in the court during Emperor Wen's time no longer exists. Students in the academy have almost monopolized the court. Officials use the academy to divide camps, form cliques for personal gain, and protect each other. The decrees during Emperor Wen's time are no longer applicable to today's dynasty.
Don…”
Zhang Chun looked at him with a strange look on his face and said: "You should really be allowed to go to court. If you were in court in the morning, there wouldn't be no one to speak for His Majesty..."
Li Mu was very sure that what he could see must have been seen by many people in the court.
However, they all came from the Academy. If they agreed with the Queen, wouldn't they be standing on the opposite side of the Academy?
They already belong to a camp, so naturally they will not betray their own camp.
What's more, with the power and influence of the Academy, even the New Party and the Old Party rely on it. Who in the DPRK dares to directly count the Academy?
Li Mu could imagine the scene in the morning court when Her Majesty the Queen was opposed by the ministers. Unfortunately, he was only a minor official and was not even qualified to go to court to defend her.
Li Mu didn't know much about the academy. After calling Wang Wu, he learned a little more about the academy.
There are four major academies in Shendu, named Baichuan, Qingyun, Wanjuan, and Bailu. They began during the period of Emperor Wen and have been passed down for more than a hundred years.
Among the four major academies, Bailu Academy is different from the other three in that it is the only academy directly under the Ministry of War. The dean of Bailu Academy is the Minister of War.
The purpose of the existence of White Deer Academy is to resist foreign enemies and has never been involved in party disputes. Almost all students from White Deer Academy will not stay in Shendu. They need to go to the borders of the Great Zhou Dynasty to protect border counties from neighboring countries.
The demon kingdom, the ghost realm, and the invasion of dragons.
Fortunately, since Emperor Wu, the Great Zhou Dynasty has become a powerful country in the world and has become the most powerful country in the land of Zuzhou. Most of the surrounding countries respect the Great Zhou Dynasty, and those who do not respect the Great Zhou Dynasty as the suzerain state do not dare to offend the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The Demon Kingdom and the Ghost Realm have always been divided internally and do not pose much threat to the Great Zhou for the time being. Although the Dragon Clan is powerful, it has lived under the sea for a long time and rarely appears on the mainland. The current situation of the Great Zhou is more about internal worries, and
Not a foreign invasion.
Wanjuan Academy mainly teaches the concepts of governing the country and governing the country. Many of the students who come out of Wanjuan Academy do not know how to practice, but they all have unique insights into how to govern the country. Those who have outstanding abilities after graduating from the academy,
They will stay in the divine capital to serve, and those with less ability will be sent to local areas for training.
Qingyun Academy and Baichuan Academy are more focused on cultivation. The students who study in these two academies are all students with a certain talent for cultivation. After they leave the academy, they either hold important positions in the divine capital or guard a county, and they have the brightest future.
future.
There are 106 chief officials in the thirty-six counties, including county governors, county magistrates, and county lieutenants. At least ninety of them are from these two academies.
Of course, the Academy does not belong to a political party, and its actual cohesion is naturally not as good as the New Party and the Old Party.
However, the status of the academy is transcendent. Students who come out of the academy have a deep sense of belonging to the academy. Maybe they were quite dissatisfied with the academy when they were studying, but they will never allow outsiders to trample on the dignity of the academy.
Whether in the capital or in various counties, officials who come from the same academy will naturally be close to each other in terms of relationship. When this is reflected in the court, they will become a cohesive group.
Royal Palace.
It's late at night.
Her Majesty the Queen stood in the empty palace, her majesty in front of others was no longer there, and there was still a scowl on her face, angry about what happened in the morning.
She looked around, looking for someone to talk to and talk to about her worries, but she couldn't find anyone.
In fact, since she was forced into this position three years ago, she has had no one to talk to.
That person was right. Sitting in this position, she would slowly lose her relatives and friends. No one would confide in her sincerely. Her parents, calling her Your Majesty, wanted her to pass the throne to the children of the Zhou family.
Her former friends now only have respect and fear for her...
She got everything others wanted, but lost everything she wanted.
She walked outside the hall, looked up at the sky above her head, and suddenly thought of someone.
…
Li Mansion.
Li Mu was holding Xiaobai in his arms and sleeping soundly, when suddenly white mist filled his eyes.
A familiar figure appeared in front of him.
Li Mu hadn't seen his other personality for a long time. When he saw her again, he actually felt a little warm. He waved hello to her and said, "Long time no see."
Although the relationship between the two personalities was a little unpleasant at first, fortunately, she did not appear every day, nor did she torture Li Mu every time she appeared. Li Mu was not as afraid of her anymore.
The beautiful woman looked a little ugly and ignored Li Mu.
Li Mu's heart skipped a beat, wondering if her aunt had come, and wondered if her inner demon would come to her aunt?
In order to prevent her from angering him, Li Mu prepared to run away.
The next moment, he noticed that the scenery in front of him changed, and two people appeared on the top of a mountain.
There was a pavilion on the top of the mountain. At this moment, the two of them were sitting in the pavilion. Several exquisite side dishes were placed in front of them. The aroma was so fragrant that Li Mu couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.
He complained secretly in his heart, whose dream is this, and why is she more skilled in controlling dreams than he is?
The surrounding scenery was so real. Li Mu could hear the chirping of birds, smell the fragrance of flowers, and even had the mountain breeze blowing on his face. The side dishes in front of him were so delicious and delicious that Li Mu even began to doubt.
Is this a dream or reality...
Legend has it that strong men in the upper three realms can use their own consciousness to invade other people's dreams and freely weave the content of their dreams. The person who is being married to a dream cannot distinguish between dreams and reality at all, and may even
Fall into it forever...
Li Mu looked around and sighed, the legendary art of marrying dreams is nothing more than that, right?
Li Mu glanced tentatively at the woman opposite and asked, "Are you in a bad mood?"
The woman didn't answer, but the answer was written on her face.
Li Mu didn't know why a demon could be in a bad mood, so he poured a glass of wine for each of them from the wine bottle on the table, and said: "Since you are in a bad mood, I will drink a few drinks with you..."
He drank the wine in his glass and sighed softly.
The woman glanced at him and asked, "Why are you sighing?"
There is nothing to hide from the other self, Li Mu Youyou said: "It's a pity that I am not Mr. Zhang, otherwise, in the morning today, His Majesty would not be allowed to face the officials alone..."
The woman raised her eyebrows, glanced at Li Mu, and said, "What's so good about that woman? She's just a rogue party seizing power and stealing the country. Is she worthy of your defending her like this?"
boom!
Li Mu dropped the wine glass heavily on the stone table, stood up suddenly, and said rudely: "If you disrespect His Majesty again, I will go back. You can drink this wine alone!"
Eaters are short-tongued, and predators are soft-handed.
After taking so many benefits from the Queen, Li Mu couldn't defend her in court. If he couldn't defend her even in his dreams, I'm afraid his conscience would be uneasy the next time he accepted benefits from the Queen.
The woman didn't expect that these words would anger Li Mu. She glanced at him, lowered her head and said, "Okay, I won't say bad things about her anymore. You can sit down..."
