The Empress remarried, and I retaliated by wiping out the court.

The Imperial Garden.

Li Yanran followed behind Ye Wudao, twisting her fingers together the whole way, wanting to say something but hesitating to speak.

Her grandfather publicly pressured officials, and the people resigned. Ye Wudao has no one to rely on, so he must be extremely anxious now.

She wanted to apologize to Ye Wudao on behalf of her grandfather many times, but Ye Wudao walked too fast and she couldn't catch up.

Finally, at a bend in the road, Li Yanran caught up with Ye Wudao:

"Your Majesty, you..."

Li Yanran was stunned when she saw Ye Wudao's expression.

She thought Ye Wudao would be sad, or at least look worried, but when she got closer... Ye Wudao couldn't help but smile, and his face even showed a distorted expression as he tried to suppress his laughter.

Huh... what's going on?

In fact, when Ye Wudao heard that the court officials wanted to resign, he couldn't hold back any longer!

This is really hilarious.

He was just figuring out how to get rid of these officials who were occupying their positions without doing anything, when they actually brought it up themselves.

Can this be tolerated?

From now on, without these people causing trouble behind our backs, the imperial court will be free to do as it pleases.

"Your Majesty... all the officials resigned, and you... don't seem sad at all?"

Li Yanran asked in surprise.

"puff--"

Ye Wudao finally couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha... My beloved concubine, do you know? I almost couldn't help but burst out laughing in court just now."

Li Yanran: "???"

Ye Wudao finally managed to stop laughing.

"I've been troubled by something lately. The entire court is filled with the people of the nine powerful ministers. I want to replace them, but I don't have a reason. And then... they actually resigned voluntarily? Isn't this like a windfall?"

Li Yanran was stunned.

When all the officials were dismissed, everyone thought it was a dead end, but in Ye Wudao's eyes... it became a great joy.

She hesitated for a moment, then said softly, "But the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Justice have all ceased operations. Especially in Shandong, which is suffering from a severe drought, hundreds of thousands of disaster victims are starving. Without the Ministry of Revenue allocating silver and grain and verifying documents, how can the various prefectures dare to open their granaries without authorization? Your Majesty... how will you provide disaster relief?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Wudao suddenly stopped laughing. "Why must it go through the Ministry of Revenue? Isn't the purpose of disaster relief to ensure that people have food to eat? If that's the case, why not just order someone to buy some grain and send it over?"

Li Yanran was stunned.

That makes so much sense, she couldn't even refute it?

Ye Wudao continued:

"The Ministry of Revenue's procedures involve layers of verification, stamping, and approval. By the time they've approved it, the people have long since starved to death. Furthermore, the disaster relief funds distributed pass through the hands of officials, with each layer cutting back, so the actual amount reaching the people is probably less than a tenth!"

"In my opinion, the most efficient method is to send people directly to purchase supplies and deliver them to the disaster victims, eliminating all intermediaries!"

Li Yanran opened her mouth, only to find that Ye Wudao's method was novel and efficient, leaving no room for argument.

But she couldn't help but ask:

"But all the officials have resigned. Who will handle the government affairs now? And who will fill the vacancies in the Six Ministries?"

Ye Wudao stood with his hands behind his back and said calmly:

"My beloved concubine, do you think it's difficult to be an official?"

Li Yanran nodded subconsciously.

"That's for sure. Those who can enter the court as officials have all studied diligently for ten years, becoming extremely learned, and have passed through layers of selection, including the prefectural examination, the provincial examination, and the palace examination, before they are qualified to stand in the court. How could an ordinary person be competent for such a position?"

Ye Wudao shook his head.

"Wrong. The vast majority of officials do nothing more than read official documents, write official documents, affix their seals, and issue orders every day."

"Ordinary people who can read, do arithmetic, and understand the rules are already better than 80% of the officials in the imperial court."

"Don't think of officials as superior. They only have one head and two eyes. They don't have an extra brain like ordinary people."

"What people revere is never the people themselves, but the chair they sit on."

Li Yanran was shocked.

These words were completely new to her, yet they struck her like a thunderbolt.

Ye Wudao suddenly stopped and turned to look at her.

"Li Yanran!"

"Your Majesty, I am here."

Li Yanran suddenly felt a tremor in her heart; this was the first time Ye Wudao had called her by her full name.

"I hereby appoint you as the Governor-General of Shandong Disaster Relief, overseeing all matters related to disaster relief, grain transport, public security, epidemic control, and reconstruction in Shandong. You may act expediently in all military and political affairs within Shandong, and officials in the prefectures and counties you pass through must fully cooperate."

Li Yanran was filled with trepidation.

"Your Majesty, I am but a woman, what virtue or ability do I possess..."

Ye Wudao gave her a cold look: "You have the ability, and I trust you, that's enough. If you're going to make excuses and put on a show just for the sake of those pitiful worldly opinions, then I've misjudged you!"

Li Yanran breathed into the room.

After a long silence, she slowly bowed:

"Yanran will certainly live up to His Majesty's expectations!"

…………

The living room of the Changsun residence.

Changsun Yuanpei was the late emperor's teacher, and also the teacher appointed by the late emperor for Ye Wudao. He had left the capital to go home for recuperation, but after the regent's coup, he knew that Ye Wudao was not an easy person to deal with, so he stayed in Yujing City.

"Foolish, Your Majesty is foolish!"

Changsun Yuanpei slapped his thigh and said with a look of disappointment.

As a veteran of three reigns, how could the news of the dismissal of officials be kept from him in the imperial study?

Upon learning that Ye Wudao refused to back down and even allowed all officials to resign, Changsun Yuanpei was furious!

His son, Changsun Hong, the current Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, tentatively asked, "Father, are you underestimating His Majesty? When the Regent Prince staged the coup, you also thought His Majesty had no chance of winning, but what happened? It was clearly His Majesty who was more skillful!"

Changsun Yuanpei slammed his hand on the table.

"Nonsense! His Majesty is confused, and you're confused too!"

He pointed at his son and shouted angrily:

"Do you really think that an emperor rules the world based on an imperial edict?"

Changsun Hong hesitated and said, "Could it be... that's not it?"

"madness!"

Changsun Yuanpei explained, "The imperial court is not just the imperial court, but also the Six Ministries, the prefectures, the counties, and a network composed of hundreds of thousands of officials of all ranks!"

"The emperor is the head, and the officials are the hands and feet! No matter how clever the head is, without hands and feet, how can one govern the world?"

Changsun Hong lowered his head and dared not utter a sound after being scolded.

Changsun Yuanpei became more and more excited as he spoke.

"Furthermore, do you really think they're just a few officials? What's behind them? It's the Eight Great Families, the literati of Jiangnan, local powerful clans, their protégés and former subordinates, and a deeply entrenched network of relationships built up over decades!"

"Today they sit in the imperial court as ministers and vice ministers, and tomorrow they return to their families, still the powerful heads of influential clans! Their official positions are merely the most insignificant layer of their status; what's truly terrifying are the resources, connections, and prestige behind them!"

"His Majesty's single decree of dismissal today has not only removed a few officials, but has pushed the entire scholarly community of the realm to its opposite side!"

After a moment of silence, Changsun Hong couldn't help but ask:

"But what if Your Majesty promotes a new group of your own people? Those people are loyal to Your Majesty, so wouldn't the empire be regained?"

The voice just fell.

Changsun Yuanpei was so angry that he wanted to beat his good-for-nothing son to death with his cane!

"You are utterly foolish! How could I have given birth to such a wretched child?"

He stared intently at his son.

"Hong'er, do you also feel that your father is getting old? Do you feel that I've been senile all these years, allowing the vassal kings to grow too powerful and the aristocratic families to expand?"

Changsun Hong immediately knelt down, "Your son wouldn't dare!"

Changsun Yuanpei slowly stood up, walked to the window, and looked in the direction of the palace.

"In the entire Great Yan, no one sees further than I do. Do you know who currently holds the reins of power over the world?"

Changsun Hong blurted out, "Your Majesty?"

"wrong!"

Changsun Yuanpei shook his head, "It is the various vassal kings and the border troops. Each of them holds tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of elite soldiers in their hands. They do not pay taxes to the court. It is no exaggeration to say that their fiefdoms are states within states."

But what about our emperor? Even the imperial guards in the capital are at the mercy of others; how can they possibly fight them?

Changsun Hong's expression gradually changed; he felt that his father's words made a lot of sense.

Today's court officials are no longer in a situation where the country was ruled by hereditary monarchy a century ago.

The power of the Great Yan lies not in the imperial court, but in the hands of the vassal kings. If this continues, the disintegration of the entire country will be imminent.

Changsun Yuanpei continued, "That's why I proposed the marriage alliance, sending the daughters of nine powerful ministers to the palace. In the eyes of the world, this is to monitor the emperor, but in my eyes, it's to tie the nine families to the Ye family on the same horse."

"If our daughter becomes empress, and Ye Wudao uses a little trickery to give birth to a prince in the future, he will be their grandson. If the Ye family perishes, their bloodline may not be able to be preserved."

"Over time, interests will change, and positions will change. The empress will side with the emperor, and the empress will influence her father and brothers, who in turn will influence the generals in the army."

"If one generation is not enough, then two generations, three generations. Once imperial power has once again permeated into every household, military power will naturally return to the emperor's hands little by little."

"This... is my true, open strategy!"

Changsun Hong was so shocked that cold sweat poured down his forehead, and he was completely dumbfounded.

Only today did he realize that his father's words about "nine families uniting in marriage" were actually part of a far-reaching plan!

If what my father said is true, the Ye family might be able to regain control of the country in ten or twenty years.

But now... Ye Wudao has personally overturned this whole game.

Changsun Hong's face turned pale: "Then... what do we do now? His Majesty is fighting more and more fiercely with the vassal kings and aristocratic families, it's almost to the point of no return."

Changsun Yuanpei closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"What else can we do? Tomorrow I will personally go to the palace and, no matter what, persuade His Majesty to rescind his decree, summon all officials to court, and humble himself before the scholars of the land, otherwise..."

He gazed at the majestic imperial city, his eyes filled with worry.

"It seems that the Great Yan Dynasty is truly about to descend into chaos."