However, the censors still proved quite useful. When they went down to the countryside, they discovered many problems.
For instance, there were issues everywhere such as county magistrates privately selling land, insufficient acreage allotted to settled refugees, relief grain not being used properly, and the court’s conscription orders not being implemented.
The capable censors corrected these problems on the spot for Zhao Hanzhang, while the less capable censors reported them truthfully.
For now, Zhao Hanzhang could understand the overall situation in local areas through them. They were Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes and ears.
Because she needed to dispatch quite a few censors to the nine provinces, the short-staffed Zhao Hanzhang was very tolerant of them. Never mind that they merely submitted memorials criticizing Xun Fan—even if they submitted memorials criticizing her, she didn’t really mind.
First get them working, and if they really spoke too harshly, just work them to death.
Ming Yu was upright and couldn’t tolerate even a grain of sand in his eye, so he disagreed with Ji Yuan’s view. As soon as they met, he still expressed to Zhao Hanzhang his opinion that those censorial officials should be punished.
Zhao Hanzhang unrolled the yellow silk to look at the imperial edict, saying unconcernedly, “It’s not a big matter. Just let them debate it themselves and each find their own evidence. When they’ve finished debating, rewards and punishments will naturally follow.”
“What if they can’t settle the debate?” Zhao Hanzhang thought for a moment, then looked up and said, “Oh my, did I forget to establish the position of Minister of Justice? No wonder the officials being impeached lately have such varied positions, with no one to manage them.”
Ji Yuan and Ming Yu: …
The two exchanged glances. “We thought you deliberately didn’t establish this position, since Minister Fu is not here.”
Zhao Hanzhang said, “Even if he were here, I couldn’t give him this position. His talents don’t lie in this area.”
She began to feel troubled, thinking through all the people currently available to her, but really couldn’t think of anyone suitable for this position. She couldn’t help but sigh, “There’s still too little talent.”
The Minister of Justice—many readers might wonder what kind of position this is, but if we mention the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, everyone would understand.
This position dealt with criminal and legal matters, with responsibilities above the Ministry of Justice, mainly handling major cases, important cases, cases with serious social impact, and cases involving officials and the imperial family.
Things like official corruption and bribery were basically reviewed by the Court of Judicial Review. Oh no, now it’s the Minister of Justice—there’s no Court of Judicial Review yet at this time.
Zhao Hanzhang really couldn’t think of a suitable person herself, so she simply said, “You two gentlemen recommend some talent. Mm, pass this order down—have all regional governors submit suitable candidates. I’ll review them later and fill all the positions in the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice. This is important—we can’t have situations where officials make mistakes but we can’t find anyone to investigate.”
Ji Yuan and Ming Yu exchanged glances and bowed in acknowledgment.
Zhao Hanzhang stamped the seal on the imperial edict with a thud, then handed it to Ji Yuan, smiling, “Send it out quickly. Right now everyone in the realm is watching the Prince of Langya. This edict was written by the Emperor’s own hand. If the Prince of Langya is a loyal subject, he shouldn’t disobey the imperial decree, right?”
Ji Yuan smiled and acknowledged, “Xun Fan said His Majesty also has a personal letter he wants to send out with the edict. In that case, it wouldn’t be appropriate to just send officials from the Secretariat to deliver it. What do you think about selecting an inner court attendant from the palace to accompany them?”
Zhao Hanzhang thought for a moment, then said, “Ask the Emperor about this matter. If he wants someone from his side to make the trip, that’s fine too.”
Ji Yuan and Ming Yu were startled and quickly said, “Wouldn’t the Grand General be giving them an opportunity to collude?”
They only wanted to make the Prince of Langya believe more firmly that this edict truly came from the Emperor’s own intention, not to give them a chance to establish contact!
Zhao Hanzhang, however, wore an expression of righteousness, saying, “I trust His Majesty and Xun Fan.”
Ming Yu and Ji Yuan frowned, then heard her say, “Moreover, collusion wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.”
For her, it would actually be beneficial.
If the Emperor was willing to sincerely yield power, naturally everyone would be happy. If he wasn’t sincere, he would have to do something, giving her something to respond to.
Was there any better bait than the Prince of Langya?
Ming Yu and Ji Yuan immediately understood. The two exchanged glances and silently acknowledged. The Grand General was truly cunning—in this they admitted their inferiority.
The young Emperor was still young, yet she was already digging pits for him—big pits, the kind where one might fall in and be buried alive if not careful.
That afternoon, the young Emperor finally carefully composed a heartfelt letter. After being sent back three times, it finally passed Xun Fan’s review and was delivered to Ji Yuan.
Ji Yuan immediately arranged personnel to deliver it to the Prince of Langya.
He happily told the Emperor that the Grand General, mindful that he hadn’t been in contact with his imperial relatives for a long time, specially permitted him to send an inner court attendant along this time, so the Prince of Langya would know about his life in Luoyang and be reassured.
After consulting with Xun Fan, the young Emperor carefully selected Lai Qing, the adopted son of Eunuch Dong, to accompany them.
Delivering the edict to Jianye would take time, and receiving a response in Luoyang would take even longer. During this period, Zhao Hanzhang first received feedback from officials and local areas regarding her request for talent recommendations.
Because everyone knew Zhao Hanzhang was looking for positions in the Ministry of Justice, basically everyone recommended officials currently in government. For example, Ji Yuan felt Xie Shi was very suitable—he believed in working the capable harder, thinking Xie Shi could serve as Minister of Justice while also being a military advisor to Zhao Erlang.
Ming Yu, however, believed Wang Nie of Nanyang Jun and Geng Rong of Yuzhou were suitable.
Beigong Chun surveyed his subordinates, then picked up his brush and perfunctorily recommended Huang Shi to Zhao Hanzhang. This was just to make up numbers—he felt Zhao Hanzhang definitely wouldn’t fancy Huang Shi.
Huang Shi thought so too, but still had opinions about the general using him to make up numbers.
Zu Ti was much more serious. After carefully examining Jizhou’s talent, he recommended three people to Zhao Hanzhang. The first was his deputy Zuo Min, whom he felt had great courage and didn’t fear authority, making him a good candidate for the Ministry of Justice.
The second was Song Mingyao, a department head in the Jizhou Governor’s office. This person was meticulous and well-read, a rare talent who might be needed by Zhao Hanzhang.
The third was a mathematics professor from Jizhou’s official school named Lu Leyang. He was not only skilled in mathematics but also proficient in law. From the laws of the various states in the Qin period to the current Dajin laws, he could discuss them all in detail. Zu Ti believed that even if he didn’t enter the Ministry of Justice, he should enter the Ministry of Justice proper.
Compared to the serious and cautious Zu Ti, Shi Lei was much more magnanimous. As soon as he heard Zhao Hanzhang needed people, he immediately summoned all his subordinates, then took up his brush to write down all their names and sent Zhao Hanzhang a letter.
Zhao Hanzhang opened Shi Lei’s letter and saw stack after stack of paper. Perhaps because his brush control wasn’t good, the ink bled through the paper, with some characters smudged into blobs, though still legible.
Then she looked at three full pages of names in silence. Was Shi Lei planning to send all his people to Luoyang?
Zhao Hanzhang rubbed her forehead before opening the letters sent by Zhao Ju, Liu Kun, and others.
What surprised Zhao Hanzhang was that Wang Nie, who had been recommended, also recommended someone.
His older brother, Wang Gui, who was still a commoner.
Coincidentally, when the chaos erupted years ago, his brother fled south with clan members to the Jiangnan area. However, he didn’t seek refuge with the Prince of Langya but slowly made his way from Jiangnan back to Nanyang Jun.
Because Wang Nie was governing Nanyang Jun, he went to him for refuge.
Wang Nie believed his brother was learned and talented, suitable for entering the Ministry of Justice.
Zhao Hanzhang carefully reviewed the lists recommended by various people, then selected some from among them and had them come to Luoyang.
Even if they didn’t make it into the Ministry of Justice, they could be placed elsewhere. Right now she had too much porridge and too few monks—enough to place them all!
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