Even though Li Mu was always on the edge of danger, he still managed to get through the night safely.
This was all thanks to his superb acting skills that he had trained.
Li Mu didn't know why the Empress always appeared in his dreams, but no matter what, he would just praise her. No matter how narrow-minded the Empress was, she wouldn't be jealous of herself.
He finally understood that trouble came from careless talk.
No wonder Mr. Mei kept reminding him to be respectful to the Empress. It seemed that she already knew everything back then. Thinking about how she acted when she saw his inner demon, it wasn't that strange anymore.
Recalling the past with the woman in his dreams, Li Mu was almost certain that the Empress wouldn't do anything to him.
And he didn't have to worry about being disturbed by his inner demon. He could finally relax.
Li Mu had been in the Luoyang for more than two months and had experienced a lot. He missed Liu Hanyan and Wanwan very much. He planned to go back to the Northern Region after the matters at the Academy were settled.
He left with the White Demon King without saying goodbye. He wondered how Su He was doing at the Bay of Clearwater.
When he arrived at the Luoyang Government, he happened to see Wang Wu putting a young man who looked like a student in jail.
The Empress ordered all the government offices in the Luoyang Government to investigate the cases involving the students of the three Academies. Other than the Luoyang Government, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, and the Censorate also started to investigate these cases.
The people of the Luoyang Government who were wronged could go to these government offices themselves.
Since the Empress had given the order, no government office dared to bend the law. If they were found out, the entire government office would be implicated.
In the eyes of the people, the Luoyang Government was fairer than any other government office in the Luoyang Government. Some of the people who didn't dare to go public with their grievances gradually started to go to the Luoyang Government.
Zhang Chun finished dealing with a case and sighed, "What's wrong with the students nowadays? When we were studying at the Academy, the teachers were very strict with us. Those who didn't behave well would be kicked out of the Academy. It's only been 20 years, and the Academy has become a place to hide evil …"
Emperor Wen had a good intention in establishing the Academy. Since the establishment of the Academy, it had been held in high esteem by the people for more than a hundred years.
Although officials from different academies had formed cliques a hundred years ago, where there were people, there would be disputes. Even without the four academies, it was inevitable for officials to form cliques in any era.
At that time, the quality of the Academy's students was much higher than now.
The atmosphere in the Academy had changed and worsened since the time of the former Emperor.
More than a hundred years ago, when Emperor Wen was on the throne, he contributed decades of peace to the Great Zhou. The subsequent emperors were not as wise as Emperor Wen, but they were able to enjoy the fruits of Emperor Wen's rule. As long as they followed the rules and were a ruler that protected what was achieved, they would be meritorious.
However, during the reign of the previous Emperor, in order to prove that he was different from the previous Emperors, the previous Emperor implemented many government decrees.
For example, the establishment of the Silver Law of Guilt Substitution and the continuous increase of privileges for the Xiao Royal Family. All of these caused many unstable factors to appear in the Great Zhou court.
Within the Imperial Court, officials represented different interest groups. There were constant disputes between parties, and many people died because of this.
Outside the Imperial Court, the 36 counties were not stable either. The Demon Path was causing trouble everywhere. The Demon Nation and the Ghost Realm were also eyeing the borders covetously. The situation did not improve even when the Empress succeeded the throne.
The chaos in the Divine Capital led to chaos in the Academy.
No one knew when this unhealthy trend started in the three Academies. The students who were supposed to be the pillars of the Imperial Court had become the scourge of the Divine Capital.
Zhang Chun said regretfully, "Emperor Wen once said that the students of the Academy should read the books of the sages and learn supernatural powers. They should save the world and the people and serve the country. Now, they have forgotten the original purpose of Emperor Wen's establishment of the Academy. They have forgotten why they study …"
Hundred Rivers Academy.
Vice President Chen saw another student being taken away by the yamen and asked, "How many is this?"
An instructor shook his head and said, "The sixteenth. It is said that the Divine Capital yamen, Ministry of Justice, Censorate, and Supreme Court have taken away more than 20 students from the Myriad Scrolls Academy, and more than 10 from the Qingyun Academy …"
Another instructor sighed and said, "We didn't know about this. It's good that these students have left the Academy, lest they do something worse in the future and tarnish the Academy's reputation …"
Vice President Chen said, "It's not about the Academy's reputation anymore. According to the officials at the West Desk of the Secretariat, His Majesty has decided to change the selection system of the Great Zhou court and start the imperial examination …"
An instructor asked in confusion, "What's the imperial examination?"
Vice President Chen said, "His Majesty wants to select different subjects. From now on, all the officials of the Imperial Court will not be selected from the Academy. If one wants to enter the Imperial Court as an official, he must pass the Imperial Court's selection. Even the students of the Academy are no exception."
The reason why the Academy was called the Academy was because the officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty all came from the Academy. For more than a hundred years, they had provided the Academy with an endless stream of vitality and vitality. If this vitality and vitality were to be cut off, the Academy would not be far from extinction.
If Emperor Wen was the beginning of the Academy's era, then the Empress was the end of the Academy's era.
At this moment, a powerful aura suddenly rose from the Academy. An old man with a head full of white hair appeared in the crowd.
He glanced at the crowd and snorted coldly. "I've only been in seclusion for half a year, and the Academy is already in such a mess because of you!"
"Elder Huang has come out of seclusion …"
"Welcome, Elder Huang."
When the crowd saw the old man, they all bowed.
In the Academy, other than the President who was in seclusion all year round, Elder Huang had the highest status. They were both vice presidents, but even Vice President Chen had to greet him as a junior.
Not only was Elder Huang's cultivation high, but he had also been in Dongxuan for decades. He had taught countless important officials and made great contributions to the Great Zhou. He was the soul of the Baichuan Academy.
The white-haired old man snorted coldly and said, "The Imperial Court can punish the mistakes of the Academy's students. The Academy can also correct the evil practices of the Academy. She's just using this as a pretext to make a fuss. She wants to monopolize the power and cultivate her trusted subordinates. She wants to firmly control the Imperial Court in her hands. The four great Academies will not tolerate such a thing …"
…
During the morning court, Li Mu was surprised to find a chair in front of the officials. A white-haired old man was sitting on the chair.
Those who could sit in the Crape Myrtle Hall were naturally not ordinary people. He learned from the discussions of the officials that this old man seemed to be a vice president of the Baichuan Academy. He was very senior and had been given the right to sit in the Imperial Court when the previous Emperor was still on the throne.
Because of those scandals, the people from the Academy had not appeared in the morning court several times. Today was the first time they had appeared.
The old man sat there with a straight face. Even the atmosphere in the Imperial Court was much more solemn.
Today's morning court was mainly about the Imperial Court holding the Imperial Examination and selecting talents to replace the previous situation where the Academy monopolized the Imperial Court.
This method was undoubtedly completely abolishing the old system. When the Empress proposed it, it did not arouse any discussion among the officials. Only a few officials from the Censorate responded.
Because for most of the people standing in the Imperial Court, this was contrary to their interests.
The officials in the Imperial Court were said to be from the Academy, but in the final analysis, the students of the Academy were the children of the Great Zhou's powerful families. They sent their children to the Academy, and after a few years, they could enter the Imperial Court as officials. This way, the status and power of their families would be passed down from generation to generation.
Once the Imperial Court did not directly select officials from the Academy, they would lose this privilege.
In the past, they only had to compete with other powerful families. If the Imperial Court did not limit the selection of officials by birth, they would have to compete with all the talents in the 36 counties of the Great Zhou for a limited number of official positions. In this way, unless their families could continuously produce outstanding talents, the decline of their families was a foregone conclusion.
No one was willing to accept this reality.
Every time the Empress was isolated by the officials, Li Mu knew that it was time for him to stand up.
He had already offended all the factions in the Imperial Court, and did not mind offending them again.
He stood up and said, "I believe that the talents of the Great Zhou are not limited to the four Academies. The Imperial Examination will allow the Imperial Court to discover more talents from the common people, break the Academy's monopoly on officials, and curb the Academy's unhealthy practices …"
"Who are you? How dare you talk nonsense about the Academy!"
Before Li Mu could finish speaking, he heard a reprimanding voice.
He raised his head and saw that the white-haired old man sitting on the chair at the front of the Great Hall stood up.
Li Mu said calmly, "The reason why dozens of students from the three academies were imprisoned and beheaded in the past few days is obvious to all the lords in the hall. I'm just telling the truth. There's no need to talk nonsense."
The old man did not mention this matter. He looked at Li Mu, took a step forward, and said sternly, "The four Academies have been established for a hundred years. How many talents have been sent to the Imperial Court? How many contributions have they made to the stability of the Great Zhou? You want to deny the achievements of the Academies, deceive His Majesty, bring chaos to the Imperial Court, and destroy the hundred years of foundation of the Great Zhou because of a mistake made by a student of the Academies. What are your intentions?"
As he took a step forward, the aura of the white-haired old man suddenly spread out.
This aura did not originate from his Dongxuan Realm, but from the telekinesis on his body.
An endless stream of telekinesis was emitted from his body. It even activated the power of the heavens and the earth, and pressed down on Li Mu.
Under the impact of this aura, Li Mu took several steps back. He only managed to stop himself when he crushed a green brick under his feet. An abnormal flush appeared on his face.
In the Great Hall, many people smiled. The officials of the Ministry of Personnel, especially the Assistant Minister of Personnel, were incomparably delighted. They looked at Li Mu with eyes full of schadenfreude.
"How dare you!"
Behind the curtain, an incomparably powerful aura suddenly exploded.
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