Liu Yi was surprised. "Official Li knows about Assistant Minister Cui?"
Before Li Mu came to the capital, Assistant Minister Cui had left and only returned yesterday. There was no reason for him to know about Assistant Minister Cui.
Li Mu smiled. "Of course I know. I come from the North County. Assistant Minister Cui was a county magistrate there for a period of time. Even now, there are still legends about him in the North County."
"No wonder." Liu Yi seemed to have thought of something. "Assistant Minister Cui is handsome and heroic. Everywhere he goes, countless girls go crazy for him. I didn't expect that after being in the capital for so long, there are still people in the North County who remember him."
Li Mu had only heard of Cui Ming before. Now that he saw him, he knew how he could use women to rise up the ranks.
This person's appearance and temperament were excellent. If he debuted in the future, he would easily attract a group of female fans who would call him "Hubby" behind his back.
Since ancient times, people's pursuit of appearance had never changed. No matter if it was a young girl or a young woman, it was hard to resist this temperament.
Madam Chu, the daughter of the Jiujiang County Magistrate, and Princess Yunyang had all fallen into his hands.
Li Mu wanted to use Liu Yi to find out more about Cui Ming. He revealed a gossipy expression and said, "I heard that Assistant Minister Cui had several marriages …"
Liu Yi nodded. "I also heard that Assistant Minister Cui was originally the son-in-law of the Jiujiang County Magistrate. Later, Assistant Minister Cui found out that the Jiujiang County Magistrate colluded with the Demon Sect. Assistant Minister Cui exposed his father-in-law to the imperial court. The Jiujiang County Magistrate's family was executed by the late emperor. Only Assistant Minister Cui was transferred to the capital because of his merit in exposing them …"
He shook his head. "The Jiujiang County Magistrate's daughter was his first wife. Assistant Minister Cui was ruthless …"
Li Mu asked, "How did Princess Yunyang and Assistant Minister Cui get together?"
Liu Yi thought for a moment and said, "At that time, Assistant Minister Cui was the head of the secretariat and worked in the Imperial Secretariat. The Imperial Secretariat was in the palace, and Princess Yunyang often went to the palace. The two might have met by chance. Later, Princess Yunyang's husband died suddenly. After half a year, Assistant Minister Cui became the new husband. In the following ten years, he was promoted from the head of the secretariat to the head of the Imperial Secretariat.
Li Mu still wanted to ask for more details, but Liu Yi had already taken him into a yamen and introduced him to the people in the room. "Everyone, Lord Li is here …"
Four of the five officials in the yamen stood up and saluted Li Mu with cupped fists.
Liu Yi introduced them to Li Mu. "These are the other five heads of the Imperial Secretariat. From left, they are Lord Zhou Xiong, Lord Wang Shi, Lord Zhang Huaili, Lord Song Liangyu, Lord Xiao Ziyu …"
After Liu Yi introduced them one by one, Li Mu learned that these five people were the other heads of the Imperial Secretariat. In the past, the important matters of the Imperial Secretariat were dealt with by them.
These six people were involved in most of the decisions of the country. Although these decisions might be rejected by the Imperial Secretariat, they were undoubtedly the people who understood the country's affairs the most. In this aspect, even the Empress could not compare.
The six of them were all middle-aged. Liu Yi, who was around 30 years old, looked to be the youngest.
Li Mu's gaze swept past Zhou Xiong. Out of the five people, four of them had greeted him earlier. Only this person was still sitting on the chair, not moving at all.
Liu Yi coughed softly and said, "Lord Zhou, we are here on the Empress's orders. We hope that Lord Zhou can put aside past grievances and discuss the imperial examination together …"
Li Mu asked, "Does he have a grudge against me?"
Liu Yi walked to Li Mu's side and whispered in his ear, "Lord Zhou Xiong is Minister Zhou's uncle."
Li Mu finally understood. No wonder he felt that Zhou Xiong was familiar when they met for the first time. This person was somewhat similar to Minister Zhou. He did not know if he was the second or third brother of the four brothers of the Zhou family.
Liu Yi handed a sorted file to Li Mu and said, "This is the preliminary draft after our discussion. Lord Li, please take a look. If you feel that there is something wrong with this draft, we will discuss it later …"
Li Mu took the draft. After glancing at it, he found many unreasonable points.
The ancient dynasty of another world had experienced more than a thousand years of imperial examinations. Its advantages and disadvantages, as well as the evaluation and analysis of the imperial examination system, had all appeared as important test points in the history examination.
These were all compulsory content in high school history. Li Mu did not need to search his memory to say it out loud.
"There is a problem here. It seems that you still do not understand the meaning of the imperial examination. The imperial examination refers to the selection of officials for different subjects. Every subject tests a different ability. How can they be the same?"
"The Ministry of Revenue focuses on mathematics. The Ministry of Justice focuses on criminal law. The Ministry of Rites focuses on the Rites of Zhou. Change …"
"The officials of the Divine Capital do not need to have a high cultivation. Are you worried that the demons and ghosts will attack the Divine Capital? The officials of the bordering counties and prefectures must have a cultivation above Creation Realm …"
…
There was no precedent for the imperial examination system. They discussed it for several days, but their minds were still in a mess.
Li Mu only said a few words, but they were able to see through the fog. Soon, they had a clear idea.
As the rumors said, the imperial examination system was most likely proposed by Li Mu to the Empress.
They were the officials of the Secretariat. Every day, they dealt with many important matters of the imperial court. They were extremely sensitive to certain matters.
If the imperial examination could replace the Academy to select officials as Li Mu said, although it would weaken the influence of the nobles and aristocrats on the imperial court, it would definitely be a good thing for the continuation of the Great Zhou dynasty.
If a large number of officials came from the common people, the cliques formed by the Academy would be greatly weakened.
The common people at the bottom would then have the opportunity to advance. It would be beneficial for the accumulation of psyche.
There was no doubt that this method of selecting talents for the imperial court would find many talents outside the Academy. It was undoubtedly a better system than the one currently in place.
At this moment, they realized that Li Mu's words of "bringing peace to the world" were not just for show.
Although they could not finish talking about the imperial examination in a short time, if Li Mu was willing to point them in the right direction and build a framework, they would be able to complete the rest on their own.
However, Li Mu did not do so. He planned to go back early.
First of all, he wanted to come to the Secretariat a few more times.
More importantly, he had promised Xiao Bai to go shopping with her.
Li Mu stood up and said, "That's all for today. I have important matters to attend to. Let's talk about it another day."
Liu Yi stood up and said, "Thank you, Lord Li."
Li Mu waved his hand and said, "It's all for the imperial court."
Liu Yi said, "I'll see Lord Li out."
The two walked out of the yamen. The Secretariat official named Wang Shi said, "This Lord Li is not as detestable as they say."
Zhang Huaili said, "He's a straight man."
Song Liangyu said, "He's also a Perfected Person."
Xiao Ziyu said, "A straight man and a Perfected Person are easily detested by most people. That's because he's not the same as most people."
He looked at Zhou Xiong and said, "To meet such a straight man, your nephew's death was not unjust."
Zhou Xiong snorted and left in a huff.
Li Mu walked out of the Secretariat. Not long after, Mr. Mei came from afar with Xiao Bai. He said in surprise, "It's over so soon?"
Li Mu said, "The imperial examination system is complicated. We'll have to do it a few more times."
Mr. Mei said, "It's still early. You can stay a little longer."
"It's not early." Li Mu shook his head and said, "Any later and the food in the market won't be fresh."
Li Mu took Xiao Bai's hand and said, "Let's go …"
Xiao Bai held Li Mu's hand and said, "Benefactor, there are many beautiful flowers in the garden …"
Li Mu smiled and said, "If you like, we can go back and plant flowers in the garden at home …"
A figure walked out of the Secretariat and said, "It's been a few months. Mr. Mei, you're still as handsome as ever."
Mr. Mei looked back at Cui Ming and said lightly, "Mr. Cui, you're back."
Cui Ming smiled gently and said, "I just came back to Luoyang yesterday. I'm about to meet His Majesty to report on my work. Mr. Mei, please pass the message."
Mr. Mei shook his head and said, "His Majesty is very busy. It's not important to report on your work. Mr. Cui, it won't be too late to report on your work tomorrow morning."
As soon as she finished speaking, footsteps came from behind her. Li Mu came back with Xiao Bai and said, "Sister Mei, I have something to discuss with His Majesty."
Mr. Mei nodded and said, "Follow me."
Seeing the three of them leave, Cui Ming went back to the Secretariat and found a manager. He asked, "What happened in the court when I wasn't in Luoyang?"
The manager said, "Many things happened in Luoyang in the past two months. Since Li Mu came to Luoyang, a group of officials were beaten up and the Silver Method was abolished. Then, Zhou Chu of the Zhou family was struck to death by lightning. A few students of the academy were beheaded. Elder Huang of the Baichuan Academy was possessed by His Majesty in the golden palace and his cultivation was abolished …"
Cui Ming had just come back to Luoyang last night, so he didn't know about these things.
The last time he heard of Li Mu's name, it was the evil spirit that was born in North County. A constable named Li Mu pointed at the sky and cursed, causing a vision of heaven and earth. Later, the "Dou 'e's Injustice" that was promoted by the court to all counties was also related to Li Mu.
Cui Ming didn't expect so many things to happen in Luoyang while he was away. He couldn't believe it and said uncertainly, "Did Li Mu do all this?"
The manager of the Secretariat nodded and said, "He's now His Majesty's favorite official."
"Favorite official?"
Cui Ming heard this and his face darkened.
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