Li Si smiled and said, "Miaomiao is focused on cultivating on Mount Baiyun. My father-in-law asked me to come to the Divine Capital to see the world and participate in the imperial examination in three months. I don't have many friends in the Divine Capital, so I came to find you and Lord Zhang."
The Empress had already informed all the counties to select some talents to participate in the first imperial examination in the Divine Capital.
The people who participated in the imperial examination would be selected by the local government for the first time. When the imperial examination system was perfected, even the local talents would have to go through a fair selection.
With Li Si's background, it was not difficult for him to get a spot in the North County.
It seemed that County Governor Chen's expectations for Li Si was not just a constable.
Li Mu's cultivation had reached the fourth realm. It was easy to see that in just two months, Li Si had stepped into the Spirit Realm. In the past two months, County Governor Chen must have spent a lot of resources on him.
Zhang Chun looked at the two of his former subordinates and felt emotional.
A year ago, the two of them were constables in Yangqiu County and had not stepped into cultivation.
A year later, Li Si was already in the Spirit Realm, and Li Mu had stepped into the Middle Realm.
One of them was with the County Governor of the North County, and the other was favored by the Empress. He could not help but sigh. It was good to be young.
Three months later, the imperial examination would begin. Li Si temporarily stayed in the inn.
After leaving the court at noon, Li Mu and Zhang Chun welcomed him at the inn.
When the three of them walked out of the Divine Capital and walked to the Fragrance Inn, the streets were noisy again.
"The prince's son-in-law is still so handsome …"
"There's no other man in the Divine Capital who has his temperament."
"Ah, my legs go soft when I see the prince's son-in-law …"
…
Cui Ming was walking slowly on the streets as usual. As the prince's son-in-law and the assistant minister of the secretariat, he did not ride a horse or take a sedan. Every day, he walked through the streets and attracted the attention of the women in the Divine Capital. Li Mu suspected that he was using these women to cultivate.
Every time he appeared, these women would develop a strong desire for him. Some special cultivation techniques just happened to require the seven emotions to cultivate.
Li Mu couldn't see Cui Ming's lust, but judging from the situation of those women, his guess should be right.
In the cultivation world, it was forbidden to steal the souls of mortals, but it was possible to obtain their seven emotions. As long as one didn't absorb too much, this was also a righteous cultivation method.
Cui Ming walked through the street. Zhang Chun looked at Cui Ming with disdain as usual. Even the way he looked at the women around him was filled with disdain.
Li Si's gaze lingered on Cui Ming for a long time before he said, "This person is not simple."
This was probably a kind of connection between experts. Cui Ming and Li Si were very similar in certain aspects.
They were all very popular with women.
But they were also fundamentally different.
Li Si was a prodigal son. Although he appeared to be passionate, he was actually very loyal.
Cui Ming was a beast. Although he appeared to be passionate, he was actually heartless.
At the Aroma Restaurant, the three of them ordered a table of dishes. While they were eating, Li Si said, "Before coming to the Immortal's Capital, I went to White Cloud Mountain. Lady Han Yan asked me to bring you some things."
Li Mu put down his chopsticks and asked, "What is it?"
Li Si took out a thick stack of Fu-lu from his sleeve and passed it to Li Mu.
Li Mu took it and felt that it was quite heavy.
He flipped it open and took a look. Among these talismans, there were Sword Talismans, Five Elemental Escape Talismans, and high-grade Divine Travel Talismans. Although there weren't any Heaven-grade talismans, none of them were lower than Earth-grade talismans.
How was this heavy Fu-lu? It was clearly heavy love.
Li Mu put away the Fu-lu and sighed. He wanted to fly to North County right now and fly to her and Wanwan's side. But Cui Ming was not dead, so he could not leave the Divine Capital.
After eating, Zhang Chunyan and Li Si returned to the government office and the inn. Li Mu took the token that Mr Mei gave him and entered the palace to the Secretariat.
Liu Yi stood at the entrance of the Secretariat. She had been waiting for a long time. When she saw Li Mu, she finally let out a sigh of relief and said, "If Lord Li did not come, I would have gone out to invite you."
There were only three months left until the imperial examination. But until now, the Secretariat had not even discussed a perfect imperial examination system. After the system was perfected, it would be submitted to the Secretariat for review and then to the Secretariat for implementation. This would delay a lot of time. If it delayed any longer, the imperial examination would be delayed. In the end, they would be the ones to take the blame.
Over the past two days, after endless discussion, Li Mu had gone from being an advisor to being the leader. Every idea he put forward regarding the imperial examinations was reasonable and flawless. It could be said that whether or not the Hall of Governmental Affairs could complete the task the Emperor had given them depended entirely on Li Mu.
Li Mu smiled and said, "I met a friend I had not seen for a long time this morning. We had a good chat and came a little late. Please forgive me, Lord Liu."
Liu Yi waved her hand and said, "It's okay. Let's go in quickly. The lords have been waiting for a long time."
Two days ago, everyone had discussed the details of the imperial examination. But there was still an important problem that had not been solved.
The imperial examination was a way to produce court officials. It was very important. So which department of the court should be responsible for such an important matter?
Everyone knew that no matter which department was responsible for the imperial examination, that department's position in the court would be greatly improved. Both the New Party and the Old Party were not willing to let go of this opportunity.
Zhou Xiong suggested the Ministry of Rites because the Minister of Rites was a member of the New Party.
Xiao Ziyu suggested the Ministry of Appointments because the imperial examination produced officials. The Ministry of Appointments was responsible for the imperial examination.
Of course, everyone present knew that the Ministry of Personnel, from top to bottom, from inside to outside, was supported by the old faction of the Xiao clan. The Ministry of Personnel was in charge of the imperial examinations, which meant that the old faction was in charge of the imperial examinations.
This was yet another confrontation between the new party and the old party. It was clear that neither party wanted to give in on the matter of the Imperial Examination, nor would they give in.
The other four officials did not want to participate in the battle between the New Party and the Old Party. They tacitly kept silent.
At this time, Li Mu cleared his throat and said, "Since the two of you have different opinions, then let me say something fair …"
Everyone looked at Li Mu.
Li Mu looked at them and said slowly, "The imperial examination is a very important matter. It concerns the future of the court. If any department is responsible for it alone, it could lead to arbitrary monopolization. It is not good for the stability of the court. Since one of you suggested the Ministry of Rites and the other suggested the Ministry of Appointments, why don't we let the Ministry of Appointments and the Ministry of Rites handle it together? The two departments will supervise each other and maintain the fairness of the imperial examination. What do you think?"
Let Zhou Xiong and Xiao Ziyu continue to be in a deadlock, and the discussion would never be able to progress. Li Mu's suggestion was a good solution.
Liu Yi thought for a while and said, "Lord Li is very thoughtful."
Wang Shi nodded and said, "I agree with Lord Li. Let's let the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Appointments handle it together."
Zhang Huaili and Song Liangyu also agreed.
Out of the six officials, four expressed their opinions. Zhou Xiong and Xiao Ziyu looked at each other and did not argue. It was a tacit agreement.
If they continued arguing like this, there would never be a result. As long as the authority of the imperial examination was not monopolized by the other party, they would have achieved their goal.
At this moment, Li Mu spoke again.
He looked around at everyone and said, "Although the imperial examination is jointly managed by the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Appointments, there is no guarantee that the officials of the two departments will not collude with each other and shake the foundation of the Great Zhou's selection of officials. Why don't we let the Imperial Clan Temple supervise and completely prevent the officials of the two departments from colluding with each other? What do you all think?"
They thought for a while and felt that Li Mu's words made sense.
Although everyone knew that the Ministry of Appointments and the Ministry of Rites could not collude, it did not mean that they would not in the future.
Now, the two departments represented the interests of different parties. But what about ten years later, decades later, or centuries later?
It was clear that Zhou Xiong and Xiao Ziyu were focused on the present. Li Mu was worried about the future.
As expected, he had the heart to create eternal peace for the Great Zhou.
As for why it was the Imperial Clan Temple, no one thought about it. After all, the officials of the Ministry of Appointments and the Ministry of Rites were not low-ranking officials. Only the Imperial Clan Temple was qualified to intimidate and punish the officials of the two departments.
Li Mu continued, "There are not many officials in the Imperial Clan Temple. Now, there is only one Temple Chancellor, one Vice-Chancellor, and one Deputy Temple Chancellor. The rest are low-ranking officials. Now, they are handling the affairs of the temple. Naturally, there is enough manpower. If we add the supervision of the imperial examination, I'm afraid that you will be too busy. Do we need to expand the number of officials in the Imperial Clan Temple?"
Liu Yi thought for a while and praised, "Lord Li is really meticulous. You have taken care of everything …"
Wang Shi said, "We did not think of this at all. Fortunately, Lord Li reminded us."
Song Liangyu said, "In that case, send a letter to the Ministry of Appointments and ask the Ministry of Appointments to ask His Majesty to expand the number of officials in the Imperial Clan Temple as soon as possible …"
…
An hour later, in the Assistant Minister's Office of the Secretariat.
Cui Ming put down his teacup and said slowly, "Although we did not obtain the right to hold the imperial examination, we did not let the Zhou family get it either. This result is already very good. As for the Imperial Clan Temple — why does Li Mu keep holding on to the Imperial Clan Temple?"
Xiao Ziyu said indifferently, "Anyway, the Imperial Clan Temple is our people. It doesn't matter."
Cui Ming frowned and said, "I keep feeling that he is plotting something … Forget it, I must be thinking too much."
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