Tibet.

Chapter 1459 Collision of Interests
Wei Jiansu bowed slightly and smiled, "I understand your majesty's feelings very well. In fact, when the dynasty was strong, the court had a deeper and stricter control over the local areas. Before the An-Shi Rebellion, the court basically had a very deep control over the local areas. After the An-Shi Rebellion broke out, the court quickly lost control of the local areas. In the late reign of the late emperor, I found that the court had not heard from Lingnan West Road for more than ten years, and there was only news from the prefecture level in Lingnan East Road. There was no news at the prefecture and county levels. So what your majesty is seeing now is actually the weakest state of the Tang Dynasty court. Your majesty's opinions are completely understandable."

Li Ye frowned, "Prime Minister Wei means that as long as I don't intervene, local governance will naturally return to the situation during the Tianbao and Kaiyuan periods?"

"On the contrary, Your Majesty."

Wei Jiansu said calmly: "If the court doesn't care, a minor illness will only turn into a major one, and a major one will turn into a fatal one. I fully support Your Majesty in taking action against the local authorities. The key is a matter of strategy!"

"What good strategies do you have, Prime Minister Zhang? Can you tell me about them?"

Zhang Li also smiled and said, "First of all, I would like to express my full support for your majesty's local governance. I am also considering it. I believe that only with rules can there be order. Let's first establish the system. What is the rank of the first-level official, what is the rank of the second-level official, what are the conditions, and what should we do with the current officials? After this system is established, we can consider how to make real moves."

"Does Prime Minister Zhang have a plan?"

Zhang Li bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the Political Affairs Hall has discussed this and has come up with a rough plan. The Ministry of Personnel is currently drafting it."

Wei Jiansu handed a memorial to Li Ye, "This is the rough draft prepared by the Ministry of Personnel. Please have a look, Your Majesty."

Li Ye was overjoyed and quickly took the draft to read it carefully. It was very detailed, with a total of five chapters and 48 clauses, and even a transition method was written.

"Ready to take a test?"

Li Ye smiled and said, "That's a good idea. It's Minister Liu's idea, right?"

Liu Yan quickly stood up and said, "That's exactly what I was thinking. I'm considering giving some compensation to those clerks who are a little older and fail the exam, so that they can find their own way out. The clerks who pass the exam need to move to other places and can no longer stay in this county."

Li Ye pondered for a moment and asked a key question: "What if all the clerks do not come to take the exam?"

Liu Yan couldn't answer for a moment.

Wei Jiansu smiled slightly and said, "Since Your Majesty has asked this question, there must be a solution!"

Li Ye nodded, "I have decided to temporarily expand the internal guards to 30,000 people, divided into 1,500 groups, and rush to various counties to investigate the implementation of the abolition order. I will use the abolition order to deal with these wealthy and powerful people. My army has ended the wars in Liaodong and Shuofang. I am not afraid of their rebellion. It would be best if someone could rebel so that I can kill one person to warn the rest!"

Wei Jiansu and the others looked at each other and suddenly realized something. Zhang Li nodded and said with a smile, "After your majesty's decree to abolish slavery is implemented, I believe no clerk will dare not take the exam."

Li Ye snorted, "If you don't take the exam by then, the clerk will be dismissed immediately, and the county magistrate will also be dismissed. That shitty wealthy family in that county will no longer exist. I can destroy so many countries, I don't believe that I can't deal with these evil spirits!"

Wei Jiansu and Zhang Li both left, leaving Liu Yan alone in the room.

Liu Yan bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I had lunch with Dugu Ming at noon!"

Li Ye asked quickly: "How is his condition? I haven't heard from him for a long time."

"Your Majesty, don't you know that Dugu Guozhang is ill?"

Li Ye nodded, "I heard the Queen talk about it. It is said that it is due to acclimatization."

"Your Majesty, the climate over there on Lugong Island is completely different from here. It is said to be too hot and humid."

Li Ye sighed and said, "Of course I know it's hot and humid over there. In fact, I asked them to stay in Quanzhou for a year or two, and then go to Lyugong Island after their bodies slowly adapt to the heat and humidity. It will be much better. The father-in-law was too impatient. He only stayed in Quanzhou for three months before leaving for the island. Of course, I am not blaming the father-in-law Dugu. I hope he is safe and comes back soon."

"Your Majesty, Dugu Ming is also going to Quanzhou!"

Li Ye was stunned, "Why does he want to go too?"

"He will stay in Quanzhou."

"When will he leave?"

"Early the day after tomorrow."

Li Ye nodded, "I have to go see him first." Wei Jiansu and Zhang Li left the imperial study. Wei Jiansu smiled and said, "Prime Minister Zhang, do you want to go have a cup of tea?"

Zhang Li laughed, "That's exactly what I meant!"

The two came to Danfeng Restaurant. It was tea time in the afternoon, so they sat down in Pinxueyuan. The waiter served them snacks and tea.

Zhang Li took a sip of tea and said calmly: "The emperor still wants to use force. I am really worried that the inner guards will be expanded to 30,000 people again?"

Wei Jiansu pondered for a moment and said, "If a strong founding monarch wants to achieve something, he will definitely take this path."

“How come you see?”

"Benefit!"

Wei Jiansu said calmly: "The emperor's implementation of education reform is going smoothly. Apart from a few corrupt scholars who have stood up to oppose it, there is basically no resistance, because the money is paid by the court, and the interests of local officials and other people have not been affected.

Previously, when dealing with the Guanlong nobles, he also exchanged interests for interests, so it was very smooth. Only when dealing with the royal family before, he killed two groups of people, deprived so many royal titles and treatments, almost demoted him to a commoner, and banished Li Xian to Lingnan. This involved a conflict of interests, so the emperor was ruthless.

The abolition order also involved the interests of countless people, so Zhang Hao was used as a warning to others.

And this time, the court will have to clash with the interests of countless local wealthy families. How can the emperor succeed without strong tactics? "

"Prime Minister Wei is right. The court and local tycoons are clashing over interests, so it is impossible for them not to be strong. I am worried that after a few decades, the situation will gradually return to the original state, with local tycoons still controlling the lower levels."

Wei Jiansu shook his head. "It probably won't happen. The key is the system. Once the clerk level is also appointed and controlled by the court, the court can completely control the county through the combination of officials and clerks. It's not like now. The court's laws and orders are issued smoothly, but once they are executed, they are different. This is because the clerk link, the most critical execution link, is missing.

Once the system is established and gradually becomes a rule, even if there are some reversals in individual places in the future, it will not change the overall situation. "

After court dismissal, Li Ye returned to the harem and sat down in the study as usual. Soon, the door opened and Queen Dugu Xinyue came in holding a teacup.

For a period of time, Shi Qianquan was the one who brought tea to Li Ye, but this caused a lot of dissatisfaction, especially among Dugu Taiwei. She had no chance to bring tea to her husband, but a concubine from the Western Regions could actually bring tea.

She immediately protested to Dugu Xinyue, who also realized that it was inappropriate and simply gave up her power. Except for her and Yang Yuhuan, no one else was allowed to serve tea.

But Shi Qianquan really couldn't come to serve tea. Li Ye had been too aggressive with her in the past two months, and she finally started to recuperate. She became pregnant, and she and Shen Li became pregnant together.

Dugu Xinyue placed the tea on her husband's desk and asked quietly, "Does my husband have any news about my father?"

Li Ye shook his head. "It's the same news as before, but you reminded me. Go find Taiwei. I need to talk to her about something."

Dugu Xinyue quickly asked her trusted maid to find Taiwei, and she came back and asked, "My husband, what happened?"

"It's not a big deal!"

Li Ye smiled and said, "Your uncle is going to Quanzhou to take charge. He will leave the day after tomorrow. I want to bring Taiwei with me to see him and say farewell to him tomorrow."

"Husband, I want to go too!"

Li Ye knew that his wife was concerned about his father's situation, so he nodded and said, "Okay, you can go too!"

Not long after, Dugu Taiwei came hurriedly, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I, Taiwei, pay my respects to you."

According to the rules of the Li family, one can address one's husband however one pleases in private, but one must behave properly in front of the queen.

Li Ye nodded, "I got the news today that your father will go to Quanzhou the day after tomorrow. I don't know how long he will be gone. Let's go and see him off tomorrow!"

(End of this chapter)