Madam, protect me!

Li Nuo looked at Fenghuang blankly, as if it was the first day he met her.

It can be said that most officials in the DPRK, including Li Nuo, do not have as comprehensive and profound understanding of the situation on the mainland as she does.

Li Nuo couldn't help but ask: "How did Qi influence the decisions of the courts of various countries?"

Fenghuang looked at Li Nuo, then at An Ning, and asked, "Have you ever heard of Qingluan Society?"

Li Nuo had never heard these three words before, so he shook his head and asked, "What is this?"

A hint of memory appeared in An Ning's eyes, and he said: "When I was in the Ministry of Justice, I heard them talk about the Qingluan Society, a secret espionage organization of the Qi State. It is very mysterious and is much more powerful than the Daxia Mirror Division... "

Fenghuang nodded and said: "Although all countries have secret spies, Qi's spy ability is recognized as the best among all countries. When Qi was founded, Qingluan Society had already been established, and it has continued to this day. Over the past hundred years, no one knows how many countries they have infiltrated..."

Li Nuo looked at Phoenix and asked doubtfully: "How did you know this?"

Fenghuang seemed to have been reminded of some kind of memory. He lowered his head and said with a somewhat disappointed expression: "Nightingale and I grew up in Qi State. We were still young at that time. When serving tea and water to the guests in the music shop, we often listened to them. Bragging about how powerful Qi is, I also heard about Qingluan Society..."

An Ning held Phoenix's hand and said comfortingly: "What happened in the past is in the past..."

In order to get Fenghuang out of her memories, she looked at Li Nuo and changed the subject: "Sister Fenghuang is right. Although Qi's national power is not the strongest among all countries, its intelligence capabilities are unmatched. Historically, the great Some of Xia's confidential information was often obtained by them in advance, and the court still doesn't know how they did it..."

Fenghuang said slowly: "I heard from them that the Qi court secretly cultivated some powerful strategists to control the minds of ministers from other countries. Not only that, they also cultivated many beautiful female spies to use with them. Aristocratic families or officials from various countries marry, and some female spies can even lurk in various countries for decades, and their children hold high positions in the courts of various countries..."

No wonder Qi's espionage capabilities are so powerful. The way they deploy spies makes Li Nuo feel terrible when he thinks about it.

The ability of a strategist is inherently difficult to guard against.

A female spy who has been lurking in the homes of aristocratic families and officials for decades - is she still a spy? Isn't she the ancestor of the family?

By that time, they don't have to take the initiative to steal information at all. Their heirs are the mainstays of various aristocratic families and backbone officials of various countries' courts. Who would suspect that their old mother is a spy from another country?

Take the Song family as an example. If anyone dares to say that Mrs. Song is a spy for a certain country, the Song brothers will kill him alive.

My father-in-law is a minister in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and my uncle is a general in the army. A few seemingly unintentional words at the family banquet may contain some secrets of the imperial court.

If such a spy lurks in the military, once the two countries go to war, and the other side can grasp the information in advance, how can the war be fought?

Phoenix's words indeed gave Li Nuo a sense of urgency again.

He cannot be satisfied with the cultivation of the fifth realm. Once troubled times come, even the sixth realm cannot be alone.

The long-standing peace of the mainland was already in jeopardy, and there was no more time for him to slowly prepare.

In the afternoon, in Zhongshu Province, Prime Minister Zuo met Li Nuo again.

He read the tax reform plan submitted by Li Nuo. Although this plan did not touch the interests of several big families, it did limit the tax-free land limit for Daxia officials.

On the surface, it was officials who were restricted, but in reality, it was the gentry and landlords who were restricted.

Their power is not as big as that of aristocratic families. They usually put a large amount of land under their names in the names of officials and distribute part of the proceeds to officials to ensure their own interests.

The imperial court had done the same thing before, but failed. The left minister said: "In this way, these local officials will create all kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and a huge tax burden will eventually fall on the people..."

Li Nuo said: "Then unify the tax system and prohibit local governments from establishing new taxes."

Prime Minister Zuo shook his head and said: "It's useless. They will use various reasons to transfer the gap to the people in disguise. Even the inspection censors sent by the imperial court have been murdered by them in various ways..."

Li Nuo said: "This time, I will be the patrol censor."

Prime Minister Zuo looked at him, and Li Nuo then asked: "Is there anything that can allow the patrol censor to handle the case without going through the review of Dali Temple, and kill it first and report it later?"

Zuo Xiang's eyelids twitched and he said in astonishment: "What do you want to do?"

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.

Phoenix's advice is great.

Either collect money or collect heads.

The cultivation level of Confucianism and Legalism will always increase by one.

The Zuo Prime Minister looked at Li Nuo and finally said: "The Shangfang Sword can only be given by His Majesty. The three provinces do not have the power to let you kill first and then show off. However, you can ask your father..."

Li Nuo was surprised: "My father has this power?"

Prime Minister Zuo said calmly: "Your father will ask your Majesty for it, and your Majesty may give it..."

After leaving Zhongshu Province, Li Nuo went to Dali Temple again.

When walking out of Dali Temple, Li Nuo felt a little emotional.

If you were in Zhao State, you wouldn't need to bother others with this kind of thing.

It is still necessary to have Shang Fang's sword, otherwise, it will be difficult to achieve the effect of shock.

Those who are willing to cooperate are naturally the best. After all, he is not a murderous person.

Early the next morning, after Li Nuo got up and had breakfast with them, Butler Wu came in from outside, holding a golden sword in his arms, handed it to Li Nuo, and said, "Master, this is what I ordered." Sent..."

Li Nuo took the sword. The scabbard and hilt of the sword were made entirely of gold. There was a dragon-shaped pattern carved on the scabbard, which looked like it was from the royal family.

More importantly, there is a strange aura wrapped around this sword.

Just feeling this breath makes people have the urge to worship.

An Ning glanced at the sword in Li Nuo's hand and said in surprise: "Is this... Shang Fang's sword?"

Li Nuo went to find his father yesterday. He should have obtained this sword from His Majesty.

As Princess An Ning of Daxia, after learning about this, she couldn't help but be a little shocked and murmured: "Father has never given anyone the Shang Fang Sword..."

She knew very well that even with her status, her father would not give her such an important thing.

Whether it was the gold medal for immunity from death, the sword of Shangfang, or the Mirror Division that was above the law, my father's favor towards his father-in-law had reached an incredible level.

With Shang Fang's sword in hand, Li Nuo has nothing to worry about.

Soon after, three provinces issued two decrees, which aroused widespread discussion in Chang'an.

The first one is about tax reform.

Over the years, the imperial court has tried to carry out tax reform many times, but every time, the thunder was loud and the raindrops were light. It could not make a big splash at all, and it would be abolished before long.

This tax reform is nothing more than bringing up old matters again.

Abolition of all miscellaneous taxes and limiting the upper limit of tax-free land for officials can still be implemented in Gyeonggi, but it is simply impossible to achieve locally, and I am afraid it will end in embarrassment.

The second decree was about the imperial examination.

This incident is very shocking.

Next spring, the imperial court will hold another imperial examination.

This confuses many people. The imperial examination has always been held every four years. If there are many vacancies for officials in a certain period, more Jinshi will be admitted in addition to the current imperial examination.

The imperial court has held the imperial examination for two consecutive years, and admitted a total of 300 people. The previous imperial examination could not admit so many Jinshi in twenty years. The vacancy of officials caused by the Two Kings Rebellion has been resolved. There are even some new scholars who have not been appointed.

Under such circumstances, there is no need to hold another imperial examination.

The strangest thing is that no news has been revealed before this.

Even the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel did not receive any news.

After inquiring, they found out that this matter seemed to have been proposed by Li Nuo, the minister of punishment and a member of Zhongshushe, and was directly agreed to by the left minister without any discussion by Zhongshushe.

This is even more strange. To prepare for the imperial examination, the court has to spend both manpower and financial resources. It is not a wise move when there are no shortage of officials.

This is not something that a top scorer in six subjects would do.

But soon, news of the appointment came from the Ministry of Personnel.

Li Nuo, who was already the minister of the Ministry of Punishment and a member of Zhongshushe, was appointed as the inspection censor.

The censor inspects all officials, whether they are courtiers in Chang'an or local officials, they are all subject to their supervision.

Among them, the duty of the inspection censor is to inspect local areas and monitor the dereliction of duty or illegality of local officials.

However, the inspection censors only have the power of supervision and not of disposal. They can wait until they return to Chang'an to exercise the power of impeachment. How to deal with it depends on the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple.

But soon, another piece of news came from the palace.

Li Xuanjing of Dali Temple asked His Majesty for a Shangfang sword yesterday.

Shang Fang's sword is something more terrifying than a death-free gold medal.

The gold medal for immunity from death can only be used to avoid punishment after committing a capital crime, but Shangfang Sword can legally kill people. For officials below the third rank, as long as there is a reasonable reason, they can be killed first and then punished.

Since the founding of Daxia, the number of ministers who have been gifted with the Shangfang Sword can be counted on one hand.

Li Xuanjing is the minister of Dali Temple and is also in charge of the Mirror Division. He can kill whoever he wants. There is no need for things like Shangfang's sword.

Then who is this Shang Fang sword for?

The answer is self-evident.

His son is the patrol censor. Just one patrol censor is nothing, but the patrol censor paired with Shang Fang's sword is different.

The highest rank of governor of each state in Daxia is no more than the fourth rank.

As a patrol censor, with Shang Fang's sword in his hand, he could kill all the local county and state government officials.

Your Majesty will give you such an important weapon as you please.

Many people even doubted whether Li Xuanjing saved His Majesty's life.

But right now, this matter isn't important.

The important thing is that when they connected these several things, they found that these seemingly unrelated things were actually closely related.

The imperial court did not allow local officials to help the gentry evade taxes and legislated to verify their land. Li Nuo was appointed to inspect the censor and was given a sword by Shang Fang. At the same time, the imperial court suddenly added an imperial examination...

When you think about it carefully, it's extremely terrifying.

Does this mean that whoever dares to disobey the imperial court's orders this time will be beheaded by him with Shang Fang's sword?

The additional imperial examination next year is to prepare for the upcoming large number of official vacancies.

There couldn't be so many coincidences. The intention of the court's series of actions was already obvious.

For a time, rumors and suspicions arose in Chang'an.

Students from major academies have fallen into excitement and cannot extricate themselves.

For three consecutive years, the imperial examination has been held every year, which is naturally a great blessing for the students.

Three hundred Jinshi have been admitted in two years. Those powerful opponents have successfully entered the imperial examination. Their competition in the imperial examination next year will definitely be much smaller.

If the imperial examination is conducted normally every four years, it would be impossible for them to go to high school.

The court gave them three chances.

Not only did they hope that the rumors were true, but they also hoped that Li Nuo could kill more officials to make room for them, so that more Jinshi would be admitted.

The courtiers with relevant interests have already sent out a message to let the family make preparations in advance.

Yuyin Pavilion.

The old woman looked at Fenghuang, frowned slightly, and asked: "Is it true what they said, that the Daxia court really wants to take action against local officials?"

Fenghuang took a sip of tea and said, "It's true. If the local officials haven't dealt with these matters by the time he inspects the area, they may be dismissed from their posts, or their lives may be lost..."

The old woman said in a deep voice: "It seems that we need to let them make preparations in advance, return the excess land as soon as possible, and distance themselves from those people."

Fortunately, Phoenix has successfully broken into the Li family.

The secret spies that Da Qi finally cultivated have not yet played any role, but they cannot die under Shang Fang's sword.

After saying that, she looked at another figure in the room and asked: "Yuanyang, what about you, the young master of the Song family, haven't you taken it down yet?"

Yuanyang sighed softly and said: "Master Song is willing to marry me and promises to marry me only in this life, but his father does not agree..."

The old woman pondered for a moment, with a hint of murderous intent in her eyes, and whispered: "If he dies, no one will stop him, right?"

Fenghuang glanced at her and said calmly: "I advise you not to do this. Don't forget what my husband-in-law does. Mr. Song is his relative and friend. If he is found out, not only will Yuanyang's work be ruined, but also Yuyin Pavilion will be ruined." You may be involved..."

The murderous intent in the old woman's eyes gradually dissipated. Fenghuang was right. Li Xuanjing's son was very good at solving crimes. It was not worth risking Yuyin Pavilion for a non-direct descendant of the Song family.

She looked at Yuanyang and said, "You can think of a way for yourself. Although the Song family is not as good as the Li family, it is not easy to seduce a general disciple. It may be of great use in the future. If it doesn't work, do it as soon as possible." Change the goal..."

As if she had thought of something, she looked at Fenghuang again, twitched her lips and said, "Your husband? Don't forget, you are from Daqi first, and then the wife of the Li family. Don't try to do anything irrational. If Li Xuanjing knew about your purpose of getting close to his son, you know what would happen..."

Phoenix's hand holding the tea cup trembled, and then he said calmly: "I know, you don't need to remind me."

The old woman didn't say much and said: "It's good that you know. Next time if you have any important information, please report it in time..."

After the old woman left, Yuanyang stood in the room and sighed softly.

Phoenix walked up to her and asked, "Why, you don't want to marry Song Yu?"

Yuanyang sighed and said, "Mr. Song is very good to me. I, I am willing to marry him, but I don't want to lie to him..."

Phoenix looked at her and asked, "Do you like him?"

Yuanyang was silent for a moment, nodded slightly, and said: "He is different from others. He is the only one who is sincere to me. But if he knows, I am approaching him with other purposes..."

Phoenix fell silent upon hearing this.

Yuanyang's worries are not her worries...

After a long time, she stretched out her arms, hugged Yuanyang gently, and comforted: "If you like him, don't worry about other things, live in the moment, who can know what will happen in the future..."