Chapter 240: This humble general is willing to walk through fire and water for Your Majesty for generations to come

After this meaningful conversation, everyone understood His Majesty's intentions and grasped the meaning of his words.

Plainly put, they were still worried—they didn't know how to make their choice. After all, this matter was far too important, which was precisely why His Majesty had pointed it out to them.

Seeing the look on everyone's faces, Zhu Youxiao smiled and nodded, saying, "Then go attend to your duties. Let's see if any students manage to score well today."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Everyone acknowledged in unison, then went off to their respective tasks.

Those who could remain by Zhu Youxiao's side were few—only Xu Guangqi, Shen Tingyun, and a handful of other veteran ministers. Aside from them, the only one left was Zhao Bingzhong, a Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Zhao Bingzhong was deliberately kept behind by Zhu Youxiao, who had some words he wished to say to him.

Regarding Zhao Bingzhong's appointment, Zhu Youxiao had actually long held plans in his heart—it was simply that no suitable opportunity had arisen before, so he had not moved him.

But this time was different. Now there was a very fitting opportunity, a very fitting arrangement.

This time, Zhu Youxiao wanted to ask Zhao Bingzhong's opinion, so he said, "Does Minister Zhao ever wish to move to a different post?"

Zhu Youxiao's face bore a bright, sunny smile, and his tone was likewise very gentle.

Hearing these words from Zhu Youxiao, not only the others but even Zhao Bingzhong himself felt somewhat surprised.

But he was no fool—he naturally knew how to answer at such a moment.

So Zhao Bingzhong stepped forward and said respectfully, "Your servant is a minister of the Great Ming, a minister of Your Majesty. As long as Your Majesty has need, your servant will follow Your Majesty's arrangements."

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said with a smile, "Then go to the Office of Transmission and serve as its Chief."

Since he intended to make heavy use of the Office of Transmission as an institution, Zhu Youxiao naturally had to select the right person to take up the post.

Those originally in the Office of Transmission were basically dead weight kept on for retirement. So Zhu Youxiao planned to cut them—those who could be sent out to provincial posts would be, and those who couldn't would be transferred to some other office to coast into retirement.

And these new arrivals—they would be the backbone of the new office, the guarantee of Zhu Youxiao's heavy reliance on the Office of Transmission.

First in line was Zhao Bingzhong before him; the other was Mei Zhihuan, whom he had previously intended to use.

With these two men, Zhao Bingzhong and Mei Zhihuan, he could now take the knife to official governance.

Rectifying officials was never a simple matter. One needed someone who could wield the blade without fear of death, heedless of what lay before or behind, daring to strike hard at corrupt officials and rotten clerks—fearless before anyone.

Such ministers had always been exceedingly rare throughout history, and those among them who also harbored righteousness in their hearts were rarer still.

In times past, perhaps there were disciples of the Legalist school willing to do such things.

But by this day and age, few remained with such integrity who were willing to act.

This was the cause of moral decline.

The Great Ming once had a Hai Rui, but alas, he never received proper high-level appointment.

At the same time, Zhu Youxiao lamented—if he had a Hai Rui in his hands, what a beautiful picture that would be?

But now, with Zhao Bingzhong and Mei Zhihuan, he had two capable assistants.

So once he appointed them, the next step would be his move against the officials.

"This matter will likely be very difficult, and once begun, very hard to turn back from."

There was a hint of probing in Zhu Youxiao's gaze as he looked at Zhao Bingzhong and said, "So today I wish to ask you. If you are willing to do it, then naturally that is good; but if you do not wish to, I will not force you against your will."

Hearing his sovereign's words, Zhao Bingzhong directly lifted his robes and knelt to the ground, saying in a resolute tone, "I beg Your Majesty to speak frankly. If your servant is willing, then even if it costs this life of mine, your servant will surely do it; if I find anything improper, I will also speak plainly."

Zhu Youxiao nodded.

What he wanted was someone who would give their all. If it were merely going through the motions, he could appoint anyone to do it—and it would only produce the opposite effect. So he would not casually pick just anyone.

Throughout the dynasties, when sovereigns wished to move against their officials, they mostly sought out cruel enforcers.

For example, Lai Junchen and Xu Jingzong of the Tang dynasty. By the Great Ming, it was more often eunuchs and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Because those willing to do such thankless work that offended people and rarely ended well were far too few, and using such blades was also simpler—once used up, they could be discarded directly, beheaded to appease popular outrage.

But Zhu Youxiao did not want to do it that way.

What he wanted was continuity of policy. Once you snapped a used blade, that policy became useless as well.

That was why Zhu Youxiao had chosen Zhao Bingzhong and Mei Zhihuan. Mei Zhihuan had already declared his stance; now it was Zhao Bingzhong's turn.

Zhu Youxiao said with a smile, "I plan to send you to the Office of Transmission."

Hearing these words, Zhao Bingzhong said with some hesitation, "To the Office of Transmission?"

Before this, when the Office of Transmission was mentioned, everyone present knew what kind of office it was.

But this time it was clearly different, so they also understood another thing—that His Majesty was preparing to implement the secret memorial system.

"Yes, the Office of Transmission." Zhu Youxiao said gently, "I plan to place the secret memorials under the Office of Transmission, and all the postal relay stations across the realm will fall under its jurisdiction."

"All transmission of secret memorials will be handled by the relay stations under the Office of Transmission, and no local officials or military officers may interfere."

"All secret memorials will be classified into grades, and according to their grade, delivered to the capital at different speeds. After being handed to the Office of Transmission, they will all be sent directly before me."

Everyone present realized the resolve in Zhu Youxiao's heart, but at the same time they felt that His Majesty's reputation would likely drop another notch—especially among the various local government offices.

According to His Majesty's words today, this was tantamount to putting a leash on everyone. How could they possibly be pleased?

And while they were displeased, they would not step forward to oppose it firmly from this direction—instead, they would switch directions and stir up trouble.

For example, slandering the Office of Transmission, claiming it was an office established for His Majesty to spy on the realm and extort the realm—the label they'd slap on it would surely be even harsher than what they put on the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Under such circumstances, the Office of Transmission's reputation would certainly suffer. Beyond that, His Majesty's reputation would also inevitably be damaged.

Added to the governance memorial incident that had stirred things up recently, some people were already beginning to worry.

Take Xu Guangqi and Shen Tingyun, for instance—the two hadn't expected Zhu Youxiao to be so direct.

Because before this, His Majesty hadn't done things this way. Previously, His Majesty liked to stay behind the scenes, using contradictions between ministers to accomplish these things; when there were no contradictions between ministers, His Majesty would use some matter to sow discord.

They were all veteran ministers and all men of letters—they were hardly unfamiliar with this sort of game. This was the art of power.

But now, His Majesty had clearly changed his approach. This made them pleased on the one hand, yet worried on the other.

After all, they didn't care for sovereigns who played the game of power, and at the same time they worried that once His Majesty personally stepped into the fray, it might signal that matters had become irreversible.

Either His Majesty would be forced to yield, or the ministers would be compelled to accept.

But if one wanted His Majesty to yield, the price paid would be tied to how unyielding the sovereign was.

Clearly, the current His Majesty was not the sort given to retreat. Once he encountered powerful resistance, His Majesty would likely simply swing the blade.

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, Zhao Bingzhong quickly said, "Your servant is willing to go."

Those four words already said everything. Zhao Bingzhong did not add anything more.

Zhu Youxiao did not press further either, merely nodding and saying, "Then go to the Office of Transmission in a few days."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhao Bingzhong acknowledged, then rose from the ground.

For the time being, this matter was settled.

As for this, Zhu Youxiao's view was also simple — the Office of Transmission was bound to grow and expand, and the first step would begin with rectifying the postal stations throughout the realm.

The first blade Zhu Youxiao would swing was at the postal stations. Of course, he would not abolish them the way the Chongzhen Emperor had; on the contrary, he would continuously strengthen them.

As a man from a later age, Zhu Youxiao would always understand the importance of message transmission and logistics.

While this matter was settled inside the room, the examinations outside were proceeding in full swing.

After taking the examination paper, Lu Xiangsheng quickly scanned it, and then the expression on his face turned strange. Not because it was too difficult, but because it was too easy.

At this level, let alone a juren like himself — even an ordinary xiucai or a tongsheng could handle it with ease.

Lu Xiangsheng had not expected the Imperial Academy's examination to be so simple. Could there be some trick hidden within?

He quickly read through it once more and found no traps, but there was no time to consider what the problem might be, so he picked up his brush and began writing rapidly.

In another room not far away, Song Yingxing also saw the questions. He too furrowed his brow.

Could the questions really be this simple?

After a glance, Song Yingxing also began answering quickly.

Of course, there were also those who visibly relaxed when they saw the questions.

In the room next to Song Yingxing's, a young man let out a sigh of relief the moment he saw such questions — sure enough, his opportunity had come.

He had never thought of such a thing before; this time his luck was truly good.

This was a young man of about twenty, with a resolute face and a burly build — clearly someone trained in the martial arts.

He held the brush somewhat clumsily, obviously not someone who wielded one regularly. Judging by the calluses on his hands, one could tell he was a military man.

So when they saw his awkward appearance, quite a few people began to look at him with disdain.

The young man, however, paid it no mind and began answering the questions quickly.

The young man's hometown was originally Datong in Shanxi, but livelihoods there were poor. He had originally left home intending to join the army in Liaodong — who would have thought he would encounter such a matter in the capital?

After hearing about this matter, the young man decisively stayed.

Compared to joining the army in Liaodong, entering the Imperial Academy to study was undoubtedly another very good choice. So the young man decisively registered, and then decisively came to take the examination.

He had originally thought the examination would be difficult — who would have thought it would be this simple?

This let the young man see an opportunity; how could he not be delighted in his heart?

As he wrote, he suddenly remembered something. The front of the examination paper seemed to require writing one's name — he had actually forgotten!

So he dared not delay, hastily pulling the paper over and carefully writing his name on it:

Cao Wenzhao.

After writing his name, Cao Wenzhao nodded in satisfaction, then continued answering the questions.

At the same time, on the other side of Cao Wenzhao, there was a young man whose feelings were much the same.

This was also a youth under twenty, with a very distinctive feature on his face — a knife scar on the lower part of his right eyelid.

This scar made his face look somewhat fierce; from his appearance, he too was a military man.

Many people instinctively avoided him at the sight of his face, not even daring to speak to him, nor even daring to look at him. One could see how fearsome this man's appearance was.

Unlike Cao Wenzhao, he wrote his name on the paper the moment he received it:

Wu Xiang.

After writing his name, Wu Xiang nodded in satisfaction, and only then lowered his head to answer the questions.

Unlike Cao Wenzhao, Wu Xiang had come to the capital preparing to take the military jinshi examination next year. Upon learning of this opportunity at the Imperial Academy, he naturally could not abandon it, nor could he let it pass, so he had come to take the examination.

He too had originally thought the questions would be very difficult, but upon seeing them, he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

At this time, Zhu Youxiao had already come out of the room and began wandering about the examination grounds, mainly wanting to observe the scholars and students here.

Just looking at them made him happy. The reason was simple — this was the hope of the Great Ming, his own hope.

Whether he could pull off something big, whether he could avoid being the sovereign who lost the realm — it all depended on this, on how many talents loyal to him would emerge from here in the future!

A figure suddenly surfaced in Zhu Youxiao's mind, loudly speaking these words:

"Your subordinate Yu Jin is willing to go through fire and water for the Cao family for generations!"

How Zhu Youxiao wished someone could shout these words for him:

"Your subordinate is willing, for Your Majesty, to go through fire and water for generations!"

After making a full round, Zhu Youxiao returned to the room.

Looking at the sky outside, it was about the right time — and sure enough, he heard the sound of the bell, clearly signaling that the time to submit papers had arrived.

Zhu Youxiao smiled and said to Shen Tingyun, "Then I'll be going now, not disturbing you here while you grade the papers. Once there are results, report them to the palace."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Shen Tingyun quickly acknowledged.

Zhu Youxiao left the Imperial Academy's examination grounds, planning to take a stroll outside.

Returning to the palace was out of the question.

Having been out for this long, not going for a wander would be doing himself a disservice — and he could also pick up a gift for Empress Zhang along the way.

After walking out of the Imperial Academy's gate, Zhu Youxiao unexpectedly spotted an acquaintance.

That person seemed to have seen him as well, quickly walking up to Zhu Youxiao and saying with a loud laugh, "Brother Bai, have you also come to take the examination?"

"Brother Song." Zhu Youxiao also said with a smile, "Your younger brother hasn't come to take the examination — my family's circumstances don't allow it. I've simply come today to watch the excitement."