Chapter 559: The Final Opportunity

"Alright, this meeting is now concluded. Everyone should head to your respective posts and work hard."

As Baifeng finished speaking, enthusiastic applause erupted below, but Baifeng did not wait for the applause to die down on its own; he directly raised his hand to signal for silence.

"Now, let me ask again: do those people still have no intention of going to the Ministry of Justice to surrender and confess? Today is the final opportunity. If you have no such intention, then only severe punishment awaits you."

The crowd began to look around, very curious to know exactly who had been so busy these past few days that they had actually forgotten about this matter.

However, the few people Baifeng had alluded to were still feigning composure, remaining calm, because they felt that what they had done was absolutely seamless and that there were no problems with the process at all; they had merely modified the grades slightly. They were certain Baifeng was just trying to scare them, so they paid it no mind at all.

"Good, since that is the case, the assembly is now officially concluded!"

Applause thundered. After Baifeng stood up and scanned the crowd, he left. Once Baifeng had gone, the others also left the venue in a disorderly fashion, leaving behind crooked tables and chairs for others to tidy up.

Baifeng returned to his quiet room. With no one else present, he pondered the entire meeting. Because it had been interrupted for many days, even with the meeting agenda in hand, he could not guarantee whether he had explained everything clearly. However, the most important matters—education, medical care, and military reform—had already been resolved; these were the major events concerning the future of Huaxia. The rest could still be corrected slowly.

There were not many Tea Leaves left. The common people had not seen Tea Leaves for several months, and even the high-ranking officials and dignitaries had not been able to drink tea for a long time. They only had a small amount left, which they were drinking very sparingly.

From an Iron box, Baifeng took out his small notebook, which recorded some of his thoughts on the future planning of Huaxia. These were things he intended to resolve during his tenure. The matters Yulong needed to resolve were recorded in another book, though Yulong had not yet seen it.

This item was very important, but it had no lock. Baifeng did not quite understand the principles of locks, so he could only pass on the little he knew, along with his own ideas and requirements, to the Blacksmith of the Ministry of Works. He promised a great reward, and manufacturing a lock was now that Blacksmith's greatest goal.

Among the most important items in Baifeng's notebook regarding the internal affairs of Huaxia were the issuance of currency and binding a portion of the people to the Royal Family through Nobility and official ranks. There was also another: ritual. He had to use ritual and law to establish the status of the "King." The King's power is bestowed by Heaven and cannot be snatched away by force; this was Baifeng's most important goal for maintaining his own rule and that of his descendants. Ultimately, it had to come down to the two words: "legitimacy."

Just like in the history of later generations, no matter how dynasties changed, the word "legitimacy" was always the theme. Even if his descendants could not hold onto this empire, it would at least prevent them from suffering too poor a fate.

Originally, Baifeng had intended to confer Nobility and grant surnames to those of the older generation at the end of last year, but due to the influence of various matters, Baifeng's plan was postponed. Baifeng still had to find a more suitable time now, otherwise, it would be too abrupt.

Yulong's marriage had also been delayed time and again. In any case, this period would not work, and the spring plowing and sowing period was also not good. The best time would be after the Autumn Harvest.

Baifeng was still flipping through his notebook when suddenly a sound of tapping on Glass came. Baifeng turned his head to look and saw a gray-red falcon pecking at the Window.

This was one of the methods his intelligence system used to deliver messages to him. In Huaxia City, attacking pigeons and falcons was prohibited, so they could act without restraint. Baifeng also personally raised many falcons, and since many messages were sent directly to Baifeng, a falcon landing on Baifeng's windowsill was nothing unusual.

Baifeng opened the Window and used a pen barrel to catch the falcon; its talons were too sharp, and Baifeng dared not handle it directly. After placing the falcon on the table, Baifeng removed the letter tube from its leg. Inside was the situation regarding those few officials from the Ministry of Personnel. Baifeng knew they had not the slightest intention of repenting, so he had already ordered the Ministry of Justice to compile the evidence and was waiting to make arrests first thing tomorrow morning. Since he had said today was the final opportunity, he would not break his word.

You, Mao, and Renwang were the targets this time. Although they were in charge of the selection and promotion of officials, all talent had to come from the schools. If they tampered with the selection and promotion directly, it would be very obvious and they would expose themselves immediately. But if they tampered with things when students were graduating and advancing, who would notice?

After the few of them had been drinking one night, Renwang became talkative once he drank. He began to complain to the other two, saying that his older brother's son—his nephew—was not very good at studying; he could graduate from Primary School, but taking the exam for Advanced School was very strenuous. He said it unintentionally, but the other two had the same confusion; they all had some relative or other who also wanted to be an official and asked them for help.

But there was no way to help. They were only middle-level officials and had not reached the high level, let alone the degree where one word from them could make Baifeng issue a new policy, as was the case with Xiong.

As the few of them talked, they began to harbor crooked thoughts. Mao said that a few days ago he had inadvertently seen the Ministry of Education organizing the entrance exam papers, but because they were relatively important items, he hadn't looked at them, and the people from the Ministry of Education didn't seem to notice him.

Now that he thought about it, could they sneak over, copy down the answers, or steal a copy of the exam paper, and then show it to their relatives? Wouldn't that allow them to enter the Advanced School in a legitimate way, and wouldn't their future careers as officials be smooth sailing?

The three of them put their heads together and decided the plan was excellent and had no risks. The people from the Ministry of Education had already gone home, their office was empty, and it was the perfect time to act.

And so, fueled by the alcohol, the few of them crept directly into the Ministry of Education office in the dark. The exam papers had just been partially printed and were sitting brazenly on the table. Each of them took one, folded it, and put it in their pocket, then quickly left and went back to drinking.

When he sobered up the next day, You regretted it. But the deed was done, and the exam paper was in his hand. The other two didn't mention the matter at all, so he had no choice but to harden his heart and simply proceed according to the plan; in any case, nothing would go wrong.