I became emperor in the Tang Dynasty by relying on the palace fighting system

Just one sentence made those officials who had gained promotion through connections sweat profusely.

The Li Dynasty clapped his hands and the palace servants distributed pens, ink, paper and inkstones. The topic was exactly the same as the one for the Jade Girl and Jade Boy exam.

Ruyi lit a stick of incense and said, "Everyone, please get started. You have two hours to finish these questions."

The officials forced a smile and said, "Yes."

When they picked up their pens, some of them wrote smoothly, while for others it was easy at the beginning but became more and more difficult as they went on.

By the end, some people had beads of sweat the size of soybeans on their foreheads and could not write a single word.

Time passed quickly, and Ruyi lit another stick of incense. At this moment, Li Chao suddenly shouted, "Stop."

Li Chao took a deep look at those who couldn't write, which made them feel uneasy, and then said, "Don't try."

"Some of you just don't have the real stuff."

Li Zhao cooperated and played the villain. He activated the [King's Aura] skill, and his majestic spiritual consciousness oppressed all his subordinates fiercely: "Huh? What's going on?!"

Those who had guilty consciences slid down from their seats, fell to their knees with a thud, their entire backs soaked with cold sweat.

They begged for mercy with trembling lips: "Xuan Zun, please spare us! Xuan Zun, please spare us!"

"Ali, the purpose of proposing this exam is to find them out?" Li Zhao ignored them and just looked at Li Chao.

Li Chao nodded: "Yes, sister."

"I saw that they had little talent and were not the type to make the list, so I wanted to give them a try. Who knew that the result would come out as a result of the first try?"

Li Chao's eyes were deep: "Really, what a large group of demons and monsters."

Whether it's a mule or a horse, you'll know if you pull it out and run around.

Li Zhao secretly manipulated the Li Dynasty to do these things in order to deal a heavy blow to the aristocratic families who manipulated the imperial examinations today.

Normally they would just pass the imperial examinations and submit their papers, and just place useless people in the court.

Yu Dou Xuan Zun wants to select his subordinates, but he dares to send some idiots to him?

Once the dark side behind it is revealed, things will get out of hand.

As the emperor and the regent queen, how could Wu Meiniang and Li Zhi let them go?

This time, if Wu Meiniang and her husband don't make those aristocratic families bleed heavily, Li Zhao will take the surname of the aristocratic family.

Li Zhao glanced at the people kneeling on the ground with annoyance: "Tsk! I hate people like you who have no real ability but still want to take up positions!"

"Come here, drag him out and put him in solitary confinement in the palace first!"

As soon as Li Zhao finished speaking, a group of strong female guards rushed into the hall.

Those were guards specially selected by Wu Meiniang from the palace. They were tall and strong, and were no less powerful than ordinary soldiers.

"Xuan Zun, Xuan Zun, please spare our lives!" The men were dragged out by the female guards, crying and shouting, and soon their voices fell silent.

"Ruyi, go and tell the Queen about this. Ask her how those examiners select their candidates."

"Why didn't the chancellors review all the examination papers? They actually selected so many termites!"

With a look of disgust on his face, Li Zhao handed the evidence of the aristocratic family and his own ideas for reform to Wu Meiniang.

"Yes, Xuanzun." Ruyi went to the Zichen Palace as instructed and repeated Li Zhao's words verbatim.

Wu Meiniang was reviewing memorials. She paused after hearing this and said, "I understand. Thank you for your hard work. Go away."

Ruyi bowed and said, "Yes, I'll take my leave."

Wu Meiniang pondered Li Zhao's words carefully: "Why don't the prime ministers review all the examination papers once..."

Wu Meiniang understood that Xuanzun wanted to use this incident to change the current situation of the imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty.

If the prime minister were to review all the examination papers, it would surely be possible to fish out many pearls that failed to pass the examination, and the imperial examination would become relatively fair.

She curled her lips and chuckled, then immediately straightened her face and turned to the other side of the hall to tell Li Zhi about this.

With a clang, Li Zhi swept away the tea set on the large table.

His face turned pale and he was already furious: "Asshole!!"

"Ninety subordinates, and more than half of them have no real talent?!"

Yudou Xuanzun was the honorable Emperor of Heaven, and Li Zhi gave her a palace and the same treatment as a prince.

However, Xuanzun was treated the same way as the emperor, so Li Zhi added a lot of officials to her side.

Even if Li Zhao cut half of the official quotas, he would still have to select at least eighty more people so that the Taiwei Changzhu Mansion could maintain its status.

Wu Meiniang also advised that additional female officials be added to Li Zhao's Taiwei Changzhu Mansion in accordance with the regulations of the Eastern Palace, and that ten women from outside the palace should be selected.

So this time the Ministry of Personnel selected a total of ninety people.

"It's like this for every new subject, what about the previous regular subjects?"

"How many more idiots have sneaked into the imperial court, and how many talented people have been buried without glory?!"

Li Zhi was furious and his head started to hurt again.

Wu Meiniang anxiously called for the imperial physician and rushed over to massage his temples.

"Your Majesty, calm down. The Jade Maiden and Jade Boy Examination is over now, and Xuanzun's anger needs to be calmed down as soon as possible. We don't have time to hold another imperial examination to select officials."

Wu Meiniang calmly gave her analysis.

After Li Zhi calmed down a little, he turned to look at her: "Mei Niang, what you mean is..."

Wu Meiniang said, "Why not let the prime ministers review the papers of the Jade Girl and Jade Boy candidates, select the useful ones, and then hand them in for us to decide."

"Leave the assignment of official posts to Xuanzun."

"Although there are many people who want to be Xuanzun's officials, the prime ministers are upright and will be able to withstand pressure from all sides and select talented people."

Li Zhi thought about it carefully and felt that it made sense: "Okay, I'll do as you say."

As he spoke, he sighed again: "Alas! The aristocratic families, over the years, more than 80% of the Jinshi in the imperial examinations were from aristocratic families, while those from poor families accounted for less than 20%, and they are still not satisfied!"

"The selection of candidates for the imperial examinations is based on family background, not talent. If this continues, how can we, the Tang Dynasty, find talented people?"

Wu Meiniang had an idea. In fact, she had a way to put an end to the trend of only considering family background as the basis for success in the imperial examinations.

That is, cover up the names and family backgrounds of the candidates on the test papers, and reveal the names after the papers are graded.

The method of obscuring names had already taken shape in Wu Meiniang's mind.

However, she thought calmly in her heart that she couldn't be impatient now, as it was not the time to use the method of obfuscation.

As Li Zhi said, 80% of the candidates in the imperial examinations were from aristocratic families.

Once the obscure name law was introduced, most of those people's careers would be cut short, which would dig up the roots of the aristocratic families.

Hu Ming Fa's strike was too fierce. If he failed to kill the aristocratic family, he would surely suffer a crazy counterattack from the other side.

Both the eastern and western borders were unstable, and the Tang Dynasty court could not withstand this turmoil.

Wu Meiniang continued, "Your Majesty, I have more advice to give."

After the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai and the banquet at Yaochi Lake, Li Zhi now trusted and respected Wu Meiniang even more.

Seeing that she still respectfully addressed him as Her Majesty, Li Zhi felt soft in his heart.

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Mei Niang, you and I are close husband and wife, there is nothing wrong with talking about it, why would you advise me, just say it."

"Not only this time, but all future regular and special examinations will be reviewed by the prime minister. You and I will make the final judgment. Only in this way can those aristocratic families not become too arrogant and ruin the foundation of our Great Tang."

"As for the treatment of those people, Your Majesty, please decide and teach them a lesson."

Li Zhi nodded: "Okay, draft the edict."

Those men who had no real talent were all beaten with fifty sticks and were banned from entering officialdom for life.

Including the big boy who forced the girl to give up his place to himself, the palace guards beat him hard and even broke his buttocks.

The high-ranking officials who recommended him were also reprimanded by the imperial edict.

Some were stripped of their titles, some were demoted, some had their salaries fined, and for a time a large number of people in Chang'an City were in trouble.

The Minister of Personnel was only fined one month’s salary.

As the chief examiner, Mr. Kang was directly exiled to the frontier. For the rest of his life, he could only face the yellow sand and sing tears behind bars. It was really miserable.

After the Jade Girl and Jade Boy Ceremony, good news came from Goguryeo and Li Zhao was eager to try.

This time, she will go to war against Goguryeo, and let the female generals and soldiers replicate and surpass the glory of Princess Pingyang Zhao!