Madam, protect me!

Ministry of Personnel.

The examiner was taken away by the people of the Mingjing Division. The officials of the Ministry of Personnel were both surprised and not surprised.

They were not surprised by the ending of Sun Langzhong.

They just didn't expect that the ending would come so soon.

Sun Langzhong had just been transferred to the Ministry of Personnel to replace Wang Langzhong who resigned voluntarily. He hadn't sat in the position for long, and he probably didn't have the chance to sit in it for long.

If he entered the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple, he might still get out.

If he went to the Mingjing Division, he could only pray for his life.

The two examiners of the Ministry of Personnel were both defeated by the Dali Temple.

If there was not enough evidence, the Mingjing Division would not have been dispatched. Sun Langzhong's going there would be more danger than good.

Everyone knew that Sun Langzhong's own problems were not the real reason why he was taken away.

Just now in the hall, he took the lead in opposing Li Xuanjing, the Dali Temple, which was the root cause.

Li Xuanjing was stubborn, cruel, petty, and vindictive.

He hated people disobeying him the most. If the Zhongshu Sheren rejected his memorial, he would replace him with another Zhongshu Sheren. Except for the censor, anyone who opposed him in the court would be retaliated by him.

Sun Langzhong had just opposed him in the morning court and was taken away after the morning court. This Dali Temple Minister did not care about other people's comments at all.

Regarding the Kaogong Langzhong Sun Jian, the results of the investigation by the Mingjing Division came out soon.

The annual salary of an official of the fifth rank was only 500 taels.

But the Mingjing Division found property worth more than 20,000 taels in his home.

After investigation, when Sun Jian was the deputy governor of a certain state, he took advantage of his position to accept a large amount of bribes, abused his power, and engaged in power-for-money transactions...

According to the "Official System Law", Sun Jian was removed from the post of Kaogong Langzhong and all his property was confiscated.

Officials in Daxia had certain privileges.

Deprivation of official position was a punishment for his crimes, and he himself did not have to suffer physical punishment.

But for an official, after studying hard for more than ten or twenty years, he finally passed the imperial examination, and spent another ten or twenty years to climb to his current position, but was demoted to the bottom, which was more painful than killing him.

What's more, before Sun Jian was appointed as the examiner, he was already the deputy governor of a certain state.

The deputy governor was the assistant official of the governor, and even the deputy governor of a lower state had a rank of fifth grade. Isn't it normal for a fifth grade official to have 20,000 taels of property at home after serving for more than ten years?

Accepting bribes and trading power for money are not a big deal. Being an official is for wealth and glory. If Sun Jian's standards are followed, more than half of the officials in the court will have their homes confiscated.

However, these things are the unspoken rules in the officialdom and cannot be brought to the surface.

Li Xuanjing dealt with Sun Jian for this reason, and others could not find any mistakes.

Also dealt with were a secretary in the Ministry of Personnel and a counselor.

The charges against these two were lighter than those against Sun Jian. After using their official positions to pay for their crimes, their official positions were reduced from the fifth rank to the seventh rank. They had to wait for the Ministry of Personnel to reappoint them. It was difficult for them to have the opportunity to attend court meetings again in their lifetime.

Although the three people had different charges, they had one thing in common.

That was that they all openly opposed Li Xuanjing in court, and they were the leaders.

Li Xuanjing controlled the Mingjing Division, the largest intelligence agency in Daxia, and he knew how many officials' secrets he knew. He was obviously telling the officials that it was up to him to attack anyone.

Those who obeyed me prospered, and those who opposed me perished. This was the most powerful official in Daxia.

Ministry of Justice.

Li Nuo had no idea what was happening in court.

He was secretly observing Li Anning.

She came to the Ministry of Justice today, not wearing the uniform of the constable, but a red palace dress.

On the skirt, there was an exquisite phoenix pattern embroidered, but it was not as serious as the one she wore last time. It was two points less noble and three points more beautiful.

It was also the first time that Li Nuo realized that the word "beautiful" could not only describe Fenghuang, but also Li Anning.

Not only did she change her clothes, she also put on light makeup. No wonder she looked particularly beautiful today.

She seemed to have discovered that she was a bit pretty.

Li Anning noticed Li Nuo's gaze, looked up at him, and asked, "Why do you always look at me?"

Li Nuo looked at her and said, "You changed your clothes, I'm a little uncomfortable."

Li Anning frowned slightly and asked, "Can't I wear normal women's clothes?"

Li Nuo lowered his head to look at the file and said, "Yes, in fact, you look pretty good in this way..."

Li Anning's brows relaxed and suddenly asked, "Really? Compared to that Fenghuang girl?"

Li Nuo looked up at her. No wonder she suddenly got it. It turned out that she was stimulated by Fenghuang.

Beautiful women always like to compare with other beautiful women.

If it was the wife who asked him this question, Li Nuo would definitely have only one answer.

But with the wife's personality, she probably would never ask him this in her life.

Facing Li Anning, Li Nuo didn't have to lie and told the truth: "You two, each has its own merits..."

Li Anning has Li Anning's style, and Fenghuang has Fenghuang's flavor.

Not all comparisons need to be decided, and not all comparisons can be decided.

Li Anning frowned again and asked: "Why do they have their own merits?"

Fenghuang is not Song Jiaren, she and Song Jiaren are both good at their own merits.

As for the Phoenix girl, in terms of appearance, she is not inferior to her, in terms of figure, she is slightly better, in terms of status, she wins even more... Why are they so different?

Li Nuo glanced at her and said: "In terms of appearance, you are both rare beauties. You are indistinguishable from each other, but it is the most superficial behavior to evaluate a person only by appearance. Fenghuang is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and also knows how to arrange flowers. Don’t you understand this? You are stronger and can compete with the fourth level of martial arts, but an ordinary person can bully her. You are not as good as her in terms of talent, and she is not as good as you in terms of strength... Aren’t these different things? ?”

Li Anning could not refute this explanation.

She really doesn’t know how to play music, chess, calligraphy, painting, or flower arranging.

Compared with these, she feels that strength is more important.

She thought for a while and then asked: "What do you think, Phoenix and Song Jiaren..."

Before she could finish speaking, Li Nuo said without hesitation: "Of course my wife is better."

Li Anning was dissatisfied and said: "Why?"

Why is it that even though she and Fenghuang have their own merits, Song Jiaren is better than Fenghuang?

Li Nuo is the answerer, and the final power of interpretation rests with him.

He has his own criteria for judging.

For him, appearance is not the only criterion, but should be viewed comprehensively.

Being impartial and honest, Li Nuo gave them all full marks in terms of appearance. They truly have their own merits.

In terms of figure, Li Nuo couldn't favor the lady. If Phoenix had a perfect score, she would only have fifty points. If it weren't for the accident that day, Li Nuo could only give her ten points for friendship.

In terms of talent, Li Nuo couldn't do anything. If Phoenix got a perfect score, Lady would get a maximum of 20 points. This was even if he counted sword dancing as a talent.

In this case, the Phoenix has 300 points and the Lady has 170 points.

In terms of strength, one hundred points will be added to the level, the lady will add four hundred points, and the total score is 570 points. The Phoenix does not even have one level, so one hundred points will be deducted, and the total score will be two hundred points.

Li Nuo listed the standards, told the facts and presented evidence, and Li Anning was convinced.

Then she asked: "What about me? According to your standards, am I not as good as that Phoenix?"

Unbiased, Li Anning has perfect looks, perfect figure, zero points for talent, 400 points for strength, and a total score of 600 points...

Apart from her talent, she is top-notch in every aspect, thirty points better than the lady and three times better than the Phoenix.

Li Anning is very satisfied with the result.

However, Li Nuo always felt that something was missing, including appearance, figure, talent, and strength. Although these four items included different aspects, they were not comprehensive enough. He thought about it and added one more.

gentle.

In terms of gentleness, the lady is considered to be eighty. If it weren't for that kick on the first day, Li Nuo would have given her full marks.

Honestly speaking, if the lady has eighty points of gentleness, the Phoenix must have at least one hundred and fifty points.

As for Li Anning, she deducted fifty points.

In this case, the lady ranks first with 650 points, Li Anning ranks second with 550 points, and Phoenix has too serious shortcomings. Although it has perfect scores in other aspects, its strength is 500 points less than them, with 350 points. Ten points ranked third.

Li Anning changed from first place to second place. She was extremely dissatisfied. She slapped the table in front of Li Nuo and asked, "How can I not be gentle?"

Several cracks extended from under her palm to the edge of the table.

Because Li Nuo said Li Anning was not gentle, she didn't talk to him for most of the morning.

But she is not gentle.

He loves to tell the truth.

Even in front of his wife, he dared to say that her figure was not as good as Li Anning's and her talent was not as good as Phoenix's. That was the truth. False compliments were worse than sincere evaluations.

Although Li Anning is not gentle, she is not as stingy as a lady.

The next morning, she took the initiative to talk to Li Nuo, completely forgetting what happened yesterday.

With that in mind, give her another fifty points.

It's half a month in a blink of an eye.

In the past half month, Li Nuo has been coming to the Criminal Department almost every day because of matters in the Anti-Theft Department.

The senior officials of the Thieving Sect, not to mention other abilities, but their ability to catch thieves, no matter whether it is the Chang'an County Government Office or the Criminal Department, no police officer can match it.

Li Nuo looked at the statistics of the Anti-Theft Department in recent days.

These days, the number of thieves caught by the Anti-Theft Department has shown a decreasing trend.

There are about forty members of the Anti-Theft Department in Chang'an. They are located in various crowded areas of Chang'an, and each of them can catch several thieves every day.

With the special operations of the Anti-Theft Department, the security of Chang'an has also been significantly improved.

Pei Zhe told Li Nuo that these days, the number of people coming to the county government office to report theft cases has dropped significantly.

There will only be fewer thieves caught, and there is no need to expand the number of personnel in the Anti-Theft Department.

If the imperial court does not plan to set up anti-theft departments across the country, then the remaining people locked up in various prison cells and burglary gates can start the road to exile.

There was nothing going on today, so Li Nuo and Li Anning played backgammon out of boredom.

The royal palace, above the main hall.

The court meeting on the 15th day of every month is held on time.

Nothing major happened in the past month and a half.

After officials from various ministries took turns to report their work, only a few censors stood up and praised the Ministry of Punishment for its achievements in arresting theft.

In just half a month, the Anti-Theft Department has arrested hundreds of thieves. The number of thefts in various shops in Chang'an has been greatly reduced. Many people's stolen property has been recovered. The people are not satisfied with the government's actions in anti-theft. Gave high praise.

This is actually a trivial matter.

Whether there are more or less thieves in Chang'an has nothing to do with the officials in the court. Even if those thieves had ten courages, they would not dare to steal from their houses.

However, they had just rejected the Anti-Theft Department half a month ago. Unexpectedly, they had made such achievements in the past half month. Wouldn't it be a slap in the face to many people?

At the court meeting at the beginning of the month, someone said that it was the duty of the county lieutenant to catch thieves, and that setting up an anti-theft department was unnecessary.

Facts have proved that the establishment of the Anti-Theft Department is not unnecessary.

Professional matters must be left to professional people.

Among the crowd, an official stood up and said: "The Anti-Theft Department of the Ministry of Criminal Justice has arrested hundreds of thieves within half a month, and its achievements are obvious to all. I suggest that the Anti-Theft Department be set up in each state capital. Sirs, do you have any objections?"

The court hall was quiet.

The official who spoke was a young minister of Dali Temple and Li Xuanjing's mouthpiece in the court.

His words represent Li Xuanjing's will.

The three officials who stood up to oppose last time were taken away by the Mirror Division just after they came to court. Li Xuanjing didn't even pretend.

Who dares to object this time?

Officials below the fourth rank who dare to object will have to spend the night in jail at the Mirror Division or Dali Temple.

If he is above the fourth rank and is being targeted by Li Xuanjing, something will happen to him sooner or later.

And higher-level officials will not go against Li Xuanjing for these trivial matters that have nothing to do with their own interests.

At their level, if they don't take action, once they do, the world will be turned upside down.

Seeing that no one objected, the young minister of Dali Temple said: "Since there is no objection, I would like to trouble the adults of the three provinces to introduce the detailed rules as soon as possible. The sooner they are implemented, the sooner the people will benefit..."

…

Wow!

Prince Rui's Mansion.

After going to court, Prince Rui returned to the palace and smashed everything he saw to pieces.

"Li Xuanjing, I will kill you!"

He gasped, forcing the words out of his throat.

The three officials who were taken away by the Mirror Division half a month ago were all placed in that position at great cost by him. All of them fell into the hands of Li Xuanjing overnight.

For this reason, he once went to his father to complain, accusing Li Xuanjing of acting arbitrarily, but he did not even see his father's face.

In the court today, Li Xuanjing brought up the old matter again, and no one in the court dared to object.

He almost broke his teeth on it, but he couldn't buck the trend.

If it weren't for Li Xuanjing, his power in the court would have at least doubled. His hatred for Li Xuanjing was still greater than that of his several royal brothers who competed with him for power.

"Your Highness, calm down, don't let your anger break your body..."

A feminine voice sounded behind him. Looking at the figure coming from the darkness, Prince Rui's face became even more angry and said: "If it hadn't been for your repeated failures, how could Li Xuanjing's son have survived to this day? This thief has ruined our affairs time and time again. Only by destroying his family can we relieve the hatred in my heart..."

The feminine man lowered his head and said: "The Seven Evils of Tianshan failed last time. The guards around him were stronger than before. If you want to kill him, I'm afraid I can only ask the master to take action..."

"Then go and invite me!"

Prince Rui looked gloomy and gritted his teeth as he said, "I want him to cut off his descendants, no matter how high the price is!"

…

Ministry of Punishment.

In the government office, Li Nuo looked at Li Anning and said in surprise: "How long will it take for you to leave Chang'an?"

Li Anning said: "About a month."

Li Nuo said in surprise: "So long?"

Li Anning explained: "I'm going to guard the mausoleum of my mother and concubine, and I won't come back until a month later."

Li Nuo nodded and said, "You can go without worries, I will leave this place to you."

The Anti-Theft Department was already on track, so he and Li Anning didn't need to worry anymore. If there were any cases during this period, he would handle them.

Li Nuo was still a little unaccustomed to the thought that he would be the only one left in this government office.

But thinking that after she left, he could have the entire yamen room to himself, sit in her chair, and sleep on her bed, it seemed pretty good.

Li Anning glanced at him and asked, "Are you happy that I'm leaving?"

Li Nuo waved his hand and said, "No, how could it be possible..."

He was about to explain a few words when his body suddenly trembled slightly, as if he heard the sound of something breaking in his body.

Li Anning also looked at him with wide eyes, her expression extremely surprised.

Li Nuo stretched out his hand, and with a thought, an illusory long whip appeared in his hand.

The whip of law is the symbol of the second realm of Legalism.

While Li Nuo was ecstatic, he was also a little confused.

The bottleneck of the first level of Legalism is not so easy to break through, but he broke through inexplicably without doing anything. This is different from what the book said...