Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!

402: Chapter 402: Missing a Knife_1 402: Chapter 402: Missing a Knife_1 The Emperor looked over the list again and read the spy’s message once more before he said to the Crown Prince, “Lord Zhou’s subsidy can be extended to all the provinces.”

Nowadays, there were too many officials of noble birth in the court; even the Emperor could not afford to select only those without a background for every examination, nor did he regard all those from humble origins as noteworthy.

It was difficult for an Emperor to maintain balance—he sighed inwardly, thinking how hard it was to reclaim the powers that the Founding Emperor had once exercised.

The Crown Prince pursed his lips, “Emperor, expansion will be difficult.”

The noble families in various places would not like to see too many poor students taking the exams.

The Emperor knew this full well.

Initially, he had been keen on sending Zhou Shuren to Lizhou Prefecture, hoping that the Top scorer would wield the sword on his behalf.

But thinking of that Top scorer only irritated him further—his patience was limited, after all.

He needed a sharper sword to cut against the influence of the noble families.

After mentally reviewing a list of names, he replied to the Crown Prince, “If it can’t be promoted, then forget it.”

He did not want to deal with messages of superficial compliance and underlying disobedience—it was headache-inducing enough.

Looking at the Crown Prince, the Emperor asked meaningfully, “Our Lord Zhou should be put to use; where do you think I should send him?”

The Crown Prince felt that his father, the Emperor, had become increasingly unpredictable over the year, but he was used to it now.