After their minds were read, the entire court trembled with fear.

Chapter 82 The Strongest Proxy Examiner in Da Ye

If I pass the exam, where else can I find such a good job?

This guy not only helped people take the provincial examinations, but also the metropolitan examinations. His most ruthless act was even getting someone the top score in the provincial examination.

"puff!"

The examiners, who were drinking tea to stay awake late at night, and even the Minister of Rites above them, all spat it out.

I've seen people take exams for others, but I've never seen one this impressive.

The Minister of Rites wiped the water from his mouth and said to the person next to him, "Quickly report this matter to His Majesty."

This is extremely serious. After Shen Zhiyi inquired about it, he went to investigate and found that he had spent most of his life taking the imperial examinations and had helped countless people take them for others.

What's even more frightening is that the Ministry of Rites was completely unaware of this matter.

At this moment, Cui Yuanzhe's mind was in turmoil.

They quietly hid the other answers.

Wait a minute, this person wrote more than one answer sheet???

Shen Zhiyi took a deep breath and flipped through the surveillance footage in disbelief.

One, two, three, four... ten?

Wow, everyone else hasn't even finished yet, and you've already finished the problems for ten people in two days and two nights?

Shen Zhiyi didn't understand, and was even greatly shocked.

"Bring it!"

Cui Yuanzhe began frantically tearing up the answer sheets, while the examiners, who were already prepared, swiftly tackled an elderly man and collected the remaining sheets.

"You're awesome."

Chen, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, was panting heavily as he looked at the densely packed characters. Although he only glanced at it, he could tell that it was a basically passable answer sheet.

The old emperor was furious when he found out about this in the middle of the night.

He directly launched into a tirade against the Minister of Rites.

"For the next exam, I must see a completely new, flawless testing plan!"

The old emperor is making things difficult for people.

The old emperor snorted coldly, "Nothing in the world is difficult. Just use your brain and push a little harder, and a solution will come out."

Anyway, he didn't expect Shen Zhiyi to come up with any ideas. There were so many people; they couldn't all just be sitting around doing nothing.

After one night, the people from the Ministry of Rites actually came up with several plans for the old emperor.

After the old emperor made a choice, he executed it with lightning speed.

Shen Zhiyi was completely stunned.

After the provincial examination was over, all the people who had taken the exam for others by Cui Yuanzhe were exposed.

Those who passed the imperial examinations were basically scattered throughout various parts of Daye, and some even served as officials in Dajing.

[Why is there a Shuntian Prefecture Magistrate here? This guy got the position through his own merit, he didn't have someone take the exam for him.]

The old emperor breathed a sigh of relief. The Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture was a rare and excellent official. If the other party had been appointed by proxy, he would have had to find a way to offset his merits and demerits.

Who looked up this list?

"Your Majesty," the Minister of Rites wiped the cold sweat from his brow, "it may have been written incorrectly."

【Pah! It's not a mistake; you deliberately wrote "Shuntian Prefecture Prefect" on it.】

The old emperor looked at the Minister of Rites.

[Hahaha, so that's why! I was wondering why the Minister of Rites suddenly wanted to frame the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture. It turns out it's because his granddaughter has been writing love poems for that Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture lately.]

The old emperor looked at the Minister of Rites in shock and whispered, "How old is your granddaughter?"

"The age of adolescence".

The Minister of Rites almost ground his teeth in frustration as he replied.

"I recall that the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture is already in his forties..."

At this point, the old emperor fell silent.

What a beast! The Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture is truly a beast!

"I understand, I understand. I won't pursue this matter further, but this is a one-time exception. Uh, let's still punish him by deducting one month's salary as a small punishment."

The old emperor looked at the list with a troubled expression.

The Minister of Rites replied, "The Vice Minister of Personnel said that many of these officials are good people who do practical things for the people. I don't know how to handle them."

“Those who deserve punishment should be punished, and those who deserve reward should be rewarded. But those who obtained their official positions through cheating in the imperial examinations are ultimately illegitimate. Those whose merits and demerits can offset each other should be summoned to the capital. I want to re-examine them. No matter what, if their background is upright, they will have the right attitude in their future work.”

"What Your Majesty says is correct."

The old emperor continued, "The palace examination is in a month, which will be right before the New Year. How about this, we set the palace examination before the New Year and have the examiners work harder to finalize the list."

"Here."

The Lunar New Year is almost here.

Shen Zhiyi bit her nail.

[How about we go on a trip to the surrounding area during the holidays?]

The old emperor looked at Shen Zhiyi with a half-smile.

"Shen Zhiyi, I heard you're all alone in your room?"

"Your Majesty, yes."

[I'm all alone in Dajing, so there's nothing wrong with that.]

"That's perfect. You can stay in the palace for the New Year, and Zhang Sheren can go back to his family."

Zhang Sheren was overjoyed and wept, immediately kneeling down to express his gratitude.

Shen Zhiyi: ? ? ?

[Old Emperor, what do you mean?! Even cattle and horses don't get a holiday for the New Year!]

The Minister of Rites looked at Shen Zhiyi, who was roaring angrily, with envy.

What an immense favor this is, to be able to spend the New Year with His Majesty!

The Minister of Rites suppressed the surging emotions in his heart and turned to leave.

Immediately afterwards, the newly appointed Minister of Personnel was led in by a palace attendant.

When did this cheapskate get back?

Good heavens, did this stingy guy execute all the local officials over there?

All of this was within the old emperor's expectations; he only asked about other things.

"How's the situation over there going?"

"Your Majesty, a maritime chamber of commerce has been established along the southeast coast to manage maritime trade. However, these are all spontaneous organizations. I suggest that Your Majesty establish an agency specifically to manage overseas tribute and trade."

【Isn't this the Maritime Trade Office?!】

Shen Zhiyi was happy for a moment, but soon became anxious.

However, the Maritime Trade Office seemed to prohibit private individuals from engaging in exchanges with foreign countries and non-official organizations from conducting overseas trade activities—essentially a maritime ban policy. This maritime ban policy, however, eventually became distorted.

After the newly appointed Minister of Personnel finished muttering to himself, Shen Zhiyi continued, "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, 'Without rules, there can be no order.' The reason why a large amount of overseas trade taxes in the southeastern coastal areas have not been paid is because of the lack of strong management."

"Your Majesty," the newly appointed Minister of Personnel said, his eyes gleaming with the light of money, "I am certain that there is a vast market overseas, where money can be made."

The old emperor sat up straight. He might not understand other things, but he certainly understood things very well when it came to money.

"Tell me in detail what you encountered along the southeast coast."

The two chatted for a whole night.

Shen Zhiyi went from being very interested at the beginning to wanting to kill the two people in front of her.

[Pah! Pah! Pah! That's a great idea, but old emperor, do you dare to develop commerce on a large scale?]

The emperor and his ministers, who had been excited all night, were suddenly doused with cold water by Shen Zhiyi.

Prioritizing agriculture and suppressing commerce is fundamental to the stability of a nation.