Something happened. This is not going to be bloody.

Chapter 155: Northern Qi Concubine - The New Emperor Ascends the Throne

Inside Concubine Shu’s palace, the conversation between mother and son continued.

Zhou Leng rarely revealed his ambition, and said with emotion:

"Aze, do you know that the most miserable people in this world are the people at the bottom of society? The noble families have monopolized the land, and many people who want to farm can only rent it. They work hard every year, and in the end they have to hand over 60% of their food to the noble families. After deducting taxes, they can barely make ends meet. If there is a disaster year, many people will starve to death or freeze to death."

Gao Ze had a thoughtful look on his face.

Zhou Leng said again:

"The officials in the court are complicated. One can only become an official if recommended by aristocratic families, and one can only achieve academic success if he joins aristocratic families. They monopolize everything in the world and only care about climbing up, never looking at the corpses under their feet. As a member of the royal family, as the emperor, others may not see these things, but mother hopes that you can see them. There are many difficult things in the world. When people are born, they know nothing. It all depends on one word - learn. You can do well as long as you are willing to learn."

Gao Ze looked at his mother who seemed very unfamiliar to him. He did not feel any great enthusiasm but only felt a great deal of pressure. He pondered for a moment and said:

"Mother, this is too difficult. Aze cannot bear the responsibility for all the people. All Aze wants is peace and happiness."

Zhou Leng stopped looking at him and looked at the sky outside. She said:

"You may not be able to do it, but your mother can. Your mother can take on what you can't. All you have to do is be a good prince."

Gao Ze opened his eyes wide in surprise, and looked at his mother with shock. Perhaps he never understood what his mother was thinking.

****

After Gao Ze had a heart-to-heart talk with his mother, he felt much calmer. He always had the idea that it didn't matter, he was just a puppet, and he would let his mother make the decision on everything. He didn't even think about the fact that his relatives were the only ones in power, or that he couldn't take charge of the whole thing.

When Gao Ze was thirteen years old, the old emperor Gao Zhao was critically ill.

This time he is really critically ill.

In the Daye Hall, there were only the Empress and Consort Shu serving on the left and right. When they said they were serving, they actually just meant watching over the palace maids and making sure they didn't neglect the Emperor.

In just three years, Gao Zhao had aged a lot.

The wrinkles left by the years seem to hide many old things, but unfortunately they can only be buried in the dust in the end.

No matter how glorious things you have done during your lifetime, your merits and demerits after your death will be judged by future generations.

Gao Zhao was lying on the imperial bed, and there seemed to be a veil in front of his eyes. However, many things that he could see clearly before now seemed unclear. People who were once very confident now seemed a little strange to him.

Gao Zhao thought that it was already difficult for him to get up, so he shouldn't worry too much about it.

The queen sat beside the bed. Zhou Leng naturally did not fight for this place. She sat on the soft couch in the distance and kept watch.

In fact, both of them were waiting, waiting for the death of the man who had been entangled with them for their entire lives.

The emperor's voice was already weak, and he tried to say, "Queen, please ask Concubine Shu to come over as well."

The queen waved, and Zhou Leng also came to the bed.

The emperor looked at the two women. They were still young and graceful, while he himself was already halfway into the underworld. He said:

"Shu Fei, you must take good care of my kingdom after I leave. You know that relatives from outside the family cannot dominate the country."

When the Queen heard this, she secretly glanced at Concubine Shu, the woman she could not understand.

Zhou Leng looked at the emperor seriously. She knew that the old emperor probably felt something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what was wrong. Maybe he just felt that he was not that simple.

The Concubine Shu looked like a villain who had achieved success. Her expression was not the gentle and considerate one that the Emperor was familiar with on weekdays. Instead, she said with a bit of arrogance:

"Your Majesty, don't worry, Da Qi will always belong to the Gao family. I and your son will protect Da Qi."

Gao Zhao breathed slightly. He wanted to say something again, but stopped.

Zhou Leng glanced at the queen. Seeing that she looked neither happy nor sad, she knew that the emperor had no place in her heart. She shrugged and said:

"Your Majesty, just go with peace of mind. The future of Da Qi will only be better than the past. Don't worry, I will not let the history books write about things that are completely untrue. You will not be alone on the road to the underworld. The people of Da Qi are waiting for you in the underworld."

After hearing this, Gao Zhao died without even being able to catch his breath.

The queen smiled and shed a few tears. She turned her head to look at Concubine Shu who had a calm expression, and then sorted out her expression and mood.

The queen was the first to walk out of the palace and shouted loudly: "The emperor has passed away."

Many ministers who had been waiting outside the Daye Hall for a long time knelt on the ground and cried bitterly. They cried so miserably, even more miserably than when their own father died.

When the old emperor died, the new emperor would naturally ascend the throne.

Gao Ze was not a person who could act, so the first thing he did after ascending the throne was to add a desk for his mother in Daye Hall. This way he would feel more confident and someone would help him share the political affairs.

There is no mention of how the concubines in the harem moved out, or how the prince who was conferred the title of prince took the concubine out to enjoy a good life.

Just as the new emperor had just ascended the throne, the ministers wanted the emperor to fill his harem. He was still a child, although he was tall and handsome.

The mother and son were reading the memorials in the Daye Hall with a clear division of labor. Gao Ze said impatiently:

"Mother, half of these memorials are for me to establish a queen. They are really meddling in too much."

Zhou sneered and said casually:

"Since they are too idle, let's get them busy. The first thing to do now is to prepare for the imperial examination. When the new emperor ascends the throne, he will hold many imperial examinations."

Gao Ze asked in confusion: "Mother, what is the imperial examination?"

Zhou Leng explained it himself.

In the past, official vacancies were all filled through recommendations from aristocratic families. If it was a recommendation, personal connections and backdoor dealings were inevitable, not to mention that recommendations involved a complex network of relationships.

For example, the court is now full of confidants of the aristocratic families. If the emperor orders an official to do a task and the aristocratic family disagrees, the officials controlled by the aristocratic family will not do the task, and the emperor will face the fact that a good cook cannot cook without rice.

If the emperor wants to kill someone, but no one responds, even though he is the emperor, he cannot go and kill people by himself. Without his ministers and the people, there would be no emperor.

Therefore, Zhou Leng thought that the first thing the new emperor should do after ascending the throne was to set up the imperial examination system. He should first make a five-year plan and make the imperial examination the only standard for selecting officials.

When the aristocratic families and the poor families can compete with each other in the court, that will be the beginning of deep-level reforms.

The mother and son discussed for a long time, for example, what to do if the ministers disagreed, and what to do if the aristocratic families had objections.

In fact, the aristocratic families would most likely not disagree at the beginning. After all, the poor people were illiterate and did not read, and the imperial examination was only held among the aristocratic families.

The prosperity of Da Qi slowly unfolded during their conversation.