Chapter 238: Chapter 179 Is There Something Wrong with

This Guy’s Body?_2

Translator: 549690339

Upon hearing the maid’s words, Lu Chen immediately went to the study.

Seeing a crowd of people standing at the entrance to the study, Lu Chen said with a smile, “Lord Li, it is still several days until the time for my political discussions, isn’t it? Why have you all come today?”

Upon Lu Chen’s arrival, Li Rui and a group of other officials from Yan County promptly saluted, “We greet Your Highness, may the Prince live for ten thousand, ten thousand years!”

After completing the salute, Li Rui spoke up, “Your Highness, your Brocade Guard have been zealously arresting officials from North City. Now North City is in a state of panic, with quite a few officials having already submitted their resignations to me, planning to return home.”

Most officials in North City were not locals. Before the Sum Emperor granted North City to Lu Chen, the officials in North City were all dispatched there by the court from other places.

Now, hearing that Lu Chen was to cleanse the bureaucracy, some officials were so frightened that they were hurrying to flee.

According to the rules, after a Seignior arrived in his fief, the officials arranged by the court all had the right to submit their resignations. Moreover, without the need for the Seignior’s consent, those officials could leave the Seignior’s territory directly.

This was a trap set by the previous Sum Emperor for the Seigniors. If a Seignior did not position his own people on his land, not only could the court-appointed officials monitor him, but they could also render him powerless.

Furthermore, the court could use these officials to discipline any recalcitrant Seigniors.

Under normal circumstances, if all the officials of a fiefdom fled, the area would quickly fall into chaos. There was once a Seignior who did not obey, and the court directly reassigned all the officials away, instantly leaving the Seignior’s territory without any competent individuals.

Even though the court’s officials were reassigned, it appeared as though the Seignior had gained power and the fiefdom’s authority had transferred to him, but most Seigniors who were newly granted their fiefdoms did not have their own administrative base.

For instance, Princes like Lu Chen, who at first knew only to indulge in pleasure, did not have their own administrative base when they arrived in North City. If the court were to transfer away all the officials of North City at that time, Lu Chen would only have been able to look on helplessly, inheriting a complete mess in North City, with no way to keep the whole area operational with just the few people he initially had.

Hearing Li Rui’s words, Lu Chen said with a smile, “No wonder you all rushed over to the Prince’s Mansion so early in the morning. It turns out it’s because of this.”

“Don’t worry about this. Those whom the Brocade Guard are arresting are all corrupt officials and embezzlers.”

Upon hearing this from Lu Chen, Li Rui and the group of officials became even more panicked.

Corrupt officials and embezzlers?

Being in the bureaucratic field, how many of the officials present could claim to be clean, even Li Rui himself had accepted silver from others.

If Lu Chen was really going to purge all the corrupt officials and embezzlers, then arguably not a single official in North City would be spared.

According to the Great Sum court’s standards, the poorer the place and the fewer the population, the less salary officials received.

North City was an impoverished area, and the salaries provided by the court to the officials sent there were minimal.

Therefore, the first thing that most officials did upon arriving in North City was to look for ways to make money. With such limited salaries, how could they lead a good life without resorting to corruption and bribery?

This group of people joined the officialdom for status and money. Now, with Lu Chen attacking the corrupt and the embezzlers, it was like he was planning to wipe them all out in one go.

When Lu Chen first came to North City, they had been worried, but seeing him indulging in pleasure at the Prince’s Mansion every day, they thought that Lu Chen would be easy to handle.

But unexpectedly, Lu Chen had been hiding his blade all this time, and it had only now been revealed.

Li Rui hurriedly responded, “Your Highness, North City is poor, and according to the court’s regulation, officials in North City receive less than half the salary of those in places like the South. The salaries provided by the court are hardly enough to support an official’s family. Therefore, more or less every official in North City has accepted some extra benefits.”

“If Your Highness intends to arrest all the corrupt officials, I’m afraid not a single official in North City will be exempt. Please reconsider, Your Highness!”

No sooner had Li Rui finished speaking than the group of officials behind him also promptly bowed and entreated, “Please reconsider, Your Highness.”

Although many officials thought that the Black Cavalry had truly been destroyed, Lu Chen still had the Brocade Guard at his disposal.

To arrest all of North City’s officials, Lu Chen did not need his Black Cavalry at all — the Brocade Guard alone could take care of arresting them all.

At the present moment, not one official in North City was unafraid of Lu Chen.

Li Rui continued, “Your Highness, North City’s officials are all appointed by the court. If you strike against the corrupt officials, some officials may become frightened and could possibly flee North City without even submitting their resignations. This could lead to difficulty in implementing certain policies and orders among the common folk.”

“I implore Your Highness to give those officials an opportunity to rectify their mistakes and reform themselves over time.”

Hearing Li Rui’s words, Lu Chen spoke with an expressionless face, “Lord Li, you wouldn’t be threatening me now, would you?”

Realizing the grave tone, Li Rui instantly broke into a sweat and quickly said, “I dare not, Your Highness. I am merely discussing the actual situation.”

“North City is destitute, and talented individuals are naturally reluctant to come here. If even the court-appointed officials all leave, this could very well affect Your Highness’s grand legacy.”

Li Rui’s words were not only to protect the other officials of North City but also himself, as nobody could predict whether Lu Chen’s blade might fall on him next.