Page 461
Xu Tianci quickly said: "The Royal Patrol Team lived up to the royal command and arrested all the relevant accomplices yesterday."
He acted quickly. Huo Yuhao had assigned him such an important task right after he took office, so of course he had to complete it quickly and well.
Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “Xu Tianran was a sinister and vicious person. Many of his followers must have been forced to surrender to his power. Now that he is dead, we should let the others go, except for those stubborn ones who refused to change their ways.”
Upon hearing this, all the officials said in unison: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."
Huo Yuhao glanced down again and found that he didn’t recognize most of these officials.
If this is the case, there is even more reason to carry out one's reforms.
He sat up from the dragon chair and said in a deep voice: "I have been exiled to a foreign country for ten years since I was young. Finally, I returned to Sun and Moon and avenged my great hatred. Thinking of these ten years..."
As Huo Yuhao was speaking, mental suggestions were also spread out, and coupled with his sobbing tone, he stirred the emotions of all the officials.
Those who heard it felt as if they had personally experienced the ten years of sleeping on straw and tasting gall, and some could not help but shed tears.
"The stars have moved, spring has gone, autumn has come, time has passed, things have changed, and people have changed. However, when I wanted to tell others about this joy, I found that this Sun and Moon Palace is already very different from what I remembered."
"There is no one in this palace that I am familiar with anymore."
A feeling of vicissitudes and sadness came over them, and the officials could not help but lower their heads.
After the old emperor launched a coup, he used bloody means to deal with the old subordinates of He Caitou's father and replaced the blood in the court. How could there be people left who the new emperor knew?
Huo Yuhao changed his tone at this time and said, "I have been exiled to a foreign country since I was young. I have been obsessed with cultivation only for revenge. I have never learned how to handle court affairs."
"Therefore, I have decided to establish a cabinet to assist me in making decisions and handling all matters in the court. Diplomacy, finance, national defense... all state affairs, no matter how big or small, the cabinet has the highest right of consultation, and all memorials should be received and read by the cabinet on my behalf."
When these words were spoken, all the civil and military officials were stunned.
It turns out that the previous recollections of bitterness were all pretexts and foreshadowings, and this was the new emperor’s real purpose.
Those who are capable of serving as officials are naturally quick-witted, and they immediately realized the consequences of this move.
Before anyone could raise any objections, Huo Yuhao continued, “The cabinet will establish a chief minister, who will be appointed by me personally.”
As soon as he finished speaking, an old man among the officials knelt down with a plop and shouted, "Your Majesty, please don't do that—"
Huo Yuhao pretended to be puzzled and asked: "Oh? Why not?"
The old man said loudly: "If you set up a cabinet as your majesty wants, there will be endless troubles."
"Your Majesty does not understand state affairs, yet he so easily hands over power to others. Won't he be deceived by treacherous officials?"
"If Your Majesty does not understand state affairs, then you should listen to the advice of the officials, be close to the wise and stay away from the flatterers, so that you can lead our Sun Moon Empire to greater prosperity!"
This old man was not very skilled. With his white hair and beard, he looked even older than Kong Deming. The other officials looked at him with great respect. He must be an old and respected official.
But precisely because they are old, they are more conservative and stubborn and unwilling to change.
This old man is not a bad person, he is easy to deal with, just ignore him. But I am afraid that this old man will go on hunger strike at any time, leading other conservatives to resist together, and then really starve to death.
Huo Yuhao smiled slightly and said, "Since we are listening to the opinions of the officials, let's talk about our opinions with each other."
The ministers were a little hesitant at first, but gradually the discussions among them became more frequent, and the hall suddenly became a little noisy.
Most officials opposed the establishment of a cabinet.
Kong Deming, who was standing behind Huo Yuhao, also frowned when he heard this, but did not express his opinion.
At this time, the old prince Xu Guohai standing in the front row asked: "Your Majesty, which prince do you plan to appoint as the chief minister of the cabinet?"
Huo Yuhao said calmly: "No, I will not appoint any members of the royal family. The chief minister of the cabinet must be an outsider."
Xu Guohai glared and scolded, "Nonsense! Do you think this is a joke? How can you hand over power to outsiders?"
"The cabinet controls everything. Does that mean even princes like us are subject to the cabinet's control?"
He also understood the significance of this cabinet. If it was really established, it would greatly reduce the imperial power, and the impact on these old princes would not be small.
“Yes, including all royal affairs, must be managed by the cabinet.” Huo Yuhao said calmly.
"I'm the first one to disagree!" Xu Guohai shouted immediately.
As soon as he finished speaking, he received the agreement from other princes.
Xu Tianci was stunned for a moment and wanted to object, but he held back and pulled the fifth prince who also wanted to object.
Only these old princes dared to be so condescending to the new emperor.
Huo Yuhao sneered and asked, "What do you want me to do in order to agree?"
Xu Guohai said: "Either the cabinet chief minister is a prince, or the cabinet has no right to govern the royal family's affairs. Otherwise, it will never be agreed."
With Xu Guohai taking the lead, those officials also followed suit.
"Your Majesty, please think again."
Xu Guohai looked at Huo Yuhao with great pride, not believing that he would dare to attack his elder. Huo Yuhao remained silent, as if he was afraid of the power of the older generation and was going to take back his order.
Unfortunately, his wishful thinking was wrong.
“I don’t know the name of this imperial uncle.” Huo Yuhao asked deliberately.
"Guohai." Xu Guohai thought that Huo Yuhao had admitted defeat, and replied with a smile.
However, Huo Yuhao, who was sitting on the dragon throne, suddenly sneered and his aura rose sharply.
"You still dream of becoming the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, Xu Guohai, are you worthy?"
The sudden question exploded in the hall like thunder, and the terrifying pressure instantly crushed Xu Guohai.
"Someone, capture Xu Guohai for me!"
Everyone was stunned by this roar. They never expected that the new emperor would suddenly become so furious.
Xu Guohai's face changed instantly and he said, "How dare you! I am a member of the royal family. According to the Xu family's ancestral precepts, I have not committed any serious crime. Even His Majesty cannot question me."
When he raised his eyes, he saw the Northern Douluo behind Huo Yuhao. He was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat and quickly looked to the other side: "Please ask Master Kong to administer justice!"
Kong Deming frowned and said, "Your Majesty, the court is not a battlefield, and we should tolerate opposition."
Even someone as ruthless as Xu Tianran would kill people in private and rarely arrest people simply for opposing them.
Huo Yuhao stood up and spoke word by word, “Master Kong, it’s not that I cannot tolerate opposition, but I just saw today that Xu Guohai was the accomplice who helped the tyrant launch the coup!”
Kong Deming's eyes widened slightly, and he looked at Xu Guohai and said in disbelief: "Is this true?"
Xu Guohai was dumbfounded, and Xu Guozhong beside him was even more stunned, shaking all over.
"You...how do you know?" Xu Guohai opened his mouth subconsciously, then realized that he had said the wrong thing and quickly covered his mouth tightly.
The old emperor and Xu Tianran were both dead, and the Holy Spirit Cult had already evacuated Mingdu. He thought that no one knew about this matter, and he could keep this secret underground forever and continue to be a noble prince, but he never thought that on the first day of court, the new emperor would expose everything about him.
Huo Yuhao sneered: "You didn't expect that Xishui League is under my control, and the exchanges between them and the royal family are recorded in Xishui League, right?"
"Get it for me!"
It happened so quickly that before anyone else could react, Jing Hongchen was the first to move.
He seemed to have been prepared for this. He suddenly rushed to Xu Guohai's side, accurately pierced the tendons of Xu Guohai's right hand with a slender soul guide cannon, and then took out a pair of handcuffs that could suppress soul power and put them on Xu Guohai's wrists.
Xu Guohai let out a painful scream and fell to the ground. His cultivation, which was enhanced by taking drugs, was powerless in front of Jing Hongchen.
But after the accomplice Xu Guohai was captured, Jing Hongchen did not stop, but immediately attacked Xu Guoyi next to him.
Xu Guoyi shouted in horror: "I am here to attend court, Jing Hongchen, what are you doing?"
He wanted to resist, but it was in vain. In the blink of an eye, he was controlled by Jing Hongchen and pressed to the ground with his soul power.
Jing Hongchen saluted and said loudly: "Your Majesty, the accomplices Xu Guohai and Xu Guoyi have been captured."
The incident happened so suddenly that even the ninth-level soul master priests did not expect such a dramatic change to occur at the first day's morning court.
Huo Yuhao said calmly: "According to the Xu family's ancestral precepts, is this considered a heinous crime? Can we ask a prince for his crime?"
There was complete silence.
Xu Guohai and Xu Guoyi had lost all their noble airs as princes at this moment, and pleaded loudly to the last straw: "Master Kong, please save me, this is all unjust!"
"We were also threatened."
Kong Deming remained silent. He did not want to get involved in the fight between royal family members, and it was these two princes who were at fault in the first place.
He could only sigh and say, "Considering their advanced age, they should stop cultivating from now on and enjoy their old age."
It was a plea, because at least two lives were saved. It was not a plea, because this might be worse than death.
"No, Mr. Kong, Mr. Kong..."
Xu Guohai and the other man wanted to continue begging for mercy, but Jing Hongchen grabbed one of them with each hand, and the soul power burst out from his palms, and the two of them fainted instantly.
A chill ran up everyone's spine. On just the first day of court, the new emperor deposed two old princes of noble status.
Huo Yuhao once again looked around the court and said coldly, "Now, is there anyone who still opposes the establishment of a cabinet?"
The other members of the royal family could not help but look livid. Even though they believed that they had no grudges against the new emperor and that Huo Yuhao could not deal with them casually with Elder Kong present, no one dared to be the first to speak out.
Even members of the royal family did not dare to object, and the rest of the officials remained silent.
A drop of cold sweat rolled down Xu Tianci's forehead. He was glad that he didn't say anything to object.
The hall remained silent for dozens of seconds.
Huo Yuhao then continued to speak.
"In that case, from now on, the Sun and Moon Cabinet will be established."
"Mingde Hall Master Jing Hongchen has made great contributions in capturing thieves and has a high reputation. He will serve as the chief minister of the cabinet from now on. The rest of the members will be selected based on merit in the future."
Jing Hongchen was flattered and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty. I will do my best to fulfill my responsibilities and live up to your expectations."
Some priests felt regretful. If they had reacted quickly enough and captured Xu Guohai and the other two before Jing Hongchen, the position of Prime Minister of the Cabinet would have been theirs.
Some people cast envious glances at Jing Hongchen. With the endorsement of His Majesty, the status of this cabinet chief is probably second only to His Majesty, Mr. Kong and that Northland Douluo.
But some people find it terrifying when they think about it, such as Xu Tianci who remained silent throughout.
He had a horrible premonition. Today, from capturing the thief and establishing his authority, to deposing the two princes, to appointing Jing Hongchen as the chief minister of the cabinet, everything happened too smoothly, as if it had been planned long ago.
It doesn’t matter what other people think. The Sun-Moon Empire is destined to undergo a drastic change, and this is just a small beginning.
Huo Yuhao waved his hand and walked out of the hall.
"Retreat."