When Shen Shixing saw Hai Rui sighing, he said: "Since everyone thinks it is not appropriate to interfere with the use of your majesty's internal funds, and your majesty's use of internal funds will not violate the virtue of frugality, then I will not make a statement to you."
"It is too strict to no longer respect virtue and restrain luxury after passing the examination. It does not embarrass a gentleman. As long as it is a legitimate income and does not violate the king's law, it will not be easily judged as being frugal."
Shen Shixing looked at Liu Yingjie and Wang Xijue as he spoke: "I wonder what the two cabinet ministers think?"
"Very true!"
"Yuan Fu is good at accepting public opinions and is a good prime minister sincerely!"
Shi Xing and other civil servants also hurriedly replied.
For a while.
Except for a few civil servants such as Hai Rui and Zhao Nanxing who were unhappy on the sidelines, the entire civil servant group was obviously getting along very harmoniously.
Hai Rui was disappointed because there were no colleagues who truly shared his willingness to serve the world for justice.
Zhao Nanxing and others were disappointed because they saw that many old friends could easily abandon their original opinions because of interests.
"So, everyone agrees that His Majesty is no longer comparable to Yao and Shun, but is the most holy king throughout the ages?"
At this time, Wang Xijue also asked.
Shi Xing replied first: "Of course, as long as they are loyal to the country, no one will think so."
Yu Shenxing also followed suit and said: "The emperor and father are all good in the world. As emperor, your majesty has already achieved the virtues of Yao and Shun. The ministers should not lie about the gains and losses of the emperor and father."
Hai Rui shook his head.
"Why are you shaking your head?"
Shen Shixing asked Hai Rui in a low voice while the officials were discussing among themselves.
Hai Rui also replied in a low voice: "It's too much!"
"Fortunately, Your Majesty is not the master who wants to make the world all his private property. Otherwise, the emperor may not be able to remonstrate early for his mistakes, and the tragic situation of the royal family's great corruption, the officials' petty greed, and the world's people's wealth will be wiped out again."
"So, it is all thanks to His Majesty that we are as prosperous as we are today."
"In addition, this is the general trend of the world. You don't need to care too much. As a ruler, you can only try to reconcile the officials of the world with less selfish desires and more public hearts. If you really want to force them to act like an official, it will make the government decrees ineffective. Being knowledgeable means either laziness and inaction, or being obedient or even deliberately sabotaging.”
"Therefore, I cannot ask Your Majesty to be completely selfless in order to protect the people of the world, nor can I ask them to do so."
After Shen Shixing said this, Hai Rui nodded and said, "I know, Yuan Fu, don't worry, even if His Majesty has the heart to care for the people, I won't resign because of this!"
"I don't ask them all to be like me, but the problem now is, I don't know if they can tolerate me!"
"I'm afraid I've been called arrogant again! Because it has always been difficult for turbid currents to tolerate clear ponds, and non-clear ponds don't want to get along with turbid currents!"
Shen Shixing smiled.
"The water of the Yellow River is turbid, and the water of the Yangtze River is clear. There is no one in the world who throws away a piece of water without using it."
"Please trust Your Majesty, Your Majesty needs clear and sweet springs to moisten the people."
"Otherwise, why would I give you the golden plaque of 'Blessing to All Peoples'?"
After Shen Shixing said this, he stood up and shouted: "Everyone!"
Then, when everyone calmed down, Shen Shixing smiled and said:
"What you are saying is that although the new etiquette requires the elders in the world to treat the weak and the young with kindness, it is not disrespectful to the elders. You should also treat the king and father with sincerity and respect, and treat the wise men with kindness and kindness. So again, we will not be together Go and make a speech to the emperor, and then follow the plan to directly deceive the emperor."
"That's how it should be!"
"Very good, you must know your duty as a minister!"
Most civil servants agreed.
The entire Wanli Dynasty's court had never been as harmonious as it was at this moment.
At this time, Shen Shixing continued: "Since everyone thinks that the emperor's father's wealth should not be ignored, and your majesty is the most holy lord and benevolent emperor throughout the ages, then those of us who assist the emperor in governing the country should change the emperor to be the emperor of Yao and Shun." Aim to keep the country prosperous forever!”
"After all, it was Yao and Shun who sent you to the king, and the Grand Master has fulfilled it for us."
"In other words, don't focus on the emperor's virtues from now on."
"From now on, we should focus on how to assist the emperor to ensure that the world is always in great order and the prosperity will last forever. Just as the Grand Master and His Majesty decided in the past, how much population should be reached, how much territory should be reached, how much grain production should be increased, how wealthy the people should be, etc. "
"To be specific, it is to see whether the servant, the first assistant, has done these things for the king and father. If not, you should report it to your majesty. If it has happened but it is not satisfactory, you should also tell your majesty."
"In short, they are all for the purpose of governing the country and benefiting the people. They are not trying to gain fame and reputation to deceive the emperor. They are to advise your majesty on how to do things, not to teach your majesty how to be a king."
"None of us are emperor masters!"
After the announcement, these people all said yes.
"Thank you for your cooperation."
Immediately afterwards, Shen Shixing replied with a smile, and then said:
"Nowadays, Duke Yu in the cabinet is getting old, Duke Pan has taken up his official position, and the eldest uncle Xu Gong and the chief minister Kou Yang have also taken up their posts. Your Majesty has issued an order for the nomination. It will be convenient for the cabinet ministers Jiu Qing and the Ke Dao officials to make the recommendation together tomorrow. It will be appropriate at that time. To preserve your dignity, you should not harshly criticize gentlemen and virtuous ministers, push them away if you can."
"Very true!"
Everyone nodded.
So far.
Shen Shixing was able to reach a consensus among the entire bureaucratic group, officially clarifying that the emperor's control of internal funds had nothing to do with advocating thrift, and even the emperor's status in etiquette and law had been officially determined as a sage king without any faults.
That is to say, no one can criticize or doubt the emperor's character and ability. They can only supervise the implementation of the emperor's ambitions and goals by the chief minister. They can be regarded as the emperor's eyes and see whether the world is developing in line with the emperor's intentions.
It can be said that the bureaucratic group took the initiative to strengthen the monarch's power under the mediation of Shen Shixing, but it did not affect the monarch's power because of Zhou Hong's secret decree that the emperor was not frugal.
When Zhou Honglun was taken to the execution ground, he was so disappointed that he was about to cry because he found that a civil official had complained about his injustice from beginning to end.
And when Zhou Honglun was being escorted to kneel on the execution ground, he also saw his son Zhou Peicheng being escorted in prison uniform.
For a moment, Zhou Honglun was horrified and asked Zhou Peicheng: "Why do you want to be beheaded?!"
Zhou Peicheng said: "Father, my son wants to die on your behalf, but the emperor refuses. He says that I only know that I have a father, but I don't know that there is a king. I only know that my biological father suffered death, but I don't know that my king and father are humiliated. Therefore, I am said to be unfaithful and not Those who are loyal should be put to death."
Zhou Peicheng said with a look of frustration: "And that's it, no courtier is willing to speak for his son until now!"
"Don't you want to express your feelings to His Majesty?!"
Zhou Honglun turned around and loudly questioned Wang Zongmu, the right minister of the Ministry of Punishment who was responsible for the execution.
Wang Zongmu said solemnly: "What's wrong with Chen? Isn't the imperial edict wrong?"
Zhou Honglun was speechless for a moment and could only look up to the sky and shout:
"Your Majesty, I was wrong!"
"I shouldn't embarrass you and don't understand that you also need to use kindness to show kindness to the emperor's relatives, and you also need dignity. However, it is not a pity to die, but Quanzi really did something foolish and filial because he was young and ignorant. Please don’t kill the dog and show mercy to him!”
But it was useless for Zhou Honglun to say anything at this time. Soon both of them were beheaded, and the blood spilled dyed the snow on the execution ground red on the spot.
…
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Punishment wrote in this newspaper that the Zhou family and his son have been killed."
It didn't take long for Zhu Yijun to learn about this situation from Sun Xin, and he only said: "I understand."
Then, Zhu Yijun asked again: "How did the officials react?"
Sun Xindao said: "No one came to this book to intercede on behalf of the Zhou family and his son."
(End of chapter)
