amaotonovel Chapter 354 The Officials' Frenzied Cursing
Chapter 354 The Officials' Frenzied Cursing
Liu Bowen no longer wanted to scold Yang Shaofeng; instead, he cursed Li Si and Shang Yang in his heart.
Li Si was the first person to propose the punishment of executing nine generations of one's family and the first to experience the punishment of executing three generations of one's family.
Shang Yang was the one who proposed the system of collective punishment during the reforms, which led Li Si to implement the punishment of executing nine generations of a family.
Liu Bowen now hated Li Si and Shang Yang, and was even secretly wondering where to find their graves.
I want to dig them both out and beat them up, otherwise I won't be able to quell the hatred in my heart!
Just as Liu Bowen was pondering how to dig up Li Si's grave, Emperor Zhu continued, "It is already November of the third year of Hongwu, and the fourth year of Hongwu is just around the corner—more than a year has passed since our five-year plan was formulated in the second year of Hongwu. Shouldn't we send someone to investigate it?"
Upon hearing the word "exploration," Liu Bowen immediately bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, I request to begin the exploration from eastern Zhejiang!"
The investigation must begin in eastern Zhejiang!
If it weren't for those fellow townsmen from Zhejiang, I wouldn't have owed Yang the Madman such a huge favor, and I wouldn't be treated like a beast of burden by Emperor Zhu!
This time, it would be best to uncover some more cases involving hoes and such, and then thoroughly clean up a bunch of my fellow Zhejiang natives, otherwise I'll keep holding this grudge in my heart forever!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Suddenly, Liu Bowen's eyes lit up, and he bowed to Emperor Zhu again, saying, "Your Majesty, I think the 'four no's and two straight' principle that the Imperial Son-in-Law proposed was very good. Why don't we just use it this time?"
Four no's and two straights?
Emperor Zhu stared blankly at Liu Bowen, thinking to himself, "So, Liu Qingtian, you've finally lost your temper? Where's the strength you showed when you were protecting your fellow Zhejiang natives? What, you're not protecting them anymore?"
Emperor Zhu really wanted to say: "Why don't you get back to normal? We're not used to you looking like this."
……
The day after Liu Bowen left the Qianqing Palace, the officials in the Ming Dynasty court began to hurl insults at each other.
"Should we send more people over? Or we could just move the Ministry of Works to Dengzhou Prefecture!"
"What does it mean that every county should have an ironworks and a small coal mine?"
"The iron smelting workshop is relatively easy to deal with, but can a coal mine just appear out of thin air?"
This is Shan Anren, the Minister of Works.
"I know about the Ever-Normal Granary, I also know about the Reserve Granary, and I can probably guess about the Community Granary, but how do we calculate the Agricultural Relief Granary and the Charity Granary?"
"Okay, even if we don't talk about this warehouse or that warehouse, and we don't mention whether Korea and Annam are willing or not, just talking about the cost of buying grain, does Yang the Madman know how much it would cost to feed tens of millions of people for two years?"
"Even if you sold Yang Dianfeng, you couldn't get this much money back!"
This is Yang Siyi, the Minister of Revenue.
"We still need to talk to Kong Xilu about this. Once the book list is confirmed, all that's left is mass printing. Thank goodness."
This is Qian Yongren, the Minister of Rites.
Minister of War Chen Ning and Minister of Justice Zhou Zhen hid to the side, trembling with fear.
Liu Bowen, with a dark face, said to the ministers, "You don't need to complain to me. If you're so capable, you can go and ask your superiors for a few days off and go to Dengzhou Prefecture to cause trouble for Yang the Madman."
Are you complaining?
As the Vice Censor-in-Chief, this whole "four no's and two direct" thing has fallen on my shoulders, and I'm actually trying to complain!
"Four no's and two direct's"—although I brought this up myself in front of Emperor Zhu, do you think I didn't know it would offend people?
After the investigation is completed without any formalities, which of you officials, and the local officials, will not hate me?
If it weren't for my deep hatred for those scoundrels from my hometown in eastern Zhejiang, I would be even more eager to retire and return to my hometown!
While internally ranting and raving, Liu Bowen strolled over to the Censorate and, after gathering the thirty censors who remained there, immediately started drawing lots.
“Our Great Ming Dynasty has about a thousand counties, but you only have thirty people. It’s not realistic to ask you to investigate every single county. So, we’ll decide by drawing lots today.”
"There are more than a thousand small slips of paper in this box, with the names of various counties written on them. Come and draw one, and check whichever county you draw."
"Without prior notice to the county or the magistrates of various places, you are not allowed to accept invitations to meals from the local magistrates, nor do you need to listen to what the local officials have to say. Once you arrive, you will directly retrieve the account books and check the accounts. You will go directly to the villages to take a look and ask the people about the reputation of the magistrates."
"Of course, you won't be going on this inspection alone. The inspection team will send people to accompany you and will ensure your safety."
"If you find anything amiss, don't make a fuss about it. Write it down and we'll discuss it further once we get back to the capital."
"Come on."
As soon as Liu Bowen finished speaking, the thirty inspectors in the Censorate were immediately thrown into disarray.
Isn't this the same 'four-nothing-two-straight' thing that Yang the Madman messed up?
If we really investigate according to the so-called "four no's and two direct's" standard, how many of us would be left when we went out and came back?
Even if there are still thirty when they come back, how many more officials will lose their heads after that?
If they investigate once or twice like this, why would officials in the Censorate even think about promotion? And what government office would want people like them?
Seeing the bewildered expressions on the faces of the inspectors, Liu Bowen chuckled and said, "Go ahead and investigate with confidence. It doesn't matter how big the case you uncover."
After a slight pause, Liu Bowen added, "Think about the Sun Gupu rebellion case a few days ago, and then think about the plowshare case before that. Which of these two major cases didn't involve 20,000 to 30,000 people?"
"Moreover, since we scholars have studied the classics, we should know the saying 'to establish a life for the people'—isn't this trip to inspect the counties precisely to put into practice the words of establishing a life for the people'?"
"..."
As Liu Bowen finished speaking, the assembled inspectors silently stepped forward to draw lots.
Refusing is out of the question; if you refuse to draw lots one minute, you might end up wearing shackles and working in another government office the next.
It's just that it's better not to think about working while wearing shackles. As soon as they think of the phrase "working while wearing shackles," these inspecting censors of the Imperial Censorate remember that it seems that working while wearing shackles and the "four no's and two direct" were both proposed by that crazy Yang!
Damn it, that crazy Yang isn't satisfied with messing with the officials in the Secretariat and the Six Ministries, so he's come here to mess with the Censorate.
Thinking of this, the inspecting censors present became even more displeased.