Chapter 83 What's so special about your loyalty...
After An Qu's persuasion, the confusion in King An's heart disappeared, and was replaced by confidence in himself. As An Qu said, if there is a rebellion, then quell it; if there are difficulties, then solve them. There is no need to belittle oneself. If even he himself has no confidence in himself, how can he talk about unifying the world?
Seeing Prince An's renewed confidence, An Qu appeared calm but sighed inwardly.
Compared to An Gongshou, An Wang Zhuo was really too young and had experienced too little. He ascended to a high position at a young age and achieved greater success than his father. Even if he had fallen before, it had never shaken the foundation of the An Kingdom. It was not a big deal, as it did not teach An Wang enough lessons anyway.
An Qu knew that Prince An Zhuo was too impetuous now, and the world had never given him the opportunity to grow up slowly.
The only thing he can do now is to stabilize Prince An's heart and not let him waver easily, but external and internal troubles have never stopped. How long can this confidence that has been built with great difficulty last in the face of such a storm?
The fact that the Zhou emperor was pregnant was a good opportunity for them. As long as the child in the Zhou emperor's belly was not born, Jingchang would be well behaved and the external threat to Anguo could be temporarily relieved.
In fact, it is no wonder that King An was shaken. If An Qu had not lived to such an old age, he would have been shaken too. How could there be a king in this world who was so favored by heaven?
No matter what he wanted to do, the Zhou emperor could do it smoothly. The original Jingchang was left with only a bunch of old, weak and sick people. Four or five years later, Jingchang had become a powerful army, with extraordinary civil officials and brave generals.
After leaving the palace, An Qu returned home and the light in the study was left on all night.
In fact, even if there was no fake pregnancy, Shen Zhiwei didn't want to take action against An Guo for a while.
There is no other special reason, it’s still the same thing - not enough manpower.
Sometimes Shen Zhiwei really wanted talents to be like leeks in the field, harvesting one crop and then there would be a second crop. But people and leeks are different after all. It takes at least ten years for a generation to grow. When she traveled through time, the education system in this world did not even have a prototype.
So for Shen Zhiwei, it takes not only ten years but longer for talents to grow up. Fifteen or twenty years may not necessarily grow them into the talents she wants. Now most of the talents she absorbs are already existing pearls in the ocean. The environment in which these pearls grew up is the original environment of the Great Zhou Dynasty. It cannot be said that they are malnourished, but they are of mixed quality. After training, they can only reluctantly take up their posts.
There were too many things that Shen Zhiwei was dissatisfied with.
In addition, Jingchang has expanded too quickly in the past two years, and Shen Zhiwei believes that the officials in every position are not very qualified.
So she planned to slow down for a while. Just like Wen Tao had previously thoroughly understood the current education system, Shen Zhiwei also planned to understand her current team.
She is indeed short of people, but some beasts who are not worthy of being human should not take up her position.
So when there were turmoil in other vassal states, Jingchang was not very peaceful either. The difference was that other vassal kings were passive, while Shen Zhiwei was proactive.
There are only a few things Shen Zhiwei can do at the moment. For example, the slavery she hates the most cannot be changed now. If she wants to abolish it, she has to wait until the world is unified. Otherwise, there is really no particularly good way to deal with the captives.
Once the world is unified, all people will be her subjects, and naturally there will be no need for slaves. If the current era does not allow it, Shen Zhiwei would even want to abolish the aristocracy.
For her, there is no way to touch the biggest problem, so she can only start with small problems.
Catch corruption.
Check from top to bottom, if you have been greedy for less, just make up for it; if you have been greedy for more, just make up for it.
The difference is that if you are too greedy, you will not only have to make up for it, but you will also have to go to jail.
The problem of corruption is often not just one problem, but a series of problems. If there is corruption, there must be channels for corruption, either taking money from the court or taking money from the grassroots. No matter which party the money comes from, it will lead to the emergence of a butterfly effect, and finally fall on individuals, which may cause a huge disaster.
Often, those who end up buying into these corrupt officials are the powerless common people, the lowest and most pitiful group of people.
When she first started investigating corrupt officials, Shen Zhiwei was even prepared to cut off her arm. In other words, if Wen Tao Guiyang, who was equivalent to her right-hand man, was also among the corrupt officials, she would not be soft-hearted either.
In any era, corrupt officials will never disappear from the officialdom. In many cases, they have to become corrupt officials. This is the general environment of the officialdom. If you are not corrupt, what awaits you is not only the permanently closed channels for advancement, but also various inconveniences. You may even be calculated against and become a scapegoat for corrupt officials.
In the end, I didn't get the money, I didn't enjoy the power, and I shed tears behind bars.
Anyway, that group of people has hundreds of ways to make others go along with them. As the ruler, all Shen Zhiwei can do is to conduct spot checks and clean up from time to time.
Corrupt officials are like dust in the house. If you want to make them disappear, there is no solution except sweeping them every day.
What surprised Shen Zhiwei was that it turned out that there was nothing wrong with her left and right arms.
Wen Tao was able to stick to her bottom line and not reach out for money. It was just a normal exchange of courtesy. Shen Zhiwei was not too surprised. Wen Tao was just that kind of person. She had her own bottom line, and she adhered to it.
Gui Yang's performance surprised Shen Zhiwei. There were people coming and going in Gui Yang's house every day, and this man had no bottom line. Shen Zhiwei thought that half of the national treasury would be found in his house.
Well, Shen Zhiwei admitted that this was a stereotype, and Gui Yang was actually a good official.
As soon as Shen Zhiwei had this thought, Gui Yang came into the palace and handed in an impeachment letter.
Shen Zhiwei opened it and saw that half of the names of the people in the court were on it, followed by the amount of bribes they accepted. Shen Zhiwei took a closer look and found that half of the table was filled with Wen Tao's classmates, and the other half was filled with her followers.
It’s not quite accurate to call them followers, but Wen Tao has never established a party, so it’s even more inaccurate to call them her followers. However, these people have a good relationship with Wen Tao.
"Just now, I was still expressing my feelings to Yanxia, saying that the Prime Minister was honest and upright, and that the officials in my court were all good officials. I didn't expect that the Prime Minister would give me a surprise."
Gui Yang immediately bowed and saluted, speaking righteously, "Everything I have done is within my duty. The court officials have colluded with each other to deceive the king. I will never be complicit with them, so I am submitting this memorial. All matters are at the king's disposal."
Shen Zhiwei looked at Gui Yang, narrowed his eyes, and said meaningfully: "They are so bold as to deceive the monarch, but their ability is limited and they can't hide it from the Prime Minister, right?"
"I don't know. I only know that a minister should be loyal to the monarch, be honest with the monarch, and never be half-hearted."
"Okay, let's put this memorial here for now. The Prime Minister has worked hard writing it. Go back and have a good rest."
Shen Zhiwei casually placed the memorial filled with names on the table. He didn't seem very interested, nor even angry.
Gui Yang was a little surprised to see this, but she knew that a minister should not talk too much, so she followed the king's order and bowed to take her leave.
When he walked out of the palace, there was a man standing next to the carriage guarding the door.
It was Ju Yan who worked for Gui Yang. He looked at Gui Yang with a nervous expression. Gui Yang's face was as calm as water, without a trace of fluctuation. It was really difficult to find any clues from his face.
"Prime Minister, the king..."
"Let's talk in the car."
Gui Yang took a long step and stepped onto the riding stool and got directly into the carriage. In the past, people were used as riding stools when getting on the carriage, but now even the king doesn't want people, so as a minister, of course he can't use slaves.
Ju Yan quickly followed and got into the carriage. The coachman whipped the horse and the wheels rolled forward towards Gui Yang's mansion.
The road in front of the palace was just rebuilt this year. Huge stone slabs are paved on the road, making it very flat, which is completely different from when the king first ascended the throne.
Gui Yang remembered that this road was still bumpy at that time, and riding a horse would be more comfortable than riding in a carriage. In the blink of an eye, many years have passed, and the entire Jingchang has undergone earth-shaking changes, including this road, which he has walked countless times.
"What did you want to say?"
In the silence, Gui Yang asked.
Ju Yan licked his lips awkwardly, swallowed his saliva, and tried his best to make his voice sound calmer and not full of guilt.
"Prime Minister, has the Queen mentioned anyone else?"
"You want to know if the king has mentioned you?"
"Haha, Yan is just a small official. How could the king possibly mention Yan?"
"Your official position is low, but you have a big appetite! Both you and Boyou have big appetites." Gui Yang raised her eyebrows, leaned back, half of her face hidden in the shadows, giving people the illusion of being sinister.
Or maybe it's not an illusion.
Ju Yan suddenly thought of the afternoon many years ago when he was fleeing, the sounds of swords and knives, the shouts of killing, the dull sound of bronze piercing flesh, and the arc of the head flying into the sky.
From the beginning to the end, he and Boyou only wanted a future, a bright and glorious future. What was a bright and glorious future? It certainly couldn't mean being cautious and timid every day, keeping your head down and working like a dog for others. It certainly couldn't mean eating coarse food, wearing linen clothes, and wearing straw sandals.
If you want to stand tall and proud in front of high-ranking officials and nobles, you need power and money. Where does power come from? Where does money come from?
"I hope the Prime Minister will show some mercy! I hope the Prime Minister can save Yan and Boyou!"
Stared at by Gui Yang's sinister gaze, Ju Yan broke out in a sweat. Unable to bear it any longer, his knees gave way and he knelt at Gui Yang's feet. He reached out and hugged Gui Yang's calves, begging repeatedly, his tone full of panic.
"With such little backbone, you dare to touch the court's money and even accept ill-gotten gains. When you took the money, why didn't you think about it? If your crime is exposed one day, how will you save your life?"
Gui Yang listened to the repeated requests, but remained unmoved, her heart as cold as iron.
If Juyan Boyu had not previously betrayed the Queen Mother and joined his sect, and later made several contributions to him, he would not have wanted to care about these two people at all.
In Gui Yang's opinion, these two people are extremely bold and cowardly, and are complete idiots.
I am not afraid of a person being too bold, nor am I afraid of a person being too timid. I am just afraid of that person being indecisive. Every time he makes a choice, he will make the wrong choice after careful consideration.
"Prime Minister! Prime Minister! I know I was wrong. I know I was wrong! I hope Prime Minister will consider my past loyalty..."
"Who in this court is not loyal to the king? Is there anything special about your loyalty?"
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