This meant that many officials had to be careful even when they walked.
If the officials treated the gift of livestock as a joke, then they were very wary of the 14th ceremony.
No official could guarantee such delicate movements in a formal setting. If they couldn't guarantee such movements, it meant they were breaking the rules. Even if the censor didn't participate, other officials had the right to do so, and it would be used against them.
In the past few days, the Overwatch Council and other officials had reported many officials. Many middle and low-level officials who supported the royal family had been found to be breaking the rules by the Ministry of Appointments.
So, in the court meeting to discuss the 14th ceremony, the officials' words were particularly fierce, and they criticized Fang Yun to his face.
"Minister Fang's actions can be said to be corpses without doing any work. As the Minister of the Left, you are using outdated customs to imprison officials. This is even worse than Zhao Gao's calling a deer a horse!"
"This ceremony is only recorded in the Book of Rites. It has never been recorded in the history books that all officials of a dynasty can do this."
"If officials put their energy into the sound of ornaments, how can they think about the country and the people? You, Fang Xusheng, can do two things at once, but we don't! It's like eating meat paste! "
"Fang Xusheng, I didn't think you were such a conservative person. If you insist on doing things your own way, I will fight to the death!"
"Minister Fang, you are not even as good as Mount Liu!"
When one of the censors said this, the throne room immediately quieted down.
These words were too heavy. Mount Liu's crimes were too numerous to list. If Fang Yun was not as good as Mount Liu, then what kind of punishment should he receive?
However, many people felt that if Fang Yun continued to be the Minister of the Left, he could really make the heavens angry and the people resent him. In the end, he would not be as good as Mount Liu.
At this time, every official realized that no matter what order Fang Yun issued, Fang Yun's supporters in court would not be less than half.
Today, the number of officials who opposed Fang Yun was five times more than the number who defended Fang Yun.
Some of the officials who usually supported Fang Yun did not speak.
The scholar from the Hall of Rites was particularly silent today. He did not nod once.
This time, almost all the officials could feel the sentiment of the people.
Fang Yun's expression remained calm. No matter what the officials said, he didn't get angry.
After dozens of breaths of silence in the throne room, Fang Yundao said, "Reporting to the Emperor, this humble subject has a memorial."
All the officials were stunned. Everyone had been cursing for so long, but Fang Yun still had other things to participate in?
Waiting for Jing Jun to agree, Fang Yundao said, "Confucius said: 'If you act in the interest of profit, there will be many complaints.' Since Kong Sheng said that doing things based on the pursuit of benefits would cause resentment, then in order to appease the resentment of the people, in order to unite the hearts of the people, this official will submit a memorial to replace benefits with propriety, and replace benefits with benevolence and righteousness. Abolish all yamens related to benefits, and let the glory of propriety, benevolence and righteousness shine upon the world. "
Some of the officials' eyelids twitched as they had a bad premonition.
That Jing Jun said, "Would Minister Fang please explain in detail how to replace benefits with courtesy?"
Fang Yundao said, "This Prime Minister has a question to ask all the officials. How can a white hand holding ink not be black?"
No one answered. This question was too simple. Whoever touched the ink with their hand would definitely be dyed black.
Fang Yundao said, "Benevolence, righteousness, and propriety are like white hands, and profit is like black ink. In order to prevent benevolence, righteousness, and propriety from being polluted, the Imperial Court should remove propriety and preserve benevolence and righteousness. However, the darkness of the ink has already seeped into all the yamens. We should slowly remove the profit in each yamen. Only by removing the profit can Jingguo restore propriety and become a country of benevolence and righteousness. Only then can each of us be benevolent and righteous people. "
Sheng Boyuan snorted coldly and said, "Don't beat around the bush. Just say it. What do you want?"
Fang Yundao said, "Remove the profit and preserve propriety, benevolence, and righteousness. We should start with the six ministries. The Ministry of Rites is a place to promote propriety, so there's no need to implement it for the time being. The Ministry of War is an important tool of the country, so we can't act rashly. The Ministry of Justice only talks about the law and doesn't care about propriety. However, it doesn't care about profit and won't involve it. Then, let's start with the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Revenue. Among the three ministries, the Ministry of Revenue is in charge of land taxes, customs duties, salaries, food, and so on. Among them, it has the most profit, so we should first get rid of the profit. "
Cao Dean looked at Fang Yun in shock. He didn't expect that Fang Yun, who had always been loyal to Fang Yun, would actually put the blame on him. However, Cao Dean thought of all the recent comments and didn't get angry. Instead, he listened quietly.
Some officials saw Cao Dean's expression and gloated. They laughed in their hearts. This was like a flood rushing to the Dragon King's temple.
Assistant Minister Yang Xuwen said, "May I ask, Prime Minister Fang, how does the Ministry of Revenue get rid of the profit?"
Fang Yun smiled and said, "It's very simple. Start by reducing the salary of the officials and slowly reduce it. In the end, every official will only receive the basic food to maintain food and clothing. Isn't that getting rid of the profit? Are we officials for the country and the people, or for that little bit of money and food? If it's for money and food, why should we be officials? If it's for the country and the people, why should we care about money and food? "
When Fang Yun said this, there was complete silence.
One-third of the officials looked at Fang Yun as if they were looking at an idiot.
One-third of the officials looked at Fang Yun angrily.
The rest of the officials were confused.
This was an official who started as a county magistrate and ended up as the Left Prime Minister? No matter how stupid an official was, he wouldn't do such a thing to get rid of the profit.
Fang Yun wanted to become the enemy of all the officials!
Fang Yun was betraying his own class!
How could someone be so stupid?
There were people who betrayed their class, but there was definitely no class that would betray their own interests.
Fang Yun's actions meant that not only Jingguo, but all the officials in the world would use the fiercest method to oppose him.
The entire bureaucratic class would launch the craziest counterattack!
Not to mention Xusheng, even Half-saint wouldn't be able to stop the counterattack of all the officials in the world.
Fang Yun continued, "Not only do we have to reduce the salaries of the officials, but we also have to reduce the taxes of the people. This way, in the eyes of the people, we will be the benevolent and righteous imperial court. Therefore, the Ministry of Revenue has to gradually reduce the taxes until the officials have enough food and clothing. "
"Are you crazy?" Sheng Boyuan blurted out and looked at Fang Yun in disbelief.
This wasn't getting rid of the profit to get rid of the benevolence and righteousness. This was destroying Jingguo!
Lin Shouyan, the Grand Secretary of the Hall of Rites, looked surprised for the first time. He looked at Fang Yun with a gloomy face.
Fang Yun sighed and said, "In order to pursue the highest level of benevolence and righteousness, in order to pursue the glory of the Rites and Music, what's a little sacrifice for the officials and the imperial court? In the future, not only will the Ministry of Revenue have to get rid of the profit, but also the Ministry of Appointments. The Ministry of Appointments will evaluate the officials based on whether they are benevolent and righteous. It can't have anything to do with political achievements and taxes. The same goes for the Ministry of Works. They have to do things for free. They have to build irrigation works, build roads, and other things for the people for free. So what if there's no money or food? As long as there's benevolence and righteousness, the people will naturally help for free. When the officials get rid of the profit, in the end, the people will also get rid of the profit. Bathed in the glory of the Rites and benevolence, they won't care about money or profit. "
Fengtian Hall fell into a deathly silence.
After a few breaths, the Overwatch Council's Imperial Censor He Mingxiang stepped forward and said, "I, He Mingxiang, impeach Left Prime Minister Fang Yun for causing chaos in the imperial court, shaking the foundations of the country, incompetent, and lawless!"
Then, one by one, the Imperial Censors stepped forward to impeach Fang Yun.
After the Overwatch Council's Imperial Censors stepped forward, the Minister of Appointments, Sheng Boyuan, followed immediately, along with the officials who supported the royal family.
Then, a few officials who had been neutral also followed suit.
In the end, more than a third of the officials impeached Fang Yun, including officials from Cao Dean's party.
The situation in the imperial court changed.
Not long after, the Throne Room quieted down.
After a long time, the Empress Dowager said, "Fang Xusheng's words were extreme, but he didn't forcefully govern. How about this? My dear officials, rest for three days and give Fang Xusheng time to think. After three days, we'll hold the imperial court. My dear officials, the court is dismissed. "
"Hmph!" Fang Yun suddenly snorted coldly and drove the Wuhou carriage away.
Soon, this matter spread throughout the world.
The next day, Fang Yun claimed sick leave.
When the imperial court was held again, Fang Yun still claimed sick leave.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
