Chapter 1262: Protective (3)

The courtiers looked at Yan Du in horror. Could it be that the Right Prime Minister really planned to adopt Qi Wenjin’s suggestion?

At this time, should he not wait for the boy to finish speaking before decisively crushing his ideas like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves?

Let the commoners supervise the Imperial Court’s officials? What a joke. The commoners were so stupid and could be bewitched or bribed to falsely accuse them. Wouldn’t that make the courtiers feel insecure?

Given Qi Wenjin’s personality, they felt that his proposals were never just bold—they only grew bolder.

Rong Xuan also looked at Yan Du strangely. Yan Du came from an aristocratic family. Although he looked gentle and humble on the surface, he was a most prideful one. It was fine when Grand Tutor Yan was still around. While he preferred to get close to the descendants of aristocratic families, he remained gentle and polite to the students of the humble class.

However, in recent years, perhaps because the humble class had been flourishing and he had been in power for a long time, his requirements for the officials from the humble class could almost be described as harsh. Since he even had objections to the descendants of the humble class entering the court as officials, how could he allow the commoners to criticize the court?

Rong Xuan looked at Little Bear worriedly.

How could he allow ordinary people, who were illiterate and had little knowledge, to participate in the government?

Little Bear didn’t know that everyone’s brain-waves were not on the same channel as his, so he continued confidently, “There’s no need to be deliberate about it. Just introducing a few laws will do.”

Little Bear said, “The first rule is that when a commoner sues an official, they will no longer be subjected to a beating as intimidation. The government office must accept the case, and if they reject it, they must provide a valid reason.”

The ministers were stunned. Clearly, they did not expect Little Bear to mention this. After a while, the Minister of Justice was the first to react and asked, “What if it’s a false accusation?”

“Naturally, we’ll deal with it according to the law. This is the second thing I want to say. The punishment for a commoner falsely accusing an official should be the same as the punishment for an official falsely accusing a fellow official. You can discuss how to implement this.” Little Bear said to the Emperor, “Your Majesty, please ban the practice of using beating as an intimidation tactic when a commoner sues an official. Also, please order the Imperial Censorate to supervise strictly. If any officials are corrupt and violate the law, the commoners will naturally complain to the government office if they can no longer tolerate it. This is what I mean by getting the commoners to supervise.”

Little Treasure also turned around and bowed to his Royal Father. “Who better to determine whether a local official is good or bad than the people under their rule? Royal Father, I think this is a good suggestion.”

Rong Xuan pursed his lips and smiled. After glancing at Yan Du, he stepped forward. “I also think this method is very appropriate. The commoners have always been fearful of the authorities. Even if we change this law, the commoners won’t dare to sue the officials unless it is truly intolerable.”

The official who was about to say “the commoners are unruly” hesitated for a moment and did not dare to step out.

Qi Xiuyuan glanced at everyone and looked at Yan Du. “What does everyone think?”

Yan Du stepped forward with a straight face and said, “The Left Prime Minister is right. But considering the common people are ignorant, I’m afraid they’ll misinterpret a situation. Should the officials be falsely accused, it will inevitably make their hearts turn cold. Moreover, the commoners’ lives are difficult, so it’s inevitable that they’ll value benefits. If someone with ulterior motives tempts them, the false accusation problem will become even more serious. Therefore, I’m of the opinion that we should take a prudent approach towards this matter.”

Little Bear immediately retorted, “An upright person is not afraid of having a crooked shadow. If the commoners misunderstand the officials’ actions, we can just explain things to them. If the commoners are stupid, then as a local official, he should carefully and considerately explain to the commoners to enlighten them. As for bribery and false accusations, people with ulterior motives are still able to find such helpers in spite of the punishment. Moreover, the Right Minister’s logic is strange. Shouldn’t we condemn the person who bribes and instigates the false accusation? Why are we condemning the commoners who were bribed instead?”

Yan Du choked.

Little Bear continued, “The Ministry of Justice of Great Qi, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Imperial Censorate are not to be trifled with. If it truly is a false accusation, after a thorough investigation, the falsely accused official will be cleared of suspicion. It will be handled accordingly.”

Seeing that one prime minister supported and the other objected, the people below also joined in the discussion. In the end, most of the officials still felt that allowing the civilians to sue the officials was really disadvantageous to them, thus they expressed their objections.

However, nearly a quarter of those present expressed their support. Relaxing this restriction would undoubtedly reduce much corruption and lawlessness, allowing Great Qi to be even more corruption-free.

Qi Xiuyuan clearly saw this point, so although he did not express his opinion, he did not immediately agree when he saw that nearly half of the people in the court objected. Instead, he asked them to continue the discussion.

Everyone clearly understood what the Emperor meant. Since he still called for further discussion despite the fact that so many people objected, it must be because their opinions were not to his liking.

Yan Du frowned, feeling a little regretful. If he had known earlier, he would not have asked Qi Wenjin that question. This way, he could have just said a few words and moved on to the next topic.

If a country bumpkin could easily sue an official, wouldn’t it be belittling their authority and status?

Although Yan Du was angry inwardly, his face remained expressionless.

Therefore, Little Bear had no idea he was mad and was having a good time arguing with the courtiers below. Seeing that these people couldn’t see his point after he’d said so much, he immediately lost his temper and cursed angrily, “What a bunch of blockheads so intent on guarding the old system left behind by ancestors. In that case, the country will decline after some years of prosperity just like the Tang and Zhou Dynasties. Subsequently, the country will be totally destroyed two to three hundred years later. You civil servants and generals are just one of the many officials in the dynasty. Who will remember you in the future? No one!”

After he was done lashing out at the courtiers, Little Bear turned to Little Treasure and said, “Brother Crown Prince, let’s ignore them since they can’t be reasoned with. Anyway, in the future, you have to teach your sons well and let your sons teach their grandsons well. In short, our Qi family will never produce a muddle-headed Emperor. Let these hopeless cases bear the crime of destroying the country.”

Why did he blurt out what they’d discussed in private in front of the court?

Little Treasure hurriedly shot him a look, but the angry Little Bear didn’t see it at all. He even rushed forward to drag Little Treasure out, deciding not to associate with these hopeless cases.

The entire Imperial Court fell silent. The courtiers widened their eyes and looked at Little Bear and Little Treasure, then at the Emperor. Their eyes expressed the same meaning. ‘His Majesty, if you can even tolerate this, you can be said to be the number one loving father in the world!’

This was only the first generation of the Great Qi Dynasty, but there was already someone cursing the destruction of the Great Qi Dynasty. If not for the fact that the person who said this bore the surname Qi, they would definitely suspect that this person was a mortal enemy of the royal family.

Qi Xiuyuan was also furious, but he felt that he could not undermine the child. Otherwise, the courtiers would drown Little Bear in their saliva. Hence, he said with a dark expression, “I think what Wenjin said makes sense. Although it might be a little exaggerated, why don’t you think about it? If you only want to rigidly stick to old rules, what’s the difference between Great Qi, Great Zhou, and Great Tang?”

The courtiers almost vomited blood, feeling that the Emperor really doted on his children too much. How could he agree to this?

Someone who refused to admit defeat immediately stepped forward to question Little Bear. “Your Highness, do you think that if we follow the ancestral rules, our country will be destroyed? Then, what do you think we should do so that our country won’t be destroyed?”

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