Chapter 1265: Argument (3)

“Since ancient times, how many geniuses have existed? However, how many had protected an empire from extinction? None!” Mu Yangling looked straight at them and said, “Do you know why?”

“Because the people have inadequate food, clothing, housing, medical care, and their descendants have no way out. Their lives are insecure. As long as these problems are not dealt with, they will still rebel one day when they are forced to the extreme!”

“The commoners are like springs. When suppressed by a tyrannical ruler or corrupt officials, they can only try their best to stretch their bodies to submit continuously. That is, until they’re forced into a desperate situation. Then, with a bang, the spring will loosen or break. Regardless of the former or the latter, the pressure of the rebound will always hurt the person pulling the spring. The more ruthlessly they pulled previously, the more serious the injury.”

Mu Yangling said, “My son only suggested reforming the official system because he was worried that Great Qi would follow the same path as Great Zhou in two to three hundred years.”

“Many of you here are ministers who served in the previous dynasty. You should know how chaotic the governance of the previous dynasty was. There’s a saying among the people of Jiangnan that goes, ‘Even the most incorruptible person, who has been a prefect for three years, will have an income of 100,000 taels of silver.’ If even a magistrate who earns 100,000 taels of silver a year dares to call himself incorrupt, what about those unethical magistrates?”

“The Imperial Court has repeatedly given orders against corruption. The Imperial Censorate and the Ministry of Justice were in the capital, and there were also censors patrolling the regions. But why were there still corrupt officials?”

Mu Yangling said with a dark expression, “Because you officials protect each other, because you are all involved, because you have all benefited, including Emperor Jingyan, who also played a part in embezzling the people’s money!”

Mu Yangling’s words made everyone’s faces turn green.

But she wasn’t done yet.

Did they think that Qi Wenjin’s words were unpleasant? Mu Yangling would use her actions to tell them that it could actually be worse.

“Since it has been less than three days since Qin Fang’s incident, I’m sure you still remember the money he embezzled, right? If the tens of thousands of officials in Great Zhou drank soup, then he ate meat, and Emperor Jingyan drank blood!”

“Why is Great Qi’s governance so clean? It’s because His Majesty is honest, diligent, and thrifty. It’s only been 13 years since Great Qi was founded. The ministers present haven’t forgotten the bloodbath in the first few years of Taikang, and that’s why you didn’t extend your reach further. This is the effect of subordinates following the example of their superiors!”

“However, what matters most is the character of the people in power. The human heart is the most difficult thing to guarantee in this world. Instead of placing your hopes on it, it’s better to place your hopes on the system. Even if an extravagant Emperor appears on the throne one day, the governance of officials will still be clean! Therefore, this official system has to be changed, drastically changed! This is so that if an extravagant and incompetent ruler were to appear one day, the hundreds of officials will not follow the trend and extort the commoners. As long as an official is found guilty, they will be beheaded or exiled accordingly. Only then can we ensure the long-term peace and stability of Great Qi.”

The ministers were stunned. Was she planning to force them to a dead end?

A young fourth-grade official sitting cross-legged at the end could not help but say, “What if the Emperor forces us to extort the commoners?”

Before Mu Yangling could speak, Little Bear had already looked down on him. “If it’s not something reasonable, just reject it directly. You’re not a concubine. Why would you need to fawn so much over the Emperor?”

The ministers looked at the Emperor’s expression again and were disappointed to see that the Emperor’s ability to control his anger was getting better and better. To think his expression did not change at all.

Qi Xiuyuan, who was sitting above, was already going crazy. Was it really good to instigate the ministers to disobey the Emperor?

Rong Xuan felt that Mu Yangling was being too idealistic and asked, “Then how do you think we should change this official system?”

Mu Yangling sat up straight and said, “First of all, the Prime Minister wields too much power. Although the Imperial Censorate can supervise the Prime Ministers, there are many restrictions. Why don’t we abolish the Prime Minister and establish a Cabinet so that the four Cabinet ministers can divide the power of the Prime Ministers? We can subsequently delegate the administrative power at an appropriate time. Not only can we weaken the power of the four Cabinet ministers, but we can also train the administrative ability of the officials.”

Mu Yangling continued, “Also, there’s the reform of the official system in the local regions. Your Majesty, though the northern and western lands have been taken back, the names of the places are from the Han dynasty decades ago. There are also names from Great Jin and West Xia. The administrative affairs of the local regions are a huge mess. Some places are even under the jurisdiction of a few prefectures and can’t be separated clearly, so even the people living there don’t know which prefecture they belong to.”

Qi Xiuyuan immediately said, “All magistrates have submitted memorials about this problem, but because the western regions have just been taken back, there are many problems. I’ve asked the Left Prime Minister and the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs to see to it. I wonder how things are going?”

The Minister of Official Personnel Affairs and the Minister of Revenue looked at each other and immediately looked at Rong Xuan. Rong Xuan lowered his head and bowed. “We’ve discussed it, but because the lost land has been ceded for 30 to 40 years, it’s going to take some time to figure things out. What do you think, Your Highness?”

Mu Yangling said, “Redraw the provincial boundaries.” Mu Yangling paused for a moment and said, “For the entire Great Qi. Even the authority and responsibilities of the local officials have to be re-determined so as to clarify their jurisdiction and responsibilities. This also serves to decentralize authority.”

The Imperial Court was in an uproar. This was too massive a motion, even more shocking than Qi Wenjin’s law amendment proposal.

Not only the officials, but even Rong Xuan objected. He said tactfully, “This matter is very important. We should take it slow!”

“Of course.” Mu Yangling said, “I didn’t ask you to do it immediately.”

Just as everyone relaxed, they heard Mu Yangling say, “But you have to know what to do first. Since it’s already so chaotic, since we’re going to redistribute the province, what’s wrong with reaffirming the authority and responsibilities of the officials? There won’t be changes to most things anyway.”

Though she claimed there’d be no changes to most things, but who knew which vital aspects she’d want to make changes to?

The officials all regretted it. If they had known earlier, they wouldn’t have let her speak. They wondered if it was too late to stop her now.

Of course, it was too late. Mu Yangling continued moving to the next topic after she was done with each one. In any case, there were historians who recorded every court meeting in detail. Should they forget something she said, they could just let the historians search for the records.

“Since we want to reassess the authority and responsibilities of the regional officials, it’s naturally best to change the official system at the same time. At the moment, the officials can only rely on the censors to report or check on the regions’ government affairs every year. However, those who can become officials are not fools. No one will shout out to the entire world after embezzling and accepting bribes. As for the Ministry of Justice officials and censors, it’s even easier to deal with them since they can only stay in each region for a limited period of time. As long as the regional officials have enough control over the regions, no one will discover their matters. Therefore, I think Wenjin’s suggestion to change the law and allow the commoners to report the officials is not enough.”

The officials looked at the official who suggested that Queen Consort Rong attend the court to defend herself. They thought to themselves, ‘If you come out, we definitely won’t beat you to death. We’ll just cripple you.’

Clearly knowing that he had gotten into trouble, that official shrunk his neck and sat at the table, trying his best to reduce his presence.

Mu Yangling continued smiling and said, “I think the inspection system should be changed and the imperial censors should be given more authority and responsibility.”

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