The legend of the king of crossing

Chapter 172

"Chen Xinshu, I have read all your records in the official department. As you said, you once entered the officialdom with enthusiasm, but you failed to persist in this belief. On the contrary, you finally chose to be with the officialdom." The darkness of the officialdom is in harmony with each other, which makes me feel sad. Chen Xinshu, think about it, did you sleep soundly back then, or sleep soundly now?"

Chen Xinshu didn't know why I asked this question, thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, when I first became an official, I was able to sleep soundly when I fell asleep, but now I have to toss and turn repeatedly to fall asleep, and my sleeping condition is not as good as before. .”

I stared at Chen Xinshu with sharp eyes and said, "Everyone has both good and evil sides. The so-called good and evil lie in one heart. Chen Xinshu, when you first became an official, although you were not able to understand right and left, you had an upright heart, and that heart could release you." Show goodwill, shelter your subconscious mind, and make it smooth. Now, although your experience in the officialdom has become very rich, it can be said that you know all the roads and trails of the officialdom, but your heart is not right. It is basically evil, which can no longer protect your inner peace. Maybe you think it’s because you have too many affairs, but your subconscious mind is full of evil. This kind of evil makes you no longer feel at ease. Sooner or later it will eat you up."

"Your Majesty, this, this..."

Chen Xinshu felt a little stunned. Although he roughly understood what I meant, what I said seemed too mysterious. He didn't dare to refute my remarks, and he couldn't refute them. Which official's appearance is not righteous and awe-inspiring?No one will associate evil with himself.In the officialdom, even evil people will label themselves as honest officials who are loyal to the emperor, patriotism, and love the people like sons.

I didn't care whether Chen Xinshu understood or not, and continued: "Chen Xinshu, don't you want to be a good official who will be passed on to future generations?"

"Sir, I am willing." Chen Xinshu was full of thoughts, and seemed to have the passion of youth again.

"Okay, you can sit down too." I pointed to the seat next to Ye Mengding and said, "What is the official way? The official way is the connection between the court and the people. Doing nothing to govern the country, but surrounded by traitors and sycophants, deceiving the top and the bottom, resulting in the corruption of the court, and the source of the pipeline was completely polluted, so, following the same pattern, the local officials and others also followed the trend, making the whole pipeline muddy. I also have experience that in this kind of turbid pipeline, clear water is not easy to flow. As a result, the officials of our dynasty only know to make profits for themselves. When the officials behave like this, the common people no longer have a sense of trust in the government, and they are also following suit, eventually forming We are in a situation where the people are not the people, and the officials are not officials, so the national power of our dynasty has begun to decline day by day. If this continues, the country will not be a country, and sooner or later it will be defeated by Mongolia. Do you want to be subjugated slaves, or sell yourself? Thief. Well, is this the situation you would like to see?"

After Chen Xinshu sat down, he replied cautiously: "Of course I don't want to."

"From the perspective of human nature, as ordinary Han people, most of them are unwilling to be subjugated slaves, and as officials, most of them are also unwilling to leave a thousand years of infamy."

Ye Mengding nodded and echoed, "What Your Majesty said makes sense."

"So, I still believe that people in Song Dynasty can distinguish right from wrong, including you, Chen Xinshu, and most of the officials on Fujian Road. What I have to do is to completely remove the pollution from the source, and I will not use The law of inaction governing the country, I will perfect the law, and use the law to clean up the pollution. You, you need to rely on the law to keep the pipeline open, and eliminate the pollution as soon as it appears. , will surely return me to a bright and sunny day. Ye Aiqing."

"The minister is here."

"Notify me to serve the food. I've said so much, and I'm a little hungry."

"Yes, Your Majesty, the Hokkien cuisine in Juyinglou is still very good."

I turned to Yuan Ji behind me and said, "Sir, sit down and eat together."

All the staff in Juying Building only served our table of guests, so the food and wine were naturally served quickly.Wen Zhang at the door held a silver needle in his hand, and after careful inspection of each dish, he sent it into the house.

Fujian cuisine is light, refreshing and fresh, heavy on sweet and sour. It pays attention to freshness with soup, and it has been developed to later generations. It is also one of the eight major cuisines in my country.

"Chen Aiqing, Fujian Road is one of the few areas in our dynasty that has not experienced the trauma of war. Over the years, the economy of Fujian Road has developed to a certain extent. In this regard, you have made contributions, but the increase in tax revenue is far lower. As for economic growth, you have also experienced this. I came to Fujian Road this time to see if you can still be used by me. Since you are willing to follow me to rejuvenate our dynasty, then I will not punish you for the past crimes , if your future performance satisfies me, I will gradually forget your crimes. But if your performance is not good, as long as there is a slight mistake, I will settle your old and new accounts together."

Chen Xinshu hurriedly got up and said: "Your Majesty, I will devote myself to repay the great kindness of the Emperor. From now on, I will do what the Emperor says."

When he heard me call him Chen Aiqing, Chen Xinshu finally let go of a stone in his heart.Fortunately, I followed Jiang Baoshan's suggestion and asked Ye Mengding to convey his determination to be loyal to the imperial power in advance, otherwise this time it would be almost completely over, Chen Xinshu thought to himself.

"Ye Aiqing, Chen Aiqing, how about the salaries of our officials?"

Ye Mengding said: "Returning to Your Majesty, my salary is higher than that of the previous dynasty. There is salary, as well as Lumi, tea and wine money, kitchen material money, salary money, horse feed money and other subsidies, and even the food and clothing of servants in officials' homes. And the salary is also paid by the imperial court, so it should be said that all officials can live a luxurious life with fine clothes and gourmet food.”

"Chen Aiqing, is that so?"

"Your Majesty, Lord Ye's words are correct. Since the ninth-rank officials in our dynasty, the salary we have received is enough to have ample food and clothing."

"Huh, with such a salary, can't a high salary support the honesty?"

Chen Xinshu quickly responded: "Your Majesty, once a person's greed is formed, it will be like taking five stone powder, and it will become addictive."

Ye Mengding sighed: "Yes, Your Majesty, even if a person is a first-rank official, the food he eats every day and the bed he sleeps in are so many and so big. They can't use up these greedy silver taels in their lifetime, and they will take them with them when they die. They won't leave, but they just want to be greedy, as Lord Chen said, they have formed a kind of desire, a kind of desire that cannot be stopped."

"Chen Aiqing, are you also like this?

"Your Majesty, that's exactly the case." Chen Xinshu said with a blushing old face, "I repent, I repent. For the desire of gold and silver, I lost my human nature. I studied hard since I was a child. The late emperor favored me and served as an official for decades, but because of this greed, I went on an evil path. If the emperor hadn't reminded me in time, I would have been devoured by evil. Chen Xinshu, my minister, pleaded guilty, confessed, and repented."

When Chen Xinshu talked about repenting, he was already in tears. I don't know if there was a lot of acting in it, or if he was really touched.

"Chen Aiqing, since you have awakened, then from tonight onwards, become a man and an official again, and be a good official who will last forever."

"Don't worry, your majesty, I will follow your majesty's orders."

Chen Xinshu remembered what Jiang Baoshan said, if the emperor tells you to be greedy, you will be greedy, if the emperor tells you not to be greedy, you can't even be greedy for a copper coin.

I nodded and said: "Chen Aiqing, I have two things to tell you in advance, one is that I intend to promote you as the Fujian Road System envoy."

"What about Mr. Shi?" Chen Xinshu was mixed with joy and worry in his heart. The promotion is naturally gratifying, but he was worried because he thought that I would punish Shi Hongsheng, so he hurriedly said, "Mr. Shi has never been greedy, he is an upright official."

"I know that Shi Hongsheng is an upright official, but he is not a good official. What I want is a good official who can serve the people and the court. Shi Hongsheng is too scholarly, so he is not suitable to be an official here. There are other arrangements."