"It's a turbulent time." Dong Wencong said.
Fang Yun said: "Do you still remember the punishment in the Hall of Punishment?"
"Remember, you fought against the Criminal Court for the sake of the People's Newspaper. The Criminal Court punished you by making you go to an ancient land to expand the territory for the human race before you become a great scholar. Apart from that, the rest of the punishment is insignificant. Could it be..." Dong Wencong looked at Fang Yun in surprise.
"Yan Ningshan, the head of the Yan family, sent me a letter saying that changes have occurred in the Ten Cold Ancient Land, which is most likely a precursor to the birth and death of the ancient land. As you know, the Ten Cold Ancient Land will undergo changes every three hundred years or so. The ancient land will be destroyed and reborn, which is called the Ten Cold Birth and Death. During the Ten Cold Birth and Death, the Ten Cold Ancient Land will compete for the Ten Cold King again and gain the power of the Ice Emperor. The Yan family hopes that I will go to the Ten Cold Ancient Land and fight for a Ten Cold King for the human race. It doesn't need to be ranked too high, as long as I can fight for the tenth cold king."
Dong Wencong was surprised and asked, "The Yan family has controlled the Ninth Cold King for so long, but they are not sure about the next Tenth Cold King?"
A strange look flashed in Fang Yun's eyes, and he said, "The Yan family originally had two candidates for Grand Scholars, both of whom were great Confucian scholars, but they suppressed their realm for many years for the sake of King Shihan, and always remained at the peak Grand Scholar stage. With these two people, the Yan family was originally safe. However... in recent years, Wenquxing has been constantly moving, causing both of them to be unable to suppress the pull of the great power of the Holy Dao, and have been promoted to great Confucian scholars. The Yan family originally placed their hopes on Yan Yukong, but now the ancient land is moving, and it will be born and destroyed in a short period of time. There is not much time for Yan Yukong to grow."
“Then the Yan family can look for... No, the Yan family really can’t look for a semi-saint family. The semi-saint families are either not strong enough or have no close relationship with the Yan family. The Yan family is also a sub-saint family, so it’s not easy for it to look for other sub-saint families. It seems that the Yan family can only look for you or the Kong family now.” Dong Wencong said.
Fang Yun shook his head gently and said, "You don't know that the Kong family has a family rule that we will not compete with the sub-saint families for the Ten Cold Ancient Land. We can do things there, but we cannot compete for the Ten Cold King. It can even be said that the Kong family does not care which family of the human race becomes the Ten Cold King, as long as there is one."
Dong Wencong said, "Then I understand. The Yan family knows that it is difficult to get the Ten Cold King again, but they have great power and secrets, so they want to find a partner. You have the strength to compete for the Ten Cold King, but you don't have the power and foundation to control a cold city. Moreover, you have always had a good reputation and have never committed any crime. As long as we agree on the terms with you, you will definitely fulfill them. The key is that you have a deep friendship with Yan Yukong."
"That's about what I mean." Fang Yun said.
"I don't know much about the birth and death of ancient lands, but I have heard that it will take a long time, at least several months or even a year. If you are not in Xiangzhou, who will be in charge of the overall situation?" Dong Wencong began to worry.
"So before leaving, I want to stabilize Xiangzhou and eliminate all unstable factors." Fang Yun said.
"So what is your first step..." Dong Wencong asked tentatively.
"Clean up the administration of officials." Fang Yun said.
Dong Wencong nodded and said, "No wonder you arrested all the Xiangzhou officials at the Yueyang Tower Literary Conference. This way, half of the administration is done. But... a journey of a hundred miles begins with a single step. I'm afraid it will be difficult from now on."
"That's right and that's not right," Fang Yun said.
Dong Wencong immediately said respectfully: "Please let me know, sir."
"It's difficult to clean up the bureaucracy, but as long as a few problems are solved, the road will be smooth. The first is to have enough power and no opposition to check and balance. I have this. More than half of the prime ministers in the past dynasties cleaned up the bureaucracy because they did not have enough power, and even made jokes that the government's orders could not leave the cabinet."
Dong Wencong nodded slightly. Jingguo had a left-handed prime minister a hundred years ago. After the government orders left the cabinet, no one obeyed them. Although there were various reasons, it also showed that the left-handed prime minister was not suitable for governing the country.
Fang Yun continued, "The second point is to cut off conflicts of interest. It can be said that 90% of the prime ministers ultimately failed to complete their own political reforms or reforms because they were unable to cut off their own conflicts of interest. Imagine if a prime minister himself is not clean, how can he be vigorous and resolute? If he has too much selfish desires, such as colluding with some senior officials and having other intentions, how can he convince the public? Therefore, most reforms and reforms eventually degenerate into factional struggles and infighting."
"Your Excellency is right." Dong Wencong said.
"The third point is the control over lower-level officials. There are many cases in history where the ruler of a country has lost control over lower-level officials. Even if one has great power, if one cannot control the officials who actually interact with the people, rectifying the administration of officials will ultimately be just empty talk. In addition to this, there are many other factors, such as timing, internal and external troubles, specific methods of administration, public opinion, and so on and so forth."
Dong Wencong said: "After the Yueyang Tower Literary Conference, your popularity in Xiangzhou has... to put it bluntly, it has surpassed that of a monarch, so your power is not a problem. You came from outside the province and have nothing to do with the local forces in Xiangzhou. Moreover, you are devoted to the human race, so even if you have your own selfish desires, it will not affect the rectification of the government. What you lack is control over the lower-level officials."
Fang Yun sighed and said, "Since ancient times, no one has been able to completely control lower-level officials, even the saints were like this when they were officials. All I can do is try my best."
Dong Wencong looked at Fang Yun and smiled, "Then I am relieved."
Behind the desk, Fang Yun put the brush on the pen holder and looked at Dong Wencong with a smile.
Dong Wencong explained, "You shined in Ning'an County back then, and you can be called the best county magistrate in the history of the human race. You don't need to be modest. Even when Confucius was the governor of Zhongdu, he was far inferior to you, not to mention others. With such an impressive resume, I thought that after you were promoted to the governor of the two states, you would think that you would be able to control Xiangzhou as easily as in Ning'an County. But you are not blindly arrogant, not only do you realize the importance of lower-level officials, but you are also very clear that no one can solve this eternal problem. You will definitely become a qualified governor, so I am relieved."
"What should I do when I meet a subordinate like you who thinks his superior is incompetent?" Fang Yun said half-jokingly.
Dong Wencong said solemnly: "It is impossible to carry Mount Tai across the North Sea. It is easy for you to carry a speck of dust across the North Sea, but if you carry all the dust in Xiangzhou across the North Sea, it is just like carrying Mount Tai across the North Sea, which is impossible. You know very well the hardships of officialdom, which means that you will not be backfired by the lower-level officials. I will do my best to assist you."
Fang Yun nodded gently and said, "The first step in rectifying the administration of officials is to start with corruption, which is what the people hate the most. I want you to work with the judicial and criminal departments to collect evidence of corruption among officials above the seventh rank as quickly as possible and make it public one after another without making any mistakes. Can you do it?"
"Please rest assured, sir. I will do my best. If you fail, you will be beheaded!" Dong Wencong looked determined and his eyes were bright.
"Very good, remember to report the details every day." Fang Yun was very satisfied with Dong Wencong's attitude. It was obvious that Dong Wencong knew how important the first step in rectifying the administration of officials was.
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