This means that many officials have to be careful even when they walk.
If the officials regarded the gift of poultry and livestock as a joke, they were full of vigilance towards the fourteenth ritual.
This was because no official could guarantee such meticulous action in a formal setting, and failure to do so would constitute a violation of etiquette. Even if the censor did not report the incident, other officials would be eligible to do so, thus becoming a handle for others.
During these days, the Supervisory Yuan and some officials have reported many officials, and many middle and low-level officials who supported the royal family have been identified as violating etiquette by the Ministry of Personnel.
Therefore, at the court meeting to discuss the fourteenth ceremony, the officials' words were particularly harsh and they accused Fang Yun to his face.
"Prime Minister Fang's behavior is nothing but idleness. As the left prime minister, he actually used backward ancient rituals to imprison officials. This is even worse than Zhao Gao's attempt to call a deer a horse!"
"This ritual is only found in the Book of Rites. There is no record in history books that all officials of a dynasty could do this."
"If officials focus on the sound of their rings and pendants, how can they think about serving the country and the people? You, the Saint Fang Xu, have two minds at once, but we don't! Why don't we just eat meat?"
"Fang Xusheng, I never thought you were such a stubborn person. If you insist on having your own way, I will fight you to the death!"
"Prime Minister Fang, you are not even as good as Liu Shan!"
When an imperial censor said this, the Golden Palace immediately fell silent.
These words are too harsh. Liu Shan's crimes are too numerous to list. If Fang Yun is not even as good as Liu Shan, what kind of punishment should he receive
However, many people feel that if Fang Yun is allowed to continue to hold the position of prime minister, it may really cause public outrage and he may end up being worse than Liu Shan.
At this time, every official discovered that no matter what orders Fang Yun issued before, no less than half of the people in the court would support Fang Yun.
Today, the number of officials who oppose Fang Yun is more than five times the number of those who defend him.
Some officials who usually supported Fang Yun did not say a word.
The Grand Secretary who came from the ceremonial hall was particularly silent today and did not nod once.
This time, almost all officials felt the will of the people.
Fang Yun remained calm throughout the entire period, and he did not seem angry no matter what the officials said.
After the Golden Palace was calm for dozens of breaths, Fang Yun said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."
The officials were stunned. After everyone had been scolding for so long, Fang Yun actually had something else to report
After Jing Jun agreed, Fang Yun said, "Confucius said: If you act for the sake of profit, there will be many complaints. Since Confucius said that doing things for the sake of profit will cause resentment, in order to calm the people's resentment and unite the people, I propose to replace profit with courtesy, replace profit with benevolence and righteousness, and abolish all government offices related to profit, so that the glory of courtesy, benevolence and righteousness will shine throughout the world."
Some officials' eyelids were twitching and they had a bad feeling.
Lord Jing said, "Please ask Lord Fang to explain in detail how to replace profit with courtesy."
Fang Yun said: "I have a question for all the officials. If you hold ink in your hands, how can it not be black?"
No one answered. This question was too simple. Anyone who touched the ink stick with his hands would be stained black.
Fang Yun said: "Benevolence, righteousness, and propriety are like a white hand, while the black ink is like black ink. In order to prevent benevolence, righteousness, and propriety from being polluted, the court should get rid of propriety and keep propriety and preserve benevolence and righteousness. However, the black ink of black ink has penetrated into various government offices. We should gradually eliminate the black ink in each government office. Only by eliminating the black ink can Jingguo restore the propriety and truly become a country of benevolence and righteousness, and each of us can be a benevolent and righteous person."
Sheng Boyuan snorted coldly and said, "Don't beat around the bush. Just tell me what you want."
Fang Yun said: "To eliminate profit and preserve etiquette, morality and justice, we should start with the six ministries. The Ministry of Rites is the place to promote etiquette, so there is no need to implement it for the time being. The Ministry of War is the most important tool of the country, so it should not be moved rashly. The Ministry of Punishment only talks about law, not etiquette, but it does not talk about profit and will not be involved. Then, we should start with the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue. Among the three ministries, the Ministry of Revenue manages land tax, customs duties, salaries, food and wages, etc. It has the most profit, so it should be eliminated first."
Cao Dean looked at Fang Yun in astonishment. He didn't expect that Fang Yun would turn his anger on him even though he had no second thoughts about Fang Yun. However, Cao Dean thought of the recent remarks and was not angry. Instead, he listened quietly.
Some officials saw Cao De'an's expression and felt gloating, laughing in their hearts, thinking that this was a flood that had washed away the Dragon King Temple.
Assistant Prime Minister Yang Xuwen asked, "May I ask Prime Minister Fang, how can the Ministry of Revenue make profits?"
Fang Yun smiled and said, "It's very simple. We should start by reducing the salaries of officials, and then gradually reduce them. In the end, each official will only receive the basic food to maintain their basic needs. Isn't that eliminating profit? Are we officials serving the country and the people, or for that little bit of money and food? If it's for money and food, why do we need to be officials? If it's for the country and the people, why should we care about money and food?"
As soon as Fang Yun said this, there was complete silence.
One third of the officials looked at Fang Yun as if he were a fool.
One third of the officials glared at Fang Yun.
The remaining officials looked confused.
This is an official who started out as a county magistrate and rose to the position of left prime minister? Even the dumbest official would not do such a thing to gain benefits.
Fang Yun wants to make enemies with all officials!
Fang Yun is betraying his own class!
How could someone be so stupid
There are people who betray their class, but there is absolutely no class that betrays its own interests.
If Fang Yun did this, it meant that officials not only from Jing State but all over the world would oppose it in the most intense way.
The entire bureaucracy will launch the most frenzied counterattack!
Not to mention being a false saint, even if he was a half-saint, he could not stop the counterattack of officials all over the world.
Fang Yun continued, "We should not only reduce the salaries of officials, but also the taxes of the people. In this way, in the eyes of the people, we are a benevolent court. Therefore, the Ministry of Revenue should gradually reduce taxes until it can provide enough food and clothing for the officials."
"Are you crazy?" Sheng Boyuan blurted out, looking at Fang Yun in disbelief.
This is not about benefiting the country and preserving ethics and righteousness, this is about destroying the Kingdom of Jing!
For the first time, Lin Shouyan, the Grand Secretary of the Hall of Rites, showed surprise and looked at Fang Yun with a gloomy expression.
Fang Yun sighed and said, "In pursuit of the highest realm of benevolence and righteousness, in pursuit of the glory of ritual and music, what does it matter if officials and the court sacrifice a little bit of their own interests? In the future, not only the Ministry of Revenue will eliminate profits, but also the Ministry of Personnel. The Ministry of Personnel will determine the evaluation of officials based on whether they are benevolent and respect rituals, and it cannot have anything to do with political achievements and taxation. The same goes for the Ministry of Works, which must do things for free, such as building water conservancy projects and roads for the people. So what if there is no money and food? As long as there is benevolence, righteousness, rituals and music, the people will be loyal and will naturally help for free. When officials eliminate profits, the people will naturally do the same. Bathed in the glory of rituals and benevolence, they will not care about money or various profits."
The Fengtian Hall fell into deathly silence.
After a few breaths, He Mingxiang, the Chief Censor of the Supervisory Yuan, stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, He Mingxiang, impeaches the Left Prime Minister Fang Yun for disrupting the government, shaking the foundation of the country, being incompetent and lawless!"
Then, one after another, the censors stepped out and impeached Fang Yun.
After the censors from the Censorate came out, the Minister of Personnel Sheng Boyuan immediately followed, and the officials supporting the royal family followed as well.
Subsequently, some officials who had remained neutral also followed suit in impeachment.
In the end, more than a third of the officials impeached Fang Yun, including officials from Cao De'an's party.
The situation in the court changed suddenly.
Soon, the Golden Palace fell silent.
After a long time, the Queen Mother said, "Saint Fang Xu's words were too extreme, but he did not impose his policies by force. How about this, the ministers take a rest for three days, and give Prime Minister Fang some time to think. After three days, we will hold the court meeting again. My dear ministers, please leave the court."
"Hmph!" Fang Yun suddenly snorted coldly, drove away in the Wuhou chariot.
Soon, the news spread all over the world.
The next day, Fang Yun took sick leave.
When the court meeting was held again, Fang Yun was still ill and unable to go out.
However, on the day of the court meeting, Fang Yun published a new work entitled "Political History".