Xu Changgeng was stunned. He looked into Fang Yun's deep eyes and shuddered involuntarily. He said helplessly, "Prime Minister, I am just passing on the letter. The decision is in your hands. I dare not presumptuously decide for you. If you don't want to read it, I will return all the letters now."
Fang Yun said slowly, "We are all officials in the same court, working together, and we have feelings for each other. If you have problems in your own family and come to me for help, I am not a heartless person who does not recognize relatives and friends, and I will definitely lend a hand. But you are helping others to pass the book, which may seem insignificant, but in fact, you are looking for me for others. Do you understand the difference?"
The officials lowered their heads, sweating profusely.
The root of the matter is not whether Fang Yun wants to help, nor is it a question of whether it is difficult or not, nor is it a question of whether Fang Yun can do it, but that they are using Fang Yun's favor to exchange for the favor of others.
If they plead for their family members, it is because they have no choice and Fang Yun will not refuse. But pleading for others is equivalent to damaging Fang Yun's interests in order to satisfy their own face, vanity or their own interests.
In their opinion, solving the problem is just a piece of cake for Fang Yun, but it is not.
Even if it's just a piece of cake, why should Fang Yun do it
Li Zhixiao sighed and said, "What the Prime Minister said is true. We feel that we are close to the Prime Minister, and it is okay to ask the Prime Minister for a favor, but we have not thought it through. If we really regard the Prime Minister as our own, we should first think about whether the Prime Minister has any difficulties before asking him for help. Not to mention that the Prime Minister is presiding over this reform, the number of people who have asked the Prime Minister for leniency is unimaginable. Everyone thinks it is easy for the Prime Minister to help one person, but the Prime Minister is not facing just me."
Fang Yun said: "That's the truth. By extension, all Panorama people are my own people, and we all have feelings for each other. What should I do? Can I really kill them all?"
The officials looked at Fang Yun and suddenly felt a little sorry for this virtual saint who seemed omnipotent in normal times.
In fact, everyone has realized that the reform has reached the final stage. How to avoid civil unrest and counterattacks from major forces while carrying out the reform is the top priority, even more important than the reform itself.
If we cannot balance reform, the interests of various families and the interests of the people, reform will inevitably fail.
All reforms in history have found it difficult to consolidate the interests of all parties, and one party has always been sacrificed.
In a moderate reform, the lower classes will suffer the greatest sacrifices, because they have no ability to resist and are always the first group to be sacrificed.
In a drastic reform, the middle and high-level leaders would suffer the greatest sacrifices. However, Jing State cannot afford drastic reform now.
In other words, the entire human race cannot withstand drastic changes.
Once Fang Yun and the Three Palaces force the reform, the human race will inevitably fall apart soon, and trouble will arise from within, and in the end the demon world will take advantage of it.
However, if no reform is carried out, the human race will inevitably be exterminated in the near future.
Fang Yun and the human race are now in trouble.
The human race was once in a similar predicament.
The first dilemma was solved by King Wen of Zhou, who was the first to be canonized.
The second dilemma was solved by Confucius, who was infinitely close to a sage.
Facing the third dilemma, Fang Yun can solve it if he can be promoted to a saint in a short period of time and become the holy ancestor of all realms.
But, this is impossible.
Even Confucius took decades and hundreds of years of accumulation to reach that level.
Finally, Fang Yun said slowly: "This hole should either not be opened, or it should be opened wider. Therefore, long before the planned crackdown, I discussed with the Criminal Court how to solve this stage. All families that take human lives lightly, are greedy, and have committed countless crimes, no matter how many there are, will be uprooted! For all families with serious crimes but the possibility of repentance, the head of the family must be punished and the family must be split up. All families with minor crimes can atone for their sins by donating land to indirectly support the soldiers fighting against the demon world."
No official spoke, even Dong Yueqian remained silent.
After a few breaths, Li Zhixiao took a deep breath and said slowly: "Prime Minister, I have something to say."
"Go ahead." Fang Yun said.
"Fundamentally, there is no real difference between your tiered punishment and the unified heavy punishment. Those who donated their land will resent you, those who split up their families will resent you, and those who were uprooted will certainly resent you. As long as you punish them, as long as they hurt their bones, if they can't see any hope of survival, they will definitely fight back with all their might. They may be stupid, but they are smart in one thing, they know they can't beat you and the Holy Academy, so they will unite and would rather die than sit there and wait for death. They know very well that you and the Holy Academy cannot afford the cost of a fight to the death."
Many officials nodded secretly, as this kind of thing had happened before in history.
Both Qin Shihuang and Wang Mang made this mistake. The country established by the former collapsed in an instant after his death, while the latter failed to complete the reform at all.
Even a powerful dynasty like the Han Dynasty, which lasted for three generations from Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing to Emperor Wu of Han, experienced constant rebellions by the kings, and finally suppressed them completely with the powerful force.
Moreover, the three emperors of the Han Dynasty only targeted the vassal kings. Fang Yun’s opponents this time include small and medium-sized landlords, prominent families, famous families, wealthy families and even aristocratic families!
There may not necessarily be officials in a family, but officials must form their own family.
Therefore, the objects of this reform essentially include all civil and military officials in the court and all families.
Every country is an enemy.
No one in history has ever been able to accomplish this feat, not even a semi-saint.
Fang Yun nodded, and scanned the crowd with a cold gaze, saying, "Does this mean that I, the Left Prime Minister, can no longer control the officials? The ministries of Jing State can no longer control the laws of Jing State? The elders of the Criminal Palace are no longer able to control the families?"
Fang Yun's heart-piercing words were so sharp and piercing that they made everyone feel uncomfortable all over.
Fang Yun was not wrong. Throughout the dynasties, except for the times of chaos when there was unlimited harshness and killing, it was impossible to carry out thorough reforms in any era of stable political power. Once a more thorough reform was carried out, the whole country would inevitably fall into chaos.
In fact, the Imperial Court and the Criminal Court could do nothing to the major families of the human race, centered around the Saint Families.
The major families are in control of the Holy Academy itself.
From this reform, the Legalists, Artisans and Farmers benefited the most, but how could the aristocratic families who benefited less or even had their interests harmed get what they wanted
This reform essentially involves a dispute over the holy way.
The struggle for the holy way is far more dangerous than the reform of a country.
At the beginning, common people hate the oppression of nobles more than anyone else, but once they are in high positions, they will instinctively strengthen their own families.
Every cabinet official present will be able to establish at least one prominent family in the future.
The grassroots level in Jing Country and even Shengyuan Continent, especially at the county and town levels, are basically controlled by various families.
Transforming agriculture into industry and accelerating urbanization are effective means of defusing local forces, but that takes too long and Fang Yun can't wait.
Finally, Fang Yun said firmly: "Bringing criminals to justice is the duty of every official and the Criminal Court. This fundamental principle can never be shaken. Any force that attempts to go against the law is like a mantis trying to stop a chariot or an egg trying to hit a rock!"
All cabinet officials continued to remain silent.
Fang Yun looked at everyone with disappointment and said, "Go away. You will be very busy from now on. If you don't want to do it, you can hand in your resignation. I won't make it difficult for you. But as long as I am in Jingguo, you can forget about working in Jingguo."
Everyone was shocked.
Fang Yun said this and left.
The officials slowly left.
That afternoon, three cabinet officials resigned.
The next morning, a woman knocked on the drum at the gate of the imperial palace in the capital, accusing the eldest grandson of the fourth branch of the Chen Sheng family of murdering her father.