How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

The entire court was paralyzed.

All the ministers were stunned and stood there, feeling as if their brains were cleansed by something.

Yang Qinghui himself had not expected that he could explain his "secret" of corruption and abuse of power in this way. He immediately showed an expression of enduring humiliation and took a heavy step forward, saying bitterly:

"I thought that my behavior was difficult for the world to understand and that I had been misunderstood by the world. However, I never expected that the Second Prince would see through my painstaking plan...I, your old minister, sigh..."

At this point, he choked up, and hesitated to speak. He shook his head, his face full of sorrow and solemnity, "Everything is for the benefit of the people of Jian'an. I dare not fail the trust of the late emperor and the high hopes of Your Majesty. I can only join the game and use my life as a chess piece to prepare for the disasters and sufferings of Jian'an in the coming year..."

Xie Chengze was so moved that he couldn't help but wipe away his tears, "Minister Yang is so righteous!"

The officials who had previously defended Yang Qinghui also followed suit and shouted, "Minister Yang, you are so righteous! Why do you have to do this?"

Only Censor Chen of the Supervisory Yuan was filled with anger. "You are confusing right and wrong! This is simply ridiculous!"

He stepped out of the line angrily and rebuked Xie Chengze, "Yang Qinghui's actions are indeed corruption and abuse of power, which is obvious! Now he is using the empty words of preparing for a rainy day to cover up his crime and try to get away with it. All the officials are rushing to agree with him and believe it to be true. It's really ridiculous!"

"Your Highness, you are a descendant of the Jian'an Emperor, supported by the people. You should distinguish right from wrong and severely punish treacherous officials. How can you protect such corrupt officials and set a bad example for all officials, causing endless harm!"

He spoke with great vigor, venting all his dissatisfaction and disappointment on Xie Chengze, then turned to Emperor Jian and said, "Your Majesty! I, this old minister, dare to ask you to order the Supervisory Council to conduct a thorough investigation of Yang Qinghui's corruption and abuse of power. Do not downplay it or condone evil and foster traitors, so as not to undermine the government and tarnish the reputation of the court!"

Emperor Jian was silent.

He never expected that Xie Chengze would choose to stand up and protect Yang Qinghui. After all, according to Xie Chengze's previous temperament, if the evidence of corruption was already in front of him, he would definitely denounce Yang Qinghui harshly and rush to thoroughly investigate Yang Qinghui's past crimes.

But now, why did he suddenly clear Yang Qinghui of the charges?

Is it a secret conspiracy, or is there another purpose...

Emperor Jian was just thinking about it when he suddenly heard the voice of His Highness Xie Chengze, with a tone full of astonishment, "Censor Chen, are you mean to me?"

Emperor Jian:?

Censor Chen:?

No? Who was mean to you?

"Isn't what I said wrong?" Xie Chengze said unconvincedly, "Just tell me, if Minister Yang hadn't embezzled the money, where would we get the money to provide disaster relief next year?"

Although Censor Chen was old, he had a very good brain. "No matter what, the national law is strict, and Yang Qinghui should not abuse his power for personal gain! Your Highness, why don't you think about how many innocent people have suffered behind these corruptions? Aren't those people who starved to death just lives?"

Xie Chengze looked disapproving, and his tone was very domineering, "If the court was not incompetent, why would Minister Yang exchange his old life for a new one? This is all for the continuation of the Jian'an Dynasty!"

"Then Your Highness, have you ever thought about this! If those suffering people were allowed to survive, farm and pay taxes, the national treasury would not be so empty!" Censor Chen rebuked, expressing his regret.

"Ridiculous!" Xie Chengze waved his sleeves and sneered, "How can the farming taxes of a few civilians replenish our huge treasury?"

He said sarcastically, "Censor Chen has been in the court for too long and has never visited the people. The people are now living in dire straits! During my trip to Yizhou, I saw only corrupt officials and poor people. Farming the land can barely fill their stomachs, so how can they fill the treasury?"

"If the people can work hard and pay taxes just to survive, wouldn't it be possible to raise many children so that our Jian'an Dynasty can be filled with gold and silver and have an overflowing wealth? Then what are you officials doing? Why don't you just go home and have children!"

Xie Chengze continued to speak angrily, "The disaster relief in previous years can only quench the thirst of the immediate people but not the hunger of the distant people. The people still don't have enough food to eat and can't survive the winter cold! But you are content with the status quo, only copying the disaster relief experience of the backward old dynasty, making excuses for the fundamental problems, muddling through, and ruining the Jian'an Dynasty!"

"If Minister Yang had not embezzled the money for disaster relief in Yizhou, how could Governor Liang of Yizhou have been forced to look through history books and geography books and rack his brains to come up with the Tianfu Plan, which would not only solve the flood problem in Yizhou, but could even benefit the entire Jian'an Dynasty in the future?!"

"And if Minister Yang had not embezzled the relief money for Yizhou, how would I know that you are such a waste, just like a decoration in the court! A local official, after being pushed, knows that practice is more important than theory, but you have only money in your heads. Not only do you not understand Minister Yang's strategy and value, but you are pressing him step by step, confined by the rotten law and unable to adapt!"

After such a sophistry, Censor Chen's head was buzzing. He pointed at Xie Chengze and said, "You, you, you are just making sophistry!"

"A prince who can't argue is not a good prince, and a minister who can't make progress is not a good minister either!"

Xie Chengze raised his head confidently, "What's the point of you standing here? Don't you know how to improve farm tools, how to use mountains and rivers for farming, how to make our Jian'an Dynasty well connected, and how to make our Jian'an Dynasty sustainable? In this case, you might as well learn from Shangshu Yang's corruption and abuse of power, and force local officials to their limits to clean up your own mess!"

Yang Qinghui:?

Is this an illusion? Why do I always feel like something is not right?

Censor Chen was so embarrassed by Xie Chengze's words that he had to admit it. If the officials in the court were really useful, how could they cause the people to suffer and their livelihood to decline?

"What does the Second Prince mean?" Censor Chen asked in shame, "Are you going to let Shangshu Yang off the hook for his corruption and abuse of power?"

Yang Qinghui couldn't help but look at Xie Chengze. Xie Chengze winked at him and said, "Don't be afraid! I'm on your side!"

Only then did Yang Qinghui breathe a sigh of relief.

It seems that the Second Prince is definitely one of us.

Just as he was thinking this, he heard Xie Chengze challenge Shen Yuan, "Minister Shen, you keep saying that Yang Shangshu is involved in more than just the Yizhou corruption case. Do you have any other evidence to prove that Yang Shangshu has always been corrupt?"

Shen Yuan was silent for a moment. He glanced at Xie Chengze with a twinkling gaze, and then said slowly, "I guess..."

"Okay!" Xie Chengze interrupted loudly, as if he had found a perfect flaw. "Only relying on a few guesses, he tried to frame the loyal officials of the court. If Lord Shen does this, doesn't he want to regard all his colleagues in the court as people who can be speculated and examined at will, and step on their official positions as a stepping stone to achieve his goal of rising to the top? The court today can't stand Lord Shen's tossing!"

After hearing this, Yang Qinghui felt relaxed both physically and mentally.

What the Second Prince said is really great! Kill this arrogant kid named Shen!

Unexpectedly, Shen Yuan was calm and said calmly, "I have no intention of making random guesses. It's just that Minister Yang has just admitted that he was willing to get involved in corruption in order to prepare for a rainy day. This is equivalent to admitting his corruption. His property should be handed over to the Supervisory Council for investigation, to trace the whereabouts of the corrupt money, confiscate all his illegal gains, and fill the national treasury."

"Uh..." Xie Chengze choked up, and was a little speechless and confused for a moment. After a moment, he looked at Yang Qinghui anxiously: My friend! I feel like I'm going to screw you. What should I do?

Yang Qinghui:?

Yang Qinghui:!!!