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

"There is absolutely no chance for you and Su Qinghe!" Shen Yuan was so angry that he slammed the teacup on the table, splashing tea all over his hands, "Give up on this idea as soon as possible!"

"Shen Yuan, something's wrong with you." Seeing his big reaction, Xie Chengze couldn't help but raise his hand and stared at Shen Yuan with suspicion.

Shen Yuan felt uncomfortable being stared at by him, and slightly turned his eyes away, "What's wrong?"

"Something's wrong. It's very wrong." Xie Chengze shook his head and walked around Shen Yuan twice before he suddenly realized.

He got it!

Shen Yuan must be too possessive of his friends, so he can't stand seeing him making friends with Su Qinghe!

Oh my, I didn't expect that ~ No wonder he always asked himself what he thought of Su Qinghe. It turned out that he was afraid that Su Qinghe would be better with him, so he ignored him?

"Don't worry." Xie Chengze patted Shen Yuan's shoulder in a comforting manner and said with a smile, "I'm here to join you, not to break you up~"

After saying that, he couldn't help but laugh out loud and walked away, "Shen Lang~ From now on, the three of us will live a good life, which is more important than anything else~"

Shen Yuan: ???

What joins and what breaks apart?

What do you mean the three of us live a good life? !

Why does he always say things that are misleading!

-

After Xie Chengze returned to the palace, he plunged into the library.

This sleep lasted for two days and two nights. When he woke up from his sleep on the floor of the library, it was already the day for him to attend court meetings.

Xie Chengze huddled in his bed and didn't want to get up. He sighed and said, "Xiao Biao, what do you think? If I act first and report later, I can go to my father and ask for a day off after the court session..."

"No, Your Highness, you don't want to." Zhu Xiaobiao pulled him out of bed, "Two days ago you told me that if you stayed in bed this morning, I would force you to get up and go to court."

Xie Chengze: ...

People are always fickle. Why don’t you understand, Xiao Biao?

Resigned to his fate, Xie Chengze got up, picked up the bronze mirror to look at his tired face, then looked at the scarlet palace robe with many wrinkles from sleeping, and nodded with satisfaction.

Very good, before it was the lame version of Xiao Xie, today it is the haggard version of Xiao Xie!

Xie Chengze opened the door of the library with a heroic and confident look, "Prepare the sedan chair and go to court!"

……

As soon as Xie Chengze stepped into the Golden Palace, he felt it was extremely quiet.

The ministers did not gather in groups of three or five, but stood in their official positions with their heads bowed, their eyes looking at their noses and their noses looking at their hearts.

No one dared to say hello to Xie Chengze, and no one even dared to look him in the eye, for fear that he would remember them and then give them some problems to solve.

"Oh, it's boring, really boring. I even prepared a surprise for them."

Seeing that they were all like this, Xie Chengze couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment. He walked to the front of the hall. When he saw that the wooden chair that Emperor Jian had given him to sit on was still there, he immediately smiled.

Oh my, it seems that Emperor Jian also understands him very well~

Looking at the place where the wooden chair rested, it should not have been moved during the five-day break. In such a conspicuous position, the ministers would probably feel that Xie Chengze was haunted by a ghost every day, and their "fear" of him did not decrease at all.

Thinking of this, Xie Chengze couldn't help but touch his non-existent mustache. His leisurely and not sharp eyes passed through the overlapping figures of the ministers and finally fell on Su Zhongyue.

Su Zhongyue was also secretly sizing up Xie Chengze, and happened to meet his eyes.

Su Zhongyue was not afraid of Xie Chengze's unreasonable behavior, but it was better to save trouble than to worry about the rest. If he was pestered by the Second Prince to discuss arithmetic every day, Su Zhongyue really didn't have the time.

Moreover, he felt that the Second Prince and the Su Mansion were really in conflict. Two days ago, after the Second Prince visited the Su Mansion and left, Su Wenhao actually bought a whole yellow cow privately, saying that he wanted to feed the cow stomach and then split its stomach to see if the yellow cow really had four stomachs, and whether those four stomachs were really as the Second Prince said, each with its own function.

It's totally heretical! It's unreasonable!

Therefore, Su Zhongyue, who did not want to communicate more with the Second Prince, quickly withdrew his gaze.

Unexpectedly, Xie Chengze still walked straight towards him.

Su Zhongyue frowned immediately, thinking about how to persuade Xie Chengze to leave, but unexpectedly, when Xie Chengze was about to walk in front of him, he suddenly turned around and walked towards another minister.

Su Zhongyue immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

The tension will not disappear, it will only shift. Now it is the turn of the minister who is being targeted to start getting nervous.

"Second, Second Prince..." The minister swallowed deeply and prepared to face Xie Chengze's next "teaching."

"Sir Liu, good morning." Xie Chengze patted his shoulder, said good morning, and walked to his seat with a smile.

The minister surnamed Liu immediately wiped his cold sweat and said, "I'm so scared..."

Civil and military officials all breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that the second prince has finally calmed down.

It was time to go to court. Emperor Jian walked out from behind the curtain. When he saw Xie Chengze coming to court on time, he couldn't help but be delighted. However, when he saw his haggard face, he began to feel distressed and said, "My son has worked so hard! In such a cold winter, he didn't fear the cold and came to court in person."

Civil and military officials: ...?

No? The Second Prince took a five-day court leave! Is it considered hard work to take such a long break to attend the morning court?

Then what about their attending court early every morning, rain or shine, for decades, and performing their duties diligently until dark after court?

Does it count as early farming and late return?

Xie Chengze sat on a wooden chair, his face showing a bit of disapproval, "Father, you are too kind. Compared to me, who among the civil and military officials in this court is not more diligent and dedicated than me?"

He frowned slightly and showed a look of lamentation again, "I have been thinking about one thing during my rest days. Why is it that Yang Qinghui, who is obviously in a high position, is not afraid of the majesty of the country's law and insists on committing such corruption and breaking the law, causing thousands of people to be exploited by him?"

Hearing this, Emperor Jian couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

This kid suddenly brought this up. What dirty tricks is he planning?

But Emperor Jian still cooperated and said, "Oh? Then what did Ze'er come up with?"

"Father, I went to Yizhou and found that many local officials lived in poverty. On the contrary, some local merchants were very wealthy and lived a very enjoyable life."

Xie Chengze sighed deeply, his slightly haggard face seemed to be really sad, "I have served the court for most of my life, and worried about the people for most of my life, but in the end, I have nothing but a few coins on my body. Then I see the passing rich merchants wearing gold and silver, eating delicious food and drinking spicy drinks. If it is one day, it is okay, but if I see this for several years, even more than ten years, or even decades, how can I feel good?"

Hearing this, all the officials in the court could not help but nod their heads secretly, agreeing with him.

Yes, if there is a rich person always hanging around in front of you and you are penniless, it would be a lie to say that you are not jealous.

"Your Highness, this is wrong." At this time, an upright old official stepped forward and disagreed, "Officials should be honest and incorruptible, not be tempted and forget their roots, have a clear mind, behave in moderation, and not be greedy or corrupt. If you can't even do this, how can you be an official?"

Xie Chengze shook his head and said, "Officials should be honest, but this honesty means not being greedy or corrupt, not being partial to others, and not bending the law."

"But if the price of being honest is to work hard for half a lifetime, have back pain and cold legs, and your grandchildren are hungry and thin, and there is only a small house left at home to avoid the cold, how sad is it?" Xie Chengze lamented, "I know that many scholars pass the imperial examinations to benefit the people after becoming officials. However, the monthly salary of a small official is so low that those who are not determined will inevitably feel resentful after a long time and take risks; while those who are determined will only end up penniless. Even if their reputation is deepened, how can they relieve their old diseases and how can they fill the stomachs of their hungry grandchildren?"

"These honest officials may be willing to do so, but we are in high positions and cannot sit back and do nothing! Therefore, I think that the corruption is caused by the fact that the monthly salary is not enough to support the family and the welfare benefits are not comprehensive enough!" Xie Chengze said heroically, "I suggest that everyone from the civil and military officials in the court to the local officials and clerks should have their salaries increased!"

Increase salary!

Upon hearing this, the ministers' eyes lit up and they looked at Emperor Jian with burning gazes.

No worker would be discouraged when hearing about salary increase.

Looking at those pairs of bright eyes, Emperor Jian said: …