Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

Wan Wan, Shen Yi, never expected Fang Zheng Yi to be so straightforward.

Although he had been tempered by the newspaper office for a long time, he already had some understanding of Fang Zheng Yi's style and ideas.

However, many concepts were still deeply rooted, and he questioned the direct statement of leading the people to get rich.

He retorted, "Sir, the sage said that governing the people requires loyalty, love, selflessness, using the virtuous, and tolerance. Seeing good in others is like having good in oneself, and seeing faults in others is like having faults in oneself. Is it wrong to govern the people with virtue and be selfless to the world?"

Fang Zheng Yi smiled faintly: "It's wrong, but not completely wrong. Since it's the words of a sage, of course, there is a reason."

"How many officials can achieve selflessness in the world? I ask myself, I can't do it. A method that doesn't follow human nature is definitely not a good method."

"So what if it's a sage? May I ask, which ancient sage was not born into a noble family, and which one was not served by others? The people the sages spoke of may not be the people we speak of."

"Those sage idols have long since passed away. Their current status is accompanied by various folk stories and countless people shaping their images throughout the dynasties."

"I believe that newcomers always surpass the old. If we blindly follow behind the sages, it will never be possible to achieve a world of great governance. What we have to do is surpass the sages."

"Seeing the problem and pointing directly to the essence is enough."

Shen Yi's face turned pale. He didn't expect Fang Zheng Yi to be so arrogant as to dare to claim to surpass the sages.

Even though Fang Zheng Yi held a high position in his heart, he couldn't help but feel indignant and said loudly: "How can the Lord slander the sages! Is it not right to govern the people with virtue?"

Hearing a bit of anger in his tone, Fang Zheng Yi didn't care, raised his head, looked at the bright moon in the sky, and sighed leisurely: "That's right."

"Morality is a very good thing. Everyone hopes to be surrounded by benevolence, love, and kindness. Such a world must be beautiful.

However, moral integrity is ultimately just a ray of candlelight. It can illuminate the road in front of a person, but it can't stop the open and secret arrows of the world."

"Your opponent may not necessarily be a colleague who can't stand you or has a conflict of interest, but more likely the people you govern."

"A government order may not see results until several years later. During this period, everyone is scolding you, and your opponents will also use your weaknesses to attack you."

"At this time, how can morality help you? All you can do is rely on wisdom to mediate, or grit your teeth and persevere. There is no other way."

Looking at Shen Yi, seeing him looking down and thinking seriously, Fang Zheng Yi continued: "In fact, it is a shameful thing for officials to talk about morality from a high position."

"Education and moral governance imply that the people are immoral. But is that really the case? I don't think so."

"During those most difficult years when I was in power in Taoyuan County, do you know what the people said to me the most when they saw me? They said there was no difficulty and they didn't dare to cause trouble for the county."

Fang Zheng Yi's face showed a trace of loss: "They would rather wrong themselves in order not to cause me trouble. Isn't this morality?"

"What foolish people, this is kind foolishness. If they could solve everything themselves, then what would I, the county magistrate, do? If all the people in the world were like this, then what would the imperial court do?"

"Therefore, the things in the books must be combined with reality, otherwise, they are just a pile of waste paper."

Shen Yi raised his head, his eyes already full of confusion, and said in a low voice: "Then what should I do?"

"Huh? What else can you do? Just solve the problem when you encounter it, and adapt to the situation. You have to take the initiative to discover problems. If you wait for the problem to explode before solving it, it will be much more troublesome."

"If you do this for a long time, you may often feel tired and instinctively don't want to deal with those bad things, so you simply find a lid to cover it up, but this is absolutely not feasible."

"This is like a conflict between two people. If you have a conflict, the problem will be solved by fighting on the spot. The same is true for things. Hiding and covering up, small troubles may turn into big crises."

Shen Yi suddenly stopped, walked to Fang Zheng Yi, and respectfully bowed: "Thank you, Lord Fang, Shen Yi has been taught!"

Fang Zheng Yi smiled slightly: "It's nothing. I haven't finished speaking. With your efforts, I believe you will return to the capital sooner or later."

"Since you have an official position, you must be responsible to both your superiors and your subordinates. You cannot let either side down."

"As for dealing with superiors, I think it's much simpler than governing the people. There is only one thing, sit firmly on your ass!"

Shen Yi asked: "What does this mean?"

"His Majesty today is a man of ambition and striving for governance. If you do your job well and don't have any crooked thoughts, you will always be safe."

"No matter how you play around, fooling around, or messing with women, as long as you have real talent and learning and don't deviate from His Majesty's heart, you will never make a mistake."

"We always pay attention to political correctness, which is called sitting firmly on our ass. If there is a problem with the superiors, you can save the country in a roundabout way. Don't rush up like those censors for no reason."

"If you make the leader unable to step down, the leader will sooner or later put you on the fire to roast!"

Shen Yi muttered in his heart, "Why does it sound a bit like a traitor..."

Fang Zheng Yi's face turned from white to red, feeling that his face couldn't hold back, and immediately scolded: "What are you talking about! What is loyalty and treachery? Being able to help the people's lives get better, and benefiting the country and the people is a loyal minister, and everything else is a method. How can you still be a wooden head after telling you so much!"

"Master! Master!"

Halfway through the lesson, Xie Xian ran from a distance while shouting and hurried towards the two of them. He walked to Fang Zheng Yi and said breathlessly: "Master, all the overtime work has been arranged. Are there any other arrangements later?"

Fang Zheng Yi stretched out his hand to signal him to be quiet, and then said: "Wait a moment, I will talk to him before I talk to you. Shen Yi, what you have to do is solve practical problems, and put those virtual things aside."

"Let me ask you, if you are driving an out-of-control carriage and there are two roads in front of you. There are five people on one road, but the law has clearly prohibited people from taking the road. The other road is open and there is a commoner walking normally. Who do you choose to run over?"

"Ah?" Shen Yi's eyes were full of confusion: "Why run over someone? Can't I go to the wild?"

"......"

The world without trains is really frustrating. Fang Zheng Yi suppressed his anger: "You must choose a road, otherwise, the one who dies will be you!"

Shen Yi pinched his chin, thinking: "If I die... sacrificing myself for righteousness, it's not impossible...."

"......" Fang Zheng Yi became angry, "Damn it! You must choose a road!"

"This... I don't know, Lord Fang, there's no way to choose? Five people violated the law, but after all, they are human lives, but people who have not made mistakes should not die either." Shen Yi was extremely tangled.

"That's right! Moral dilemmas are always there. What I want to say is, if you are always entangled in these virtual things, you don't have to do anything in the future! Okay, that's it for today, you go home first."

Shen Yi nodded silently, and then left alone.

Xie Xian eagerly came up and asked curiously: "Master, who is it appropriate to run over?"

Fang Zheng Yi glanced at him and said angrily: "Run over whoever the hell you want to run over! Whoever I run over violates the law! You have already run the newspaper office and you are still asking me this kind of question. Can't the officials control the common people?"

"Ah, this....."