I'm the Farmgirl You Can't Mess With

Chapter 1272: Court (2)

Editor: Atlas Studios

Pretending not to see his big brother’s threat, Qi Haoran asked stiffly, "I heard that the court was debating endlessly about the reform of the official system. Seeing as no one mentioned it today, has everyone reached a consensus?"

There was no consensus. It was just that no one wanted to discuss it in front of him.

The Emperor and the ministers looked at him silently. Considering the water was already muddy enough, neither the Emperor nor the courtiers wanted it to turn even more muddy.

Clearly, Qi Haoran was not a considerate person. He persistently turned around to look at everyone.

Fan Zijin, who was standing behind him, rolled his eyes and immediately stepped forward. "This matter is still being discussed. I wonder what King Rong thinks?"

The Emperor and the ministers glared at Fan Zijin.

Fan Zijin stood rooted to the ground. Instead of trying to push Haoran away, he might as well let him stir the water in the pool more. Anyway, they were at a disadvantage now and Haoran was on their side.

Fan Zijin glanced at the Emperor to express his thoughts.

Qi Xiuyuan looked at him silently. ’Have you forgotten how Haoran likes to attack indiscriminately?’

Fan Zijin: ’We’re outnumbered by the enemy. Anyway, it’s fine as long as they’re the ones who suffer more injuries in the end.’

Fan Zijin expressed his attitude very straightforwardly.

Qi Xiuyuan could only choose to watch from the side.

Once Qi Xiuyuan tacitly agreed, Fan Zijin immediately said, "The officials in the court are still discussing the matter, but the majority is opposed to it."

Qi Haoran said directly, "I think this official reform is not bad. What are the reasons for those objections?"

There were many reasons. No official system was perfect and there would always be flaws. Moreover, it was easy for officials to use their power for personal gain during the reform process. Therefore, everyone had a good reason to object.

Not everyone opposed it out of selfishness. There were also some who considered it from the perspective of the country’s stability. It was indeed not the best time to reform now. Perhaps in 20 years, when the Great Qi was at peace and corruption was rampant, they would definitely not object if they were still alive at that time.

The courtiers knew that King Rong wouldn’t understand what they were trying to say if they beat around the bush, so in order to reduce the conflict, they said this very bluntly.

Officials who were purely motivated by personal interests only listed the drawbacks of a reform and the shortcomings of the new official system. Another group of officials who opposed because of the current circumstances sincerely told King Rong that it was not that they did not support a reform, but that it was not the time yet.

Qi Haoran’s greatest advantage was that his reaction speed was slow and his brain capacity was limited. Hence, he could always humbly listen to others’ opinions. Although he was annoyed with these people for bullying his wife and children, he still listened to their reasons seriously.

Although he was not smarter than others, he was not stupid. After listening for a long time, he quickly identified those who objected for the sake of the country and those who objected for their personal benefit.

Qi Haoran first said to the officials who had the country’s interests at heart, "I don’t know anything about governing the country, but I only returned from the north last year. I’ve also been to the west before. Do you know the situation of the people there?"

Everyone was silent. They had a vague idea from the memorials sent from the two places, but because those were written by officials after all, the authenticity was debatable, let alone the comprehensiveness.

With a sigh, Qi Haoran said, "In the north, there are two names for a county, one left behind by the Great Zhou Dynasty and another by the Great Jin Dynasty. This is nothing. However, during the Great Zhou Dynasty, the county belonged to the South Prefecture, but during the Great Jin Dynasty, it was under the jurisdiction of the North Prefecture. The villages under the county have once belonged to the South Prefecture and also the North Prefecture. Now that the new officials have taken office, they either fight for the county or want nothing to do with it. Since jurisdiction is unclear, the people in the county won’t be able to receive grain relief, let alone seeds, farming tools and plowing oxen. Reconnaissance surveys can’t be done either."

The more Qi Haoran spoke, the angrier he became. His voice gradually became louder. "And there are many cases like this in the north and west. Last year, His Majesty ordered that no villages or towns be left behind. Only when all the relief was in place would chaos be averted. However, there are still many disputes between them. It’s been nearly a year, but you still haven’t made up your mind. What’s the use of the Imperial Court providing for you?"

The more Qi Haoran spoke, the more he felt that it was hard on Ah Ling. He snorted coldly and said, "When the Queen Consort heard about the suffering of the people in those two places, she racked her brains to think of a way to reform the administrative system. But you guys obstructed it for your own selfish interests. If it’s like this even right under His Majesty and the imperial censors’ noses, the selfish interests of officials elsewhere would be even more out of control. No wonder the Queen Consort insisted on setting up the Supervisory Ministry in order to let the commoners supervise the officials. The morals of the ministers truly leaves much to be desired."

In this dynasty where civil servants’ morals were prized above all other qualities, insulting a person’s morals was as offensive as digging up their ancestral graves. Hence, when Qi Haoran said this, most of the courtiers were livid.

However, Qi Haoran was not afraid at all. Back when he rushed home, he had already thought of how to deal with it on the way. Coupled with his experience in arguing with Mu Yangling, his voice alone drowned out theirs. He fired at them like a cannon. "Administrative reform is imperative. For the sake of the people in the north and west, we can’t allow the regions to be so chaotic anymore. If we don’t change the administrative system, how do you think we can resolve the issues? Ministers, have you come up with any good ideas in the past year? In this aspect, you’re not even comparable to a woman."

Fan Zijin and Rong Xuan lowered their heads and stood at the back, silently watching Qi Haoran fight everyone alone.

Yan Du looked at the two people opposite him, who were as still as mountains, and then glanced at the Emperor, who was sitting steadily like a mountain. Seeing this, he decided to remain silent. Anyway, he was in favor of administrative reform, as long as there was no official reform.

The officials below quickly figured this out and shouted, "King Rong, don’t slander us. We don’t agree with the reform of the official system, but we didn’t say that we don’t agree with the administrative reform too!"

Most of the officials in the court immediately agreed. Only those who already agreed to it in the first place did not speak up.

The Emperor, Fan Zijin, and Rong Xuan complained in their hearts. ’You clearly didn’t agree yesterday. You’re really asking for a beating.’ Previously, they’d spoken nicely to them and they vehemently refused. Now, after Qi Haoran scolded them, they immediately agreed?

Qi Haoran immediately pressed on. "Since we’ve agreed to the administrative reform, isn’t it perfect timing to reform the official system at the same time? Isn’t it more opportune to do it now than 20 years later?"

Yan Du said coldly, "King Rong, if we carry out both reforms at the same time, I’m afraid we won’t even be able to successfully implement the administrative reform in the end."

"Why?" Qi Haoran looked at him with bright eyes.

"Both reforms require support from local officials. The administrative overhaul is one thing—it’s mostly just standardizing local jurisdictions to prevent overlapping regions or no-man’s lands. It doesn’t involve major personnel changes, so most officials are willing to cooperate. But if we push for civil service reform at the same time, when the majority of officials already oppose it—and local ones outright resist—it could end up dragging the entire administrative overhaul down with it."

Qi Haoran said slowly, "They’ll agree if it doesn’t involve much personnel changes. As for the official system reform, they’ll oppose it because it threatens their interests?"

It was a pity that Qi Haoran did not have a table beside him. Otherwise, he would definitely smash it with his palm to show his anger.