I'm the Farmgirl You Can't Mess With

Chapter 1276: Court (6)

Editor: Atlas Studios

The officials looked at Mu Yangling in shock. She could do that?

Yan Du also looked at her in surprise. Fan Zijin clenched his fists and, with his gaze, encouraged her to continue.

However, Qi Haoran became anxious. Wasn’t Ah Ling offending all the ministers to an extreme?

It didn’t matter if he offended someone since he was King Rong. He could block both open and covert attacks. However, Ah Ling was different. He couldn’t be by her side all the time, and she was simple-minded. What if she was bullied?

Qi Haoran anxiously tugged at her sleeve. Mu Yangling shook him off and ignored him. She continued to say coldly to everyone, "After I die, I’ll pass the newspaper office to my son and he’ll in turn pass it to my grandson. In short, King Rong’s lineage will perpetually go against corrupt officials. What do you think?"

The officials were so shocked that they could not speak. What else could they do?

They couldn’t very well defend corrupt officials, right?

Everyone’s mouths moved, but no words came out.

It was common knowledge that King Rong hated corrupt officials the most. If The Great Qi Times really started to accept confidential whistleblowing from the commoners, who knew how chaotic the officialdom would be?

Qi Haoran held his wife’s hand and glared at her. Then, he turned around and said to the officials, "This morning, the Minister of Revenue reported the salaries and benefits of the officials at all levels. You should know that with the salary given to you by the Imperial Court, it’s more than enough to support your family. Why are you still embezzling and accepting bribes? If you don’t break the law, why are you afraid to be supervised by the Supervisory Ministry?"

An old minister shook his beard and said, "King Rong, we’re not objecting because we want to embezzle and take bribes, but because such a drastic change in the official system will not sit well with officials everywhere. When the time comes, conflict will inevitably arise."

Qi Haoran snorted. "Through the Imperial Examination, one’s title suddenly changes from a scholar to an official. The change is huge as well, but I don’t see any discomfort in you."

The Imperial Secretary took advantage of the opportunity and said, "King Rong is right. Although the officials of our Imperial Censorate have never been permanently stationed in the provinces, as long as the Imperial Court stipulates the rights and responsibilities, our Censorate will do our best no matter how difficult it is."

Seeing that they were silent, Qi Haoran began to compare the differences in the lives of officials and commoners with them.

Great Qi treated the officials very well. In fact, it was a hundred times better than in Mu Yangling’s previous life.

Even the lowest-grade ninth-grade officials would receive stipend land after taking up a position in the provinces. Coupled with the freehold field that he was assigned to, even if the officials also had to pay taxes now, he could still very well support himself and his family.

Furthermore, apart from the stipend land, the Imperial Court also gave them grain stipends every year. The salary of a ninth-grade official was three stones, and their salary was eleven taels of silver. In addition, the Imperial Court would also give them grain stipends and silver during festive seasons. Not to mention supporting one family, they could even support two more families.

If even a ninth-grade official was like this, let alone a first-grade official.

Qi Haoran was now receiving the salary of a first-grade Great General and a second-grade Deputy Minister of War. Just the annual income from the stipend land alone was enough to fill his coffers.

In the southwest, northwest, and other bitterly cold places, because the land was barren, not only did the officials receive more stipend land, but they were also given additional money every year. It could be said that Great Qi treated the officials extremely well, and the officials definitely did not live in poverty due to a low salary.

Great Qi was unlike the Ming Dynasty.

And that was just the official income. There were also off-the-books earnings—like seasonal kickbacks like summer cooling stipends and winter heating allowances offered by local authorities, not to mention profits from the shops they secretly owned.

Now that Qi Xiuyuan wanted to reform the official system, he just wanted them to not extend their reach too far. Other than summer cooling stipends and winter heating allowances, he only wanted them to not take what they shouldn’t take. Even so, those officials still tried to stop him.

Qi Haoran made it very clear—I know about your off-the-books income sources. If you know what’s good for you, let go of the illegal income sources and return to the people what ought to be theirs. Otherwise, I’ll also cut off your gray income sources.’

The summer cooling stipends and winter heating allowances would be confiscated and go into the national treasury or outright abolished. Then, they would strictly check the shops to see if any officials dared to open shops in private.

Qi Haoran put on a domineering expression, and the Emperor silently expressed his support. The officials who opposed the reform could only glare at him.

Qi Haoran could afford to gamble, but they could not. If they really continued to persist, Qi Haoran might really do such a crazy thing.

At this moment, the old ministers in the court recalled back when the Imperial Court abolished the system of exempting the high scholars and officials from farm taxes, plenty of lives were lost and a lot of blood had been shed.

Even the tax-exempt policies for those who achieved meritorious positions could be abolished, let alone the reform of the official system.

Officials who had originally opposed the reform of the official system shut their mouths and stopped objecting, but they did not support it either.

Yan Du could only sigh in his heart.

Rong Xuan and Fan Zijin looked at each other and were speechless at the officials. ’When we debated with you nicely, you refused to accept it. Only after being tortured by this couple would you admit defeat. You really deserve to be tortured!’

The court meeting lasted for an entire day. By the time the ministers left the hall, they couldn’t even walk steadily.

Mu Yangling watched as everyone walked away. She then turned around and said to Rong Xuan and Fan Zijin, "Although it’s imperative to reform the official system, it’s best to prize stability at the moment and not be anxious. Although they’ve shut up for now, they might take action in private. The more stable we are, the better."

Qi Haoran immediately said unhappily, "If you know that it’s better to be stable, why did you still threaten them back there?"

Now that there were no outsiders around, Mu Yangling did not give him any face. She rolled her eyes and said, "It’s all because of you. If not for the fact that someone almost committed suicide because of this, would I need to come here to threaten them?"

"Do I need you to share the burden? Even if he really died, who would dare to make me pay with my life?"

Qi Xiuyuan had been watching the couple fight. When he heard this, he couldn’t help but pick up the memorial on the imperial table and throw it at his head. He snapped, "You still have the cheek to say that? If someone really died in the hall today, see if I can shield you!"

Qi Xiuyuan was about to go crazy from being angered by his brother. The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he felt, so he kept throwing memorials at him...

Fan Zijin and Rong Xuan stood at the side with their hands clasped and looked down.

Mu Yangling stood obediently at the side and did not dare to stop him.

Qi Haoran didn’t dare to dodge. He could only lower his head and let the memorials fall on his head until there was nothing left for Qi Xiuyuan to throw.

Seated on the dragon throne, Qi Xiuyuan calmed himself down for a while before he said, "Don’t go to court for the time being. You can bring Ah Ling out of the capital to play for a while. Anyway, lie low for the time being."

A cold glint flashed across Qi Xiuyuan’s eyes. "Reforming the official system is a big deal. They might not be willing to let it go. If you stay in the capital, you’ll become targets."

This time, the couple had offended everyone they could possibly offend.

"I’ve been too benevolent these past few years, so much so that they’ve forgotten their duty as officials." He knew that there were no fish in clear water, so he allowed the existence of summer cooling stipends and winter heating allowances. However, this did not mean that he could allow them to further exploit the commoners.

Qi Xiuyuan had always been a person who would move ahead once he made up his mind. Now that he was exuding a cold aura, he was much more terrifying than when Qi Haoran was angry. Knowing that the Emperor was truly furious, Rong Xuan and Fan Zijin both lowered their heads.