Do you know: I, a commoner prime minister

Chapter 39 Inside Story

Moreover, the impact and far-reaching effects of this matter are extremely serious.

The purpose of the law is to let those who do evil know the price they will pay for their evil deeds.

Even bribing the rebels only resulted in exile; what will the officials of the country think?

They would think that they were only embezzling and breaking the law, and no matter how you look at it, it wouldn't be more serious than what Chao Zhongyue did. Even if the truth came out in the end, the punishment wouldn't be as severe as his.

In doing so, they will become even more unscrupulous and reckless.

It is a terrifying thing when the law loses its deterrent effect.

This is just the matter itself; Lord Fan's obstruction is even more serious than the matter itself.

Emperor Taizu had an ancestral precept of not killing officials who spoke out, but these officials referred to those who offered advice.

The purpose of leaving this ancestral instruction is to prevent future generations from killing officials who offer honest advice because it is unpleasant to hear, thus preventing loyal and upright officials in the court from speaking out.

In fact, every dynasty had a rule against killing officials who spoke out, and the purpose of this rule was the same.

When Fan Da Xiang Gong stopped the emperor from killing Chao Zhongyue, he subverted the concept of the ancestral precepts of Emperor Taizu.

He was referring to the fact that, since the time of his ancestors, no scholar-official had ever been lightly killed.

When the government compromised and backed down, not killing scholar-officials had already become an ancestral precept.

In the future, when the emperor wants to kill civil officials, the officials will be able to more confidently cite ancestral precepts.

Even if later emperors bring up the ancestral precept of Emperor Taizu not to kill officials who speak out, they can still use this incident as an example.

At that time, the words of the current emperor were also ancestral precepts.

Although the emperor did not leave any such words, he tacitly approved of the officials' words at the time and made a compromise.

Unless later emperors were exceptionally decisive and had a very strong grasp of the court, they had no choice but to yield and compromise.

Zhou An didn't believe that Master Fan hadn't thought of these things, but he still did it anyway.

Such a person can be considered to be the one who worries about the world's troubles before enjoying its pleasures.

"This matter is indeed an indelible stain on Lord Fan's reputation!"

Lu Wang smiled wryly and said, "But Master Fan had no choice but to do that back then."

Zhou An remained noncommittal upon hearing this, acknowledging that no matter the reason, one should not do something with such endless consequences.

When the Qing Dynasty later lost its sovereignty and suffered national humiliation, wasn't it also out of necessity?

At the time, we were truly outmatched; refusing to cede territory and pay reparations would only have led to more serious consequences.

But after the first cession of territory and payment of reparations, we should strive to recover the lost land.

If they had actually done that, even if it hadn't succeeded in the end, not so many people would have criticized them in later generations.

Because I tried.

But actually?

It seems that the Qing Dynasty had mastered the code for dealing with foreign powers: if you can't win, just cede territory and pay reparations, since the world is so big anyway.

Goujian endured hardship and humiliation, Han Xin suffered the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs, and Li Shimin even had the Wei River Alliance.

People can understand temporary forbearance, but after forbearance, one must be able to wash away that shame.

After endurance comes endless endurance; is this something we have no other choice?

Zhou An didn't know, nor did he want to know, why Master Fan had no other choice.

Because the pit dug by Fan Da Xiangong was not filled in, Zhou An did not see him take any action to fill it in.

Lu Wang sighed and said, "When this happened, the new law was facing considerable resistance."

Even many who supported the reform began to waver. Once the people's hearts were broken, the new law would be a complete failure!

Lord Fan only did this out of necessity to put their minds at ease!

After a moment's thought, Zhou An understood what Master Fan had been considering.

No wonder Mr. Fan did something that would inevitably bring him infamy.

Logically, if he truly wanted to gain fame and reputation, he should have cared more about his reputation.

It turns out that this was done because many within the reformist faction were wavering.

Scholars cannot easily betray their principles, but some are always afraid of death.

The new law was proposed by the government, and there was not much opposition at first. Of course, some people supported the new law with ulterior motives.

These people were not indifferent to the long-standing problems of the court, nor did they care whether the new laws were beneficial.

They were merely supporting the government's decision, intending to profit from it.

When the new law faces great resistance, these people, seeing that the ship is about to sink, will naturally jump ship to escape.

Lord Fan didn't care about these people, but he had to consider the impact of their jumping ship at this time on the others.

Preventing the government from killing Chao Zhongyue was to put these people at ease.

They can only save their lives by jumping ship now, but they will still be suppressed by the conservatives.

When not killing civil officials became the common interest of all officials, the conservatives were unwilling to break down the walls they had just built for themselves.

In this way, even if the new law fails, they will not die.

Without the threat of death, backstabbing would still be suppressed and damage one's reputation, so who would be willing to backstab?

On the other hand, if you persevere, there is still hope for success. Even if you fail, you will gain a good reputation and may be reused in the future.

It must be said that Master Fan's method was brilliant.

Even if it were made public, scholars across the land would admire his determination to solve the deep-seated problems of the court, even at the cost of infamy.

But Zhou An shook his head and said, "What Prime Minister Fan is doing is not rational. Leaving aside the potential risks, those who oppose the reforms will also have no reason to worry about angering the Emperor; their opposition will only become more resolute!"

Fan Zhongyan made a complete blunder; for the reforms to succeed, they would not have been able to do without the emperor's support.

Those who oppose reform always outnumber those who advocate it; this is true in any dynasty.

If the emperor firmly supports it, the opposing officials will worry about angering the emperor, and their opposition will not be so resolute.

But when Lord Fan made this move, it was as if he had given everyone a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Since they won't die, how can a group of people who are fighting for their ideals possibly defeat a group of people who are fighting to protect their own interests?

No wonder that when Wang Anshi implemented his reforms, although the emperor firmly supported them, the implementation of the new laws in the localities was a complete mess.

The emperor was resolute, and the conservatives were helpless. However, they prevented the new laws from being implemented and even used the name of the new laws to exploit and oppress the people.

The resulting infamy was something that the emperor and Wang Anshi had to bear.

Even if we find out they are outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, what can we do?

They won't punish the masses, since they won't die anyway.

If the reform ultimately fails and the court falls back into the hands of the conservatives, these people will not only be reinstated but will also be promoted for their "frontline service."

This reminded Zhou An of one person—Su Shi!

Su Shi almost lost his life because he criticized the new laws; the reformists at the time all wanted to kill him.

Many people believe that it was his excellent poetry that ultimately saved his life.

In reality, the reformers did not want to break the rule of not killing civil officials, so he was demoted.

After the new laws failed, he was not only reinstated but also promoted to Minister of Rites.

It's important to know that his previous position in local government was far from that of Minister of Rites.

The reason he was able to be employed and even given important responsibilities was that the conservatives regarded him as one of their own.

Su Shi nearly lost his life for criticizing the new laws, so naturally he had to be compensated.

Otherwise, if similar situations arise in the future, who will dare to charge into battle?